Spiritual deceases - by Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi

Address by Honorable Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi ad-Daghestani at a meeting of Dagestani Mufti Said Muhammad Abubakarov and Muslims Clerical Board with Chirkey village jamaat, Chirkey village jum`ah mosque, 1996

Dear brothers in faith. These members of Clerical Board are here today for our benefit. Everything they told us is quite useful. They are not seeking for salary or material gains. Their goal is nothing else but guiding us to the right path. Everything they mentioned today is true and doubtless, each word is meaningful. If any of you was seeking for the good, here he has got it today.

They have mentioned it, and I guess many of you are aware of it too, that I teach Tariqa. It is, actually, much easier to follow Tariqa than to teach it. It is a hundred times easier. I would be happy to follow Tariqa teachers, but there are none left already. I would be happy if you understood the truth and entered the right path. And I want nothing back either. I do not want you to do anything for me or to pay me. I call you to nothing wrong. I just want you to be all right and to understand everything correctly. This is my only goal, nothing else.

Those bearded men keep saying that there was no Tasawwuf at the times of the Prophet (PBUH). What should you answer? You should answer that it is a lie. If someone said that there were no diseases before, would that be true? As the Almighty created the world, He also created people and sicknesses and medicines for them. Is there anyone who does not agree with this? This cannot be denied. And there are also different types of diseases, as times passes and life conditions change many types of new deceases appear. For example, our forefathers used to say that there was a devastating disease in our lowland village, they called it kurkun. This disease made it impossible to stay overnight there. However, it was not present in mountainous areas. When a new unknown disease appears, experts in the field start looking for medicine and treatment methods.

As it was mentioned before, the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) were very pious people. None of the great Ulama and Imams could ever reach the level of spirituality the Companions had acquired by just once seeing the Prophet (PBUH). There were some spiritual diseases and accordingly medicines for them at those times too. After the Prophet (PBUH) and his Companions died and the number of pious people decreased, a lot of hypocrites showed up in Islam. Their number increased. Thus new diseases started appearing and experts started looking for methods to cure them. This is how Tasawwuf came into being.

If today we discover new spiritual diseases in forms of sins, perhaps, there will appear a new direction in Tariqa as a cure for them specifically. That is why I do not want you to frown at our frequency of Tariqa and Wahabbism discussions. There are some things you need to mention once and there are some things you need to mention every day. As long as you are not aware of the essence of Wahhabism, your [understanding of] Islam is incomplete, you should know this.

Probably many of you have visited me. Certainly, there are some of you who have not, I never call anyone to visit me or reproach anyone for not doing that. I do not reject anyone who came to visit me, but I also do not eagerly invite anyone. I never told my children or my relatives to get wirds of Tariqa, either. It is not allowed. I am not hostile to a person who does not get a wird. That is forbidden. But as long as you do not understand the meaning of Wahhabism and its harmfulness, then you will hardly get to the right path. You should understand this. It is essential to stay away from Wahhabis.

Some of you say that they [wahhabis] also pray and fast. Well, here is an example. Our religious practice is like building a house. There are some conditions to be met while building a house. If a land for the house is misappropriated or, for instance, state government does not approve of the construction works, then there will be no use of this house, even if it is golden. They also say that a prayer performed on a misappropriated land is not accepted. You see, there are also some conditions to be met while practicing a religion, praying and fasting. These conditions must have strong foundation.

Wahabbis insist that Allah is situated on al-Arsh. If there are 72 doubtful divisions in Islam, then Wahabbism is the worst in the matter of religious views. Worship by a person with these religious views makes no sense. You should understand that this is a vain worship, they perform Salah and fast, but the truth is that these are futile. You better build a hut on your own land than a palace on a misappropriated land. Knowing the essence of Wahhabism you should stay away from it. May Allah help you to realize this! And I repeat once more that my only goal is to guide you to the right path.
Dear brothers, this kind of Majlises do not take place very often. I see that a lot of people have gathered today and made this Majlis great. May Allah be pleased with you!

I see some women here; therefore I would like to make an observation, that women are ruining your lives, because we cannot control and overrule them. According to the laws of Shariah women have no right to rule. But people do not follow Shariah nowadays.

Look at shepherds, for example. The way they earn their living is so hard! I was a shepherd and I know what I am talking about. And women squander the property that was so hard to get!? They probably think they will get away with it. I swear by Allah, you are accountable for this!

If we were aware of torments of Hell and treasures of Paradise the way we are aware of salaries we get every month, then people who are occupied with doing good deeds today would not have even had a chance to do them. All the charity would have been done by the people who hunt after money nowadays. They would not let us do the charity the same way as they do not let us make a living. They would have even made twice more efforts. But they are not aware of spiritual life, because it is hidden. It is a secret that will be uncovered in the next life.

If women knew this, I swear by Allah, they would never act the way they do. Men are responsible for sons, daughters and homes. What are women’s problems then? Do they need to be damned or humiliated to act as their husbands tell? We have already discussed this so much! Look at how these adats ruin our lives and where these obsessions with for-the-wedding suitcases lead to.

In comparison to other villages where they do not even have mosques and Imams, ours is much better in terms of Islamic development, praises be to the Almighty. That is why we must be grateful to Allah and try to improve ourselves. You see the way we behave. Imam keeps talking about our [luxurious] weddings and the prohibition of alcohol. This is not someone’s decree or a newspaper article, you know, this is something Qur’an and Hadiths mention. The Creator granted us these Ayahs and Hadiths so that we could follow the true path. This is something Allah obliged us to do. Do you think Imam wants you to abstain from vodka for some selfish reasons?

Let me give you an example. Imagine him being a doctor and me being a patient with a mental illness. The doctor must use different methods to cure me. If necessary he may even use physical force or tie me up, he may lie to me or say kind words. In short, he would try to find the most appropriate method to cure me. But the harder he tries, the more aggressive I become, the more I resist to the doctor. Imams are in similar situation nowadays. They teach us for our sake only. But what can he do, if you do not understand him?

Many of you have been shepherds before, so am I. Sheep sometimes can be smarter than people. Think about it, when a shepherd sees sheep going the wrong direction, he cries to them and they come back. So do the Imams, they cry to people. They call to Allah’s Book and Prophet’s Hadiths (PBUH) and want us to follow the path that the Almighty wanted us to. But we ignore them and go our own way. Do you still think that we are smarter than sheep, do you still deny this? The sheep understands that if it does not go back, then something is going to happen to it. But when people hear so much about Islam, they just ignore it. Can you say that these people are smarter than these sheep? May Allah help everyone!

The longer your speech is, the longer the meeting is. They say, smart people just need a hint. May Allah help us to do good deeds. Amen!