Shaykh Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Musa al-Wasithi in Brief (q.s.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Huzan al-Qushayri (r.a.) recorded, in his Risalah al-Qushayriyyah, Shaykh Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Musa al-Wasithi (q.s.) originally came from Khurasan, from the region of Farghana.  He studied with Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi (q.s.) and Shaykh Ahmad ibn Abu al-Husayn an-Nuri (q.s.).  He was a great scholar. He resided in Marw, where he died after 320 AH. 

Shaykh al-Wasithi (q.s.) said, “Fear and hope are two reins that restrain the servant from behaving improperly.”  He said: “The quest of compensation for the acts of obedience springs from the forgetfulness of Beneficence.” 

Shaykh al-Wasithi (q.s.) also said, “When God wants to disgrace His servant, He throws him into this perversity and rotting corpses.”  He meant the companionship of the youth. 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Husayn (r.a.) said he heard Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Marwazi (r.a.) say he heard Shaykh al-Wasithi (q.s.) say, about false Sufis, “They have presented bad manners as sincerity, the greed of their souls as freedom of action, and their lowly aspirations as firmness of character.  Through this, they have lost the true path, and found themselves in a narrow spot.  There is no life in their visions, there is no piety in their speeches.  Whenever they utter a word, they reveal anger; when they make a public address, they show vanity.  The impetuosity of their souls speaks about the perfidy of their inner selves, and their voracious appetite for food testifies to the darkness of their hearts.  God Assail them!  How perverted they are!”