[SAUNDERSAN]

QUALITIES OF A GUIDE

-Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

Allaah - the Most High - said:
"And do not obey him whose heart We have made to be neglectful of Our remembrance, one
who follows his own whims and desires and whose affairs are furat [have gone beyond
bounds and whose deeds have been lost]." [Soorah al-Kahf 18:28].
So when a worshipper desires to follow another person, then let him see: Is this person from
the people of dhikr, or from the people who are negligent [about remembering Allaah]? Does
this person judge in accordance with his whims and desires, or by the Revelation? So, if he
judges by whims and desires then he is actually from those people who are negligent; those
whose affairs have gone beyond bounds and whose deeds are lost.
The term furat [which occurs in the above verse] has been explained in many ways. It has
been explained to mean:- (i) losing the rewards of that type of action which is essential to
do, and in which lies success and happiness; (ii) exceeding the limits of something; (iii) being
destroyed; and (iv) opposing the truth. Each of these sayings are very close in meaning to
each other.
The point is that Allaah - the One free from all imperfections, the Most High - has prohibited
following all those who possess such attributes. So it is absolutely essential that a person
considers whether such attributes are found in his shaykh, or the person who's example he
follows, or the person that he obeys. If they are, then he should distance himself from such a
person. However, if it is found that the person is, in most cases, pre-occupied with the dhikr
of Allaah and with following the Sunnah, and his affairs do not exceed the limits, but rather
he is judicious and resolute in his affairs, then he should cling to him very firmly.Indeed, there is no difference between the living and the dead, except with the dhikr of
Allaah; since [the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam] said: "The example of one who
remembers Allaah and someone who does not, is like the example between the living and the
dead." -Related by al-Bukhaaree (11/208) and Muslim (1/539).

Taken from "Polishing the Hearts" (Tahdheeb al Quloob) by Ibn Qayyim RA

http://d1.islamhouse.com/data/en/ih_...the_Hearts.pdf

[SAUNDERSAN]

"The point is that Allaah - the One free from all imperfections, the Most High - has prohibited
following all those who possess such attributes. So it is absolutely essential that a person
considers whether such attributes are found in his shaykh, or the person who's example he
follows, or the person that he obeys. If they are, then he should distance himself from such a
person. However, if it is found that the person is, in most cases, pre-occupied with the dhikr
of Allaah and with following the Sunnah, and his affairs do not exceed the limits, but rather
he is judicious and resolute in his affairs, then he should cling to him very firmly."

Indeed this is the same criterion of a shaykh and the concept of Shaykh-Mureed relationship that the Deobandi Mashaikh have that Ibn Qayyim is saying above. So, our kind of Peeri-Mureedi is also advocated by Imam Ibn Qayyim RA.