What makes the Sufi? Purity of heart;
Not the patched mantle and the lust perverse
Of those vile earth-bound men who steal his name.
He in all dregs discerns the essence pure:
In hardship ease, in tribulation joy.
The phantom sentries, who with batons drawn
Guard Beauty's place-gate and curtained bower,
Give way before him, unafraid he passes,
And showing the King's arrow, enters in.
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why? is there some sort of initiation test?
Behold...Me!
lol scroll up and read noors post.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
right, its slightly clearer... i think.
Behold...Me!
Salam
"Sufis Rule!"
[ Danny Devito - Jewel of the Nile ]
Omrow
And presumably there is no difference between being a salafi (I don't mean the sect/group; I mean someone who truly follows the Prophet
and the first generations) and a Very Good Muslim.
So someone can be a Salafi and a Sufi at the same time?
Anyone who is a true Salafi is, by the very definition, also a true Sufi.
Why not just scrap both words and just use the phrase 'Very Good Muslims', or Mustaqeen (which is in the Qur'an)?
The reason? Because both words are used to spread sectarianism/disunity amongst Muslims.
I have heard both words used as an insult by different people.
And also as a badge of superiority over other Muslims. I have met people who dress in a particular way (my mention of turbans) and the reason they have told me they do this is to distinguish themselves from other Muslims. I was horrified, because they weren't being nasty, they honestly didn't see anything wrong in this.
I am not for a second trying to say that all people of either 'group' are bad people, or that everyone in either group is guilty of sectarianism, but I just think that the true meanings of BOTH these terms have been corrupted and maybe the world would be served better by letting go of them. Especially because, in essence, the words point to the same thing.
One person can say 'I worship Allah (swt)' and another can say 'I worship ar-Rahman', but in the end, the are both doing the same thing.
You can start by replacing the word 'sufi' of the poem to 'Muslim' and seeing if the meaning is greatly changed.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
Lol what are sufis anyway???
Are they those people who do zhikr out loud and wear those long hats???And twirl around in them??
Please correct me if im wrong!!!
^^^ Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - the dude that sang qawwalis about Allah(swt). Not sure if he a sufi though.
No not the gum drop buttons! – Gingy
Im still not sure what a sufi is and how you become one.
:?
When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it is not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.
:roll:
yes you're wrong.
lol, whats with the rolly-eyes?
Okay. That helps a little.
When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it is not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.
stick around and you'll soon find out
Oh dear
When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it is not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.
you forgot to mention sharukh khan( he is a pakistani singer aint he?) :roll: :roll:
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Salam
The Wahhabi, or "Salafis" as they call themselves nowadays, are anti-Sufis.
They condemn Sufism.
Omrow
My I.S teacher said Sufi=someone who has Taqwa(God-Consciousness) basically the same as Mutaqun.
So that could be anyone...
'Allah gives and forgives
Man gets and forgets' Baba Ali
http://halfDate.com
exactly, it is the misconception that in order to be a sufi one has to spend every segment of time in devotion to Allah (s.w) - these people i believe would come under Wali Allah.
However to be a sufi is to have tackled your nafs, in which case it is only Allah Almighty and a sufi who would truly know. If one were to profess to being one, then it is like a person who talks about his/her modesty which of course is arrogance.
[img]http://www.inminds.co.uk/Boycott-Israel-006.jpg[/img]
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Then can u please tell me what they are???
ive see them on tv going round and round in circles chanting????
most likely what you saw was the whirling dervishes, theres a hadith which allows what they do as long as they are in wajd(spiritual ecstacy) the sad fact is some of these people do it for entertainment purposes but since we dont know whether they are truly in wajd or not we cannot say that what they are doing is wrong but thats just a group of sufism just like you have groups in islam
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Salam
Sufis are your most chilled out guys you will ever find, if you ever find them at all.
They are so rare.
The rest are cheap imitations. They are not true Sufis.
Omrow
You could say they are 'Su-free'.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
isnt that what the poem is about?
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Yes Fanz.
Yaqub. That was funny.
True Sufis are one of a kind.
What is Sufism?
I think a better question is "What is a Sufi?"
There are at least two ways to try and answer that question. I have a third way, a Sufi is a Bayazid, or a Ibrahim bin Adhem or a Gawth ul Azam or a Mevlana Rumi or a Shaykh ul Akbar ibn Arabi and there are many, many more may Allah increase them all in His Mercy.
But back to the two ways. The first is to try to define with words the spiritual status of the Sufis which can never be satisfactorily accomplished because words like non-Sufis fall short of the Divine (I think Idris Shah constantly expounds this point in one of his books on Sufism).
The second way is to try to describe through their behaviours, their status. This is a very long task and even then will only convey the body of their accomplishments where the greater accomplishments are those of the spirit.
But because as Stephen Mitchell says (paraphrasing) its all well good to say the way can't be defined and then be silent, but sometimes people are desperate to understand it, so you have to say something.
The best way to understand a Sufi is take the company of one. Failing that, the shortest way I can think of to explain Sufism is through Umm us-Sunnah (the mother of the Sunnah), Hadith Jibraeel AS. The teaching of the Hadith can be found here:
http://mushahada.com/issue2/what_is_sufism.html
As a final point, Shaykh Abu Bakr Siraj ud Din AKA Martin Lings eloquently summarised Sufism by saying the Christian's have the phrase of "Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened." In the light of this phrase, Sufism can be described as 'the art of knocking'.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
Salaam
@ Ya'qub:
Remember I once sent you a pm saying that I wanted to be able to answer some of the questions you would ask? Well this isn't what I intended, bit I think it serves the prupose.
Yes a Sufi like a ninja could be anyone and you wouldn't know it.
I get that you always uphold the stance, "why divide ourselves with nomenclature when we can unite and shop at Cosco?" "Why have names and schisms that lead to conflict and contetion?" You see the problem of disunity arising from leaving the simple way. Trading the desert sand for marble places and mosques. Trading humble white for a vast array of colours. Not being content with little and going after more. When our priorities get flipped, is it any wonder that our hearts loose some of the protection of the deen? And that we develop sects and conflicts within ourselves. Why not go back to the best model that God gave us. Why use mortal words when we have Divine words?
That's cool and I expect nothing less from you.
That the Sufis took this name for themselves is beautiful because they are Sufis. It’s like this. Leave knowledge to the Ulema (Imam Al Ghazali RA) not every one is qualified to ask why. Because not every one has access to the same level of information. If you’re not a scholar you might have one intention and see a way for realising that intention which may contain mistakes within it which would be counter to sound guidance.
The Qur'an rhetorically asks 'Are they equal — those who know and those who know not?' The answer is "Of course not." The scholar is not merely some one who has gained knowledge, the scholar is someone who as attained the status of "heir of the Prophet' AS (from a Hadith). And as one scholar pointed out an heir possesses the quality of being near to and having an intimate relationship with the one to whom he is heir. The love of God and His Prophet SAW is the hallmark of these people. Imama Malik RA chose one of his teachers on the basis of that teacher's love for the Prophet SAW and constantly in his understanding of the Shariah He RA refers to the practise of the people of Madina as a proof for a certain action.
You might then argue, this distinction of the ulema from the common people is without basis because the common man may also love God and His Prophet SAW and attain knowledge. However, the love mentioned is a quality of the common man. In the true scholar it is a spiritual status. This love is not the same in the one who knows and the one who doesn't know. When the nature of our Prophet SAW is that the more you know Him SAW the more you love Him SAW, how then can one who knows Him SAW to the extent where he is called an heir, how can his love be likened to the love on one who does not to this extent. Further, the word Nabi comes from an Arabic word meaning 'knowledge which is not commonly known". When this is the nature of Prophetic knowledge of God, can this be the same as the common person's knowledge of God? And whilst the knowledge of the scholars is far below the knowledge of Prophets AS, as their heirs there is no doubt that the true scholars have knowledge of God that the common man cannot posses. We have the tradition that only the Scholars fear God. They know God in a way that the common man does not and within those who know there are ranks. The difference between men with God is Taqwa (God consciousness or fear of God) and if 'only the scholars fear God' then they certainly have a rank with God and are not equal to those who don't know.
Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal RA would go to the house of Sayyidina Bishr al Hafi and ask him RA what news do you have of my lord? Sayyidina Bishr al Hafi was a Faqir, 'a poor man of God' and the respectable in society held a certain contempt for his simple appearance, meanwhile Ahmed ibn Hanbal RA was so highly esteemed for his knowledge of Shariah that the higher echelons of society would question why he visited such a person as Bishr al Hafi. Imam Ahmed told them, it is true that I have excelled in the knowledge of Shariah to a high degree, but this man who I visit has a higher knowledge of the one who sent the shariah!
For every point, one or two or three anecdotes come to mind. Because our deen is handed down to us from those who went before us. The Salaf made themselves into the pages of Prophetic teachings and their students took care to preserve those pages. My Shaykh said, that in his understanding, Suhba (spiritual company) is the only way to gain blessings. Shaykh Ya'qubi said that when The Prophet SAW spoke, those in his company SAW breathed in His exhalations SAW and it became a part of them. When they taught their students, their students breathed in their exhalations and it became a part of them and they gained something of the Prophet's exhalations SAW too, and so on from teacher to student. The knowledge is not just words. If it was then what need of Amal (actions) it would be sufficient to be a book-worm. Imam Ghazali RA stresses this point and summarises it saying "Action without knowledge cannot be. And Knowledge without action is insanity." You need knowledge to act and a portion of knowledge is that you do act (Only the scholars fear God). The knowledge is not just knowledge with action either, it is also an alignment of the student with his teacher which takes place outwardly but also spiritually. That is, adopting a sunnah is not just a physical imitation but a spiritual 'lining up' too.
So then you might say, okay fair enough, a common man is not equal to a scholar because of his knowledge and love, but then say a common man wants to become a scholar. If he learns and practices then he's a scholar right?
Yes and no. Yes, if he learns knowledge and practices he is in the pattern of scholars, but what of the spiritual dimension? You see there is a further distinction between scholars of the outer, (whose focus and strength is primarily in Shariah and the knowledge of books) and scholars of the inner (who have all the strengths and specialities of the 'scholar of the outer' whilst balancing this knowledge with inner revelations.) Understand that, these revelations are not the same as Prophetic Revelations. They do not become law. But they are something which God gives them which is not new or different to the Qur'an and Sunnah! Rather it shines new light on the pages of Qur'an and Sunnah so that new footnotes and 'notes in the margins' can be read. The inner scholar is a truer scholar then than the outer scholar without lessening the greatness of the outer scholar. Simply, the outer scholar is receiving through his chains of transmission and authority. The hearts of the people in the chain have been purified and made clear like glass. The Divine light reaching the scholar of the outer passes through these windows, which have become aligned in a straight line to receive the light. The scholar of the inner has so purified his heart that it has become like an optic fibres which is thousands of time clearer than normal glass and has the quality of connecting directly, and so as well as receiving through the windows, he receives something clearer directly too, which improves his understanding of The Qur'an and Sunnah.
And as the day to day needs of the common man change, the light of he inner scholar is more useful to today’s common man as the needs of yesterdays common man were different and so the solution to his troubles were perhaps not identified as precedent.
So now it sounds extraordinarily impossible to be a scholar, and that can't be right?
You can still go and seek knowledge, but it takes effort just to become a scholar of the outwards and within true scholarship their are ranks. Further my teacher always says, there is no Sufism without knowledge. Meaning that though the true scholar has become closer to God, the Sufi has attained something of scholarship before he really starts his journey to God. Seeking knowledge then is the beginning of Sufism.
So that’s what I wanted to say about scholars. A man doesn’t become a Sufi on his own because knowledge and spiritual cleansing/aligning takes place at the feet of the teacher. The best way to think of it is that people are stuck in a really big well. God sent some people who whilst being people, had the extraordinary ability to take those who were willing out of the well. When those willing people climbed out, the knelt at the edge and offered their hands down for someone to grab on to and then hauled them out. Those who were hauled out offered their hands down for someone to grab on to and hauled them out and so on. Whilst all this was going, there were those who whilst not yet having the aspiration to take hold of an offered hand still believed there was a garden outside of the well. You can say this belief is pretty pointless when you consider they’re still stuck down a well, but it’s something and you never know when that belief will catalyse aspiration into action!
But why speak about these ranks more than strictly necessary. I mean surely, out of humbleness, the higher ranking people wouldn’t want their rank to be mentioned?
It’s simple. God loves those who are grateful to him. And we have the tradition; he who hasn’t than ked people hasn’t thanked Allah. Generally speaking, we aren’t given food from the heavens etc, it comes through ways and means. This you can appreciate by looking at nature. First you have a seed which then becomes a plant and then a tree and then flowers. First you have a baby, then a child then and adult. First you have Spring, then Summer, then Autumn and Winter etc. Time is a reality we have to live with and time is about progression. You don’t everything at once; you build your house up from the foundations one brick at a time. Time is the facilitating of the ways and means, the subtle proliferation of grace so that you can look at grass and not notice its growing, but close your eyes for long enough and then open them and look it’s grown! The foundations are there so that the walls can stand firm. It’s God who keep the walls standing but still the walls owe a debt to the foundations. The roof is held by the walls. It is God who holds up the roof but still the roof owes the walls a debt. It is the roof which keeps the man dry. It is God who keeps the man warm and but still the man owes the roof a debt of gratitude. This is how this world works. It’s like a game. You start of with nothing and then you have something. Ta da. Who gave it you? That’s obvious, God gave it to me. Did you see Him give it to you? No because it happened so subtly that I didn’t notice. You owe gratitude to God but also to those subtle ways through which you received what you received because they were a part of the giving even if it was so subtle that you didn’t realise that their giving was God’s giving. You thought, God kept me dry and then you thought the roof kept me dry. As if “God kept me dry” and “the roof also kept me dry”. Without seeing that the roof was God keeping me dry. The metaphor of the people in the well can be applied to all things. One person hauls out another who then hauls out another and it carries on. It’s all God getting you out of the well and your ‘way out’ from the well doesn’t stop being the hand that’s offered. You owe gratitude to God because who doesn’t like to be blessed? But you owe gratitude to the person hauling you out because this is “God helping you out”. Our affection for God should be that, we don’t just take the blessing and say thanks, but we are genuinely filled with softness at the act of being blessed to the extent that we say “I’m not just aware of being hauled out of the well, but I’m happy about it to!” I’m not just recognising that God got me out of the well because all things happen by the will of God anyway so this is tantamount to merely acknowledging that I am no longer in the well. No, I don’t just want to acknowledge that I’m out, because I’m happy about it too and God help me, but if I’m happy I’m gonna smile! I’m gonna dance! I’m gonna run around in circles and shout “Thank you!” from the top of my lungs! The degree to which you celebrate any act is the degree to which you show thanks to the people, to the means of God’s grace reaching you. This celebration is love of the people who hauled you out, and total ecstasy at the sight of such a hand, and a desire to see it again and again and again! The person who hauled you out might smile at your antics and say “enough already! Honestly you don’t have to thank me so much!” But the person who is really happy with what has happened to them won’t be able to help themselves and will say “I’m sorry. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
And if you aren’t happy with an act and merely acknowledge it then you don’t have anything to express. Only those who express their inner joy are happy and grateful inside for an act. Only those who thank the people have been grateful to God.
And shaytan makes it his coup de grace that few people will show gratitude.
Remember, this deen is the deen of good manners and good manners isn’t lifting the glass high above your head, tilting back your head and opening your mouth, then pouring the water from a height into your mouth like a water fall. Its fun but its not good manners. Good manners is that you place you lips upon the glass before you take from it, what you take.
So that’s why it’s important to celebrate the people who have rank with God, and necessary to make mention of their high ranks.
God also encourages us to celebrate their ranks by making mention of their ranks as Muqtasid and Saabiqun and further sub dividing these people and at every turn extoling the delights prepared for them in such a resonant manner, that it’s like a crescendo building up like a piece of celebratory music like an up welling of Joy!
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
do you wana do my assignments for me?!
Thank you (see, I'm learning already!), that's was very interesting. And not something I would've specifically asked about!
Jazak'Allah.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
Are they about heroes?
Lol, not that pm. The one I sent you about a year ago the one with loud dhikr and stuff.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
If so, you'd need Dawud to write an autobiography!
Now, onto the big post. First, I'd like to say that you explain things very well, and it makes a lot of sense.
I think the metaphor of the well is a nice one, and I don't want to try to twist it to suit my point of view, so I'll leave it untouched. However, unfortunately, I can't see the world we live in in such simple terms. It would be so easy if the Route to Freedom was as simple as 'upwards', and the hands reaching out to us were all coming from above. No-one (with any sense, anyway) could possibly reject a hand that was clearly pulling them to safely. If we can assume that they are not merely people who refuse to turn their heads upwards, seeing their shadows on the floor of the well, and thinking that this was all there is to existence. No, if they knew (or even hoped) that a world existed at the top of the well, only a crazy person would ignore the help to get up there.
But...
The world I see is not like that. It is a maze, NAY, a labyrinth. I walk around the labyrinth, knowing (or at least hoping) that there is a way out that leads to Freedom. And there are many people in the labyrinth with me. Some are alone, some are in groups, some are using crude hand-drawn maps, some are merely using intuition. But we are all seeking the same goal.
So I speak to someone (lets call him Percy), and he tell me that the way to freedom is to take every left turn possible. That way, you may go around the whole maze, but you will eventually get to the Gates of Freedom. And then someone else (for these purposes call him Renault) butts in, shouting "No! The only way out is to take every right turn possible." Again, I think that you could go round the whole maze, but you'll eventually get out. But then Percy speaks again, saying, "But what you haven't realised is that there are many trapdoors in this labyrinth, if you follow Renault's way you will fall into one such trapdoor, there are spikes and snakes, and spiky snakes at the bottom of the pits, so you will die, without ever reaching the Gates of Freedom." "Nonsense!" says Renault, "My way is the only right way, you will only fall into the Spiky Snake Pits if you follow Percy's way."
So I am at a quandary. I thank Percy and Renault, and bid them farewell. They are just as lost as I am, I reason, so I guess I'll have to find my own way.
Then... a man approaches me. He says he knows the way to the Gates of Freedom. He tells me to follow him. He says he can navigate the way around the Spiky Snake Pits. All I need to do is trust him. I ask him how he knows the way, and he says he has a map of the Labyrinth, with the route to Freedom drawn in sparkling gold. "Great!" I say, "may I see the map?" His face drops. He tells me that the map is printed on the inside of his eyelids, that's why he can see it so clearly, whenever he blinks. "Could you draw me a copy," I ask, "at least so I can see where you will take me?" He shakes his head in disappointment. "You wouldn't understand it," he tell me, "it is much too complicated for you. Also, it won't help you in the slightest, seeing the map. All you need to do is follow, and you won't be let down."
So I am at another quandary. Can I trust such a man? Perhaps, if he had a ray of light shining down on him, it would be easier. But what if there is no light?
To take the story of the Roof, which you mentioned. Say you had a 'Build Your Own Roof Kit" from Ikea. You are looking at the manual that was included, and then a friend who has come to help you build it, says, "You need to get some other parts, to finish the roof." You are confused, "Why? All these parts are mentioned in the instructions, clearly, so why would I need to get other parts?" His reply is "You just have to. Its easier to build."
Which leaves us with the question of the instruction manual. Why would Ikea send out engineers to put in extra diagrams, when they could've just printed it in the original instructions? Have the designers at Ikea changed their minds as to how to build a roof? This leaves me uncomfortable.
I have searched through the Qur'an with an open mind, with a closed mind, while looking for one specific answer and while looking for another specific answer. I've read translations by many people who have contrastingly different views. All I've found are occasional verses, which could easily mean many things. No long explanations about finding someone with the a map printed on the inside of their eyelids. Really, honestly not. There are MANY stories in the Qur'an, and I am not pretending to understand the subtle nuances of them (or even all the themes). But the way I understand it, the common messages and themes that speak to ME that run through much of the Qur'an, are nothing to do with closing our eyes and holding onto someone's jilabiyya as they lead us towards the light.
The only thing that comes close is Surah tul-Kahf, and the story of Musa (as). But even this doesn't conclude anything for me. The man has knowledge of the Unseen, which even Musa (as), a prophet, doesn't possess. In the end of the story, the man tells him that they have to part ways. Why? Because Musa (as) asked too many questions. And what is the result? Did it harm Musa (as) by not following him any further? Musa (as) is in the 6th level of Paradise (I think this is correct, either way he is in very high station).
So where does this all leave me? Confuzzled, as always.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
Would have said something earlier but I was waiting to be inspired. I'm still waiting, anyway...
Well I figured that most people having got used to the well and not remembering anything else would be scared of geting out of it. Yeah ok, its not great living but better the devil you know right? Also they would probably be cynical of the claims to a garden.
Most wouldn't look down. Either because their habbits don't give them leave to do so or they get distracted by other things constantly. Some (philosphers and thinkers) would look down but they may not make the necessary jump to realising they are stuck down a well in the middle of a garden. And those that realise something like this may not then realise there are people leaning over the edge waiting to haul them out. And let's not forget once you do grab hold of a hand, its hard work to stay hanging on and getting pulled out.
That tells me, you see the world as a confusing place. Twist and turns everywhere and possibly a minotaur waiting for you somewhere.
Good.
The plot thickens. It no longer one man lost, but a pandemic of general confusion.
In the land of the of the blind,the one eyed man is king. These people ceratinly seem to talk the talk, but if they could walk the walk, why are they still in the maze right?
As if you weren't undecided enough before. Do you trust or don't you? If you've got nothing left to loose why follow him? Something inside tells you to stay reserved, to be cautious. Perhaps there still is something left to loose, like dignity.
If he has no proof, then let the measure of the man be the worth of his offer.
Beautiful.
The way can only be seen once it had been walked, even he could sketch you a map, it would be a superficial thing, it would be better if you accepted this man as your map IF you have been impressed by the measure of him.
Ask yourself this, say he sdid have a ray of light shinning down on him. A fundamental feature of the labrynth is 'free will' and with that cynacism. If you saw him in a ray of light, that's all it would be, light. It wouldn't be certainty, it wouldn't overwhelm you. You would then be at another quandry, "is this legitimate or a clever trick?"
If you saw him in a ray of light, would it make you anymore sure? You still have to take the risk of do you trust him or don't you.
And the hard thing is, its not just a one-off choice. It takes work and time following him and your trust is going to be questioned every step of the way. You might even ask a new question, "Is being with this man better than not being with him?"
And even after all of this, you won't get any peace until the answer to "can I trust him?" is answered with certainty. This is it, until you're certain that you can trust him, you'll never be at peace and you will be shaky at times.
Fair enough. How can it start of being right and then become obsolete. Surely, a roof is a roof is a roof. If roof-building is an accomplished science with the engineers, why should the manual change?
Here's abetter question: Has the teacher of the engineers changed?
Logic says no. He is eternal and doesn't change. So what has changed? I would say, our houses have changed and those with older copies are going to struggle. But not only have our houses changed, and they change quite frequently anyway, something bigger has happened. The Earth's orbit has changed and now roofs need UV protection, otherwise despite all our best efforts and intentions, there's going to come a day when we realise damn, we were wrong and now we have skin cancer.
Basically, something pre-oirdained has happened in the greater reality, impacting on our smaller reality, and that's what the new instructions are for. Towards the end of times man becomes less moral, but also the criteria of prophetic belief grows to include more Prophets. And whilst not believeing in a Prophet may not have repercussions in the smaller reality, the effects it has in the larger reality will eventually become manifest...skin cancer.
Sayyidina Khidr AS and Prophet Moses. Following and forget about not understanding but not AGREEING with the actions of the teacher.
"Inni ilaykum Mursaloon."
The same question. He says he has knowledge of the "right path" (some sort of map), do we trust him or not?
Habbit says "no" (our fathers before us did what we're doing.) And habbits are comfortable, we don't like change and even if what we're doing is wrong, better the devil you know.
See it wasn't just a personal decision, it was a decision for the collective and you know how illogical a mob mentality can be. But on the personal levle, there's peer pressure. You don't conform and people not only think you're weird, they're probably going to hurt you. Tradition had a sanctity and they see you as defiling that sancity!
Many times in the Qur'an, people have to make that choice regarding the prophets. Can I trust him? There was on thing you forgot to mention about the labrynth. The spot of ground you're standing on is home. If you follow the man, you have to leave that home. Is it worth the danger. Its difficult calling people to truth if they're not fully aware that it is truth. You have to work slowly with what they already recognise as truth and hope that they'll get the rest as they walk the path.
So there are nuggets here and there that you understand and like. But then you here something disagreeable. Walk the path a little further, perhaps the answer is waiting around the next corner. Knowledge isn't information, anyone can have that. Knowledge is the rivers and mountains and valley along the path. If you've seen the world you're knowledgable, and if you've only read atlases you don't know a thing.
"This is the book in which there is no doubt."
My Shaykh says that this ayat, the beggining of the first surah after the opening, pertains to aqeedah. Have firm belief. If you follow a man trust him with your life because if you don't you're a fool to follow him.
You are not rquired to close your eyes. If you're following someone, its enough that you follow them, you can look at the path as you go.
My opinion is that you misunderstand the result. It wasn't a failed venture, it was a teaching story, making a point. The point was made, Sayyidina khidr AS was given more knowledge than Prophet Musa AS and following him was a difficult exercise.
The important thing is, how worthy is this man of my trust. He may have a perfect map, but his ownself is more important for you, because that will be the basis of his map benefitting you or not.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
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