Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah be pleased with him) argued that union with the beloved Prophet (though the succession of Pir’s to whom one was related by means of one’s own Pir) is a matter of grace (baraka), in itself is no small thing. If a chain of transmission was through Pir’s and Mashaikh of eminence, that was all to the good in terms of the baraka that accrued. In this regard allegiance to Shaikh Sayyiduna Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) was better than allegiance to other Sufi founders, for he protected the welfare of his murids (disciples) no matter what the situation was.

His Malfuzat also contains references to the relationship that should be between a Pir and his murid, and the conditions, which should guide a person in choosing a Pir. He emphasized the importance of having the right intention or inner desire (irada), without which the relationship would be sterile, and nothing would happen. The Pir’s ability to guide his disciple was thus in part dependant on the disciple’s purity of intention and his faith in him. The tie between them was indissoluble and irreplaceable and he illustrated this point with the following story:

Bayat (bai’a) is as Hazrat Yahya Muneri’s (may Allah be pleased with him) disciple understood it to be and while he was drowning in a river, when Hazrat Khizr (peace be upon him) appeared and asked him for his hand, so that he could pull him out. The disciple replied that he had already given his hand (in discipleship) to Hazrat Yahya Muneri (may Allah be pleased with him) and can no longer give it to anyone else. Hazrat Khizr (peace be upon him) disappeared, and Hazrat Yahya Muneri (may Allah be pleased with him) appeared and pulled his disciple ashore to safety.

Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Qadiri (may Allah be pleased with him) put it memorably on one occasion, "the fact is that the Kaaba is the qibla of the body, and the Pir is the qibla of the soul."

Shaikh Sayyiduna Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) explained the spiritual search (irada), the seeker (murid), and the one who is sought (murad) very clearly in his book called Sufficient Provision for the Seekers of the Path of Truth – Volume 5 (Al-Ghunya li Talibi Tariq al-Haqq). As for the spiritual search (irada), it entails the abandonment of the usual approach to life (ada), and its actualization (tahqiq) occurs through commitment of the heart to the quest for the Lord of Truth (Glory be to Him), and detachment from everything apart from Him. When a servant of the Lord forsakes the usual approach to life, which is concerned with the luxuries (huzuz) of this world and the hereafter, only then does his commitment to the spiritual search become absolute (complete). The wish to seek (irada) comes first and foremost and then it is followed by intention (qasd), and then by the action (fi’l). It is therefore the beginning of the Path (tariq) for every spiritual seeker (salik).

A disciple attained supreme closeness to his Pir in the condition of fana fi’l-shaikh, or total absorption in the Pir. Thereafter, Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah be pleased with him) explained, the disciple would never be separated from his Pir, regardless of the circumstances. The Pir was there to guide and admonish (caution) him at all times. He related the story of one such case to his followers:

Hafiz ul-Hadis Sayyid Ahmad Sijilmasi (may Allah be pleased with him) was going somewhere when suddenly his eyes lifted from the ground, and saw a beautiful woman. The glance had been indifferent (and so no blame attached to him), but then he looked up again. This time he saw his Pir and Murshid, Sayyid Ghaus ul-Waqt Abd al-Aziz Dabbagh (may Allah be pleased with him).

Thus Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah be pleased with him) advised his followers to choose carefully and a Pir should fulfill four exacting standards. He must be a Sunni of good faith (sahih aqida), further; he must be an Alim or scholar, one who has sufficient knowledge of the Law to answer his own questions without having to ask someone else to interpret the Sharia for him. Third, the chain of transmission (silsila) should reach back from him, without a single break, to the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). And finally, he should lead an exemplary life, and not be disobedient or wicked in his personal habits. He emphasized on following the Sharia and in his Malfuzat he related several stories about ignorant Sufis, who have no knowledge of Fiqh, mistaking Satan for Allah:

There was a wali who made large claims for himself and an ascetic (a person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion) heard about him. He called the wali and asked him what he could do. The wali said he saw Khuda (Allah) every single day and every day Khuda’s canopy (arsh) spread itself on the ocean and Almighty Allah appeared on it. Now, if he had knowledge, he would have known that it is impossible (muhal) in this world to see Almighty Allah, that this was something given only to the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). Anyway the ascetic called someone and asked him to read the hadis in which the Prophet said that Iblis spreads his throne (takht) over the ocean. When this had been done, the so-called wali understood that all this time he had mistaken Satan for Allah, had been prostrating himself before Satan, and had been worshipping him. He rented his clothes and vanished into a forest.

Dr. Usha Sanyal discussed the personalization of religious authority in Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah be pleased with him) life from three perspectives: Ahmad Riza’s devotion to his Pir, and his views on the nature of a Pir’s relationship with, and authority over, his disciples generally; his devotion to Shaikh Sayyiduna Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him), the founder of the Qadiri order of Sufis, with which he identified more closely than with other orders, though he was also affiliated with the Chishtis, Naqshbandi, and Suhrawardi Sufi orders; and finally, the place of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) as a pivotal figure in his life. Devotion to the three figures of Pir, Shaikh, and Prophet was central to Imam Ahmad Raza as believer and to his perception of what it meant to be a ‘good Muslim’. Nor were they unrelated to each other in his life, his writing make clear that each is a pathway, and a guide to the next. The culmination of religious authority, in the world of men, is the beloved Master and Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).