Tazkiyah & Islamic Leadership

By Dr Muhammed Fazlur Rahman Ansari (ra)
The foundations of Islamic society are basically ethico-religious. Hence, anyone who honestly
comes forward to lead the Muslims to the goal prescribed for them in the Holy Qur’an should
posses a personality refulgent in its spiritual, moral and intellectual dimensions. This is the
verdict of the Qur'an, and this is the verdict of Islamic history.
But how can such a personality be built up? By mere emotionalism? By mere mysticism? By
mere intellectualism? By mere ritualism? By mere formal puritanism? By mere externalism
and legalism? By mere ritualistic missionary-ism? By mere political agitationism in the name
of Islam? No. A thousand times, No!
The only alchemy which can transform the human personality into 'pure gold' is the alchemy
of the rigorous discipline of tazkiyah, with its rigours enhanced in the measure of the height of
achievement desired. This is what has been taught and demonstrated by the Holy Prophet (in
whom abide God's choicest Blessings!), and this is what has been practised throughout
Islamic history by those who had truly grasped the dynamics of leadership in Islam and were
consequently able to achieve historic success. One such personality was Saiyyid Abd el-
Qader al-Jilani of Baghdad, the Ghaus al-A'zam (Grand Master) of the Qaderiyyah Spiritual
Discipline, who built up, with the spiritual dynamism of his personality and without any political
power, the forces that crushed the menace of the Assassins for good, on the one hand, and
the might of the Crusaders' barbaric hordes entrenched in Palestine at that time, on the other.
The Holy Prophet (P.b.u.h.) was born as Messenger of God, having been ordained by God as
such at the dawn of Creation (III: 81). Hence, he needed no spiritual exercise for earning that
office. But we find him withdrawing from the life of the world to the Cave of Hira, in the stark
solitude of wilderness, for fifteen years before he proclaimed his divine mission. Then,
throughout his ministry, his exercise in the transcendental dimension with its spending of
nights in prayers and the days in fasting and prayers both, in the midst of handling the
multifarious duties relating to the most glorious and comprehensive revolution of human
history; with its majestic austerity enshrining extreme selflessness; with its flowering in the
moral domain at the highest level; and with the flood of multi-dimensional blessings for
humanity surging from his august personality — that exercise is the most conspicuous trait of
his character. In that he established the Sunnah for every future Islamic leader.
There were in history many of his followers who realised the obligatoriness of this Sunnah, in
opposition to other leaders whose personal limitations kept them away. One of the glorious
products of this Sunnah was the great Saiyyid Abd el-Qader al-Jilani, to whom we have
referred. It is recorded in history that, in imitation of the Holy Prophet's exercise of retreat to
Hira, he was accustomed to retreat to the forest every evening during the course of his formal
education, and after the completion of that education he withdrew to the wilderness and
stayed there in solitude for many years in total devotion to God, finally acquiring through an
extremely rigorous discipline that high level of tazkiyah which not only elevated him to great
eminence in godliness but enabled him to change the course of history.
The history of Islam is studded with a host of other spiritual luminaries, commonly called
Sufis, on whom the rigorous discipline of tazkiyah bestowed greatness in their achievements
for the cause of humanity. Among them was Khwaja Mu'in al-Din of Sanjar (later of Ajmer)
who, alone with his spiritual dynamism and without any army or political thrust, pitched the
banner of Islam in the heart of an inimical and alien population, changing the course of history
in the South-Asian sub-continent permanently. Among them was Sheykh al-Islam Abdullah al-
Ansari of Herat who fought with his spiritual armour alone against the corruptions of the
tyrants and brought them down to their knees with masculine grace. Among them were the
Sufis of the Naqshbandia Order who, under the most adverse circumstances when the
prestige of the Muslims was at its lowest ebb, conquered, without any material means and
purely through the power of their spiritual personalities, the hearts of the haughty enemies of
Islam who had destroyed the political power of the Muslims under Halaku Khan — defeating
at the same time the Buddhist and the Christian religious forces that were fully entrenched in
the field. And, among them were a host of others who, through their tazkiyah and in
contradistinction to those Muslim religious leaders who were devoid of tazkiyah, acquired the
glorious distinction of becoming the sole pioneers in respect of the most difficult task of
converting vast and widespread human communities to Islam.
Alas, the Islamic leaders of today have turned their backs on tazkiyah, with the result that they
cannot benefit even the Muslims, not to speak of humanity at large. And the world of Islam
presents a scene of unspeakable mass destruction of Islamic values, with the forces of the
newfangled secular 'isms' pouncing upon the Muslim communities like vultures.
The world of Islam will have to revive the pursuit of comprehensive tazkiyah in accordance
with the norms and principles laid down in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, in order that genuine
Islamic leadership of the Muhammadan Pattern emerges on a high level and in a large
measure and acts fruitfully for the fulfilment of the mission of Islam.
As matters stand in respect of the Muslim religious leadership of the present day, neither
those who are popularly known as Sufis nor those who have become anti-Tasawwuf, and
neither the political agitators among the 'Ulama nor the professional preachers and writers
among them, seem to possess any chances of achieving success in defeating the forces of
evil that sway the world.
II. TECHNIQUE OF RESOLVING THE EXTERNAL CONFLICT:
The conflict between good and evil rages not only within the inner world of the human
personality but also in the external world of social phenomena. That conflict also has to be
resolved if the moral development of the human beings in general has to be ensured. This is
so, because man is a social being, and he is born and grows in society, whose good and evil
influences have a potent influence on the formation of his character in either direction, i.e.,
good and evil. The social order has to be, therefore, of necessity transformed into, and
maintained as, a moral order, if the individual is to attain his true moral stature. That is why
the Holy Qur'an has commissioned the Muslim Fraternity to strive for transforming the human
society into moral order (III: 110).
The transformation of the society into moral order, however, presents a challenge to all
morally-struggling individuals. Hence, every Muslim has been commanded and commissioned
to meet this challenge with all his might and to wage a determined struggle without respite all
his life to defeat the forces of evil and to enthrone the forces of good. The Holy Qur'an calls it
Jihad and says:
O ye who believe! Keep your duty to Allah, seek the Medium of Approach (al-Wasilah) unto
Him, and strive with might and main (jahidu) in His Way (which comprehends spiritual and
moral tazkiyah at individual and collective levels): that ye may succeed". (V: 35).
Again:
And strive hard for Allah (which includes eradication of vice and establishment of virtue on
earth) — as is due unto Him hard striving (jihad). He has chosen you (for this striving), and
has not placed upon you any narrowness in religion." (XXII:78).
In human nature we find that there are only two incentives which bring out the best in man
and lift him up in the scale of personality, namely, ambition and danger. Jihad provides both.
Now, the greater and the more difficult of achievement the ambition, — and what social
ambition can be greater than the transformation of human society into a moral order —, the
greater the dangers that are involved. And the greater the dangers involved, the greater the
incentive for the maintenance of disciplined struggle and integrity of character; and the
greater the said incentive, the greater the tazkiyah.