Sex Education For the Next Generation

True and False Sufis,

from Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi

False Sufis steal the words of the Sufis and present them as their own, and thus trick people with the beautiful teachings, which they are merely imitators of. They do not have true knowledge of that which they are speaking. Many of the great Sufi Shuyukh speak of deceptive false Sufis - these people take the title of "Sufi" because it gives them a certain amount of prestige and power, and they take advantage of those who cannot tell false Sufism from the real thing.

On the topic of false Sufis, Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi says:

A disciple who is trained by a man of God will have a pure and purified spirit. But he who is trained by an imposter and hypocrite and who learns theory from him will be just like him: despicable, weak, incapable, morose, without any exit from uncertainties, and deficient in all his senses. "As for the unbelievers -- their protectors are idols, that bring them forth from the light into the shadows." (Qur'an 2:257).

[From the "Fihi ma fihi," translated by W. C. Chittick in "The Sufi Path of Love: the Spiritual Teachings of Jalaluddin Rumi," p. 145]

Furthermore, on the topic of false Sufis and the harm they do, Jalaluddin Rumi says (in poetry):

You are the disciple and guest of someone who in his vileness will steal away all your attainments.

He is not victorious -- how will he make you victorious? He will not give you light, he will make you dark.

Since he has no light, how can others receive light through associating with him?

Like a blind man who cures eyes: With what will he anoint your eyes other than wool? [...]

He has no scent or trace of God, but his claims are greater than those of Seth or Adam.

The devil himself is embarassed to appear before him; he keeps on saying, "We are of the saints and even greater."

He steals many of the words of the dervishes, so that people may think he really is someone.

In his talks he even cavils at Bayazid; Yazid himself is ashamed of him. (*)

He is destitute of the bread and provisions of heaven: God has not thrown him a single bone.

[From the Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi, Book I, vv. 2265-68, 72-76, translated by W. C. Chittick in "The Sufi Path of Love: the Spiritual Teachings of Jalaluddin Rumi," p. 145-6.]

(*) Bayazid refers to the great Wali Allah, Bayazid al-Bistami; Yazid refers to the oppressive ruler.

Therefore we see that a great Shaykh such as Jalaluddin Rumi warns us of the false Sufis. False Sufis may even be more prevalent today than they were in the past. We must distinguish between true Sufis, who follow the Shari`ah, and false Sufis, who often do not.

Wassalam,

Fariduddien Rice

ps at to that link about inayat khan--the first half of his silsila contains famous sufis who were all great ulama too and are well known. the later half i am not aware of. as for inayat khan he was a nobody in the world of islamic mysticism. as for respecting and loving hazrat mawla ali, you idiot it doesn't automatically make u a shia.

Naqsh-

read #270.

and here is just one of th examples from my #270 post

"To start, here is a lineage of sufis that, well, are learned scholars, but obviously not mullahs: sufiorder.org, and look here for thier silsila http://sufiorder.org/silsila.html"
with much respect,
thinking storm

Re: # 257

no there haven't.

Kaal, Naqsh-

Actually Naqsh's quote is again one where slap a sheikh in front of the Imam and you have a sufi variety.

I have read some of Ghazal's work where he continues to make wonderful sense until it comes to women. Then he is a surprising mullah. The reason is simple. He was a legalist. At odds with sufism really.

As for Naqsh's claim that all sufis are scholars of sharia, and are mullas first. This is so laughable that if I were a sufi, I would kick Naqsh's ignorant ass back on the streets to join his "Sunni" brothers. I can bring MANY examples of sufis who were not mullas.

Also note. He had quoted earlier that Shias's do not have anything similar to sufism. Then I showed him the sufi orders that are from Iran (majority shia), and he said, yeah, but the orders are not shia, they only took influences from Imam Ali. Okie dokie. Poor Naqsh continues to slide and dice things the way it can fit into his narrow world view.

To start, here is a lineage of sufis that, well, are learned scholars, but obviously not mullahs: sufiorder.org, and look here for thier silsila http://sufiorder.org/silsila.html

And there are tonnes of these examples dating all the way back into history. In fact, the only mullahs I encountered in my sufi studies (a smattering of books here and there, I am no scholar), weree the naqshbandis. I promptly looked elsewhere for being close minded is not the reason I looked into sufism.

Naqsh, I would hold out a glimmer of hope for you, but you seem to have checked out your logical faculties and become "like a corpse" to your teacher.
with much respect,
thinking storm

Kaal#267:

He was born in a Muslim family, so he must have read Kalima and was also circumcised. In desiland, that pretty much fixes you as a Muslim, as is Hamidm.

BTW, Syeds also claim direct descendance from the Prophet.

Naqsh,

Thanks for attempting an answer. May be ppl are trained to think nothing i.e keeping mind balnk and feel the creator in moods and not seek (asking questions kinda) but accept what's told. Fair enuf.

Kaala Chakra,

My quest is for truth...though it's a journey I am happy with it.

Hamid2,

In basic socilogy ppl teach that God is a concept; as Dr. Sohail said elsewhere is a metaphor. Even the ppl who cant be equated with apes and live with bare loins in jungles had dome kinda god/totem in their lives.

Ur funny interlude on God is funny enuf but bware of the fundoo momins......lest they tear ur chest apart. I consider Naqsh as a pious man but not a fundoo. He's managing the very thin line btw these two...a rare feat by a modern Muslim.

dm sahib, background is not religion :)

If we go by background, the only real Muslim is naqshbandi. Unless bhooley Shah too had direct descendence from the Prophet, and remained a Muslim by that virtue alone, we don't know about his religion.

Re: # 255

vrv,

....when i was a child i used to think of god as a big fat man with a long white beard - a cross between the egg nog swilling santa clause and the halwa eating maulvi sahib ........ after seeing the first star wars movie i was convinced that he looked like jabba the hut ....... nowdays i think of him as a cross dressing androgynos creature like j alexander, the judge on america's top model .........

further to #262:

It is perhaps because of the taunts of his family about accepting an arain as his Murshid, that he wrote:

Aa bulleya chal authay chaliye
jithay baithan saare annay
Naa koyee saadi zaat puchhaanay
Naa koyee sanooN mannay

[Take me to a place where everyone is (caste) blind
Where no one recognizes my caste
And noone accepts me as a superior]

Re: # 261

dost,

.... i have always maintained that the much derided kanjaroon are honorable people who are near and dear to god :)

Kaal#262:

Being a Pakistani by birth, I cannot fathom your riddle-filled question and can only give a simple answer. :-)

Bulle Shah belonged to the upper class Syed Khandaan. His real name was Abdullah. He was the murteed of Shah Qadri, an Arain Muslim and he had to bear a lot of criticism from his family for accepting to be disciple of someone of lower caste than his own.

dmsahib, it is not easy for a man to wear chadar even before God, let alone a maili one.

Waise what do we really know about Mr. Bhuley Shah's religion?

tahmed#160:

"hamidm: actually sufis generally reduce God to a female figure. But dont let facts disturb the proceedings of this board..."

kanjari banyaaN meri izzat na ghat-di
tay mainooN nutch kay yaar manaavan day

(Bulle Shah)

"How they visualise Him in prayers..."

VRV bhai, there seem to be some REALLY deep, and I mean, DDEP, problems with your understanding of not only Islam but also of course of many of your own great traditions...

At this time, the best option is to simply learn more, not to get upset that others are willing to help you.

hamidm:

"in cities and villages all over the northwest frontier, like bannu and mardan, it is considered a status symbol to have a boy or nada ..... these beautiful boys, with kohl around their eyes and silk handkerchiefs around their necks, hang around their big bad beaus looking pretty and nobody minds"

I think that the word for them is "Aashna". The same word - a muzakkar (masculine) and not muanis (feminine) - is used in the Urdu poetry for the beloved. So, too, is Saqi; that other favourite of Urdu poets is also supposed to be a beardless boy.

......... muslims in general, and pakis in particular re so fucked up that they don't need to get laid !