Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 22

22. He is the One Who enables you to travel on land and sea. When you are in ships, and they sail with them with a favorable wind, and they rejoice in it, suddenly a stormy wind comes upon them, and waves come at them from every side, and they think they are surrounded, then they call upon Allah, making their worship purely [34] for Him alone: "If You save us from this, we will surely be among the grateful."

[34]
When Death Stands Before One’s Eyes, Call Only Upon Allah:

In this verse, a great reality has been stated, which is that when a person is faced with such a difficult time that all means and supports seem to be cut off, at that moment his gaze lifts from the means and turns solely to Allah, and he begins to call upon Allah alone with sincerity. Then, when that time of hardship passes, man forgets Allah and his gaze once again becomes fixed upon the means. He does not fear that perhaps Allah, the Exalted, might create another cause for such pain and hardship, because the reins of all means are also in His hands.

The Acceptance of Islam by ‘Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl:

The polytheists of Makkah had the same habit, which is mentioned in this verse. Thus, after the conquest of Makkah, ‘Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl (who had not yet become Muslim), fled from Makkah so that he would not be taken captive. He set out on a sea journey from Jeddah. On the way, the boat was surrounded by stormy winds to the extent that the passengers saw death before their eyes. At that time, the captain said to the passengers, “Now call only upon Allah; here your other deities will be of no use to you.” Upon hearing this, a sudden revolution occurred in ‘Ikrimah’s mind. He began to think, “This is the same Allah to whom Muhammad ﷺ calls. If salvation cannot be found in the sea except through Him, then on land too, only He can be of help.” Then he made a covenant with Allah that if He saved him from this calamity, he would immediately return and accept Islam. Accordingly, he fulfilled his promise and presented himself before the Prophet ﷺ and embraced Islam. But today’s so-called Muslim has gone several steps ahead of the polytheists of Makkah in shirk. At least, in times of calamity, they would call only upon Allah, but these people even at such times call upon their “helpers in difficulty” and do not refrain from shirk. Satan has established such dominance over them that even at the time of death, they are not granted the ability to call upon Allah. The foundation of such beliefs is, in reality, the doctrine of “Tasawwur-e-Sheikh” (contemplation of the spiritual guide). The Sufis have set three stages for traversing the path of spiritual wayfaring:
➊ Fana fi’sh-Sheikh (annihilation in the Sheikh)
➋ Fana fi’r-Rasul (annihilation in the Messenger)
➌ Fana fi’Allah (annihilation in Allah)
The beginning of the stage of fana fi’sh-sheikh is made with tasawwur-e-sheikh. Tasawwur-e-sheikh does not merely mean “unconditional obedience” to the pir (spiritual guide), but the disciple is made to understand that his pir is always aware of his circumstances and comes to his aid when needed. To firmly establish this belief in the mind of the disciple, he is taught to always keep the image of the pir in his mind. This illusion and practice, at times, begin to appear as a reality. Allah, the Exalted, had commanded Muslims to obey only the Messenger of Allah ﷺ unconditionally, but this type of Sufi teaching places the disciple and the pir at the level of servant and deity, a right that was not even given to any prophet. The Sufis, by giving the art of spiritual guidance a special technique, have imposed it upon the masses in such a way that no person can attain access to Allah unless he formally enters a Sufi order, first practices tasawwur-e-sheikh until he becomes fana fi’sh-sheikh, i.e., he begins to consider the pir as present and witnessing for his own self, seeing and hearing his actions, character, and speech. Only then does this stage end, and in practice, what happens is that the poor disciple spends his entire life drowning in the stage of fana fi’sh-sheikh. This is, in effect, a powerful and successful tactic to estrange one from Allah and His Messenger and to make one a slave to the pir. Thus, the following excerpt from Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi fully sheds light on this reality.

The Misguiding Doctrine of Tasawwur-e-Sheikh:

In (the Sufis’) method, there are some things which are not found in the texts (of Quran and Sunnah), yet are considered conditions of the path, and not just conditions, but the greatest and most important ones. For example, tasawwur-e-sheikh, although it is not found in any text and is also dangerous, and some have even gone to extremes in it, and because of this danger and extremism, Maulana Shaheed used to prohibit it. But despite these things, the elders of the Naqshbandi order consider it essential. Thus, in Anwar al-‘Arifeen, under “Dhikr Tasawwur-e-Sheikh,” the statement of Kanz al-Hidayah is quoted with reference to the Maktubat of Mujaddid Sahib: “Dhikr alone, without connection and without fana fi’sh-sheikh, does not lead (to Allah). Dhikr, although it is one of the means of reaching (Allah), is generally conditional upon the connection of love and fana fi’sh-sheikh.” [تجديد تصوف و سلوك ص 443] (Translation): Without becoming fana fi’sh-sheikh, mere dhikr alone cannot grant access to Allah, although dhikr is also a means of access, but its predominant condition is the relationship of love (with the pir) and being annihilated in him. From the above excerpt, the following results emerge:
1. There is no trace of the doctrine of tasawwur-e-sheikh in the Quran and Sunnah.
2. This doctrine is extremely dangerous and misleading.
3. Despite both these things, the Sufis, especially the Naqshbandis, have declared it the greatest and most important condition for access to Allah. Thus, Maulana Rumi expresses the importance of this philosophy of the three contemplations as follows: “The perfect pir is in the form of the shadow of Allah, that is, seeing the pir is in reality seeing Allah. Whoever has not seen the pir and Allah’s essence as one, he is not a disciple, not a disciple, not a disciple.” The effect of this doctrine is such that Mu’inuddin Ajmeri said, “If on the Day of Judgment, the beauty of Allah, the Exalted, is in the form of my pir, I will look at it, otherwise I will not even turn my face towards Him.” [ رياض السالكين، ص 231]
And Baba Farid Ganj Shakar said, “If on the Day of Judgment, Allah, the Exalted, shows His beauty or perfection in any form other than that of my pir, I will not even open my eyes towards Him.” [اقتباس الانوار، ص 290، مطبوعه مجتبائي دهلي بحواله ايضاً]
And Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq said, “Even if the vision of Allah is in the form of Pir Dastgir, I will look at it, otherwise I will not desire it at all.” [رياض السالكين، ص 231]
You see how this formula of tasawwur-e-sheikh produces such remarkable results that it places the disciple entirely in the lap of the sheikh. This doctrine, on one hand, grants the pir divine sanctity, and on the other hand, plunges the disciple into blind devotion. To firmly establish this doctrine in the mind of the disciple, the kind of tales that are fabricated can be well understood from this incident, whose narrator is Imam Ahl al-Sunnah Ahmad Raza Khan Mujaddid Mi’atan Hazir, and he probably narrates it with reference to “Hadiqa Nadiya”:

Junayd Baghdadi and Tasawwur-e-Sheikh:

“Once, my master Junayd Baghdadi came to the Tigris River and, saying ‘Ya Allah,’ began to walk on it as if on land. Later, a man came who also needed to cross, but there was no boat at that time. When he saw the Shaykh going, he asked, ‘How can I come?’ He replied, ‘Say Ya Junayd, Ya Junayd, and keep coming.’ He did so and began to walk on the river as if on land. When he reached the middle of the river, the accursed Satan cast a whisper into his heart: ‘The Shaykh himself says Ya Allah, and makes me say Ya Junayd. Why shouldn’t I also say Ya Allah?’ He said ‘Ya Allah,’ and immediately sank. He cried out, ‘O Master! I am drowning.’ He replied, ‘Say again, Ya Junayd, Ya Junayd.’ When he said it, he crossed the river. He asked, ‘Master, what is this matter? When you say Ya Allah, you cross, but when I say it, I sink?’ He replied, ‘O ignorant one! You have not yet reached Junayd, and you desire access to Allah. Allahu Akbar.’” (Malfuzat Mujaddid Mi’atan Hazir, Ala Hazrat Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi) Now see, the textual proof (naqli daleel) for this incident being a mere fabrication is that he presents it probably with reference to “Hadiqa Nadiya,” i.e., relying solely on beliefs and completely disregarding all the principles of transmission which have been considered the soul of knowledge and wisdom by the scholars of Islam. And the rational proof is that I claim with certainty that if today all the mashayikh and pirs together could show such a miracle, if even one of them could walk on a river as if on land, and his disciple would sink by saying ‘Ya Allah,’ then I and my whole family would become his disciples. And the fabricator of this tale has excelled in that, through this one incident, he has refuted countless verses of the Quran. For example:
1. In every prayer and in every rak‘ah, we recite ﴿اِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِيْنُ﴾, i.e., we seek help only from You, but this incident emphasizes seeking help from the pir, ignoring Allah.
2. Allah, the Exalted, said: ﴿ادْعُوْنِيْٓ اَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ﴾, but this incident shows that calling upon Allah in times of difficulty brings great harm, and instead, calling upon your pir can be very beneficial.
3. Allah, the Exalted, said: ﴿وَاِذَا سَاَلَكَ عِبَادِيْ عَنِّيْ فَاِنِّيْ قَرِيْبٌ﴾ [2: 186], but this incident shows that the pir is near, Allah is very far, so if you want access to Allah, mention your pir. This incident has opened many doors to shirk, and has made issues such as calling upon other than Allah, seeking help, intercession, assistance, and tasawwur-e-sheikh extremely necessary. The excellence of the tale-spinner is such that he has fabricated such an unanswerable tale that the poor disciple is forced to accept that calling upon Allah was indeed a satanic whisper. Now, you have probably understood why the polytheists of Makkah, when surrounded at sea and death stood before their eyes, would call only upon Allah, and why the polytheists of our time, even then, call upon their pir.