Seeking Counsel from one’s Elders

Spending a little while in the company of one’s shaikh is not sufficient. We think that by spending one i’tikaaf we will complete all the stages of sulook. However this is only like a scanning machine, where a person’s weaknesses and faults are pointed out. Thereafter he will have to keep constant contact to correct and rectify them.

The hadeeth explains that one of the major problems before Qiyaamah is that people will become self-opinionated. When a person feels that I am not competent enough then he will keep asking his elders. But when he feels that I can read in between the lines and I can understand it by myself, he will not ask. This amounts to ‘ujb (self-admiration), which is a major problem and obstacle on the path of progress. It is so serious that in the Battle of Hunain the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) had to suffer because of it.

Source: Al-Haadi