Are Scholars Greater Than Saints?
Mohammad Amir from Jacobabad asks
'How true is the following statement?
A religious scholar said one must serve the religious scholars and never speak ill of them.
Respect them because if you had given even a glass of water to a religious scholar,
that religious scholar will not enter paradise until you have been given entry into paradise.
Please clarify this'.
First of all, Mohammad Amir,
the religious scholars who are True Scholars,
there are ranks among them.
Some are True Scholars and some are Divine Scholars.
Some are Scholars of Divine Energy.
There are various ranks.
The scholars of today do not qualify to be called scholars in light of the teachings of the Quran.
This is because Prophet Mohammad said,
'Ulema min Sadri. Sadaat min salabi. Fuqra min Noor Allah'.
Which means, 'The scholars are those who obtain spiritual benevolence from my heart'.
For instance, in the era of Yazid,
Yazid was appointed by his father.
It was the era of Yazid.
And two hundred scholars of that era
gave verdicts in favour of Yazid, and against Imam Hussain.
Two hundred.
Two hundred scholars of that time gave verdicts against Imam Hussain which were in favour of Yazid.
[The religious scholars said] that according to the Quran, [Yazid] is Ullal Amar
which means after God and the Prophet, whatever they say must be obeyed.
There is no doubt that [Imam Hussain] is the grandson of Prophet Mohammad
but nobody is greater than the Quran.
This is what those scholars said.
So Yazid had the backing of the religious scholars.
And the rest of the people were silenced because the statement was coming from the scholars of Islam
for Imam Hussain to pledge allegiance to Yazid.
What kind of scholars were they who rallied against Imam Hussain?
So if two hundred scholars issued verdicts against Imam Hussain in 61 Hijri,
so what would be the state of the religious scholars today, 1400 years later?
What kind of scholars would they be if they have neither purified their Lower Self nor does the name of God echo in their hearts?
As it is written in the Quran, 'Do not follow those whose hearts I have kept heedless of my remembrance'.
Do not listen to or follow those whose hearts God has kept heedless of his remembrance.
So now tell me something.
If it is proven by the Quran itself
that it is not permissible to follow the one whose heart is void of God's remembrance,
then who qualifies to be a scholar?
Are those who reject the Activation of the Heart scholars?
As you can see, this is verse 18 or Chapter Kahaf.
'Wa la totay man aghfalna qalbahu an Zikarna'.
Do not listen to them, do not follow them
the hearts of whom God has kept heedless of his remembrance.
So what you said about entering paradise by giving a glass of water to a scholar,
this is not about the scholars. It is about the saints.
What is the difference between saints and scholars?
The truth is that the difference comes from the slight variance between the languages spoken in India and Pakistan
due to which there is difficulty in understanding.
Otherwise, a scholar is greater than a saint.
A saint...
How is a scholar greater?
Because there are different types of knowledge.
There is the exoteric (outer) knowledge.
A scholar who has exoteric knowledge is an Exoteric Scholar.
Right?
If you have esoteric (inner) knowledge,
then you will be an Esoteric Scholar.
And if you have knowledge of God's individuality, you will be a Divine Scholar.
Esoteric knowledge begins with sainthood.
First, sainthood is granted
and then knowledge is increased.
How many stages are there in Islam?
God has said three things about Islam, as mentioned in the Traditions of Gabriel,
the first stage is of Islam.
The second stage is of Emaan (faith).
The third stage is of Ehsan (Seeing God).
Now, generally, there are four types of knowledge in Islam.
The knowledge of Shariat.
The knowledge of Tariqat.
The knowledge of Haqiqat.
The knowledge of Muarifat.
There are scholars who obtain knowledge of Muarifat;
the knowledge of God's individuality.
They are known as Divine Scholars.
How is the knowledge of God's individuality obtained? By seeing God.
Through Divine Union.
And then there are Exoteric Scholars.
They teach us how to perform ablution.
They teach us about marriage and divorce.
They teach us about inheritance.
They teach us about circumcision and keeping a beard.
If such a scholar doesn't possess the second type of knowledge, the knowledge of the heart,
if he does not possess both the exoteric and esoteric knowledge,
then he is an ignorant scholar.
A Prophetic Tradition states, 'Beware an ignorant scholar'.
Prophet Mohammad said, 'Be wary of an ignorant scholar'.
And the companions asked, 'How can a scholar be ignorant?'
And Prophet Mohammad said, 'An ignorant scholar is one who is a scholar by tongue but the heart is darkened (ignorant)'.
So and ignorant scholar has a scholarly tongue but his heart is dark.
Now, God has cautioned in the Quran not to follow those whose hearts are kept heedless of God's remembrance,
and Prophet Mohammad instructed to be wary of the ignorant scholars whose hearts are void of divine energy.
And today you will be hardpressed to find a scholar who has both the exoteric and esoteric knowledge.
The vocation of the scholars of today is to spread mischief.
The scholars of today are looking for money and luxury.
The scholars whose hearts and tongues were aligned no longer exist.
Those whose hearts and tongues were aligned are called True Scholars.
And His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi declares, 'Turning your back on a True Scholar is a sign of great disrespect'.
The True Scholars' hearts and tongues are aligned with the knowledge and divine energy
and finding a True Scholar is an honour and a great blessing.
And these [saints] like Abdul Qadir Jilani and Data Ali Hajweri were also scholars.
But there was a difference in knowledge. Some had exoteric knowledge and some had esoteric knowledge.
For a period of time, exoteric and esoteric knowledge were combined.
Right?
Exoteric and esoteric knowledge were combined for some time
but when the madrassas began to be established -
Now, the knowledge of Shariat was obtained within the cities but the knowledge of Tariqat (spirituality) used to be availed through spiritual recluse in jungles.
The scholars and clerics issued verdicts against the latter.
And they used new methods to misguide you.
In fact, a movement was established about 1000 years ago
and they would stop those who would go to the jungles after having obtained Shariat.
Their reason for stopping them was that Asceticism is prohibited in Islam.
In Islam...[audience: asceticism is prohibited].
Asceticism is prohibited.
And that asceticism was permissible only in the religion of Jesus.
And as we are Muslims, our religion prohibits asceticism.
But they don't know which form of asceticism is forbidden in Islam.
In Islam, it is forbidden to shun the world for a long period of time during which
you neither care for your parents nor do you get married nor do you mingle with other people.
However, for the sake of improving your character, negating the Lower Self and enlightening your heart,
if you go to the jungle for a brief period of time and emerge as a saint,
and you return to the city then it is not called asceticism.
Even Prophet Mohammad himself would seek seclusion in the Cave of Hira.
He would spend days at a time in the Cave of Hira.
So was this asceticism too?
If temporarily, for the sake of purifying your Lower Self
and your heart, and for the sake of spiritual knowledge,
seeking seclusion and disappearing temporarily is permissible in Islam. It is not prohibited.
The form of asceticism forbidden in Islam is one that does not come to an end.
For instance, if you were to make a lifelong decision of not marrying or mingling with other people and going to the jungle forever. This is forbidden in Islam.
However, if you go on a spiritual recluse for 12 years - in fact, Baba Farid went on one for 36 years.
If temporary asceticism was forbidden in Islam then God would never have accepted Baba Farid as a saint.
And the one we know as the Leader of all Saints,
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani,
He spent 40 years in the jungles of Iraq for spiritual austerity.
If you live for 100 years, take out 40 years then you spent almost half your life in the jungle.
But it still will not be considered asceticism.
It will be called asceticism if you spend all your life in seclusion.
If you shun the world physically for the rest of your life.
That is asceiticism.
So those scholars created this confusion.
And when the scholars organised a movement against asceticism, people stopped going to the jungles for a spiritual recluse.
They stopped going for spiritual austerity and they thought that
everything can be found in Shariat.
And that asceticism is forbidden so there is no need to go to the jungles. This is where the mischief spread.