What is Sufism?

Al-Hamdu lillah was-Salat was-Salam
`ala Rasulillah wa Alihi wa Sahbihi wa man Walah

"Before asking what is Sufism, we should ask what is Religion."
(Shaykh Nazim in an interview with the BBC, London 1991)

Shaykh al-`Arusi said in his marginalia
titled Nata'ij al-Afkar al-Qudsiyya (Bulaq, 1920/1873):

"The way of the Sufis consists in ten items:

(1) The reality of tasawwuf which is defined by truthful self-orientation (sidq al-tawajjuh) to Allah Most High.

(2) The pivot of truthful tawajjuh is to single out the heart and the body for [obedience of] Allah Alone.

(3) Tasawwuf in relation to D�n is like the soul in relation to the body.

(4) The Sufi examines the factors of perfection and deficiency.

(5) The Jurist examines whatever discharges liability (m� yusqitu al-haraj) while the scholar of juridical/doctrinal Principles (al-us�l�) examines whatever makes one's faith valid and firmly established. Therefore the Sufi's perspective is more specific than both of theirs, consequently their criticism of him is valid, while his criticism of either of them is invalid. Hence 'the Sufi among Jurists is better than the Jurist among Sufis.'

(6) To display the nobility of tasawwuf, its evidence being both by demonstration and by textual precedent (burh�nan wa nassan).

(7) Fiqh [jurisprudence] is the precondition for the validity of tasawwuf and that is why it has precedence over it.

(8) Terminology and its specific applicability to each discipline exclusively of others.

(9) The keys of spiritual opening concerning which there are four rulings: first principles; truthful aspiration towards attainment; longing for spiritual realities; and quitting the guideline of what is transmitted (al-manq�l) once one obtains self-realization (al-tahq�q).

(10) It is a wonderful and strange path built on the permanent following of what is better and best: in doctrines it consists in following the Salaf; in rulings, fiqh; in meritorious deeds (al-fada'il), the scholars of hadith; and in high manners (al-�d�b), all that is conducive to the wholeness of hearts."

Some definitions of tasawwuf:

Tasawwuf: Purification of the self from all that is other than the remembrance and obedience of Allah; the realization of ihs�n (excellence); zuhd (asceticism) combined with ma`rifa (knowledge of Allah); the attribute of the Sufi. "Ceasing objection" (al-Su`luki); "Abandoning the world and its people" (Ibn Sam`un). "Tasawwuf is neither knowledge nor deeds but an attribute with which the essence of the Sufi adorns itself, possessing knowledge and deeds, and consisting in the balance in which these two are weighed." (Ibn Khafif)

Some definitions of the Sufi:

S�f�, pl. S�fiyya: One who follows the path of tasawwuf, "He who gazes at the Real in proportion to the state in which He maintains him" (Bundar). They wore wool (s�f): "I found the redress of my heart between Makka and Madina with a group of strangers ­ people of wool and cloaks" (ash�b s�f wa `ab�'). Sufyan al-Thawri as cited from Khalaf ibn Tamim by al-Dhahabi, Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' (Dar al-Fikr ed. 7:203).

Hajj Gibril

GF Haddad �
[2000-09-29]

http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e50.html

abuzaid wrote: Many sufis believe in Pantheism, Wahdatul Wajood

You are generalizing from the particular. I simply reply, many do not, and any Sufi that believes in Pantheism is outside the folds of Islam.

Imam Anawawi was a sufi, but he was not a panthiest. Why not focus on Sufism, as described in the science of tasawuuf, and not by bad examples of those who have gone astray?

Imam Malik said:

man tasawwafa wa lam yatafaqqa fa qad tazandaqa
wa man tafaqqaha wa lam yatasawwaf fa qad tafassaqa
wa man jama`a bayn al-ithnayn fa qad tahaqqaqa

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.

A true sufi is a faqi, which is why I laugh when someone calls me such a name. I wish I had their patience and knowledge. Some of the greatest Sheikhs that have ever lived were Sufis, as Sufism was taugh as an integral part of Islamic sciences, and it is only in the 20th century that some deviated groups have tried to challenge this accepted discipline of knowledge. Imam Nawai, Qadi Iyad, Ibn Hajar Asqalani, Imam Ibn Jawzi, the great man known as Hujjat al-Islam, Abu Hamid al Ghazzali, all were Sufis.

Many believe that Prophet Mohammed PBUH taught sufism to Ali Ibn Abi Talib secretly and Ali RA taught it to Hasan Basri secretly and he taught to others secretly and thus this secret order continued.

Imam Ahmed (Rahimullah) narrates in his Musnad with a Sahih Isnad

"Abu Bakr does not surpass you for fasting much or praying, but because of a secret that took root in his heart."

Imam Suyuti (Raimullah) states in his al-hawi li-l-Fatawa and Imam Bukhari (Rahimullah) in his Sahih;

"Whatever Allah poured into my breast I have poured into the breast of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq."

"Allah has expanded my breast for what He has expanded the breast of Abu Bakr and Umar to receive."

"I am the City of Knowledge and ^cAli is the Door." related by Tirmidhi

So why not?

Almost all sufis perform Ibadat in a fashion which was not taught by Prophet. You may give hundreds of justification for sufism, but how do you relate it with Prophethood??

Almost all Muslims study Islam in a way that the Prophet (saw) nor his companions learned the deen, knowledge broken down into systematic classifications of sciences, how do you relate that to prophethood? Tasawuuf is related to prophethood by a given means that allow one to become closer to Allah withint the boundaries of the shariah, through the cleansing of ones heart and character.  

abuzaid wrote: Would you give me some hint about Four Imam of fiqh if they were sufi or endorsed sufism.

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?"

al-Saffarini, Ghidha' al-albab li-sharh manzumat al-adab (Cairo: Matba`at al-Najah, 1324/1906) 1:120

Imam Malik said: �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.�

`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 Malik (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.

allahu a'lim