IT IS related that the Mevlevi order, in the ages after Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, had a number of ranks of tariqa officers to deal with particular aspects of brewing the coffee used in their spiritual sessions, their functions hierarchically ranged from selecting the beans, to roasting them, to pouring the brew, to serving it.

   A visitor to our zawiya (tariqa hospice) in Amman was wondering about the rank of the muqaddam or ‘local representative of the sheikh’ in the Shadhili tariqa. The question provided an opening to clarify the adab or proper conduct of dealing with others within and without the order, bringing to mind a number of roles and functions.

The Sheikh

   First, the sheikh at whose hands one has taken the spiritual path may be one or several. If the sheikh is one, and the disciple submits his spiritual development to him, the disciple is termed a salik or ‘spiritual traveller.’ If he is more than one, and the disciple’s heart is sometimes attached to this one and sometimes to that, the disciple is a mutabarrik or ‘only attaining the spiritual blessing’ of the way. This is certainly not a bad thing, but the fruits of such an association are somewhat less than those of the traveller. Everyone knows this.

   The sheikh, then, is in a sense the “father” of the travel­ler, for it is he who will give spiritual birth to him by initiating him into the higher world, and awaken the capacity in him to know Allah, directly and experientially. His standing in the heart of the disciple, and his authority in the disciple’s life are based on this function. Sheikhs of the path such as Muhammad al-Buzaydi point out that if one’s natural par­ents who are the cause of one’s appearance in this world deserve the respect unanimously accorded them by human nature, custom, and Sacred Law, then how should one be towards someone who gives birth to one in the world of the spirit for all eternity?

The Grandsheikh

   The sheikh of one’s sheikh, to return to our metaphor, is like the father of one’s father. As with one’s worldly grandfather, without him neither oneself nor one’s father would have come into being. Like a grandfather, he is shown if anything even greater respect than one’s father. A child benefits from words of wisdom heard from his grandfather and remembered for the rest of his life, and Sacred Law makes it obligatory to exalt and obey him. He should visit him, venerate him, and not be ignorant of his august standing and rights over all family members, who, after all, originate from him.

   At the same time, the two differ in role. The father is responsible for raising the child, even though the grandfather is older and wiser. It would be a rather rude affront towards the father for a child to pose a question to his grandfather about some point of his father’s raising him. Exceptions of course must always be possible, when there are abuses, but under normal family circumstances, only a child devoid of manners and breeding would invoke his grandfather over his father. This too, I believe, is known to everyone.

The Muqaddam

   The case of a muqaddam is quite different from that of a sheikh. Without stretching our metaphor, he perhaps most resembles an older brother who has been put in charge of his brothers and sisters to carry out something at the father’s behest. In past centuries, in rural Morocco and Algeria, for example, where villages were isolated from one another and communication was difficult, the role of a muqaddam needed much wider discretionary powers, and obedience to him was obligatory.

   In our times, the main tasks of muqaddams in various countries who serve the brethren, are to organize gatherings of disciples, distribute the sheikh’s instructional materials to them, and teach the gatherings. For harmony, they direct all group activities, from beginning to end. Like other teachers of genuine Islamic knowledge, they must be shown respect. But in non-group matters of the path, they are only entitled to give counsel and serve, and are not considered above other tariqa members in rank, or their views binding, or their example obligatory to emulate. The obligations of tariqa members toward the muqaddam are thus twofold:

(1)  The first is to respect his authority in leading all group activities; in distributing and clarifying the sheikh’s instructional materials such as the lessons of muraqaba, in reading Sufi texts to members, and as a counselor.

   As for the latter, the muqaddam is there because often the sheikh is unable to talk to everyone who has a question, seeks advice, or needs to be calmed down. The muqaddam does all these things, and the disciple should benefit to the extent that he can. If he cannot, then he should return to the sheikh, who is, after all, the sheikh—but without ill will, as long as there has been no contravention of the Sacred Law. It may be that Allah has not created one’s rizq or ‘spiri­tual provision’ with this particular muqaddam, or that temperaments are too far apart to strike up a deep friend­ship. In any case, the sign of a true disciple is silence and submission to Allah’s will, unless speaking is obli­gatory to improve something amiss, in this context first between oneself and the muqaddam, or failing that, then between oneself and the sheikh.

(2)  The second obligation towards a muqaddam is to honor him as a tariqa member and a believer. We are obliged to show love and respect to everyone in the tariqa in exal­tation of what Allah has exalted; namely, the sacred task each disciple has taken upon himself of drawing nearer to Allah Most High in the spiritual path—above and beyond the love and adab due to all Muslims for the fact that Allah has honored them with La ilaha illa Llah, Muhammadun rasulu Llah (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), which necessitates for them endless bliss in the next world.

(3)  A third obligation, not yet mentioned for its rarity, consists of tawkil or the muqaddam being made a wakil or ‘agent’ for the spiritual training of a particular disciple. But this is something rare, and is a special function the sheikh explicitly invests him with. It applies to only a few indi­viduals.

Spiritual Ranks

   To summarize, the matter of tarbiya or ‘spiritual educa­tion’ in the path is between sheikh and disciple. Yet these designations are primarily roles rather than ranks. The ranks in this Shadhili tariqa are shared equally by everyone who is in it; namely, the rank of Iman or ‘true faith’ which is the greatest rank on the face of the earth; and the rank of nisba or the ‘affiliation’ with ahl Allah (those of Allah) by having taken the tariqa, in reality an elite rank within Iman.

   The belief by some that certain tariqa members are closer to Allah than others may be mere imagination, or when true, may well change before they die. An unknown copyist writes on the final page of a manuscript of the Andalusian Sufi Ibn al-‘Arif’s Mahasin al-majalis [The beauties of the mystical sessions]:
How many a spring there was whose trees and flowers shone, and its folk supposed it all well, when a disaster from the heavens suddenly struck them. Allah Most High says, “Our command reached it by night or by day, and We made it a mowed down stubble, as though it flourished not but yesterday” (Koran 10:24). And how many a disciple, the lights of spiritual will (irada) shone in him and the traces of illumination appeared on him, and the telling about him spread to the horizons, and fingers pointed as one at him, and they supposed him to be one of His friends (awliya') and of those of His election—when his purity changed to muddiness, and his light to darkness (Mahasin al-majalis, 35).

We don’t know what will happen. So the proper adab in the tariqa is to elevate everyone—except oneself.

The Inner Circle

   It may be inferred from this that there is no “in crowd” within the tariqa with whom one must spend most of one’s time, or whose collective opinion constitutes a decisive case about anything. “In-ness” is often one of the antics of the lower self, and the harm to others that sometimes results from it is described in a piece called “The Inner Ring” by C.S. Lewis that would be of benefit for many of us to read. The real “in crowd” consists of those who are in the divine presence, not this or that clique. One doesn’t have to make it with anybody to be a member of the elect. One has to make it with Allah.

The Hospital

   The real nature of solidarity in the tariqa lies in the fact that we cannot do without each other for our spiritual progress, which cannot occur in solitude. Also, as men­tioned above, our love and respect for everyone in the tariqa is in exaltation of the sacredness of their quest for Allah Most High on the spiritual path. At the same time, the group more nearly resembles a private sanitarium where sick people are becoming well, than, say, an elite univer­sity. This is why sheikhs like Ahmad Zarruq unanimously list al-ta‘azzuz bi al-tariqa or ‘pride in the spiritual path’ as among the diseases of the self.

   To understand precisely what this means, and does not mean, we must distinguish between ascribing blessings to Allah and ascribing blessings to ourselves. If one is rejoicing in the tariqa as a manifestation of Allah’s favor upon one in being allowed to tread the high path to Him, it is praiseworthy. But if one is exulting to oneself over one’s wisdom and superiority in joining the tariqa, one has entered the wing of the hospital for the deluded.

   If feelings of superiority are the inward, egotistical manifestation of pride (ta‘azzuz) in the path, cultish behavior is its outward, social counterpart. Both are a fundamental misunderstanding of the path, which inwardly leads to the Reality (Haqiqa) beyond all forms, semblances, and ranks; leaving those who reach it with nothing to be proud of—as Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman calls it, “Bankruptcy from everything but Allah”—while its outward expression is khidma or service to Islam and the Muslims.

   The tariqa is not a cult, and few things put off others more than people obsessed with their collective identity. There is something stealthy and supercilious about cult followers even when they are trying to be polite, and those who meet them are repelled. It is far from the simple, friendly manner of the pure-hearted Sufis we see among the older brethren, for example, of Sheikh al-Hashimi who are still alive in Damascus. “Verily, the noblest of you in Allah’s eyes is the most godfearing” (Koran 49:13).

The Company One Keeps

   An important point raised by this is the matter of suhba or companionship with others to get closer to Allah. The path of ‘uzla or solitude is not the path of suluk or spiritual travel. One can only have spiritual travel by associating with others, listening, and following. This is why there is a tariqa, and why the tremendous emphasis on companion­ship. As our sheikh often says, “One’s nature takes from another’s, so choose for your company him who obeys.” Who, for example? After a few general guidelines, we are all free to choose:

(1)  One should not take for one’s companions those who are irreligious and do not pray. If one has such friends, then if there is not some other aim countenanced by Sacred Law in keeping their company such as maintaining family ties, one should taper off one’s dealings with them in a gentle yet effective way, such as by acting bored until they go and find other friends. “It might be that you are doing badly,” says Ibn ‘Ata' Illah, “but keeping the company of someone even worse than you displays to you your merit.”

(2)  One should have as many friends among practicing Muslims as one can, which Allah has made a sunna because we don’t know which of our believing friends will make intercession for us on Judgement Day. This is at the level of companionship and acquaintance.

(3)  A third level is that of intimate friendship and love; and this should be reserved for those whom one wishes to absorb the state of. In the case of the spiritual traveller, this means those whose state is dhikr or remembrance of Allah, and one should seek out those who both are salik or ‘travelling’ and who motivate one to emulate them. It is at this level that Ibn ‘Ata' Illah says, “Do not keep the company of someone whose state does not uplift you or words guide you to Allah.”

IT is reported that among of the first of mankind to ever make coffee was ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar al-Shadhili, a sheikh of the Shadhili tariqa in Yemen in the tenth hijra century. How he prepared it is not precisely known, but it was probably much simpler than the multitiered method used by the Mevlevis in Turkey. Allah knows best, but there is probably still something to be said for simplicity.

From The Shadhili Tariqa © Nuh Ha Mim Keller MCMXCIX