Imam Ahmad al-Faruqi al-Sirhindi, rahmatullah 'alayh, in a letter to his shaykhs sons, Khawaja Baqi billah rahmatullah 'alayh says: "“The acquisition of tasfiyah and tazkiyah (spiritual purification) are connected to completing righteous actions which are for the pleasure of Allah Most High. This is also dependent on the sending of the prophets. Hence, without their sending, the acquisition of the reality of tasfiyah and tazkiyah is not possible. As to that purification (safa) which is acquired by the unrighteous (ahl al-fisq) and disbelievers, then this is in reality purification of the soul and not the purification of the heart; the purification of the soul only leads to deviancy and loss. The unveilings (kashf) of some unseen matters that are experienced by the disbelievers and unrighteous in the state of purifying the soul is istidraj (Istidraj is opposite to karamat and can be best described as miraculous powers gained by a sinner on account of mujahada and purification of the soul (not the heart). The extraordinary physical or supernatural feats carried out by sadhus and practitioners of yoga fall into this category. Muslims should not be overawed by such occurrences, as they do not serve as a yardstick in measuring ma’rifah (translator)…)"" [Maktubat] *** is nafs translated as soul here?
Would it be possible for you, if you had the time to translate some tafsirs on these Ayat al-Karima, including a few by the noble Sufiyya ikram? Even if you were to just give a gist of what they said. From the Salaf al-Salihin and the Khalaf al-Sadiqin radiullah ta'la anhum.
FTA: all keller had to do was look up tafsir tabari (which spans about 9 pages for these two verses) or tafsir kabir; or the 10 or 15 other tafsirs. durr al-manthur is 21 pages for these two verses.
And i also found this http://www.shadhiliteachings.com/tariq/?act=article&id=28 the bit about mystics of abrogated faiths. What is kellers basis for this? Have the Imams of ahl al-Sunna said the same (and the noble Sufiyya ikram)? Is it possible Ala Hadrat rahmatullah alayh was intending the same as what keller mentions about these mystics? Also this khasf would it not then have similarities to the khasf and marifa of the Awliya Allah Azza wa Jall? various things and what may appear to the external eye as a miracle. kashf sometimes knowledge passed on to them by shayaTin, etc. what may appear as beyond human capability. oh yes. in all books of aqidah/kalam, such supernatural abilities are termed istidraj. yes, after you have finished reading iljam al-awam and his qawayid al-aqayid. umm...somewhat. i will pass the question... (at least for now.) not exactly. but i cannot delve into the misquoted/misinterpreted quote of faysal al-tafriqah...as i said, for the moment at least. istidraj. Allah ta'ala knows best. [/QUOTE]
I have come across this, its by keller, is this a good understanding of Imam Tabari on the Ayaat al-Karima in question, (btw, i think the perennialist might have been quoting this article)? http://www.shadhiliteachings.com/tariq/?act=article&id=29
now for your questions: i cannot promise a 'better' one, but i can give you an alternative translation.whatever is unveiled to those on the path (tariqat) is only on account of holding fast unto divine law (shariat). otherwise, those who do not follow the shariah - among christian monks, hindu ascetics (jogis and sanyasis) have mystical experiences - but then, where does it finally lead them to? to that very fire of hell and painful torment (to which all kafirs are destined). QUOTE]2]What does disclosure mean in this context? [/quote]various things and what may appear to the external eye as a miracle. kashf sometimes knowledge passed on to them by shayaTin, etc. what may appear as beyond human capability. oh yes. in all books of aqidah/kalam, such supernatural abilities are termed istidraj. yes, after you have finished reading iljam al-awam and his qawayid al-aqayid. umm...somewhat. i will pass the question... (at least for now.) not exactly. but i cannot delve into the misquoted/misinterpreted quote of faysal al-tafriqah...as i said, for the moment at least. istidraj. Allah ta'ala knows best.
Salam Is the portion that was quoted not from Ala Hadrat rahmatullah alayh? And if it is (or even if it is by another scholar)what is the understanding of this extract? Have other Imams mentioned the same? Names and references would be useful. Appreciate your input.
alas! if only sunni tas'hilers learned to respect an author's work. they mercilessly hack and insert at will - and even alahazrat's works - PARTICULARLY alahazrat's work - is not spared this vandalism. this wanton alteration eye-pokingly visible in the recent 30-volume edition of fatawa ridawiyyah. indeed, those who undertook the task had good intentions at heart, but in their eagerness to make alahazrat's work accessible to everyone, they ignored the potential damage to alahazrat's corpus. why did they not use the footnotes for translations? or use some other method to distinguish alahazrat's writing from that of others? instead they inserted these translations in brackets and a first-timer is sure to be confused who really wrote those translations. indeed, they inserted a cryptic taa (ت) indicating translation but did they specify/clarify whether alahazrat made the translation himself or those who came after? in some cases some people even changed the names of the books. ---- 50-70 years from now, it is quite possible that any mistranslations or mistakes on the part of translators, will be attributed to alahazrat and will be a big burden for future generation of sunnis. that is how problematic entries in books of elders are found and later scholars have a tough time clarifying these things. but my annoyance is that alahazrat's rhyming prose is fractured everywhere due to these inserts and makes his beautiful books appear a little more than ordinary. anybody can collect facts and put them in one place - but only an expert author organises it in a progressive fashion and only a writer of alahazrat's class presents it in a captivating page-turning fashion and weaves in words that are music to ears.* even if one cuts-and-pastes from alahazrat's own books, these inserts make alahazrat's writing as either not focused or imprecise and haphazard. with due respect to those who have done it - it is disservice to alahazrat and his work. i am sure such taSarruf of - liberties with an author's work would not be tolerated, let alone permitted by any author. the version of iytiqadu'l ahbab here is one such example. the quote abdarrashid has mentioned below is actually from maqal al-urafa 1327AH but was inserted by the well-meaning editor in an earlier work iytiqad al-ahbab written in 1298 AH. the same thing is done with translations of alahazrat's urdu books into arabic - instead of prominently displaying that it is a translation, the cover page does not carry the translator's name. i can understand that the translator tries to minimise his importance as humility or in awe of alahazrat's greatness. but like it or not, alahazrat's arabic is of a different class altogether and such ordinary arabic damages alahazrat's reputation. long ago, someone gave me a few copies of 'arabic books' of alahazrat and i gave it to a few syrian ulama without inspecting (as-received). after a few days, i checked with them hoping for rave reviews. but the shaykh said: i respect the imam's standing, but he has a lot of mistakes in arabic. i was shocked - and i went back to inspect the book and indeed, found ajami expressions and ordinary mistakes. buried somewhere in the book was that it was a translation. we have heard of people attributing good to their teachers and elders even if their elders were not as qualified themselves; in our times, defective works of students are attributed to a highly qualified teacher! ----- publishers and editors, please! please stop hacking alahazrat's work. *sadru'sh shariah mawlana amjad ali hinted at this in his bahar-e-shariat (6th) part on hajj, where he simply included alahazrat's risalah and says that he did not alter any word, acknowledging the superiority of alahazrat's composition. update: english translators escape this - even though we may insert words and render ideas that alahazrat may not have intended; because everyone knows that alahazrat did not write in english and will fall back to the original - but if the 'original' is not pristine, we have an issue at hand.
i have looked at his tafsir. let us not waste time fighting imaginary demons; let the claimant first substantiate his premise. for you, however, my brother - rest assured that imam tabari 'categorically' states that any path that does not follow sayyidna RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam is the road to perdition. both are verses are similar (except that one has an additional clause) and the imam asserts that this concerns only those yahud, nasara, sabiy who have believed.
I had some more questions. A perenialist has said on another forum, "especially since the great commentator Tabari believed that salvation is possible for non-Muslims, and he is more than aware of the transmission of Ibn Abbas that supposedly abrogates 2:62 and 5:69. This is not to say that Tabari would have believed in the transcendent or esoteric unity of religions, but it goes to illustrate that our perspective isn't that far afield as to be labeled categorical heresy," 1] what was imam Tabari rahmatullah alayh position on the salavation of non-Muslims references would be useful.
Salam Ala Hadhrat rahmatullah alayh: Whatever is disclosed in the Tariqat is the grace brought by obeying the Shariat. Without following the Shariat great disclosures were made also to people like hermits and jogis and sannyasis (Brahmins of fourth order/religious medicants). But all these disclosures lead them to Hell and they deserve painful torment. [p.78, Iman and Islam (Aitiqad ul Ahbab), trans. Dr. Muhammad Raza and Majlis ul Ulama U.K. 1995] Questions: 1]Firstly can somebody with this text of Ala Hadhrat rahmatullah alayh ‘ Aitiqad ul Ahbab’ do a better translation? 2]What does disclosure mean in this context? 3]What is the Arabic word? 4]What do they receive? 5]Have other Imams spoken of this? 6]Also, i wanted to know about the book faysal tafriqa by Imam Hujjat al- Islam al-Ghazali rahmatullah alayh, is it permitted to follow this book? 7]I heard this text is problematic with the issue of the “unreached” , is this correct? 8]Have other imams also interpreted the faysal tafriqa like keller does with regard to the unreached? 9]If other Imams said this text was okay to follow, could we include “ hermits and jogis and sannyasis (Brahmins of fourth order/religious medicants),” and others from the Christian monks and jews etc.. under this rubric of the unreached that keller et al interpret from the faysal tafriqa? 10] I also, once heard from a pir that when Data Shahib Imam Ali al-Huwayri rahmatullah alayh went to Lahore a certain yogi was flying about and he challenged Data Shahib rahmatullah alayh .... I think people are aware of the rest of the account. Anyway the pir went on to say that the yogi was asked how he attained the power to fly, and he responded by saying that he overcame his nafs, or worked on it. My question is: have any of the Imams said that a non-muslim can achieve this if he fought the nafs? For all of this, i would appreciate a response with references, further reading etc. People to speak with? Wasalam
