12. THE REALITY OF ASCETICISM- ABSTENTION DUE TO PIETY AND RELIANCE
For a person to exert his power in all that benefits him is deemed a logical and religious necessity; preserving his wealth, seeking its increase and growth is required. For wealth is the reason whereby a person maintains his survival. Allah has forbidden us from wastefulness: Allah said,
“And give not unto the foolish your property which Allah has made a means of support for you.” [al-Nisa (4):5]
And
“nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach.” [al-lsra (17):29]
And
“But spend not wastefully.” [al-lsra (17):26]
And
“And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a medium (way) between those (extremes).” [al-Furqan (25):67|
It is a virtue of wealth (fadila al-mal) that Allah said in the Qur’an,
“Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan.” [al-Baqarah (2):245]
And
“And spend in the Cause of Allah.” [al-Baqarah (2):195],
And
“those who spend their wealth.” [al-Baqarah (2):261|,
And
“Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the conquering (of Makkah)” [al-Hadid 57:10]
He also regarded wealth as a bounty (ni’ma) and giving it away to the poor is a w7ay of cleansing (tathir) people from their sins, He said,
“Take alms from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them with it.” [al- Tawbah (9): 103]
And the Prophet said, “The best money is [when] it is possessed by a good man”,13″ and said, “There is no money that benefited me as much as did the money of Abu Bakr.”131
The Prophet did not mind Abu Bakr (radiy Allahu ‘anhu) leaving him to go on business journeys, and ‘Umar (radiy Allahu ‘anhu) said, “I would rather to die between two mountains while seeking sustenance [that saves my face] than to die fighting for Allah’s cause.”
Many Companions were merchants. Sa’id Ibn Al-Musayyib, one of the senior second generation (tabi’in), was an oil merchant and the only oil importer who left behind a lot of wealth; and such was the life of the righteous predecessors (salaf)
A calamity7 such as illness may occur and to overcome it one needs money; hence if one does not have money, he finds himself obligated to endeavour to earn this money from anywhere. So he might resort to abandoning his religion or honour for its sake. In fact a person feels physically stronger when he has wealth, which according to doctors is considered a form of medication; wisdom placed in humans by the All-Wise (al-Hakim).
But later on, a new group of people emerged who sought comfort, idleness and justified this by claiming they have true reliance on Allah and said, we neither possess anything nor take supplies when travelling for the sustenance to the bodies will come somehow. This practice is evidently against the teachings and principles of religion for Allah’s Messenger forbade us from wasting money and when Prophet Musa (‘alayhi as-salam) travelled to meet Al-Khidr, he took food with him, as did our Prophet when he immigrated to Madlnah.134 What is more eloquent and sufficient evidence is what Allah said in Qur’an,
“And take a provision (with you) for the journey, but the best provision is piety.” [al-Baqarah (2): 197]
Despite all these authentic textual evidences, this group of Sufis claim to dislike this world all the while not really understanding what ought to be disliked. They consider gaining more wealth to be a vile act and a form of greed.
They have in general, innovated a way that includes some monasticism. If their intention were truthful in using asceticism as a means to achieve worldly pleasures; they referred to the wealth they attained from people as “divine grace”
Ibn Qutaybah explained “the upper hand” mentioned in the hadith to be “the donating hand. ” Then he said, ‘I wonder at those who claim it is “the hand that receives [money and gifts] from others. I believe these are people who are lazy and enjoy begging; hence they justify their lowness because without doubt, all religions are free from such claims.’
It was reported that Prophets Ibrahim (‘alayhi as-salam) and Lut (‘alayhi as~salam) had to leave the towns they both lived in due to the large number of cattle they had.
And, Shu’ayb was an affluent man but still he wished to have a better deal from Prophet Musa (‘alayhi as-salani) when he said to him, as stated in the Qur’an,
“You serve me for eight years; but if you complete ten, it will be [as a favour] from you.” [al-Qasas (28):27]
Ibn ‘Aqil said, “Whoever says I dislike this worldly life is a liar because when the sons of Prophet Ya’qub (‘alayhi as-salam) asked him to let his favoured son Benjamin accompany them, he said,
“Should I entrust you with him…” [Yusuf (12):64]
and they replied:
“…and obtain an increase of a camel’s load.” [Yusuf (12):65]
Some of the righteous predecessors said, ‘He who claims that he dislikes worldly things is a liar until proven he is truthful about what he claims. If he is proven to be truthful, then he is crazy.’
The Sufis have discouraged many people to work, earn wealth and they make them feel that work and wealth are oddities. Although this has been the way of Prophets and righteous people.
The realitv is that they sought comfort and preferred to sit and wait to receive their alleged ‘‘’divine grace”. Thus, if they ate and became full they start to dance, and when they digest the food, they eat again. And if they had influence over a rich man, they would trick him and make him to invite them to his home— justifying this on the grounds it is either to praise Allah or to seek Allah’s forgiveness.
However, the worst of all that is their claim that this is a practice bringing them closer to Allah! It has been established as a matter of consensus among all scholars that whoever claims dancing is a way to draw oneself closer to Allah, has disbelieved.
If Sufis say that dancing is merely permissible, this would have been more tolerable because it is religion that determines what brings you closer to Allah, and it does not claim that dancing is such an act.
I was told that some Sufis used to light candles and stare at the faces of beardless youth! If someone inquires about their reasons, they would mock the inquirer and say to ponder upon Allah’s creation.
Nay, the devil has taken control of them and is leading them to where he pleases. They do not even have the strong will of the Prophet who made the young man to sit in the back behind him and said, “The test of Prophet Dawud was due to a look.”
It is also strange how they condemn this world, yet they eat until they are full without investigating the source of the food they are given. The pious people from the righteous predecessors were careful about the source of their food.
Ibrahim Ibn Adham used to spend some time at night thinking with whom they should do business with the next day.
And Sari Al-Saqati was known of eating from only lawful sources and his high level of piety (wara) is famous.
Later on, some people emerged calling themselves Sufis and claim they follow the steps of the aforementioned masters, and yet they eat from unlawful sources and say: “We have been given our provision!”
I wonder at these type of people! They neither mind the sources from which their food comes nor suppress their desires, nor reduce their indulgence and the place they made for purpose of worship is never empty of food! They do not spend a night in solitude to worship; and accept money though they know the unlawfulness of this money.
They continue visiting the public baths [where the ‘Awrah of people is exposed] while singer sings for them playing the tambour that has some hoops attached to it. Their company plays the clarinet and they hear love poetry about Layla and Su’da while beardless youth are present carrying candles. Then after all of this, they condemn this world.
Tell me: ‘Who is manipulating the people more than these individuals?’ I say, ‘he who is fooled by them is worse than them.’
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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