Muslim Contribution by Muzaffar Iqbal
The teacher-disciple relationship in Islam
Primary text: al-Quran 18: 60-82
Translation of verses:
60. And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his boy-servant: "I will not give up (travelling) until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travelling."
61. But when they reached the junction of the two seas, they forgot their fish, and it took its way through the sea as in a tunnel.
62. So when they had passed further on (beyond that fixed place), Musa (Moses) said to his boy-servant: "Bring us our morning meal; truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey."
63. He said:"Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock? I indeed forgot the fish, none but Shaitan (Satan) made me forget to remember it. It took its course into the sea in a strange (way)!"
64. [Musa (Moses)] said: "That is what we have been seeking." So they went back retracing their footsteps.
65. Then they found one of Our slaves, unto whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us.
66. Musa (Moses) said to him (Khidr) "May I follow you so that you teach me something of that knowledge (guidance and true path) which you have been taught (by Allah)?"
67. He (Khidr) said: "Verily! You will not be able to have patience with me!
68. "And how can you have patience about a thing which you know not?"
69. Musa (Moses) said: "If Allah will, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught."
70. He (Khidr) said: "Then, if you follow me, ask me not about anything till I myself mention it to you."
71. So they both proceeded, till, when they embarked the ship, he (Khidr) scuttled it. Musa (Moses) said: "Have you scuttled it in order to drown its people? Verily, you have committed a dreadful thing "Imra" (a Munkar - evil, bad, dreadful thing)."
72. He (Khidr) said: "Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me?"
73. [Musa (Moses)] said: "Call me not to account for what I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you)."
74. Then they both proceeded, till they met a boy, he (Khidr) killed him. Musa (Moses) said: "Have you killed an innocent person who had killed none? Verily, you have committed a dreadful thing "Nukra" (a great Munkar - prohibited, evil, dreadful thing)!"
75. (Khidr) said: "Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me?"
76. [Musa (Moses)] said: "If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me."
77. Then they both proceeded, till, when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found therein a wall about to collapse and he (Khidr) set it up straight. [Musa (Moses)] said: If you had wished, surely, you could have taken wages for it!"
78. (Khidr) said: "This is the parting between me and you, I will tell you the interpretation of (those) things over which you were unable to hold patience.
79. "As for the ship, it belonged to Masakin (poor people) working in the sea. So I wished to make a defective damage in it, as there was a king after them who seized every ship by force.
80. "And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebellion and disbelief.
81. "So we intended that their Lord should change him for them for one better in righteousness and near to mercy.
82. "And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town; and there was under it a treasure belonging to them; and their father was a righteous man, and your Lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of those (things) over which you could not hold patience."
Some background material
Moses and Khidr:
Al-Khidr, lit. Green: The immortal Islamic Green Man, al-Khidr, has been compared to the Celtic Green Man, Hermes, and the Buddha and in certain cultural practice to Elijah and Saint George. Al-Khidr is a unique figure, appearing in the Qur’an as the one sent by God to teach a Prophet (Moses). He is often taken by mystics, who draw wisdom from his story as a guide and teacher. In addition, it reveals al-Khidr’s special compassion and inner knowledge (‘ilm al-ladduni) as divine inspiration distinct from conceptual knowledge and as a model of the mentoring master (shaykh al-suhba), who is distincet from the instructing master (shaykh al-ta‘lim) discussed in hadith, Qur’an commentaries, and hagiographies. The master-disciple relationship, particularly the role of companionship (suhba) and manners (adab) is central.
In the spiritual Path when a person makes an intention (irada)- in spite of having belief and faith, feels he needs to take a step in a direction which he does not know; this first step (initiative) when taken is known as initiation. Imam Ghazzali (Rahmatullah alaihi) states; " Entering the spiritual path is like an arrow at a point one cannot see, so that one does not know what the arrow is going to hit; one only knows one's own action, and one does not see the point aimed at". In the spiritual path the initiative taken to sell one's self to Allah is the arrow. And the point that one hopes to target is the Almighty. Hence the word bayat is from the word 'Bai' which means to sell. This is in keeping with the Qur'anic perspective wherein Allah Almighty states;" Almighty states:' Allah has purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs in return is the garden of Paradise" (9:8). A person who firmly makes an intention (irada) and takes the initiative to surrender himself completely to Allah is called a mureed' (initiate). When the mureed attains his goal, then this seeker unto Allah becomes the murad (sought).
In reality everything belongs to Allah. Allah has entrusted man's life and his possession unto him. Unfortunately, man tends to abuse this trust by wrongly thinking that his life wealth etc. are his possession, and in this respect begins to expend them according to his own wishes and desires. In this respect, he risks falling into a snare where he unconsciously becomes a renegade, flagrantly breaching the trust that was placed in him. When man realizes the error of his rebellion and returns to Allah surrendering himself completely to His will. Ashamed at the tyranny of following the insinuations of his ego, he then begins anew and attaches everything to Allah and starts to act in accordance with His actions then make him worthy of being someone who has sold himself to Allah exchange for His pleasure and reward.
As in the case of a business transaction, merely intending to enter in to a business transaction with a particular party does not get one far. Practical steps have to be taken. Similarly, when one intends to surrender oneself completely to Allah, then intention has to be translated in to action. We are greatly aware of the various steps, which are taken when selling a property and time, and effort, which are put in to making the transaction successful. How great then is this transaction between 'Rab' (Lord) and 'abd (servant) when the servant desires to sell himself to his Lord.
The first step that is taken in order to surrender oneself to Allah, is that one becomes a disciple of him, who has the necessary capabilities of being a means (wasila) of approach unto him. This first step is a Qur'anic directive wherein Almighty Allah states; " O ye who believe! Fear Allah and seek a means of approach unto Him, and strive in His path so that you may attain success" (4:38).
In the view of the great ulema of the times the means of approach that is being mentioned here is a 'murshid' (spiritual guide). Great ulema such as Shah Abdur Rahim, Shah Waliullah, and Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi (Rahmatullah Alaihim) who are accepted and respected by all schools of thought have given the same opinion. When a person makes bayat (takes the pledge of allegiance) upon the hands of a qualified murshid in accordance with the etiquettes and ethics of bayat, then his allegiance, link by link, reaches the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and then, ultimately to Allah.
If a person remains steadfast on his bayat, then he becomes the recipient of great reward. However, if he breaks off his bayat, then he does so at his own peril. "Verily those who pledge their fealty to thee, pledge their fealty in truth to Allah. The Hand of Allah is over their hands, Then anyone who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own soul. And anyone who fulfill what he has covenanted with Allah; Allah will soon grant him a great reward" (48:10).
There are various types of bayat which the Sahaba-e-kiram (Radiyallahu Anhum) took upon the hands of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam); viz, the pledge of Islam, the pledge of Vicegerency, pledge of Hijrah, pledge of Jihaad, pledge of adherence to Sunnah, pledge of piety, pledge of adherence to Sunnah, pledge of piety, pledge of steadfastness in worship and devotion to Allah and so on. Bayat in Sufism is the sum total of the pledge of Repentance, Piety (internal and external), steadfastness to the precepts of the Deen, steadfastness to the Sunnah, devout worship of Allah and every other aspect which is related to the cleansing of the nafs (ego) and inner purity. In Sufism there are two types of bayat: bayat-e-barakah and bayat-e-iradah: bayat-e-barakah is where one initiates one's self into a spiritual order merely for the blessing of being part of a spiritual order which has a direct link to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alahi Wasallam) without a break in sequence. Bayat taken for mere material gain and not for spiritual upliftment is considered null and void. The bayat is highly beneficial and brings one in the ranks of those who have a link with the beloved of Allah.
Bayat-e-iradah is where one completely cancels one's own desires and surrenders one's self completely to Almighty Allah. In this type of bayat, one becomes like a 'corpse in the hands of the washer'; where one gives one's sheikh absolute empowerment to lead one to Allah. This bayat is taken only by few and is also known as bayat-e-salikeen. This type of bayat was undertaken by the Sahaba (Radiyallahu Anhum) upon the hands of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).
Utmost faith and fidelity to one's murshid and/or sheikh, intense love transcending the boundaries of love for life and wealth. If one does not develop this type of relationship with one's sheikh, then one will not be capable of being a recipient of spiritual benefit. ... This is done in order to inculcate within the heart of the mureed, steadfastness, fidelity, obedience, submission, surrender, direction, a sense of purpose and most importantly, sincere devotion. Without these one can never be a true aspirant on the path to Allah.
Al-Ghazali on MASTER-DISCIPLE RELATIONSHIP
The disciple [murid] must of necessity have recourse to a director [shaikh or sheikh: in Persian, pir] to guide him aright. For the Way is obscure, but the Devil's ways are many and patent, and he who has no shaikh to guide him will be led by the Devil into his ways. Wherefore the disciple must cling to his shaikh as a blind man on the edge of a river clings to his leader, confiding himself to him entirely, opposing him in no matter whatsoever, and binding himself to follow him absolutely. Let him know that the advantage he gains from the error of his shaikh, if he should err, is greater than the advantage he gains from his own rightness, if he should be right.
Once the seeker is initiated, his shaikh subjects him to a rigorous spiritual regimen, designed to induce the desired enlightenment. The discipline can come through a variety of forms, including assigned activity (e.g., sacrificial service of the master), oral instruction (including the use of "teaching stories"), and various spiritual exercises (we shall consider examples later). The precise training that the shaikh employs will vary from disciple to disciple, according to the perceived needs of the individual.
Bayazid al-Bistami:
Of the obligation to follow a guide, he said: "Who does not have a sheikh, his sheikh is Satan."
Of seeking God he said, "Hunger is a rain cloud. If a servant becomes hungry, Allah will shower his heart with wisdom."
To a young man who wanted a piece of his old cloak for baraka (blessing), Bayazid said: "Should you take all Bayazid's skin and wear it as yours, it would avail you nothing unless you followed his example."
They said to him, "The key for Paradise is 'La ilaha ill-Allah' (witnessing that there is no god except Allah)." He said, "It is true, but a key is for opening a lock; and the key of such witnessing can only operate under the following conditions:
- a tongue which doesn't lie nor backbite;
- a heart without betrayal;
- a stomach without h aram or doubtful provision;
- deeds without desire or innovation."
He said, "The ego or self always looks at the world and the ruh (spirit) always looks at the next life and ma`rifat (spiritual knowledge) always looks at Allah Almighty and Exalted. He whose self defeats him is from those who are destroyed, and he whose spirit is victorious over his self, he is of the pious, and he whose spiritual knowledge overcomes his self, he is of the God-conscious."
Ad-Dailami said, "One time I asked `Abdur Rahman bin Yahya about the state of trust in Allah (tawakkul). He said, "If you put your hand in the mouth of a lion, don't be afraid of other than Allah." I went in my heart to visit and ask Bayazid about this matter. I knocked and I heard from inside, "Wasn't what `Abdur Rahman said to you enough? You came only to ask, and not with the intention of visiting me." I understood and I came again another time one year later, knocking at his door. This time he answered, "Welcome my son, this time you came to me as a visitor and not as a questioner."
They asked him "When does a man become a man?" He said, "When he knows the mistakes of his self and he busies himself in correcting them."
He said, "I was twelve years the blacksmith of my self, and five years the polisher of the mirror of my heart, and for one year I was looking in that mirror and I saw on my belly the girdle of unbelief. I tried hard to cut it and I spent twelve years in that effort. Then I looked in that mirror and I saw inside my body that girdle. I spent five years cutting it. Then I spent one year looking at what I had done. And Allah opened for me the vision of all creations. And I saw all of them dead. And I prayed four takbiras of janaza (funeral prayer) over them."
He said one time: "If the Throne and what is around it and what is in it were placed in the corner of the heart of a Knower, they would be lost completely inside it."
Of Bayazid's state, al-`Abbas ibn Hamza related the following: "I prayed behind Bayazid the Dhuhr prayer, and when he raised his hands to say 'Allahu Akbar' he was unable to pronounce the words, in fear of Allah's Holy Name, and his entire body was trembling and the sound of bones breaking came from him; I was seized by fear."
Abul `Abbas is Khidr , whom Allah mentioned in the Holy Qur'an [18:65f.] as the servant of Allah who met with the Prophet Musa . He preserved and maintained the Reality of the Golden Chain until the next link in the Chain, `Abdul Khaliq, could assume his destined station.
Imam Bukhari relates in the Book of Prophets that the Prophet said, "Al-Khidr ('the Green Man') was so named because he sat on a barren white land once, after which it turned luxuriantly green with vegetation."
The important role of Khidr as the murshid (initiator) of saints may be illustrated by the importance of his role as the murshid of prophets, particularly of the Prophet Musa . Moses was a highly powerful prophet, one of the five greatest ones whom Allah sent to this world: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, Peace and blessings be upon them. Yet despite Moses' elevated knowledge, Allah caused him to be in need of Khidr, even though Khidr was not a prophet. This is to teach us, as Allah said in the Holy Qur'an, that "Above every knower there is a greater knower" (Yusuf, 76).
The story of Moses' encounter with Khidr is related in Surat al-Kahf (65-82) and goes thus: Moses and his servant found one of Allah's servants whom Allah had honored uniquely and had taught knowledge from His Own Presence. Moses said to him, "I would like to accompany you." He answered him: "You cannot bear to accompany me." Moses was surprised and insisted he was able to do so. Khidr said: "You cannot, but if you do, do not ask about what I am doing no matter what you see me do. On that condition alone you may follow; but if you wish to ask questions, don't follow me." This meant that Khidr was going to do something that Moses would not understand, although he was the Messenger of a great religion. He was in need of Khidr to teach him something.
They took a boat and crossed the Tiberias River in Palestine. When they had reached the middle of the river, Khidr made a hole in the boat in order for it to sink. Moses was unable to keep silent, saying: "Why are you doing this childish act? Those people gave you the boat, are you now scuttling it?" Khidr replied: "Did I not tell you you would be unable to keep company with me?" Moses had not yet understood, even though he was a prophet and could read hearts, that there was something taking place that he did not know. They continued and found a young boy. As soon as they saw him, Khidr killed him. Moses said: "What are you doing? You sank a boat, and now you kill a child? This is against all laws!" Again Khidr said: "Did I not tell you you could not keep company with me? The third time you ask me, we will part ways." Then they reached a city where they asked for food. No one gave them any food, and they threw them out. On their way, they found a wall on the verge of collapse. Khidr rebuilt that wall and made it straight. Moses asked: "Why are you doing this? No one accepted us as their guests in this city, and yet you are building their wall for them?" Khidr said: "This is the point where we separate, for you did not understand the wisdom of what I am doing."
"O Moses, what we do is what Allah tells us to do. First I caused this boat to sink because there is a tyrant who is seizing every boat from the poor people on this side of the city. In order for these people not to lose their boat, I made it sink. That tyrant is going to die tomorrow, and tomorrow they can retrieve their boat and use it safely. I killed the child because Allah did not want that child to cause his parents, who believe in you, to leave and run away from your religion. Allah will give them better children than him. I built the wall which belonged to a man who was in life very generous to the poor. When he passed away, he left a treasure buried under the wall for his two orphans. Were that wall to come down, people would see the treasure and take it. I restored it in order for the two children to receive their treasure later. You did not understand God's wisdom."
That was Moses who, with all the honor bestowed on him by God, found himself ignorant before Khidr. How can we, who know so little in comparison to Moses, consider ourselves knowledgeable if Moses himself, with all his knowledge in the Divine Presence, was unable to understand certain things? This is a lesson in humility for human beings, and particularly for scholars and religious leaders: "Your knowledge is not worth mentioning. There are others more and highly more knowledgeable than you. As high or deep as you travel into knowledge, there is deeper depth and higher height than where you stand."
That is why, when someone sits to give advice, he must sit with complete humbleness and complete respect for the listener. He cannot consider himself higher than them, otherwise that light will never reach their hearts. That is also why each is in need of a guide, as was shown by the Guide of guides himself, the Prophet , when he took Jibril as a guide for Revelation, and when he took a guide in traveling to Madina.
This is how Ibn `Arabi (q) in Fusus al-hikam explains the three acts of Khidr witnessed by Musa :
"Moses was tested 'by many ordeals' [20:41] the first of which was the murder of the Egyptian [28:14-15], an act which he committed by Divine impulsion and with the approbation of God deep inside him, without however, his perceiving it; nevertheless he felt no affliction in his soul for having killed the Egyptian, although he himself was not acquitted until he had received a Divine revelation on the subject. For all prophets are interiorly preserved from sin without their being conscious of it, even before they are warned by inspiration.
"It is for that reason that al-Khidr showed him the putting to death of the boy, an action for which Moses reproached him, without remembering his murder of the Egyptian, upon which al-Khidr said to him: 'I have not done it of my own initiative,' recalling thus to Moses the state in which he, the latter, found himself when he did not yet know that he was essentially preserved from all action contrary to the Divine Order.
"He showed him also the perforation of the boat, apparently made to destroy the people, but which has, however, the hidden sense of saving them from the hand of a 'violent man.' He showed this to him as an analogy to the ark which hid Moses when he was thrown into the Nile; according to appearances, this act was equally to destroy him, but according to the hidden sense, it was to save him. Again his mother had done that for fear of the 'violent man,' in this case Pharaoh, so that he would not cruelly kill the child...
"Moses arrived then at Madyan, there met the two girls and for them drew water from the well, without asking from them a salary. Then he 'withdrew to the shade,' that is to say to the Divine shadow, and said: 'O my Lord, I am poor with regard to the blessings Thou bestowest on Me'; he attributed, then, to God alone the essence of the good that he did and qualified himself as poor (faqir) towards God. It was for that reason that al-Khidr reconstructed before him the crumbling wall without asking a salary for his work, for which Moses reprimanded him, until Khidr reminded him of his action of drawing water without asking for reward, and other things too, of which there is no mention in the Koran; so that the Messenger of God -- may God bless him and give him Peace! -- regretted that Moses did not keep quiet and did not remain with al-Khidr, so that God could tell him more of their actions."
Of Khidr's sayings to Sahl at-Tustari (q) according to Ibn `Arabi:
"Allah created the Light of Muhammad from His Light... This Light stayed before Allah for 100,000 years. Allah directed His Gaze upon it 70,000 times every day and night, adding to it a new light from His Light every time. Then, from that Light, He created all creations."
When the Prophet left this world and condolence came, they heard a voice from the corner of the house saying, "Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you, members of the Family of the Prophet !" `Ali (r) then asked if they knew who this was, and he said it was Khidr . Bayhaqi transmitted it in Dala'il an-Nubuwwa.
