Tarīqah and Haqīqah are Subserviant to the Sharī`ah :Imām Rabbāni.k.s

Tarīqah and Haqīqah are Subserviant to the Sharī`ah-1 _Imām al-Rabbāni Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī.-2 k.s
Translated by Shaykh Naeem Abdul-Wali © Gary Edwards 2007_Released by www.marifah.net 1428 H

May Allāh the Exalted allow us and you to realize the essence and reality of the Mustafawiyya Sacred Law, upon its master be peace, blessings and greetings. May Allāh have mercy on the one who says, ‘Amīn’ to this invocation (du’ā). Know, that the Sacred Law (Sharī`ah) consists of three parts: knowledge (`ilm), action  (`amal) and sincerity in intention (ikhlās) and that when these three are not realized then the Sacred Law is not realized. However when the Sacred Law is realized then the Contentment (ridā) of Allāh is realized, it being above all bliss whether earthly or  heavenly, for the Good Pleasure of Allāh is the greatest good. The Sacred Law is a guarantor for all earthly and heavenly bliss, there being no need to search for them any where other than the Sacred Law. The Spiritual journeying (Tarīqah) and realization (Haqīqah), which the Sufis speak of, are  the two servants of the Sacred Law. They are a means to allow the third part, ikhlās, to be perfected. The only reason to seek to attain these two is simply to perfect the Sacred  Law, nothing else being required beyond the Sacred Law. The states, ecstatic  experiences, knowledge and gnosis the Sufi acquires during the course of his spiritual  journeying are not in themselves goals. They are instead illusions and fantasies by which the children of spiritual journeying are nurtured . It is necessary for one to pass through all these and arrive to the degree of contentment  (maqām al-ridā), which is the final arrival point of the degrees of spiritual journeying and  attraction. The purpose of traversing the various stages of Tarīqah and Haqīqah is none  other than attainment of true ikhlās which is necessary (if one is to) achieve the degree of  contentment. Only one out of a thousand spiritual wayfarers ever attains to this type of  ikhlās and degree of contentment after traversing the three theophanic stages (tajalliyāt  thālitha) and spiritual vision of the Gnostics (mushhadāt al-ārifīn).  The unfortunate ones are those who count states and ecstatic experiences as being  among the goals of spiritual journeying, thinking that spiritual vision and theophanies are from among the sought. There is no doubt that such people are in a prison of illusion and fantasy, being bared from the perfections of the Sacred Law because of  this prison.Indeed difficult on the disbelievers is that which you call them to, Allāh lets stray whom He will and guides to Him those who are submissive. Yes it is true that attaining to the degree of true ikhlās and arrival to the level of contentment are [both] conditioned by passing through these states and ecstatic  experiences, and conditioned upon actualizing these [various types of] knowledge and gnosis, for these are all simply the gear required to attain to the Desired and stepping  stones to the Goal. The reality of this was only given to this needy one 3  after he had busied himself with the Tarīqah for a period of ten years, this itself simply by the blessing  of the beloved of Allāh Most High, upon him and his family be peace and blessings. Eventually the attestation of the Sacred Law became brilliantly manifest as was needed though I myself did not have any attachments to states and ecstatic experiences nor was there anything other than the realization of the reality of the Sacred Law before me,  nevertheless it took a total of ten years to have this clear understanding. Praise be to  Allāh the Exalted for this. 

1 Volume 1, Letter thirty-six; Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindī’s Maktubāt: Addressed to al-Hājj
Muhammad Lahorī explaining that the Sharī`ah is sufficient for attaining both earthly and
heavenly bliss and that Haqīqah and Tarīqah are the two servants of the Sharī`ah.
2 A master of the Naqshbandī Tarīqah, the Reviver of the Second Millennium, Sayyidinā and
Mawlānā Imām al-Rabbānī Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī. [d. 1034H]
3 Imam Rabbānī referring to himself
http://www.marifah.net/articles/tariqah-ahmadsirhindi.pdf

Placing the end of the path at its beginning

Placing the end of the path at its beginning:
Question: What does the meaning of the statement, “In the Silsila-i ‘Aliyya[NAQSHBANDI ], the end of the path has been placed at its beginning”?
ANSWER: Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî Ahmad-i-Faruqi Sirhindi (1564–1624) 'quddisa sirruh',declared: This path is the very path of the Ashâb-i Kirâm[RADIYALLAHU ANHUM] because those superiors, only on the first day of the suhba of our master Rasûlullah[SALLALLAHU ALAIHI WASALLAM], attained to such things that the greatest Walî who would come at later times attained at the end only to a piece from those things. For this very reason, when Hadrat Wahshî, even though he previously martyred Hadrat Hamza, converted to Islam, as he was honored with the suhba of the Messenger of Allah once, he became superior to Waysal Qarânî, the highest of the Tâbi’în. Waysal Qarânî, despite having such a superior position, could not obtain, even at the last station, what fell to the lot of Hadrat Wahshî at the beginning of thesuhba of Allah’s Messenger. This means to say that the best of times and centuries is the century of the Ashâb-i Kirâm. The path of our superiors is the Golden Chain. The superiority of this path over the other paths is like the superiority of the time of Ashâb-i Kirâm over the times to succeed. The superiors of this path is such people that Allahu ta’âlâ, out of His excellence and mercy, had them taste the end at the very beginning. Others cannot comprehend their degrees. The stations they have reached are considerably higher than the stations others have reached. (MAKTUBAT-i Imam Rabbani Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi-Vol, I, Letter 66)
_Adapted from:http://www.myreligionislam.com/detail.asp?Aid=5730