We are living at a time when material preoccupations imprison the propensities of the spirit, and carnal desires replace true emotions. Spiritual subtleties are about to become mere spoken words or rituals represented by movements and clothes.
But however long we are engrossed in this dense environment, we still observe remnants of life kept in our roots, and remains of lively veins on our boughs.
We shall keep on listening to the imprisoned springs restrained under the earthly crust waiting for somebody to release them from their prison to regain the pulses of life anew.
While we seek peace for the world, and look for beauty on our earthly planet, and as we have the truths of Sufism our starting point, we often stand in an intermediate position with two groups on either sides:
The first group pretend Sufism and have the illusion that they live its states, but in fact they only wish them. In this regard, I call this group 'the group of wishing', because there is a great difference between Sufism and wishing it.
The second group practice Sufism in a hermitage away from the material reality that is thirsty for their spiritual donation. They are like a person who sits among the springs of fresh water outside a thirsty city, but he fortifies these springs by building high walls around them. He can drink and quench his thirst, but he leaves the inhabitants of his city in urgent need for water.
In such a state, this person practices the selfishness of quenching. Why does not he convey water to the thirsty when he is able to do so?
He is like a fireman who keeps water in his vehicle and does not use it while fire is blazing before him!
consequently, I call this group 'the group of wronging'. The solitude of the rich at the time of poverty is the selfsame wronging, and the seclusion of the satiated at the time of starvation is the most serious sin of wronging and its aspects.
This is an inevitable introduction before talking about the subject matter of the symposium and its concern with peace realization. No doubt, realization of peace needs movement and life. Movement is missing in the group of wronging, and life is missing in the group of wishing, but Sufism that is the introduction of peace is the living movement and moving life.
Men of knowledge said:
If some people are committed to cloisters,
We see all the world your cloisters.
When a Sufist was asked about the meaning of seclusion, he said: "seclusion is to go through the multitude while you keep your interior quite isolated". From this perspective, the Sufist moves in the universe and sees it all as his cloister, a place where everything remembers the Truth, and celebrates His Praises. In the Scene of Truth, the orbits turn around roaming in a circle of remembering Allah, while planets, suns and stars radiate by virtue of Heavenly donations, favors and the Everlasting gifts. They say to their Sheikh and imam, man, "we are walking behind you in this circle of remembering, and we are roaming as we follow you in the stages of love ".
Whoever is aware of his status and position, can be in harmony with this visionary circle and be in concord with its circulating, roaming and the present remembering of Allah. But whoever is heedless of his status and location in this visionary circle had better retreat from this circle of cosmic remembering of Allah and look for his place among the beasts whose only concern is eating and reveling, or search a place for himself in a cave among hyenas and predatory animals.
The Sufist, Jalaliddin Ar Rumi, related the anecdote of Christ (PBUH) and his donkey. Christ was intoxicated by the drunkenness of the Truth, while his donkey was intoxicated by the drunkenness of barley. Christ was able to ascend to heaven, whereas his donkey stayed below.
Ar Rumi considered people of two types. The first type look for a place behind Christ, and the second look for a place behind the donkey. Ar Rumi could see Gabriel dancing with adoration of the beauty of the Truth. He could also see the demon dancing with adoration of the she-demon.
From this position of man who is the Sheikh and imam in the cosmic circle of remembering Allah, man becomes the safeguard of the universe who protects it from confusion. From his high position, man feels great grief for those who give up their human positions and exchange them for the pastures of the beasts or the jungles of the predatory animals. Man grieves when he realizes that the human world will be changed into a jungle in which the number of both, the devoured and the predatory beasts will increase. Consequently, the people who abandon their human houses will also increase.
But what will the true Sufist do in such a case?
If he leaves the chaotic jungle and lives in his hermitage, he will belong to the group of wronging. Thus, he will not be true;
and if he participates actually in behavior in the world of confusion, i.e., the world of the beasts and predatory animals, he will belong to the group of wishing. He will be a make-believe Sufist, not a real one.
What is the best choice for man?
The Sufist's behavior is derived from the instructions of his Only Beloved for whom (the present world and the second one are ecstatic in celebration of His beauty) . He is the One Who said to man:
" Therefore stand firm (in the straight path) as thou art commended, thou and those who with thee turn (unto Allah); and transgress not (from the path): for he seeth well all that ye do" (Qur'an, 11, 112).
So he becomes righteous, indifferent to the temptations of the beasts, or to the intimidation of the predatory animals.
The Sufist's state is derived from the sufficiency of the One Who satisfies him. He is the Most Glorious to Whom the kingdom of earth and heavens belong. He is the One Who said to him:
" Is not Allah enough for His servant? But they try to frighten thee with other (gods) besides Him. For such as Allah leaves to stray, there can be no guide" (Qur'an,39, 36).
The Sufist's good manner is derived from an honorable Master who used to grieve for the adversity of mankind. Christ called him 'Ahmad', the Holy Qur'an called him 'Muhammad', and his Lord described him saying:
"it grieves him that ye should receive injury or difficulty" (Qur'an, 9, 128).
He was sent to mankind keen on their safety and peace. His Sender described him as:
"ardently anxious is he over you" (Qur'an, 9, 128).
By means of the three elements , namely behavior, state and good manners, the Sufist will be able to influence the human beings, and instead of destroying mankind, he will build up their identity.
By means of these three elements, the Sufist will feel pity on the assassinator more than the assassinated. He will be merciful to the quasi-beasts and quasi-predatory animals more than those injured by them. `
To increase the type of such people means increasing the human kind, and spreading safety and peace on this earthly planet.
This does not mean that the behavior that keeps mankind safe from the quasi-predatory beasts should be missing, i.e., the Sufist's Jihad (fighting for the cause of Allah), and his fighting against the aggressors who are desirous of exterminating mankind. Defending mankind against aggression is a complementary task of the Sufist. Protecting mankind necessitates protecting their status and the place where they live in. Imam Al Shafi'I shared in Al Mansurah Battle during the reign of Al Zaher Bibars against the king of France, Louis IX. As Al Shathili used to build man, he also defended him against the enemies of man.
The Sanusians participated in fighting the aggressive occupiers. So did the Algerian Sufist, Prince Abdul Kader, who shared in fighting the occupiers and defeating the tyrants who covered their human shapes with beastly images.
I see that the success of this symposium can be realized if we manage to find the mechanism that produces the human type, a type that is distinguished in behavior, ethics and state. The challenge that awaits the Sufist is how to build up behavior, good manners and state at the time of the contemporary Globalization that tears up the clothes of ethics by its anarchy, and destroys the balances of behavior by its tyranny, and hinders the peace of the hearts by the crises it creates.
When the mechanism of this building becomes open to us, it will be a true sign and the herald of good tidings, and for Allah, that is not difficult to achieve.