Muhammedi Islam or Sufyani Islam: The Struggle for the Heart of Muslims (original) (raw)

Qadir as-Sufi, Sheikh of the Shadhili-Darqawi Tariqa and head of the Murabitun movement, wrote an extended essay in 2000 entitled "A letter to an Arab Muslim". The learned master, Sheikh Abd el-Qadir, expounded on the crisis facing the Arabs and their inability to rise to their historic status. Although the elucidation of the Sheikh on this vital issue was often profound and incisive, it was nevertheless curiously incomplete. This open letter is in way of a response to the Sheikh's essay. Assalamu aleikum wa Rahmatullahu wa Barakuttuhu. All praise is to Allah, the Master of the Worlds. It is through Him that we seek assistance and guidance. He is the First and Last; the Manifest and the Hidden; there is no deity but He; there is no reality but Allah. Peace and Blessings upon the Most Noble of Creation, the Blessed Prophet, his Progeny, His Righteous Companions, and all those who follow him, with ihsan, until the Day of Reckoning, the Yawm ad-Deen Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, in His infinite Mercies, has given power and insight to those of His chosen servants who have been authorised to carry the trust of His friendship, His wilaya. The burden of wilaya is immense. It is the entire load that the mountains shrank from carrying. For with authority to reflect the Divine Mercy, the Rahma of Allah, along the perfect pattern of our Noble Prophet, Peace and Blessings upon him, is another condition of equal import-to reflect it with guidance and compassion to man. Call upon the Rahman, the All-Merciful, we are commanded, for His Mercy is the Font of all His Attributes. Rahma, Forbearance and Guidance are the attributes of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, that are chiselled on the eternal tablet of the Fatiha. And is not the entire Qur'an al-Karim contained within the Fatiha?