Herad

Dear Shaykh Haroun. Sh. Hasan does not consider himself a shaykh, although he is qualified to be one as in he has studied the Ottoman Nizami manhaj with ulema and has high ilmi asanid in them. He can also teach some of the higher books. This technically makes him a shaykh. But he would rather call himself a philosopher out of taqwa (also taking a jab at kuffar thinkers as in “you think you know philosophy ?”) and he has every right to do so. Sh. Saeed, Allah preserve him, on the other hand considers himself a shaykh even though technically he has not studied those high darsi books with mashaykh and hence has no sanad in them. He has been bestowed honorary mashyakha by some mashaykh and that is fine but technically he is a self learned man. That is simply a description of reality. I don’t make the rules. Is he more qualified than some people with asanid? Definitely. But once you open the door of self learning without asanid then you open a can of worm, and a dangerous precedence. The ramifications of that I am sure a learned man like yourself understands. Our tradition is based on asanid. Sh. Saeed has been undoubtedly a great cause of khayr against Salafi Takfiris and has had amazing tawfiq in revival of Ashari aqaid. May Allah reward him for that. But he has also (unnecessarily i would say) opened doors of fitna among the Ahlul Sunna by talking down on Ibn Arabi and his school. I am a witness to many majalis where he was advised by ulema to refrain from delving into unwarranted critique and takfir of Ibn Arabi. But he refused. So any criticism of him in that regard should not be taken as a shade on his entire resume. I personally don’t wear my manhaj on my sleeve since my job here is not that, but being a semi Ashari and semi Akbari (yes that is possible), I respect Sh. Saeed more than Sh. Ali Jum’a who is one of the big a’laam of the Akbaris in our time but I consider him nonetheless a tool of the tawaghit. He has betrayed the ummah and there is no way his Akbari mashrab will make me respect him. While Sh. Saeed has been kicked out of Jordan for being critical of regional leadership as lacking Islamic mandate. Respect where respect is due. But also let’s not get carried away with what he has come to represent: self learning and taking pride in that. And not taking the books with asanid even when he was offered that because he felt he knew more than the teachers. Of course I disagree with any one using uncharitable words for him. But it is simply a taste of his own medicine since he also calls some respectable alive and dead ulema “majnoon”, “jahil” etc. I have heard that in private gatherings. This might be my only comment on this matter, ever.

Some thoughts from a recent DM exchange

Fanaa and Baqaa. Procession and Reversion. Involition and Evolution.

No way the fall of Rome was this cringe

Too much rationality in political analyses will take you down the same route as being too schizophrenic. The only thing you can never be too much of is pragmatic. Otherwise, schizophrenic rationalism is the way to go.