Lets say you know an imam that you feel says a lot of things according to how you believe(for example he always takes things from Qur’an and Hadith). Now lets say you find out one day that he believes that there is a man that knows secrets of Islam that most others dont know. And you have to “join” this circle by giving a pledge of some sort that you wont tell others about the secret once you learn it. Now, my question is, is it right for you to continue getting advice from this person regarding du’aas, etc. Consider that you do not believe in this “secret” as he does. Lets say he still gives examples from Qur’an and Sunnah when telling you about du’aas, etc. Should one continue going to him for guidance on matters?
I'm not sure I understand what you mean about "Secrets of Islam". There really aren't any secrets. Can you elaborate a little more on what you mean by that?
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*Originally posted by Munni: *
Lets say you know an imam that you feel says a lot of things according to how you believe(for example he always takes things from Qur'an and Hadith). Now lets say you find out one day that he believes that there is a man that knows secrets of Islam that most others dont know. And you have to "join" this circle by giving a pledge of some sort that you wont tell others about the secret once you learn it. Now, my question is, is it right for you to continue getting advice from this person regarding du'aas, etc. Consider that you do not believe in this "secret" as he does. Lets say he still gives examples from Qur'an and Sunnah when telling you about du'aas, etc. Should one continue going to him for guidance on matters?
Jazak'Allah khair.
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Secrets of Islam ???
Yes there are secrets of Islam..but you can get them if you read Quraan and Understand it. If you read Hadith and understand it. If you understand what you yourself are.
I am not refering to what Secrets that Imaam is talking about. What i believe is..Allah swt and His Prophet Mohammed PBUH has ordered man to SPREAD knowledge. "ILM" (knowledge) is not stealable. Share it with others freely..instead putting forward CONDITIONS to learn those Techniques and secrets.
I dont think you need Imaam all life. Muslim's first priority should be to learn and get knowledge of Islam and do RESEARCH. We shouldnt be going to Imaams asking for Duaas and minor daily life problem's solutions.
Clearly you are knowledgeable and intelligent enough to have had faith in the imam's teachings before this proposal. If so, I'd give the benefit of the doubt to my brother; out of trust; that he is doing this to invite you to the circle by creating curiosity. With regards to giving 'baya', one can never be pushed into doing this, but if you wish to do Islamic Work in a jama'a then it is usually necessary for this to take place at some point, in the form of a group to which you have allegance or rather support. At the end of the day, if the imam has not done anything against Islam and that the circles are not against Islam then I don't think you should be sceptical at this point. Who knows, it my be beneficial, Allah knows best.
In addition to "shariah", which most of us are familiar with, there is another level of ibadaa which is called "tareeqah". I am not sure why anyone would say its a "secret" except, perhaps, bcz of the bad rap this whole thing is bestowed.
While "shariah", for the most part, is understandable from the texts of quran and sunnah, so it is many times less complicated and less controversial than "tareeqah". So, it is safe to assume that "tareeqah" is not for everyone.
The first condition of trying to learn about "tareeqah" is that you should be following all commands of "shariah". If you are uncomfortable about sharia or not at that level or, in general, have grave doubts about this whole thing, I suggest you should stay away, and if some one insists, should politely suggest that for you shariah is everything.
If you trust this imam's knowledge, you can continue to rely on him for other, more straightforward, islamic issues. That is, ofcourse, if you are not in a position to study yourself and find all the answers.
khi khi khi khi...abay its free masonry not free missionary, free missionary is what the jamatis from raiwand provide and the other type is what sorority girls provide at spring break.
as far as the question on secret knowledge, there is no secret knowledge, there are diff schools of thought and levels of understanding, some schools of thought and practices may not be looked upon with favour in general and thats why they dont publicize it too much.
There are certain groups which operate with secret halqaas (circles), very much like a masnic lodge system..blue lodges to grand lodge level type deal, but lets not get into their inner workings.
This question wasnt on behalf of me, it was for someone I know. The following has happened since the last post with this friend. She made this "pledge" with that "circle" and found out that what these people believe is very similar to what modern day "sufis" nowadays believe. The secret was that this man was sort of like a "pope", and had more knowledge(secret knowledge) than others. Which to my friend, was totally out of line from what she believes. The problem now is that this "circle" thinks she is one of them, and she doesnt know what to do now. She does not believe what they believe, and renounced it to herself and Allah but not to anyone else. Does she tell the people that she doesnt believe as they do? If she doesnt, will they use her as an example of a member of their group?
I am of the mindset that in Islam there are no secrets. There is a hadith that relates that someone suggested that the Prophet(SAW) kept something from the believers. Ayesha(RA) got very upset and stated that he(SAW) kept nothing(of the message of Islam) from the believers. Therefore, I dont feel there need to be any sort of secrets in Islam. I simply believe there are certain levels of piety, and ways of thinking and practising. Sure some ppl are more knowledgable than others, but secrets like the ones stated above, I do not believe in.