The Shaykh’s warning about many falsehoods found in certain books, such as the book *Tabaqat al-Awliya* by al-Sha'rani.
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The Shaykh : And similar to these karamahs, which are more deserving of being called humiliations, the pages of many books related to the biographies of men who claim affiliation with Sufism and righteousness are filled. Whoever wishes to see the marvel of marvels in this field should refer to the book *Tabaqat al-Awliya* by al-Sha'rani, which has been reprinted time and again; its number of printings has not been matched by that of *Sahih al-Bukhari* and *Muslim*, because it is stuffed with misguidance and falsehoods under the title of karamahs. For example, there is a man whose biography is written, and every man there has a biography that begins with the phrase "And among them is so-and-so ibn so-and-so (may Allah be pleased with him)." Every person whose biography is written 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. In the case of some of these biographies, it is said: "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 self-contradictory, first of all, in the apparent meaning of this phrase, for he reached the rank of Lordship, not just Divinity, where he says to a thing, "Be, and it is."
And the Arabs in the early 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, without 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 karamahs 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 who sometimes shows respect and sometimes does not? If there is not in this speech something of explicit disbelief, it is sufficient that it is self-contradictory. Because the wali shows respect for Allah in all years, whereas he continued to say: 'to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years', and he left that for twenty years out of respect for Allah. What about before that? And after that? He was not showing respect for Allah.
This is what is mentioned among the karamahs of this man. Another man recounts it, and the author of the book recounts it about himself, saying: 'A man from the awliya (close friends of Allah) came to visit me, and he had reached him, so he stood at the door. And he heard a voice from above, from a balcony, like the recitation of the Qur'an. So I listened to it, and it was reciting a Qur'an other than our Qur'an. And he concluded 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."
From this khatmah or this phrase, the Shaykh himself was assured 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 Noble al-Azhar is, printed repeatedly and again. And what I am telling you about is a wide and 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 flowing 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. The examiner asked him: "Do you believe in the karamahs of the awliya (close friends of Allah)?" He asked this question because it had reached his ears that this imam, or the candidate for the imamate, was a man as they call it today, Wahhabi, meaning he does not believe in the claimed karamahs. So he wanted to test him. This examiner was quick-witted; he said to him: "Like what?" He said to him: "Like what our Shaykh told us: a preacher ascended the minbar, and while he was delivering the khutbah, he was revealed to one of his students that he was holding in his bowels, meaning he was constipated.
The questioner : Heh
The Shaykh : And he was sitting listening to the Shaykh's sermon, embarrassed that he would have to leave in the presence of all the people and draw their attention. So the Shaykh, the preacher, extended his hand to him like this, and you know the jibb (robes) of the Shaykhs are wide, and he gestured to him like this, saying: "Enter through the Shaykh's sleeve."
The questioner : Heh
The Shaykh : And he found there a garden, and in it a place of relief, meaning he relieved himself, then he returned to his place.
The audience: Heh
The Shaykh : He said to him: "As for this karamah, I swear by Allah I do not believe in it."
The audience: Heh.
The Shaykh : This is a noble man, and my uncle is testing him with this superstition, and with this foolishness.
And among them is so-and-so ibn so-and-so (may Allah be pleased with him), who did such and such and such. In the case of some of these biographies, it is said: "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 self-contradictory, first of all, in the apparent meaning of this phrase, for he reached the rank of Lordship, not just Divinity, where he says to a thing, "Be, and it is."
And the Arabs in the early 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, without 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 karamahs 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 who sometimes shows respect and sometimes does not? If there is not in this speech something of explicit disbelief, it is sufficient that it is self-contradictory. Because the wali shows respect for Allah in all years, whereas he continued to say: 'to a thing, "Be, and it is," for twenty years', and he left that for twenty years out of respect for Allah. What about before that? And after that? He was not showing respect for Allah.
This is what is mentioned among the karamahs of this man. Another man recounts it, and the author of the book recounts it about himself, saying: 'A man from the awliya (close friends of Allah) came to visit me, and he had reached him, so he stood at the door. And he heard a voice from above, from a balcony, like the recitation of the Qur'an. So I listened to it, and it was reciting a Qur'an other than our Qur'an. And he concluded 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."
From this khatmah or this phrase, the Shaykh himself was assured 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 Noble al-Azhar is, printed repeatedly and again. And what I am telling you about is a wide and 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 flowing 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. The examiner asked him: "Do you believe in the karamahs of the awliya (close friends of Allah)?" He asked this question because it had reached his ears that this imam, or the candidate for the imamate, was a man as they call it today, Wahhabi, meaning he does not believe in the claimed karamahs. So he wanted to test him. This examiner was quick-witted; he said to him: "Like what?" He said to him: "Like what our Shaykh told us: a preacher ascended the minbar, and while he was delivering the khutbah, he was revealed to one of his students that he was holding in his bowels, meaning he was constipated.
The questioner : Heh
The Shaykh : And he was sitting listening to the Shaykh's sermon, embarrassed that he would have to leave in the presence of all the people and draw their attention. So the Shaykh, the preacher, extended his hand to him like this, and you know the jibb (robes) of the Shaykhs are wide, and he gestured to him like this, saying: "Enter through the Shaykh's sleeve."
The questioner : Heh
The Shaykh : And he found there a garden, and in it a place of relief, meaning he relieved himself, then he returned to his place.
The audience: Heh
The Shaykh : He said to him: "As for this karamah, I swear by Allah I do not believe in it."
The audience: Heh.
The Shaykh : This is a noble man, and my uncle is testing him with this superstition, and with this foolishness.