Two Systems (of Guidance)
Two Systems (of Guidance)
Ḥaḍrat Muftī Muḥammad Taqī ʿUsmānī (may Allah ﷻ preserve him)
My respected father, Mawlānā Muftī Muḥammad Shafīʿ (rahimahullāh), writes in Maʿāriful Qur’ān that Allah ﷻ has established two systems for human guidance:
1) The system of the Book of Allah ﷻ (Kitāb Allāh)
2) The system of the Men of Allah ﷻ (Rijāl Allāh)
Meaning, Allah ﷻ has created role models for practicing His dīn in accordance with His Book. If one adheres to both systems, the reality of dīn becomes understandable.
If one is content with only the Book and becomes heedless of the Men of Allah ﷻ, he will likely fall into misguidance. And if one looks only toward the Men of Allah ﷻ and becomes heedless of the Book of Allah ﷻ, he will also fall into misguidance. Hence, it is necessary to hold fast to both things together.
Therefore, our elders would often say that the easiest method to acquire dīn and act on it in our times is to accompany the Men of Allah ﷻ and those who have an understanding of Allah’s ﷻ dīn and practice it. The more a person accompanies the Men of Allah ﷻ, the more he will progress in dīn.
The noble Companions (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhum), despite living far from the Noble Prophet ﷺ, would sometimes spend twenty days in his service, wherein they acquired the basic teachings of dīn and learned how to practice it, all while spiritually benefitting from his companionship ﷺ.
