Sufism and Submission: The influence of mystical islam on Rashad Khalifa

 

Sufism and Submission: The influence of mystical islam on Rashad Khalifa 

Dr. Rashad Khalifa PHD, claimed his father was an eminent Sufi scholar. Did Sufism have any influence on the doctor? Rashad Khalifa and his students would probably deny their teachings had any influence other than the Qur'an alone. It would be interesting here to explore the possibility of the influence of Sufism upon the Dr. Khalifa. An exploration of old audio clips, video lectures and the The Final Testament translation of the Qur'an will be explored to show that Sufism had some impact on Dr. Khalifa's teachings.

It would be necessary to have a brief discussion about what Sufism for the sake of those who may not be aware. Sufism/Tasawuuf is typically understood as a term for Islamic mysticism. The Sufi is one who follows the Sufi path towards knowledge would brings knowledge that leads to closeness of the disciple with Divinity. Christian scholars use the term “one with God” to refer to the mystical experience of the divine proximity which cannot be expressed in words. The typical Sufi path is one that is led by a guide called a Murshid who is responsible to lead the disciple to a higher state of spirit. Sufis are known to the general public for distinctive clothes, behavior and also organized chanting or singing. There are several groups (Tariqat) in the Sufi world and each has their own unique path. What most of them have in common is Dhikr, chanting certain prayer formulas or names of God. One who participates in a sufi gathering for dhikr will if lucky experience a meditate state or trance where one looses his/her self.

Of course Sufism has a love and hate relationship in the Islamic world. The reform movements of Salafi ideology have dismissed Sufism as an innovation as the practices and ideas were not traced back to the Qur'an or the early practices of the Prophet and the first 3 generations. The visitation of graves of sufi saints and the petition of prayers towards the saints for the mediation of God is looked down upon as idolatry for more conservative trends of islam.. Certain Sufis were even controversial among other Sufi shakhs considered more main stream. Although the Salafiyya scholars reject Sufism, their critique has not influenced all of what is traditionally considered Orthodox Islam in th Sunni world. The four schools of jurisprudence and the two dominant theological trends in Sunni Islam never rejected Sufism per say, although there have been critiques of certain Sufis here and there.

The problem with the debate between those who believe Sufism has an Islamic or other origin is the fact that Sufism has a vague definition and means many things to many people. So the understanding of Sufism to a adherent of a student of Abdul Wahab may not have the same definition of Sufism that is used by a traditional scholar of the Sunni fold. Tradition Sunni scholars do not refer to Sufism as “mysticism” at all, even if they do not deny an experiential outcome as such. Instead, they prefer to define sufism as purification of the self, tazkiyya, a notion that cannot be disagreed with very easily. Sufi scholars explain that Jurisprudence teaches the outward laws of Islamic behavior based on the Sunnah of the prophet but Sufism itself is based on following the “interior” sunnah so to speak. How do we develop the states of Taqwa, pure faith, trust in God and other spiritual states enjoyed by our Prophet? Sufism seeks to provide means of doing this by providing practical means to enable awareness to the Divine by remembering God, reflecting on our short comings, blessings, etc. A hadith is often quoted where the Prophet teaches the companions “prayer to God as if you see Him..” to develop this state of God consciousness. This hadith has become the basis of how scholars of traditional Islam define Sufism and give it a pure Islamic origin.

There are criticism of Sufism in practice that come from Salafiyya students as well as many other people themselves for which folks of different persuasion may agree on. Sufism relies in practice on following a Murshid. The reliance on a guru figure has led to extreme practices of over veneration and idolatry, of persons other than God. Some ideas out of the Sufi world have managed to venerate the Prophet Muhammad to a degree that is unacceptable and that he himself would certainly be against. Dr. Khalifa himself was very critical of the practice of intercession and building tombs on the graves of islamic saints. Dr. Khalifa advocated the destruction of these tombs when he promoted the United Islamic Nation (UIN) agenda. There are many other strange practices found throughout the world that adherents of Sufism do.

Dr. Rashad Khalifa stated that his father was an eminent Sufi in the appendixes to his Qur'an translation, the Final Testament. The Submission website claims his father was the leader of the Tariqat Ar-Rashad Al-Shathlya and that the tariqat took it's name “ar-Rashad” from Rashad Khalifa himself when the father named it as such. “Dr. Khalifa's father was supposedly a leader in the Sufi group from Egypt" The Shathlya is better known in English transliteration as the Shadhili tariqat, a well known Sufi group with followers in almost all parts of the world, but North African origins. It was based on the teaches of Abu Hasan Shadhili of the Maghreb, a 13th century Islamic saint. The Shadhili is not so different from the other tariqats, Qaddiri (for which Shadhili is really an offshoot) Naqshbandi, Chistiyya, etc. The shadhili founders developed distinctive dhikrs involving ritual dancing (called hadhra.) There are a number of payer litanies and qasidas that have a Shadhili origin. One of the most well known Shadhili murshids was Shaykh Ahmad Alawi, a saint of the Darqawi branch from Algeria who's live was documented by Martin Lings in “A Saint of the 20th Century.”

Sufism has been in Egypt since the early period of Islam with such names as Dhul Nun Misri (9th century.) However, it is not until the 13th century did Sufism became a prominent force in Egyptian society. Saladin invaded Egypt and took power away from the Fatimid dynasty. Saladin found it necessary to consolidate his rule by ensuring Sunni islam remain prominent. As part of the Sunnification of society, Saladin found it necessary to import Sufis from his home country of Iraq. What we know from that point on is that Sufism became part and parcel to Egyptian life. In fact sufism had such a strong influence that even the Jewish citizens of Egypt caught wind of it. Ibraham ben Maimonides, the son of his more prestigious father, not only praised the Sufis but incorporated certain sufi practices into the Jewish curriculm. The father Maimonides was the physician to Saladin and the influence they had could not be denied. The Shadhili tariqat made its way into Egypt soon and produced scholars well known in the general islamic world such as Imam Nawawi and other people.

How true is the claim that Dr. Rashad Khalifa's father was a leader of a Sufi group in Egypt? Submission.org writes about the father's leadership in a way that could be subject to “multiple interpretations”(to use Khalifa speak.) His father was a religious leader for a large Sufi group, made of thousands of followers. " Was Dr. Khalifa a leader with thousands of followers or did he simply have some sort of leadership position among a smaller group of people? There was one anonymous individual from Egypt that claimed to have known Dr. Kalifa and wrote a critical piece to the once popular answering-christianity.com and Daniel Pipes websites. This person argued Dr. Khalifa's father was not a Sufi leader but a mid-level cleric. I would not argue the truth based on an anonymous source but would consider the possibilities of his claim based on what we can know.

The Shadhilli Tariqat has many branches and subbranches but there is no central leadership like the Pope or Caliph. I am not aware of any group called Shadhili-Rashad but would not have the resources to disprove the claim. If the group existed it was evidently small. The shadhili group is not obscure and has produced many scholars well known in the Islamdom. The father of Rashad Khalifa certainly did not obtain such a a height as he is not well known. Perhaps the father Khalifa was a muqadam, a representative for a murshid. Shaykhs appoint muqadams to lead ceremonies in places where the Shaykh could not be. A muqadam is not necessarily considered one who attained enlightenment, but certainly one cosndiered trustworthy to handle the affairs of the shaykh from afar. Perhaps the father of Rashad was a muqadam for the Shaikh.

Did Rashad Khalifa incorporate any Sufi thought into his teachings? I am not aware of Dr. Khalifa talking much about sufism but there may be hints here or there in his recorded talks. Dr. Khalifa left Egypt in the late 1950s when Islam was not at it's height. Sufism, although still around, did not enjoy the patronage of rulers that it once did. The country was under the sway of Arab Nationalism with the leadership of Nasser. There was some revival in Islamic interest particularly with Sayd Qutb and the emerging Muslim Brotherhood. Muslim intellectuals would take an interest in Qutb's theology that was political in nature and similar to the puritanical ideology of Salafi thought. Of course by that time Muhammad Abdul and Jamala Afghan, the Islamic reformers, had managed to strongly influence religious ideas.

Kill your ego

There are recordings of Rashad's students using the phrase “kill your ego” during the qur'an studies. “Kill your ego” is a popular phrase used by Sufis to explain the path to annihilation in God. If the glass is full then nothing can enter. Likewise, if the person is filled with ego, the divine cannot penetrate. “kill your ego” is a known found throughout the Sufi world that is familiar to laymen. Dr. Rashad Khalifa in fact wrote the phrase “kill your ego” on the title of Surah 2:54 in the Final Testament to describe the teachings of Moses after the golden calf incident. A hadith attributed to Muhammad has the prophet saying “die before you die “ to refer to the need of the believer to be rid of the ego. Sufis uses this particular hadith to make the point that a re-birth is needed in which the ego is no longer in control of the self. The teaching of ego anilihation is not consistent with Salafi thought or pertinent to Qutb's ideology. Dr. Khalifa certainly picked this phrase up from Sufis he met in Egypt.

Although “kill your ego” is a popular teaching, scholars of tasawuf argue that the phrase is an exaggeration of a more complicated process of self-purification. Serious students of Sufism will argue that that there is no real death of the ego that occurs on the spiritual path. A better characterization of the spiritual process in relation to the ego is to tame the horse. One who has attained perfection in Tariqat is able to remain in control of the ego and not let bad characteristics like anger, pride, vanity and etc. influence the soul. Specific verses of the Qur'an explain the human's struggle with the self and the overcoming of the ego with the resulting tranquility that comes with success. The idea of “killing your ego” is thus an exaggeration from a strict Quranic and Sufi point of view.

Remembrance of God

Dhikr is arguably the central practice of Tasawuf. Dhikr is a broad term that simply means remembrance of God. The readers are most likely aware of the changing the names of God or using phrases like “la ilaha il Allah” or Quranic ayats in a repetitious manner. These chantings occur in groups or simply individuals, either loud or silently. The group chanting is supposed to be an innovation according to the Salafiyya school of thought because it is not found in the Qur'an or sunnah (I am aware of Sufi scholars who disagree but that is aside for now.) However, the idea of remembrance is found throughout the Qur'an (including Dr. Khalifa's translation) and no one would argue that “remembering God” is an innovation. In fact, it is universally recognized that after the salat is complete, the sunnah of the Prophet is to make dhikr 99 times (with subhanllah 33 times, alhumulilah 33, allahu akbar 33.) This is refered to as the Dhikr of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, who established it as a practice. Dr. Rashad Khalifa rejected any dhikr after the contact prayer as an inovation but Sunni, salafiy among them, as well as Shia all recognize this dhikr.

There is a two part serman of Dr. Khalifa which is entitled “God is in control.” Dr. Khalifa states at the beginning of the first sermon that he is going to teach a “dhikr.” It is explained during the sermon that the believer must recognize that God is in control over everything that happens to you. Thus we should be accepting of our situation. Dr. Khalifa told everyone to repeat mentally that “God is in control.” This teaching of Dr. Khalifa is based on the Qur'an and a dhikr in the specific as well as general sense of the term. This is perhaps evidence of Dr. Khalifa's Sufi learning. Of course dhikr is not limited to Sufi thought. But if anyone has sat through a khutbah by a Salafiyya or anyone else the topic was mostly about doing outward things correctly or glorifying the pious predecessors as their topics are hardly about remembering God or anything remotely spiritual.

Group Dhikr and the Night of Power : A Submission Tariqat?

The best evidence of Sufi thought on Dr. Rashad Khalifa are his teachings on the Night of Destiny. At the end of Ramadan, Muslims will stay up late and pray to God while waiting for the “night of power.” It is not certain when the night of power will take place but it is a popular belief, one shared by Dr. Khalifa, that the night of power is on the 27th. In Sunni Islam, people with spiritual earnestness will stay up late on all the odd nights to await the possibility of enlightenment for this blessed night. Performing the salatul layal (night prayer) is a staple for people who worship God at this time. However, Dr. Khalifa believed in salat outside of the 5 daily prayers was an inovation, including the Salatu layal. Yet. Dr. Khalifa believed in the importance of observing the Night of Power as a genuine Quranic holiday.

How did Dr. Khalifa teach to observe the Night of Power if salatu layal was considered an innovation. Ironically, Dr. Khalifa taught people to stay up late and do “dhikr” and by “dhikr” not just generally remembering God. The disciples of Dr. Khalifa actually perform dhikr by chanting in unison just as the Sufi's do. Recordings of these night sessions led by Dr. Khalifa are found on youtube and on the Masjid Tuscon website (see links below.) If one has ever attended a Sufi gathering when dhikr was made, they would certainly recognize the Sufi influence on Dr. Khalifa when listening to these old recordings. By listening to these Night of Power sessions it is certain that Dr. Khalifa and perhaps the other followers were familiar with Sufi chanting. With his “Quran only” ideology Dr. Khalifa would certainly dismiss group dhikrs of the Sufis as “un-Quranic.” But because Dr. Khalifa considered the performance of contact prayers, outside of the 5 daily ones innovation he felt he had to incorporate sufi type dhikr as a substitute. Ironically, he dismissed one thing as an innovation (salat layl) which has a basis in the Qur'an (not to Dr. Khalifa however) with means of worship (group dhikr) that is definitely not specfically mentioned in the Qur'an!

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https://www.masjidtucson.org/God/zikr/dhikrAV.html

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL3W8eFhxa8)