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*
*I would respond* by looking to see how traditional ulama or Islamic
scholars have viewed it. For the longest period of Islamic history--from
Umayyad times to Abbasid, to Mameluke, to the end of the six-hundred-year
Ottoman period--Sufism has been taught and understood as an Islamic
discipline, like Qur'anic exegesis (*tafsir*), hadith, Qur'an recital (*
tajwid*), tenets of faith (*ilm al-tawhid*) or any other, each of which
preserved some particular aspect of the *din* or religion of Islam. While
the details and terminology of these *shari'a* disciplines were unknown to
the first generation of Muslims, when they did come into being, they were
not considered *bid'a* or "reprehensible innovation" by the *ulema* of *
shari'a* because for them, *bid'a* did not pertain to means, but rather to
ends, or more specifically, those ends that nothing in Islam attested to the
validity of.
To illustrate this point, we may note that the Prophet (Allah bless him and
give him peace) never in his life prayed in a mosque built of reinforced
concrete, with a carpeted floor, glass windows, and so on, yet these are not
considered bid'a, because we Muslims have been commanded to come together in
mosques to perform the prayer, and large new buildings for this are merely a
means to carry out the command.
In the realm of knowledge, books of detailed interpretation of the Qur'an,
verse by verse and sura by sura, were not known to the first generation of
Islam, nor was the term *tafsir* current among them, yet because of its
benefit in preserving a vital aspect of the revelation, the understanding of
the Qur'an, when the *tafsir* literature came into being, it was
acknowledged to serve an end endorsed by the *shari'a* and was not condemned
as *bid'a*. The same is true of most of the Islamic sciences, such as *ilm
al-jarh wa tadil* or "the science of weighing positive and negative factors
for evaluating the reliability of hadith narrators", or *ilm al-tawhid*,
"the science of tenets of Islamic faith", and other disciplines essential to
the *shari'a*. In this connection, Imam Shafi'i (d. 204/820) has said,
"Anything which has a support (*mustanad*) from the *shari'a* is *not* *
bid'a*, even if the early Muslims did not do it" (Ahmad al-Ghimari, *Tashnif
al-adhan*, Cairo: Maktaba al-Khanji, n.d., 133).
Similarly *ilm al-tasawwuf*, "the science of Sufism" came into being to
preserve and transmit a particular aspect of the *shari'a*, that of
*ikhlas*or sincerity. It was recognized that the sunna of the Prophet
(Allah bless
him and give him peace) was not only words and actions, but also states of
being: that a Muslim must not only say certain things and do certain things,
but must also be something. The *shari'a* commands one, for example, in many
Qur'anic verses and prophetic hadiths, to fear Allah, to have sincerity
toward Him, to be so certain in ones knowledge of Allah that one worships
Him as if one sees Him, to love the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him
peace) more than any other human being, to show love and respect to all
fellow Muslims, to show mercy, and to have many other states of the heart.
It likewise forbids us such inward states as envy, malice, pride, arrogance,
love of this world, anger for the sake of one's ego, and so on. Al-Hakim
al-Tirmidhi relates, for example, with a chain of transmission judged
rigorously authenticated (*sahih*) by Ibn Main, the hadith "Anger spoils
faith (*iman*) as [the bitterness of] aloes sap spoils honey" (*Nawadir
al-usul*. Istanbul 1294/1877. Reprint. Beirut: Dar Sadir, n.d., 6).
If we reflect upon these states, obligatory to attain or to eliminate, we
notice that they proceed from dispositions, dispositions not only lacking in
the unregenerate human heart, but acquired only with some effort, resulting
in a human change so profound that the Qur'an in many verses terms it
purification, as when Allah says in *surat al-Ala*, for example, "*He has
succeeded who purifies himself*" (Qur'an 87:14). Bringing about this change
is the aim of the Islamic science of Sufism, and it cannot be termed *bid'a*,
because the *shari'a* commands us to accomplish the change.
At the practical level, the nature of this science of purifying the heart
(like virtually all other traditional Islamic disciplines) requires that the
knowledge be taken from those who possess it. This is why historically we
find that groups of students gathered around particular sheikhs to learn the
discipline of Sufism from. While such *tariqas* or groups, past and present,
have emphasized different ways to realize the attachment of the heart to
Allah commanded by the Islamic revelation, some features are found in all of
them, such as learning knowledge from a teacher by precept and example, and
then methodically increasing ones iman or faith by applying this knowledge
through performing obligatory and supererogatory works of worship, among the
greatest of latter being *dhikr* or the remembrance of Allah. There is much
in the Qur'an and sunna that attests to the validity of this approach, such
as the hadith related by al-Bukhari that:
Allah Most High says: ". . . . My slave approaches Me with nothing more
beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him, and My slave keeps
drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love
him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his
hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks me,
I will surely give to him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely
protect him (*Sahih al-Bukhari*. 9 vols. Cairo 1313/1895. Reprint (9 vols.
in 3). Beirut: Dar al-Jil, n.d., 5.131: 6502)
--which is a way of expressing that such a person has realized the
consummate awareness of *tawhid* or "unity of Allah" demanded by the
shari'a, which entails total sincerity to Allah in all one's actions.
Because of this hadith, and others, traditional *ulama* have long
acknowledged that *ilm* or "Sacred Knowledge" is not sufficient in itself,
but also entails *amal* or "applying what one knows"--as well as the
resultant *hal* or "praiseworthy spiritual state" mentioned in the hadith.
It was perceived in all Islamic times that when a scholar joins between
these aspects, his words mirror his humility and sincerity, and for that
reason enter the hearts of listeners. This is why we find that so many of
the Islamic scholars to whom Allah gave *tawfiq* or success in their work
were Sufis. Indeed, to throw away every traditional work of the Islamic
sciences authored by those educated by Sufis would be to discard 75 percent
or more of the books of Islam. These men included such scholars as the
Hanafi Imam Muhammad Amin Ibn Abidin, Sheikh al-Islam Zakaria al-Ansari,
Imam Ibn Daqiq al-Eid, Imam al-Izz Ibn Abd al-Salam, Abd al-Ghani
al-Nabulsi, Sheikh Ahmad al-Sirhindi, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Bajuri, Imam
al-Ghazali, Shah Wali Allah al-Dahlawi, Imam al-Nawawi, the hadith master
(hafiz, someone with 100,000 hadiths by memory) Abd al-Adhim al-Mundhiri,
the hadith master Murtada al-Zabidi, the hadith master Abd al-Rauf
al-Manawi, the hadith master Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, the hadith master Taqi
al-Din al-Subki, Imam al-Rafii, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Zayn al-Din
al-Mallibari, Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, and many many others.
Imam al-Nawawi's attitude towards Sufism is plain from his work *Bustan
al-arifin* [The grove of the knowers of Allah] on the subject, as well as
his references to al-Qushayri's famous Sufi manual *al-Risala al-Qushayriyya
* throughout his own *Kitab al-adhkar* [Book of the remembrances of Allah],
and the fact that fifteen out of seventeen quotations about sincerity (*
ikhlas*) and being true (*sidq*) in an introductory section of his largest
legal work (*al-Majmu: sharh al-Muhadhdhab*. 20 vols. Cairo n.d. Reprint.
Medina: al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, n.d., 1.1718) are from Sufis who appear by
name in *al-Sulami's Tabaqat al-Sufiyya* [The successive generations of
Sufis]. Even Ibn Taymiyya (whose views on Sufism remain strangely unfamiliar
even to those for whom he is their "Sheikh <http://www.q-news.com/> of
Islam") devoted volumes ten and eleven of his *Majmu al-fatawa* to Sufism,
while his student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya wrote his three-volume *Madarij
al-salikin* as a detailedcommentary on Abdullah al-Ansaris *Manazil
al-sairin*, a guide to the *maqamat* or "spiritual stations" of the Sufi
path. These and many other Muslim scholars knew firsthand the value of
Sufism as an ancillary *shari'a* discipline needed to purify the heart, and
this was the reason that the Umma as a whole did not judge Sufism to be a *
bid'a* down through the ages of Islamic civilization, but rather recognized
it as the science of *ikhlas* or sincerity, so urgently needed by every
Muslim on "*a day when wealth will not avail, nor sons, but only him who
brings Allah a sound heart*" (Qur'an 26:88).
You can also visit the following website to see What Scholars have written
about the subject. http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar.htm
I will just produce a few from that writing:
Scholars On *Tassawwuf
Information by Ahl as-Sunna wal-Jamaat about the purification of the soul,
the Islamic Science of Tasawwuf
*
al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar1.htm>
Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 150) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar2.htm>
Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 161) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar3.htm>
Imam Malik (d. 179) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar4.htm>
Imam Shafi`i (d. 204) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar5.htm>
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar6.htm>
al-Harith al-Muhasibi (d. 243) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar7.htm>
al-Qasim ibn `Uthman al-Ju`i (d.
248)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar8.htm>
Imam al-Junayd al-Baghdadi (d. 297)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar9.htm>
al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. 320) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar10.htm>
Imam Abu Mansur `Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d.
429)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar11.htm>
Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri (d.
465)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar12.htm>
Shaykh Abu Isma`il `Abd Allah al-Harawi al-Ansari (d.
481)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar13.htm>
Hujjat al-Islam Imam Ghazali (d.
505)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar14.htm>
Abu al-Wafa' Ibn `Aqil al-Hanbali (d.
513)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar15.htm>
Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (d.
561)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar16.htm>
Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar17.htm>
Imam Fakhr al-Din Razi (d. 606)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar18.htm>
Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (d. 656)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar19.htm>
al-`Izz ibn `Abd al-Salam al-Sulami (d.
660)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar20.htm>
Imam Nawawi (d. 676) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr21.htm>
`Abd al-Salam b. Ahmad b. `Anim al-Maqdisi (d.
678)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr22.htm>
Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm>
Ibn `Ata' Allah al-Iskandari (d.
709)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr25.htm>
Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr27.htm>
Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi al-Maliki (d.
790)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr28.htm>
Ibn Khaldun (d. 808) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr29.htm>
Imam al-Sakhawi (d. 902) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr30.htm>
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr31.htm>
Zakariyya ibn Muhammad Ansari (d.
926)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr32.htm>
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr33.htm>
`Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha`rani (d. 973)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr34.htm>
Mulla `Ali al-Qari (d. 1014) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr35.htm>
Ibn `Abidin (d. 1252) <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr36.htm>
Abu al-`Ala' al-Mawdudi (d. 1399)<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr37.htm>
Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr39.htm>
Conclusion <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr38.htm>
[23] ON TASAWWUF Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728)
His admirers cite this jurist and hadith master of the Hanbali school as an
enemy of Sufis, and he is the principal authority in the campaign of
"Salafis" responsible for creating the present climate of unwarranted
fanaticism and encouragement to ignorance regarding tasawwuf. Yet Ibn
Taymiyya was himself a Sufi. However, "Salafis" are careful never to show
the Sufi Ibn Taymiyya, who would severely hamper their construction of him
as purely anti-Sufi.
Ibn Taymiyya's discourse on tasawwuf is riddled with contradictions and
ambiguities. One might say that even though he levelled all sorts of
judgments on Sufis, he was nevertheless unable to deny the greatness of
tasawwuf upon which the Community had agreed long before he came along. As a
result he is often observed slighting tasawwuf, questioning his Sufi
contemporaries, and reducing the primacy of the elite of Muslims to
ordinariness, at the same time as he boasts of being a Qadiri Sufi in a
direct line of succession to Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, as we show in
the lines that follow.
It should be clear that the reason we quote the following evidence is not
because we consider Ibn Taymiyya in any way representative of tasawwuf. In
our view he no more represents tasawwuf than he represents the `aqida of Ahl
al-Sunna. However, we quote his views only to demonstrate that his
misrepresentation by Orientalists and "Salafis" purely as an enemy of
tasawwuf does not stand to scrutiny. Regardless of the desires of one group
or another, the facts provide clear evidence that Ibn Taymiyya had no choice
but to accept tasawwuf and its principles, and that he himself not only
claimed to be a Sufi, but also to have been adorned with the cloak (khirqa)
of shaykhhood in the Qadiri Sufi Order.
We have already mentioned Ibn Taymiyya's admiration for `Abd al-Qadir
Gilani, to whom he gives the title "my Shaykh" (shaykhuna) and "my Master"
(sayyidi) exclusively in his entire Fatawa. Ibn Taymiyya's sufi inclinations
and his reverence for `Abd al-Qadir Gilani can also be seen in his
hundred-page commentary on Futuh al-ghayb, covering only five of the
seventy-eight sermons of the book, but showing that he considered tasawwuf
essential within the life of the Islamic
community.1<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#1>
In his commentary Ibn Taymiyya stresses that the primacy of the Shari`a
forms the soundest tradition in tasawwuf, and to argue this point he lists
over a dozen early masters, as well as more contemporary shaykhs like his
fellow Hanbalis, al-Ansari al-Harawi and `Abd al-Qadir, and the latter's own
shaykh, Hammad al-Dabbas:The upright among the followers of the Path - like
the majority of the early shaykhs (shuyukh al-salaf) such as Fudayl ibn
`Iyad, Ibrahim ibn Adham, Ma`ruf al-Karkhi, al-Sari al-Saqati, al-Junayd ibn
Muhammad, and others of the early teachers, as well as Shaykh Abd al-Qadir,
Shaykh Hammad, Shaykh Abu al-Bayan and others of the later masters -- do not
permit the followers of the Sufi path to depart from the divinely legislated
command and prohibition, even were that person to have flown in the air or
walked on water.2 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#2>
Elsewhere also, such as in his al-Risala al-safadiyya, Ibn Taymiyya defends
the Sufis as those who belong to the path of the Sunna and represent it in
their teachings and writings:The great shaykhs mentioned by Abu `Abd
al-Rahman al-Sulami in Tabaqat al-sufiyya, and Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri in
al-Risala, were adherents of the school of Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a and the
school of Ahl al-hadith, such as al-Fudayl ibn `Iyad, al-Junayd ibn
Muhammad, Sahl ibn `Abd Allah al-Tustari, `Amr ibn `Uthman al-Makki, Abu
`Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Khafif al-Shirazi, and others, and their speech is
found in the Sunna, and they composed books about the
Sunna.3<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#3>
In his treatise on the difference between the lawful forms of worship and
the innovative forms, entitled Risalat al-`ibadat al-shar`iyya wal-farq
baynaha wa bayn al-bid`iyya, Ibn Taymiyya unmistakably states that that the
lawful is the method and way of "those who follow the Sufi path" or "the way
of self-denial" (zuhd) and those who follow "what is called poverty and
tasawwuf", i.e. the fuqara' and the Sufis:The lawful is that by which one
approaches near to Allah. It is the way of Allah. It is righteousness,
obedience, good deeds, charity, and fairness. It is the way of those on the
Sufi path (al-salikin), and the method of those intending Allah and
worshipping Him; it is that which is travelled by everyone who desires Allah
and follows the way of self-denial (zuhd) and religious practice, and what
is called poverty and tasawwuf and the
like.4<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#4>
Regarding `Abd al-Qadir's teaching that the salik or Sufi wayfarer should
abstain from permitted desires, Ibn Taymiyya begins by determining that Abd
al-Qadir's intention is that one should give up those permitted things which
are not commanded, for there may be a danger in them. But to what extent? If
Islam is essentially learning and carrying out the Divine command, then
there must be a way for the striver on the path to determine the will of
Allah in each particular situation. Ibn Taymiyya concedes that the Qur'an
and Sunna cannot explicitly cover every possible specific event in the life
of every believer. Yet if the goal of submission of will and desire to Allah
is to be accomplished by those seeking Him, there must be a way for the
striver to ascertain the Divine command in its particularity.
Ibn Taymiyya's answer is to apply the legal concept of ijtihad to the
spiritual path, specifically to the notion of ilham or inspiration. In his
efforts to achieve a union of his will with Allah's, the true Sufi reaches a
state where he desires nothing more than to discover the greater good, the
action which is most pleasing and loveable to Allah. When external legal
arguments cannot direct him in such matters, he can rely on the standard
Sufi notions of private inspiration (ilham) and intuitive perception
(dhawq):If the Sufi wayfarer has creatively employed his efforts to the
external shar`i indications and sees no clear probability concerning his
preferable action, he may then feel inspired, along with his goodness of
intention and reverent fear of Allah, to choose one of two actions as
superior to the other. This kind of inspiration (ilham) is an indication
concerning the truth. It may be even a stronger indication than weak
analogies, weak hadiths, weak literalist arguments (zawahir), and weak
istisHaab which are employed by many who delve into the principles,
differences, and systematizing of
fiqh.5<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#5>
Ibn Taymiyya bases this view on the principle that Allah has put a natural
disposition for the truth in mankind, and when this natural disposition has
been grounded in the reality of faith and enlightened by Qur'anic teaching,
and still the striver on the path is unable to determine the precise will of
Allah in specific instances, then his heart will show him the preferable
course of action. Such an inspiration, he holds, is one of the strongest
authorities possible in the situation. Certainly the striver will sometimes
err, falsely guided by his inspiration or intuitive perception of the
situation, just as the mujtahid sometimes errs. But, he says, even when the
mujtahid or the inspired striver is in error, he is obedient.
Appealing to ilham and dhawq does not mean following one's own whims or
personal preferences.6 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#6> In
his letter to Nasr al-Manbiji, he qualifies this intuition as
"faith-informed" (al-dhawq al-imani). His point is, as in the commentary to
the Futuh, that inspirational experience is by nature ambiguous and needs to
be qualified and informed by the criteria of the Qur'an and the Sunna. Nor
can it lead to a certainty of the truth in his view, but what it can do is
give the believer firm grounds for choosing the more probably correct course
of action in a given instance and help him to conform his will, in the
specific details of his life, to that of his Creator and
Commander.7<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#7>
Other works of his as well abound in praise for Sufi teachings. For example,
in his book al-ihtijaj bi al-qadar, he defends the Sufis' emphasis on love
of Allah and their voluntarist rather than intellectual approach to religion
as being in agreement with the teachings of the Qur'an , the sound hadith,
and the imja` al-salaf:As for the Sufis, they affirm the love (of Allah),
and this is more evident among them than all other issues. The basis of
their Way is simply will and love. The affirmation of the love of Allah is
well-known in the speech of their early and recent masters, just as it is
affirmed in the Book and the Sunna and in the agreement of the
Salaf.8<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#8>
Ibn Taymiyya is also notorious for his condemnation of Ibn `Arabi. However,
what he condemned was not Ibn `Arabi but a tiny book of his entitled Fusus
al-hikam, which forms a single slim volume. As for Ibn `Arabi's magnum opus,
al-Futuhat al-makkiyya (The Meccan divine disclosures), Ibn Taymiyya was no
less an admirer of this great work than everyone else in Islam who saw it,
as he declares in his letter to Abu al-Fath Nasr al-Munayji (d. 709)
published in his the volume entitled Tawhid al-rububiyya of his Fatawa:I was
one of those who, previously, used to hold the best opinion of Ibn `Arabi
and extol his praise, because of the benefits I saw in his books, such as
what he said in many of his books, for example: al-Futuhat, al-Kanh,
al-Muhkam al-marbut, al-Durra al-fakhira, Matali` al-nujum, and other such
works.9 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#9>
Ibn Taymiyya goes on to say he changed his opinions, not because of anything
in these books, but only after he read the Fusus.
We now turn to the evidence of Ibn Taymiyya's affiliation with the Qadiri
Sufi Way and to his own acknowledgement, as related by his student Ibn `Abd
al-Hadi (d. 909), that he had received the Qadiri khirqa or cloak of
authority from `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani through a chain of three shaykhs.
These are no other than the three Ibn Qudamas who are among the established
authorities in fiqh in the Hanbali school. This information was brought to
light by George Makdisi in a series of articles published in the
1970s.10<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#10>
In a manuscript of the Yusuf ibn `Abd al Hadi al-Hanbali entitled Bad' al
'ilqa bi labs al khirqa (The beginning of the shield in the wearing of the
Sufi cloak), Ibn Taymiyya is listed within a Sufi spiritual genealogy with
other well known Hanbali scholars. The links in this genealogy are, in
descending order:
`Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (d. 561)
- Abu `Umar ibn Qudama (d. 607)
- Muwaffaq al Din ibn Qudama (d. 620)
Ibn Abi `Umar ibn Qudama (d. 682)
Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728)
Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyya (d. 751)
Ibn Rajab (d. 795)(Both Abu `Umar ibn Qudama and his brother Muwaffaq al-Din
received the khirqa directly from Abd al-Qadir himself.)
Ibn Taymiyya is then quoted by Ibn `Abd al Hadi as affirming his Sufi
affiliation both in the Qadiri order and in other Sufi orders:I have worn
the Sufi cloak of a number of shaykhs belonging to various tariqas (labistu
khirqata at tasawwuf min turuqi jama'atin min al shuyukhi), among them the
Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al Jili, whose tariqa is the greatest of the well known
ones.Further on he says:The greatest Sufi Way (ajall al-turuq) is that of my
master (sayyidi) `Abd al-Qadir al Jili, may Allah have mercy on
him.11<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#11>
Further corroboration comes from Ibn Taymiyya in one of his own works, as
quoted in his al Mas'ala at tabriziyya:labistu al khirqata al-mubarakata li
al Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir wa bayni wa baynahu ithanI wore the blessed Sufi
cloak of `Abd al-Qadir, there being between him and me two
shaykhs.12<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#12>
Ibn Taymiyya thus affirms that he was an assiduous reader of Ibn `Arabi's
al-Futuhat al-makkiyya; that he considers `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani his shaykh
-- he even wrote a commentary on the latter's Futuh al-ghayb; and that he
belongs to the Qadiriyya order and other Sufi orders. What does he say about
tasawwuf and Sufis in general?
In his essay entitled al-Sufiyya wa al-fuqara' and published in the eleventh
volume (al Tawassuf) of his Majmu`a fatawa IbnTaymiyya al Kubra, he
states:The word sufi was not well-known in the first three centuries but its
usage became well-known after that. More than a few Imams and shaykhs spoke
about it, such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Sulayman al Darani, and others. It
has been related that Sufyan al-Thawri used it. Some have also mentioned
that concerning Hasan al
Basri.13<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#13>
Ibn Taymiyya then goes on to deduce that tasawwuf originated in Basra among
the generations after the tabi`in, because he finds that many of the early
Sufis originated from there while he does not find evidence of it elsewhere.
In this way he mistakenly reduces tasawwuf to a specific place and time,
cutting it off from its links with the time of the Prophet and the
Companions. This is one the aberrant conclusions which gives rise, among
today's "Salafis," to questions such as: "Where in the Qur'an and the Sunna
is tasawwuf mentioned?" As Ibn `Ajiba replied to such questioners:The
founder of the science of tasawwuf is the Prophet himself to whom Allah
taught it by means of revelation and
inspiration.14<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#14>By
Allah's favor, we have put this issue to rest in our lengthy
exposition
on the proofs of tasawwuf in the pages above.
Ibn Taymiyya continues:Tasawwuf has realities (haqa'iq) and states of
experience (ahwal) which the Sufis mention in their science... Some say that
the Sufi is he who purifies himself from anything which distracts him from
the remembrance of Allah and who becomes full of reflection about the
hereafter, to the point that gold and stones will be the same to him. Others
say that tasawwuf is safeguarding of the precious meanings and leaving
behind pretensions to fame and vanity, and the like. Thus the meaning of
sufi alludes to the meaning of siddiq or one who has reached complete
Truthfulness, because the best of human beings after prophets are the
siddiqin, as Allah mentioned in the verse:Whoever obeys Allah and the
Apostle, they are in the company of those on whom is the grace of Allah: of
the prophets, the truthful saints, the martyrs and the righteous; ah, what a
beautiful fellowship! (4:69)
They consider, therefore, that after the Prophets there is no one more
virtuous than the Sufi, and the Sufi is, in fact, among other kinds of
truthful saints, only one kind, who specialized in asceticism and worship
(al-sufi huwa fi al haqiqa naw`un min al-siddiqin fahuwa al-siddiq alladhi
ikhtassa bi al zuhdi wa al '`ibada). The Sufi is "the righteous man of the
path," just as others are called "the righteous ones of the `ulama" and "the
righteous ones of the emirs"...[Here Ibn Taymiyya denies the Sufis' claim
that they represent Truthfulness after the Prophets, and he makes their
status only one among many of a larger pool of truthful servants. This stems
from his earlier premise that tasawwuf originated later and farther than the
Sunna of the Prophet. We have already mentioned that this premise was
incorrect. All of the Sufis consider that the conveyors of their knowledge
and discipline were none other than the Companions and the Successors, who
took it from none other than the Prophet himself. In this respect the Sufis
and the great Companions and Successors are not differentiated in essence,
although they are differentiated in name, by which precedence is given to
the Companions and the Successors according to the hadith of the Prophet.
Then Ibn Taymiyya arbitrarily separates Sufis and scholars into two
seemingly discrete groups, whereas we have seen that all the Sufis were
great scholars, and that many of the greatest scholars were Sufis. Al-Junayd
anticipated such high-handed distinctions in his famous statement: "This
knowledge of ours is built of the Qur'an and the Sunna." Also addressing
this important mistake in his Tabaqat al-kubra, Sha`rani quotes al-Junayd
and goes on to state:Every true Sufi is a scholar is Sacred Law, though the
reverse is not necessarily
true.15<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#15>]Some
people criticized the Sufis and said that they were innovators and out of
the Sunna... but the truth is that they are exercising ijtihad in view of
obeying Allah just as others who are obedient to Allah have also done. So
from them you will find the Foremost in Nearness (al-sabiq al-muqarrab) by
virtue of his striving, while some of them are from the People of the Right
Hand... and among those claiming affiliation with them, are those who are
unjust to themselves, rebelling against their Lord. These are the sects of
innovators and free-thinkers (zindiq) who claim affiliation to the Sufis but
in the opinion of the genuine Sufis, they do not belong, for example,
al-Hallaj.[Here Ibn Taymiyya's inappropriate citing of al-Hallaj is far more
symptomatic of his own misunderstanding of tasawwuf that it is illustrative
of the point he is trying to make. In reality, as `Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi
said of al-Hallaj, "his case (among the Sufis) is not clear, though Ibn
`Ata' Allah, Ibn Khafif, and Abu al-Qasim al-Nasir Abadi approved of
him."16<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#16>Furthermore, we
have already mentioned that major scholars in Ibn Taymiyya's
own school rejected the charges leveled against al-Hallaj, and even
considered him a saint, such as Ibn `Aqil and Ibn Qudama. Can it be that Ibn
Taymiyya was unaware of all these positions which invalidate his point, or
is he merely affecting ignorance?]Tasawwuf has branched out and diversified
and the Sufis have become known as three types:
1. Sufiyyat al haqa'iq: the Sufis of Realities, and these are the ones
we mentioned above;
2. Sufiyyat al arzaq: the funded Sufis who live on the religious
endowments of Sufi guest-houses and schools; it is not necessary for them to
be among the people of true realities, as this is a very rare thing
3. Sufiyyat al rasm: the Sufis by appearance only, who are interested
in bearing the name and the dress
etc.17<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#17>
About fana' -- a term used by Sufis literally signifying extinction or
self-extinction -- and the shatahat or sweeping statements of Sufis, Ibn
Taymiyya says:This state of love is characterize many of the People of Love
of Allah and the People of Seeking (Ahl al irada). A person vanishes to
himself in the object of his love -- Allah through the intensity of his
love. He will recall Allah, not recalling himself, remember Allah and forget
himself, take Allah to witness and not take himself to witness, exist in
Allah, not to himself. When he reaches that stage, he no longer feels his
own existence. That is why he may say in this state: ana al haqq (I am the
Truth), or subhani (Glory to Me!), and ma fi al-jubba illa Allah (There is
nothing in this cloak except Allah), because he is drunk in the love of
Allah and this is a pleasure and happiness that he cannot control...
This matter has in it both truth and falsehood. Yet when someone enters
through his fervor a state of ecstatic love (`ishq) for Allah, he will take
leave of his mind, and when he enters that state of absentmindedness, he
will find himself as if he is accepting the concept of ittihad (union with
Allah). I do not consider this a sin, because that person is excused and no
one may punish him as he is not aware of what he is doing. The pen does not
condemn the crazed person except when he is restored to sanity (and commits
the same act). However, when he is in that state and commits wrong, he will
come under Allah's address:O Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget
or make mistakes (2:286), There is no blame on you if you unintentionally
make a mistake.18 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#18>
The story is mentioned of two men whose mutual love was so strong that one
day, as one of them fell in the sea, the other one threw himself in behind
him. Then the first one asked: "What made you fall here like me?" His friend
replied: "I vanished in you and no longer saw myself. I thought you were I
and I was you"... Therefore, as long as one is not drunk through something
that is prohibited, his action is accepted from him, but if he is drunk
through something prohibited (i.e. the intention was bad) then he is not
excused.19 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#19>
The above pages show the great extent of Ibn Taymiyya's familiarity with the
broad lines of tasawwuf. Such knowledge was but part of the complete
education of anyone who had a claim to learning in his day and before his
time. It did not constitute something extraneous or foreign to the great
corpus of the Islamic sciences. And yet, similarly to his case in `aqida
which we have unravelled in the previous pages, Ibn Taymiyya's
misunderstanding of tasawwuf massively outweighed his understanding of it.
This point was brought to light with quasi-surgical precision by the great
Sufi Shaykh Ibn `Ata' Allah in the debate he held with Ibn Taymiyya in the
mosque of al-Azhar in Cairo.
------------------------------
1 The commentary is found in volume 10:455-548 of the first Riyadh editionof
the Majmu` fatawa Ibn Taymiyya.
2 Majmu` fatawa Ibn Taymiyya 10:516.
3 Ibn Taymiyya, al-Safadiyya (Riyad: matabi` hanifa, 1396/1976) 1:267.
4 Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu`at al-rasa'il wa al-masa'il (Beirut: lajnat al-turath
al-`arabi) 5:83.
5 Majmu` fatawa Ibn Taymiyya 10:473-474.
6 Ibid. 10:479.
7 Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu`a al-rasa'il wal-masa'il 1:162.
8 Ibn Taymiyya, al-Ihtijaj bi al-qadar (Cairo: al-matba`a al-salafiyya,
1394/1974) p. 38.
9 Ibn Taymiyya, Tawhid al-rububiyya in Majmu`a al-Fatawa al-kubra (Riyad,
1381) 2:464-465.
10 George Makdisi, "L'isnad initiatique soufi de Muwaffaq ad-Din ibn
Qudama," in Cahiers de l'Herne: Louis Massignon (Paris: Editions de l'Herne,
1970) p. 88-96; "Ibn Taimiya: A Sufi of the Qadiriya Order," in American
Journal of Arabic Studies I (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1974) p. 118-129; "The
Hanbali School and Sufism," in Boletin de la Asociacion Espanola de
Orientalistas 15 (Madrid, 1979) p. 115-126.
11 Ibn `Abd al Hadi, Bad' al 'ilqa bi labs al khirqa, ms. al-Hadi, Princeton
Library Arabic Collection, fols. 154a, 169b, 171b 172a; and Damascus
University, copy of original Arabic manuscript, 985H.; also mentioned in at
Talyani, manuscript Chester Beatty 3296 (8) in Dublin, fol. 67a.
12 Manuscript Damascus, Zahiriyya #1186 H.
13 Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu`a al-fatawa al-kubra 11:5.
14 Ibn `Ajiba, Iqaz al-himam p. 6.
15 al-Sha`rani, al-Tabaqat al-kubra 1:4.
16 `Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi, Usul al-din p. 315-16.
17 Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu`a al-fatawa al-kubra 11:16-20.
18 Op. cit. 2:396 397.
19 Op. cit. 10:339.
Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's
The Repudiation of "Salafi"
Innovations<http://amahelp.com/isn/asfa/index.htm>(Kazi, 1996) p.
354-366.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
ON TASAWWUF Imam Nawawi (d. 676)
One of the great Sufi scholars, strictest latter-time hadith masters, and
most meticulous of jurists, Shaykh al-Islam Imam Muhyiddin Yahya ibn Sharaf
al-Nawawi is with al-Rafi`i the principal reference of the late Shafi`i
school. His books remain authoritative in the methodology of the law, in
Qur'an commentary, and in hadith. His commentary of *Sahih Muslim* is second
only to Ibn Hajar's commentary of *Sahih Bukhari*. Allah gave his famous
compilation of Forty Hadiths more circulation and fame than possibly any
other book of hadith, large or small, and has allowed Nawawi to be of
immense benefit to the Community of Islam.
Nawawi was considered a Sufi and a saint, as is evident from the titles of
some of his works and that of Sakhawi's biography entitled *Tarjamat shaykh
al-islam, qutb al-awliya' al-kiram, faqih al-anam, muhyi al-sunna wa mumit
al-bid`a Abi Zakariyya Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi* (The biography of the Shaykh
of Islam, the Pole of Noble Saints, the Jurist of Mankind, the Reviver of
the Sunna and the Slayer of Innovation... al-Nawawi).
Nawawi writes in his short treatise entitled *al-Maqasid fi al tawhid wa
al-`ibada wa usul al-tasawwuf* (The purposes in oneness, worship, and the
foundations of self-purification):
The specifications of the Way of the Sufis are five:
1. to keep the Presence of Allah in your heart in public and in
private;
2. to follow the Sunna of the Prophet by actions and speech;
3. to keep away from people and from asking them;
4. to be happy with what Allah gave you, even if it is less;
5. to always refer your matters to
Allah.1<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr21.htm#1>
He died before he could complete his *Bustan al-`arifin fi al-zuhd wa
al-tasawwuf* (The garden of the gnostics in asceticism and
self-purification), which is a precious collection of sayings of the early
and late masters of tasawwuf elaborating on some of the finer points of
self-purification. Here is an excerpt:
Al-Shafi`i said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Only the sincere one (*
mukhlis*) knows hypocrisy (*riya'*)." This means that it is impossible to
know the reality of hypocrisy and see its hidden shades except for one who
resolutely seeks (*arada*) sincerity. That one strives for a long time
searching and meditating and examining at length within himself until he
knows or knows something of what hypocrisy is. This does not happen for
everyone. Indeed, this happens only with the special ones (*al-khawass*).
But for a given individual to claim that he knows what hypocrisy is, this is
real ignorance on his part.
I shall mention in this book a chapter, Allah willing, in which you will see
a type of wonder that will cool your eyes. To illustrate the great extent of
the concealment of hypocrisy we only need relate the following from the
Teacher and Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri, may Allah have mercy on him, from
his *Risala* with our isnad previously mentioned.
He said: "I heard Muhammad ibn al-Husayn say: I heard Ahmad ibn `Ali ibn
Ja`far say: I heard al-Hasan ibn `Alawiyya say: Abu Yazid [al-Bistami], may
Allah be well pleased with him, said: I was for twelve years the blacksmith
of my ego (*haddadu nafsi*), then for five years I became the mirror of my
heart (*mir'atu qalbi*), then for a year I looked at what lay between the
two of them and I saw around me a visible belt [i.e. of kufr = the
vestimentary sign of a non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state]. So I strove
to cut it for twelve years and then looked again, and I saw around me a
hidden belt. So I worked to cut it for five years, looking to see how to
cut. Then it was unveiled for me (*kushifa li*) and I looked at creation and
saw that they were all dead. So I recited the funeral prayer over them."
I say: That hypocrisy should be as inscrutable as this to the peerless
master in this path [i.e. tasawwuf] is enough to show how greatly hidden it
lies. His phrase: "I saw them dead" is the apex of worth and beauty, and
seldom do other than the Prophet's words, Blessings and Peace be upon him,
gather up such wealth of meanings. I shall touch upon its meaning briefly.
It means that after he had struggled long and hard and his ego had been
disciplined and his heart illumined, and when he had conquered his ego and
subdued it and achieved complete mastery over it, and it had subjected
himself to him totally, at that time he looked at all created beings and
found that they were dead and completely powerless:
they cannot harm nor can they benefit; they cannot give nor can they
withhold; they cannot give life nor can they give death; they cannot convey
nor can they cut off; they cannot bring near nor can they take away; they
cannot make happy nor can they make sad; they cannot bestow nor can they
deprive; they possess for themselves neither benefit nor harm, nor death,
nor life, nor resurrection.
This, then, characterizes human beings as dead: they are considered dead in
all of the above respects, they are neither feared nor entreated, what they
have is not coveted, they are not shown off to nor fawned upon, one does not
concern oneself with them, they are not envied nor disparaged, their defects
are not mentioned nor their faults pursued and exposed, one is not jealous
of them nor thinks much of whatever Allah-given favors they have received,
and they are forgiven and excused for their shortcomings, although the legal
punishments are applied to them according to the Law. But the application of
such punishment does not preclude what we have mentioned before, nor does it
preclude our endeavoring to cover up their faults without disparaging them
in the least.
This is how the dead are viewed. And if someone mentions human beings in a
dishonorable manner we forbid him from probing that subject in the same way
that we would if he were going to examine a person who died. We do not do
anything for their sake nor do we leave Him for them. And we no more stop
ourselves from fulfilling an act of obedience to Allah on their account than
we do on account of a dead person, and we do not over-praise them. And we
neither love their own praise for us nor hate their insults, and we do not
reciprocate them.
In sum, they are as it were non-existent in all the respects we have
mentioned. They are under Allah's complete care and jurisdiction. Whoever
deals with them in such a way, he has combined the good of the next world
with that of the lower world. May Allah the Generous grant us success
towards achieving this These few words are enough to touch upon an
explanation for Abu Yazid al-Bistami's saying, may Allah be well pleased
with him.2 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr21.htm#2>
------------------------------
1 Cf. Nuh Keller, Al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi's Manual of Islam(Evanston: Sunna
Books, 1994) p. 85-86.
2 al-Nawawi, Bustan al-`arifin (Beirut: dar al-kitab al-`arabi,1405/1985) p.
53-54.
Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's
The Repudiation of "Salafi"
Innovations<http://amahelp.com/isn/asfa/index.htm>(Kazi, 1996) p.
349-353.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
ON TASAWWUF Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
*The Necessity of a Measure of Proper Sufi education:* A measure of proper
Sufi education based on the Quran and Sunna is in order here, as it would
help in shaping a religious character whose owner would put Allah before
Allah's creation, the Hereafter before earthly life and the motives of
religion before the motives of desire. Not all Sufism is evil as some would
imagine. Neither are all Sufists misled as claimed by those who lack in
knowledge or fairness. Sufists are like other groups, as Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyya said in his treatise entitled [the Poor]. He said about them,
"Among them you find the straightforward the deviant; the one who wrongs his
own soul, the one who follows a middle course, *and the one who is, by
Allah's leave. foremost in good deeds"*. Of course, we reject all the
fallacies of philosophical Sufism (including such tenets as: *hulul* "divine
incarnation" and *ittihad* "mystic communion with God"), ecstatic utterances
of heretic Sufists and the deviations of money-oriented Sufism. What we
really seek is the pure, quintessential Sufism of the pioneer Sufists, such
as Al Hassan Al Basri, Al Fudayl Ibn lyad, Ibrahim Ibn Adham, Abu Sulayman
Al Darani, Abul Qasim Al Junayd and others like them. We seek the Sunnite
Sufism that follows a balanced line of Quran and Sunna, the Sufism that
cares about the "piety of hearts" before it concerns itself with the "acts
of the organs of the body". It is said in the sound hadith that "Allah
shall not look at your bodies or your faces, but rather into your hearts."
[Muslim]. We seek the Sufism that addresses the ailments of the heart,
plugs the holes through which Satan can steal into hearts, and resists the
desires of the human soul, so that it may have proper morals and virtues and
abandon sins. Someone described Sufism in a nutshell, saying, "Sufism is
being true to Allah and good to mankind". This is what Allah the Almighty
means by saying, *"For Allah is with those who restrain themselves and those
who do good"* [Surat Al Nahl: 128]. The Sufists are with Allah by being
pious, and with people by doing good. Allama Ibn Al Qayyim quoted the
early Sufists as saying, "Sufism is good manners, an anyone who surpasses
you in manners should be better than you in Sufism". Ibn Al Qayyim comments
on that by saying, "No, religion is good manners, and anyone who surpasses
you in good manners should be better than you in religion". True ! And we
need only to quote the Prophet's hadith, "I have been sent [with the
Message] to make manners perfect." [Bukhari].
ON TASAWWUF Hujjat al-Islam Imam Ghazali (d. 505)
"The Proof of Islam" Abu Hamid al-Tusi al-Ghazali, the Reviver of the Fifth
Islamic century, scholar of usul al-fiqh, and author
of the most well-known work on tasawwuf, Ihya' `ulum al-din (The revival of
the religious sciences). He says in his autobiography, al-Munqidh min
al-dalal (Deliverance from error):
The Sufi path consists in cleansing the heart from whatever is other than
Allah... I concluded that the Sufis are the seekers in Allah's Way, and
their conduct is the best conduct, and their way is the best way, and their
manners are the most sanctified. They have cleaned their hearts from other
than Allah and they have made them as pathways for rivers to run, carrying
knowledge of Allah.1
As Ibn `Ajiba mentions in his Iqaz al-himam, al-Ghazali declared tasawwuf to
be a fard `ayn or personal obligation upon every legally responsible Muslim
man and woman, "as none but Prophets are devoid of internal defects and
diseases."2
------------------------------
1 al-Ghazali, al Munqidh min al dalal, p. 131.
2 Ibn `Ajiba, Iqaz al-himam p. 8.
Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's
The Repudiation of "Salafi"
Innovations<http://www.sunnah.org/publication/bookvol1.htm>(Kazi,
1996) p. 320-321.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241)
Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Saffarini al-Hanbali (d. 1188) relates in his Ghidha'
al-albab li-sharh manzumat al-adab from Ibrahim ibn `Abd Allah al-Qalanasi
that Imam Ahmad said about the Sufis: "I don't know people better than
them." Someone said to him: "They listen to music and they reach states of
ecstasy." He said: "Do you prevent them from enjoying an hour with
Allah?"1<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar6.htm#1>
Imam Ahmad's admiration of Sufis is borne out by the reports of his awe
before al-Harith al-Muhasibi, although he expressed caution about the
difficulty of the Sufi path for those unprepared to follow it, as it may not
be for all people to follow the way of those about whom Allah instructed His
Prophet: "And keep yourself content with those who call their Lord early
morning and evening, seeking His Countenance..." (18:28).
------------------------------
1 al-Saffarini, Ghidha' al-albab li-sharh manzumat al-adab (Cairo: Matba`at
al-Najah, 1324/1906) 1:120.
Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's
The Repudiation of "Salafi"
Innovations<http://www.sunnah.org/publication/bookvol1.htm>(Kazi,
1996) p. 280-281.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
Imam Shafi`i (d. 204)
Al-hafiz al-Suyuti relates in Ta'yid al-haqiqa al-`aliyya that Imam
al-Shafi`i said:
I accompanied the Sufis and received from them but three words: their
statement that time is a sword: if you do not cut it, it cuts you; their
statement that if you do not keep your ego busy with truth it will keep you
busy with falsehood; their statement that deprivation is
immunity.1<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar5.htm#1>
The muhaddith al-`Ajluni also relates in his book Kashf al khafa wa muzil al
albas that Imam Shafi`i said:
Three things in this world have been made lovely to me: avoiding
affectation, treating people kindly, and following the way of
tasawwuf.2<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar5.htm#2>
------------------------------
1 Suyuti, Ta'yid al-haqiqa al-`aliyya p. 15
2 al-`Ajluni, Kashf al-khafa wa muzil al-albas 1:341 (#1089).
Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's
The Repudiation of "Salafi"
Innovations<http://www.sunnah.org/publication/bookvol1.htm>(Kazi,
1996) p. 280.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
Imam Malik (d. 179)
The scholar of Madina, he was known for his intense piety and love of the
Prophet, whom he held in such awe and respect that he would not mount his
horse within the confines of Madina out of reverence for the ground that
enclosed the Prophet's body, nor would he relate a hadith without first
performing ablution. Ibn al-Jawzi relates in the chapter entitled "Layer 6
of the People of Madina" of his book Sifat al-safwa:
Abu Mus`ab said: I went in to see Malik ibn Anas. He said to me: Look under
my place of prayer or prayer-mat and see what is there. I looked and I found
a certain writing. He said: Read it. (I saw that) it contained (the account
of) a dream which one of his brothers had seen and which concerned him. He
said (reciting what was written): "I saw the Prophet in my sleep. He was in
his mosque and the people were gathered around him, and he said: I have
hidden for you under my pulpit (minbar) something good -- or: knowledge --
and I have ordered Malik to distribute it to the people." Then Malik wept,
so I got up and left him.1 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar4.htm#1>
Just as Abu Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri implicitly asserted the necessity to
follow the Sufi path for acquiring perfection, Imam Malik explicitly
enjoined tasawwuf as a duty of scholars in his statement:
"He who practices Tasawwuf without learning Sacred Law corrupts his faith,
while he who learns Sacred Law without practicing Tasawwuf corrupts himself.
Only he who combines the two proves true."
It is related by the muhaddith Ahmad Zarruq (d. 899), the hafiz `Ali al-Qari
al-Harawi (d. 1014), the muhaddiths `Ali ibn Ahmad al `Adawi (d. 1190) and
Ibn `Ajiba (d. 1224), and
others.2<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar4.htm#2>
Ibn `Ajiba explains:
Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq said: "Tasawwuf has over two thousand definitions, all
of which go back to the sincerity of one's self-application to Allah... Each
one's definition corresponds to his state and the extent of his experience,
knowledge, and taste, upon which he will ground his saying: "Tasawwuf is
such-and-such."
It follows that every one of the saints quoted (in Abu Nu`aym's Hilyat
al-awliya') who has a part of sincere self-application (sidq tawajjuh) has a
part in tasawwuf, and each one's tasawwuf consists in his sincere
self-application. As a rule, sincere self-application is a requirement of
religion since it forms both the manner and the content of the acts which
Allah accepts. Manner and content are not sound unless sincerity of
self-application is sound. "He approves not unthankfulness in His servants,
but if you are thankful, he will approve it in you" (39:7).
Therefore Islam necessitates deeds, and there is no self-purification
(tasawwuf) without knowledge of the Law (fiqh), as Allah's external rulings
are not known except by knowledge of the Law; and there is no knowledge of
the Law without self-purification, as there is no deed without sincerity in
self-application, and there is neither without belief. Hence the Law
requires all of them by definition, just as the body and the soul
necessitate each other, as one cannot exist or be complete in the world
except in conjunction with the other. That is the meaning of Imam Malik's
saying: "He who practices Tasawwuf without learning Sacred
Law..."3<http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar4.htm#3>
------------------------------
1 Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-safwa 1(2):120.
2 Ali al-Qari, Sharh `ayn al-`ilm wa-zayn al-hilm (Cairo: Maktabat
al-Thaqafa al-Diniyya, 1989) 1:33; Ahmad Zarruq, Qawa`id al-tasawwuf (Cairo,
1310); `Ali al `Adawi, Hashiyat al `Adawi `ala sharh Abi al Hasan li risalat
Ibn Abi Zayd al musammat kifayat al talib al rabbani li risalat Ibn Abi Zayd
al Qayrawani fi madhhab Maalik (Beirut?: Dar Ihya' al Kutub al `Arabiyah, <
n.d.>) 2:195; Ibn `Ajiba, Iqaz al himam fi sharh al hikam (Cairo: Halabi,
1392/1972) p. 5 6.
3 Ibn `Ajiba, Iqaz al-himam 5-6.
Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's
The Repudiation of "Salafi"
Innovations<http://www.sunnah.org/publication/bookvol1.htm>(Kazi,
1996) p. 277-279.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
ON TASAWWUF: Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 150)
Ibn `Abidin relates in his al Durr al mukhtar that Imam Abu Hanifa said: "If
it were not for two years, I would have perished." Ibn `Abidin comments:
For two years he accompanied Sayyidina Ja`far al-Sadiq and he acquired the
spiritual knowledge that made him a gnostic in the Way... Abu `Ali Daqqaq
(Imam Qushayri's shaykh) received the path from Abu al-Qasim al-Nasirabadi,
who received it from al Shibli, who received it from Sari al-Saqati who
received it from al Ma`ruf al Karkhi, who received it from Dawud at Ta'i,
who received the knowledge, both the external and the internal, from the
Imam Abi Hanifa.1 <http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholar2.htm#1>
------------------------------
1 Ibn `Abidin, Hashiyat radd al-muhtar `ala al-durr al-mukhtar 1:43.
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions
[Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani's *The Repudiation
of "Salafi" Innovations*
<http://www.sunnah.org/publication/bookvol1.htm>(ASFA, 1996)
p. 276.
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