Introduction
Islamic Mystics is a general term to describe any and all mystic beliefs that have seeped their way into the beliefs of muslims everywhere. These mystic beliefs have swayed the beliefs of many muslims everywhere, whether mainline believers or sects. We see many muslims sects, even those that would consider themselves Islamic orthodoxy, in this modern day adopt many of the mystic belief systems. Other times, we find traditional Islamic mystic sects that have arisen 800 years ago, find a new stride in our modern times. We find mystic beliefs infect almost every single sect today to some degree or another.
There are some commonalities in all Islamic mystical belief systems that are interesting to note. For example, all Islamic mystics believe that they are following the intended message of either the holy Quran or the prophet Muhammad (saw). All Islamic mystical beliefs must idolize individuals other than Allah and usually other than the prophet Muhammad. This leads to the belief that if one can show more devotion to this person, place, or thing, than others, then Allah will grant more favor upon them. All Islamic mystical belief systems believe they are following true Islam at the highest level, reserved for the best of humans. All islamic mystic belief systems believe there is a hidden knowledge or power out there that is obtainable only to those lucky few that are granted it through divine inspiration or gift. These belief systems also believe that it is the option of a believer to obtain this knowledge through human endeavor. That this path of enlightenment is achieved by following not the Quranic scriptures as a whole, but by following a teacher who can highlight important parts of the religion you can focus on. Many times these teachers will advise their students to utilize fortune telling or witchcraft, two things banned by the Quran for example. Also, these teachers will promote un-Quranic philosophies, such as Allah being one with all creation or that wealth is unfavorable.
This belief system should sound familiar, as its essentially the same as for all eastern philosophies that became popular around the western world in the 70s (as the West began rejecting Christianity and traditional religion).
Regardless, many believers of mystical Islamic ideologies will state that their path of enlightenment is a heightened version of Islam, or at the very least harmless. The issue is not whether this belief is harmful or not, that is a debate that cannot go anywhere because only Allah knows what will harm or not, and all harm occurs only through the permission of Allah. The correct question to ask is whether this belief system is a part of Islam or not? To answer this question we must first define, what is ‘Islam’?
For the purposes of this article, I will define Islam as the message delivered by the prophet Muhammad. Some believe this message is authentically preserved only in the Quran. Others believe that we can utilize hadiths. Others believe we can only utilize hadith if they are proven authentic beyond a reasonable doubt. Regardless of what camp you fall into, every sect of Islam believes the Quran is the divine word of Allah, as delivered through the prophet Muhammad (saws), and that this word cannot be questioned or contradicted by any other writing.
Surah Al-Jinn: A Contradiction to Islamic Mystical Beliefs
The Surah Al-Jinn, in the Holy Quran is a short surah that I my view summarizes the Quranic stance on many of the assumptions that make up the human inclination towards mysticism. In the following I will outline excerpts from Surah Al-Jinn, and one can see from their plan reading, they contradict mystic belief systems. This surah begins with Allah (swt) telling prophet Muhammad (saws), to say that a group of Jinns have listened to the quran and they have indicated it was a wonderful recital, and they will not worship together with Allah (swt) any other god. Seemingly talking on behalf of this Jinn or group of Jinns who have became Muslim, the surah goes on to explain how this is the wise path, and how the secrets of heaven are heavily guarded, and that there is no escaping Allah’s command or justice. I want to begin my analysis at 72:16.
(And Allah’s Message is): “If they (the Pagans) had (only) remained on the (right) Way, We should certainly have bestowed on them Rain in abundance.
Quran 72:16
Here Allah seems to be indicating that a group of humans that became deviated, had remained on the right path, Allah would have bestowed on them much blessings.
“That We might try them by that (means). But if any turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, He will cause him to undergo a severe Penalty.
Quran 72: 17
Here Allah makes clear that the remembrance of Allah is of supreme importance.
“And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah;
Quran 72:18
Along with Allah, we are required to worship only Allah in our places of worship, and not invoke any others. I would take this to mean that in mosques, we are to worship Allah alone, and not invoke in our speech the praise of any other people, places, or things.
“Yet when the Devotee of Allah stands forth to invoke Him, they just make round him a dense crowd.”
Quran 72:19
Here Allah illustrates the type of worship that is banned here. He describes an image of a devotee of Allah, standing in worship to Allah, and yet the entire gathering is surrounding him and admiring this devotee. This is a version of worship and belief that Allah dislikes or had banned.
Say: “I do no more than invoke my Lord, and I join not with Him any (false god).” Say: “It is not in my power to cause you harm, or to bring you to right conduct.”
Quran 72:20-21
Here, Allah seemingly is telling the prophet Muhammad (sawa) to tell his followers that he is no more than a worshipper of his lord, and he does not join with his worship to our lord anything or anyone. Further, Allah tells the prophet to tell his followers that it is not in his power to cause you harm, or to bring you to right conduct. In other words, our holy prophet cannot harm or help us. This message is very consistently reiterated all throughout the Quran. The idea is that even our top messenger is making it clear that he is powerless to help us or hurt us, and so it follows that any person after the prophet will not have the same or greater power as him (to which he has none).
Say: “No one can deliver me from Allah (If I were to disobey Him), nor should I find refuge except in Him,
Quran 72:22
Here, Allah commands our prophet to tell us (and this is crystallized in Quranic scripture), that no one can protect our prophet from Allah nor can anyone other than Allah protect our prophet. As believers we are to take the message away that no one can shield us from Allah’s punishment, and no one can protect us or help us other than Allah.
Conclusion to Part I
Here in the Quran, we are told by Allah, that he commands our prophet to communicate to us, he is just a devotee, a messenger, who himself prays to Allah, and Allah alone, and who cannot save himself or save others. Further, he cannot help himself and seeks help from Allah alone, and he cannot forgive his own sins, or forgive the sins of others. Any saint in Islam, cannot be more capable than our prophet Muhammad, so if he does not have this power, any subsequent saints cannot either. Without this type of power, how can a Muslim mystic claim that a saint is more powerful, that he/she can hear our prayers, that he/she can help forgive us, or that our saint can help us heal from an illness, or he/she can help us gain blessings in our life, or he/she can help us reach a high station in heaven. This is a complete contradiction to the verses outlined above.
Sura Al-Jinn further deals a death blow to Islamic Mystics as will be explained in Part II.
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