The Shuyukh are Heirs to the Prophets

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The religious scholars are the heirs of the prophets, so the quest for nearness to them is absolutely essential, since they have said, “If someone is affected with a condition that he cannot cure, they will coax him out of it.” 

Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Huzan al-Qushayri (r.a.) wrote, in his ar-Risalah al-Qushayriyyah, “It is necessary for the seeker to be educated by a shaykh, for if he has no teacher, he will never succeed.” 

Shaykh Bayazid Tayfur ibn ‘Isa al-Bisthami (q.s.) said, “If someone does not have a teacher, his teacher is Satan.” 

According to Sidi Mukhtar ibn Ahmad al-Kunti (r.a.), “As for the reality of the litanies, they are contracts and covenants, which Allah has Imposed upon His servants by means of the shuyukh.  If someone reveres the shuyukh, complies with the contracts and fulfills the covenants, he will, therefore, be entitled to the benefit of the two abodes,” meaning this world and the Hereafter.  He continued, “On the other hand, if someone belittles the shuyukh and neglects the contracts and the covenants, that will be a cause of his going astray and sinking the ship of his religion.”