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/2005/0...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.