Declaration of 17 January 1997
His Excellency Hajj Dr. Nour Ali Tabandeh Majzoub Ali Shah
Hu
121
7 Ramazan 1417
28 Day 1375
17 January 1997
In the Name of God, the Creator of the soul,
The Sage, Creator of speech in language.

Dear Brethren[1],
Upon the passing of our great Master (Mawla) Hazrat Mahbub ‘Alishah, we have all become saddened. May God grant us the success of being patient and bearing the pain of separation, and may the spirit of that great man find joy and be pleased with us. We beseech the Glorious God that this paltry speck may be successful in the performance of the duties which the great master has assigned to this humble man, and in order to comply with this request, I beg the prayers of you, my brethren, for help and intercession.
The practical instructions that have been written in the epistle, Salih’s Advice, and also the decrees of the past great masters, are to be read repeatedly, referred to constantly and put into practice. In this way, God will be pleased with you, and the success of this humble man will be secured. For the time being, I will repeat some points that have been mentioned.
(1) Be extremely careful with regard to the observance of Islamic hijab[2] for women, which is a necessary condition for individual and social chastity, and likewise the observance of taqwa (God-wariness) among the men.
(2) As you know, now more than one hundred years have passed since the use of illicit drugs was first prohibited by the Martyr Hazrat Sultan ‘Alishah, so that the initiation of addicts is not even allowed, and his successors have repeatedly emphasized and renewed this prohibition in the same manner. If, God forbid, a brother or sister has even the slightest addiction, he or she is to repent before God and beseech Him for resolution and will to quit. And since this sort of addiction impairs, and may destroy, one’s reason, until one’s repentance has been accepted and one has quit the addiction, one should not be present in the sessions of the fuqara, and before that one may be present only once in a while when one is sober minded, as is alluded to in the ayah of the Qur’an: (Do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated) (4:43).
(3) The responsibilities appointed by the sacred religion have been implicitly divided into three kinds by the high ranking ‘urafa:
i.     Precepts of the shari‘ah which must be obtained by taqlid (imitation) from a completely qualified mujtahid (expert in Islamic law); and the discernment of such a marja‘[3] is the duty of every responsible person himself.
ii.     Precepts of the tariqah which are to be obtained from the current Master, and instruction in gnosis (‘irfan) is also to be found in the books of the great gnostics (‘urafa).
iii.     Personal precepts to be discerned by the person himself, in the sense that God, the Exalted, wants the spiritual powers of His servants to be put into practice, and to be exalted, and since He, the Sublime, has bestowed them, it becomes a duty that aside from the two areas mentioned above one should personally discover one’s responsibilities by one’s own religious thinking and reasoning.
(4) Thus, interference in and expressing views about social affairs is outside the scope of tariqah and the fuqara should not expect instructions in such regards from the authorities of the Order. One’s works and intentions are to be made pure for the sake of Allah, and one’s own responsibilities are to be discovered. The authorities of the Order will not express views on such questions so that it is not imagined that these are duties of tariqah. This same manner and absence of interference in social questions, as in the past, will be maintained.
(5) We should learn the observation of social order and respect and obedience with regard to the law from Socrates in history. Observance of the laws of the community is respect for oneself and for others. Pay attention to this important issue.
Pray for me,
Nur ‘Ali Tabandeh   Majdhub ‘Alishah
[signature]
[1] This proclamation was written on the occasion of the passing away of Hazrat Mahbub ‘Alishah by his successor, Hazrat Majdhub ‘Alishah.
[2] The Arabic word hijab literally means ‘cover’; the requirement to observe modesty in dress according to Islamic Law, such that in the presence of those outside her immediate family, a woman’s body is to be entirely covered except for the face, hands and feet. [Tr.]
[3] The word marja‘ literally means “source” and is used for an expert (mujtahid) in matters pertaining to shari‘ah authorized to serve as a model of imitation (taqlid) for non-experts. [Tr.]

Source : Sufism.ir