Q91 :You have spoken in the past about charms and
pronounced them as a form of polytheism. However, in our homeland, we
find that Islam was spread by the great Sufis like Khawaja Moinuddin
Chishtie, Nizamuddin Aulia and others. These were, no doubt, the true
believers in Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They
adopted the way of Tareeka to spread Islam. When needy people came to
them with their personal problems, they provided them with charms,
explaining the facts that such charms contained verses from the Qur’an
and the name of Allah. People found them effective and were influenced
by the power of the name of Allah and the words of the Qur’an. As a
result, they embraced Islam. Millions of people in our homeland owe the
fact that they are Muslims to this method which induced their
forefathers to embrace Islam. In view of the above, could you please
explain to what extent is this correct? How could the ways of Tareeka
and Sharee’ah concerning charms be reconciled?
A91 : I am not very familiar with the history of
the spread of Islam in your part of the world. Indeed, you will find
that this is a particularly weak area in the curricula of many
institutes which teach Islamic studies. However, I have recently asked
an authority on this particular subject, Maulana Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi,
and he tells me that Khawaja Moinuddin Chishtie was a dedicated servant
of Islam who spread its message in all parts of India and that
countless people embraced Islam through his efforts. He concentrated
his efforts on teaching people to renounce the temptation of this world
and concentrate on repentance and purification of their souls through
night worship, fasting and devotion. In volume II of his priceless
book, Saviors of Islamic Spirit, Sheikh Nadwi devotes a very long
chapter on Nizamuddin Aulia in which he illustrates the type of work
undertaken by this [noble] guide [of Islam]. He quotes from the work of
celebrated historians of that age, Ziauddin Barni that “Sheikh-ul-Islam
Nizamuddin” encouraged the sinners to repent on their sins; and
allowed all, the rich and the poor, the king and the slave, the learned
and the illiterate, to cleanse their souls through his spiritual
guidance. Everyone who pledged allegiance to the Sheikh considered
himself spiritually attached to him and gave up many of his vices. If
anybody ever netmitted a sin, the Sheikh allowed him to offer
penitence. Thus, all those who took the pledge to walk along the
passage of purity were saved from many vices and were gradually led,
through emulation of the Sheikh-ul-Islam, to prayers. Every man and
woman, whether lean in years or bent with age, regularly offered
obligatory prayers and vied with each other in the performance of
voluntary devotions. From the city to Ghiyaspur, people had made
arrangements for the wayfarers to take rest and offer their prayers.
Machinations of the devil were eschewed by the people who took more
interest in ascertaining the number of rak’ahs performed on different
occasions and the chapters of the Qur’an recited to them by their
spiritual mentors. Numerous people have enthusiastically taken to
memorize the Qur’an. Sheikh Nadwi devotes 110 pages to the history of
Nizamuddin Aulia. At no point, does he mention that Aulia resorted to
giving charms to people in order to prove the message of Islam. Had he
done so, he would not have achieved the great results with which he was
blessed. That is because the writing, using or wearing of a charm is
forbidden in Islam. Allah is in no need of proving the power of His
name in such a primitive method. Indeed, His power is manifest to
everyone who uses his mind. We can see its effects in everything around
us. The Qur’an is a cure, as Allah has described it. However, we do
not get such benefits from the Qur’an by simply writing down some of
its verses and attaching them to our clothes or to our bodies. The
Qur’an cures us from doubts and gives us reassurance when we carefully
contemplate the meaning of its verses and understand its message. What
those two learned gentlemen did was to concentrate on the purification
of the soul through prayer and devotion. It is not difficult to
understand why they had such a wide appeal. Such a devotion meets a
real need in the constitution of human beings, the needs of the spirit.
Moreover, the message of Islam gives the human mind a consistent and
logical explanation of human existence and the purpose of human life.
It helps men understand the nature of Allah, the world and their own
nature. When you add this to the spiritual elevation advocated by the
two Sheikhs, no wonder that the results of their efforts were
tremendous. I can say without hesitation, on the basis of what I have
learned from Maulana Nadwi that there is no truth in what you say about
the use of charms by these people. They appear to have acquired a good
standard of knowledge of Islam. As such, they cannot challenge the
Prophet’s teachings and earn any favor with Allah. Devoted to the cause
of Islam, as they were, they would have clearly abided by its
teachings. You speak of the variance between Tareeka and Sharee’ah, I
can tell you that any Tareeka, or method, which is not subject to the
laws and rules of Sharee’ah is totally unacceptable. If a particular
Tareeka allows the use of charms, then it is false and any one who
follows it is plainly in error. Tareeka is simply a method of self
purification, devotion and renunciation of worldly temptation. All that
must be governed by the rules of Islamic law. If it is not, then it
indulges into excesses which Islam rejects. When we realize that the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has forbidden the use of charms,
then we have to reject them and reject any teacher who advocates their
use. What we have to realize is that a great deal of distortion has
crept into the teachings and heritage of people like Moinuddin Chishtie
and Nizamuddin Aulia. For example, you have the celebration known as
“Urs” organized annually at the grave of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishtie.
Scholars of repute in your home country, such as Sheikh Nadwi, denounce
these practices. We cannot blame Khawaja Moinuddin Chishtie for what
generations of ignorant people have invented and continued to practice
at his grave. We blame those who have introduced such practices,
because they are un-Islamic. We take from the teachings of any person
only what is in total agreement with the Qur’an and Sunnah. Whatever
does not seem to have sound basis in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, we
simply ignore.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )