asSalaamu Alaikum,

Shari`ah and Tariqah: Inseparable and Indivisible – by Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhlawi

The author writes,

“During my student years when I was studying Mishkat Sharif, I read the famous hadith of Jibrael. He came to the Blessed Prophet (S) to teach the Ummah the basics of Deen. After Iman and Islam we read:

ما الاحسان قال أن تعبدوا الله كانك تراه

‘What is Ihsan?’

The Blessed Prophet (S)  replied, ‘To worship Allah I as if you see him.’

Ihsan is also known as tariqat, tasawwuf, and suluk, all of which are embodied in thedefinition of ihsan. Then, as I continued studying different books of ahadith, the inseparable nature of Shari’ah and tariqat became so strong in my heart that if I heard anything against it, I considered it ignorance and indifference towards the subject. Likewise, if I ever heard anything against the pureand pristine Shari’ah, which is derived from the Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Blessed Prophet (S) which is the most authoritative exposition of the Qur’an, and then fiqh which is the pith of both the Qur’an and Sunnah, I disregarded it and thought it unworthy of my time.”