A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ This is the story of Imam al-Mugits Husayn ibn Manswur al-Hallaj ( q.s. ), who was born in Madina al-Bayda, a little village in the ancient province of Fars, in southern Persia, in the year 224 A.H./857 CE, two years before his shaykh, Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ).   He grew up in Wasith and in Tustar, where the cultivation of cotton was the main occupation of most of the people.   His father was a cotton-carder from which he gained his name of “ al-hallaj ” - one who cards cotton.   Even when he was a young child, Imam al-Hallaj ( q.s. ) felt drawn towards a spiritual life, and at the age of sixteen he attached himself to Imam Abu Muhammad Sahl ibn ‘Abdullah at-Tustari ( q.s. ), whom he accompanied when he moved from Tustar to Baswra, in ‘Iraq.   He served this shaykh for two years and then, when he was eighteen years old, he left him, and went to Baghdad.   The young Imam al-Hallaj (...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ) visited Shaykh Abu al-Hasan Sirri ibn Mughallis as-Saqathi ( q.s. ) and found him in a state of contraction.   He asked, “What is wrong, Shaykh ?   Why are you in contraction?”   He replied, “A young man came to me and asked me, ‘What is the reality of repentance?’   I told him, ‘That you do not forget your wrong action.’   The young man said, ‘Rather repentance is that you forget your wrong action.’   Then he left me.”   Imam Junayd ( q.s. ) continued, “I said, ‘What the young man said is correct, because when I was in a state of concealment and then He Moved me to witnessing purity, remembering concealment in the state of purity is concealment.’”   Shaykh Sirri ( q.s. ) looked at the people of the beginning while Imam Junayd ( q.s. ) looked at the people of the end.   Each is correct, and Allah ( s.w.t. ) knows best.

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 al-Hasan Sirri ibn Mughallis as-Saqathi ( q.s. ) was Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi’s ( q.s. ) maternal uncle and teacher and a disciple of Shaykh Abu Mahfuzh Ma’ruf ibn Firuz al-Karkhi ( q.s. ).   He was unique in his age as regards pious scrupulosity and the knowledge of the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) custom and Divine Oneness.   Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ( r.a. ) say, he heard Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ali ath-Thusi ( r.a. ) say, he heard Shaykh Abu ‘Amr ibn ‘Alwan ( r.a. ) say, he heard Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas ibn Masruq ( r.a. ) say, “I heard that Sirri as-Saqathi was plying his trade at the bazaar, while he was a companion of Ma’ruf al-Karkhi.   Once, Ma’ruf came to him with an orphan boy.   He said, ‘Clothe this orphan!’   Sirri said, ‘I clothed him.’   Ma’ruf rejoiced a...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Mahmud ibn ‘Ali al-Qashani ( q.s. ) wrote, in Miswbah al-Hidayah wa Miftah al-Kifayah , “The Lamp of Right Guidance & the Key to What is Sufficient,” that the murid should never criticise his shaykh .   The murid should never occupy himself, neither inwardly nor outwardly, with criticising the choices and decisions of his shaykh .   Each time, when something is unclear regarding the behaviour of our shaykh , then we should think of the story of Moses ( a.s. ) and Khidhr ( a.s. ) in Surah al-Kahf, wherein Moses ( a.s. ), in spite of being a prophet, his great knowledge and his passionate devotion to Khidhr ( a.s. ), criticised several of the acts of Khidhr ( a.s. ), but he changed his ideas after hearing an explanation of their inner meanings.   If our shaykh does something which we cannot understand, then we should say that it is because of our limited understanding and knowledge and in no way, has it to do with a wrong ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In Iqazh al-Himam fi Sharh al-Hikam , Shaykh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ajibah ( r.a. ) stated, “Shaykh al-Junayd said, ‘It means that the Lord of Truth Makes you die to yourself, and Causes you to live because of Him.’  He also said, ‘You Belong to Allah without any attachment.’  It has been said, ‘It means entering into every lofty trait of character, and exiling from every base trait of character.’  It has also been said, ‘It means noble traits of character which appeared in a noble time along with noble people.’  It has also been said, ‘It means that you do not possess anything, and nothing possesses you.’  It has also been said, ‘It means devoting oneself to Allah ( s.w.t. ) in accordance with whatever He Wishes.’”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ) said, “'A Sufi is one, whose heart is like Ibrahim ( a.s. ), that it is free from the love of the world and one which is always ready to obey the Commands of Allah ( s.w.t. ); his acceptance should be like that of Isma’il ( a.s. ); his sadness should be like that of Dawud ( a.s. ); his patience like that of Ayyub ( a.s. ); his eagerness should be like that of Musa ( a.s. ); and in du’a , his sincerity should be like that of the Beloved Rasulullah ( s.a.w. ).”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ) said, “One of the Marks of Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Wrath against a servant is that He Makes him very busy with what is of no concern to him.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ) said, “The Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) character was termed ‘tremendous’ because his concern was Allah ( s.w.t. ) Alone.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ) said, “One who guards his heart, guards the religion.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi ( q.s. ) said, “Those who have striven against their desires and repented for our sake, we shall guide them to the ways of sincerity, and one cannot struggle against his enemy outwardly except he who struggles against these enemies inwardly.  Then, whoever is given victory over them will be victorious over his enemy. and whoever is defeated by them, his enemy defeats him.”