WARNING AGAINST FAKE PEERS

Some signs of fake peers which are common in today’s society:

• He is generally an open sinner with a very short or non-existing beard, or extremely long hair.
• He is lenient in the commands of Shari’ah.
• He picks and chooses what to follow from Shari’ah.
• He never speaks about the dangers of the bad mazhabs (deviant sects) and sullah kulliat (ideology advocating unity with deviant sects).
• He expresses hatred towards the true Ulama by making derogatory statements regarding them.
• He mocks the word 'Fatwa' and believes himself to be above the Fatawa of contemporary Muftis.
• He claims to be acting on a path of Tariqat outside of Shari’at.
• He claims the people of Shari’ah are unaware of the rules of Tariqat.
• He is lenient with free mixing of men and women.
• His fake karamaats (so called miracles) are publicised.
• He claims many extraordinary powers.
• He spends much time listening to musical instruments, which he regards as permitted.
• His followers are generally unsuspecting laymen and women.
• He doesn't emphasise much about Halal and Haram, in terms of food, drink and earnings.
• He has no reliable Khilafat and even if he claims, then it is not valid as Khilafat is on the basis of true ilm (knowledge) and proper amal (actions).
• He shamelessly says that apart from his lineage all other Peers are weak.
• He proudly boasts about his blood lineage and qualifies other Shuyukh as inferior.
• The Shaykh's superiority is based on dreams of his followers rather than reality.

The conditions of a proper Shaykh as explained by Sayyidi Ala Hazrat Azeemulbarakat Radi Allahu Anhu:

1. First and foremost, the Shaykh has to be a Sunni Saheehul Aqeedah Muslim, holding the correct beliefs.
2. The Shaykh’s spiritual link to the Holy Prophet ﷺ should be unbroken. There should be no discontinuity or termination at any stage in the spiritual chain from his Murshid to Rasoolullah ﷺ.
3. The Shaykh must be an Aalim educated in the Shari’ah. He must have at least that much knowledge to enable him without the assistance of anyone to be able to extract questions and their answers of Islamic jurisprudence from the Islamic books, whilst being well-versed with the beliefs of the Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama’ah and be able to distinguish between the straight path of Islam and misguidance and Kufr.
4. The Shaykh must not be an open sinner (Faasiq Mo’lin).

We should also pay careful heed to the words of the great Imams of Ruhaniyah (sprituality) concerning this discussion

Hazrat Junaid e Baghdadi Radi Allahu Anhu says,

A (true) Sufi (Shaykh) is one, whose heart is the manifestation of Hazrat Ibrahim alayhis salam, which is free from the love of the world and one which is always ready to obey the commands of Allah.

These same fake ‘Sufis & Shaykhs’ tell their followers that they have no need for the Shari’at (Allah Forbid) and that they have reached great heights. They are fooling the people with these corrupt statements, whereas great Imams like Sultan ul Hind Khwaja Gharib Nawaaz have said that a person cannot reach any level of excellence without the Shari’ah. Huzoor Sultan ul Hind Radi Allahu anhu himself says, as recorded by Sarkaar Khwaja Qutbud’deen Bakhtiyar Kaaki Radi Allahu anhu in ‘Daleel ul Aarifeen’ that,

“The starting point for those who walk on the path of Shari’at is when one becomes firmly steadfast on the Shariat, and fulfils all the commands of the Shari’at, without deviating or transgressing the Shari’ah even one bit; then (only) do most of them (i.e. who adhere to the Shari’at strictly), reach the level (Station of Excellence) which is known as Tariqat, and thereafter, when they remain steadfast on Tariqat with all its conditions, and they continue to fulfil all the commands of the Shari’at completely, then they reach the level of Ma’rifat; and when they reach the Maqaam (Blessed Station) of Ma’rifat, then they have reached the level of recognition, and when they become steadfast in this level as well, they then reach the level or Haqiqat. On reaching this blessed level (of excellence), whatever they ask for is bestowed upon them.”

May Allah Almighty protect us from the fake shaykhs of today.

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Compiled by
Sag-e-Mufti-e-Azam Muhammad Afthab Cassim Qaadiri Razvi Noori (Durban, South Africa)
Beggar at the doorstep of scholars, Faqeer Zahid Hussain al-Qadiri (Preston, UK)
Faqeer Mohammed Shakeel Qadiri Ridawi (London, UK)