What is tariqah?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Tariqah is the systematized form of tasawwuf (mysticism). Tariqahs are ways of truths. (1)

Tariqahs are evidence for shari’ah and source of kawthar that distribute elixir of life. (2) Many believers have drunk from this spring and benefited from this tremendous treasure for centuries.

Tariqah is a spiritual way taken with the feet of the heart in the shade of the Ascension (Miraj) of the Messenger of Allah. (3)

Tariqah is a way to the truth but it is not one single way. All true tariqahs receive their principles from the Quran.

The question “Were there tariqahs during the Era of the Prophet (pbuh)?” asked by some people who do not want to accept tariqah is nothing but gift of the gab. For, all of the principles of tariqahs are based on the practices of the Messenger of Allah. That is, those practices existed then but the name was not tariqah.

Tariqahs emerged in a certain system in the third century of the Migration. People like Junayd al-Baghdadi, Bayazid al-Bistami are the first leaders of tariqah. The people like Shah Naqshibend, Abdulqadir Ghaylani, Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Imam Rabbani, who lived in the later periods are the most famous heroes of tariqah.

Resources:

1. Nursi, Sözler, p 464.
2. see Nursi, Mektubat, p. 444-445.
3. see ibid, p. 443.

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