Contentment with God’s decree is one of the praiseworthy qualities which you must acquire. God Most High said, “No affliction occurs except by the permission of God. Whoever believes in God, his heart is guided” (Q 64:11).
Its reality is to abandon anger and to remember that what God decrees is better and more suitable. He does not need to justify its rightness or wrongness. This is one of its conditions. If you say, “Evil is not by the decree of God Most High, so how can anyone be content with it?” Know that evil is the result of the decree. It is not the decree itself, and you do not have to be content with it. In fact, it is inconceivable for you to be content with the result of the decree except when it conforms to the shari‘a. You must be content with the decree itself, and the decree of evil does not come from evil.
What will help you in it is that when you are angry, you remember the wrath of God—glory be to Him and may He be exalted!—and you remember that He rewards whoever is content with His decree.
Fear and hope (khawf and raja’)
Fear and hope are among the praiseworthy qualities which you must acquire. God Most High said, “They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment” (Q 17:57).
The reality of fear is a trembling which is generated in the heart by remembering objectionable things which you have done. It comes to you through thoughts and it is not under your control. You can do things to prepare the way for it. These are four: The first is to remember past wrong actions. The second is to remember the severity of God’s punishment. The third is to remember your own weakness. The fourth is to remember the power of God Most High over you. He exerts His power over you when He wills and how He wills.
What will help you in it is to remember how He seizes and strips away—glory be to Him and may He be exalted!—as He did in the case of lblis and Ba’lam. You should also remember His words, glory be to Him! “Do you suppose that We created you without purpose?” (Q 23:115) and “Does man suppose he is to be left aimless?” (Q 75:36) and other verses like those, which are meant to provoke fear.
As for the definition of hope, it is the joy of the heart when it recognizes the overflowing favor of God—glory be to Him and may He be exalted!—and the vastness of His mercy. It also comes to you through thoughts, and is not under your control. You can do things to prepare the way for it. These are four: The first is to remember God’s past favor to you given without intermediary or intercessor. The second is to remember the generosity of the reward He has promised you without you having done anything to deserve it. The third is to remember the abundance of His blessings in respect of your religion at the present moment without you deserving it or asking for it. The fourth is to remember the vastness of His mercy, may He be exalted!
What will help you in it is to remember how He has pardoned—glory be to Him!—as He did in the case of the sorcerers of Pharaoh and the People of the Cave, and to remember His actions—glory be to Him!—in the verses of the Qur’an which provoke desire. God Most High says, “He is the One who accepts repentance from His slaves and pardons evil deeds” (Q 42:25), and He said, “Who will forgive wrong actions except God?” (Q 3:135), and He said, “Do not despair of the mercy of God. God forgives wrong actions altogether. He is the forgiving, the Merciful” (Q 39:53), and the verses like those which provoke desire.
Oh God! Oh FORGIVING! Oh Merciful! Forgive us all of our wrong actions by the baraka of Our Master Muhammad, may God bless Him and grant Him peace.
Here ends what we intended to write about the sciences of behaviour which consists of Tawhid, Fiqh, and Tasawwuf. It has been accomplished by the help of God, and His help is excellent.
Oh God! Bless Our Master Muhammad, the opener of what was locked, and the seal of what went before, the helper of the Truth by the Truth, and the guide of Your Straight Path, and on his family to the extent of his proper worth and immense value.
It ends with praise of God and His
good help, and with blessings and peace
on the Master of the Messengers, Muhammad,
and upon his family and all his Companions,
and peace be upon the Messengers.
The Book of Distinction (Kitab al-tafriqa)
The text is called: al-Tafriqa bayn ‘ilm al-tasawwuf alladhi li-l-takhalluq wa bayn ‘ilm al-tasawwuf alladhi li-l-tahaqquq wa madakhil Iblis (The Distinction Between the Science of Tasawwuf for Character Transformation and the Science of Tasawwuf for Divine Realization and the Incursions of Iblis into the Souls). The style of writing indicates that the text was composed between 1780 and 1787. Its content suggests that it was likely written after The Sciences of Behavior.
The Book of Distinction is divided into three sections: 1) On the Science of Tasawwuf for the Transformation of Character; 2) On the Science of Tasawwuf for Divine Realization; and 3) On the Incursions of Iblis Into the Soul of Humanity.
In his Fath al-Basa’ir, the shehu said, “The first division is related to the reformation of character (al-takhalluq) and it is the abandonment (at-takhalli) of every blameworthy trait from the heart—like conceit (‘ujb), pride (kibr), unjust anger (ghadab bi-l-batil), envy (hasad), greed (bukhl), showing-off (riya’), the love of rank (hubb al-jah), the love of wealth (hubb al-mal) in order to boast, false hope (amal), and having an evil opinion of the Muslims (isa’at al-dhann). It also includes the endowment (at-tahalli) of the heart with every praiseworthy characteristic—like repentance (tawba), sincerity (ikhlas), fearful awareness (taqwa), patience (sabr), doing without (zuhd), reliance (tawakkul), leaving matters over to God (tafwid), contentment (rida), fear (khawf), and hope (raja’).”
In the section on Ihsan, in The Sciences of Behavior, Dan Fodio writes at much greater length about the removal of blameworthy traits than he does about the acquisition of praiseworthy characteristics (akhlaq). This is in keeping with a broader principle of spiritual training intimated above—takhliya (removing the negative) before tahliya (inculcation of the positive). In other formulations a third term is added and the progression becomes takhalli, tahalli, tajalli. Tajalli, of course, is the typical term for divine manifestation or unveiling, and indeed this stage of divine realization is the shehu’s subject below immediately after he completes his descriptions of emptying the heart of bad character and filling it with good.
In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful, may God bless our master Muhammad, his family and Companions and grant them peace.
Says the slave aware of his sins yet hopeful in every condition of the bounty of his Lord, Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman, Fulani by lineage,1 al-Ash‘ari2 by doctrine and Maliki3 by school of thought.
All praises are due to God the Wise King, the All Knowing Opener, the Exalted, the Mighty whose decision is never repelled, whose conclusion is never ended and whose divine gifts are never prevented. I praise Him recognizing my inability to accurately praise Him, and I thank Him as a means of drawing near His excellence and support. I send blessings upon our master Muhammad,
