What Is Ṭarīqah in Reality?

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

‘وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا’

(Qur’ān 03:103)

‘Wa-‘taṣimū biḥabli Llāhi jamī‘an wa lā tafarraqū’

‘And hold firmly to the rope of Allāh all together and do not become divided.’ Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, “Hold fast to the rope of Allāh ﷻ and do not be divided among yourselves.” That rope will save you. The rope of Allāh ﷻ will save you. Hold fast to the rope of Allāh ﷻ. What is the way of Allāh ﷻ? It is the way shown by our ‎Prophet ﷺ. That way is called the ṭarīqah; ṭarīqah means way. The way of Allāh ﷻ is held more firmly through ṭarīqah. Do not be enemies to one another on that way. When everyone walks the same way, that way leads to Allāh ﷻ. There is no division.

Why does division occur? It can be from the fitnah of shayṭān. Such fitnah can be done by saying, “You are not right, I am right.” However, people who are on the way of Allāh ﷻ, and when others are also on the same way, should look at their own condition, reform their egos; they should not look at the faults and shortcomings of others. Mankind is sinful. No one is without sin; only the prophets. Everyone else has sins.

Sayyidinā Abu Bakr has a beautiful qasīdah, saying, “أَنْتَ يَا صِدِّيق عَاصِي تُبْ إلَى الْمَوْلَى الْجَلِيل”, “Anta ya Siddīqu ‘asī, tub ila l-Mawla l-Jalīl,” Sayyidinā Abu Bakr says, “O Siddīq, you are disobedient and sinful, repent to Allāh ﷻ. Repent to Allāh, the Great and Glorious.” As we just said, humankind is created as sinners. Everyone is a sinner except the prophets. Those who had the most īmān after our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam were the Companions. And among the Companions, the most superior was Sayyidinā Abu Bakr.

His name is also mentioned in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n. He is mentioned as our ‎Prophet’s ﷺ companion, and his ﷺ friend in the cave. He has a qasīdah. In the qasīdah, he addresses himself, saying, “أَنْتَ يَا صِدِّيق عَاصِي تُبْ إلَى الْمَوْلَى الْجَلِيل”, “Anta ya Siddīqu ‘asī, tub ila l-Mawla l-Jalīl,” That is, “O Siddīq, you are a disobedient person, repent to Allāh, the Glorious.” He was saying, “Repent to Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla,” even though Sayyidinā Abu Bakr was a person who avoided sin. He had no sin.

He is one of the ten companions who were promised Paradise, Ashara l-Mubashshara. He was also one of the Companions who participated in the Battle of Badr. All their sins have been forgiven. All their past, present, and future sins have been forgiven. And he was among them. He was not a sinful person, yet he still sought forgiveness from Allāh ﷻ. We should not look at the mistakes of others; we should look at our own shortcomings and mistakes and seek forgiveness from Allāh ﷻ.

What is the benefit of this? There is no evil in a believer; evil does not remain within believers. Our religion, Islām; its the religion of everyone anyways. The way shown by our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is taught perfectly through adab, which is through ṭarīqah. We should pay attention to our own state; the states of others concern them. To prevent darkness from settling in our hearts, we must be well-intentioned towards everyone.

Of course, those on other ways do not want this. They say, “This one did this, that one did that.” You see, they insult the Companions from childhood, leaving no insult unsaid. When they are raised like this from childhood, naturally their hearts become pitch black. This is the state of some people who are not on the right way. They are taught: “You must curse them; if you don’t curse them, you are also an infidel, you are like them. Cursing them is everyone’s duty.” Just as they themselves do not remain in peace, they do not leave others in peace either. In this way, they try to darken the hearts of others as well.

Awliyā’, especially our Shaykh Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim, hardly ever liked to use the word “curse”; they were very sensitive about such matters. Even about shayṭān, they would say, “عليه ما يستحق”, “alayhi ma yastahiq”, “May what he deserves be upon him.” To avoid even uttering the word “curse,” they would say even about shayṭān, “May what he deserves be upon him,” which means, “May curse be upon him.”

They say, “They did this, they did that,” and they insist, “We must curse them.” People fall for this, and instead of reciting tasbih, repenting, seeking forgiveness, reciting salawāt or doing any good thing, they utter those vile words. Cursing is never recorded in the book of good deeds. They constantly strive to make people utter these curses, forcing everyone to do so.

They’re not even written one reward; it’s either a sin or nothing at all. So, saying these bad words is not a good thing. One should always speak good words; even if the other person is bad, that is between them and Allāh ﷻ. Therefore, to keep the heart pure, one must always do good things, speak kind words, and be with good people.

What is ṭarīqah? Ṭarīqah is the heart of sharī’ah; it is the heart of Islām. Nowadays, people think of ṭarīqah as something else; they say a “Ṭarīqah follower” and run away. However, ṭarīqah is the essence of Islām. Ṭarīqah is not another religion; it is not something different from sharī’ah. It doesn’t order anything different. We only do what our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam did. Our ‎Prophet’s ﷺ way is the way of mercy, the way of beauty; the way of all kinds of goodness.

Apart from ṭarīqah, there are those who call themselves “Jamā’ah, community”. These groups have nothing to do with ṭarīqah. A person gets nowhere with such groups. They emerged later. Their lineage does not reach back to our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, their chain [of transmission] is cut/broken; they have no way.

Ṭarīqah doesn’t make you carry stones on your back; you simply connect with your heart, that’s all. You can perform the daily duties as you wish or not. Once you have entered ṭarīqah, you have become connected. Connection means that you are connected to your Murshid, and he is connected to the previous Murshid, and this chain reaches all the way to our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. In this way, the way of our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam reaches you without interruption of this connection.

The duties given in ṭarīqah are nāfilah. The fard, obligatory ones are already known. The five daily prayers are obligatory; everything else is Sunnah and nāfilah. If you perform your duties, you will earn more reward. If you don’t, there is no sin. Some people hesitate to join ṭarīqah, thinking they will suffer hardship and be unable to fulfill the given duties. The pillars of Islām are five. The shahādah, prayer, fasting, zakāt and ḥajj are fard, obligatory. The rest are either wājib or Sunnah. There’s Sunnah Mu’akkadah or regular Sunnah, and nāfilah.

This is our way; let no one think otherwise. There are no secrets or hidden things in the ṭarīqah. Everything is clear and open. Sometimes they say, “There are spies, agents among you.” Let them come, they are very welcome. We have nothing to hide from anyone. There is no need for agents, everything about us is already out in the open. We have no business with politics or politicians. Our only business is with Allāh ﷻ.

May Allāh ﷻ be pleased with us; that is enough for us. May Allāh ﷻ be pleased with all of you. Wa min Allāh at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

•⁠ ⁠Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

25 April 2026/ 8 Dhul Qa’dah 1447

Mawlānā Mosque – Neuenrade, Germany

---