Is it proper for mureeds to praise their sheikh in his presence?

Answer

Mureeds should not praise their shaikhs in their presence. This applies particularly to this day. Almost all shaikhs nowadays have not undergone Islaah of the nafs. They themselves are morally diseased. For the shaikhs of today the meaning of Tasawwuf is loud halqah thikr in the Musjids, eating and merrymaking. They know extremely little of the Maqaasid of Tasawwuf. Their mureeds instead of acquiring the treasure of Tawaadhu (humility), are ruined with the maladies of takabbur and riya. That is why they discern merit in lauding stupid praises on the face of the sheikh sahib whose nafs becomes more bloated on hearing the stupid flattery.

The argument regarding Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallahu anhu) is baseless. It has no validity whatsoever. Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) stated a factual incident which he had observed. He was simply conveying to Hadhrat Umar what he had seen. Furthermore, Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: "If another Nabi had to come after me, it would have been Umar." These stupid mureeds are indeed most contumacious for comparing their shaikhs with Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallahu anhu).

Furthermore, if Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) had praised Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallahu anhu) as he had praised numerous Sahaabah by narrating their fadhaa-il, it was the praise of the Senior for his juniors. His praise for the Sahaabah never induced pride in them. To crown it, these were such 'juniors' who no longer had any semblance of nafs-e-ammaarah. On the contrary, the mureeds of today plus the shaikhs are the slaves of the nafs.

Of greater importance is to obey the command of Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam). It is not permissible to set aside the command of the Shariah by superseding it with personal opinion fabricated baselessly on the basis of a Hadith which has no relevance to the subject.

Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) explicitly forbade praising a person in his presence. In fact, he said that sand should be strewn into the face of the one who does so.