Musa,

Sufism has been refuted before the time of Imam Abdul Wahab by the likes of 
Imam Ahmad, Imam Shaafi'e, Ibn Taymiyah (Eventhough  Nuh Ha Mim Keller 
states otherwise below), Ibn Jawzee, and the like. The Wahhabi 
Interpretation you mention below can be misleading because it indicates that 
Sufi refutaition began during the time of Imam Abdul Wahab to the present. 
That is far from being the case. Sufi refutation began as soon as Sufism 
reared it head. The Islam practised in the Desert of Arabia 1400 years did 
not include believing that the Quran has an outer and inner meaning. The lay 
people relegated to understanding the outer meaning and the sheikhs 
understanding both. This is undeniably part of the  Aqeedah of the Sufis.

I will state below the statements of some of the scholars regarding sufism 
and a refutation of
Nuh Ha Mim Keller's writings and statements.

WHAT THE ISLAAMIC SCHOLARS HAVE SAID ABOUT SUFISM

Imaam Ash-Shaa'fee on Sufism:
"If a person exercised Sufism (Tasawafa) at the beginning of the day, he 
does not come to Dhuhur except an idiot." [Talbees Iblees].

"Nobody accompanied the Sufis forty days and had his brain return (ever)." 
[Talbees Iblees].

Concerning the famous Sufi leader, Al-Harith Al-Muhasbi, Imaam Ahmad ibn 
Hanbaal (R) said:
"Warn (people) from Al-Harith (a Sufi leader) the strongest warning!... He 
is the shelter of the Ahl Kalaam (people of rhetoric)." [Talbees Iblis].

Sheikh Al-Madkhalee says in his book * "Haqeeqatus Soofiyyah Fee Dau'il 
Kitaabi Was Sunnah", the following
As for those authentic and well known books by the 'Ulemah that have refuted 
Sufism:

1. Al-Fataawaa - by Sheikhul Islam Ibn Taymiyah .
2. Talbess Iblis - by Ibn Al-Jawzy .
3. Tanbeebul-Ghabee ilaa Takfeer Ibn'Arabee - by Burhaanuddeen Al-Baqaa'ee .
4. Tahdheerul-'Ibaad min Ahlil-'Inaad bibid'atil-Ittihaad - by Al-Baqaa'ee .

Sufism in the West
By Hani Abid
http://www.alarqam.com

PART II:  Uncovering those who accept, adopt and spread Sufism

Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Hamza Yusuf Hanson
The Sufi Tradition in Toronto
Abdal-Hakim Murad

PART II:  Uncovering those who accept, adopt and spread Sufism

Muslims are like a single body, if a virus attacks one part of it, then the 
whole body feels it.  It is important to remove any viruses that make the 
body ill in order for it to remain healthy and strong.  Muslims today are 
very weak because the majority has abandoned the teachings of Quran and the 
way of the Prophet PBUH (i.e. his Sunnah).  In order to revive the Islamic 
spirit and rejuvenate the Muslim body, Muslims have to first rid themselves 
of the viruses that infect their minds, and develop immunity to viruses so 
as to quickly recognize them and treat them.  These viruses are the Bida’as 
that are widespread between Muslims, the cure to which is only through 
returning to the way of the Prophet PBUH and his Sunnah.  This is why it is 
a duty on every Muslim to inform his/her fellow Muslims about those who 
promote such viruses (Bida’as), to expose their false teachings, and to warn 
of the dangers that they spread.
There’s plenty of evidence to inform us of our duty to speak out against 
Bida’a and those who accept, adopt, and spread it.  Scholars like Ibn 
Taymiya, As-Shatiby, and Ibn Al-Qayyim set the example for us in their 
writings to follow.  Ibn Al-Jawzi wrote a wonderful book called “Talbees 
Iblis” in which he exposed many Bida’as and those who propagate them.  In 
the second chapter of “Tablees Iblis” entitled “Censure of Bida’a and People 
of Bida’a”, Ibn Al-Jawzi quotes the following examples:
•	Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be please with him, narrated that the Prophet 
PBUH said “Whoever strays away from my Sunnah is not from my [Ummah]” 
(reported by Bukhary).
•	A’isha, may Allah be please with her, narrated that the Prophet PBUH said 
“whoever respects and honours a person of Bida’a has assisted in destroying 
Islam”.
•	It was reported that our righteous predecessors were angered when 
questioned why they talk about people of Bida’a.  One of the righteous salaf 
said “my speech about people of Bida’a (i.e. warning about them) is more 
beloved to me than performing extra acts worship for sixty years.”
•	It was also related that the righteous predecessors said “”whoever loves a 
person of Bida’a, Allah will foil his deeds and remove the light of Islam 
from his heart”.
•	Another one said, “be warned of those who sit with people of Bida’a”.
Clearly, this evidence shows that one must expose and warn about Bida’a and 
those who spread it.  Now that we have established the validity of this act, 
we shall proceed to expose those who accept, adopt, and propagate the 
Bida’as of Sufism.
Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Nuh Ha Mim Keller, an American Sufi, became Muslim in 1977 and moved to 
Jordan where he currently resides.  Keller taught at the first Deen 
Intensive program in Toronto in 1997 along with Hamza Yusuf and others.
Keller is a member of the ‘Alawiya Order, one of the branches of Shadhili 
Order.  ‘Alawiya Order is derived from al-'Alawi[1].  Although Keller spends 
most of his time in Jordan, he still maintains a number of followers in in 
the West.
In order to cast away any doubt about Keller’s belief in the Shadhili 
Tariqa, let’s examine Keller’s own work.
"Invocations of Shaadhili Order (written by Nuh Ha Mim Keller), on Page 1, 
Keller says:
“This blessed collection contains those of the invocations and prayers of 
the Pole and Succor my master Abul Hasan al-Shadhili”.
Comments: The terms “pole” and “succor”.  The term Pole in Sufi literature 
means the “perfect man” who holds Allah’s attention in this world; all the 
affairs of creation revolve around him. He takes his way in the universe, 
both the seen and unseen parts of it, as the spirit takes its way in the 
body.  He could also be called al-Gouth (Succor, i.e. helper) because people 
seek his assistance in case of adversity.  Ahmad al-Tijani (the founder of 
the Tijani Sufi order) said, “The reality of the Pole status is that he is 
great vicegerent of Al-Haqq (i.e. Allah) in all the universe, wherever Allah 
is a God, the pole is his vicegerent in the sense that he (i.e. the pole) 
carries out all the decrees that Allah might have. So, nothing will reach 
the creation except through the pole.”
In Pages 102-103 Keller says:
“The conduct of the disciple towards the sheikh and brethren consists in 
five things: following what the sheikh says, even if something else seems 
better; avoiding what he forbids, even if it means one’s death; upholding 
the sheikh’s honor be he absent or present, alive or dead; fulfilling the 
sheikh’s rights to the degree possible, without remissness; and suspending 
one’s intellect, knowledge, and leadership, except as the sheikh confirms.”
Keller on Singing and Dancing
Nuh Ha Mim Keller mentions in his Tariqa Notes that sacred dance is one of 
the rituals of the Shadhili order. According to him, the sacred dance is a 
type of dancing performed by Sufis in unison while they make Dhikr 
(remembrance of Allah).  To show the permissibility of it, Keller argues 
that sacred dancing has 3 components:
1.	Dhikr
2.	The dancing itself
3.	Performing it in congregation
Since each of the above components is permissible if not recommended in its 
own, therefore –Keller concludes- combining them yields a permissible act of 
worship.
Keller also promotes and teaches the same misguided Sufi concepts that we 
revealed in Part I.  He writes in his book “A review of Tariqa Notes”, page 
30:
“Nothing is, beside Allah and His Attributes and His actions and His 
rulings. This is what is meant by the Sufi term wahdat al-wujud or (oneness 
of being)”.
Keller mentions the Sufi concept of oneness of being (Wahdat al-wujud).  
This concept is explained by a Toronto Sufi group on their website as[3]:
Here are two commentaries from the translator (Wahid Baksh Rabbani) of The 
Kashful Mahjub (Unveiling the veiled) by Syed Ali bin Uthman al-Hujweri 
about Wahdat al-Wujud:
Page 260 ... "In a nutshell, oneness of Being (Wahdat-al-Wujud) in Islam 
means that nothing in this world can contain God, but God contains 
everything. Or nothing is God, but nothing is separate from God. That is why 
the concept of hulul and ittihad (incarnation) are against the tenets of 
Islam. Hulul and ittihad presuppose multiplicity of being; whereas Islam 
proclaims oneness of Being ... that is Divine Being. This concept of God 
does not violate the principles of Shari'ah in any way. What happens in the 
state of fana-fi-Allah is that man does not become God, but he is lost in 
God's Being. Like an iceberg which when frozen, assumes a separate 
existence, and becomes one with the sea when it melts. Similarly, when the 
seeker is in the state of fana, he is one with God and when in baqa, he 
assumes the shape of an iceberg, cold, hard, and limited."
Page 266 ... "Again Shibli says, 'tauhid veils the Unitarian from seeing the 
beauty of His oneness.' This is because tauhid is the act of man, and the 
act of man cannot be the means (illat) of seeing God and what cannot be the 
means of seeing God, is necessarily a veil. Man, with all his attributes is 
something other than God because if his attributes (sifat) are regarded as 
Divine Attributes, then man who is the possessor of these attributes becomes 
Divine, and then the Unitarian (muwahhid), Unity (tauhid) and the One 
(wahid) become interdependent. And this is precisely the Christian notion of 
Trinity. The attribute which veils a man from reaching tauhid (oneness) is a 
veil. And one who is veiled is not a Unitarian (muwahhid), for other than 
God in the universe is non-existent."
Comments: So although the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud rejects that unity with 
God means that one becomes God (i.e. the Christian Trinity), it still 
affirms that man is with God physically as nothing exists except God.  
Keller himself confirms this belief of becoming one with God:
page 35 … Keller says “…After this, a person doesn’t need figurative 
interpretations, because the journey is no longer to Allah, but rather in 
Allah, meaning in the knowledge of him, directly and experientially.”"[2]
Of course this is the concept that was invented by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi.
Keller on Ibn Arabi:
On page 42 Keller quotes Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi as saying “…a quality which, as 
sheikh Muhyiddin (Ibn Arabi) notes…”
Comments: Regardless of Ibn Arabi’s statement, the simple fact is that 
Keller is quoting a man who was declared a kafir by countless well-reputable 
Muslim scholars.  Below are some such fatwas of Muslim scholars on Ibn 
Arabi:
1.	Al’izz Ibn Abdulsalam (d 660 H): He said about Ibn Arabi “An evil liar 
sheikh who claims that this world is eternal (i.e. was not created by Allah) 
and embraces promiscuity.”
2.	Ibn Taymiya (d 728 H): He extensively discussed the arguments of ibn 
Arabi and refuted them and called him a heretic.
3.	Ibn Katheer (d 774 H): Imam ibn Katheer in his book of Islamic history- 
Al-bidaya Wal Nihaya comments on ibn Arabi “He has a book named beads of 
wisdom in which there are many things that are apparently clear kufr.”
4.	Adh-Dhahabi (d 748 H) said: “If Ibn Arabi’s book (Beads of wisdom) does 
not contain clear Kufr, then there is no Kufr in the world.”
5.	‘Ala’ al-Di Al-Bukhari Al-Hanafi declared that: “The one who does not 
consider Ibn Arabi a kaafir (non-Muslim), then he himself is a kaafir!”
In fact, Keller not only quotes Ibn Arabi, but he also defends him.  Keller, 
in his translation of Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri’s “Umdat al-salik” writes:
Muhyiddin ibn Arabi is Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Arabi, Abu Bakr 
Muhyi al-Din al-Hatimi al-Ta’i, The Greatest Sheikh (al-Shaykh al-Akbar), 
born in Murcia (in present-day Spain) in 560/1165. A “mujtahid” Imam in 
Sacred Law, Sufism, Qur’anic exegesis, hadith, and other Islamic sciences, 
and widely regarded as a friend (wali) of Allah Most High, he was the 
foremost representative of the Sufi school of the “oneness of being” (wahdat 
al-wujud), as well as a Muslim of strict literal observance of the 
prescriptions of the Quran and sunna.
Ibn Arabi’s creed is very clear to those who read his works.  He advocates 
the concept of Hulool, which is a stepping-stone to the concept of Oneness 
of Being or “Wahdat al-Wujud”.  In simple terms, Oneness of Being means that 
none exists but Allah, so everything one sees is Allah or a manifestation of 
Allah and this is the Tawhid (oneness or unity) according to some extreme 
Sufis.
The purpose of the following examples is to show beyond the shadow of a 
doubt what the creed of Ibn Arabi is:
1.	Ibn Arabi declares the worshipers of the Golden Calf were not committing 
shirk. Found under section: "The Seal of the Wisdom of the Imam in the Word 
of Harun (Aaron)"[4]
2.	Ibn Arabi criticizes Noah as a messenger.  Found under section: "The Seal 
of the Wisdom of the Breath of Divine Inspiration in the Word of Nuh 
(Noah)"[5]
3.	Ibn Arabi declares the Pharaoh died a believer (Muslim).  Found under 
section: "The Seal of the Wisdom of Sublimity in the Word of Musa 
(Moses)"[6]
Ibn Arabi also says in his book “Fusus al-Kikam”[7]:
1.	“He is the observer in the observer, and the observed in the observed.  
None sees Him, save Himself. None perceives Him, save Himself. By Himself he 
sees Himself, and by Himself he knows Himself. His Veil is part of his 
Oneness; nothing veils other than he. . . His Prophet is he, and his sending 
is He, and His word is He.
2.	He who knows himself understands that his existence is not his own 
existence, but his existence is the existence of God.”
Yet with all these proofs, Keller still calls Ibn Arabi “the Greatest 
Shaykh”!  Ibn Taymiya writes in his book al-Uboodiya about Ibn Arabi and 
those who adopt his beliefs:
The most horrifying Kufr
Therefore, anyone who witnesses the universal truth without the religious 
truth will hold equal all these types of people whom Allah (SWT) has made an 
ultimate distinction between. This reconciliation will eventually conduce 
him to even reconcile between Allah (AWJ) and the idols, as Allah (SWT) said 
about this type of people.
By Allah, we were truly in a manifest error. When we held you (false 
deities) as equals (in Al-'Ibaadah) with the Lord of the Worlds. 
[Ash-Shu'araa:97-98]
They eventually reach the point where they reconcile between Allah (AWJ) and 
every existing being. And they considered all that which He (AWJ) deserves 
of 'Ibaadah and obedience as being due to every existing created thing since 
they made His (AWJ) existence the same as the existence of the created 
things. This is of the most horrifying Kufr and atheism towards the Lord of 
all the beings. They reach by their Kufr the point where they do not bear 
witness that they are 'Ibaad-u-Allah, neither by the meaning of the subdued 
ones nor by the meaning of the worshiping ones. They witness that they 
themselves are the Truth as has been declared by their false idols, e.g. Ibn 
Arabi who wrote "Al-Fousous," and other slandering atheists such as Ibn 
Sab'een and his like. They even witness that they are simultaneously the 
worshipers and the ones being worshiped.
This, indeed, is not the witnessing of the truth, neither the universal one 
nor the religious one, but it is rather a going astray and a blindness from 
witnessing the universal truth, for they made the existence of the Creator 
the same as that of the created. They made every good and bad quality as an 
attribute to both the Creator and the created, for they consider the 
existence of the former as being the same as the existence of the latter. 
But the believers in Allah (SWT) and His Messengers, both commoner and 
elite, are the people of the Quran, as the Prophet PBUH said, "Verily, Allah 
has (favorite) people amongst mankind." He was asked, "Who are they? O 
Messenger of Allah." He replied, "The people of Al Quran, they are people of 
Allah and His elite."
The Kufr of those who believe in the incarnation
These people know that Allah (SWT) is the Lord, the Owner, and the Creator 
of everything. And that the Creator is different from the created being. He 
(SWT) is neither incarnated in the being nor combined with him, nor is His 
(SWT) existence the same as the being's existence. Indeed, the Christians 
were not declared by Allah (SWT) as Kuffar (unbelievers) except for that 
they believed in the incarnation and combination of Allah (SWT) with 
Al-Maseeh (Jesus). So how about those who made this true about every 
creature? Yet, they know fully well that Allah (SWT) ordered obedience to 
Him (AWJ) and obedience to His Messengers, and that Allah (SWT) does not 
like corruption nor approves Al-Kufr for His 'Ibaad. And all the creation 
ought to worship Him (SWT) so that they obey His commands, and ask for His 
aid to fulfill that; as He (AWJ) said in the Opening of the Scripture: It is 
You we worship and it is You we ask for help. [Al-Faatihah:5]
The above examples are just a brief illustration of the misguidance of Nuh 
Ha Mim Keller.  Muslims, especially young ones, have to know the truth about 
such people so they’re not deceived by their appearances or words.  Even the 
name that Keller adopted (Ha Mim) shows his commitment to bida’a.  Keller 
explains Ha Mim as: “Ha Mim Ha Mim, Ha Mim, Ha Mim, Ha Mim. The matter be 
done, the victory come, against us they shall not be helped”.

INVOCATIONS OF SHAADHILI ORDER BY NUH HA MIM KELLER 
HTTP://WWW.ALLAAHUAKBAR.NET/INDIVIDUAL_CALLERS/NUH_HA_MIM/INVOCATIONS_OF_SHAADHILI_ORDER.HTM

A REVIEW OF 'TAREEQA NOTES'  A BOOK BY NUH HA MIM KELLER 
HTTP://WWW.ALLAAHUAKBAR.NET/INDIVIDUAL_CALLERS/NUH_HA_MIM/A_REVIEW_OF_TAREEQA_NOTES_OF_NUH_HA_MIM.HTM



>Dear Ginny et all,
>Ginny Thanks for your contribution on the subject.I have been away from my
>computer since last Thursday.I just saw the posting forwarded by Brother
>Salieu offering a different view on sufism,Which is most welcome.Which I 
>may
>say is the  Wahhabi interpretation or attitude towards Tasawwuf(sufism).I 
>am
>not at all surprised.Wahhabis are diametrically opposed to the practice and
>will go to any length to rubbish the writings of sufi writers and
>practitioners.However,I will now present the views of Scholars so that
>people can judge for themselves.At this point,I must declare an
>interest.Iam a sunni muslim and a sufi practitioner.
>   *How would you respond to the Claim that Sufism is bid'a?*
>*(c)Nuh Ha Mim Keller 1995*
>

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