It has previously been indicated that the Sufi path is a discipline of the nafs (the lower self). In this discipline, there are two fundamental elements: the one who disciplines and the one who is disciplined. The one who disciplines is called the murshid (spiritual guide, shaykh), and the one who is disciplined is the murīd (aspirant, disciple).
The murīd candidate has the right to seek out and choose a murshid. For this purpose, he may even undertake long journeys. He should strive to understand the shaykh's daily conduct, the state of those he has trained, his approach to scholarly life, and his perspective on other Sufi orders (tariqas). After these "searches," if he decides to affiliate himself with a shaykh and to direct his religious life according to the shaykh's advice and guidance, he must submit his will to that of the shaykh.
Murīd literally means one who wills or desires. However, in Sufi life, on the contrary, the murīd is one who desires nothing and wills nothing, for he has entrusted his entire will to his shaykh for a certain period. The indispensable first condition of this dual relationship is submission. The murīd must submit himself to the murshid. This is because the path he is to traverse has already been traversed by the murshid. The murshid knows all the difficult and dark aspects of that path, as well as its deceptive and seductive features. In the murīd–murshid relationship, there is no room for objection. One must say “eyvallah” (let it be so) to everything.
According to the Sufis, where this submission is absent, no spiritual transmission (fayḍ) can occur, and Sufi discipline cannot be realized. Sufi texts discuss at length the points to which the murīd must pay attention. By conveying a few of these, the attitudes required of the murīd in daily life will also be indicated:
1. One should enter this life with loyalty and sincerity. 2. One should abandon all attachments of the heart related to the world.
3. One's secrets should not be heard by anyone other than the shaykh.
4. One should serve the other dervishes physically. 5. One should see oneself as in the wrong and the other murīds as in the right.
6. One should not engage in disputes concerning one's own interests.
7. One should not fall into the desire for leadership or prominence.
8. One should know that no good will come from a murīd who becomes angry or laughs loudly.
9. One should strive every day to increase one's knowledge and gnosis (maʿrifa). 10. One should regard the esteem or lack thereof from people as equal.
The murshid implements the discipline of the nafs according to the temperament and condition of the murīd, using various methods. For example, one method applied to a proud and arrogant murīd is to confront him with "begging."
The period of being a murīd is a kind of intensive educational phase. Those who successfully complete this purification graduate and take on the role of murshid. However, this does not mean that everyone who enters this life will become a murshid. Since a murshid is an educator of people, it is clear that not everyone can succeed in this. For this reason, the Sufis have adopted the principle: "Not every walī (friend of God) can be a murshid."
Another truth understood from the statements of the Sufi masters is this: Just as it is difficult to be a perfect murshid, it is equally difficult to be an adequate and sincere murīd.
The essential aspect of Sufi discipline is the spiritual exchange between murīd and murshid. However, Sufis also believe that one can attain spiritual ranks by benefiting from the spirituality of a deceased murshid. This path is called Uwaysiyya, named after Uways (Veysel) al-Qaranī.
The murīd enters the tariqa (Sufi order) with the approval of the murshid. This is called ināba, receiving initiation from the tariqa, or affiliating with the tariqa. The first act performed together with this ināba is tawba (repentance), that is, erasing evil and negativity.
Sufi works also discuss the qualities that should be present in a murshid.