Faith Practice Piety
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i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page i — #1 i i Faith Practice Piety: An Excerpt from the Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani Original: The Great Mujaddid Ahmad Sirhindi Translation and Annotation: Irshad Alam i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page ii — #2 i i Published by: Aklima Akter Sufi Peace Mission 4A Gulshan Avenue Gulshan 2 Dhaka 1212 Bangladesh web: www.sufipeace.org www.meetup.com/Berkeley-Sufi-Center email: www.sufipeace.org/feedback ©2010 Irshad Alam. All rights reserved. ISBN: 984-70239-0000-6 i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page i — #3 i i Reviews Sufi Irshad Alam has produced an interesting and chal- lenging translation of a part of the Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani. In coming to grips with the difficulties of his version, the reader may gain access to some of the meanings of Imam-i Rabbani. Prof. Hamid Algar, Professor of Islamic Studies and Persian, University of California at Berkeley I congratulate you for this successful translation from the Maktubat. Sufi Shaykh Prof. Dr. Muhammad Masood Ahmed, Editor of 12-volume encyclopedia (Urdu) and author of three books and nu- merous articles on Imam Rabbani I found the passages which I checked translated accu- rately. Prof. Yohanan Friedmann Author of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: An Outline of His Thought and a Study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, Professor, Institute of Asian and African Studies, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel the translation is quite good and judicious Prof. Sajjad H. Rizvi Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, United Kingdom i i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page ii — #4 i i marvelous Prof. Alan Abdul-Haqq Godlas, Professor of Religion, Univer- sity of Georgia Irshad Alam’s scholarly translation of Sirhindi’s epis- tle and his commentary on it is a valuable source for any serious student of sufism. But it is of special value for any follower of the Naqshbandi tariqa, as it out- lines some of the fundamental qualities of this path, and the esoteric science by which the Naqshbandimas- ters guide their disciples. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Naqshbandi sheikh and author, www.goldensufi.org Sufi Irshad Alam has produced a remarkable, fascinat- ing and challengingtranslation of a part of the Maktubat- i Imam-i Rabbani. In translating from Persian to En- glish Sufi Irshad Alam has overcome the difficulties of this great task and has enabled the reader to gain approach to some of the meanings of Imam-i Rab- bani. Sufi Irshad Alam needs to be commendedfor his meticulous and painstaking translation that produced this book. This book gives insights into the original work done by the Great Mujaddid Ahmad Sirhindi. This book is concise and up to the point covering a lot of material that is unknown to ordinary Muslims, as well as scholars. Prof. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D., Islamic Research Foundation In- ternational, Inc., www.irfi.org This is a long awaited important work in the history of Sufism which should be of interest to disciples of the Mujaddid as well as others. Laleh Bakhtiar, Ph. D. Author, Translator and Editor of numer- ous Sufi and Islamic books, Kazi Publications Inc., www.kazi.org ii i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page iii — #5 i i Acknowledgements In the beginning, I acknowledge the great debt that I have to my sufi shaykh. It is he who taught me the inner meanings and interpreta- tions of the Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani. To sufi shaykh Shah Muti Aftabi, who has been a great teacher to me, although I never met him in person. I learned the text of the Maktubat by studying the Persian original side by side with his amazingly accurate Bengali translation. To all my teachers in the Arabic and Persian languages Dr. John Hayes, Sonia Shiri, Noha Radwan, Mavash Hariri and others. To Dr. Giv Nassiri for reading most of this manuscript of this book and diligently comparing with the original Persian and writing an introduction. To Prof. Hamid Algar, Sufi Shaykh Prof. Muhammad Masood Ahmed, Prof. Yohanan Friedmann, Prof. Sajjad H. Rizvi for verify- ing a few random parts of this book and writing reviews. To Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, Rashid Patch, Grandmaster James Harkins, Nasr Ullah, Sheikh Nur al-Jerrahi for giving me encouragement. To Valerie Turner for editing and Sukomal Modak and his broth- ers Satyajit and Souren for typesetting the book in LaTex. And to my parents, for funding almost all the expenses behind this book. And to Russell Bates, Semnani Foundation, and others for making grants that paid for a part. May they all be drenchedby the energy and blessings emanating from the Mujaddid. Irshad Alam iii i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page iv — #6 i i Dedication I am dedicating this book to my parents who have nurtured me with love and care. Abba! Amma! I love you! iv i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page v — #7 i i Message from My Sufi Shaykh I’m delighted to hear of the publication of the book Faith Practice Piety that contains annotated translations from the Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani. Irshad has been dili- gently learning the Maktubat and the sufi path of the Mujaddidi-Naqshbandi tariqa under my guidance for the last twenty years. I have also granted Irshad a permission or ijaza to teach this tariqa as my deputy. May Allah grant him success in transmitting both the verbal mes- sage and the spiritual transmission of this exalted tariqa. Amin! Muhammad Mamunur Rashid Kompong Sam, Cambodia About My Sufi Shaykh My sufi guide Muhammad Mamunur Rashid is a living saint who is a teacher of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi sufi tariqa and the Grandshaykh or head of its Pure Mujaddidi branch. Originally from Bangladesh, he has relocated to Cambodia following divine inspiration. He is now ab- sorbed in his mission to spread Universal Sufi Islam to Indo-China, China, Europe and the rest of the world. v i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page vi — #8 i i vi i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 1 — #9 i i CONTENTS Reviews i Acknowledgments iii Dedication iv Message from My Sufi Shaykh v About My Sufi Shaykh v Contents .............. 1 1 PREFACES 7 VerificationoftheTranslation. 7 ForewordbytheTranslator. 11 ConfirmingtheAccuracy:. 14 SuggestionsontheAnnotations: . 15 A Note on Technical Terms and Translation . 15 2 LIFEOFTHEMUJADDID 17 BirthandFamily. 17 PropheciesontheMujaddid. 18 FirstStageinEducation . 20 LifeinAgra. 20 ReturntoSirhind. 22 InitialSufiTraining. 22 KhwajaBaqibillah’sMissiontoIndia. 24 TheMeetingwithKhwajaBaqibillah . 27 1 i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 2 — #10 i i 2 CONTENTS TheExaltedRanksoftheGreatMujaddid . 29 TheBirthoftheMujaddiditariqa . 32 ThePartingfromThisWorld . 39 Writings . 40 I 43 3 Preamble: Ode to Khwaja Baqibillah 45 SufiTechnicalTerms . 47 InsertionoftheEndintheBeginning . 51 MonistOntologies . 56 ReviewingtheMonistOntologies . 57 NaqshbandiScienceisSublime . 61 II 67 4 The Creed 69 Faith–TheSunniCreed . 69 Existence. 70 AReviewofBasicConceptsinOntology . 74 Uniqueness. 77 Knowledge: TheChrono–Epistemology. 79 SpeechandTime. 95 TheActandTime . 99 Incomparability . 103 SimilarityisMerelyAllegorical . 107 Allegorical Verses may Not Be Interpreted . 109 RejectionofUnificationism. 111 Changelessness . 113 Self-Sufficientness . 115 Perfection. 117 TheMaturudiSchool . 122 EternalnessandBeginninglessness . 123 i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 3 — #11 i i CONTENTS 3 All-Powerfulnessand the philosophers . 124 Taqlid. 132 Ibn Arabi and Wahdat-i Wujud . .. 135 Bringing-into-Existence . 139 Worldly Occasions and Their Effectivities . 139 God Desires and Creates Both Good and Evil. 145 EternalBlissandDamnation . 150 TheVision . 154 DispatchoftheProphetsisMercy . 157 IntellectsandRevelation. 160 Prescriptions ofthe Sharia Are Blessings . 166 RevelationisTrue . 169 PunishmentintheGrave. 170 GodMayJudgeorHeMayForgive . 171 TheDayofResurrection. 172 TheReckoning,theScale,theBridge . 174 ParadiseandHellAreEternal. 175 Angels. 179 TheUlamais“More”Correct. 181 FaithandHoldingEnmity . 183 Shias WronglyDefame theCompanions. 184 God’s “Personal” Enmity with Faithlessness . 187 The Faithless Will Not Receive Mercy . 187 AlltheFaithfulWillBeSaved. 190 Increase or Decrease of Faith . 197 TheGreatnessofImamAbuHanifa . 201 Miracles . 206 Well-instructed Caliphs: Superiorities. 207 TheCompanions:TheirDisputes . 215 III 219 5 Practice 221 Practice. 221 i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 4 — #12 i i 4 CONTENTS Ablution . 222 Prayer. 222 Comments:ThePurposeofSufism. 226 IV 231 6 Piety: The Purpose of the Tariqa 233 ThePurposeofSufism. 233 NaqshbanditariqaClingstotheSunna . 236 LoudZikr. 237 Songs,Dances,Ecstasies,Raptures. 241 Singing:AdvicetohisPir’sSons . 248 Mawluds. 249 Inventing New Practices in the tariqa . 251 V 255 7 Rules of the Tariqa 257 Mujaddid Learns the Naqshbandi Tariqa. 257 NaqshbandiTariqaIstheBest. 258 HowtoDoNaqshbandiZikr . 258 LoudZikrIsForbidden . 260 LoudZikrViolatestheSunna . 264 BanonLoudZikrIsPermanent . 267 LoudZikrIsNotAStrictPractice . 271 LoudZikrIsADeviantPractice . 274 Deviations In the Tariqa Must Be Opposed. 274 Index 277 i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 5 — #13 i i i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 6 — #14 i i i i i i i i “FaithMar15-2010” — 2010/3/19 — 22:46 — page 7 — #15 i i CHAPTER 1 PREFACES Verification of the Translation Professor Giv Nassiri compared this transla- tion with the Persian original word-for-word and wrote this review. He taught Persian lan- guage and literature at the University of Cali- fornia from 1991 to 1996. Since 1996 he has taught courses on Islam as an adjunct profes- sor at the Graduate Theological Union and Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. I have reviewed Mr. Irshad Alam’s translation of the maktub or epistle 1.266 [Volume I, maktub #no.