Advice for the Muslim

tahrîma, because it is harâm to expose oneself to danger.
Undertaking riyâda is permissible and useful for those whose
spiritual powers prevent this danger.
“The necessity of a rehber can be appreciated from this point,
too: the perfect rehber perceives the condition of the health,
character and spiritual power of the disciple and orders him to
undertake riyâda appropriate for his capacity and protects him
against dangers. The perfect rehber is an expert in both the
knowledge of the body and that of the soul and religion. He is an
inheritor, a deputy, of our master Rasûlullâh. No one among those
trained by perfect rehbers have been seen to suffer any harm or
danger. They all have made progress and attained to perfection.
None of them have shown any slackness in obeying Islam during
their progress on the way of tasawwuf. It is harâm to do something
that causes the omission of a fard. A rehber protects one against
such harâms. It is for this reason that it is necessary to perform
supererogatory ’ibâdât with his permission.
“Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) was very merciful
to his umma. On the Mi’râj Night, he asked that salât of fifty
times a day be reduced to only five times a day. He did not
permit his companions to undertake severe riyâda so that heavy
orders would not be conveyed to his umma. It cannot be thought
that he did not inform his umma of the ’ibâdât which would be
very helpful, or that he prevented those who performed them.
He taught, performed and made others perform the best and
most useful of everything. Since the practice of rukhsas, that is,
being a human servant without excessiveness or laxity would be
useful for all his umma, he openly practised them and ordered
their practice. However, he also taught secret knowledge and
’ibâdât to the superior ones among as-Sahâbat al-kirâm. The
282nd âyat al-karîma of Sûrat al-Baqara declares, ‘Fear Allah!
Thus, He will teach you many things,’ which are Divine Ma’rifa
and secret [esoteric] knowledge. A hadîth sharîf declares,
‘Knowledge has subtle and secret constituents. Only the men of
Allah know them. The ignorant will not believe if they disclose
what they know.’
“The hadîth about the Mi’râj, written in Al-mawâhib by al-
Imâm al-Qastalânî, declares, ‘My Rabb revealed to me three
different sciences. He told me not to reveal the first one to anyone,
because no one but I can understand this science. He said, “You
may communicate the second science to those whom you wish.
Teach the third science to all of your umma!” ’ It is seen that
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