Prominent, Contemporary ARAB Sufis?

[Sunni_Student786]

As salaamu alaykum.

An Arab friend of mine, who has some la-madhabi tendencies, has said time and again that with the exception of Syria, Sufism is not really popular anywhere else in the Arab world. He does not say that it doesn't exist, but that it is not really that popular and that the major Ulema in the Arab world are rarely sufis.

I would like to prove to my friend that such is not the case and so I would really appreciate it if you guys could provide the names of some prominent, contemporary (i.e within the last 10-15 years) ARAB Ulema who are avid Sufis and who do not shy away from saying what Tariqas they belong to. When mentioning info on their names and affiliation with Sufism (i.e. either their statements praising Sufism, or where they mention their affiliation with a particular Tariqa), please also provide info on as to where those claims can be substantiated, for mere claims alone will not satisfy my friend. For example, when I told him that "Sharawi", the prominent Egyptian tele-Mufti (May Allah forgive him) was a follower of the Shadhili Tariqah, he was not convinced since he has listened to many of his tapes, lectures, etc., and said htat he has never heard of him refering to himself as a believer, practitioner, or member of an Tariqah, of Sufism.

If anyone could help me out, it would be most appreciated.

Jazakallahu Khair.

Wa'salaam.

[Yasin786]

There are many Prominent Ba-Alawi Shaykhs all over Saudi, the most notable is probably Seyyid Muhammed Alawi Al Maliki May Allah be pleased with him, who passed away recently and thousands upon thousands attended his janaza in Medina, that alone should be enough evidence that Sufi's not only exist, but are in great numbers in that area. Yemen has the Ba-Alawis in Hadhramaut, led by Habib Omar Bin Hafiz, and I believe if I recall correctly Habib Ahmed Mushur Al-Haddad is from Medina as well, Insha'Allah some of the brothers can give you some more backround I do not know much but I hope this helps

Was Salaam

[muslim786]

Also lebanon, Jordan and palestine are full of sufis. In fact the Imam and Khatib of Masjid Alqsa in Palestine is a great sufi saint of the shadzili order, he is
Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal ar-Rifa‘i ash-Shadhuli. And lets not forget Iraq or the Maghrib, in fact any place which follows a madhab of Ahle Sunnah (ie hanafi, maliki, shafii or sunni hanbali) loves and follows sufism, note not every sunni scholar is a man of tassawuf BUT all sunni scholars are admirers and followers of men of tassawuf.
Also the haramain was led by the sufi scholars tell the wahabis took over and used saudi petrol dollars to spread their wahabi ideas.

[faqir]

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi

[IlyasLahoz]

there are numerous shuyukh in the maghrib (morroco, mauritania etc) egypt (shaykh Ali Jumu'ah for instance: http://khamriyah.blogspot.com/2005/04/shaykh-ali-jumua-on-sufism.html ), yemen (the habaib), the gulf states, throughout the Levant, Mecca and Medina (ex. shaykh Sayyid Muhammad al alawi -rahimahullah).
Of course this is not at all any kind of exhaustive list. The point being that anywhere that there are Muslims, there are sufi Ulema, despite the well-funded efforts of those who oppose this aspect of the shariah.

[Saifullah]

Aspect of the Shariah? Could you please elaborate on this, and provide some evidences for your claim.

Jazak'Allah :)

[muslim786]

masud.co.uk is fab

[Omar HH]

Maybe we should quit calling this "Sufism" and just call it by it's arabic name "Tassawuf" because the confusion now is to such a level that nobody ever knows what your talking about unless he's been to Masud's website or something, unfortunately.

[Sunni_Student786]

Thank you for your replies thus far, but I need substantiations of those claims. For example, Arabic newspaper articles, taped lectures, etc., where those individuals refer to themselves as either Sufis, or followers of a particular Tariqah. And remember, I need some Syrian Sufis.

And my friend is from Yemen so I would like to tell him about the "Habaib" or the "Ba Alawi" family, but I want to make sure to get their names down correctly. Is that what they are called? Or is ther esome other word that is used for them commonly in Arabic?

[Omar HH]

Syrian Sufis are numerous. The late Shaykh 'Abdur Rahman Shaghouri.

[Yasin786]

Here is Seyyid Muhammed Alawi Al Maliki (May Allah be pleased with him) Obituary and some details on his life, he was a great scholar and saint.

http://www.islamicamagazine.com/alawi.htm

Walaikum Salaam

[tazkiyyah]

Here is Seyyid Muhammed Alawi Al Maliki (May Allah be pleased with him) Obituary and some details on his life, he was a great scholar and saint.

http://www.islamicamagazine.com/alawi.htm

Walaikum Salaam

Subhanallah.

your friend should broaden his travelling!

If he visits Turkey,the former khilafah..he will find numerous people of tariqa..many naqshbandi hanafees--and also the mevleviyyah..let him visit Konya the shrine of mevlana rumi(alayhi rahmah)
If he visits morocco he will find also,many shadhilis /qadiris etc.
SImilarly in tunisia.Has he heard of the moroccan hadeeth scholars called the ghumaris who have their school of tasawwuf
The whole of africa is full of sufism...has he been to libya/sudan etc
Does he know the tijaniyyah and sanusi history?There is ascholar from sudan in the uk who is sufi called abu bakr as sudani who leads many dalail al khayrat functions in the UK
Does he know of sidi ahmad zarruq the africa mujaddid of the shadhili tariqa?

Yemen has the habaib..
If he visits uzbek and other parts of russia he will find many sufi scholars there
Subhanallah

Need i continue
India has all 4 schools in abundance both in their deobandi and barelewi forms...

[aboujandal]

Assalam alaykoum


Morocco is the land of tassawuf with the tyjanni, qadiri, and shadilli tariqua.

The great muhadithin of tangier sheikh abou fazl al ghimari and his brothers and all the man of is village are sufi of the shadilli tariqua, yes all the village.

and in a small city like tangier in all mosque is a zaouya and ther is lectures of quran and zikr the saturday night.

so i think that this man need to travel over arab countries to see and understand.

[Sunni_Student786]

Thank you for all of your replies, but I think that some of you brothers and sisters did not read my initial post carefully.

I did not just ask for the names of prominent contemporary Sufis, but ALSO lectures, magazine or newspaper articles, etc. where those people specifically mention their practice of Tassawuf or affiliation with a particular tariqah. Like I said in my first post, although it is commonly known amongst the followers of Tasawwuf that Sharawi (the Egyptian Mufti who passed away a few years ago) was an avid Shadhili Sufi, he has not, to the best of my knowledge, ever said this in any of his tapes, TV lectures, etc. The only place where I have read that he was a member of the Shadhili Sufi was in an english translation of an interview that was supposed to have taken place during the last days of his life. Such a reference will not satisfy my friend. I need the names of specific lectures, magazine or newspaper articles, etc., in ARABIC, where the shuyukh mentioned throughout this thread specifically mention their affiliation with Tassawuf.

I apologize for askign again and again, but if anyone could oblige my requests, I would most appreciate it.

[Omar HH]

Ummm,

http://www.madrasaprogram.org/

[Ibn Umaysh]

as salaamu alaikum

My friend from Morocco recenty explained that a lot of Muslims their associate Islam automatically with "sufi". And the thing is many sufis do not practise strictly to the shari'ah and so using them as an example isn't necessarily the best. Remember, we are not calling towards a group called sufi, but towards Islam.

[muslim786]

as salaamu alaikum

My friend from Morocco recenty explained that a lot of Muslims their associate Islam automatically with "sufi". And the thing is many sufis do not practise strictly to the shari'ah and so using them as an example isn't necessarily the best. Remember, we are not calling towards a group called sufi, but towards Islam.
There are also many muslims who just associate with the word Islam that are not practising. Also this comment is out of place the brother who initially asked the question was refering to Ulama in these countries not the lay folk.

[Shaykhs-Pir Sahib]

As Shaykh Nuh says, you can't be a sufi until you are a Muslim first and foremost.

as for the ulama proclaiming outloud thud that they are sufi: not done really. i'll tell you why:

1. as already stated, there are groups of people who make it their life ambition to pronounce takfir on sufi's and even push for the death sentence. Sayyid al-Maliki, however, did not ever hide his 'sufism' in the face of such criticism.

2. generally, to claim to be a 'sufi' is claiming a maqam - and thus can be seen as a sign of arrogance/pride. yes, one can strive in the path of tasawwuf/sufism; but being a sufi is in itself a higher station with Allah.

3. Shaykh Nuh also said that we should be calling to Islam, not sufism. many times, he has insisted that we call people to sunni islam - that of Ashari/Maturidi aqida and one of the four schools.. tasawwuf comes once these foundations are laid.

[Sunni_Student786]

ShaykhsPirSahib,

I understand your point about people not claiming to be Sufis because doing so would be claiming a Maqam, but I knew of this when asking the question, hence the reason for my also stating that for them to speak of their association with a Tariqah would also be sufficient. To claim to belong to a Tariqah is not a claim of a Maqam, but a statement of purpose (i.e. where they would like to be or what they would like to achieve given their adoption of this particular means, that being a Sufi Tariqah).

If anyone could get statements, ARABIC magazine/newspaper articles, etc., about the association of the various, prominent, non-Syrian/Lebanese, Ulema with a sufi Tariqah, it would be most appreciated.

[Crono]

http://www.aicp.org/IslamicInformation/English/SUFISMvsSUFICLAIMERS.htm

this is a small article on sufis...it doesn't really have much to do with your question..but it may help clear up soem of the misconceptions about sufis

such as them being grave worshipers and all that nonsense....

[Omar HH]

http://www.aicp.org/IslamicInformation/English/SUFISMvsSUFICLAIMERS.htm

this is a small article on sufis...it doesn't really have much to do with your question..but it may help clear up soem of the misconceptions about sufis

such as them being grave worshipers and all that nonsense....

I warn you from getting any information from al-Ahbash.

This is written by Ashari Sunnis who do not believe Allah (SWT) has a location (so you don't have to worry):

http://naqshbandi.org/topics/refute/aicp/default.htm

Jazakallahu Khayrun

[Crono]

Allah is not limited to a place...why is that so hard to understand?

http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/refuting_the_habashis.htm

LOL..we do not say any of that.

[Omar HH]

Allah is not limited to a place...why is that so hard to understand?

http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/refuting_the_habashis.htm

LOL..we do not say any of that.

We totally agree that Allah is not limited the a place.

I have heard many things though about the Habashis saying some Sahabahs are Kaffir or something? I'm not going to believe it until I have proof, but some prominent Shuyokh have said this (i.e. Shaykh Girbil Haddad).

May Allah (SWT) put the Noor of Imaan in all of our hearts.

[Sunni_Student786]

What I have heard from the Habashis, at least in their Masjid/Center in Philadelphia across from Saad's Halal Place (an excellent place to eat by the way!), is not so much an outright declaration that anyone among the Sahaba were, na'oudhu billah, Kafir or close to it, but remarks about the actions of some Sahaba, particulary Muawiya (ra) that would basically imply negativity about his person and that he acted wrongly or was unjust (not that I hold any of the above views). Most of what they say about particular Sahaba that one could take as being a negative reference is implied, not said directly.

For example, they may narrate a story about Muawiya (ra) and say, "When he came to such and such a place, he took such and such's land by force. That person requested for his land back, but Muawiya (ra) refused. All that that person was asking for was his right given to him by Allah, but Muawiya refused (ra). May Allah save us from being unjust." See what I mean?
So only Allah knows what they really intend.

The fact that they also sometimes, rather routinely omit saying "Radiallahu anhu" after the names of particular companions, especially when speaking about them in what would appear to be an implicitly negative manner, particularly Muawiya (ra), would further lead one to believe that they may hold negative feelings towards those companions.

[Crono]

we (as a note..i don't not acknowlage the name habashi..i follow ahl sunnah wal jummah ...but i mean 'we' as in the people you are refering to) only say what is...we do not make lies about people, we only try to guide people from the whahabis (so we mostly talk about things in aqeedah..but not much is diffrent in other branches of islam)

i for one..do not have sufficiant knwolage of the shahabah..but what i do know is..they are definatly correct in thier view of aqeedah...and in this point in my life (as a muslim) aqeedah is all i need to worry about...

you cannot learn algebra (fiqh, tassawul etc..) without basic mathmatics (aqeedah)

i believe the method we use is correct aswell (learning from a learned person...nopt a website..or what have you...)

[YaFalasteen]

http://www.aicp.org/IslamicInformation/English/SUFISMvsSUFICLAIMERS.htm

this is a small article on sufis...it doesn't really have much to do with your question..but it may help clear up soem of the misconceptions about sufis

such as them being grave worshipers and all that nonsense....

excellent resource, mashAllah. I was going to post this. JazakhAllahu Khairun for doing so.