Assalam’aleykum Mufti Sahab, This may be a far-fetched question for you but I genuinely wanted to ask if it’s permissible for me to make dua to Allah to have Nabi ﷺ himself as my murshid. I want to make dua that every night in my dreams I am in the sohbat of Prophet of Allah ﷺ and he is doing my islah and in the daytime I can apply it real life. I think this is possible because it is a fact that Nabi ﷺ does indeed come in the dreams of Muslims but in my Scenario I want him to be my Shaykh. I am asking because in “Islamic Tasawwuf Shariah Tariqah” Hakeem Ul Ummah said that you should not make duas that are impossible. So I wanted to ask if this is a unrealistic dua to make or I can make it and hope for Allah to accept it. Jazak’Allah
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
You state you want Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam to be your Murshid. You also state you want him to be your Shaykh.
A Murshid is a guide. A Shaykh is one’s leader. Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam is our beloved Nabi and Rasul. That position is far greater than just being a Murshid and Shaykh. When you accept Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam as your Nabi and Rasul, you also accept him as your Murshid and Shaykh.
Allah explains the qualities of Rasulullah Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam in the following verse:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًا (45) وَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا (46)
Translation: “O Prophet (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam), indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and an illuminating lamp.” (Surah Al-Ahzab: 45-46)
A Murshid and Shaykh guide people to Allah. Accordingly, Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam is your Murshid and Shaykh by virtue of being a Nabi. One cannot assume that Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam is not my Murshid and Shaykh. One cannot regard Rasulullah
Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam as being a Nabi and Rasul without the qualities of being a Murshid. In order to satisfy you, let us turn the issue around. If you think Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam is not your Murshid, on what basis would you then regard him as a Nabi and Rasul? Do you think a Nabi and Rasul is not a Murshid? Surely he is.
Brother, Tasawwuf and Sufism is to be subservient to Quran and Hadith. One cannot give Tasawwuf and Sufism a position higher than Quran and Hadith or understand it separate from Quran, Hadith and Sunnah.
If you wish to experience closeness to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam, study the life of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam. Study the Sunnah and implement the Sunnah in all aspects of your life.
You do not need Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam to come to your dream at night. The Ahadith of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam are already in front of us. His life is in front of us.
We are advised to put emotions into actions. Love of Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam is not confined to emotions. Convert that emotion by practising on Sunnah. That is the correct way of making Islah.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hammad Ibn Ismail Jogiat
Student Darul Iftaa
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.