SPOTLIGHT
HOW TO RECOGNISE A
TRUE SUFI
What you need to look for.
His Divine Eminence Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi has given humanity a
very simple, foolproof test to determine whether anyone is a true
Sufi Master. Before we tell you His Divine Eminence’s criteria,
here’s the background information you’ll need to authenticate it
and understand its significance in light of Sufi teachings.
M
any fake Sufis make a living off
the naive seekers of spirituality in
countries like Pakistan, India and
Bangladesh. They have even been successful
to a certain extent in the West. This is
because most people do not know how to
judge whether or not someone is actually
a Sufi. They lack the original knowledge of
Sufism.
In the areas of Pakistan, India and
Bangladesh where there has been a tradition
of Sufism, people recognise that it is
important to commit oneself to a Spiritual
Guide to successfully practise the religion.
Especially in the rural regions of these
countries, the majority of people who like
to surround Sufi shrines and Sufis are those
who are relatively less educated.
The pseudo-Sufis have therefore managed
to con many thousand disciples out of their
wealth. There have been numerous cases of
such imposters who were found to be guilty
of sexual assault on women and young
children.
Pseudo-Sufis are those who have not been
spiritually trained as Sufis. They haven’t
reached any station of purification and
enlightenment. Neither their Carnal Selves
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MAR 2017
nor their Spiritual Hearts are pure. Since the
pseudo-Sufis have no spirituality, what they
do is they refer their disciples to a deceased
saint of God who is buried in a shrine. They
tell them, ‘He will help you. I am here to refer
you to him.’
Doing this, they claim all the benefits of
being a Spiritual Guide. Most of them live
very luxurious lifestyles, which they
can afford due to the generous
donations they receive from
their disciples.
When His Divine Eminence
Gohar Shahi became publicly
known, wherever HDE Gohar
Shahi went, he pointed out to
innocent people that
they were being fooled
by fake Sufis. He
exposed the pseudo-
Sufis categorically.
SPOTLIGHT
SUFISM: THE
KNOWLEDGE OF
THE HEART
As previously mentioned, each Grand
Messenger was granted two types of
knowledge: outer knowledge and inner
knowledge. Sufism is the name for the
inner knowledge associated with Islam and
Prophet Mohammad. His Divine Eminence
Gohar Shahi has explicitly declared that
the exterior form of knowledge without the
accompaniment of the inner knowledge is a
great mischief.
It is unfortunate that people often
see any reference made to the heart as
purely metaphorical. This is because it is
not commonly known that there exists a
Spiritual Heart (known in Sufism as the Qalb)
which sits atop the fleshy heart in human
beings. His Divine Eminence often refers to
inner knowledge as ‘The Knowledge of the
Heart’ owing to the central role the Spiritual
Heart plays in Sufism. Islamic scripture
acknowledges the importance of the heart
on numerous occasions.
Ali, the Companion of Prophet
Mohammad, asserts, ‘O’ man, you
presume that you are a small entity.
Whereas within you is concealed the
entire universe.’ [FAYDH KASHANI’S TAFSIR
AL-SAFI, PAGE 92; MISHKAT SHAREEF ]
His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi reveals
that when a human being is born, the Main
Human Soul is inserted in his body. To aid
the Main Human Soul, five other celestial
spirits are inserted - four in the breast and
one at the forehead. There is also the Carnal
Self located at the naval point. In addition
to these, there are nine sub-spirits enclosed
in the body, making the number of spirits in
man a total of sixteen. Due to these
various faculties, man was able
to move and speak. Some of the
spirits in a human being relate to
IS SUFISM INHERITED?
One way imposters manage to convince the naive
seekers of Sufism that they are Sufi Masters is by
linking themselves to legitimate Sufis of the past.
For example, if a Sufi Master lived in a certain
area 400 years ago, his descendants would
automatically be accepted among locals as Sufi
Masters. Unquestioningly, they would devote
themselves to these people, considering it to be
their religious obligation.
This is because there is a concept among
certain sects of Islam, such as Shi’ism, that
knowledge is passed through the bloodline, or
that one’s lineage has a profound impact on their
level of spirituality. This idea probably stems
from the belief that members of the Household
of Prophet Mohammad are born pure; this, in
turn, was formed following a verse of the Koran
in which God promised to purify the family of
Prophet Mohammad. [KORAN 33:33]
What Muslims should remember is that the
above-mentioned verse does not apply to every
person, nor is it proof that spirituality is inherited.
Had spiritual ranks been inherited, Prophet
Noah’s son would not have been an infidel.
It is not necessary for the child of a prophet
to be a prophet also. In a similar way, it is not
compulsory that the progeny of saint inherit his
spiritual rank.
Spirituality has to do with the awakening of the
souls and spirits. Admittance to and progress on
the spiritual path depends on one’s own efforts
and fate. Sufism, being a form of spirituality, is no
exception to this rule.
the physical life in this phenomenal world,
others to the celestial realms and others are
satanic in nature. The five senses in man
are due to the five subtleties located in the
human breast. Sufis understand that the
difference between man and animal is due
to the presence of the celestial spirits in him.
Your Carnal Self relates to this
phenomenal world while the other celestial
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