27. SCHOLARS AND ASCETICS
A group of ascetics (mutazahhiduti) admonish and criticise many scholars (ulamaa’) or enjoying lawful luxury, and their objection is only because of their lack of knowledge {jahI), because had they any knowledge [of this religion] they would not be admonishing them for such behaviour.
This is because the nature of human beings is different; you may find someone who can endure living a difficult life while another cannot tolerate such a condition. It is for this reason, no one should ever demand from others to take what he finds tolerable and bearable. Nevertheless, our religion is here to serve a guideline; to control our actions, which include both, concessions (ruqsa) [in events of hardships] and judgements [that require patience]. That being the case, whoever operates within the guidelines of religion should be free to blame. As a matter of fact, sometimes opting for the concession can be much better than opting for endurance due to its great effect.
For this reason, if those ascetics learned that knowledge (ilm) necessitates knowing (ma’rifa) Allah, and so [in such state] hearts fear Him greatly and bodies melt down because of the caution [of His punishment], they would have known that looking after the health of the bodies is required to ensure and maintain the strength.
Furthermore, as the instruments of knowledge and memorisation (alat-al-ilm wa’l-hif%) are the heart (qalb) and the mind (fakr), when the instrument is eased then quality of work improves. This information cannot be obtained except by knowledge. However the ignorance (Jahl) of (these ascetics) about religion and their lack of knowledge caused them to object to what they did not know. They assumed that the purpose [of creating their bodies] is to exhaust the bodies while, in fact, they are unaware that even excessive fearing [that causes the wear and tear of the body] requires a break to survive, as someone said; ‘ease the hearts so they can understand the remembrance of Allah (dhikr).’
(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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