is Sufism (Tasawwuf) a Bidah??

[Abdullah Ali al Hanafi]

Asalamu Alaikum brothers and sisters ,

yesterday i had a discussion with a Salafi brother regarding the Science of Tasawwuf , he claimed that Tasawwuf(sufism) is a Cult and a Bidah , i tried to explain Tasawwuf(sufism)a bit to him but it seems he had difficulties with the Term since it was not used by the Prophet saws or the Sahaba ra

so now was my question to the brothers and sisters on the forum:

Do you think Tasawwuf is a Bidah??? 1.Yes(why)... or 2.No(why not)
(note:daleel from the scholars would be nice)

[muslim forever]

Salaam,

Tasawwuf is simply to do with rectifying ones inner state of being. Is there not an ayah in the quran which talks about the heart and ihsan?
To answer this question and to find out how the name 'Tasawwuf' came into existence pls listen to this lecture by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...arch&plindex=3

This lecture is on Aqeeda, but the Mufti talks about Tasawwuf too. A very good lecture!

Hope it helps inshallah!

Wasalaam

[fahid]

Tasawwuf purpose is to place our Nafs (Self, Soul, Ego etc) at Peace and it originates from the Qur'an:

Allah states in the Qur'an:

"...and as for whoever feared to stand before his Lord and restrained the desires of his self, surely his abode will be the Garden." (Qur'an 79:40)

Imam Ibn Kathir states: "The Mu'min are a people who have been prevented through the Qur'an from indulging in the pleasures of this world; it comes between them and what might destroy them. The Mu'min is like a prisoner in this world, who tries to free himself from its shackles and chains, placing his trust in nothing in it, until the day he meets his Creator. He knows full well that he is accountable for everything that he hears, sees and says, and for everything that he does with his body." (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, vol. 9 pg. 276, Cairo 1352)

The Ulema are in agreement that there are at least Three Types of Nafs and they are the Nafs that Commands (Qur'an 12:53), the Nafs that Blames (Qur'an 75:2) and the Nafs that is at Peace (Qur'an 89:27).

I posted this before (with a bit of editing):

The Salaf on Tasawwuf:

"If it were not for Abu Hashim al-Sufi I would have never perceived the presence of the subtlest forms of hypocrisy in the self... Among the best of people is the Sufi learned in jurisprudence." [Sufyan al-Thawri (ra)]

"If it were not for two years, I would have perished (spiritual learning from Ahl-ul-Bayt, may Allah be pleased with them)." [Imam Abu Hanifa (ra)]

"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." [Imam Malik (ra)]

"[Be both] a faqih and a sufi[sufiyyan ]: do not be only one of them, Verily, by Allah's truth, I am advising you sincerely...Three things in this world have been made lovely to me: avoiding affectation, treating people kindly, and following the way of tasawwuf...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." [Imam ash-Shafi (ra)]

"I don't know people better than them (in reference to the Sufis)." [Imam Ahmed (ra)]

Popular Sufi Salaf includes Uwais al-Qarni (who the Prophet told the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them to meet yet Uwais never met the Prophet ) al-Hasan al-Basri, al-Qasim ibn `Uthman al-Ju`i , al-Harith al-Muhasibi and may Allah be pleased with them all.

What else was the Prophet teaching us? Things like Ihsan, how can one develop it with only the Law? Law does not require it, yet how can one develop it?

ibn Al-Jawzi's opinion as that true Tasawwuf is definitely a part of Islam, the major difference is that the science later ended up more about dancing and music. Sure Innovations can happen amongst the "Sufis", yet so can it happen amongst the Jurists, such as making things Halal to Haram etc or saying things that were never said etc.

After all, the majority of the Ulema have spoken on Tasawwuf as well as the fact that Ibn Taymiyah who the Salafis hold as Shaykh ul-Islam was himself a Qadiri Sufi.

Allah knows best.

[muslim forever]

Early Scholars on Tasawwuf

Imam Abu Hanifa (85 H. - 150 H)
"If it were not for two years, I would have perished." He said, "for two years I accompanied Sayyidina Ja'far as-Sadiq and I acquired the spiritual knowledge that made me a gnostic in the Way."
[Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, vol 1. p. 43]


Imam Malik (95 H. - 179 H.)
"whoever studies Jurisprudence [tafaqaha] and didn't study Sufism [tasawwaf] will be corrupted; and whoever studied Sufism and didn't study Jurisprudence will become a heretic; and whoever combined both will reach the Truth."
['Ali al-Adawi , vol. 2, p 195.]


Imam Shafi'i (150 - 205 AH.)
"I accompanied the Sufi people and I received from them three knowledges: ...how to speak; how to treat people with leniency and a soft heart... and they... guided me in the ways of Sufism."
[Kashf al-Khafa, 'Ajluni, vol. 1, p 341.]


Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (164 - 241 AH.)
"O my son, you have to sit with the People of Sufism, because they are like a fountain of knowledge and they keep the Remembrance of Allah in their hearts. they are the ascetics and they have the most spiritual power."
[Tanwir al-Qulub p. 405]


Imam Ghazzali (450 - 505 AH.)
"I knew verily that 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 receiving knowledge of the Divine Presence."
[al-Munqidh, p. 131].


Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi (544 - 606 AH)
"The way of Sufis for seeking Knowledge, is to disconnect themselves from this worldly life, and they keep themselves constantly busy with Dhikrullah, in all their actions and behaviors."
['Itiqadaat Furaq al-Muslimeen, p. 72, 73]


Imam Nawawi (620 - 676 AH.)
"The specifications of the Way of the Sufis are ... to keep the Presence of Allah in your heart in public and in private; to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) ... to be happy with what Allah gave you..."
[in his Letters, (Maqasid at-tawhid), p. 20]


Ibn Taymiyya (661 - 728 AH)
"Tasawwuf has realities and states of experience which they talk about in their science. Some of it is that the Sufi is that one who purifies himself from anything which distracts him from the remembrance of Allah and who will be so filled up with knowledge of the heart and knowledge of the mind to the point that the value of gold and stones will be the same to him. And Tasawwuf is safeguarding the precious meanings and leaving behind the call to fame and vanity in order to reach the state of Truthfulness, because the best of humans after the prophets are the Siddiqeen, as Allah mentioned them in the verse:
"(And all who obey Allah and the Apostle) are in the company of those on whom is the grace of Allah: of the prophets, the sincere lovers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous; Ah! what a beautiful fellowship." (an-Nisa', 69,70)

"...some people criticised Sufiyya and Tasawwuf and they said they were innovators, out of the Sunnah, but the truth is they are striving in Allah's obedience [mujtahidin fi ta'at-illahi], as others of Allah's People strove in Allah's obedience. So from them you will find the Foremost in Nearness by virtue of his striving [as-saabiq ul-muqarrab bi hasab ijtihadihi]. And some of them are from the People of the Right hand [Ahl al-Yameen mentioned in Qur'an in Sura Waqi'ah], but slower in their progress.... And this is the origin of Tasawwuf. And after that origin, it has been spread and [tasha'abat wa tanawa'at] has its main line and its branches.
[Majmu'a Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya al-Kubra, Vol. 11, Book of Tasawwuf, p. 497].

"The miracles of saints are absolutely true and correct, by the acceptance of all Muslim scholars. And the Qur'an has pointed to it in different places, and the Hadith of the Prophet (s) has mentioned it, and whoever denies the miraculous power of saints are only people who are innovators and their followers." [al-Mukhtasar al-Fatawa, page 603]. Ibn Taymiyya says, "what is considered as a miracle for a saint is that sometimes the saint might hear something that others do not hear and they might see something that others do not see, while not in a sleeping state, but in a wakened state of vision. And he can know something that others cannot know, through revelation or inspiration."
[Majmu'a Fatawi Ibn Taymiyya, Vol. 11, p. 314].


Ibn Khaldun (733 - 808 AH.)
"The way of the Sufis is the way of the Salaf, the preceding Scholars between the Sahaba and Tabi'een of those who followed good guidance..."
[Muqaddimat ibn al-Khaldun, p. 328]


Tajuddin as-Subki (727 - 771 AH.)
"May Allah praise them [the Sufis] and greet them and may Allah cause us to be with them in Paradise. Too many things havebeen said about them and too many ignorant people have said things which are not related to them. And the truth is that those people left the world and were busy with worship. ...They are the People of Allah, whose supplications and prayer Allah accepts and by means of whom Allah supports human beings"
[Mu'eed an-Na'am p. 190, the chapter entitled Tasawwuf]


Jalaluddin as-Suyuti (849 - 911 AH.)
"At-Tasawwuf in itself is the best and most honorable knowledge. It explains how to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) and to put aside innovation."
[Ta'yid al-Haqiqat al-'Aliyya,p 57]


Ibn Qayyim (691 - 751 AH.)
"We can witness the greatness of the People of Sufism, in the eyes of the earliest generations of Muslims by what has been mentioned by Sufyan ath-Thawri (d. 161 AH), one of the greatest imams of the second century and one of the foremost legal scholars. He said, "If it had not been for Abu Hisham as-Sufi (d. 115) I would never have perceived the action of the subtlest forms of hypocrisy in the self... Among the best of people is the Sufi learned in jurisprudence."
[Manazil as-Sa'ireen.]


Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab (1115 - 1201 AH.)
"My father Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and I do not deny or criticize the science of Sufism, but on the contrary we support it, because it purifies the external and the internal of the hidden sins, which are related to the heart and to the outward form. Even though the individual might externally be on the right way, internally he might be on the wrong way. Sufism is necessary to correct it."
[ad-Dia'at mukathaffa did ash-shaykh ibn Abdul Wahhab, p. 85]


Ibn 'Abidin (1198 - 1252 AH.)
"The Seekers in this Sufi Way don't hear except from the Divine Presence and they don't love any but Him. If they remember Him they cry, and if they thank Him they are happy; ... May Allah bless them."
[Risa'il Ibn 'Abidin p. 172 & 173]


Muhammad 'Abduh (1265 - 1323 AH.)
"Tasawwuf appeared in the first century of Islam and it received a tremendous honor. It purified the self and straightened the conduct and gave knowledge to people from the Wisdom and Secrets of the Divine Presence."
[Majallat al-Muslim, 6th ed. 1378 H, p. 24].


Maulana Abul Hasan 'Ali an-Nadawi (1331 AH b.)
"These Sufis were initiating people on Oneness and sincerity in following the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) and to repent from their sins and to be away from every disobedience of Allah 'Azza wa Jall. Their guides were encouraging them to move in the way of perfect Love to Allah 'Azza wa Jall.
"...In Calcutta India, everyday more than 1000 people were taking initiation into Sufism. "...by the influence of these Sufi people, thousands and thousands and hundreds of thousands in India found their Lord and reached a state of Perfection through the Islamic religion."
[Muslims in India, p. 140-146]

Maulana Abul 'Ala Maudoodi (1321 - 1399 AH.)
"Sufism is a reality whose signs are the love of Allah and the love of the Prophet (saw), where one absents oneself for their sake, and one is annihilated from anything other than them, and it is to know how to follow the footsteps of the Prophet (s). ..Tasawwuf searched for the sincerity in the heart and the purity in the intention and the trustworthiness in obedience in an individual's actions."
"The Divine Law and Sufism: "Sufism and Shariah: what is the similitude of the two? They are like the body and the soul. The body is the external knowledge, the Divine Law, and the spirit is the internal knowledge."
[Mabadi' al-Islam, p. 17]

Someone posted all the above in one of the past threads.

[abuhajira]

Maulana Abul 'Ala Maudoodi (1321 - 1399 AH.) ?!?!?!

He is not thaat early... and He was against sufism.. in fact he said that this peer mureedi is one of the cause of decline of Ummah.. and he was not a Maulana he was just baba ji..

[Yahya]

I don't think that there is any doubt about this issue. Tasawwuf definitely IS bid'ah.

However, there are two different types of bid'ah. There is good bid'ah and bad bid'ah. Good bid'ah is something that is completely within the rules of the religion and it is rooted in something that is praiseworthy. Bad bid'ah is against the rules of the religion.

Some Good bid'ahs:
1- Praying taraaweeh in one congregation (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
2- Combining the Qur'an into one Mushaf (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
3- Adding diacritical marks to the Mushaf so you can distinguish a taa from a baa (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
4- Adding to the Mushaf numbers to mark the ends of ayat and adding the symbols to mark the places of sajdah (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
5- Adding to the Mushaf the tashkeel so that you know a given letter has a fathah and not a dummah (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )


There are many examples of good bid'ah. The Mawlid is among them. And Tariqah is definitely among them. The awliyaa' who started the tariqahs are among the highest status members of our Ummah according to almost everyone.

[fahid]

I don't think that there is any doubt about this issue. Tasawwuf definitely IS bid'ah.

However, there are two different types of bid'ah. There is good bid'ah and bad bid'ah. Good bid'ah is something that is completely within the rules of the religion and it is rooted in something that is praiseworthy. Bad bid'ah is against the rules of the religion.

Some Good bid'ahs:
1- Praying taraaweeh in one congregation (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
2- Combining the Qur'an into one Mushaf (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
3- Adding diacritical marks to the Mushaf so you can distinguish a taa from a baa (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
4- Adding to the Mushaf numbers to mark the ends of ayat and adding the symbols to mark the places of sajdah (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
5- Adding to the Mushaf the tashkeel so that you know a given letter has a fathah and not a dummah (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )


There are many examples of good bid'ah. The Mawlid is among them. And Tariqah is definitely among them. The awliyaa' who started the tariqahs are among the highest status members of our Ummah according to almost everyone.

Isn't it originated from the Qur'an and Prophet's teaching though? Tasawwuf meaning "Purification of the self from all that is other than the remembrance and obedience of Allah" It's the Tariqa's/the Schools of Tasawwuf that would be considered Good Bid'ah (kinda like having Four Schools of Fiqh), but not necessary Tasawwuf itself?

"Therefore remember Me. I will remember you and be grateful to Me and never be ungrateful to Me." (Qur'an 2:152)

"Obey Allâh, and obey the Messenger..." (Qur'an 64:12)

Tasawwuf has elements such as Ihsan, Zuhd and ma'rifa which technically we should all have. Ihsan is a teaching of Rasullilah yet it's not part of Law. Zuhd is part of the Sunnah in following the way of the Prophet such as the 1000 Sunans that can be done in a day, from manners to how we eat to using the Miswak and Amir Ali was definitely that of the people of Zuhd. Ma'rifa is obvious, having knowledge of our Creator. It's elements like this that establish Tasawwuf.

I understand the word Tasawwuf may never have been mentioned.

[Saad]

Finally, it should also be remembered that practices carried out in the time of the rightly guided Khalifas, other Companions and their followers (Allah be plesed with all) can not be considered a Bid’a. The great Hanafi jurist and Hadith scholar, Imam Abd al-Hay al-Lakhnawi dedicated a whole chapter in support of this in his famous treatise titled ‘Iqamat al-hujjah ala an al-ikthar fi al-ta’abbud laysa bid’a’.

He states:

“Practices that were carried out with the approval of the Companions (Allah be pleased with them all) but were not done in the time of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace), such as the introducing of the first Adhan for Jumu’ah prayer, twenty Rak’ats of Tarawih prayer, etc…can not be considered a Shar’i Bid’a.

There are many evidences for this, just to mention a few:

1) The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Hold fast on to my ways and the ways of the rightly guided Caliphs.” (Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Tirmidhi and others with an authentic chain of narrators).

2) The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “follow in the footsteps of the two after me, Abu Bakr and Umar.” (Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah with a sound chain of narrators).

(See for more details: Iqamat al-Hujjah by Imam al-Lakhnawi with notes by Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, P.25-58).

http://www.daruliftaa.com/question.a...nID=q-22355054


So anything done in the time of Companions and Khair-ul-Quroon is not bidah.

In the Shariah terminology, Bid’a means to introduce something in religion that was not done in the time of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace), the rightly guided Khulafa (Allah be pleased with them all) and the early generations with the intention of gaining more reward, and despite being a need for it in the time of the Messenger of Allah and his Companions, it was not implemented verbally, practically, explicitly or implicitly.

[Taken from Imam al-Barkawi’s al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya,
Imam Shatibi’s al-I’tisam and
Imam al-Lakhnawi’s Iqamat al-Hujjah).

1. Praying Taraweeh in Jamat in the Sunnah of Khulafa-e-Rashideen and Sahaba so it can't be labelled "good" bidah.

2. Writing of the Quran is not bidah as it was orderd by the Prophet to do so, and secondly, it is also the Sunnah of Khulafa-e-Rashideen, as they compiled it in one Mushaf. During the time of Prophet , whole of the Quran was written down, but it was scattered and not in a book form.

3. A'rab on the Quran were written by Abu Aswad Daili , who was a student of Hazrat Ali . And according to others it was done by Yahya bin Yamar, who was also a Tabi. There were many Sahaba alive at that time, so this also can't fall under "good" bidah as it was done in the "Khair-ul-Quroon".

[Abdullah Ali al Hanafi]

I don't think that there is any doubt about this issue. Tasawwuf definitely IS bid'ah.

However, there are two different types of bid'ah. There is good bid'ah and bad bid'ah. Good bid'ah is something that is completely within the rules of the religion and it is rooted in something that is praiseworthy. Bad bid'ah is against the rules of the religion.

Some Good bid'ahs:
1- Praying taraaweeh in one congregation (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
2- Combining the Qur'an into one Mushaf (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
3- Adding diacritical marks to the Mushaf so you can distinguish a taa from a baa (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
4- Adding to the Mushaf numbers to mark the ends of ayat and adding the symbols to mark the places of sajdah (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )
5- Adding to the Mushaf the tashkeel so that you know a given letter has a fathah and not a dummah (not done during the time of Rasoolullah )


There are many examples of good bid'ah. The Mawlid is among them. And Tariqah is definitely among them. The awliyaa' who started the tariqahs are among the highest status members of our Ummah according to almost everyone.

there is no such thing as a ''good'' bidah look at the following Ahadith



he Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: "Every innovation is misguidance and going astray" Reported by Abu Daawood (no. 4607), at-Tirmidhee (no. 2676) and it is saheeh. Ibn Hajr authenticated it Takhreej Ahaadeeth Ibn ul-Haajib (1/137).

And he (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) also said: "… and every innovation is misguidance and all misguidance is in the Hellfire." Reported by an-Nasaa'ee (1/224) from Jaabir bin Abdullaah and it is saheeh as declared by Shaikh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah in Majmoo' ul-Fataawaa (3/58).


statements salaf:

Ibn Umar (d. 84H) said: "Every innovation is misguidance, even if the people see it as something good." Reported by Abu Shaamah (no. 39)

Hasan Ibn Attiya, one of the Ta'baeen said, "When the people accept the "Bid'ah" , Allah removes the Sunnah from among them and doesn't return it until the day of judgment."

[Yahya]

When Umar looked upon the gathering of Muslims praying Taraaweeh in one congregation, he exclaimed, "What a good bid'ah this is!!"

I think Umar (Radiyallahu anhu) is an authority on what is a bid'ah and what isn't.