Aalim bil Haq-vs-Aalim bil Iktisab (almathqaf/ashtal kutub) (Religious Scholar vs. Secular Scholar)
Awliya-Allah (bondmen of God) who, understand the intricacies of the spiritual maze, have done this by virtue of being Arifeen (Knowers of Allah). They also understand that the revelation of esoteric knowledge is through the heart. A heart cleansed of malice and hypocrisy to receive the divine knowledge. (Knowledge sanctioned and inspired by Allah).
Note: Awliya-Allah are far superior in status and station than the scholars.
Meaning: People spend all their life in reading and writing (like a bookworm/ عثة الكتب) but alas! (All their efforts go in vain as) they fail to gain Union with Allah; which ought to be the actual objective of a real scholar. Real knowledge is that which prevents one from self-conceit, lust and is inspired by Allah. Whosoever has not got the knowledge from the divine; is surely a seeker of the world; intending to be called/known as a scholar, is a sinner. To gain the real knowledge one has to first of all sacrifice the four birds (shades) of Nafs i.e. cock of lust, the crow of greed, the peacock of fake beauty and the pigeon of the desires. The lowest level of Nafs is Nafs-e-Ammara i.e. the ill commanding Nafs, the second level is Nafs-e-Lawama i.e. the Nafs which repents after committing sin, A better level is Nafs-e-Mulhima which prevents from sin by inspiration and the best level is Nafs-e-Mutmaina i.e. the satisfied self which is never inclined towards sins.
An Aalim bil Iktiasb (Islamic-Bookworm) [I would refrain from using the term Aalim-e-Soo] operates without the auspices and inspiration of the divine and presents the argument/reason/logic to confound his audience at the time/occasion. An Aalim bil Haq, on the other hand, is constantly inspired and guided by the divine; hence enlightens his audience with the argument/reason of universal nature; valid for all times/occasions, without falling victim to self-contradiction. [An Aalim bil Iktisab is also known as “scripturalist” somewhat, but not exactly, similar to Pervaizis/Qura’anist]
An Aalim who eschews from the spiritual aspect of Islam deprives himself of the blessed title of an Aalim Bil Haq. The reason is that the essence of human being “Indestructible Soul/Spirit” emanates from the Aalme-Amr of Allah (SWT). Spirituality, therefore, becomes an inevitable threshold to the esoteric dimension of the Divine Knowledge, which obviously demands pondering over and contemplation about the creations (ayat/signs) of Allah. It has been repeatedly elicited in the Holy Qura’an by posing questions, such as; “Don’t you contemplate?”, “Don’t you ponder over?”, “Don’t you observe?”& “Don’t you have intellect?”, hence becomes imperative of human essence/nature and cannot be ignored.
Knowledge (of religion) is exoterically related to prayers and levels*, *(level of veracity by blessing them [the seekers] with the knowledge of verification (4:69). This is the level about which it is said: Perseverance is better than miracles).
while esoterically it is related to:
1) The inspired knowledge.
2) The knowledge which directly comes from the Divine.
3) The knowledge gained through the undoubted Book of
Allah-The Quran, when (its hidden meanings are) revealed.
These three kinds (of esoteric knowledge) can be sought through the ways of contemplation given hereinbelow. Their practice would show the spectacle of both the worlds.
“Tasawur-e-Tareeq” (Contemplation of the Divine Way),
“Tasawur-e-Taufeeq” (Contemplation of the Divine favor),
“Tasawur-e-Tehqeeq” (Contemplation of the Divine Verification) and “Tasawur-e-Dariya-e-Ameeq” (Contemplation of The Deepest Ocean of Divinity).
Prophet (PBUH), before being endowed with prophet-hood, for such contemplation often used to seek solitude in the cave of “Hira”. It, therefore, becomes imperative; for him being an unlettered person; that he would have no other preoccupation there for days, but busy pondering and contemplating.
Allah (SWT) has also advised spending time worshiping/contemplating in the last/later parts of the night for it is suitable for coherence/concentration. According to a hadith Allah descends to the first Heaven to grace the invocations, plights of late night worshipers.
“Indeed, the hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and the tongue] and more suitable for words” (Q, 73:6)
“[He is] the Lord of the East and the West; there is no deity except Him, so take Him as Disposer of [your] affairs” (Q, 73:9)
“Indeed, this is a reminder, so whoever wills may take to his Lord a way” (Q, 73:19)
A hadith gives the prescription for recognizing a real scholar (Aalim-bil-Haq) as follow;
The one meeting him would remind you of Allah and also makes you eager to meet him again.
Firstly, while choosing a religious scholar/sheikh to follow, one should ensure that the deeds and words of such a Scholar/Guide are in accordance with the Sharia’ah.
Secondly, he should have complete knowledge of exegesis of the
Qura’an and Hadith i.e. he should know; what is annulled and what is not, which orders of the Qura’an must be practiced and which not. He should have the insight to differentiate the importance of one order of the Qura’an from the other, because, though it is essential to believe in the whole of the Book of Allah it is not obligatory to act upon every word of it. Some orders are obligatory, some are desirable but not obligatory and some are allowed but not desirable.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
One should not pick and choose a verse to present/form his (skewed) point of view instead of a collective outcome, of all the verses on the topic. Such a deduction then should be the guiding and binding. (Q, 2: 85 & 4: 150)
Sources used for this piece, apart from Qura’an, Hadith, Sunnah and Islamic literature is, Sultan Bahoo’s “Kashf ul Asrar”{excerpts/concepts improvised for clarity and ease of comprehension}
(I seek, Allah’s forgiveness and refuge, for any inadvertent misrepresentation or misstatement made)
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