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Eight Questions Answered - Stages or Grades of Islam
Stages or Grades of Islam
The Religion of Islam is sirat-i mustaqim i.e. the straight path. It is obvious that there are certain stations in every long path. Thus there are four stations in the path of Islam, viz : shari`at, tariqat, haqiqat, and ma`rifat. We can also conceive of these four stations as four stages. But the principle should always be remembered that in every stage, more or less, parts of the other stages are also included. For instance, the station regarded as haqiqat cannot consist purely of haqiqat; there is 20% shari`at, 25% tariqat, 30% haqiqat, and 25% ma`rifat. This is also the case in the remaining three stages as demonstrated in the following table.
| Table of Fourfold Parts | ||||||
| No | Station | Shari`at % | Tariqat % | Haqiqat % | Ma`rifat % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shari`at | 40 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 100 |
| 2 | Tariqat | 25 | 30 | 25 | 20 | 100 |
| 3 | Haqiqat | 20 | 25 | 30 | 25 | 100 |
| 4 | Ma`rifat | 15 | 20 | 25 | 40 | 100 |
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