Follow The Sunnah of Rasulullahﷺ.
First: Following or correcting the Sunnah (mutaba`ah)
Second: The presence of the heart, which is sincerity and
witnessing Ihsan (hudur and ihsan)
Third: High seriousness or modesty
Fourth: Step by step in performing charity
Fifth: Continue in charity (istiqamah)
Sixth: Considering priority in charity (afdaliyyah)
In an effort to carry out the mujahadah charity, a person
often faces various obstacles such as laziness, doubt, confusion, mistakes and
so on. In order to deal with this matter, it is recommended that a person
accompany and get guidance or irsyad from people who already have experience in
the matter. From here arose the concept of mursyid in the science of tasawwuf
which provides instruction (irsyad) and spiritual education (tarbiyah) to
students. This is because, in doing mujahadah a person is likely to face
various obstacles that will cut off his journey until he is stopped from
continuing his efforts. With irsyad and tarbiyah mursyid, something difficult
and problematic may be overcome with God's grace. Advice like this can be seen
in the words of Allahﷻ:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ
الصَّادِقِينَ
It means: O you who believe, you should fear God and you
should be with the righteous people.
The need for the guidance, education and guidance of the
murshid in taking the path of mujahadah has been stated and explained by the
great figures of tasawwuf scholars such as al-Junayd, al-Bustami, al-Qushayri,
al-Ghazali, al-Jilani, al-Sha` rani and others in their works. They not only
state the need, but at certain stages of mujahadah it becomes a must or
obligation for people who want to go through it. Not only that, but they
themselves set an example where they also have a special spiritual teacher and
is not found among those who do not have a spiritual guide.
Footnote:
* mutaba`ah : This is a technical term that refers to a supporting/ corroborating narrator who also reports a Hadith from the same source as another narrator (who is sometimes weak). When a chain of narrators has a defective narrator, a supporting narrator can lend enough strength (depending on the level of weakness) and allow the Hadith to be deemed reliable.
