The Shaykh mentions some of the delusions that al-Sha'rani attributed to the Sufis in his misguided book titled *Tabaqat al-Awliya* (The Ranks of the Saints).
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The Shaykh : And whoever wishes to see the marvels in this field, let him refer to the book "Tabaqat al-Awliya'" by al-Sha'rani, which has been reprinted time and again. Its number of printings has not reached that of Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, because it is stuffed with misguidance and falsehoods under the title of karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person). For example, there is a man whose biography is recorded, and every man there has a biography that begins with the phrase "And from them is so-and-so ibn so-and-so (may Allah be pleased with him)." Every person whose biography is recorded there is one with whom Allah is pleased.
And among them is so-and-so ibn so-and-so (may Allah be pleased with him), who did such and such and such. So, regarding some of these biographies, it says: "And he used to say: 'I left my saying to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years out of respect for Allah', 'I left my saying to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years out of respect for Allah'."
The man is contradictory and refuted. First, on the surface of this phrase, he reached the rank of lordship, not just divinity, but lordship, where he says to a thing, "Be, and it is."
And the Arabs in the first pre-Islamic age of ignorance did not disbelieve in this attribute. They believed that the One who says to a thing, "Be, and it is," is Allah alone, with no partner. But they associated partners with Him when they worshipped others. As for us, in our books even today, this phrase is listed among the karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person) of that man: that he used to say, "I left my saying to a thing, 'Be, and it is,' for twenty years out of respect for Allah". So you see that when he claimed to say to a thing, "Be, and it is," he was lacking in respect for Allah.
So what is the matter with this wali (close friend of Allah) who sometimes shows respect and sometimes does not? If there were nothing in this statement of explicit disbelief, it would be sufficient that it refutes itself.
Because the wali (close friend of Allah) shows respect to Allah in all years. But he continued to say to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years. He left that for twenty years. Why? Out of respect for Allah. And before that? And after that? He was not showing respect to Allah.
This is what is mentioned among the karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person) of this man. And another man, the author of the book himself, recounts it about himself. He said: "I went to visit a man from the awliya (close friends of Allah) whom I had known. I stood at the door, and I heard a voice from above, from a balcony, like the recitation of the Qur'an. So I listened to it. He said: 'I found that he was reciting a Qur'an other than our Qur'an, and he concluded it by saying: O Allah... the reward of what I recited from Your noble speech to my Shaykh so-and-so and my Shaykh so-and-so and so-and-so, etc.'"
So from this khatmah (complete recitation of the Qur'an) or this phrase, the Shaykh himself confirmed that this Qur'an is not the Qur'an that is in the hands of the Muslims. This, my brothers, is printed and reprinted in Egypt, where the Al-Azhar al-Sharif is, and it has been printed repeatedly and over and over.
And what more shall I tell you? This is a wide, very wide field!
If this had become a thing of the past, I would not have been able to tell you anything about it. We would say his matter is finished, praise be to Allah. But, my brothers, whoever among you knows, knows, and whoever does not, we know that these calamities are still running in the veins of the masses of Muslims today, among the common people and among the Shaykhs.
There was a noble man in Aleppo whom they wanted to appoint as the imam of a mosque. So they sent someone to test him, and the tester asked him: "Do you believe in the karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person) of the awliya (close friends of Allah)?"
And among them is so-and-so ibn so-and-so (may Allah be pleased with him), who did such and such and such. So, regarding some of these biographies, it says: "And he used to say: 'I left my saying to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years out of respect for Allah', 'I left my saying to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years out of respect for Allah'."
The man is contradictory and refuted. First, on the surface of this phrase, he reached the rank of lordship, not just divinity, but lordship, where he says to a thing, "Be, and it is."
And the Arabs in the first pre-Islamic age of ignorance did not disbelieve in this attribute. They believed that the One who says to a thing, "Be, and it is," is Allah alone, with no partner. But they associated partners with Him when they worshipped others. As for us, in our books even today, this phrase is listed among the karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person) of that man: that he used to say, "I left my saying to a thing, 'Be, and it is,' for twenty years out of respect for Allah". So you see that when he claimed to say to a thing, "Be, and it is," he was lacking in respect for Allah.
So what is the matter with this wali (close friend of Allah) who sometimes shows respect and sometimes does not? If there were nothing in this statement of explicit disbelief, it would be sufficient that it refutes itself.
Because the wali (close friend of Allah) shows respect to Allah in all years. But he continued to say to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years. He left that for twenty years. Why? Out of respect for Allah. And before that? And after that? He was not showing respect to Allah.
This is what is mentioned among the karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person) of this man. And another man, the author of the book himself, recounts it about himself. He said: "I went to visit a man from the awliya (close friends of Allah) whom I had known. I stood at the door, and I heard a voice from above, from a balcony, like the recitation of the Qur'an. So I listened to it. He said: 'I found that he was reciting a Qur'an other than our Qur'an, and he concluded it by saying: O Allah... the reward of what I recited from Your noble speech to my Shaykh so-and-so and my Shaykh so-and-so and so-and-so, etc.'"
So from this khatmah (complete recitation of the Qur'an) or this phrase, the Shaykh himself confirmed that this Qur'an is not the Qur'an that is in the hands of the Muslims. This, my brothers, is printed and reprinted in Egypt, where the Al-Azhar al-Sharif is, and it has been printed repeatedly and over and over.
And what more shall I tell you? This is a wide, very wide field!
If this had become a thing of the past, I would not have been able to tell you anything about it. We would say his matter is finished, praise be to Allah. But, my brothers, whoever among you knows, knows, and whoever does not, we know that these calamities are still running in the veins of the masses of Muslims today, among the common people and among the Shaykhs.
There was a noble man in Aleppo whom they wanted to appoint as the imam of a mosque. So they sent someone to test him, and the tester asked him: "Do you believe in the karamat (miracles granted to a righteous person) of the awliya (close friends of Allah)?"