What is Tariqah?

The famous Naqshbandi Shaykh and the Mujaddid of the 2nd Thousand years of Islam Hadrat al-Imam ar-Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi (quddisa sirruh)[d.1034.ah.Sirhind.Punjab.India] 
wrote in thefiftieth letter of the second volume of his Maktubat:  :

"Islam has a surface and a real, inner essence. The surface of Islam isfirstly to believe and then to obey the orders and prohibitions ofAllahu ta'ala. The nafs al-ammara (the headstrong, unregenerate self)of a person who has attained the surface of Islam is in denial anddisobedience. The belief (iman) of this person is on the surface ofbelief. The salat he performs is the appearance of salat. His fast andother kinds of worship ('ibada) are also of that grade. The reason isthat the basis of the existence of man is the nafs al-ammara. When hesays 'I,' he refers to his nafs. So his nafs has not attained iman, hasnot believed. Could the belief and worship of such people be real andright? Since Allahu ta'ala is very merciful, He accepts the attainmentof the facade. He announces the good news that He will put intoParadise those with whom He is pleased. It is a great benevolence ofHis that He accepts the belief of the heart and does not lay down acondition that the nafs also should believe. However, there are thesurface and also the real essence of the blessings of Paradise. Thosewho attain the surface of Islam will get a share from what is thefacade of Paradise, and those who attain the reality of Islam in thisworld will get the reality of Paradise. Both the one who attains thefacade and the one who attains the reality of Islam will eat the samefruit of Paradise, but each will get a different taste. Rasulullah's(sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) blessed wives (radi-Allahuta'ala 'anhunna) will be with him in Paradise and eat the same fruit,but the taste they will get will be different. If it would not bedifferent, then these blessed wives should have necessarily been higherthan all human beings, and, since a wife will be with her husband inParadise, the wife of every superior person should have been superiorlike him.


"The one who attains the surface of Islam, if he obeys it, will besaved in the next world. In other words, he has attained the status of common wilaya, that is, the pleasure and love of Allahu ta'ala. The onewho has been honored with this status is the one who can join the wayof tasawwuf and reach the special wilaya called "Wilayat khassa." Hecan make his nafs ammara develop into an-nafs al-mutmainna (thetranquil self). It should be known for certain that, in order to makeprogress in this wilaya, or in the reality of Islam, the surface ofIslam should not be abandoned.


"It is the very frequent dhikr of Allahu ta'ala's Name that makes oneprogress on the way of tasawwuf. The dhikr, too, is an 'ibada orderedin the religion of Islam. It is commended and ordered in ayats andhadiths. It is essential to avoid the prohibitions of Islam to makeprogress on the way of tasawwuf. Performing the fard (those kinds of worship ordered in the Qur'an al-karim) enables one to make progress onthis way. It is an order of Islam, too, that one should look for a rehber[Shaykh] who knows tasawwuf and who is able to guide the salik(wayfarer). It is declared in the thirty-eighth ayat of Suratal-Ma'ida, 'look for a wasila [In the 18th article it is clearlyexplained that a perfect guide is a wasila] to approach Him.' Both thesurface and the real essence of Islam are necessary for winning theapproval of Allahu ta'ala, because all the excellences of wilaya can beattained by obeying the surface of Islam. And the excellences ofprophethood (nubuwwa) are the fruits of the reality of Islam.


"The way leading to wilaya is tasawwuf. It is necessary to extract fromthe heart the love for everything except Allahu ta'ala to make progresson the way of tasawwuf. If the heart becomes oblivious of everything bythe benevolence of Allahu ta'ala, fana' results, and the sair-iila'llah is completed. Then the journey called 'sair-i fi 'illah'begins, at the end of which occurs the desired status of baqa'. Thus the reality of Islam is attained. The noble person who attains thisstatus is called 'wali,' which means the person whom Allahu ta'ala ispleased with and loves. An-nafs al-ammara becomes mutmainna (tranquil,subdued) at this stage. The nafs gives up kufr and resigns itself tothe qada' and qadar of Allahu ta'ala and pleases Him. It begins tocomprehend itself. It gets redeemed from the illness of haughtiness andarrogance. Most of the superiors of tasawwuf said that the nafs couldnot become free of disobedience to Allahu ta'ala even after attainingtranquillity. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu ta'ala 'alaihi wa sallam) said onhis return from a ghaza, 'We return from the small jihad. We begin thegreat jihad.' The 'great jihad' has been interpreted as jihad againstan-nafs al-ammara. This faqir, myself [al-Imam ar-Rabbani], does nottake it in that sense. I say no disobedience or evil is left when thenafs attains tranquillity. The nafs, too, like the heart, forgetseverything, sees nothing but Allahu ta'ala. It becomes indifferent toposition, rank, property and even to their sweet and sour tastes. Ithas been crushed and has become sort of nonexistent. It has sacrificeditself for Allahu ta'ala. The 'great jihad' mentioned in the hadithash-Sharif is probably the jihad against the physical, chemical andbiological desires of the substances constituting the body. Bothshahwa, that is, lust or violent desire, and ghadab, that is, fright orscruple, are material passions. Animals do not have nafs, but these malignant inclinations exist in animals, too. It is due to the properties of substances in the body that animals have lust, anger andinordinate inclinations.Human beings should perform jihad against these inclinations. Thetranquillity of the nafs does not rescue man from these evils. Jihadagainst them is very beneficial. It helps the purification of the body.


"Al-Islam al-haqiqi (the Real Islam) falls to one's lot when one's nafsgets subdued. Then real iman is attained. Any kind of worship performedis real: salat, fast and hajj are all in their real value.


"As it is seen, tasawwuf (or 'way') or haqiqa (reality) is the passagebetween the surface and the inner part of Islam. The one who has notattained Wilayat khassa cannot get redeemed from being a metaphoricMuslim, cannot attain the Real Islam.


"The one who has attained the reality of Islam and has been honoredwith the Real Islam begins to take shares from the excellences ofprophethood. He becomes an object of the good news declared in thehadith, 'The Ulama' are the Prophets' heirs.' The excellences ofprophethood are the fruits of the reality of Islam as the excellencesof wilaya are the fruits of the surface of Islam. The excellences ofwilaya are the appearances of the excellences of prophethood.


"The difference between the surface and the reality of Islam,consequently, arises from the nafs. And the difference between theexcellences of wilaya and those of prophethood comes from thesubstances in the body. In the excellences of wilaya, substances obeywhat their physical, chemical and biological properties dictate; extraenergy causes excessiveness, and substances long for food. Forobtaining these needs, insolent absurdities are committed. In theexcellences of prophethood, such absurdities come to an end. In thehadith ash-Sharif, 'My devil became Muslim,' probably this state ofconsciousness is expressed, for there is a devil in man as there is oneoutside of him. Excess energy leads man astray and makes him arrogant,and this is the worst of the bad habits. By getting rid of these evils,nafs becomes Muslim. In the excellences of prophethood, there is beliefboth by heart and by nafs, and also regularity and equilibrium of thesubstances present in the body. It is after the establishment of theequilibrium of matter and energy in the body that nafs gets subduedcompletely. After tranquillity, it cannot return to malignity. Allthese superior qualities are based on Islam. A tree cannot be withoutroots no matter how much it branches out or how fruitful it is.Obedience to Allahu ta'ala's orders and prohibitions is essential inevery excellence."

[Translated by the famous Turkish Sscholar Shaykh Huseyn Hilmi Isik an -Naqshbandi(Rah)[d.1422.Ah.Istanbul]

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