The Ruling on Bay‘ah (A Saying of Ignorant Dervishes)

Question

Question: What are the conditions for taking bay‘ah, and from what kind of person should one take bay‘ah? Some people say that whoever dies without bay‘ah will not receive intercession (shafa‘a), and that the Sacred Law and the Sufi path are two separate, unconnected things; and this too is said by certain ignorant dervishes: “Allah is in the dervish, and the dervish is in Allah”?

Answer

This saying of ignorant dervishes is unbelief (ilhad) and heresy (zandaqa). What does it even mean to say that the Sacred Law and the Sufi path are two separate, unconnected things? Taking bay‘ah requires a spiritual guide; its conditions may be found in “Imdad al-Salikin,” “al-Qawl al-Jamil,” [and] “al-Takashshuf” — they cannot fit in this brief space.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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