What is Tarbiya?

From the sayings of our teachers, tarbiya (spiritual upbringing) has many facets, some of which are:

1) Education: The aspirant is strongly encouraged and, in some circumstances, commanded, to seek knowledge that is of benefit to the self, to their family and their immediate community. The foundation stones of this lie in the Arabic language and the Qur‘an. They are the keys to the religious and spiritual sciences which will help to unlock a deeper understanding of the religion and allow the aspirant to perform the obligatory rituals (such as prayer, wudu, financial transactions etc) correctly and soundly. This tarbiya is something that the qualified Shaykh of the Path* will strongly encourage amongst his students (i.e. to seek knowledge) – this is a direct form of tarbiya.

The Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “If Allah intends goodness for someone, He gives him understanding of the religion.” (Bukhari and Muslim).

2) Manners: The main paths of Tasawwuf stress the importance of family and brotherhood. The aspirant should treat their fellow students as family and be an exemplar of Prophetic manners towards them. This obviously extends towards the Shaykh of the Path and one’s family. Values such as love, trust, understanding, kind demeanour, soft and easy-to-understand speech, brotherhood and gentleness are emphasised. Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Salih said “manners are learnt in the presence of the brothers and the Shaykh” – meaning: we would want to show our very best conduct in front of our Shaykh and as such, may act more gentle and kind than usual to our brothers. By attending regular gatherings of dhikr and salawat in the presence of the Shaykh, one’s conduct will become better and better (inshaAllah). Some scholars have said that the aspirant can learn good manners from the Shaykh, by directly learning from his actions and speech – this is a direct form of tarbiya.

The Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “Verily, Allah is kind and he loves kindness. He rewards for kindness what is not granted for harshness and he does not reward anything else like it.” (Muslim).

3) Taking care of oneself: Just as the aspirant has taken the initiative to take care of his heart, he should take of his mental and physical health also. The qualified Shaykh of the Path will encourage the Prophetic Sunna of eating enough to tide one’s physical needs and to fast regularly. Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Salih often advises the brothers on spiritual and everyday issues, sharing unique advice, and also advice which was given by his noble father, Sidi Shaykh Abd al-Ghani. However, when it comes to medical advice, the Shaykh always guides the aspirant to a medical professional – either telling him to speak to someone in the aspirant’s locale or from within the brothers. This is our tradition, to seek advice from a professional and qualified person, be it spiritual, religious, medical or any other unique and specialised subject. Take for example this pandemic. The Shaykh endorsed the governmental medical guidance on social distancing and closing the masajid for a period of time. Some brothers objected to this by saying that our appointed time of death is written with Allah Most High, to which the Shaykh lovingly replied with a hadith: “A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Tie her and trust in Allah.”” (Tirmidhi). Again, this is a direct form of tarbiya.

4) Taking care of one’s community and environment: Shaykh Abd al-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him and please him greatly) constructed dozens of masajid across Egypt. For every masjid located in a central area, he would add a pharmacy, hospital or clinic, bakery, school, food hall (teaching the Qur‘an, elocution, business studies and other subjects) and a women’s prayer area. He had a great love and foresight to consider not just the brothers of the path but also the local community, regardless of affiliation or lack thereof, to a spiritual path or religious identity. Many of these services are provided for free to those who can not afford it. As such, the aspirant is encouraged to be kind and of service to his local community. Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Salih encourages the brothers to be clean, both in terms of personal hygiene and physical cleanliness of their locale. The Shaykh supports local projects in Aswan, where the brothers grow crops, plant flowers and raise livestock. We learn directly from the actions of the Shaykh, the importance he has placed on these things, according to the Prophetic Sunna and the Qur‘an: once, a group of us were with Shaykh Muhammad Salih on a boat trip in Aswan. The Shaykh looked at the water and the towering sand hills caressing the banks of the river and said: “And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the growth of all things. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains arranged in layers. And from the palm trees – of its emerging fruit are clusters hanging low. And [We produce] gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar yet varied. Look at [each of] its fruit when it yields and [at] its ripening. Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.” (Surah al-An‘am, verse 99). There have been times when brothers would throw rubbish on the floor and the Shaykh would notice it from a distance. He would go to pick these items up himself to throw them in the bin. The brothers would feel incredibly embarrassed but the Shaykh spoke to them lovingly and educated them on that matter. This is direct form of tarbiya.

In addition to this, the Shaykh encourages the brothers to meet one another and to call one another to ask about them. He has thousands of students around the world but always makes time to reply to our questions on WhatsApp and call us when necessary, directly from his mobile. I was once with the Shaykh and it was the early hours of the morning, before suhoor. Someone rang the Shaykh and I could hear him shouting and sounding worried. The Shaykh did not scold him for calling him so late but rather listened with care and kindness. He gave the brother some advice and told him to call again in a few days to update him on his situation. This is a direct form of tarbiya.

Tarbiya is the spiritual raising and nurturing of the aspirant, in a series of stages, until the aspirant has reached a level of righteousness and closeness to Allah Most High by performing the obligatory religious duties correctly and other than them, to race ahead in the magnanimous sight of Allah Most High – and ultimately be rewarded with a high station in this world and the Hereafter. The Murabbi is the one who conducts this tarbiya and we know him as the Shaykh of the Path – the one who guides us to remove the rust and locks on our hearts.

“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon (their) hearts?” (Surah Muhammad, verse 24).

A valid question for some of the brothers living outside Egypt is: I have not visited the Shaykh in Egypt, so how can I take my tarbiya? The answer: By listening with due diligence and sincerity to these reports and sayings of the Shaykh, all of which point the aspirant to the Qur‘an and the Sunna. We are translating the works of Shaykh Salih into English, so English speakers can understand the advice, knowledge and tarbiya of Shaykh Salih directly from those works. As with anything, the more effort one puts in, the better the results – this is indeed the case for those who take the responsibility of investing time in reading what is available at: www.lightoftheazhar.com/library We encourage all the brothers to visit Egypt, to meet with the Shaykh and the brothers, who will welcome each of you with open arms – it is there that Islam will come alive for many people: seeing how the brothers interact with each other and the Shaykh.

*Qualified Shaykh of the Path: One who is grounded in the Qur‘an and the Sunna, which is evident in his actions and speech. They uphold the Shari‘a and never deviate from it. They focus on both the inward and outward, with a primary focus on the obligatory acts of the religion and the regular recitation (and memorisation) of the Qur‘an. The Shaykh calls to all of the above (Qur‘an, Sunna and Shari‘a) and not to himself. He calls to the Prophet (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), the Ahl al-Bayt and of course, to Allah Most High – and never to himself.