The Shaykh's context: The story of one of the Sufi path sheikhs who ordered one of his followers to kill his father, and the extent to which the common people are affected by such stories.

The Shaykh : I am telling you a lesson, a story containing a lesson for whoever takes heed. One of the sheikhs there in Damascus, in a mosque in one of the most famous markets in Damascus, called "Al-Hamidiyyah Market," and in a mosque whose name has slipped my mind! It is in the middle of Al-Hamidiyyah Market; perhaps it will come to me later. He decided in the lesson to tell the following story: that one of the sheikhs—the sheikhs of the path—said one day to one of his followers: "Go and bring me your father's head." So he did it and came toThe Shaykh : him, happy and delighted, because he had carried out the orderThe Shaykh : ofThe Shaykh : Except that he smiled in the face of his disciple, laughing. He said to him: Do you think that you actually killed your father?! He said: In that case, I am ordering you to kill your father. I only ordered you to kill that man because he was your mother's companion, but your father is absent and traveling. He told this story, and the people sitting there were as if they were under a spell! No one spoke a word. How is it possible, O Shaykh, how can it be said?!The Shaykh : do but smile in the face of his follower, laughing. He said to him: "Do you think that you actually killed your father?!" He said: "Then, I ordered you to kill your father, but I only ordered you to kill that man because he is your mother's companion, whereas your father is absent and traveling." He told this story, and the people sitting there were as if they were bewitched! No one spoke a word. How is it possible, O Shaykh, how can it be said?!
He says to the follower: "Go and kill your father," and he carries out the order, even though in reality he did not kill his father. No one speaks a word!The Shaykh : The point is, he told this story and then built upon it a legal ruling, saying: "From this it is taken thatThe Shaykh : if his follower is ordered to do something that contradicts the Shari'ah in appearance, he must obey him. Why? BecauseThe Shaykh : sees what the follower does not see. Have you not seen in the story how he ordered the follower to kill a father?! But it became clear later that this was the mother's companion. And on that basis, if one of you sees a cross hanging around the neck ofThe Shaykh : ; it is not permissible to rebuke him for it; because
And the lesson ended, and we were at that time praying the tarawih in a mosque according to the Sunnah, and we would gather in a shop of mine where I repair watches, and we would gather there after every prayer of every night of Ramadan. A young man from among our brothers came to me and told me this story; he had been present at the lesson, and for a wisdom that Allah willed, the person passed by the shop, and he was a relative of my friend, so he ran after him and called out to him. He said to him: O Abu Yusuf, come. He entered and raised with him the topic of the storyThe Shaykh : And the lesson ended, and we were at that time praying Tarawih in a mosque according to the Sunnah, and we would gather in a shop where I repair watches, and we would gather there after every prayer of every night of Ramadan. A young man from among our brothers came to me and told me this story; he had been present at the lesson. And for a wisdom that Allah willed, the person passed in front of the shop, and he was a close friend of my companion, so he ran after him and called out to him. He said to him: "O Abu Yusuf, come." He entered and raised with him the topic of the story ofThe Shaykh : with the follower. "What is your opinion, O Abu Yusuf, about today's lesson? Poor things!!" He said: "Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, manifestations! From that Syrian talk there." So he began to discuss with him how
orders his student to slaughter his father. "You deny the miracles of the awliya (close friends of Allah), consider this a karamah (a miracle granted to a righteous person)."
Finally: I entered into the matter with him, and the story is long. If the wall—if you direct a verse or hadith to it—understands from you; then he understands nothing from us.
Finally: I said to myself: Strike with this man who does not feel or sense the word of Allah or the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, strike the sensitive string as they say. I said to him—here is the point of the story—I said to him: "O Abu Yusuf, now let us be frank with each other; if your Shaykh ordered you to slaughter your father; would you do it? What does a person with a grain of intellect or faith imagine other than saying: I seek refuge in Allah. No, he did not say that. He said: 'I have not yet reached that rank!!'"The Shaykh : Look at what they have done to these people, meaning they have truly corrupted their minds, they have affected their minds, they no longer distinguish between the forbidden and the lawful, and what is permissible and what is not permissible. Rather, they have reached this rank, where he admits that he hopes to reach a rank where if
So look now at how the failure to be sincere to Muhammad as the Messenger of Allah in following him alone, with no partner in following him, led people to shirk and misguidance; because they associated others with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in following him. Therefore, it is not permissible for one who believes in Allah and the Last Day to take a single Shaykh in this world, however high and exalted he may be, however much he may be considered in his opinion a scholar and a righteous person, and so on. Rather, he should be like the bee that circles all the trees and flowers and takes from them what it produces from its belly, that honey which is attested to be a healing for people. Thus, the Muslim should take from every scholar what he has of knowledge, just as the scholars of the Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) did; for they have written biographies for many scholars stating that they had hundreds of Shaykhs. Abu Hanifah, for example (may Allah have mercy on him), they mentioned in his biography that he had a thousand Shaykhs. And it does not concern me whether this report is authentic by chain and narration, but this is what is found.