When we have conflicting views in life, the solution is to tell our Shaykh and follow his advice. But if you go against Shariah by doing what is in your mind, then you are not bayat to your Shaykh, you are bayat to your mind. What hurts the Shaykh is when the mureed does not follow his teachings, not when people talk bad about him.
Defending a Shaykh when people talk bad about him yet not following his advice is not muhabbat. This is nafsaaniyat. The Sahaaba رضي الله عنهم wanted to retaliate to those who would speak rudely to Nabi ﷺ but Nabi ﷺ responded by saying that no, do not retaliate. So many times Umar رضي الله عنه wanted to take out his sword. But upon the refusal of Nabi ﷺ, he would put that sword straight back into its sheath! Because we are not here to do what we want to do, we are here to do what Nabi ﷺ told us to do.
That is the right path and that is what the Shaykh is for – to guide us back to the Sunnah. Sometimes we turn to deen yet when it comes to certain aspects in our lives; we are still nafsparast (slaves of our own desires). What is bayah? When a person takes bayah, he is handing his soul over to the Shaykh. Now he is plasticine in the Shaykh’s hands, the Shaykh will mould him and shape him. Does plasticine protest against a child who shapes it? No – because it is soft and willing to change!
Likewise we need to become soft and willing to change, otherwise, how will we make our Islah (i.e. spiritual reformation)? It is easy to remove a strand of hair from plasticine, yet that same strand of hair is difficult to pull out of cement that has hardened. Likewise if one’s heart is soft, it will be easy to remove evil traits, but if the heart is hard, then it will become very difficult. A hard heart is hard to work with.
May Allah soften our hearts, Aameen.
-Shaykh Dawood Seedat حفظه الله
Above is an extract from Shaykh’s talk. To listen to the full audio, please click here.
