”Even when the Umma is being physically attacked and slaughtered East and West, these enemies have no shame in continuously trying to divide Muslims, eviscerate the Deen from its spiritual content and weaken Da`wa as much as they can. They wish to extinguish Allah's light by formalizing His religion, encouraging secularism, and dissociating Muslims from their emotional attachment to Allah and His Prophet ﷺ and Awliya which is the basis of strong faith. They are trying instead to produce automatons who force themselves and others to follow rules without understanding. This is the exact recipe of extremism that is now devastating the world.” GFH
Regarding The Fitnah In
The Article On The Naqshbandi Chain of Narrators
Dr Gibril Fouad Haddad
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
الحمد لله رب العالمين، والعاقبة للمتقين،
ولا عدوان إلا على الظالمين
اللهم صل على محمد ناصر الحق بالحق والهادي إلى صراطك المستقيم
A tie-clad blogger who says he loves to watch American ”sitcoms” and The Simpsons wrote an attack against the Naqshbandi Tariqa. This attack despite its brevity contains unIslamic mistakes virtually in every line. It shows ignorance of Qur'an, ignorance of Sunni ʿAqida and Hadith, and overall ignorance of Islam as well as incoherent language so that one has to go back and read again to ascertain what that person is trying to say. He appears not to know the difference between a note and a study since he begins by stating: ”The intention of writing this note is to study the claims...” If such an intention were true he would respect himself and the readers either by providing sources and producing a study-length text, or at least cleaning up his grammar.
More importantly, even an uneducated Muslim with a minimum of taqwa does not put himself in the position of meddler (mutakallif) who openly criticizes others without knowledge; not to mention the position of a takfiri who attacks Muslims - including many of the greatest scholars of the Umma - who historically follow the Naqshbandi Sufi Path in Southeast Asia, China, the South Asian Subcontinent, and Central Asia by the millions!
It is sad that such persons involve themselves in what is not their concern and is detrimental to their own souls, as it shows Allah is angry with them; but it is also good that they expose themselves so that the Umma can protect itself against batil.
The following is a refutation of some of the lies and deviations in that person's post but it is by no means an exhaustive one.
I. The phrase ”There are many people whom the Prophet loved other than Abu Bakar ra” is an example of kalimatu haqq yuradu biha batil or a true word by which falsehood is intended. It is as if someone objected: ”The Prophet had thousands of Companions; why did Allah single out Abu Bakr as his Companion in the Qur'an and left out others?”
Know that the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) was sent as Mercy to the Worlds therefore it is obligatory common knowledge to know that he loves all those whom Allah loves in creation; however, he himself stated he loved Abu Bakr (Allah be well-pleased with him) most of all. If one does not know that, one has no business teaching others about Sunni Islam.
II. The phrase ”the Naqshabandis claimed only Abu Bakar received the zikir and nobody else” shows lack of research of what Naqshbandis actually teach since their books quote many Ayas and hadiths establishing that the zikir was given to the entire Umma. However, Allah and the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) gave special emphasis to ”being with the Sadiqin” in the sense of the First and Foremost of the Emigrants, including Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿAli (Allah be well-please with them), all three of whom are represented in Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani's Naqshbandi chain of transmission as shown in this tree reproduced from Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani's landmark book The Naqshbandi Sufi Golden Chain.
Furthermore, since Abu Bakr represents the best of the Umma after Prophets it makes sense that the best silsila would go back through him. To try to claim from that fact that Naqshbandis say ”only Abu Bakar received the zikir and nobody else” is an extremist's misrepresentation of those he is trying to attack. The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) exposed this kind of deliberate misrepresentation as a characteristic of nifaq.
III. The phrase ”They are saying that the Prophet ﷺ has hidden some knowledge from the ummah and has revealed to certain favored companions” is false on several counts:
1. Nowhere do Naqshbandi teachings say that ”the Prophet ﷺ has hidden some knowledge from the ummah”.
2. The statement is self-contradictory, because if the Prophet had hidden any knowledge from the Umma it would be impossible to know that until the day of Resurrection. If, on the other hand, we know that he revealed it to some and not others, it is because he knew that at some point they would pass on that knowledge to others, and hence to the Umma.
3. Apparently that person has never read the sahih hadiths in which the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) teaches certain Companions exclusively of all others, for example he told Abu Bakr: ”Never accept anything from anyone,” which he did not tell others; and he told him to say a certain duʿa after each Salat which he did not teach others. He also told Abu Saʿid al-Khudri and Abu Hurayra to always do three kinds of nafl ʿibada and he did not tell others; and he taught Abu Saʿid a certain duʿa after Salat which he did not teach others. He also told Ibn ʿAbbas and ʿUbada ibn al-Samit and one or two others not to tell others what he taught them concerning whoever says La ilaha illallah from the heart. The point of such hadiths is that not all teachings are taught to everyone at the same time.
4. The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) certainly did favor some senior Companions such as the Khulafa Rashidin, the rest of the Ten, ʿAmmar ibn Yasir, Ibn Masʿud, ʿA'isha, Ibn ʿAbbas and a limited few others with a higher status in knowledge and guidance than the rest. If you do not know that you are not in a position to teach others about Sunni Islam.
IV. The phrase ”It is against the creed of ahlus sunnah wal jamaah to believe that a prophet still exist and living today” is the most glaring proof of ignorance. It shows that such a person is an innovator of misguidance (mubtadiʿ dall) - or worse - who has defective belief in ghayb and is unaware of the obligatory ʿaqida concerning the status of Prophets in Islam.
I will quote that deviant phrase again in its full ”syllabus of errors” context so that readers can judge from themselves how much the person who wrote it is astray: ”How could Khidr, the Prophet who lived during the time of Musa as is till living after the death of the Prophet ﷺ? The Prophet ﷺ is the ”Khatamul Ambiya'”( The seal of all prophets) and there would be no more prophets after him. It is against the creed of ahlus sunnah wal jamaah to believe that a prophet still exist and living today. This shows their lack of understanding towards the creeds of ahlus sunnah wal jammah and its fundamentals.”
In reality the ʿaqida of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaʿa is that:
1. The Holy Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) is alive and tender in his grave as he himself stated in the well-known hadith to that effect. According to Imam al-Suyuti in his Fatawa it is personally obligatory knowledge for every Muslim to know that.
2. All Prophets still exist and are alive today without exception, as !xxx broken link!HD=3&ID=4597&CATE=348" TARGET="_blank">established in the narrations of isra' and miʿraj and the hadith al-Anbiya' ahya' fi quburihim yusallun (”Prophets are alive in their graves, praying”).
3. The Prophets ʿIsa and Idris upon them peace are alive in the heavens with their bodies according to the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaʿa. As Mulla ʿAli al-Qari said in Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar, citing al-Taftazani in Sharh al-ʿAqa'id al-Nasafiyya: ”the most major scholars (al-ʿuzama' min al-ʿulama') deem that four of the prophets are among the living: al-Khadir and Ilyas on earth and ʿIsa and Idris in heaven.”
4. It is forbidden to say of martyrs that they are dead, and even more forbidden to say so of Prophets.
5. If that person by his statement above means to deny that !xxx broken link!HD=7&ID=1789&CATE=24" TARGET="_blank">Prophet ʿIsa (upon him peace) will come back to dunya at the end of times then that person's belief (and status) is akin to that of irshad.org → Qadyanis - expired link (before 2023-02-02).
6. The meaning of ”no Prophet after him” according to Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaʿa means no NEW Prophet and no new Divine Law.
7. The majority of the scholars believe al-Khidr is still alive according to the great huffaz of hadith and jurists such Ibn al-Salah, al-Nawawi, al-ʿIraqi, Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani, Shaykh al-Islam, al-Sakhawi, al-Suyuti, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, and others.
V. Regarding the statement ”How could a Prophet of Allah accept a zikir from a normal man in the form of Abu Yaqub Yusuf Al Hamadani? This is an insult to the status of Khidr who receives revelation from Allah and had also been honored when Allah sent Musa as to learn from his vast knowledge.”
1. The above statement is affected drivel. The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) consulted the Mother of the Believers Khadija (Allah be well-pleased with her) and Waraqa b. Nawfal regarding the very first events of revelation, and learnt from them as narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
2. The statement contains its own refutation, since the Prophet Musa (upon him peace) is of much greater status than al-Khidr even if we say that the latter was a Prophet, yet the senior was sent to learn from the junior.
3. The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) himself learnt from the angel Jibril (upon him peace), and there is consensus in Sunni Islam that the Prophet's status is greater.
4. There is no agreement in Islam that al-Khidr was a Prophet. According to Ahmad b. Taymiyya in Majmuʿ al-Fatawa the majority of the scholars believe he was not a Prophet: وأكثر العلماء على أنه لم يكن نبيًا
VI. Lastly, regarding that person's charges that Naqshbandis commit ”a form of khianah ( treachery ) to his prophethood” (wal-ʿiyadhu billah) or ”question the credibility of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakar As Siddiq as well as Khidr as” (wal-ʿiyadhu billah) or ”fall in a more serious accusations towards the Prophet” (wal-ʿiyadhu billah) then we reject them all back to the one who said them and we leave it to Allah Most High to be the One Who deals with him for making up such false accusations, and He suffices us and is the best defender of His believing servants.
As we have said time and again shaytan and its followers always want Muslims to make less Dhikr of Allah Most High, less Salawat on His Prophet (upon him blessings and peace), less Tarawih in Ramadan, less respect of Awliya, less Tawassul through the Prophet and Salihin, and less pursuit of all the blessings and spiritual knowledge and practice that Allah has made available to this Umma.
Even when the Umma is being physically attacked and slaughtered East and West, these enemies have no shame in continuously trying to divide Muslims, eviscerate the Deen from its spiritual content and weaken Daʿwa as much as they can. They wish to extinguish Allah's light by formalizing His religion, encouraging secularism, and dissociating Muslims from their emotional attachment to Allah and His Prophet and Awliya which is the basis of strong faith. They are trying instead to produce automatons who force themselves and others to follow rules without understanding. This is the exact recipe of extremism that is now devastating the world.
Whenever we see someone trying to push such an agenda we should recognize them for what they are - Wahhabi ”Salafis”, modern offshoots of Kharijism - and send them packing, just as each generation of Sunni teachers did in their time and just as the true scholars of Ahl al-Sunna have always done and will continue to do. Wa-min Allah al-Tawfiq wal-Hidaya.
Dr Gibril Fouad Haddad
Brunei Darussalam
