ecstacy

[Zubair]

salam

What happens when a person is in a state of ecstacy? I've read many Sufi shaykhs in a state of ecstacy.

salam

[salman]

salam

What happens when a person is in a state of ecstacy? I've read many Sufi shaykhs in a state of ecstacy.

salam

:D

They call its ecstacy for a reason. Basically you are overcome with a type of love and emotion - in a state where you really dont have *actual* control. Its more of spontaneous reactions and hyped up activity due to the stirring of the soul to a great extent which results in actions such as whirling or saying things or maybe jumping up and down etc.

Wasalam

[Zubair]

and the person in this state loses control of himself?
did this happen in the time of sahabas?
salam

[Ajami]

Astaghfirallah, when I first read the title of the thread I thought of something totally different :$ .

[Zubair]

why? should i change it?

[Ajami]

Not at all.

[Omar HH]

and the person in this state loses control of himself?
did this happen in the time of sahabas?
salam

From the Guiding Helper:

Proof(s) from Secondary Text(s):
The servant in the state of his heedlessness is tried with viewing himself [as existent], constrained to seeing what
his physical senses see, imprisoned and encircled by the frame of his body. Then when Allah Most High wants to
lift from him the veil and enter him into the gathering of the beloved, he makes him become the disciple of one of
the friends of Allah. Allah makes the disciple aware of the secret special-ness of his teacher. Thus, the teacher
continues to make the student travel, stay face to face with him, break his normal habits, make him forget himself,
and have total loss of interest in himself and his kind until when the teacher sees the student's veil has become thin
and now deserves to be part of the group of the beloved, the teacher then opens the door and says here you are and
here is your Lord … and his viewing of himself is enfolded [i.e. vanished] as he is fully engaged in viewing His
Object of Worship [i.e. Allah].
[FI: volume 1: page 346: line(s) 20-25: {explanation of verse(s) 283-284 of Ibn Banna's Mabahith al-
Asliyyah}]
Proof(s) from Primary Text(s):
`Umar (May Allah be well pleased with him) said: While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah that day, a
man appeared wearing extremely white clothing, extremely black hair, with no signs of travel on him, and none of
us recognized him. [He drew nearer] until he sat in front of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace)
and joined his knees to the knees of the Prophet and placed his palms on the thighs of the Prophet. He then said, 'O
Muhammad, inform me about Islam.'
The Messenger of Allah then said, 'Islam is that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah, that you establish the formal prayer, that you give Zakat, that you fast in Ramadan, and
that you perform pilgrimage of the House if you can find a way to it.'
The man then answered, 'You have spoken the truth.' We were astonished at the way he first asked [as if he did
not know] and then confirmed the Prophet's statement [as if he knew what the correct answer was]. The man then
said, 'Tell me about 'Iman."
The Prophet then said, 'It is that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and
that you believe in preordaining of good and bad.'
The man then said, 'You have spoken the truth. Now, tell me about Ihsan.'
The Prophet answered, 'It is that you worship Allah as if you see Him. If you do not see Him then surely He sees
you.'
The man then inquired, 'Tell me about the Last Hour.'
The Prophet answered, 'The person being asked does not know any more about the Last Hour than the person
asking.'
The man then responded, 'But, tell me about its signs.'
The Prophet then said, '[Among its signs] are that the female slave will give birth to her female slave master, you
will see barefoot naked destitute herders of sheep competing with each other to build higher/taller buildings. Then
the man left and I stayed with the Prophet for a while. Then, the Prophet asked, 'O `Umar, do you know who the
person asking the questions was?'
I replied, 'Allah and His Messenger know better.'
The Prophet then said, 'He was Angel Jibra'il who came to teach you your din.'

[{Sahih Muslim #9}]

Guiding Helper Excerpt:
Allah will become the only one you can sense.
Proof(s) from Secondary Text(s):
And then he becomes annihilated from seeing the worlds.
And he doesn’t see anything in creation except the Creator [All-knowing].
[FI: volume 1: page 344: line(s) 23: {actual words from verse(s) 281 of Ibn Banna's Mabahith al-
Asliyyah}]
Proof(s) from Primary Text(s):
The Prophet (May Allah bless him and him peace) said, “Allah says: Whoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I
declare war against him. And My servant does not come closer to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what
I have made obligatory on him. And My servant continues to come closer to Me with extra acts of worship until I
love him. And when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand
with which he reaches, and his feet with which he walks. And if he asks me [for something], I give it to him. And
if he seeks protection with me [from something] I protect him… ”
[{Bukhari, heart-melting narrations, humility, hadith #6021}]
1361 Guiding Helper Line #1788
Guiding Helper Excerpt:
So, He'll show you love and choose you for His presence.
Proof(s) from Secondary Text(s):
When the servant becomes characterized by what Ibn `Ashir described and becomes a knower of His Lord, free
from the slavehood to other than Him…, and a slave to Allah Most High… in totality, the God Most High loves
him and chooses him for His presence…
[DT: volume 1: page 482: line(s) 3-5: {right before explanation of verse(s) 313-end}]
Proof(s) from Primary Text(s):
The Prophet (May Allah bless him and him peace) said, “Allah says: Whoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I
declare war against him. And My servant does not come closer to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what
I have made obligatory on him. And My servant continues to come closer to Me with extra acts of worship until I
love him. And when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears. his sight with which he sees, his hand
with which he reaches, and his feet with which he walks. And if he asks me [for something], I give it to him. And
if he seeks protection with me [from something] I protect him… ”
[{Bukhari, heart-melting narrations, humility, hadith #6021}]

[Omar HH]

The GF Online Sessions Archives had the actual hadiths about Ma'Arifah but i can't find them.

Insha Allah - later on i'll post them.

[Zubair]

I've read what some peopel said when they were in the state of ecstacy, i dont understand that how come the sahabas didn't jump up and down and utter those things whcih were said by peoeple who were in an ecstatic mood?
And they of course had deep faith compared to the generation that came after them.
salam

[Sadiq]

and the person in this state loses control of himself?
did this happen in the time of sahabas?
salam

Something quite old, that may help in your query.....

"Imam Dhahabi is considered a student of Ibn Taymiyya and he considers Abu Yazid al-Bistami a reasonable and sound source of hadith. Yet Abu Yazid al-Bistami is the one who is noted for saying 'Subhanee' which means 'Glory to Me!' This is known in the technical vocabulary of the Sufis as a shatha, an ecstatic utterance. If a person says it in a state in which their self is absent they are not taken to account for it We have proof of it in Sahih Bukhari about a slave in the middle of a desert in which the Prophet (s) says that because he finds his lost beast he shouts out in joy 'Allah you are my slave and I am Your lord!' The Prophet explained that that slave made a mistake in his ecstatic state after finding his animal. This is someone who finds their animal, so how much greater for someone who has found his Lord?! What about his state of ecstasy? " As Explained by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf...

For full (http://www.themodernreligion.com/sufism/sufism-shHamza.html) article....

[Zubair]

salam

i'm not sure if it was Abu Yazid or Hallaj where the scholars of the time killed him or something becuase of his utterences. what bout that how come they made that statement.

[Mossy]

It was Mansur al-Hallaj.


Below is the defense of Abu Yazid against the slanders of the "Salafis" from the very one whom the "Salafis" claim as their leader and teacher in doctrine, Ibn Taymiyya. In the second volume of the complete edition of his fatwas entitled Majmu`at al-fatawa al-kubra Ibn Taymiyya says (p. 396-397):

This state of love is the state of many people from among the people of love to Allah and the People of Desire of Allah (Ahl al-irada). When such a person vanishes to himself in the object of his love -- that is, Allah -- through the intensity of his love, he will recall Allah, not recalling himself, and remember Allah, not remembering himself, and visualize Allah (yastashhid), not visualizing himself, and exist in Allah, not in himself. When he reaches that stage, he no longer feels his own existence. That is why he says in this state: ANA AL-HAQQ (I am the Truth), or subhani (Glory to Me!) and ma fi al-jubba illa Allah (there is nothing in this cloak except Allah), because he is drunk with the love of Allah and this is a pleasure and happiness that he cannot control. From such states the pen of the Law is lifted.

Crucifixation. Ouch.

[Muawiyah]

I've read what some peopel said when they were in the state of ecstacy, i dont understand that how come the sahabas didn't jump up and down and utter those things whcih were said by peoeple who were in an ecstatic mood?
And they of course had deep faith compared to the generation that came after them.
salam

An important point to understand here is that while a person cannot be blamed or punished for what he does in a state of lunacy or ecstacy, being in such a state is not something praiseworthy, it points towards a shortcoming in the person, he has weak nerves, his emotional states overpower his senses etc.

So, the Sahaabah Radhi Allahu Ta'ala `anhum, who were greater `aarifeen and lovers of Allah than all those who come after them, did not used to fall into ecstatic states BECAUSE they were kamileen and those who came later fell into them BECAUSE they are naqiseen (as compared to the noble Sahaabah Radhi Allahu Ta'ala `anhum).

[Zubair]

Forgive me if i'm saying something wrong
but when someone is in a state of ecstacy does he lose his mind and say things that he wouldn't say if he was in a normal state?

salam

[Muawiyah]

Forgive me if i'm saying something wrong
but when someone is in a state of ecstacy does he lose his mind and say things that he wouldn't say if he was in a normal state?

exactly


for example there was the hadith of when ali(ra) and other sahabas were with the prophet (pbuh) and the prophet(pbuh) starts telling them how they are like him, and in ecstacy they start jumping around him.

That wasn't something done it ecstacy, it was something they did deliberately and as `Allamah Ibn Jawzi has explained in his Talbees ul Iblees, "Hajal" (to move skipping on one foot) is not a dance but a walk.