The Advocated Proof

By Yousuf S., Nada S. and Hashem Al-Rifai

The Advocated Proof, "Al-Burhaan Al-Muayyad" , the most famous book of Imam Ahmad Al-Rifai, is about Sunni Islamic Sufism. It is a collection of sermons (lessons) delivered to his followers and students. It explains matters of spiritual purity and increasing closeness to God Almighty by worship, piety and decent manners, according to Islamic religion and the platforms of the Quran and prophetic teachings. It talks about gathering the hearts and souls through tolerance and restoring the right path by being repentant, humble and knowledgeable, according to the basis of the right of Islamic sufism in order to arrive to the gratification of God..

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Feb 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469146157

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Copyright © 2012 by Nada Al-Rifai.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4691-4614-0

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4691-4615-7

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Contents

The Introduction of Mohammad bin Abd-El-Samee’ Al-Wasety

In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

In the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him, there is a Good Example

The Virtues of Companionship

Statuses of the Prophets, the Veracious Saints, the Friends of Allah (Awliya), and the Righteous

Such is Allah, your Lord

The Translator’s Biography

The Introduction of

Mohammad bin Abd-El-Samee’ Al-Wasety

(The Author’s Disciple)

He noted down this book directly from his sheikh’s (Al-Rifai) mouth.

In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

Praise be to Allah, a praise that suffices for His blessings and equals to His increase. And peace and blessings be upon the unique prophetic pearl, the spirit of the material being, and the reason for every existing thing; our master (sayyiduna) and our patron (mawlana), the apple of our eyes, our honored prophetic messenger, Allah’s beloved Muhammad, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wasallam), and his family, companions, descendants, and loved ones, and beneficent followers until the day of judgment, Amen, Amen.

Subsequently, the poor slave of Allah’s mercy, Sharaf-ul-Deen bin Abd-al-Samee’ Al-Hashemi Al-Wasety, may Allah be for him and forgive his sin and lapses by His favor, says:

We have received, together with a crowd of loving righteous brothers, this blessed book, narrated from the mouth of our sheikh and resort; the benediction of Islam, the professor of the elite and the common, the forefront Supreme Helper (Ghawth Qutb) [The Ghawth (salvager) is the supreme Qutb (pole) in the spiritual hierarchy of the Awliya (muslim saints)], whom Allah has distinguished above the Awliya by virtue of his kissing the hand of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), the one with sublime hands, and profuse miracles, the bearer of the light and the heavy, our master the eminent sheikh Sayyed Ahmad bin Sayyed Abi-Al-Hassan Ali Al-Rifai, may Allah be pleased with him, bin (son of) Sayyed Yahiya, bin Sayyed Thaabit, bin Sayyed Haazim, bin Sayyed Ahmad, bin Sayyed Ali, bin Sayyed Abi Al-Makaram Al-Hassan known as Rifa’ah Al-Makky, bin Sayyed Al-Mahdi, bin Sayyed Muhammad Abi Al-Qasim, bin Sayyed Al-Hassan, bin Sayyed Al-Hussain, bin Sayyed Ahmad, bin Sayyed Mousa Al-Thani (the second Mousa), bin Imam Ibraheem Al-Murtada, bin Imam Mousa Al-Kathem, bin Imam Ja’far Al-Saadiq, bin Imam Muhammad Al-Baqer, bin Imam Ali Zainulabedeen, bin Imam Al-Muslimeen (of Muslims), and the extract of the honest prophet’s family, who was tested by types of affliction, the Emir (prince) of the believers Abi Abdellah Imam Al-Hussein, martyred in Karbala, son of the nation’s master, and the authority of the Imams, the Batoul’s (the worshipping Fatima) husband, and the prophet’s son-in-law, whose rank is as his name Hassan and Ali (graceful and high), father of the believers Abi Al-Hassanain Imam Ali, may Allah be pleased with him and with them all.

This was in the year five hundred fifty-six (556 A.H.), the year in which he returned from his holy Hajj journey (may Allah bless his holy secrets and increase his guidance and lights). At his noble rubat (residency) in Um Obeida, on his preaching chair within a few sessions, we collected in this part and called Al-Burhaan Al-Mua’yyad (The Advocated Proof) by the one to whom the prophet’s hand was extended, Mawlana the Shareef (noble) salvager Al-Rifai Ahmad. Here it is as we received it from him, may Allah be pleased with him.

He said (may Allah benefit us by him):

In the name of Allah,

the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

The author’s introduction

Praise be to Allah, a praise which He accepts for Himself, and may peace and blessings be upon the master of His creatures, and may Allah be pleased with his companions, descendants, and followers, the people of Islamic code (Shariah) and high spiritual state (Hal), and peace be upon us and the righteous slaves of Allah.

Gentlemen: Asceticism is the first step of those whose destination is Allah Exalted and Mighty. Its basis is piety (Taqwa), which means that the fear of Allah is the head of wisdom. The outcome of all this lies in the good following of the imam of souls and beings, the honored master, the messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.

The road of following starts with good patterning, according to the Hadeeth (prophetic quotation): Actions are but by intentions. (are according to their intentions).

Don’t you see how the messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to a man who asked him: O messenger of Allah! What about a man who wants Jihad while seeking the vanities of the present life? So the messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: He will get no merits.

People considered this dreadful (aggrandized), and told the man: Go back to the messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), because you might not have made him understand. So the man said: O Messenger of Allah! What about a man who wants Jihad for the sake of Allah, while seeking the vanities of the present life? The messenger of Allah replied: He will get no merits.

People considered this dreadful (aggrandized it), and told the man: Go back to the messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). So the man asked for the third time: What about a man who wants Jihad for the sake of Allah, while seeking the vanities of the present life? The messenger of Allah said: He will get no merits. Narrated and revised by people of authenticity.

From this, and similar cases, we learned that the results of the deed are made beautiful or ugly by intention. So deal with Allah with good intentions, and fear Him in motion and stillness, and preserve your beliefs from adhering to what appears to be similar in the holy book (the Qur’an) and the Sunnah (the prophet’s tradition), since that is amongst the origins of disbelief. The Almighty said:

(But those, in whose hearts is perversity, follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings).

(Qur’aan 003.007)

The Similar (allegorical ) Surahs (verses)

As for the allegorical verses (Ayaat), it is your duty and the duty of the persons under legal obligation (Mukallaf) to believe that it is from Allah, revealed to His slave, our master, the messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), and that the Almighty has not commanded us to know the details of its interpretation. The Almighty said:

(And none knows its interpretation save Allah, and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord.) (Qur’aan 003:007).

So the way of the pious of the predecessors is to deem Allah, The Almighty, far above what is evidenced by the surface, and to leave its intended meaning to the Almighty Allah, and thus is the soundness of religion.

A man of knowledge was asked about The Creator (pure are His names), so he answered the questioner: If you ask about His essence (dhat), (There is nothing like unto Him) (Qur’aan 042:011), and if you ask about His qualities (Sifat), He is the One and Only, The Self-Sufficient on Whom all depend. (He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.) (Qur’aan 112:003,112:004)

And if you ask about His Name:

(He is Allah besides Whom there is no God: The Knower of the unseen and the seen; He is the Beneficent, the Merciful.)

(Qur’aan 059:022)

Our Imam El-Shafei (may Allah be pleased with him) summed up all that which was said about monotheism, by saying: "Whoever rises up to know his mastermind Creator, and ends up at a creation to which his thoughts end, is an anthropomorphist. If he is reassured by a mere nothing, he is a disabler (Muattil—who denies Divine attributes). If he is reassured about an existing, and admits inability to recognize Him, he is a monotheist.

Deeming Allah, The Almighty, above all

Gentlemen: Deem Allah above the features of the incidental beings, and the qualities of the created beings. Purify your beliefs from interpreting the meaning of taking a seat (istiwaa’) on behalf of The Almighty in a manner similar to the objects sitting on objects, which implies the meaning of incarnation (be He exalted far above that).

Never talk about ups or downs (in relation to Allah, implying direction), or of place or hand or an organic eye, or about descending by coming and moving around. Verily, all that which was mentioned in the holy book and the Sunnah, which apparently indicates what was mentioned previously, there was something similar to it revealed in the holy book and the Sunnah which advocates the intended meaning.

Nothing has remained except that which was said by the righteous predecessors, which is belief in the apparent side of all of that, then we turn back the intended knowledge to Allah and His messenger, deeming The Almighty Creator high above the manner and qualities of occurrence. This is what the Ummah (nation) used to do. Everything by which Allah has described Himself in His book should be interpreted by reading it and remaining silent. No one has the right to interpret it except Allah and His messenger.

So many times was the allegorical taken to agree with the origin of the decisive, as it is the origin of the book, and the allegorical does not oppose the decisive.

A man asked Imam Malek bin Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) about the Almighty’s saying:

The Most Beneficent (Allah) established on the throne (settled Himself firmly on the throne in a manner that suits His Majesty). (Qur’aan 020:005)

So he said: The establishment is not unknown, and the how of it is unreasonable; believing in it is obligatory, asking about it is a reprehensible innovation (bid’a), and I just see you as an innovator. And he ordered him to leave.

When our Imam, Al-Shafei (may Allah be pleased with him), was asked about that, he answered: I believed without anthropomorphism, and confirmed without likening (to anything at all), and accused myself about perception, and refrained totally from engaging into this.

Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Whoever says ‘I don’t know whether Allah is in heaven or on earth’ has committed disbelief. Because this saying makes someone believe that Allah has a place, and whoever fancies that Allah has a place is an anthropomorphist.

When Imam Ahmed (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about the establishment, he said: He is established as He stated, not as it occurs to the minds of men.

The master (Imam), the son of the master, Ja’far Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), said: "Whoever alleges that Allah is in something, or from something, or on something, has committed polytheism (shirk). Since if He were on something, He would be carried, and if He were in something, He would be enclosed, and if He were from something, He would be originated.

Gentlemen: Seek Allah whole-heartedly as He is—to his slave—(closer to him than his jugular vein) (Qur’aan 050:016), and (He encompasses all things in (His) knowledge.) (Qur’aan 065:012).

The religion is giving advice: If you say La Ilaha Illa Allah (there is no god but Allah), say it with a sincerity that is pure from anything else but Him, and from the risks of likening and showing the manner, or implying high or low, far or near directions. Take the results of the deeds with pure (unmixed) intentions, as the master of mankind (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated.

The Pillars of Islam

Arbitrate your deeds according to the five pillars on which Islam is based. Allah’s messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Islam is based on five (pillars): The testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger (La Ilaha Illa Allah), the observance of the ritual prayer (Salat), the payment of obligatory charity (Zakat), the pilgrimage to the holy house of Makka (Hajj), and the fast during the month of Ramadan (Saum). Beware of newly invented matters (in religion). Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: He who innovates things in our affairs which do not belong to it is to be rejected."

Seeking to be Close to Allah The Almighty

Deal with Allah with piety, deal with the human beings with truth and good manners, and deal with yourselves by contradicting them, and respect the legal penalties (divinely ordained).

And fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have covenanted.

(Qur’aan 016:091)

And take whatever the messenger assigns to you, and abstain from whatever he forbids you.

(Qur’aan 059:007)

Never lie against Allah or human beings. Pretense is lying to Allah and His creatures. The whole of slavery to Allah is knowing the state of (being a slave to Allah). Religion is acting according to the orders and avoiding the prohibitions; it