The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) came into this world with illuminating spiritual guidance to bring everyone closer to their Lord. The very purpose and pure essence of his spiritual mission was to enable people to maintain a special friendship or relationship with Allah. It was by following in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (sa) that the companions of the Prophet (sa) and those who were taught by them and those who came after them reached the stage of genuine submission of one’s soul to Allah and His commandments.
By earnestly striving to establish a direct relationship with one’s Creator, the savants of faith reach spiritual heights of Divine love- the special nearness and communion with their Lord in this very world, and became recipients of Divine inspirations and revelations. A Hadith-e-Qudsi reveals the mystical quest of every sincere seeker in the Way: “My servant keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And once I love him, I become his hearing, with which he hears, his sight, with which he sees, his hand, with which he seizes, and his foot, with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give to him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him” [Fath-ul-Bari by Hazrat Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani ].
Models of God-consciousness in inner life and performing service to humanity in every conceivable way in their social settings, the true Sufis were recipients of Divine love and revelations, enabling them to perform miracles of faith in service of the Islamic Way- rejuvenating the exemplary model of the Holy Prophet (sa) in their own times. History bears testimony to the fact that true Sufis - or great savants of faith imbued with divine qualities following in the Muhammadan Way- emerged among the ranks of the devout Muslims in every land.
Today, however, Sufism has come to mean different things to different people- far from its original spirit of Islamic devotional piety. Moving away from its Qur’anic foundations and Prophetic moorings, many self-proclaimed sufis and their simpleminded followers have turned graves into places of worship, and make supplications to dead objects. Dance, music and other innovations are found at Sufi shrines these days- representing the very anti-thesis of what the true spirit of Sufism entailed in its pristine phases - abandonment of the mundane enjoyments in favour of living in seclusion behind the curtain of Divine intimacy.
Recently, Mr. Muhammad Zubair from the Maldive Islands asked a series of questions to Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius on Sufism, Urs Sharief, and Dargah worship, seeking guidance on what is lawful in Islam and what is reprehensible for the believers to be wary of in this era of syncretic rituals and confused spirituality among common folks. Reproduced Below is the extracts from the Reply given by Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) to this gentleman, along with his questions:
1. 'Is it permissible to lay the Mayyat (i.e. the deceased) with its feet facing the Qibla after Ghusl and Kafan have been given?'
Reply: It is permissible.
2. “Is Sufism permissible in Islam?”
Reply: '...So, whatever you call it, my reply is: “Sufism (Tasawwuf) is part and parcel of Islam. Tasawwuf is the knowledge of the means to obtain the purification of the heart from the lowly animal’s qualities and to imbue one with the noble angelic qualities. In this respect, Tasawwuf is Farz [obligatory] upon everyone. Sufism must not be misunderstood to mean the wretched path of Kufr and Bid'ah ritual and practices which the people of innovation preach.'
3. “Is Urs Sharif Islamic or un-Islamic? Was it the Sunnah of Prophet (pbuh), or of some saint?”
Reply: “The Urs practice which you observe being organized nowadays is Haram practice. It is a conglomeration of evil, Bidah and Haram practice. It was never practiced or commanded by our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (pbuh) nor by the Sahaba Karaam nor by the great learned authorities of Islam, even by the Mujaddids - all the Mujaddids who came in every/ each century. So, some true Saints sometime resorted to some form of gathering which was called Urs and which have been wickedly and deliberately misinterpreted to mean the present-day Haram Urs practice.
If you hear of some Wali having practiced Urs, then be rest assured that it was not the Haram festival of today described by the Bid'aties as Urs Sharif.
4. “Can a deceased Saint assist his disciples after death? Can the deceased Saint intercede by Allah on behalf of his disciples? When a disciple goes to the grave of his deceased Saint for assistance, is it possible that his problems will be solved by the intercession of the Saint?”
Reply: “The dead Saint cannot answer the call or prayers of his disciples. It is a practice of Shirk to associate in the worship of Allah (twt), to direct one’s prayer to the dead Saint as is the custom in many places. On the day of Qiyamah the Saint can intercede on behalf of his disciples but only after permission for such intercession is granted by Allah (twt). Allah (twt) said in the Holy Quran “and there is no intercession but with His permission.” It is not permissible to direct one’s prayer and Dua to the dead Saint. Dua should be directed only to Allah Ta’ala for only He is the help.
5: “Niyaz, Qawali, and men and women intermingling in tents on certain occasion or religious festival, are these permissible?”
That is, he wants to say that if there is a festival, or wedding, anything, religious festival, is it permissible to have some men and women or Qawali - I don’t know… from what I understand - but my reply is:
“All these are Haram acts;
Muslims must refrain [stay far away] from such
unlawful and immoral
practices carried out in the name of Islam.”
Jazak-Allah.