Adab of the Sheikh (RA)

Sayyiduna 'Shaikh Muhyi'd-din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, al-Hasani, al-Husaini, may Allah be well pleased with him!

Listened to the advice of one of the servants of Allah: Always have the best intention towards your Sheikh (Teacher). Do not abuse, slander or have your own opinion of what he says and does, or expose him to any evil. If he is true, then you will benefit by him. If he is a liar, Allah will give you benefit because of your intention.  

A Sheikh should: 

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Follow the Prophet Salallahu alaihi wasallam.
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Follow the Sharia and act from the Sunna.
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He speaks what's in your heart. He answers questions that you have not spoken aloud.
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When you are in his presence, you forget your troubles. He takes your load. You feel your troubles lifted.
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He praises Allah and not himself. He points to Allah and not himself.
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He has a silsila (lineage) and a licence to teach the path.
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Practices what he preaches.

The teacher has to be on a very high adab level:


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His adab to his Sheikh and his silsila, ultimately to the Prophet (PBUH).
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His adab to the general public.
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His adab to his murids.
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His adab with other Sheikh's.
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His adab with other Sheikh's murids.

It is not important how many followers a Sheikh has. The important thing is how many of them the Sheikh took near to Allah. A true Sheikh serves Allah only, and he lets Allah do everything. He gives the truth. He represents the truth and nothing but the truth. So we all have to follow the Prophet's  Sallallahu alaihi wasallam footsteps. May Allah help all the Sheikhs to be true, may Allah help us all to clean ourselves inwardly and outwardly. Ameen.

Hafiz Imran Ahmed Chaudhry