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3.1.4 - Intercession and Forgiving People

The principle of pardoning people is a dignified ethic that characterizes noble people, and God Almighty said: ((Those who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good)) [Quran: 3.134]. Because Sufism is fundamentally based on noble ethics, the Sufis always endeavor to adhere to all virtuous morals and apply them to the extreme limits, sometimes beyond what normal human can tolerate or even imagine. Henceforth, we shall see in section

ef(critics of Chapter VII that Shaykh Muhyiddin is distinct in such honorable behavior to the point that he used to pray for God and ask His forgiveness for those who insulted him.

Similarly, we find that Shaykh Abu Ishaq pardoned all those who hurt him, and he used to say that he considers all people are saints in his eyes, whether those who love him and praise him or those who insult him. Actually, Shaykh Muhyiddin showed that the people of God believe in the necessity of their intercession for those who hurt them in particular, because those who do good to them do not need their intercession since their goodness will save them before God, but as for those who hurt them, they will intercede for them when Allah authorizes them on the Day of Resurrection and opens the door for intercession. Hence, on the Day of Resurrection, when these wrongdoers will be afraid of those who hurt them here in this world, they will then find that they themselves will intercede for their benefit instead of taking revenge. Shaykh Muhyiddin states that this is the doctrine of Abu Yazid al-Bustami, and that he also believes in this doctrine.

Consequently, the Greatest Master confirms that the saints will not forget anyone who knew him, even if the Shaykh himself does not know him, and thus he asked God to forgive and pardon all those who have ever heard or remembered him whether they condemned or praised him in good. Shaykh Muhyiddin then says that he had tasted this from himself and that God has given him the promise for such intercession on the Day of Resurrection, so he shall intercede for anyone whom he knew, or his eyesight has perceived whether he knew them or not, and he adds that this was also the position of his friend Shaykh Abu Ishaq Ibn Tarif [Futuhat: I.617].

3.1.4.1- The Story of the Death of Shaykh Ibn Tarif