Are the cheikhs of education infallible?

Text published in Arabic under the title “هل شيوخ التربية معصومون؟”.

There is a notion spreading in certain circles affiliated with tasawwuf that the Muhammadan heir master, the educator who has arrived and who brings others to arrival (al-wâsil al-mûsil), speaks through God from the two Presences. In support of this, people cite the hadith of the walî, which Bukhârî alone reports in his Sahîh: “…and when I love him, I am the hearing with which he hears and the sight with which he sees…”

Some Sufis also assert that the murîd is in the hands of his cheikh like the dead man in the hands of the one who washes him: he obeys him in all his states, with an obedience that admits neither objection nor discussion, even if he were to see from him what, outwardly, contradicts the Law. They cite the story of the virtuous servant al-Khidr, man of the Reality and of infused knowledge, with God’s prophet Moses, peace be upon him, man of the Law, in the Sura of the Cave:

“‘How could you kill an innocent person? He has not killed anyone! What a terrible thing to do!’”
Qur’an 18:74

Yet such a position carries a danger that escapes no discerning mind: not everyone who lays claim to mastership is a master, and the murîd may fall into the trap of having his will taken from him, sectarian control, at the hands of figures whose aim is basely worldly.

Impeccability belongs to the prophets, and for the Revelation alone

And even if the educator were a cheikh fulfilling the conditions of the master who has arrived and who brings others to arrival (at God), the question of the limits of obedience and following remains. For the prophets and messengers, who convey God’s messages, the matter is clear and settled by the word of the Most High:

“When God and His Messenger have decided on a matter that concerns them, it is not fitting for any believing man or woman to claim freedom of choice in that matter: whoever disobeys God and His Messenger is far astray.”
Qur’an 33:36

So much for what they convey from their Lord, and such is the meaning of the impeccability (‘isma) with which God has endowed His prophets and His messengers alone. In everyday life and the affairs of the world, it is otherwise. Muslim reports from Anas, may God be pleased with him, that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, passed by some people who were pollinating palm trees and said: “If you did not do it, it would be better.” The palms yielded aborted dates of poor quality. He passed by them again and asked: “What is the matter with your palms?” They replied: “You said such and such…” He then said: “You know the affairs of your world better than I do.” The hadith is also reported, in various versions, by Ibn Khuzayma and Ibn Hibbân in their Sahîh collections, among others. An-Nawawî devoted a chapter of his commentary on the Sahîh of Muslim to it: “On the obligation to conform to what he said by way of the Law, to the exclusion of what he mentioned, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning the means of subsistence of this world, by way of opinion.”

Likewise, during the expedition in which the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, set up camp at a certain place, a Companion asked him: is this a position God has assigned to you, or is it a matter of war and stratagem? When the supreme Messenger had confirmed that it was not a revelation, the Companion set out the weakness of the position, and another site was chosen in its place. The Companions’ relationship with the bearer of the Revelation was therefore a balanced one, which distinguishes between reason and transmission, puts reason to work in its proper place and does not abolish it.

This appeared clearly on many occasions: the following was not blind, devoid of insight. When the chosen Beloved, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded them: “Help your brother, whether he is the wrongdoer or the wronged”, the noble Companions were surprised: we help him if he suffers wrong, but how are we to help him when he commits it? Here was the height of awareness of the purposes of the great Message: the Law has as its features fairness, sound reason and the primordial nature. The Beloved, peace and blessings be upon him, replied: “You stop him from doing wrong: that is helping him.” Reported by Bukhârî in his Sahîh from Anas ibn Mâlik.

Not impeccable, but preserved

Scholars and saints, whatever degree they attain, are not impeccable: this is the unanimous consensus of the people of knowledge. But they are “preserved” (mahfûzûn), for God is jealous over His beloved ones.

If the impeccable Prophet, the best of all God’s creatures, showed himself to us as fully human, if what does not belong to the Revelation is not taken from him, as we have shown, if his abstentions do not all fall under the forbidden, he who abstained from eating lizard because this dish, foreign to his people, was distasteful to him, without its being unlawful for all that, and who did not eat garlic, among other things left aside or done as particular to him, such as his marriages… In the authentic hadith reported by Muslim and others, Abû Ayyûb al-Ansârî relates: when a meal was brought to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, he would eat from it and send me the rest. One day, he sent me a remainder he had not touched, because it contained garlic. I asked him: is it forbidden? “No,” he replied, “but I dislike it because of its smell.” Then I dislike what you dislike, said Abû Ayyûb. And in one version: “Eat of it; as for me, I am not like one of you: I fear to trouble my Companion.” And in another: “I converse with One with whom you do not converse.” (The angel Gabriel)

What then of the saintly guide who, however high his degree and his knowledge of God, does not reach the rank of the Prophet and is not impeccable? Would one receive from him without discernment and without limits? The answer is certainly no. The sincere murîd must understand the fiqh of the path before embarking on it, and first of all this: obedience to the cheikh is governed by the Law. Al-Junayd al-Baghdâdî, imam of the two communities, the people of the Law and the people of the Way, said it: our way is bound to the Book and the Sunna. The Law is the door to the Reality.

The cheikh’s counsel, the murîd‘s trial

In the affairs of the world, the murîd may consult his cheikh in search of reassurance and by having recourse to the means: there is no disappointment for one who asks God for the best choice, no regret for one who consults. If the murîd follows his cheikh’s counsel, trusting in what the saint sees by the light of God, and what displeases him comes to pass, let him know that it is the decree of God, who does what He wills, and let him speak well and not blame his cheikh: it is a trial. And if he does not follow his cheikh’s counsel and what pleases him comes to pass, let him likewise beware of blaming his cheikh: it is a trial too. In both cases, only the truthful come out unharmed, those who have taken the company of the cheikh for the sake of the life to come and for the face of God. For questions of subsistence are not those of spiritual education. Following the cheikh in the latter is an imperative necessity, even if your soul were averse to it, since your good lies precisely in going against it.

Can the cheikh err in his counsel? Yes, for God, blessed and exalted, does what He wills. He abrogated His own word revealed to His prophet:

“God erases or confirms whatever He will, and the source of Scripture is with Him.”
Qur’an 13:39

He may decree destinies for a wisdom, then replace them with what He wills, as He wills:

“…it may well be that you dislike something in which God has put much good.”
Qur’an 4:19

The servant may be a saint today and cast out tomorrow, for a breach of propriety towards the Presence or towards creatures:

“Do they feel secure against God’s plan? Only the losers feel secure against God’s plan.”
Qur’an 7:99

The saint may also be led by degrees towards his ruin, or weaken before a trial or under pressure:

“If We had not made you stand firm, you would almost have inclined a little towards them.”
Qur’an 17:74

Vigilance of the heart, in every state

In sum: vigilance of the heart is an imperative obligation in every state, so that the murîd makes sure he has not mistaken the path and that he follows neither his passions nor the debris of this world, interests or narrow calculations. Sincerity is the dowry of the path of the people of God, in every time, every place, every state and every station. Humility before God is his provision for the journey, even should he reach the clouds of the sky in sainthood: he constantly asks for steadfastness, shows mercy to creatures, despises no one, calls down good upon those who oppose him and sees fault only in himself.

Praise be to the One who has blessed us with the company of the knowers and granted us, by His grace, understanding from Him and opening from Him: