[IrfanibnIsmail]

salam,

If you have material regarding the biography, creed, methodology, teachings and sayings of this shaykh, you can post them up here.

His saying on mutashabih verses

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…As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow the allegorical part, desiring sedition…That is, disbelief; …and desiring its interpretation, refers to its interpretation according to the desire of their lower selves. …But no one knows its interpretation except God.Ibn ʿAbbās y said:God sent down the Qurʾān according to four ways of reading (aḥruf): the lawful (ḥalāl) and the unlawful (ḥarām), ignorance of which nobody is excused; the interpretation (tafsīr) according to which the Arabs have interpreted it; the interpretation according to which scholars (ʿulamāʾ) have interpreted it; and the ambiguous (mutashābih), which none but God, Exalted is He, knows, and whoever claims knowledge of it other than God, Mighty and Majestic is He, is lying. His words:

…And those who are firmly rooted in knowledge (rāsikhūna fī’l-ʿilm)…[Sahl] said:It was reported from ʿAlī that he stated, ‘[Those rooted in knowledge] are the ones whom knowledge has protected from plunging [into the interpretation of the Qurʾān] according to some whim (hawā) or with set arguments (ḥujaj maḍrūba) without [awareness of] the unseen [mysteries] (ghuyū.’ [This is] due to God’s guidance of them, and His disclosing to them His unseen secrets from within the treasure chests of knowledge. Thus they said, We believe in the Book; all of it is from our Lord [3:7]. So God, Exalted is He, acknowledged them [in this verse], and made them among the people of profound and far-reaching knowledge, as an increase granted to them from Him. Just as God has said, Exalted is He, But say: ‘O my Lord! Advance me in knowledge [20:114]’.Sahl also said:God, Blessed and Exalted is He, showed those who are firmly rooted in knowledge to be exceptionalbecause of their saying all of it is from our Lord [3:7], by which they mean, the abrogating and the abrogated, the clear and the ambiguous. They are the ones who reveal three [ways of] knowing (ʿulūm), since those who know (ʿulamāʾ) may be [designated in] three [ways], namely: those [whose knowledge derives from] the divine lordliness (rabbāniyyūn), those [whose knowledge derives from] the divine light (nurāniyyūn); and those [whose knowledge derives from] the divine essence’ (dhātiyyūn). [Those firmly rooted in knowledge reveal] in addition four [other kinds] of knowledge: revelation (waḥy), theophany (tajallī), knowledge directly bestowed by God (ʿindī) and knowledge from the divine presence (ladunnī), just as God has said, to whom We had given mercy from Us and We had taught him knowledge from Us [18:65], [and when He said], Yet none remembers but the people of inner substance [2:269], that is, none reflects save the people of understanding (fahm) and intellect (ʿuqūl), who say:

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On Alif Lam Meem:

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Alif Lām MīmSahl said:Alif Lām Mīm is a name of God, Mighty and Majestic is He, and within it are meanings and attributes that people of understanding (fahm) know, not to mention the many meanings that it holds for the people of outward [knowledge]. If these letters are read separately, Alif stands for God’s assembling [things in their creation] (taʾlīf), Mighty and Majestic is He, for He brought together all things as He willed. The Lām stands for His pre-eternal grace (luṭfuhu al-qadīm) and the Mīm stands for His great glory (majduhu al-ʿaẓīm).Sahl said:Each book that God, Exalted is He, sent down contains a secret, and the secret of the Qurʾān is contained within the letters which open the sūras, because they are names and attributes, such as when He says Alif Lām Mīm [2:1; 3:1; 29:1 and 31:1], Ṣād [38:1], Alif Lām Rā [10:1; 11:1; 13:1; 14:1 and 15:1], Kāf Ḥā Yā ʿAyn Ṣād [19:1], Tā Sīn Mīm [26:1 and 28:1], Ḥā Mīm [41:1], ʿAyn Sīn Qāf. When these letters are brought together they make up the Greatest Name of God — that is, if a letter is taken from each [group] of the opening letters of the sūras, one after the other in the order that the sūras were revealed, that is, Alif Lām Rā, Ḥā Mīm, and Nūn, they form the divine name al-Raḥmān.’ Ibn ʿAbbās and Ḍaḥḥāk, on the other hand, said that Alif Lām Mīm means ‘I am God and I know’; while ʿAlī said that these are names [in the form of] ‘disconnected’ [letters], but if a letter is taken from each of the opening groups of letters, on the condition that it is not the same as the letter adjacent to it, and then they are assembled, they form one of the names of the Merciful. If this name is known and used in supplication, it will be the mightiest name by which the prayer of the supplicant who uses it will be answered.Sahl said:In the words Alif Lām Mīm,! That Book [2:1–2], Alif stands for God (Allāh), Lām stands for the servant (ʿabd), and Mīm stands for Muḥammad .

So, [through these letters] the servant may gain access to his Master from the position of affirming His oneness (tawḥīd) and by followingthe example of His Prophet. Sahl further said:I received [a tradition] on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās according to which he said: ‘God, Exalted is He, has sworn that this Book which was revealed to Muḥammad is the book from God’s presence, Exalted is He. So He said: Alif Lām Mīm, That Book... [In these words], Alif stands for God (Allāh), Lām stands for Gabriel and Mīm stands for Muḥammad , thus God, Exalted is He, has taken an oath by Himself, by the angel Gabriel and by Muḥammad .’He also said:God, Exalted is He, extracted from His Greatest Name [Allāh] the letters Alif, Lām and Hāʾ and said: Indeed I am God, the Lord of the Worlds [28:30], and for [His creatures’] sake He derived a name from among His names and made it the name of His Prophet , and He derived from the end of the name of His Prophet the name of His prophet Adam . Thus He says: That is because God is the Patron [or Friend] of those who believe, and those who disbelieve have no patron [47:11] — except the Devil, that is, Satan.

http://altafsir.com/...=1&LanguageId=2

On Istiwa, Shaykh G F Haddad notes:

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Al-Tustari addressed the issue of Allah's establishment (istiwâ') over the Throne in the manner of Imam al-Ash`ari, by declaring it a divine act that is neither qualified nor enquired about: "Reason alone cannot point to One Who is without beginning and without end above a Throne that is brought into being. Allah erected the Throne as a sign and as tidings for us so that by it the hearts should be guided to Him without trespassing. He did not require the hearts to obtain knowledge of its exact nature. Therefore, His establishment over it is unqualified (lâ kayfa lahu) and it is impermissible to ask: 'How does istiwâ' apply to the Creator of istiwâ'?' The believer must only accept and submit, due to the Prophet's saying: 'He is over His Throne' (2) (innahu `alâ `arshihi)."

http://www.abc.se/~m9783/tust_e.html

On yad of Allah in Q48:10:

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…the Hand of God is above their hands…He said:That is, the power (ḥawl) of God and His strength (quwwa) is above their strength (quwwa) and their action (ḥaraka). This is in their saying to the Messenger at the time of the pledge (bayʿa), ‘We have pledged to you that we will not flee, and we will fight for you.’ There is another possible meaning of the Hand of God is above their hands, which is, the grace (minna) of God is above them in their being guided to take the pledge, and His reward (thawā for them is above their pledge and their obedience for you.His words:

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On the ghayb knowledge he carried

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Abū Bakr relates that it was said to Sahl: ‘Truly God has granted you wisdom (ḥikma)’, to which he replied:Indeed, God willing, I have been granted wisdom (ḥikma) and [a knowledge of] the unseen (ghayb) which I was taught from the unseen of His secret (min ghayb sirrihi), and thus He sufficed me from the need for all other knowledge — and that the ultimate end is toward your Lord [53:42], and He completed what He had begun with me out of His grace and beneficence.

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On creation of the world for sake of Prophet Muhammed(pbuh):

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Sahl said:It was transmitted to me that God, Exalted is He, revealed to David the words: ‘Make sure that I do not pass you by, for in that case you would forgo everything. Verily I created Muḥammad for My sake, and I created Adam for his sake. I created My believing servantsfor My worship, and I created all other things for [the service of] the son of Adam. So if he preoccupies himself with that which I have created for his service, I will veil him from that [for] which I created [him] for My sake.’

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On ayat an nur:

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God is the light of the heavens and the earth…That is, the One who has adorned the heavens and earth with lights. The likeness of his light means the likeness of the light of Muḥammad . Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said, ‘He intended by this the heart of the believer and the luminescence (ḍiyāʾ) of professing the divine oneness (tawḥīd), for the hearts of the prophets  are far too brilliant in their light to be described in terms of the likeness of these lights. He said, ‘The similitude of the light of the Qurʾān is a lamp (miṣbāḥ), a lamp whose candle (sirāj) is gnosis (maʿrifa), whose wick (fatīl) is the religious obligations (farāʾiḍ), whose oil (duhn) is sincerity (ikhlāṣ) and whose light (nūr) is the light of [spiritual] attainment (ittiṣāl). Whenever the sincerity increases in purity, the lamp increases in brightness(ḍiyāʾ); and whenever the religious obligations increase in [inner] realisation (ḥaqīqa), the lamp increases in light (nūr)

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On Ahl ad-Dhikr

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For Muslim men and women…He said:Faith (īmān) is superior to surrender (islām), but mindfulness of God (taqwā) within faith is superior to faith. Certainty (yaqīn) within mindfulness of God is superior to mindfulness of God, but veracity (ṣidq) within certainty is superior to certainty. Truly, you have taken a firm hold on the lowest (adnā) [of these], so you must not by any means let that escape from you.He also said:Faith in God is established (thābit) in the heart, and certainty is firmly rooted (rāsikh) [in it] through veracity (ṣidq). Veracity of the eye is refraining from looking at all that is forbidden. Veracity of the tongue is relinquishing engagement in that which is meaningless. Veracity of the hand is not extending it to seize what is forbidden. Veracity of the feet is refraining fromwalking in quest of indecent acts. The truth of veracity (ḥaqīqat al-ṣidq) in ⸢the heart⸣ is that it constantly reflects on the past and refrains from regarding what is to come. Verily, God, Exalted is He, has granted the veracious (ṣiddīqūn) so much knowledge that if they spoke of it, the ocean would dry up with their speech. They are hidden and do not appear in public before people, except when it is [absolutely] necessary for them, and until a virtuous [servant] (ṣāliḥ) appears, at which point they make themselves known, and teach the learned (ʿulamāʾ) from their different branches of knowledge.His words, Exalted is He:

…and the men who remember God often and the women who remember God often…The one who observes true remembrance (al-dhākir ʿalā’l-ḥaqīqa) is he who is aware that God witnesses him. He perceives Him with his heart as being close to him, and therefore feels shame before Him. Then he gives Him priority over himself and over everything else in every situation.On another occasion Sahl was asked, ‘What is remembrance (dhikr)?’ He said, ‘Obedience (ṭāʿa).’ Then someone asked, ‘What is obedience?’ He replied, ‘Sincerity (ikhlāṣ).’ Then he was asked, ‘What is sincerity?’ and he answered, ‘Witnessing (mushāhada).’ Someone then asked, ‘What is witnessing?’He replied, ‘Servanthood (ʿubūdiyya).’ Then they asked: ‘What is servanthood?’ He answered, ‘Contentment (riḍā).’ Then they asked, ‘What is contentment?’ He replied, ‘Neediness (iftiqār).’ He was asked: ‘What is neediness?’ and he said, ‘It is humble entreaty (taḍarruʿ) and seeking refuge [in Him] (iltijāʾ). Submit! Submit, until death!’Ibn Sālim said:Remembrance is of three kinds: remembrance of the tongue, and that is a good deed (ḥasana) which is rewarded tenfold; remembrance of the heart, and that is a good deed which is rewarded seven-hundred fold; and a form of remembrance whose reward is beyond being weighed, and that is being filled with love [of God] (maḥabba).

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On people of true rememberance and people of innovation

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…Truly, it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find peace.[In] remembrance (dhikr) with knowledge (ʿilm) there is tranquil repose (sukūn), and [in] remembrance with intellect (ʿaql) there is profound peace (ṭumaʾnīna). He [Sahl] was asked, ‘And how is that?’ He replied:If a servant is maintaining [true] obedience to God, he will be in a state of remembrance (dhākir), but when something occurs to his mind, he will be in a state of severance (qāṭiʿ) [from God]. If he is involved in an act [motivated by] his lower self, and something comes to his heart which guides him to remembrance and obedience, this is the role played by the intellect (mawḍiʿ al-ʿaql).Then he said:Anyone who claims to practise remembrance falls into one of two types. There are those whom the fear of God, Mighty and Majestic is He, never leaves, but who also experience love (ḥubb) and fervour (nashāṭ) in their hearts. They are truly people of remembrance and they live for God, the Hereafter, knowledge and the Sunna. Then there are those who claim to be in a state of fervour, joy and happiness in every situation. They are living for the enemy, this world, ignorance, and innovation and they are the worst of people.

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

On heedlessness

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…And do not obey him whose heart We have made oblivious to Our remembrance…He said:Heedlessness (ghafla) is wasting time with futile things (biṭāla). And he further said:The heart has a thousand deaths, of which the ultimate is being cut off (qaṭīʿa) from God, Mighty and Majestic is He; and the heart has a thousand lives, of which the ultimate is the encounter (liqāʾ) with God, Mighty and Majestic is He. Furthermore, with each sinful act the heart undergoes a death, and with each act of obedience it receives [new] life.

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

Download full tafsir in english:
http://www.altafsir.com/Al-Tustari.asp

This post has been edited by IrfanibnIsmail: 07 November 2011 - 04:57 PM

[IrfanibnIsmail]

There is so much baraka in his sayings. I didn't pay attention to this tafsir before. Its also surprising to see that Sahl al Tustari, as stated in the introduction to the English translation of the tafsir, is one of the earliest to explain on Prophets(pbuh) light being the first creation. I wonder whether salafis would label him a barelwi and batini deviant in aqeeda. I have seen salafis quote his sayings and ascribe titles as Imam of zuhd and so forth.

[IrfanibnIsmail]

On Abdal aand Awtad:

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{Assuredly God’s friends, no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve.}

Sahl said:They are those whom the Messenger of God  described, saying, ‘When they are seen, God is remembered.’ They are those who strive in God’s cause, who outstrip others in their [journeying]towards Him, and whose actions are constantly in conformity (muwāfaqa). Those are the true believers [8:4].And he [Sahl] said:All goodness comes together in four things, and through these they [believers] become ‘Substitutes’(abdāl): an empty stomach, seclusion from people, the night vigil, and observing silence.He was asked why the Substitutes (abdāl) are called Substitutes. He answered:It is because they substitute their spiritual states (aḥwāl) [one for another]. They have submitted their bodies to the vigour (ḥīl) in their innermost secrets (asrār). Then they move from state (ḥāl) to state, and from knowledge (ʿilm) to knowledge, so that they are constantly increasing in the knowledge of that which is between them and their Lord.He was asked, ‘Who are more excellent, the Mainstays (awtād) or the Substitutes (abdāl)?’ He answered, ‘The mainstays’. Then he was asked, ‘And how is that?’ He replied:It is because the Mainstays have already arrived and their principles (arkān) are well established, whereas the Substitutes move from state to state.[On this subject] Sahl also said:I have met with one thousand five hundred veracious [servants of God] (ṣiddīq) among whom were forty Substitutes (abdāl) and seven Mainstays (awtād), and I found their way (ṭarīqa) and method (madhhab) to be the same as that which I follow.Furthermore, he used to say, ‘I am the proof of God (ḥujjat Allāh) against you in particular and against the people in general.’It was [Sahl’s] way and his conduct to be full of gratitude and remember [God] a great deal. He was also constant in observing silence and reflection. He would dispute little and was of a generous spirit. He led people through his good character, mercy and compassion for them, and by giving them good counsel. He held fast to the principle[s] (aṣl) [of religion] while putting into practice [the rules] that are derived from it (farʿ). Truly God filled his heart with light, and invested his speech with wisdom. He was among the best of Substitutes, and if we include him among the Mainstays he was the Axis (quṭ around which the millstone [of the world] revolves.

http://altafsir.com/...=0&LanguageId=2

[Abul Hasan]

Assalamu alaikum

It is also known that the Hanbali - Abu Muhammad al-Barbahari - who is highly regarded by the contemporary pseudo-Salafiyya, was also one of those who had acquaintance with Shaykh Sahl al-Tustari (ra). Here is a quote from the Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:18) of Ibn Abi Ya'la as mentioned here - http://www.sunnipath...AR00000247.aspx

Quote:

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Al-Barbahari said: I heard Sahl say:

"Allah created the world and placed in it those who are ignorant and those who have knowledge. The best knowledge is that which one acts upon. For knowledge is all a proof [against oneself] except what is put into practice. But what is put into practice is all wind except what is sound and correct. As for what is sound and correct: I do not declare with certainty any act to be so, except what Allah wills."

The above link also mentioned from al-Tustari:


"No-one is given a better knowledge than that by which he increases his utter dependence on Allah."

[IrfanibnIsmail]

 Ibn Taymiyya names him among the great Sufi representatives of the Sunna:

"The great shaykhs mentioned by Abu `Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami in Tabaqat al-Sufiyya and Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri in al-Risala were adherents of the school of Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a and the school of Ahl al-Hadith, such as Fudayl ibn `Iyad, al-Junayd ibn Muhammad, Sahl ibn `Abd Allah al-Tustari, `Amr ibn `Uthman al-Makki, Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Khafif al-Shirazi, and others, and their speech is found in the Sunna, and they composed books about the Sunna."
End quote

He was a companion of Ibn Mujahid al Tai, who taught al-Qadi Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Abu Bakr ibn `Udhra.

Above mentioned here:
http://sunnah.org/aqida/asha'ira2.htm

He was named by al-Dhahabi "the master of knowers (Shaykh al-`ârifîn), the ascetic sufi (al-Suufî al-zâhid)... He has a firm foothold in the path."
http://www.abc.se/~m9783/tust_e.html

[IrfanibnIsmail]

Taken from the preface to the translation of the tafsir:

  His disciples:

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Others who are named by the sources as direct disciples of Tustarī include Ḥusayn b. Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj, who became his disciple at the age of sixteen and stayed with him only two years, perhaps moving to Basra with Tustarī, but then going on to join Junayd’s circle in Bagdhad; Ḥasan b. Khalaf al-Barbahārī (d. 329/941), a well-known Ḥanbalī theologian and jurist of Baghdad; Abū Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn al-Jurayrī (d. 312/924), who went on to become one of of Junayd’s foremost disciples, supervising his circle after his death; and Abū al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Muzayyin al-Tirmidhī (d. 328/939), who was also a disciple of Junayd.44 44 Other disciples and associates of Tustarī are discussed in detail by Böwering, Mystical Vision, pp. 78–99.

 

Allah's knowledge and dhikr is not muhdath nor mukawwan nor makluq:

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Tustarī’s teachings concerning the Qurʾān and the Prophet have theological and metaphysical, as well as cosmological, dimensions (as can be seen in the last quote above). At the beginning of the Introduction to the Commentary, he appears to associate the Qurʾān with God’s pre-eternal knowledge, for when asked about whether God’s knowledge about His servants was apparent to Him before or after He created them, he cites in answer the verse, It is a Glorious Qurʾān [85:21], and adds, ‘that is, it is a Book [that was] fixed in a Preserved Tablet [85:22] before they were created.’122 We have already seen above that he identifies the Qurʾān with God’s knowledge and His speech, explaining that His speech is therefore (like His knowledge) one of His attributes. Not surprisingly, therefore, he also unequivocally asserts the uncreated nature of the Qurʾān, as when he comments on the words, And there would never come from the Compassionate One any reminder that is new but that they used to disregard it [26:5], and says:  

That is, whenever there came to them, through revelation, knowledge of the Qurʾān which was new to them and of which they had no prior knowledge, they would turn away from it. This is not to say that the Reminder (dhikr) [i.e. the Qurʾān] itself is created (muḥdath), however, for it is from among the attributes of the essence of God, and is therefore neither existentiated (mukawwan) nor created (makhlūq).123

 

On Allahs knowledge of human acts:

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The theological doctrines that Tustarī expounds in his Tafsir are for the most part those that were adhered to by the majority of early Sunni traditionalist Muslims.131 Among these doctrines, that of the uncreated Qurʾān has been discussed above. Another key theological doctrine that is presented early in the Introduction to the Commentary is that of God’s pre-eternal knowledge of all human acts, and His decreeing everything in accordance with His knowledge:

God’s knowledge of His servants and what they would do was complete before He created them. [This does not imply] His forcing them into disobedience, coercing them into obedience, or leaving them out of His divine plan. Rather, it draws attention to that which those who deny His decree are promised, for He says: … whoever will, let him believe, and whoever will, let him disbelieve [18:29], in the way of a threat, since they [actually] have no power (ḥawl) or strength (quwwa) except in accordance with that which is contained in His pre-eternal knowledge concerning them, which will come to be, from Him, [but] through them and for them.132

Later in the course of his commentary, Tustarī adds that God’s pre-eternal knowledge inevitably has to be manifested, ‘since God’s knowledge is a final decree that cannot change to other than that which the All-Knowing knows, Mighty and Majestic is He.’133

Tustarī’s doctrine concerning the carrying through of the divine decree by human beings is interestingly nuanced. He teaches that God created both good and evil, and He commanded the good and forbade evil. However, as he indicates in the above passage, the compliance or otherwise to the divine command by human beings does not involve any coercion (jabr) on the part of God; rather, the matter of obedience depends upon His granting of protection (ʿiṣma), success (tawfīq) and help (maʿūna), while disobedience is the result of His withdrawing His protection from, or His abandonment (khidhlān) of, a person:

Indeed, God, Exalted is He, has created good and evil and established the command and prohibition. He has made us worship Him through the good and linked that with success (tawfīq), while He has forbidden us from evil and linked the perpetration of it to the relinquishing of [His] protection (ʿiṣma), and abandonment (khidhlān) [by Him]. All of these are of His creation. Whoever is successful in [doing] good has a duty to show gratitude (shukr), and whoever has been left to do evil must repent and cry out for God’s help, Mighty and Majestic is He.134

In another passage, the same principle is expressed slightly differently, and here he mentions the attribution of acts to human beings:

Affliction and well-being are from God, Mighty and Majestic is He. The command and prohibition are from Him; protection and the granting of success are from Him; and reward and punishment are from Him. However, actions are attributed (manṣūba) to the children of Adam, so whoever performs a good action must express gratitude to merit thereby an increase [in goodness]; and whoever performs a wicked act must seek forgiveness, so that he thereby merits forgiveness.135

In both these passages Tustarī is urging that human beings should recognise the omnipotence of God, who has predetermined all that they do, and whose help or abandonment is instrumental in their accomplishment of all predetermined acts of good or evil. Yet in addition, especially in the second passage, he is indicating that even God’s predestination of wicked acts leaves a door open to salvation through repentance and forgiveness, and that through gratitude for good works, man may gain access to an increase in good works.136

This post has been edited by IrfanibnIsmail: 20 December 2011 - 06:24 AM