Religious form and the initiatic approach

By Kawthar Moutaïb · August 5, 2021 · 7 min read

In conformity with the divine attributes zahir (the Outer) and batin (the Inner), the Islamic tradition comprises two fundamental aspects:

• one, outer, represented by the religious form, is placed within everyone’s reach and is expressed chiefly in a written transmission (Qur’an, ahadith, sayings of the Companions…) that has come down to us;
• the other, inner and deeper, is addressed specifically to the disciples of an initiatic path (tariqa), whose teaching is centred on orality and is actualised by a spiritual guide (shaykh) living within the community.

By joining a tariqa, a disciple thereby commits himself to a path leading to the complete knowledge of all the planes of being. This is an approach that touches on esoterism and that presupposes adherence to exoterism. One must not imagine, however, that the latter can be cast aside once initiation has been obtained. As a contemporary spiritual guide, Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri Boutchich, affirms: ‘The Law (shari’a) is the gate of the path (tariqa).’

In effect, exoterism and esoterism constitute, so to speak, the two distinct faces, outer and inner, of one and the same thing, and each governs a domain of its own. Exoterism thus governs the domain of the scholars of jurisprudence (fuqaha’) and the theologians (mutakallimin). Esoterism, for its part, concerns the domain of those who have access to divine knowledge through successive unveilings (’arifin bi-Llah). To illustrate these notions from another angle, one might also say that exoterism relates to the expression of Islamic doctrine, whereas esoterism aims at its conception.

The degree of islam

The general prescriptions, ordained by the religious form common to all Muslims, allow man to live as harmoniously as possible within society while remaining in conformity with the order established by Allah. According to a famous hadith¹, they relate to the first degree of the tradition, islam, and may fall either under the jurisprudence of worship (fiqh al-’ibadat) or under the jurisprudence of social relations (fiqh al-mu’amalat).

It is notably within the jurisprudence of worship that we find the recommendation of invocation (dhikr), with certain formulae to be recited in the course of the day (al-adhkar al-yawmiyya), whose benefits are attested by the Qur’an². The four orthodox schools (Maliki, Hanbali, Shafi’i, Hanafi) encourage this kind of recitation within Sunnism, though with differing degrees of insistence. Imam Malik³, on whose writings the Maliki school rests, records only a few hadiths relating to the daily invocations, whereas the Hanbali school recommends reciting a great many invocations at very precise moments: when entering or leaving the house, before sleeping, when dressing, when looking in the mirror…

The indications issued by the different schools are addressed to all Muslims without distinction, out of Allah’s mercy, bearing in mind that an individual generally keeps to the prescriptions of a single school to which he refers, without however denigrating the other schools. These indications make it possible for a believer, whatever the era and the geographical place, to attain the salvation of the soul, that is, to obtain divine approval for his post-mortem destiny.

The degree of ihsan

By contrast, most of the indications given by a spiritual guide are addressed solely to the disciples in his charge. They aim to awaken the purely inner faculties that lie dormant in man and that are capable of grasping the share of the inexpressible contained in every authentic metaphysical conception. According to the hadith already cited, such an education touches on the degree of ihsan (excellence) and is reserved only for those who desire ‘more’ and who are qualified for it.

The invocations practised within an initiatic path are indeed of an altogether different nature from the invocations common to all Muslims. They are given by the shaykh, who holds the divine authorisation (idhn) to transmit them. They also have a great specificity, for they act as ‘medicines’ of the soul, in respect of which there is a dosage to be observed. Two disciples of the same path, for example, will not necessarily have the same invocations to recite, since they may have to overcome psychic or behavioural obstacles of an entirely different kind. Likewise, a disciple, in the course of his wayfaring, may be led to recite formulae that will vary over time, according to the inner modifications he has integrated.

Thus, when a person commits himself to an initiatic path, he passes from the exoteric and religious domain to the esoteric and initiatic one. Consequently, he aspires not only to the salvation of the individual soul, but to its surpassing for the sake of total deliverance and accession to the higher degrees of being, the ultimate stage of which is the Universal Man (al-insan al-kamil).

The inner ablutions

This change of perspective implies that the aspirant to inner truth must ‘wash’ himself of everything that has preceded in the course of his life and that has left in him an imprint liable to hinder the undertaking. The following story, which befell al-Shadhili, a great Sufi of the Middle Ages, illustrates this aspect well.

In the course of his quest, al-Shadhili, who was at the time a highly reputed theologian, decided to go to the great master ’Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish to ask him for initiation. He presented himself on the flank of the mountain where the master lived, when he distinctly heard a voice first asking him to go back and perform his ablutions. Al-Shadhili obeyed the injunction and went back down the mountain to perform his ritual ablutions scrupulously in the river below, then climbed the slope again. As soon as he reached the spot he had attained before, the master asked him once more to go and perform his ablutions. The same scene was repeated three times in a row, until al-Shadhili understood that what was required of him was not the ritual ablutions, but rather to ‘wash’ himself of all the exoteric learning he had accumulated over his career. The master could welcome his future disciple only if the latter presented himself in a state of ‘poverty’, that is, in an inner disposition allowing him to receive a new teaching without interference.

Through this anecdote, one perceives more clearly that he who sincerely desires a teaching of the initiatic order must entrust himself to the sole indications of the authorised master. The rigorous observance of these indications constitutes a powerful protective shield against the many promptings of the mind, which, through countless stratagems, urges one to turn away from the goal. To be able to travel a path of realisation is a precious gift, which calls in return for a vigilance of every instant.

Kawthar Moutaib

Further reading

• Sufism at the heart of Islam
• What is dhikr?

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