THE SUFI CLOAK (AL-KHIRQAT AL-FIYYA) By GF Haddad Shawwl 1424

Translated from Mull Al al-Qrs

al-Asrr al-Marfa fl-Akhbr al-Maw\a

entry Lubs al-khirqat al-|fiyya Wearing the Sufi cloak (khirqa) and the fact that al-asan al-Ba|r wore it after he received it from Al : Ibn al-Dayba and Ibn al-Sal^ said it is a falsehood as did al-Asqaln who added: Nothing can be firmly established as authentic in its narrative routes and there is no narration whether sound, fair, or weak that says the Prophet vested the khirqa on any of the Companions in the conventional way of the Sufis; nor did he command any of his Companions to do that. Every explicit report to that effect is falsehood. Further, it is an ignominious lie to claim that Al [] vested al-asan al-Ba|r with the khirqa. The Imms of ^adth did not deem authentic that al-asan ever even heard anything from Al, let alone that the latter vested him with the khirqa!1 Al-Sakhw said: Our Shaykh was not the only one to say this but was preceded by a number of Scholars [who said the same], even those that wore it and vested others with it such as alDimy~, al-Dhahab,2 [al-Hakkr,] Ab ayyn, al-Al, [Mughul~y,] al-Irq, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, [al-Anbs,] al-Burhn al-alab, [Ibn N|ir al-Dn who mentioned it in a monograph devoted to the khirqa,] and others [of those that passed away among our colleagues.]3 [I clarified all this together with my own chains of transmission to it in a
This is not agreed upon as shown by al-Suy~s assertion that al-asan did hear ^adth from Al in his two treatises It^f al-Firqa bi-Rafwi al-Khirqa (The Gift to the Group in the Mending of the Cloak) printed in al-w lil-Fatw; and the monograph in print Tayd al-aqqat al-Aliyya wa-Tashyd al>arqat al-Shdhiliyya (The Support of the Higher Truth and the Strengthening of the Shdhil Path). The same claim was forwarded by A^mad al-Ghumr in al-Burhn al-Jal f Ta^qq Intisb al-fiyya
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il Al 2 Our Shaykh the ascetic Mu^addith iy al-Dn s ibn Ya^y al-An|r vested me with the Sufi cloak in Cairo saying, Shaykh Shihb al-Dn al-Suhraward vested me with it in Makka from his uncle Ab al-Najb. Siyar Alam al-Nubal (Fikr ed. 16:300-302 5655=Risla ed. 22:377). In his biography of the Sufi ^adth Master of the Salaf Shaykh al-Islm Ab Sad A^mad ibn Mu^ammad ibn Zyd alBa|r, known as Ibn al-Arb (~242-340), al-Dhahab writes: The Scholar devoid of ta|awwuf and devotional practice (taalluh) is empty, just as the Sufi devoid of knowledge of the Sunna has strayed from the right path. 3 The bracketed names and passages were supplied from the original text of the Maq|id. Among those that also wore the Sufi khirqa were [1] Ibn al-al^ who said he wore it with only two intermediary links to Ab al-Qsim al-Qushayr as related by al-Suy~ in Zd al-Masr; [2] Ibn Abd al-Salm who took the khirqa from Shihb al-Dn al-Suhraward according to his biographer the Q\ Izz al-Dn alHakkr ibn Kha~b al-Ashmnn as mentioned by Ibn al-Subk in >abaqt al-Shfiiyya and al-Haytam in his Fahrasa; [3-5] the three Ibn Qudmas: Ab Umar, Muwaffaq al-Dn, and Ibn Ab Umar; [6] Ibn Taymiyya as he himself stated in al-Masalat al-Tabrziyya; [7] Ibn al-Qayyim who said in his poem alNniyya, The Ahl al-adth, all of them, and the Imms of Fatw are Sufis; [8] Ibn Rajab; all six of the preceding according to Ysuf ibn Abd al-Hd in Bad al-Ilqa bi-Labs al-Khirqa and Jaml al-Dn at->alyn in Targhb al-Muta^bbn f Labs Khirqat al-Mutamayyizn; [9] Shams al-Dn al-Jazar who received the A^mad [=Rif], Qdir, and Suhraward paths as he stated in Asn al-Ma~lib bi-Manqib Al ibn Ab >lib; [10] Ysuf ibn Abd al-Hd as he stated in al-Jawhar al-Muna\\ad f >abaqt Mutaakhkhir A|-^bi A^mad, Tahdhb al-Nafs, and Bad al-Ilqa (all seven of them Qdirs); [11-12] the two Shaykh al-Islm al-Taq al-Subk and his son who took the Shdhil khirqa from Ibn A~ Allh and Ab al-Abbs al-Murs; [13] Ibn Daqq al-d the renewer of the seventh Islamic century whose Sufi teacher was Ibn A~ Allh al-Sakandar cf. al-Kawhan, >abaqt al-Shdhiliyya (p. 115-116); [14] Ibn ajar al-Asqaln as he stated in his Mujam cf. al-Ghumr, Burhn (p. 232) and as indicated by alBa~~ann in al-Sirr al-f (1:7) and Ab al-Ma^sin al-Qaraqj (d. 1205) in Shawriq al-Anwr alJaliyya f Asnd al-Sdat al-Shdhiliyya (ms. Damascus 1522 fol. 59b); [15] al-Sakhw in al-aw alLmi (8:238-240, 10:150-152) and the section of al-Jawhir al-Mukallala fil-Akhbr al-Musalsala cf.

monograph4 and in other comments of mine as well as the fact that I myself was vested with it at the hand of several notable Sufis and was greatly honored by this and even stood to attention in the direction of the Kaba] so as to imitate the Sufis and derive blessing from their way of living [as well as follow in the steps of the relied upon h . adth Masters that affirmed its authenticity]. For the fact that they wore it and frequented one another is narrated all the way to Kumayl ibn Ziyd who was by general agreement a companion of Al Allh ennoble his face! Some paths are also connected with Uways al-Qaran who met with Umar and Al #. Similarly, the attribution of the formal oral instruction (talqn) that is practiced among the Sufis is baseless as is the attribution of a specific handshake which they attribute [both] to the Prophet . All this is baseless according to the eminent Ulema.5 Similarly baseless is the attribution of the khirqa to Uways and that the Prophet supposedly left it for him then Umar and Al [# ] took it to him then he passed it on to them and so on and so forth.6 This is unestablished even if some of the Shaykhs mention it. What really matters is the path of companionship (~arq al-|u^ba),7 adherence to the Qurn and Sunna, avoidance of personal lusts, staying near the path of guidance, And the sequel is for righteousness (20:132).

A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester Beatty Ms. Arab. 773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951 p. 35) and al-Zabd in Iqd al-Jawhar al-Thamn (folio 65) and It^f al-A|fiy bi-Raf Salsil al-Awliy (folio 34); [16] al-Suy~ who was a Shdhil, A^mad [=Rif], Suhraward, Qdir, and Uways Sufi as he mentioned in part in Zd al-Masr f Fahras al-aghr ; [17] Burhn al-Dn al-Biq who received the khirqa from his Shaykh, Abd Allh ibn Khall al-Qal al-Dimashq al-Shfi cf. ajj Khalfas Kashf al-<unn (2:1827); [18] Shaykh al-Islm Zakariyy al-An|r who held silsilas in no less than eight Sufi paths cf. al-Btjs al-Sim~ al-Majd lil->lib al-Mujd and elsewhere; [19] al-Shawkn who received the Naqshband path as he stated In his biographical compendium al-Badr al->ali biMa^sin man Bad al-Qarn al-Sbi (1998 Fikr ed. p. 412) in the entry for al-Sayyid Abd al-Wahhb ibn Mu^ammad Shkir ibn Abd al-Wahhb al-Maw|il; [20] The ^adth Master Murta\ al-Zabd who received several Sufi paths including the Naqshband, Alaw-addd, and Qdir paths as he stated in al-Fawid al-Jalla bi-Talq Musalsalt Aqla; [21] iddq asan Khn al-Qinnawj who gave baya to Shaykh Fa\l al-Ra^mn al-Murdbd, was never seen without dhikr-beads in his hand after that, and whose last work was a translation of Shaykh Abd al-Qdir al-Glns Fut^ al-Ghayb cf. Nuzhat alKhaw~ir (8:187-195). 4 Al-Sakhws al-Jawhir al-Mukallala (cf. Arberrys Sakhawiana) in which he mentions several of his Sufi teachers and students and again in al-aw al-Lmi cf. http://sunnah.org/history/Scholars/AlSakhawis_Sufi_Teachers.htm. 5 Al-Qr means in their specific form, otherwise, the claim of baselessness for the khirqa, talqn, and mu|fa^a is incorrect on all three counts as shown by the following proofs: [1a] The Prophet received a black kham|a a silk or woolen wrap bearing markings and said, Who do you think we should vest this kham|a with? No-one spoke. Then he said, Bring me Umm Khlid [bint Khlid ibn Sad ibn al| al-Umawiyya] she had just returned from Abyssinia and he vested it upon her saying: Wear it out in good health (abl wa-akhliq)! Then he looked at yellow or red markings on the wrap and said: Sanah, Umm Khlid, sanah! which means nice in Abyssinian. Al-Suhraward adduced this ^adth as the main proof for the khirqa cf. Kashf al-Khaf (2:161-162 2035). [1b] The Prophet vested Kab ibn Zuhayr with his own mantle (burda) after the latter recited his famous poem Bnat Sud as narrated in the Sra. The Q\ al-Qu\t of Makka Jaml al-Dn Ibn <ahra al-Qurash adduced it cf. al-Ghumr, Burhn (p. 239-240). [1c] The Prophet dressed several Companions with the turban as cited by alMaqarr in Azhr al-Kimma f Akhbr al-Imma, al-Kattn in al-Dima f A^km Sunnat al-Imma, and others. [1d] The famous ^adth of Ahl al-Bayt in which the Prophet covers with his cloak Al, F~ima, and their two children. [2] Shaddd ibn Aws and Ubda ibn al-Smi~ narrated: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allh and he asked if there was any stranger the narrator said: i.e. People of the Book in the gathering. We said there was none. He said: Shut the door, raise up your hands and say: There is no god but Allh. We raised our hands and recited the kalima ~ayyiba for some time. He then exclaimed: Al-^amdu lillh! O Allh! You have sent me with this Word and have ordered me to teach it and have promised me Paradise for it, and You do not take back Your promise. Be glad, for Allh has forgiven you! Narrated by A^mad, al-Nas, al->abarn, al-kim, al-Mundhir in alTarghb, and others. Al-Haytham the narrators in its chain are trustworthy. [3] The translator narrates through direct audition the ^adth and actual act of the handshake with a continuous chain to the Prophet from three of our Shaykhs: Sayyid Mu^ammad Alaw, Sayyid Mu^ammad al-Yaqb, and Sayyid Mu~ al-fi. See also al-Fdns al-Ujlatu fl A^dth al-Musalsala (p. 11-12). As for the path of kashf the proofs are innumerable cf. al-Sharn, al-Anwr al-Qudsiyya, al-Ghumr said in al-Burhn al-Jal (p. 114-145), etc. 6 Even if it is a forgery as per Ibn Arrq in Tanzh al-Shara, the fact that they were companions is unquestionable according to al-Qas~alln in the Mawhib. 7 As in the words of Shaykh Abd al-Qdir al-Gln and Shh Naqshband, respectively: The Divine path of guidance is through Shaykh and student until the Day of Resurrection and Our path is companionship and all goodness lies in the congregation. As al-Ghumr said in al-Burhn al-Jal (p. 114): The Sufis do not know the khirqa but only know companionship and following.