CHAPTER 1: CHAPTER 1: NAZIM AL-QUBRUSI'S FIRST STATEMENT: "Follow your sheikh and do not object to him--even when he contradicts the Rules of the Religion." The first chapter shall serve to expose the methodology Of Sheikh al-Qubrusi based on his saying: "One is not entitled to refute or object to any of the matters of his sheikh even if he contradicts the pure rules of the Religion." So apparent in the works of Sheikh al-Qubrusi is his methodology based on total acceptance of all the matters of one's sheikh--whether this sheikh is complying with the rules of the Religion or contradicting them. Firstly: I found Sheikh al-Qubrusi does not in the least value the Knowledge of the Religion nor does he see any merit in acquiring it. Sheikh Nazim says on pages 56-57 in his book titled MercyOceans'EndlessHorizons: This Grandsheikh, Abdul Wahhab ash-Shaarani, once said: "When the Last Day is announced, Allah Almighty will call one religious scholar forward and ask him: 'Are you a knowledgeable religious man?' He will answer: 'As You know, Oh my Lord.' 'By virtue of what knowledge are you claiming to be a learned person--what did you know in your life?' 'Oh my Lord, I knew all of the Qur'an by heart.' 'That is your knowledge?' 'Yes.' 'No, you are mistaken, for the Qur'an is My Knowledge, not yours. So now, tell me, what else did you know?' 'I knew thousands of the Holy Traditions by heart.' 'That is My Prophet's knowledge, not yours.' 'Well, I knew so many points of Divine Law and jurisprudential verdicts.' 'That is the knowledge of the Imams of those Schools of Law, not yours.' 'I knew many tales from the lives of the great Sufis.' 'That is also not your knowledge, but theirs. When you quoted Abu Yazid or Salman or Hasan al-Basri or Imam Ghazzali, it was their knowledge, not yours, of which you spoke. But what about you, does any knowledge belong to you?" "Thus does Allah Almighty strip him bare so he may see that, actually, he had gained no knowledge whatsoever during the course of his life." Definitely, the one who accepts such saying will be completely unmotivated to acquire any religious knowledge. Consequently he will not endeavor to memorize the Qur'an, learn the hadith, or revert back to one of the sayings of the reputable scholars--since all of that, according to this false claim, is worthless in the Hereafter. If the case is as Sheikh al-Qubrusi portrays, then what is the beneficial knowledge? If we do not study the meanings of the Qur'an and the hadith and what is related to them among the genuine sciences to learn about our Religion, then what are we going to study? If we do not follow the madhhabs of Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, Imam Malik, Imam AbuHanifah, or Imam Ahmad, then who shall we follow? Moreover, one questions the meaning of the saying he attributed to Allah: "This is My Knowledge and not yours"--since every knowledge one acquires is known to Allah. According to his statement, no matter how hard one endeavors, one would not acquire any knowledge. The mindful person should ask Sheikh Nazim, "Is it possible one learns a knowledge which Allahdoes not know?" Answering: "Yes; it is possible one would learn a knowledge Allahdoes not know," is clear blasphemy. On the other hand, answering "No," is negating Sheikh Nazim's own words and opposes his own saying. Then, the mindful person would also inquire: "What is the secret behind demotivating one to acquire the religious knowledge?" Usually, the one who encourages others to remain ignorant is either an ignorant person himself trying to hide his own ignorance, or a person seeking to prepare an atmosphere of prevailing ignorance so he can say whatever he wants without anyone catching his flaws and inconsistencies. How does Sheikh Nazim explain the saying of Allah: (Al-Isra', 9) which means: [This Qur'an guides to what is best.]? How does he explain the saying of the Prophet, related by al-Bukhariyy: which means: <>? How does Sheikh Nazim deal withthe saying of the Prophet: which means: <>? Moreover, why did the Companions endeavor to memorize the Qur'an? Some memorized it all. Some memorized half of it. Some less than that, and others more than that. Likewise is the case of the followers of the Companions and their followers. Why does the entire Muslim nation hold the consensus regarding the merit of memorizing theQur'an and reciting it? Does the mindful person accept that the guidance of the Prophet and his Companions is invalid? Certainly not! As a case in point, we do see the followers of Sheikh Nazim stay with him for years to learn and memorize his sayings. Sheikh Nazim sees this as a merit for them, while on the other hand, he sees spending their time learning the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Prophet, and the sayings of the Imams of the Religion as a waste of their time and ignorance on their part. How can that be acceptable when considering the saying of al-Junayd al-Baghdadiyy, who is the head of the Sufis? Al-Junayd al-Baghdadiyy said: His saying means: "I only accept those special matters which occur to me if they conform to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet." How would the one who does not study the Book of Allah know its meanings? How would the one who does not study the Sunnah of the Prophet know its meanings? Secondly: Sheikh Nazim encourages his followers not to refer back to the scholars for answers to their questions--rather to look down on them. He says in his book, MercyOceans, page 117: "So many Alims are denying this or that hadith while Awliya say that those hadiths are all right. Thus, we take hadiths from those people who have the light of Iman in their hearts showing them the truth." As he explicitly indicated in his book more than once, what he means by "those people who have the light of Imam in their hearts showing them the truth" are himself and those who are like him--not the People of Knowledge or the Scholars of Hadith. A few lines later in the same book someone asked him, "So, until we receive that higher vision that the Awliya have, we must accept all hadiths as true?" Sheikh Nazim answered him, "Yes." On that same page, he said: "Also, if any book has hadiths from the Prophet (peace be upon him), we accept it out of respect for the Prophet. If it is an incorrect hadith, there is no responsibility for us if we accept it. This is a high adab, or good manners. If someone says, 'This is a hadith,' we believe it out of respect to our Prophet (peace be upon him) we must believe it." I say: These statements of Sheikh Nazim are extremely dangerous because they claim we have to believe anyone who attributes a hadithto the Prophet. Is this not an avenue for every swindler and enemy of Islam to plant whatever he wants, in an attempt to pervert our Religion without anyone detecting him? Is this not a vehicle for anyone who desires to say whateverhewants without having sound criteria to back his statements--besides the claimed "inspiration and illumination"--something anyone can claim for himself? Does being polite with the Prophet and his hadithsmean to mix the authentic hadith with the weak one, or the straighthadith with the twisted one? Is it not the case that politeness with the Prophet and his hadiths entails being concerned about anyone who is fabricating a hadith and attributing it to the honorable person of the Prophet? Does not being polite with the Prophet and his hadithrather entail protecting the hadiths of the Prophet from lies, perversion, and fabrications of the swindlers and the liars? I say, "Yes!" Had politeness with the Prophet been what Sheikh Nazim mentioned in his book, MercyOceans, then why did the Prophet say: which means: <> This is a mutawatir hadith narrated by Imam Muslim. Is it not clear that al-Qubrusi wants us to follow the liars whom the Prophet warned us against? If politeness with the Prophet had been what al-Qubrusi mentioned in his book, then why did the scholars of hadith put forth so much effort and endeavor to establish the rules of the Science of Hadith. Why did they author books to discriminate between the authentic hadiths and the fabricated ones? Is it acceptable that the waliyy of Allah, Imam al-Bukhariyy and his student Imam Muslim, as well as at-Tirmidhiyy, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'iyy, Ibn Majah, al-Hakim, Ibnu Hibban, al-Bayhaqiyy, Ibnus-Salah, Ibn Hajar al-^Asqalaniyy, as-Suyutiyy, az-Zabidiyy, and others among the scholars of this nation are all astray for setting precise conditions for the acceptance and implementation of a hadith? This is the conclusion of the claim of Sheikh al-Qubrusiyy. Moreover, do we take by al-Qubrusi's claim and conclude that Imam al-Bukhariyy and Imam Muslim troubled themselves for no reason or benefit when they authored their books of As-Sahih, or when they authored about the credibility and non-credibility of narrators, or when they authored about accepting certain hadiths and rejecting others? Would even one Muslim accept attributing to the aforementioned scholars and hafidhsof hadith "the lack of politeness" with the Prophet as was defined in al-Qubrusi's book? We do not think that Sheikh al-Qubrusi claims to be more knowledgeable, pious, or God-fearing than those scholars. Sheikh al-Qubrusi said this very strange statement (in dispraising the scholars and the acquiring of the knowledge of the Religion) which definitely no one among the prominent and reputable Sufis such as al-Junayd, al-Baghdadiyy, ^Amr Ibn ^Uthman al-Makkiyy, Abu ^Uthman al-Maghribiyy, ar-Rifa^iyy, al-Jilaniyy, Shah Naqshaband, ash-Shadhiliyy, or others ever said before. Rather, it was the Isma^iliyy faction as well as other groups deviant to Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah who made similar statements. However, the one who identifies himself with them and follows them in their falsehood has only himself to blame on the Day of Judgment. Why did Sheikh al-Qubrusi lower the status of the scholars? Allah, the Exalted, said: (Fatir, 28) which means: [It is the scholars who are the most God-fearing.] Allah said: (Az-Zumar, 9) which means: [Those who are learned are not equal to those who are not learned.] As related by at-Tirmidhiyy, the Messenger of Allahsaid: which means: <> As related by Abu Dawud, the Messenger of Allahsaid: which means: <> Is it not the case that the righteous, God-fearing ones are those who have learned the knowledge Allah made obligatory upon them and have implemented it? If the implementing scholars are not among the waliyys, then who are the waliyys according to al-Qubrusi? Know for sure, if there is a waliyy who is not a scholar, at the least he must have completed learning the Personal Obligatory Knowledge of the Essentials of Belief and the Rules of Jurisprudence. In his book, "Al-Burhanal-Mu'ayyad," our great shaykh, Imam ar-Rifa^iyy, shed light on this point when he said: His saying means: "Say, 'Ash-Shafi^iyy said'; 'Malik said'; 'Ahmad said'; 'AbuHanifahsaid.' Validate your essential dealings through the basic knowledge, then direct your attention to the extra sayings. To say, 'Al-Harith said' and 'Abu Yazid said' does not add to or decrease your merit. Rather, saying 'Ash-Shafi^iyysaid' and 'Malik said' [to implement that] is the most viable among the avenues and the closest route. The Shaykhs of the Tariqah and the Knights of Truth tell you, 'Hold on tightly to the scholars.' I do not tell you, 'Become philosophers.' Rather, I tell you, 'Learn the Knowledge of the Religion.' The one whom Allah willed for him a lot of goodness, Allah makes him knowledgeable in the Religion." Imam ar-Rifa^iyy, may Allahraise his rank, said in the same book: which means: "The route of the Sufis leads to the same ending as the route of the scholars, and the route of the scholars leads to the same ending as that of the Sufis. The hardships the scholars encounter during their endeavors are the same hardships the Sufis face on their route. The Tariqah(Sufi order) is the same as the rules of the Religion and the rules of the Religion are the same as the Tariqah. The difference between them is that of terminology--however their content, meaning, and result is the same. I only see the Sufi as misguided if he denies the route of the scholar; and the scholar as deprived of much goodness if he denies the route of the Sufi." These words of Imam ar-Rifa^iyy judge the words that appeared in the book of al-Qubrusi as deviant and contrary to the methodology of the knowledgeable people; and words of one who is misguided. By consensus, Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy is known as among the greater knowledgeable Sufis--even Nazim Qubrusi, in his book, MercyOceans, says that about him. Imam ar-Rifa^iyy, may Allah raise his rank, memorized the Qur'an. He memorized the hadiths with their chains of narrators. He knew and taught the Shafi^iyy jurisprudence. He urged his students to do the same--which is contrary to the methodology mentioned in the book, MercyOceans. Thirdly: Sheikh Nazim plants the deviant belief among his followers that the ignorant person is not accountable. He says on page 57 in his book on the teachings of his sheikh, ad-Daghistani: "We are responsible as our knowledge grows. There is no responsibility for ignorant people." Such teaching undoubtedly encourages his followers to refrain from acquiring the knowledge--in order to escape accountability--as per their claim. Hence, they remain ignorant, unable to discriminate between the lawful and the unlawful, submitting to the claims of just anyone, to turn with him which ever way the wind blows. Moreover, al-Qubrusi's words include belying the Qur'an, the Messenger of Allah, and the Imams of Guidance. In Surat al-Hashr, Verse 7, Allah, the Exalted, said: (al-Hashr, 7) which means: [Accept what the Prophet saidand refrain from what he prohibited you from doing.] So, Allah ordered us to follow the Prophet in what he ordered and forbade. Yet, the words of al-Qubrusi lead one to believe it is permissible to stay ignorant, and should one neglect doing what the Prophet ordered or commit what he forbade, it is of no consequence--for one will not be accountable in the Hereafter because he was ignorant!!! Certainly such a claim is invalid!!! Had this been the case, then ignorance would have been better than knowledge, because--according to them--ignorance guarantees one safety in the Hereafter, whereas knowledge does not! Discrediting such a statement is easy, since it belies the saying of Allah: (Az-Zumar, 9) which means: [Those who are knowledgeable are not equal to those who do not know.] It also belies the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud: which means: <> Al-Qubrusi's claim also belies the hadith narrated by Ibn Majah regarding the injured person who was ill-advised to perform the purificatory ghusl and died as a result. The Prophet made a supplication against those who gave that man this wrong advice. He said: which means : <> At-Tabaraniyy narrated the hadithof the Prophet: This hadith means: <> Moreover, no one among the shaykhs of the Tariqahssaid the Tariqah alone suffices. The words of Sheikh Qubrusi belie the consensus of the entire nation that it is a personal obligation on every Muslim to acquire a certain amount of the Religious Knowledge, and he who neglects acquiring it is sinful. Our master, Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy, said in his book, Al-Burhan, "Allah did not make any ignorant person a waliyy (highly righteous Muslim). ...The highly righteous one is not ignorant of the rules of his Religion--neither the summarized knowledge (knowing about what Allahordered and forbade, i.e., the Personal Obligatory Knowledge), nor the more complete knowledge--which is the Knowledge of Interpretation, the Knowledge of Hadith, the Knowledge of Fiqh, etc..." Before him, Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, who is by consensus the Waliyy of Allah, said: "Seeking the knowledge is better than the supererogatory prayer." Imam an-Nawawiyy narrated these words from ash-Shafi^iyyin the beginning of his book, "Al-Majmu^." It is sufficient here to mention the words of the head of the Sufis, al-Junayd, to whom al-Qubrusi attributes his chain of Sufism. As narrated by al-Khatib al-Baghdadiyy, al-Junayd said: "The one who does not memorize the Qur'anor learn the hadith is not followed in this knowledge, because our knowledge is bound by the book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet." The meaning of al-Junayd's saying is explicit and clear: "The one who does not acquire the Knowledge of the Religion based on the Book of Allahand the Sunnah of the Prophet is not fit to be a shaykh of a Tariqah-- who teaches, guides, and raises others. Let us point out here that if the followers of Sheikh al-Qubrusi neglect acquiring the knowledge, they will never acquire the scale needed to properly weigh the matters of the Religion. Consequently, they become an easy morsel for the devilish humans who will use them for worldly gains and fame--while deluding them that they have acquired a high status, when in reality they sink them to the lowest status a human being would reach. Fourthly: Sheikh al-Qubrusi filled his book with many untrue and unfounded sayings. He said, "There is a soul to the soul!" He even said, "There is a soul to the soul of the soul!!" He said, "Allahcreated the heavens and earth in seven days" (i.e., instead of six)!!! Then he topped such lies with deviant rulings which revoke the laws of the Religion and demolish it. Some examples include: canceling the obligation of prayers; devaluating the issue of fasting; urging to consume what is unlawful; extensive talk about marriage while perverting its rules and mixing them with fictitious stories--such as telling the people, "When the man first consummates the marriage with his wife, all their sins would be forgiven;" and other bizarre fabrications which render the one who believes them misguided and which abolish even the facade of worship. Following this route is very dangerous. He who follows such a route denies the rules brought by Prophet Muhammad and becomes one who follows the desires of his self, concerned about satisfying his stomach and his genitals. He becomes one who does not avoid the unlawful; one who does not protect against the doubtful matters; one who does not fear the punishment in the Hereafter--especially since Sheikh al-Qubrusi tells him, "Allah forgives His slaves for all of their sins every night." He also tells them, "The devil misguides them during the day, and Allah forgives them for it at night"!! Isay: If the follower reaches this level of negligence--not memorizing the Qur'an and the Sunnah, not paying attention to ask the scholars or seek their fatwas, believing prayers and fasting have no significance, and believing whatever sins a person commits, Allahforgives him for them at night--then such a person becomes an atheist who turned his back on the Religion of the Messenger of Allah. So, how would the case be if such a person, over and above that, believes understanding the religion comes only through his sheikh, Nazim Qubrusi; that the secrets (according to them) of the religion are attained only through Sheikh Nazim; that Sheikh Nazim is the head of the waliyys and the leader of the God-fearing ones; that whatever he says is the Religion and whatever he utters is the truth; that it is not permissible to object to him; that his deeds are not to be weighed by the scales of the Religion--rather he is above that; that anyone who dares to weigh the deeds of Sheikh Nazim by the scale of the Religion is short-sighted, deprived of goodness, failed the test, and is far from the special visions?? According to such a person, Sheikh Nazim is not to be objected to, and he is correct--even if he defies the orders of Allah and the Messenger of Allah. To such a person, the Religion is represented by the sayings and doings of his sheikh--not what the Prophet conveyed from Allah and ordered to implement. On page 108 in his book, MercyOceans, Nazim Qubrusi says, "Our Grandshaykh says that in our time no one from among the Awliya has been given permission to speak about secret knowledge except him. He may speak Quranic secrets." Nazim is his vicegerent, translator, and the conveyer of his thoughts. This means Nazim is the onlyone who carries the true meanings of the Religion. It means the seeker of knowledge has no alternative but to go through him--as repeatedly declared by Sheikh Nazim on different occasions and in different books. TothatIsay: This is totally rejected! It is precisely the saying of the Batiniyyah, who claim that the Religion is what their imam says, and can only be known through him. How can Sheikh Qubrusi claim the existence of a concealed knowledge in the Religion when the Prophet conveyed from Allah all what was revealed to him. In Surat al-Ma'idah, Verse 67, Allah said: which means: [O Messenger of Allah, convey what was revealed to you from your Lord. If you do not then you have failed to convey.] In his book, "Al-Fasl Fil-Milal-Wannihal,"Ibn Hazm explicitly stated the judgment of blasphemy for he who claims the Prophet conveyed only the literal rules of the Religion, and that the rules have truly another concealed context. How could such a claim be other than blasphemy when Allahsaid: (Al-Ma'idah, 3) which means: [Today I have completed your Religion for you and fulfilled My Endowment on you.] On page 45 in his book, MercyOceans'PinkPearls, Nazim Qubrusi recounts a statement oftenly told to him by his shaykh: "Oh Nazim Efendi, don't put my words and actions in a scale and weigh them. Don't say, 'Why is that Sheikh saying such-and-such or doing so-and-so.'" A few lines later, Nazim Qubrusi quotes his grandsheikh as saying to him, "In order to follow us you must follow without judging or objecting." In that regard he classified himself as al-Khadir, peace be upon him, and ranked himself in the same rank as one of the prophets of Allah! He even said in the same book, page 47, "As far as the actions of your Sheikh are concerned, don't try to weigh and evaluate them with your mind, even if you be the Prophet Moses!" I say: These words are not the words of a waliyy among the waliyys of Allah. Rather, these are the exact words of the Batiniyyahfaction, whom our Master, Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy and others among the great Sufis warned against. The fact is, it is an obligation on the Muslims to warn against such deviations. Doing so entails a reward greater than that of building a mosque because this preserves the Religion, protects the creed of the Muslims, and fulfills the obligation of ordering the lawful and forbidding the unlawful. This also conforms to the saying of the Truthful Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, related by Abu Dawud: which means: <> It is well known that our Master ^Umar used to draw the attention of Abu Bakr--who was the best of the Companions, to certain matters which he felt would be correct if done otherwise . Our master ^Umar recognized the right of one woman, who had a lower status then he, to correct his own statement when she reminded him of an ayah which showed he was not entitled to enforce a certain issue with regard to the matter of the women's marriage payment (mahr). He said: which means: "^Umar was mistaken and the woman was correct." It was never said by Abu Bakr or ^Umar, "I am above being corrected, so do not weigh my sayings and doings in your minds." Neither told the people, "Follow me with your eyes, ears, and mouths shut." Neither claimed to be cognizant of all the details and secrets of the rules of the Religion, as some people claim nowadays. As a matter of fact, when Abu Bakr was asked about a verse of the Qur'an which he had not learned the meaning of, he said: which means: "Which earth is going to carry me and which sky is going to cover me, if I say about the book of Allah that which I do not know." ^Umar used to say: which means: "We seek refuge with Allah from a dilemma which occurs when AbuHasan [Imam ^Aliyy] is not present," (that is, so I can seek his help in dealing with it.) The methodology of the Companions and those who came after them among the scholars and the waliyys, was to quit any mistakes once proven as such by the proofs of the Religion. They never said, "We are the people of the Batin (inner secrets) and you are the people of what is apparent." Shaykh ^Abdul-Qadir al-Jilaniyy did not say that. Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy did not say that; nor did Shah Naqshaband, nor his vicegerents, nor did any one among the True Sufis. The one who says today, "I am the only one today who knows all the secrets of the Religion," is in fact claiming he has a knowledge which Abu Bakr did not claim for himself and which ^Umar did not claim for himself, and as such, is claiming to be more knowledgeable than either one of them!! The one who is blinded to such an extent of arrogance is one with whom you cannot reason. He is, as the poet said: which means: "If you are calling upon someone alive, he will hear; however, the one you are calling upon has no life." It is a religious duty to warn against the one who promotes and spreads such misguidance--especially that it involves clearing the True Sufis from such filth. The enemies of Sufism--who are very active--find in the sayings and doings of such a person an easy avenue to slander the honorable route of True Sufism. The route of the truly religious people is to humble themselves to the Rules of the Religion and the believers, and to leave out unfounded claims. They are not concerned with whether the people aggrandize them or praise them; rather, they are concerned about being accepted by Allah. They do not see themselves above receiving advice and are not too arrogant to accept it. They do not consider the follower who advises them as a 'loser' or a 'misguided person', rather they accept his advice if it conforms to the Religion. Should they commit a sinful matter, they leave it out and repent. Arrogance does not lead them to accept remaining sinful; to them, the rules of the Religion stand as the foundation--and not their own statements and sayings--contrary to the teachings of Sheikh al-Qubrusi. The Honorable Master and Ocean of Merits, the Waliyy of Allah by consensus, Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy, may Allahraise his rank, said: His statement means: "Submit to the special situations of the People of Sufism as long as they do not contradict the Rules of the Religion, for if they do, definitely cling to the Rules of the Religion." The Bright Falcon and Tall, Vigorous Lion, our Master: ^Abdul-Qadir al-Jilaniyy, may Allah raise his rank, said in his book, Adab al-Murid: which means: "If you see the shaykh do something wrong, bring it to his attention. If he quits it then he quits it, or else, abandon him and follow the Rules of the Religion." After the sayings of these two great imams and their likes, among the lion-like men, those who do not exceed the boundaries Allah set forth, who aggrandize the prophets of Allah, there is no weight given to any person who opposes them and considers himself above the boundaries of the Religion. One must refrain from "brown-nosing" others who are engaged in such matters, for it does not help at all on the Day of Judgment. Ibn Hibban related the Messenger of Allah said: which means: <> The intelligent Muslim is the one who accuses himself of short performance and prepares himself for the life after death. Allah is the One Who guides to the valid deeds. 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