Q52 :In a book entitled “Saviors of Islamic spirit”
by Abul-Hassan Ali Nadwi, the practice of taking a pledge of loyalty,
or ba’it is mentioned in the chapter on Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani as
something that follows “the procedure and technique” of the Prophet. In
one of your answers you said that it was not the practice of the
Prophet to take such a pledge. Could you please explain the
contradiction? My brother argues that to achieve spiritual success one
must take ba’it and follow a spiritual guide. May I ask whether the
Prophet did take an oath of allegiance from his followers to practice
the tenets of Islam? If so, can this oath be netpared to the ba’it one
takes to follow the teachings of Islam under a spiritual guide? May I
also ask what is the difference between mysticism and
asceticism.
A52 : It is often mentioned in books on the life
of the Prophet and books of Hadith that a person might have nete to the
Prophet and spoken to him. The Prophet would explain to him the
principles and basic facts of Islam. The man would then declare his
acceptance of Islam and pledge to the Prophet that he is a Muslim. The
phrase used here means that the newneter to Islam would give a pledge
or a word of honor or an affirmation that he would follow Islam. The
phrase normally used in this connection practically means a pledge to
be a Muslim. The Prophet also took a special pledge from the Ansar, or
the Muslims of Madinah, on two separate occasions. The first was
similar to the pledge given by women when they became Muslims. The
second known as “ba’it al-Aqabah” actually assured the Prophet that the
Ansar were ready to defend Islam with their lives, and fight any
enemies that might raise an army to attack the Prophet or his
followers. It was confirmed that the Ansar would always be ready to
nete to the defense of the Prophet, willing to sacrifice their lives in
order to protect Islam. At that particular moment, one of their members
tried to make the import of that pledge clear in their minds. He
stopped and asked: “Do you know what you are pledging? You are actually
affirming that you would support the Prophet through thick and thin,
even if that would mean that your leaders would be killed and your
property looted”. They confirmed their readiness to make such a pledge
with all that it entailed. The Prophet also took a pledge, or ba’it,
from his netpanions just before he signed the peace agreement at
Al-Hudaibiyah. The Prophet had marched from Madinah with fourteen
hundred of his netpanions, lightly armed, aiming to go to Makkah to
perform the Umrah. Just before arriving there, Quraish, the major Arab
tribe residing in Makkah, made it clear that they would prevent them
from entering the city with all their might. There were negotiations
and emissaries to discuss the situation. Then the Prophet sent his
netpanions Uthman ibn Affan to the chiefs of Makkah to make it clear to
them that all that the Muslims wanted was to worship at the Ka’aba.
Soon a rumor circulated that Uthman was killed by the peoples of
Quraish. At that moment, the Prophet took a pledge from his netpanions
to fight to the end. They all gave their pledges, knowing that it would
mean fighting to the last breath. Their action is netmended in Surah 48
of the Qur’an. These were the pledges that the Prophet took from
people on different occasions. We thus have the normal pledge which
signifies little more than a solemn affirmation that a person has
benete a Muslim. There is also the pledge of the Ansar which assured
the Prophet that he had a solid base to move to. Lastly, the pledge at
Al-Hudaibiyah was a pledge to fight to the end when Muslims were very
heavily outnumbered. None of these is similar to the ba’it or pledges
given to mystics or spiritual guides by their followers. At no time
was it reported that the Prophet took a pledge of loyalty or netplete
obedience from someone who had already been a Muslim for some time. The
fact that a person accepted Islam as a faith meant that he would obey
God and the Prophet in all matters. That is the import of the second
part of the declaration that any person makes when he benetes a Muslim.
The declaration is known as the “shahadah”, and it states, “I bear
witness that there is no deity save God and that Muhammad is God’s
messenger.” Obedience to God cannot be put into practice without
following the Prophet’s guidance. A pledge might have been given
individually by one of the Prophet’s netpanions after a serious slip.
But that was always part of a declaration of repentance. It was simply
a renewal of the first pledge and an affirmation that the repentant
netpanion would resolve never to go back to his act of disobedience. No
special formula was required by the Prophet at any time. He always
advised his netpanions, who might have slipped, to repent and mend
their ways. If any of them told that his offense was very serious, he
renewed his pledge of obedience to emphasize that he has nete back to
the fold. What mystics or Sufis require from their disciples is
something totally different from what actually took place in the times
of the Prophet. They give themselves a position of a spiritual guide.
The ba’it or the pledge given to them is one of total obedience in all
situations. We have seen many of these disciples unable or unwilling
to question any piece of instruction given to them by their guide or
mentor. They blindly trust that what they are told is correct. Their
obedience is felt by them to be all that is required of them to ensure
admittance to heaven in the hereafter. They believe that the short way
to heaven is to follow their sheikh, or pir or mystic or whatever they
call their spiritual guide. They do not even question the ability or
the knowledge or the honesty or the behavior of their mentors. They
simply accept the position of blind followers feeling that it is all
that is required of them. In this way, the disciples are practically
abdicating their responsibility. God has made everyone of us
responsible for his actions, making him the one who strives to gain
admittance to heaven by following the Qur’anic teachings and the
guidance provided by the Prophet; or the one who earns for himself the
punishment of hell through hardened disobedience to God and His
messenger. This is a position of honor God has given to every man and
woman. By assigning that responsibility to a mentor or a spiritual
guide, a person rejects the position of honor God has given him and
adopts instead a position of blind following that is totally unbeneting
of a thinking human being. The Prophet did not renetmend or suggest
that such an action of following a spiritual guide is required,
desirable or even acceptable. On the day of judgment, God asks us about
following the Prophet, not about following a spiritual guide. Many of
those who appoint themselves to such a position are probably unable to
ensure their own salvation, let alone the salvation of others. Many
yield to the temptation of wealth or authority. How can they provide
others with something they themselves lack? The only way to win God’s
pleasure and His acceptance of our work is by following the guidance
provided by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), not by following
anyone else. You also ask about the difference between mysticism and
asceticism. In the context we have been talking about, a person is a
mystic if he seeks by contemplation or self-surrender to obtain union
with or absorption into the deity, or if he believes in spiritual
apprehension of truths beyond the understanding. This description
applies to most sufis. It is easy to understand why going deep into
mysticism or sufism can lead a person astray. If he begins to think of
a union with the deity, then he certainly goes beyond Islamic concepts.
The Qur’an is always described by God Himself as plain and manifest.
Why do we need to seek a hidden meaning for its words claiming that it
requires a great deal of effort to uncover? Let me remind you that a
Bedouin Arab might nete to the Prophet and sit with him for an hour or
so, when the Prophet would have explained to him the basics of Islam.
The Bedouin would then declare that he is a Muslim and might go to his
people and explain to them his new faith. Many of them would respond to
his call and adopt Islam. That might have represented all their Islamic
education, and they would nevertheless be good Muslims and through
conscientious following of the principles of Islam secure for
themselves admittance into heaven. Asceticism calls for severe
abstinence and austerity. An ascetic person is one who practices severe
self-discipline, and may retire into solitude for this purpose. This is
also against Islam, because Islam wants its advocates to mix with
people and call on them to correct their behavior and adopt what is
certain to earn God’s pleasure.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )