In a reference to the unlimited grace which Allah bestows on those of His servants who are keen to earn His pleasure, it is stated that Allah credits any of His dutiful servants, who is prevented by illness from doing a good action which he normally does, with the same reward that he would have earned if he had done it. For instance, if a person is in the habit of fasting once every week and he is unable to fast owing to an illness, he still earns the same reward which he would have if he were healthy despite the fact that he could not fast. It is a grace by Allah.

When a Muslim falls ill, or indeed suffers any physical or mental hardship, he stands to earn reward for this suffering. Lady Aisha, the Prophet's wife, quotes him as saying: "For any adversity a Muslim suffers, Allah erases some of his sins, even though the suffering may be no more than a thorn pricking him." (Related by Al-Bukhari). Another version of this Hadith is related by Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Saeed Al-Khudri and Abu Hurairah, who quote him as saying: "Whatever befalls a Muslim of exhaustion, illness, worry, grief, nuisance or trouble, even though it may be no more than a prick of a thorn, he earns forgiveness by Allah for some of his sins."

The first thing to note in these two Hadiths is that when a Muslim suffers some adversity, whether physical or mental, or has some suffering to contend with, he will have some reward and that reward is for enduring it with patience and contented acceptance. Let me point out that this reward is not a credit for the suffering; and it cannot be as he has not brought the adversity upon himself, but it is rewarded in the form of a relief by Allah by pardoning some of his past sins.

In an authentic Hadith related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and An-Nass’aie Attaa ibn Abu Rabah reports that once Abdullah ibn Abbas, the Prophet's cousin who was one of the best scholars among the companions of the Prophet, said to him: "Would you like me to point out to you a woman who will be in heaven?" Attaa said: "Yes." Ibn Abbas said: "This black woman came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and said: I suffer from severe epilepsy and parts of my body get exposed. Will you please pray to Allah for me? The Prophet said to her: The choice is yours. You may wish to endure with patience and have admission into heaven as your reward, or you may wish me to pray Allah to cure you. She said: I will endure it, but some parts of my body get exposed, so pray Allah for me not to be exposed. The Prophet prayed for her."

The woman in this story was called Suairah, an Abyssinian black woman, who was attached either through slavery or alliance to the tribe of Asad. She used to come to the Prophet after the death of his first wife, Khadeejah, and he used to treat her with kindness and befitting hospitality. He knew that she was a firm believer, so he put a choice to her.

When a believer understands all this, he would not feel too depressed when he suffers a serious illness. No one suggests that a Muslim should wish for illness or try to catch it or having suffered should not look for treatment. Indeed health is a blessing which every one of us should work diligently to preserve. But if we are taken ill, we should accept this with patience.

The word tareeqah means "way or method", while "ma'rifah" means "knowledge" and "haqeeqah" means "truth". Those who follow some sufi trends make much of these terms and try to establish a division between them and the ordinary acts of worship which are applicable to all of us. They claim that the ultimate goal is to arrive at the truth, through the proper knowledge of Allah, which is attainable only by following the correct method of worshipping Allah and remembering Him. While this is acceptable in absolute terms, it is certainly far from acceptable when taken within the framework of the practices of sufism.

Let us examine what you have mentioned about "secret" teachings imparted by the Prophet to his cousin Ali. If this has been done by the Prophet on instructions from Allah, it means that Allah has selected a section of His servants for a special favor which He has chosen not to grant to others. Far be it from Allah, the Most Just, to make such an arbitrary distinction. The fact is that Allah has created us all with the same susceptibility to accepting the faith, regardless of our origin, race, or education. When the message of the truth, i.e. submission to Allah is put to us, we can all respond to it and accept it without hesitation, once we free ourselves of the shackles of our circumstances or position or desires or any other type of pressure. It is needless to say that an intellectual person who has received good education is able to understand the message of Islam much better than one who has not been so privileged. But the two may have an equal strength of faith. We should not forget that Allah puts all to account on the day of judgment and He gives us the same type of reward for our good deeds, while we may incur the same type of punishment for our sins. It follows, considering Allah's absolute justice, that we should have the same susceptibility to accepting the message of the truth if we have to face the same reckoning. In view of the foregoing, it simply does not fit with Allah's justice that he gives secret knowledge to a section of the people, no matter who may be in that section.

Moreover the Prophet has been required to convey Allah's message to mankind. Allah describes the Prophet who has been "sent as a mercy to all worlds." The Prophet fulfilled his task in a most exemplary way, requesting his companions and all Muslims to impart the knowledge he has given them to the rest of mankind. Allah has guaranteed that the message of Islam will remain preserved for all time so that it remains accessible to people. To suggest that the Prophet advised or taught any particular knowledge to his cousin in a secret manner is most objectionable because it means that he has favored a certain group of people or a certain individual with important knowledge which he withheld from others. Far be it from the last messenger of Allah to do so. Why should he? And why should there be any group of people who is more favored than the rest of us? That certainly does not fit with the Divine Justice.

The truth is that Allah has revealed Islam as a message to all mankind. It is addressed to every single one of us and Allah tells us in the Qur'an that implementing Islam is the sure and only way to get the maximum reward in the hereafter, namely, admission into heaven. Allah says in the Qur'an: "Whosoever obeys Allah and the messenger shall be those on whom Allah has bestowed His grace of Prophets, saints, martyrs and righteous people. Good company are these indeed," (4;69). As is clear from this verse, the highest company to which any person can aspire is to join prophets and righteous people in heaven. For this reason, every good believer prays Allah all the time to grant him the greatest privilege of all, namely admission into heaven. These people suggest that there are two grades of reward. The first is that of heaven and the other is something superior. They claim this to be communion or company with Allah and the Prophet. But when the Prophet speaks of the highest grade which may be achieved by anyone, he says "Whoever brings up well two girls until they have grown up shall be my companion in heaven." This Hadith tells us that the Prophet shall be in heaven. How will these people want to go any higher? What support do they have for their aspiration? Where do they get their information from?

They claim to hear the answer to the greetings they offer to the Prophet. What nonsense. Where does it come from? How can they recognize whose voice it is? This is simply an exercise in self-delusion. The Prophet has not told us about anything like this. Therefore, we cannot accept it from anyone. What the Prophet has not told us about is simply untrue. Therefore, the claims of these people are certainly untrue.

The word thikr means the 'remembrance of God.' Every Muslim should always be conscious of God. To achieve that it is necessary that he remembers God in all situations. Such remembrance can be verbal or in private. However, because it is in the nature of human beings that when more than one sense takes part in any action, it is more engraved in one's memory and subconscious, the Prophet, peace be upon him, has recommended us to do the thikr as often as we can, in practically all situations. It is in this light that we should look at the recommendation to glorify God and praise Him after every prayer when we may say 'Subhan-Allah (limitless is God in His glory), Al-Hamdulillah (praise be to God) and Allahu Akbar (God is great) 33 times after every obligatory prayer and before going to sleep. On each occasion we add the declaration that there is no deity save God to make up 100 phrases of thikr.

There is no particular method of saying this, or indeed of doing any form of thikr. Why is one needed anyway? It is a question of remembering God's name and being conscious of Him so that we may avoid bad deeds and do only what brings us nearer to Him, and what will enable us to earn greater reward. Having said that, I should add that the Prophet, peace be upon him, has taught us that the best form of thikr is that done in private, or when one is alone. This obviously avoids showing off, which is the mark of most of what Sufi methods, in their great variety do. Besides, look at the advantage of remembering God in private, when you know that only He sees and hears you. You are then most sincere in your approach, and you recognize the benefit within yourself. You do not need to be with others in order to remember God. Indeed it is most important to remember Him when alone, because that is the time when evil thoughts may have the better of you.

Moreover, the best form of thikr is reading the Qur'an, which is God's revealed word. What is needed for that is to learn the Qur'an properly through a teacher. That does not require sessions of the type Sufi methods organize. Another form of this is the supplication to God, including the supplication when you request God to grant you something that belongs to this world, such as passing an examination, getting a suitable job, etc. This is thikr because the fact that you turn to God and request Him to fulfill that-which means that you remember Him as the One who can help you in all situations.

If you read a portion of the Qur'an every day, glorify God and praise Him after your obligatory prayers, attend to these and add some voluntary prayers, and you turn to God with your supplication, then you achieve the position of those whom God describes as 'men and women who remember God often.' This is what the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught his companions and all his followers. This is then the method to achieve it.

Taking up your next point, I say categorically that the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not know anything about the future except what God might have told him. He declared repeatedly that he knew what God had chosen to reveal to him. He had no way of knowing what would happen tomorrow or in the next hour. No amount of thikr, prayer, supplication or other forms of worship would give anyone such knowledge. Indeed anyone who claims to know the future is a liar, including astrologers, fortune-tellers, clairvoyants, and any person who tries to impress a group of followers, even though he may give himself an appearance of great piety. How could he make such a claim when God has chosen not to give such knowledge to anyone? As for the prophets being alive, we know that every soul shall die and all prophets had died, with the exception of Jesus who had been raised to heaven by God. It is said, however, that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is in a transitional stage of life which is different from our own and from the life Hereafter.

No Sufism, or mysticism, is part of Islamic teachings. It cannot be placed in any position of comparison with the Qur'an, Hadith or Fiqh, i.e. the study of Islamic law. The founders of Sufi methods do not make such a claim for it.

They only say that they have particular method of purifying the soul from the temptation of this world. To the overwhelming majority of Muslim scholars that can only be achieved by following example set by Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. He has taught no mystic or Sufi practices. Moreover, much of what the Sufis do has no sanction by the Prophet, peace be upon him, which means that these practices are innovations. However, I cannot give you a general verdict which applies to everything they do. Every practice should be examined on its own merits. What is in line with the Prophet's teachings may be accepted and what is not should be rejected as innovation.

What Sufis describe as kashf cannot be accepted. In its linguistic sense, the word means 'uncovering.' So, what they mean is that by diligent worship and their form of thikr one may achieve a position where the curtains are raised to uncover knowledge which is denied to other people. Let me tell you that the type of knowledge they speak of was not given to the Prophet, peace be upon him, the most perfect of believers who never entertained any evil thought and the most diligent worshiper who dedicated all his worship to God in the purest form and fashion. How could such knowledge be given then to an ordinary human being who, try as he may, will not achieve any degree close to that of the Prophet? Moreover, their claim to talk or see the spirits of former teachers as well as that of the Prophet, peace be upon him, himself is utter nonsense. It contradicts the Qur'an itself, which instructs the Prophet, peace be upon him, to disdain any knowledge of the spirit.

Now these people claim to be able, through some means which they have identified, to get to speak to the spirit of people who had died a long [or even short] time ago. Wherefrom and how they have acquired such knowledge? From the Prophet, peace be upon him, who has been commanded to declare that all knowledge of the spirit belonged to God alone? Or from God Himself? If so, then they are claiming to have revelations from God when no one may have such revelation after Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who is the last prophet and messenger. Or from some other source? In this case, they are making false claims, and indeed turning to things other than God for such information. That can only be described as associating partners with God, which in Islamic terminology means shirk. What every Muslim should do is to try to learn the Prophet's practices and follow his examples, because that is what we are accountable for on the day of judgment. God will not ask anyone why he did not follow this or that sheikh or person [or imam]. He will ask him about following the Prophet, peace be upon him. There is much in Sufism that is contrary to what the Prophet, peace be upon him, has taught. Hence it is not acceptable to God.