بســـــــــــــــــــم الله الرحمن الرحيم
What's the first thing the average lay Muslim thinks of when he hears the word “Sufism”? Whirling dervishes? Funny “breakdancing”? Crazy “worship rituals”?
Grave worship?Taṣawwuf is a commonly misunderstood concept among many Muslims, especially in recent times. Let's clarify a few things about what taṣawwuf actually is and whether it is compatible with the orthodox, Sunni Islam.
One of the most important ḥadīths in the ḥadīth corpus is the one known as the “Ḥadīth of Jibrīl”, a ḥadīth which the scholars have also labelled “Umm al-Sunnah” (the foundation of the Sunnah). The ḥadīth is as follows:
عَنْ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ:
بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ جُلُوسٌ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ إذْ طَلَعَ عَلَيْنَا رَجُلٌ شَدِيدُ بَيَاضِ الثِّيَابِ شَدِيدُ سَوَادِ
الشَّعْرِ لَا يُرَى عَلَيْهِ أَثَرُ السَّفَرِ وَلَا يَعْرِفُهُ مِنَّا أَحَدٌ. حَتَّى جَلَسَ إلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَسْنَدَ رُكْبَتَيْهِ إلَى
رُكْبَتَيْهِ وَوَضَعَ كَفَّيْهِ عَلَى فَخِذَيْهِ وَقَالَ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ أَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِسْلَامِ. فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم:
الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا إِلٰهَ إلَّا اللهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللهِ، وَتُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةَ، وَتُؤْتِيَ الزَّكَاةَ، وَتَصُومَ رَمَضَانَ،
وَتَحُجَّ الْبَيْتَ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْت إلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا. قَالَ: صَدَقْتَ. فَعَجِبْنَا لَهُ يَسْأَلُهُ وَيُصَدِّقُهُ. قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِيمَانِ.
قَالَ: أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَتُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ. قَالَ: صَدَقْتَ. قَالَ:
فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِحْسَانِ. قَالَ: أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللهَ كَأَنَّك تَرَاهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاك. قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ
السَّاعَةِ. قَالَ: مَا الْمَسْئُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنْ السَّائِلِ. قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ أَمَارَاتِهَا. قَالَ: أَنْ تَلِدَ الْأَمَةُ رَبَّتَهَا،
وَأَنْ تَرَى الْحُفَاةَ الْعُرَاةَ الْعَالَةَ رِعَاءَ الشَّاءِ يَتَطَاوَلُونَ فِي الْبُنْيَانِ. ثُمَّ انْطَلَقَ، فَلَبِثْتُ مَلِيًّا، ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا
عُمَرُ أَتَدْرِي مَنْ السَّائِلُ. قُلْتُ: اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ. قَالَ: فَإِنَّهُ جِبْرِيلُ أَتَاكُمْ يُعَلِّمُكُمْ دِينَكُمْ.
رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ
‘Then he sat right next to the Prophet (ﷺ), placing his knees by his knees, and placing his hands on his thighs. He said: “O Muhammad! Tell me about submission (islām).”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Islam is to bear witness that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God; to establish prayer; to give zakat; to fast Ramadan; and to perform hajj to the House of God, if able to do so.” The man said: “You have spoken the truth,” and we were amazed that he would ask and then confirm the answer as true.
‘He then asked, “Tell me about faith (īmān).”The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “It is to believe in God; His Angels; His Books; His Messengers; the Last Day; and to believe in Destiny, both good and bad.” The man said, “You have spoken the truth.”
‘He then asked, “Tell me about spiritual excellence (iḥsān).” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “It is to submit to Allah as through you behold Him. And if you behold Him not, to know that He beholds you.”
‘He then asked, “Tell me about the Hour.” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: “The one asked about it doesn’t know more than the questioner.” The man replied, “So tell me about its signs.” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “That the slave woman give birth to her mistress; that you see barefooted, unclothed, dependent shepherds competing with each other in building taller buildings.”
‘Then the man went away, and I remained waiting for a long time. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) asked me, “Umar! Do you know who the questioner was?” I replied, “Allah & His Messenger know best.” He replied, “It was Jibril. He came to you to teach you your religion.”’ [Reported by Muslim]
From this ḥadīth, we see that our religion is comprised of three integral dimensions: that relating to faith and belief, that relating to outward actions, and that relating to the states of the heart and the spiritual connection with Allah. As for the first, it is what the scholars have labelled īmān, as derived from this ḥadīth. As for the second, it is was the scholars have labelled islām or sharī‘ah. (Note that “Islām” is also used in a much broader sense to refer to the entire religion itself, the usage most people are familiar with.) As for the third, it is what the scholars have labelled iḥsān.
As for the dimension of īmān, this was codified by the scholars via the science known as ‘aqīdah or ‘ilm al-tawhīd. As such, the science of ‘aqīdah deals with ensuring that one holds correct, sound beliefs with respect to Allah, His prophets, and key aspects of belief that the Qur’ān and Sunnah have come with. E.g. belief in the Oneness of Allah, proving His existence, discussion of His different attributes, discussion of the attributes of the prophets, belief in the angels, jinn and the Last Day, etc.
As for the dimension of islām, this was codified by the scholars via the science known as fiqh. As such, the science of fiqh deals with ensuring that one's outward actions are in accordance with what Allah has commanded His slaves. It's the science that lays out the guidelines on how to worship Allah, what Allah commands to and prohibits from, what permissible and what's not permissible to consume, and how to deal with creation in accordance to His commands, amongst other things. In short, it's the science that deals with Islamic Law and Jurisprudence.
As for the dimension that deals with one's spirituality and the state of one's heart (iḥsān), this was codified by the scholars by the science most commonly known as taṣawwuf (Sufism). Now, as previously mentioned, fiqh deals with the outward actions we present to Allah insofar as ensuring their validity. But they're not valid unless one believes, which is where ‘aqīdah comes in. However, mere deeds aren't enough when it comes to trying to attain lofty stations with Allah – they must possess substance. And this substance is one's level of presence with Allah and vigilance of Him during these acts. And this is where the science of taṣawwuf comes in. It primarily deals with two things: 1) emptying the heart of its blameworthy traits such as envy, arrogance, vanity, insincerity and love of the dunyā, and 2) adorning the heart with praiseworthy traits such as humility, sincerity, gratitude, patience, and contentment.
These two things are what Imam al-Ghazālī defined as the integrals of taṣawwuf. Now interestingly, the sahābah would say to the tābi‘īn that these two things were what the Prophet (ﷺ) would to them. So what the sahābah were essentially saying was that the Prophet (ﷺ) was teaching them what we now call taṣawwuf!
Looking at it from another angle, Allah has commanded and prohibited. His commands and prohibitions relate to both the outward and the inward. Fiqh deals with the outward while taṣawwuf deals with the inward. Fiqh deals with ensuring that you've lifted yourself of your responsibilities before Allah, while taṣawwuf deals with perfecting your fulfillment of these responsibilities as He deserves.
As such, it's apparent from the above that taṣawwuf isn't something that was innovated after the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) or al-salaf al-sāliḥ (the pious predecessors). It's just a label for a science that's always been in existence.
But the Prophet (ﷺ) Never Used the Word "Taṣawwuf" or "Sufi"!
Now, some might contend with the term taṣawwuf. After all, as they say, “this term didn't exist during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ); therefore, it's an innovated term with no basis in the Qur’an nor Sunnah!”
First of all, if one has an issue with the name, then fine – let's call it another name, for indeed, this science with many names, among them being ‘ilm al-tazkiyah, ‘ilm al-tarbiyah, ‘ilm al-sulūk, ‘ilm al-ihsān, and ‘ilm al-bātin.
Secondly, if one's going to criticise the science of taṣawwuf on the basis of its baseless name, then we ought more so to criticise the sciences of ‘aqīdah, fiqh, tafsīr, mustalaḥ al-ḥadīth, and tajwīd among other sciences, for indeed these sciences are also labelled with names that never existed during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ). The fact of the matter is that taṣawwuf is just a label for a science that has always been around. It acquired its label after the need for its codification arose.
To give an example with the science of ḥadīth, you never had “saḥīḥ”, “ḥasan”, or “da‘īf” classifications ofḥadīth during the time of the sahābah – they would just narrate ḥadīths. Neither did you have the terms “gharīb”, “‘azīz”, “mash’hūr”, or “mutawātir” in describing the chains of narrators for ḥadīths during the time of the saḥābah. However, people started fabricating and muddling up ḥadīths, and so a way was needed to sift through them. As such, sciences such as mustalaḥ al-ḥadīth and ‘ilm al-jarḥ wa al-ta‘dīl with their various terminologies were introduced to aid with this.
To give another example with the science of tajwīd, you never had the terms “al-madd al-wājib al-muttasil”, “al-madd al-lāzim”, “ikhfā’”, “idghām”, and “makhārij al-ḥurūf” during the time of the sahābah – they would speak tajwīd. Later on however, Islam spread to non-Arab lands whose people would err in the recitation of the Qur’an. As such, the science of tajwīd with its various terminologies had to be introduced so as to preserve the correct recitation of the Qur’an as per the recitation of the Prophet (ﷺ).
Likewise with taṣawwuf – initially, the saḥabah would inculcate within their followers the tarbiyah (spiritual development) just as how they obtained it from the Prophet (ﷺ). However, wealth and luxuries started pouring into the Muslim lands – and with it spread diseases on a wide scale, such as the diseases of love of wealth and heedlessness of Allah – and so the science of taṣawwuf had to be introduced in order to pinpoint what exactly these diseases were, what their signs and effects were, and how to cure them.
As such, taṣawwuf is simply a label for a science that's always been there from the time of the Prophet (ﷺ). The terminologies used by its scholars were likewise developed for the sake of its codification so that it could be made more accessible to the people. If one has a problem with the name, let him call it by another name. What's more important is the substance, the denial of which is effectively the denial of a key dimension of the religion that the Prophet (ﷺ) came with.
But What About Those Crazy Sufi Videos I See on YouTube? Or Those Crazy Sufi Beliefs I've Heard of? Or Those "Interesting" Sufi Rituals I've Heard Of?
Whenever a Muslim does something that's contrary to the religion, what do we tell non-Muslims? “There's Islam and then there's Muslims; not all Muslims who act in the name of Islam represent what the religion actually is.” Right? Likewise with Sufism and Sufis – there's the noble science of Sufism, and then there's Sufis who arrive at erroneous (and sometimes dangerous) positions or engage in practices which the sharī‘ah disapproves of. This is not dissimilar to how in the past ‘ulamā’ of other sciences erred in their conclusions with respect to their sciences, yet no one ever criticised the actual science these ‘ulamā’ engaged in, nor did anyone criticise the rest of the ‘ulamā’ of the science for being engaged in the science. You had some of the ‘ulamā’ of the science of ‘aqīdah arrive at erroneous beliefs, such as the Mu‘tazilah with their denial that Allah will be seen by the believers in the Hereafter. You had fuqahā’ (jurists) arrive at strange positions, such as the view of some scholars in the past that using the printing press was haram. You had muhaddithūn (ḥadīth specialists) arrive at erroneous conclusions with regards to the gradings of certain ahādīth. However, no one ever proposed boycotting these sciences or the scholars engaged with them due to such strange conclusions – as they say, “throwing out the baby with the bath water”. Likewise with Sufism: the existence of Sufis who hold beliefs contrary to those of Ahl al-Sunnah (e.g. believing that Allah is “united” and “at one” with the universe; ittiḥād in Arabic) or act in ways which contravene the Muhammadan sharī‘ah (e.g. a man looking at non-maḥram women so as to cast his “nūr” into them) does not in any way provide a reason for anyone to dismiss the science itself and its scholars altogether.
Conclusion: So How Legitimate is Taṣawwuf?
As can be seen from the above, the answer is a resounding "very": taṣawwuf is very compatible with orthodox, Sunni Islam. In fact, it is one of the most fundamental sciences in the Islamic tradition as it deals with one of the three integral dimensions of the religion, namely the dimension of iḥsān. So important is it that scholars deem it the third most important science for the Muslim to engage himself with after the sciences of ‘aqīdah and fiqh. Testimony to its compatibility with the Islamic tradition is the fact that it continues to be taught, breathed, and lived in the majority of the Muslim world, such as al-Sham (the Levant), Yemen, Egypt, Africa (Northern, Western, Eastern, and South), Turkey, the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Southeastern Asia to name several regions.
We ask Allah to cleanse our hearts of all its blameworthy traits and adorn them with all its praiseworthy traits. We ask Allah to purify our hearts and make us from His sincere servants. And we ask Allah to guide us to the Truth and to make us of those who are in a constant state of remembrance, vigilance, and presence with Him.
And success lies with Allah alone.
And Allah knows best.
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