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Writings of
GHAWTH AL-A‘ZAM SHAYKH ‘ABD AL-QĀDIR AL-JĪLĀNĪ
Rady Allāhu ‘Anhu

Translated by Muhtar Holland

Concerning the ten obligations that must be discharged
before pious restraint [wara‘]can acquire its full significance.

The penitent cannot realize the full significance of pious restraint [wara‘] unless he recognizes that ten things are strictly incumbent upon him:

1. The first of these obligations is to guard against using the tongue for backbiting [ghība], because He has said (Exalted is He):

And do not backbite one another. (49:12)

2. The second obligation is to avoid the tendency to harbor sinister suspicions [sū’ az-zann], since He has said (Exalted is He)

O you who believe, you must avoid a great deal of suspicion, for some suspicion is a sin. (49:12)

And the Prophet (Allāh bless him and give him peace) said:

Beware of suspicion, for it is the most misleading source of information [akdhab al-hadīth].

3. The third obligation is to steer well clear of mockery and ridicule [sukhriyya], because He has told us (Exalted is He):

O you who believe, one group of people should not scoff at another group of people, who may be better than they. (49:11)

4. The fourth obligation is to lower one’s eyes in the presence of things that should be treated as sacred [mahārim], because He has told us (Exalted is He):

And tell the believing men to keep their eyes downcast [and to guard their private parts]. (24:30)

5. The fifth obligation is to be true to one’s word because He has told us (Exalted is He):

And if you give your word, you must act fairly (6:153)

That is, you must prove that you really mean what you say.

6. The sixth obligation is to acknowledge one’s dependence on the gracious favor of Allāh (exalted is He) as a precaution against self-centered conceit, since He has told us (Exalted is He):

It is rather that Allāh is treating you with gracious favor, inasmuch as He has guided you to faith. (49:17)

7. The seventh obligation is to spend one’s wealth on that which has true value [haqq]and not to spend on that which is quite worthless [bātil], because He has told us (Exalted is He):

And [among His faithful servants are] those who, when they spend, are neither prodigal nor parsimonious. (25:67)

In other words, they neither spend their wealth on sinful disobedience, nor withhold it from the support of worshipful obedience.

8. The eighth obligation is not to go seeking high-and-mighty status and prestige for the sake of self-aggrandizement, because He has told us (Exalted is He):

As for that Ultimate Abode, We shall assign it to those who are neither intent on high-and-mighty status on the earth, nor on corruption. (28:83)

9. The ninth obligation is to observe the five ritual prayers [salawāt] at the times prescribed for them each day, following the correct sequence of bowing [rukū‘]and prostration [sujūd], because He has told us (Exalted is He):

Be careful to observe your prayers and [especially] the middle prayer, and stand obedient to Allāh. (2:238)

10. The tenth obligation is to stick to the course prescribed by the Sunna and the Jamā‘a, since He has told us (Exalted is He):

And this path of Mine is straight, so follow it. Do not follow other paths, lest you be separated from His path. (6:154)

Source: Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, Al-Ghunya li-Tālibī Tarīq al-Haqq (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth), translated by Muhtar Holland, Al-Baz Publishing, Houston, Texas, U.S.A, 1995, Vol II, p. 180-181.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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