1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

17 Questions

Are there any practical step by step resources on Irfan, such as how to start Muraqaba and methods of practicing and progression?
Zoheir Ali Esmail

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Practical irfan is a complex area and each person depending on their constitution and the specific path that they are to embark on, have a program that is suitable for them.

As such the closes thing to step by step guides are generally concerned with what a person may experience in terms of states as they progress, rather than guiding people as to how to practice at those stages. Some well known books are Manazil al-Sa'irin of Khwaja Abd Allah Ansari and Risala fi sayr wa suluk of Mehdi Bahrilulum. But like i said generally these books are not written in what would be expected in a step by step guide book.
 

It is usually recommended that a person begins their journey by performing the obligatory acts and refraining from forbidden ones, improving their akhlaq and following the general practices of spirituality, such as praying salat al-layl, fasting mustahab fasts, practicing a level of mubasiba and muraqaba and paying attention to the important times of year, while supplicating for a spiritual guide to take you on the path of irfan, as a certain level of expertise and experience is needed to safely walk that path.

May you always be successful 
Where can I read about the teachings and methods of Ayatollah Ali Aqa Qadi (Rh) and Ayatollah Taqi Bahjat (Rh)?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

There are many websites and books compiled on these subjects.

Wassalam.
I am a new convert to Shia Islam living in the West and learning practical Irfan. How do I find a Shia guide who can help on this journey that I believe is important and brings you much closer to Allah?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

The way to Allah is open to every sincere believer who really wants it and strives to be in it.

Those who strive for our sake, We will definitely guide them to Our ways.
(Sura 29, Verse 69).

It is good to have a sincere and able teacher to guide and help, but it is not the only way to be in the way of Allah. Even a person who lives alone in an isolated island can seek nearness to Allah through reciting Quran, Prophetic and Ahlul Bayt sayings, Nahjul  Balagha, and Saheefa Sajjadia .

Finding a suitable teacher depends on where you live.

You can seek help from authentic scholars in the Hawza in Najaf or Qum to suggest a teacher in your area.

Wassalam.
Why are some of our scholars highly influenced by and propagate Irfan when there are some narrations that talk very negatively against mysticism and philosophy?
Rebecca Masterton

It may be due to the region in which those scholars live and therefore which types of thought have influenced the idea of spirituality in that region. The term 'irfan' began to be used under the Safavids, to distinguish it from 'Sufism', or 'tasawwuf', which came to be associated with many spurious groups adopting various practices that had little basis in Islam. If we use the term 'Islamic mysticism', it covers a wide range of spiritual trends which have been incorporated into the field. The type of 'irfan' that may be found in Khorasan would differ from that found in Baghdad. Generally, 'irfan' as understood today, includes the thought and practice of mystics, be they Sunni or Shi'i and be their mysticism influence by Platonism or Neo-Platonism. This view of 'irfan' takes an inclusive approach to spiritual tendencies among mystics.

With regard to 'philosophy'  - this term in the Muslim world basically means Platonic-Aritotelian influenced philosophy. There are many other kinds of philosophy also - so the condemnation of philosophy does not mean philosophy per se, but this Greek-influenced trend.

Primarily, both these fields have been disapproved of in narrations attributed to the Imams (as), because both side-line or play down the central pillar of walayah. According to traditional Shi'i narrations, the Imam is the gateway to Allah (swt), the Greatest Sign and the Qutb. Ma'rifah of the Imam = Ma'rifah of God's theophany on earth. There is no greater sign than the Imam (Imam 'Ali (as) says this in Usul al-Kafi). 

The are narrations from the Imams that indicate that certain people used to sit in their circles, learn their doctrines, and then go and attribute those doctrines to themselves. This could be one root of the beginnings of Sufism. Hakim Tirmidhi, in his book Sirat al-Awliya' (The Concept of Sainthood) pretty much repackages the Imami concept of walayah, but replaces the Imam with that of the Saint, or Waliyullah (Friend of God). At the same time, he was writing polemical treatises against the Shi'a. Therefore, those who, in time of the Imams, sat in dhikr circles, or passed on the teachings of the Imams, while effectively breaking their allegiance to the Imam and attributing their teachings to themselves, were condemned. Thus, those who say that 'what it matter where these teachings come from? It all leads back to Allah' overlook the fundamental pillar of walayah and loyalty to the Imam. In effect, if you steal someone's teachings, then those teachings are transmitted on a foundation of betrayal. So there is an ethical problem here.

Some argue that the narrations attributed to the Imams that condemn irfan and philosophy are not authentic. This would require more expert investigation to ascertain their status.

With du'as