Importance Of Peer Or Spiritual guide - Need Of A SUFI

There are two types of worlds:

[a] ‘Ālam-e-amr

[b] ‘Ālam-e-khalq

[a] ‘Ālam-e-amr: This is the world in which the Creator of the Universe says: ‘KUN’ [BE] and everything ‘fayakun’ – [SO IT BE] comes into existence. There is no need for any physical means or causes to take effect. [asbāb or ‘ilal]. For example the rūh is from the amr of Allāh, subhānahū wa ta’ālā.

[b] ‘Ālam-e-khalq: This is the world of means and causes. Everything in this realm is created by means and causes, contrary to ‘Ālam-e-amr. All humanity came into being through the means, wasīla of Ādam and Hawā’, ‘alayhumā as-salām.

It is determined by Allāh, subhānahū wa ta’ālā, to make things happen through asbāb [sing.Sabab]. The need of means to acquire knowledge by means of a teacher. Upbringing by means of parents. To the extent that even for eating and drinking water in one’s social life, everything is done by means of a wasīla, nothing happens directly. Allāh, the Almighty, Himself states in the Qur’ān;

“O You who believe, fear Allāh and seek wasīla [means] to reach Him.” 

By these Words of the Lord – Allāh, it is clear that when reaching and approaching Allāh by means of a wasīla is fard [compulsory] then what can man - the two legged animal achieve without the wasīla [means]?

Salāh [namāz] is a wasīla [means] of drawing closer to the presence of Allāh the Almighty and wudū being the wasīla [means] for Salāh and water being the wasīla [means] of wudū.

We need to have food for survival, to cook the food we need the means of pans or pots. The Pot receives heat from the fire and thus food is prepared. Without such means for food preparation the world will remain without cooked food. Alas! What would happen if there were a few wanting to enter paradise without the wasīla of the Messenger of Allāh, salla Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam. How is this possible!

Allāh the Almighty, orders:

“O Believers! Fear Allāh and remain in the company of the truthful.” 

In another statement Allāh, subhānahū wa ta’ālā, says:

“And on that Day We will call them with their Imāms [Mentors, Shaykhs]. 

From these Words it is evident that Allāh the Almighty orders that you seek means – wasīla. Seek association [suhbah – companionship] of the Truthful and We will call upon you by yourImāms [Shaykhs] whom you followed. Thus we learn that the means and association of a mentor is the best means of gaining closeness to Allāh.

Mawlānā Jalāl ud-Dīn, Rūmī says, “Search for your Shaykh for without a Shaykh this journey is full of tribulation, fear and dangers.”

Regarding the importance of a Shaykh, Mawlānā Rūmī says: “Without the shade of the Shaykh one cannot annihilate the self [nafs] thus hold firm to the sleeve of a perfect Pīr if you seek annihilation of the inner base self [nafs].”

Khwājah Bahā’ud-Dīn said: “My son, love of Allāh is not obtainable without a perfect Pīr –Kāmil Shaykh paving your way.”

Mawlānā ‘Abd al-Rahmān Jāmī, referring to the author of the famous ‘Mathnawī Sharīf’Mawlānā Jalāl ud-Dīn Rūmī, says: “The Scholar of Rūm could not become a Master up until he became the slave of Shams Tabrez.”

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Qalb | Kind OF Qalb's And Their Purification

QALB (Secret Of Allah (God)

Just as the Qalb may be described in terms of being alive or dead, it may also be regarded as belonging to one of three types; these are the healthy Qalb, the dead Qalb, and the sick Qalb.

The Healthy Qalb (Qalb Ka Zarihona) :

On the Day of Resurrection, only those who come to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala with a healthy Qalb will be saved. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says: "The day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use, except for whoever brings to Allah a sound Qalb. (26:88-89)"

In defining the healthy Qalb, the following has been said: "It is a Qalb cleansed from any passion that challenges what Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala commands, or disputes what He forbids. It is free from any impulses which contradict His good. As a result, it is safeguarded against the worship of anything other than Him, and seeks the judgment of no other except that of His Most Beloved Messenger Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam. Its services are exclusively reserved for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, willingly and lovingly, with total reliance, relating all matters to Him, in fear, hope and sincere dedication. When it loves, its love is in the way of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. If it detests, it detests in the light of what He detests. When it gives, it gives for AllahSubhanahu wa Ta'ala. If it withholds, it withholds for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Nevertheless, all this will not suffice for its salvation until it is free from following, or taking as its guide, anyone other than His Beloved Messenger Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam. Those who follow the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam in observing his Sunnah and the Shari`ah are guides to those who had not met him Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam.

A servant with a healthy Qalb must dedicate it to its journey's end and must not give precedence to any other faith or words or deeds over those of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and His Beloved Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace and those who are rightly guided, keeping the Prophetic example. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'alasays:

"Oh you who believe, do not put yourselves above Allah and His Messenger,
but fear Allah, for Allah is Hearing, Knowing. (49:1)"

The Dead Qalb (Murda Qalb)

This is the opposite of the healthy heart. It does not know its Lord and does not worship Him as He commands, in the way which He likes, and with which He is pleased. It clings instead to its lusts and desires, even if these are likely to incur Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's displeasure and wrath. It worships things other than Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and its loves and its hatreds, and its giving and its withholding, arise from its whims, which are of paramount importance to it and preferred above the pleasure of Allah. Its whims are its imam. Its lust is its guide. Its ignorance is its leader. Its crude impulses are its impetus. It is immersed in its concern with worldly objectives. It is drunk with its own fancies and its love for hasty, fleeting pleasures.

It is called to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and the akhira from a distance but it does not respond to advice, and instead it follows any scheming, cunning shaytan. Life angers and pleases it, and passion makes it deaf and blind[1] to anything except what is evil.To associate and keep company with the owner of such a heart is to tempt illness: living with him is like taking poison, and befriending him means utter destruction.

Sick Qalb

This is a heart with life in it, as well as illness. The former sustains it at one moment, the latter at another, and it follows whichever one of the two manages to dominate it. It has love for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala , faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and reliance upon Him, and these are what give it life. It also has a craving for lust and pleasure, and prefers them and strives to experience them. It is full of self-admiration, which can lead to its own destruction. It listens to two callers: one calling it to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and His Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam and the afterlife (akhira); and the other calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world. It responds to whichever one of the two happens to have most influence over it at the time. 

The first heart is alive, submitted to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala , humble, sensitive and aware; the second is brittle and dead; the third wavers between either its safety or its ruin.

Symptoms Of Qalb

He it is Who sent down calmness and tranquillity into the hearts of the believers, that they may grow more in Faith along with their (present) Faith. And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Ever Al-Knower, All-Wise.

The Noble Quran: [48 : 4]

Sign Of Sick Qalb

A servant's heart may be ill, and seriously deteriorating, while he remains oblivious of its condition. It may even die without him realising it. The symptoms of its sickness, or the signs of its death, are that its owner is not aware of the harm that results from the damage caused by wrong actions, and is unperturbed by his ignorance of the truth or by his false beliefs.

Since the living heart experiences pain as a result of any ugliness that it encounters and through its recognising its ignorance of the truth (to a degree that corresponds to its level of awareness), it is capable of recognising the onset of decay-and the increase in the severity of the remedy that will be needed to stop it-but then sometimes it prefers to put up with the pain rather than undergo the arduous trial of the cure!

Some of the many signs of the heart's sickness if its turning away from good foods to harmful ones, from good remedies to shameful sickness. The healthy heart prefers what is beneficial and healing to what is harmful and damaging; the sick heart prefers the opposite. The most beneficial sustenance for the heart is faith and the best medicine is the Qur'an al kareem.

Sign Of Healthy Qalb (Heart)

For the heart to be healthy it should depart from this life and arrive in the next, and then settle there as if it were one of its people; it only came to this life as a passer-by, taking whatever provisions it needed and then returning home. As the Beloved Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abdullah ibn Umar, "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a passer-by."[2]  The more diseased the heart is, the more it desires this world; it dwells in it until it becomes like one of its people.

 The healthy heart continues to trouble its owner until he returns to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and is at peace with Him, and reaches Him, like a lover driven by compulsion who finally reaches his beloved. Besides his love for Him he needs no other, and after invoking Him no other invocations are needed. Serving Him precludes the need to serve any other.

If this heart misses its share of reciting the Qur'an al kareem and invoking Allah (dhikrullah), or completing one of the prescribed acts of worship, then its owner suffers more distress than a cautious man who suffers because of the loss of money or a missed opportunity to make it. It longs to serve, just as a famished person longs for food and drink.

Yahya ibn Mu'adh said: 

Whoever is pleased with serving Allah, everything will be pleased to serve him; and whoever finds pleasure in contemplating Allah, all the people will find pleasure in contemplating him.

This heart has only one concern: that all its actions, and its inner thoughts and utterances, are obedient to Allah. It is more careful with its time than the meanest people are with their money, so that it will not be spent wastefully. When it enters into the prayer, all its worldly worries and anxieties vanish and it finds its comfort and bliss in adoring its Lord. It does not cease to mention Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, nor tire of serving Him, and it finds intimate company with no-one save a person who guides it to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and reminds it to Him.

Its attention to the correctness of its action is greater than its attention to the action itself. It is scrupulous in making sure that the intentions behind its actions are sincere and pure and that they result in good deeds.

As well as and in spite of all this, it not only testifies to the generosity of AllahSubhanahu wa ta'ala  in giving it the opportunity to carry out such actions, but also testifies to its own imperfection and shortcomings in executing them.

What Is The Reason Behind Murda Qalb (Sick Heart)

The temptations to which the heart is exposed are what cause its sickness. These are the temptations of desires and fancies. The former cause intentions and the will to be corrupted, and the latter cause knowledge and belief to falter.

Hudhayfa ibn al-Yamani, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

The Messenger of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said, "Temptations are presented to the heart, one by one. Any heart that accepts them will be left with a black stain, but any heart that rejects them will be left with a mark of purity, so that hearts are of two types: a dark heart that has turned away and become like an overturned vessel, and a pure heart that will never be harmed by temptation for as long as the earth and the heavens exist. The dark heart only recognises good and denounces evil when this suits its desires and whims.[3]

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, placed hearts, when exposed to temptation, into two categories:

First, a heart which, when it is exposed to temptation, absorbs it like a sponge that soaks up water, leaving a black stain in it. It continues to absorb each temptation that is offered to it until it is darkened and corrupted, which is what he meant by "like an overturned vessel". When this happens, two dangerous sicknesses take hold of it and plunge it into ruin:

The first is that of its confusing good with evil, to such an extent that it does not recognise the former and does not denounce the latter. This sickness may even gain hold of it to such an extent that it believes good to be evil and vice-versa, the Sunnah to bebida' and vice-versa, the truth to be false and falsity to be the truth.

The second is that of its setting up its desires as its judge, over and above what the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam taught, so that it is enslaved and led by its whims and fancies.

Second, a pure heart which the light of faith is bright and from which its radiance shines. When temptation is presented to pure hearts such this, they oppose it and reject it, and so their light and illumination only increase.

 Source : - http://www.spiritualfoundation.net

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History Of Islamic Times / Islamic Territories

c. 570 CE	Birth of Muhammad.
c. 610 CE	Muhammad receives first vision in a cave near Mecca.
c. 610-22 CE	Muhammad preaches in Mecca.
622 CE	Hijira - Muhammad and followers flee to Medina. Islamic calendar (AH, Anno Hegirae) begins.
624 CE	Muslims successfully attack Meccan caravans at Badr.
625	Muslims are defeated by Meccans at Uhud.
630	Muslims capture Mecca. Ka'ba is cleansed, pilgrimage rites are Islamicized, tribes of Arabia vow allegiance to Muhammad
632	Death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr chosen as caliph.
632-33	Wars of ridda (apostasy) restore allegiance to Islam
633	Muslim conquests (Futuhat) begin.
633-42	Muslim armies take the Fertile Crescent (Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia), North African coast, parts of Persian and Byzantine Empires
c. 650	Caliph Uthman has the Qur'an written down.
656	Uthman is murdered; Ali becomes fourth caliph.
657	Battle of Siffin. Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, claims the caliphate.
659	Arbitration at Adruh is opposed by Ali's supporters.
661	Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph. Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-750).
680	Death of Husayn marks beginning of the Shi'at Ali ("party of Ali") or Shi'a sect.
685-705	Reign of Abd al-Malik. Centralization of administration - Arabic becomes official written language (instead of Greek and Persian) and Arab coinage is established.
late 600s	Ruling classes in East and West Africa convert to Islam.
700-800s	Groups of ascetics and mystics begin to form
710	Arab armies enter Spain from North Africa.
732	Muslim empire reaches its furthes extent. Battle of Tours prevents further advance northwards.
747	Revolt defeats the Umayyads.
750	Abu l'Abbas becomes caliph in Iraq
754	Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam, "city of peace") becomes the new capital of the Abbasid empire.
755	Abd ar-Rahman founds an Umayyad Dynasty in Cordoba, Spain.
765	Division within Shi'ites - majority are the modern Imamiyya (Twelvers) who co-exist with Abbasid caliphs; minority are more extreme Isma'iliyaa (Seveners).
786-809	Reign of Harun ar-Rashid, best known through the stories of The Thousand and One Nights.
800s	Written collections of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) are compiled. Sicily comes under Muslim rule.
813-33	Reign of Ma'mun. Theological controversy over whether the Qur'an is created or uncreated and eternal. Center for translation of texts from Greek to Arabic founded in Baghdad.
869-883	Uprisings of black slaves (Zanj) are eventually defeated.
908	First Fatimid caliph in Tunisia.
928	Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman III declares himself caliph in Cordoba.
940	Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth imam, disappears. Twelvers still await the future return of the "Hidden Imam."
945	The Buyids (Persian) invade Baghdad and take power from caliph.
969	Fatimids gain power in Egypt and attack Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. Cairo (Al-Qahira, "the victorious city") is founded.
980-1037	Life of Avicenna, Iranian physician and Aristotelian philosopher.
996-1021	Reign of Fatimid al-Hakim. Hamza ibn Ali forms basis of esoteric Druze religion.
late 900s	West Africa begins to convert to Islam
1030	Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba defeated by the Christian Reconquista.
1055	Seljuk Turks take Baghdad; Abbasids now only nominal rulers.
1000s	Reconquista takes more of Spain, Sicily falls to the Normans, Crusader kingdoms are briefly established in Palestine and Syria.
1071	Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert.
1090	Hasan-i Sabbah takes Alamut in the Persian mountains, the Assassin sect forms around him.
1099	Christian Crusaders take Jerusalem.
1100-1200s	Sufi orders (turuq) are founded.
1126-98	Life of Averroës, Muslim philosopher from Cordoba who sought to integrate Islam with Greek thought.
1171	Fatimid power ends in Egypt with the conquests of Saladin.
1174	Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt and Syria.
1193	Death of Saladin; most of Crusader states have returned to Islam.
1200s	Assassins wipes out by the Mongols. Indian rulers in Delhi take title of Sultan. Spanish mystic Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) flourishes.
1221	Genghis Khan and the Mongols enter Persia.
1241	Mongols take the Punjab.
1258	Mongols capture Baghdad; city is sacked and caliph is killed. End of Abbasid caliphate.
1281-1324	Reign of Uthman (Osman), who founds the Ottoman Empire. Muslim merchants and missionary Sufis settle in SE Asia.
mid-1300s	Ottomans capture Bursa and Iznik and move into Europe.
1366	Capital of Ottoman Empire moved from Bursa to Adrianople.
late 1300s	Ottomans take control of the Balkans.
1400s	Islam reaches the Philippines.
1453	Mehmet Fatih (rules 1451-81) conquers Constantinople. The two halves of the Ottoman Empire are united and the sultan becomes Byzantine emperor.
1492	Castile and Aragon capture Granada. All Muslims (and Jews) expelled from Spain.
1501	Isma'il (1487-1524) claims to be the Hidden Imam and is proclaimed Shah (king) of Persia. Twelver Shi'ism becomes official religion of Persia.
1516	Ottomans conquer Syria and Egypt.
1517	Ottomans control Mecca and Medina.
1520-66	Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent; Ottoman Empire reaches its zenith. Hungary and coastlands of Algeria and Tunisia come under Ottoman rule.
1526	Babur (Mongolian) seizes the Delhi sultanate and takes control of northern India.
1556	Akbar founds the Mughal dynasty in northern India.
1600-1700s	Venetians, Habsburgs, and Russians divide European Ottoman lands between them.
1625	Java comes under rule of Muslim kingdom of Mataram.
1699	Treaty of Karlowitz confirms first substantial losses of Ottoman Empire in Europe.
1700s	Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab rejects Sufism and all innovation (bid'a). Founds what becomes the Saudi Arabian kingdom. Hindus regain power from Mughals in northern India.
1738	Mughal empire invaded by the Afghans.
1779	Afghans ousted by Qajar dynasty, which rules Persia until 1925.
1798	Napoleon's expedition to Egypt.
1805	Muhammad Ali becomes governor of Egypt, which becomes independent of the Ottomans, gains control of western Arabia and extends into the Sudan.
1807-76	Tanzimat period. Ottoman Empire undergoes extensive program of modernization in government, law, and medicine.
1830	Greece regains independence from Ottomans.
1850s	Non-Muslim Ottoman citizens granted equality with Muslims.
1858	Last Mughal in India is deposed and India comes under British rule.
1876-1908	Reign of Abd al-Hamid II; autocratic and religiously conservative period in Ottoman rule.
1878	Congress of Berlin recognizes independence of Balkan states previously under Muslim rule.
1882-1952	Egypt occupied by the British.
1908-18	Last decade of Ottoman rule. Rise of nationalistic "Young Turks." More liberal policies develop.
1912	Founding of Islamic Union (Sareket Islam), a modernizing movement in SE Asia.
1918	Fall of Ottoman Empire. League of Nations grants Britain mandatory status over Palestine and Iraq, and France over Lebanon and Syria.
1923	Republic of Turkey established. Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) is first president.
1927	Tablighi Jamaat reform movement founded in India.
1928	Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brothers) founded in Egypt.
1941	Jamaat-i Islami reform movement founded in Lahore, India.
1945	Indonesia becomes independent republic.
1945-60s	Islam spreads to the West with mass migrations from Asia, Africa, and India.
1947	Pakistan founded as an Islamic nation. Islam becomes a minority religion in India.
1957	Independent Malayan state established with Islam as the official religion but guaranteed tolerance.
1960s	Familes from SE Asia and North Africa emigrate to Europe and the Americas.
1979	Shah of Iran is overthrown by Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni, who establishes strict fundamentalist rule of Shi'a principles.
late 1990s	Taliban come to power in Afghanistan.
2001	Muslim extremists attack the United States.
2003	Saddam Hussein ousted by Western forces.

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