Rabita-i Sharifa

Rabita-i Sharifa by Hadrat Sayyid Abd al-Hakim Arwasi RH

 "It is called rabita to attach one's heart to and to keep in one's imagination the image of the face of a Wali* [*Comment: In the Path of the Masters of Wisdom, the disciple must concentrate on the point between the eyebrows of the Shaykh, and preserve the conviction that his every state is visible and comprehensible to the Shaykh. In this manner, by drawing the dignity and majesty of the Shaykh upon himself, he must purify his inner being.] , in his presence or absence, who has been qualified with the Qualities of Allahu ta'ala and attained to the stage of mushahada. Thinking of those who have attained perfection is very useful, as expressed in the hadiths, 'Allahu ta'ala is remembered when they are seen,' and 'Those who are with them do not become rebels [against Allahu ta'ala]', which are related by al-Bukhari and Muslim. A faithful, pure Muslim attains the qualities and hals of such a man of Allah by thinking of him. The hadiths order Muslims to stay with pious Muslims, that is, Allahu ta'ala's beloved servants.

The 'ulama' of Bukhara, Khiwa, Samarqand and India (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain) have unanimously declared, performed and ordered their students to perform rabita since 200 up to 1200 A.H.

The 32nd ayat al-karima of Surat al-Ma'ida declares, 'look for wasila to attain Him.' The wasila, or wasita, in this imperative ayat karima is not bound by any condition but is used in a general sense. 'Ibadat, dhikr, dua and the ruhs of awliya' are included in this command.

The wasila is Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) is made known in the Divine Command in the 31st ayat al-karima of Surat Al 'Imran: 'If you love Allahu ta'ala, adapt yourselves to me! Allahu ta'ala loves those who adapt themselves to me.'

Al-Bukhari wrote in his Sahih that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (radi-Allahu 'anh) said that Rasulullah was never away from his heart and mind so much so that he complained that Rasulullah's image was in his memory even when he was in the bathroom.

Allahu ta'ala declared, 'Oh believers! Fear Allah! Be with the faithful!' in the 120th ayat al-karima of Surat at-Tawba. Here, 'be with' is not bound by any condition. It is a general statement. Therefore, it includes 'being with' the faithful in the material sense as well as spiritual.

The 'burhan' (proof) mentioned in the 20th ayat al-karima of Surat Yusuf (If Yusuf had not seen Allah's burhan...) is, almost by unanimity, the visual appearance of Yaqub ('alaihi 's-salam) to him. Prophet Yaqub who was in Jordan became visible to the Prophet Yusuf who was in a room with Zalikha in Egypt.

Sayyid Ahmad al-Hamawi [passed away in 1686], a Hanafi alim and the annotator of the book Ashbah, noted in his book that the ruhaniyya (spirituality) of awliya' is more powerful than their jismaniyya (physical existence), and they therefore could be seen in different places at the same moment. He quoted the following hadith ash-Sharif as a document for his words: 'There are people who will enter Paradise through every gate.  Each gate will call them to itself,' upon which Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (radi-Allahu 'anh) asked,  'Will there be anyone to enter through all of the eight gates, oh Rasulullah?' and Rasulullah (sall-Allahu Alaihi wa sallam) answered, 'I hope you will be one of them.'  One can appear in different places at the same moment when his soul acquires the power of having connection with his original position in 'alam al-amr. Since the soul's interest in the world decreases then a man dies, his soul becomes more powerful. It becomes easier for him to appear in different places at the same moment."

"It is written in the commentary on Shama'il by Ibn Hajar al-Makki and in Tanwir al-halak by Jalal ad-din as-Suyuti that 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas said, 'I dreamt of Rasulullah. He treated me with favor. I visited one of his wives after I woke up. I looked at the mirror.  I saw not me but Rasulullah in the mirror.' This state is not one of the things peculiar only to Rasulullah. 

According to the basic rules of fiqh and usul al-fiqh, the 'ulama' and awliya' of Rasulullah's umma are the inheritors of his every hal, which is not among his specialties (khasa'is). It  is not one of his khasa'is to call down blessings upon and to greet Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) as if he is in sight -by visualizing him. Therefore, it is permissible to imagine, to form in the mind a picture of, a wali and expect help from his soul. Jalal ad-din as-Suyuti, a Shafi'i scholar, says, 'The twenty-second kind of karamat is that awliya' can appear in forms of different persons,' in his book At-tabaqat al-Kubra. The 26th ayat al-karima of Surat al-Mariam declares, 'He (Archangel Gabriel) became visible to her (Hadrat Mariam) in the form of a human being.' 'Ulama' have interpreted this ayat karima as that the souls of awliya' may appear in various forms. Allama al-Jaili, a Shafi'i scholar, wrote in his commentary to the Sahih of al-Bukhari: "The Devil cannot appear in the shapes of perfect walis, who are Rasulullah's (saw) inheritors, just as it cannot take Rasulullah's shape."

'Allama Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih), a Hanafi scholar, noted before writing about the 72 Muslim groups at the end of his book Sharh al-Mawaqif and in his annotation to the book Sharh al-Matali' that living or dead awliya' (rahimahum-Allahu ta'ala) become visible to their students in various forms and that their disciples receive faiz and get much benefit from those images.

Taj ad-din Ahmad ibn 'Ata'-Allah al-Iskandari ash-Shadhili (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih), a Maliki scholar who passed away in Egypt in 709 A.H. (1309), wrote in his work Tajiyya that one can get much benefit from a perfect wali when he sees or thinks of him.

'Allama Shams ad-din ibn an-Nuaym (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih), a Hanafi scholar, wrote in Kitab ar-ruh, 'Souls may be in a different state other than when they are in their bodies.  The souls of awliya' are at Rafiq al-ala and also have a relation with their dead bodies. If a person visits such a wali's grave and greets him, his soul at Rafiq al-ala anwers that person.' This is also noted in al-Imam as-Suyuti's Kitab al-Munjali. All these proofs show that awliya' have powerful tasarruf (disposal) and influence after their death in a way which we may not know.

Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jandee (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih), a Maliki scholar and author of the book Mukhtasar, who passed away in 767 A.H. (1365), wrote, 'The ability to appear in various forms is given by Allahu ta'ala to a wali when he becomes perfect. This is not impossible, because the images that are seen in different shapes are non-material; the body is not seen. Souls are not material and do not occupy a place in space.'

Disbelieving the teachings and documents which are clearly reported by so many profound 'ulama' and awliya' is nothing but disagreeing with the religion and reason. May Allahu ta'ala bestow reason and justice upon those who classify the Muslims of Ahl as-Sunnat as non-believes or polytheists on account of this belief of theirs! Shame on those who liken the Muslims who believe this fact to the polytheists who worshiped graves and regarded idols and creatures as creator!

'Umar ibn al-Farid (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih), a Maliki and a Qadiri, who passed away in Egypt in 576 A.H. (1180) and was known as 'Sultan al-'ashiqin' (Head of the lovers) and whose heart burnt in flames with love and affection for Rasulullah and the awliya', the inheritors, praises the superiors of tasawwuf befitting their honor in his famous eulogy Khamriyya.

The heretics who are marked as 'heretic' and 'sufferer of calamity' in the eternity cannot attain the blessings of being believers no matter how well it is explained and how many documents or even karamat they are shown. Hadrat Mawlana 'Abd ar-Rahman Jami (rahimah-Allahu ta'ala), who passed away in Herat in 898 A.H. (1492), answers them very well in the following quatrain:

World's lions are all links of the same chain;
how dare a fox break it with wile?
If a heretic takes awliya's names in vain,
they remain spotless, he proves himself vile.
Only his beard will catch fire if someone tries to blow out
the torch lit by Allahu ta'ala."

[Rabita-i Sharifa, Istanbul, 1924]