Treatise For The Seekers Of Guidance Part 3: Reforming Extreme Nature And Thought

Published: May 29, 2018, midnight

Abu Abdullah Harith ibn Asad al-Basri al-Muhasibi (781–857) is the great ascetic and spiritual scholar and teacher of the early Sufi masters Junayd al-Baghdadi and Sari al-Saqti. He was born in Basra in 781. Muhasibi means the one who introspects and undertakes an audit of their selves. His works have influenced many subsequent theologians and sufis, such as Imam Ghazali. In this treatise Risalat al-Mustarshidin (Treatise for the Seekers of Guidance), Imam Muhasibi presents most of the major ideas that serve as the basis for a full program of spiritual development and comprise an insightful overview of a system of Islamic moral psychology. He examines in great depth and penetrating insight the psychological motivations and justifications for moral thought and action and correspondingly the associated bases of immorality. In so doing, he has provided a road map that any person can follow to overcome the guile of his fundamental enemies: the world, the ego, the whims of the soul, and Satan. This text has been discussed in detail by Mufti Abdur-Rahman in this series.