Asalamu aleykum,brothers and sisters.In the early 2000’s I met with one of the great Shuyukh of Islam – Sheikh Mahshur al Haddad r.a.- the sheikh of Sheikh Omar Ibn Hafiz and Sheikh Ali Jeffri ,in Jeddah shortly before his passing.
Although in a weakened state ,he managed to tell us, through his interpreter, that the days of tariqat, as we knew it, were over as people were no longer able to bear the rigour of the sheikh/murid relationship
At the time,I believed he was only referring to his own tariqat, but over the years I have been able to see the general applicability of his statement!
We are no longer in the era of the Insan al Kamil( the perfect man) and the murid with total surrender and perfect adab( if ever that actually existed in reality!).The new sheikh has to be ready to “mix it up”. He has to be ready to be challenged and to be able to assert what is True and to step back if he is in error.And he has to have some understanding of the psychological dynamics in any relationship- including his relationship with his students! Welcome.to the modern world! We should not lament the changes but rather should embrace them.There is something salutary in all of this as there was something problematic in the previous formalism that existed.Long live the Truth.
Salaams,Ibrahim
Wa alaykum As Salaam
Wow !
Quite insightful.
And this really explains a lot of the reality today.