Servant of the Ṭarīqa

Date: 7/12/2012
Location: Villages near Kaveripattinam – Krishnagiri – Tamil Nadu

This village is inhabited by mainly Hindus and Muslims and has a mosque. I started preaching to a mixture of Muslims and Hindus and gave the pledge to twenty-one people. I then went to a neighbouring village that does not have a mosque, so its Muslims would come to the first village for the five daily prayers. I gave the pledge to seventeen people.

Before I left the village, four Salafi men came to me. They were accompanied by a fifth man who dressed like them in white clothes and a head cap, but he was distinguishable by his shiny face. I stood up out of respect for the muṣḥaf[1] that was carried by one of them, so all those who were with them followed suit. Standing in veneration of the muṣḥaf is one of the things I learned from my Master Shaikh Muḥammad al-Kasnazan. The person carrying the muṣḥaf said: “Where in the Book of Allah do you find the teaching you have brought?” I said: “What did I bring?” He said: “The Ṭarīqa and dhikrs.” I said:

O brother! Open the Book on the Chapter of Jinn and you will find the Ṭarīqa mentioned in Allah’s words: “And if they had remained straight on the Ṭarīqa (Way) We would have provided them to drink in abundance” (72.16).

I asked him: “What is the Ṭarīqa?” He replied: “I don’t know.” I said: “It is what the honourable Prophet (ṣallā Allah ʿalaihi wa sallam) taught about worshipping duties, prohibitions, and commandments.” He was taken aback by my reply and became very angry with me. Suddenly, I noticed the man with the shiny face bite his lip and gesture to me, as if asking me to stay calm and not reciprocate with anger. I offered to give them the pledge, but they said: “The shaikh of the mosque has told us not to do that.” I argued: “There are many verses on dhikr in the Qur’an, so read them and learn how to get close to Him by remembering Him.” They then left.

The strange thing is that they were only four when they left, as by the time the debate ended the good-looking man was no longer there. I asked the brothers who were with me about the number of men who came, and they said they were four. I realized that I was the only one who saw the fifth man. When I informed the Shaikh he commented: “This is a commissioned courier of the Ṭarīqa.”

Footnote

[1] The “muṣḥaf” is the written Qur’an.

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