The Calamity of Tasawwuf

[dr.ati]

My views about Tasawwuf have never been hidden. I tried to reconcile my stance with the traditional Deobandi stance for a long time , however i failed. Here is my critique of Tasawwuf. I will welcome any corrections or Islaah in my views. It should not be taken as criticism on some school of thought , rather it should be read as my humble and sincere opinion. http://dratifyousafzai.blogspot.com/...of-sufism.html

[abdulwahhab]

Are you not painting with too wide a brush and implicating the majority of the ulama of the past with it? Also, have you read other books by Shaykh Ibn Arabi or read any of the commentaries on the Fusus? It is a book that isn't meant to be read without preparation. Since Shaykh Ibn Arabi isn't here to defend himself, should we not be more careful and understanding? He may have made some mistakes and even many Sufis have attacked him (some Sufis have even called him deviant or even kaafir), but he himself warns those without good understanding from reading the Fusus.

And bringing up Ml. Qasim Nanotvi and disparaging him - and then trying to associate Muslims with the Qadianis does much to discredit you, regardless of what points you may raise. For an explanation, read here: http://www.as-suffa.org/item/tahzir-...of-takfir.html

[NNoor]

So has the author mastered classical Arabic in order for him to read and comment on these works?

[mh16388]

please read 'consequences of debasing the auwliya-Allah' by dr. M. ismail memon...published by dar-ul-ishaat (karachi).
how does the 'calamity' of tasawwuf affect the Muslim ummah anyway?is it greater than calamity of modernism or salafism?if yes then how?if no then why the critique?

[Abdul1234]

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh

really mr I think you need to go back and look at this subject again as what you have written on the subject of Sufism in your blog is pretty weak and faulty...

Ever since its origin in the historically slippery,traditionally chaotic and infamously mischievous dungeons of A'jam, Tasawwuf has been a mystery of its own kind. It started from Platonism

This is only what the orientalists say, real tasawwuf began with the Prophet Muhammad (saws), the Holy Quran and the Sunnah

and now some of our friends are trying to fool the people by saying that Tasawwuf is nothing more than "Tazkiyyah Nafs".

they are saying that because it is indeed the advanced science of tazkiyyah un Nafs

Tasawwuf is rather "Ghalaba e Nafs" as the pioneers of Tasawwuf gave preference to their personal desires and experiences over the revealed knowledge which is preserved in the form of Quran and Sunnah.

the early Sufis were the Sahaba, the pioneers of Sufism were the Sahaba,they were followed by successive generations who were also the best Muslims on the Shariah such as Imam Hassan al Basri (ra) right through to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani (ra) and to modern Sufis like Zulfiqar Ahmed (db) etc

The way the earlier Sufis tried to induct their personal experiences, Platonic philosophies and Greek mythologies into Islam, made Tasawwuf a disorganized religion in its own self.!!!

you are insulting many of the best of the early Muslims of the Ummah of Muhammad (saws), none of them ever had any connection to neo-platonism or Greek mythology - you are just repeating an orientalist fantasy

Tasawwuf is a parallel religion with its own creed and rituals and has nothing to do with the Islam revealed by Allah on Muhammad (PBUH) and practiced by him and his Companions (RAA). The whole of this game initiated by Sufis has reached some nether regions of deviance and perplexities in our age and time and the tradition of Sufism has produced "gems" like Ghulam Ahmed Qadyani , Ahmed Raza khan... etc etc etc.


your story here gets more fabulous and further and further from reality as it goes on . Ghulem Ahmad Qadian had no real connection to Sufism and Ahmad Raza Khan was not representative of true Sufism, really mr. this is little more than an ill informed diatribe

....the tradition of Tasawwuf has introduced many evils into our society and a quick youtube search reveals some amazing clips of Sufis in which they are dancing, gathering with the ladies standing in the lock-ups after sodomizing teens and so on.......

the fact that you have written this filthy minded slander and have made clear that rely upon such sources as the (orientalists your accusation of neo-platonism) and you tube for your information about Sufism shows that you need to go back and really learn about Sufism from real Sufis

- if you actually had any knowledge about Sufism you would know that real Sufis dedicate their lives to following the Shariah and never leave it, go and get it

you claim Sufism is a parallel religion and it has nothing to do with Islam from your self-studies of Ibn Arabi and one or two other works upon Sufism on which you have placed yourself as judge, jury and executioner who can imply Sufis as followers of an un-Islamic religion.

You have read these works and interpreted their meanings according to your own views not those of their authors and have declared that

'The Tawheed of Sufism is derived from Plato's theory of forms as opposed to the tawheed of Islam!!! - by saying this you are effectively making a judgement of kufr against the majority of the Muslim Ummah who follow scholars who are associated to Sufi tareeqas, May Allah guide you.

You continue with ridiculous gems such as....

I am not interested in getting into the philosophical numbo jumbo right now but a brief explanation of Plato's theory of forms is necessary here as it is the core of Tasawwuf

you continue you mangling of reality when you imply Ibn Taymiyyah (ra) was against Sufism, when in fact he was a documented Sheikh of the Qadiriyyah tareeqa and used to refer to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani (ra) as 'my master'....

(there was an interesting thread on this issue on Sunniforum some time ago http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/show...Sufi-!-!/page5)

really mr what you are writing has nothing to do with true pure Sufism and is only relevant to certain fakes and pretenders who pretend to be practioners of Tasawwuf

- in this line your main cause of misunderstanding seems to be that you have a near complete inability to distinguish between pseudo-Sufis and Sufi pretenders and the real practitioners and sincere students of Sufism

your article adds nothing new to the discussion about the place of tasawwuf within Islam, it mostly consists of a rather laborious rehashing of wahhabi and orientalists distortions, not everything on your website is similarly weak - so why do you not stick to your stronger points?

The best thing that you can do is go and meet some real Sufis like Zulfiqar Ahmed (db), Hussein Abdul Sattar (db) or similar and ask them to tell you what Sufism really is, they may help guide you out of your deep mire of confusion

http://www.tasawwuf.org/basics/what_tasawwuf.htm

also brother you need to think about repenting from some of the slanderous things that you have said without even realizing it

I pray that Allah guides us all in gentle merciful ways and saves us from our spiritually harmful misconceptions

[dr.ati]

So has the author mastered classical Arabic in order for him to read and comment on these works?

I don't claim to have mastered Arabic but i have checked my tranlsation through a Shaykh of Jamia. I have tried my level to best to preserve the context and meaning of the narrations. I will welcome any corrections.

[Umar_Ahmed]

I am guessing that all this is just your opinion. You have done your own research on this subject.
Is there a slight (1%) chance of your research being wrong?
Suppose your research is wrong and real Sufis are not what you are thinking them to be? Wont they grab you up on the Day of Judgement and claim revenge for these slanderous things?
How do you know if you (alone) are right or the so many Sufis out there?
Maybe ask Allah?

"You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
Guide us on the Straight Path"
- Surah Fatiha

So ask Allah for help. Do Istikhara and let Allah guide you and show you the truth.
Am sure you will not consider your research to be of more importance than Allah's guidance.
If you are correct, Allah will keep you firm on your present ideas. If you are wrong, Allah will guide you.

[dr.ati]

please read 'consequences of debasing the auwliya-Allah' by dr. M. ismail memon...published by dar-ul-ishaat (karachi).
how does the 'calamity' of tasawwuf affect the Muslim ummah anyway?is it greater than calamity of modernism or salafism?if yes then how?if no then why the critique?

I don't think so that those i have castigated were "Aulia". Some unnecessary importance and specification has been given to this word though. Shaykh ul Islam rahimahullah has written "Al Furqan bain Aulia e Rahman wa Aulia e Shaitan" and its a good read.
Modernism,secularism are indeed a Fitna of this age . We should focus on them as well but Tasawwuf has been a bigger calamity in my view than these fitnas.

[Umar_Ahmed]

... Tasawwuf has been a bigger calamity in view than these fitnas.

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal:

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

Ibn Taymiyya :

“I have worn the Sufi cloak of a number of shaykhs belonging to various tariqas (labistu khirqata at tasawwuf min turuqi jama'atin min al shuyukhi), among them the Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al Jili, whose tariqa is the greatest of the well known ones. Further on he says: The greatest Sufi Way (ajall al-turuq) is that of my master(sayyidi) `Abd al-Qadir al Jili, may Allah have mercy on him.” (Ibn `Abd al Hadi, Bad' al 'ilqa bi labs al khirqa, ms. al-Hadi, Princeton Library Arabic Collection, fols. 154a, 169b, 171b 172a; and Damascus University, copy of original Arabic manuscript, 985H.; also mentioned in at Talyani, manuscript Chester Beatty 3296 (8) in Dublin, fol. 67a). And in one of Ibn Taymiyyas own books he writes “I wore the blessed Sufi cloak of `Abd al-Qadir, there being between him and me two shaykhs.” (Manuscript Damascus, Zahiriyya #1186 H).

[Abdul1234]

I don't think so that those i have castigated were "Aulia". Some unnecessary importance and specification has been given to this word though. Shaykh ul Islam rahimahullah has written "Al Furqan bain Aulia e Rahman wa Aulia e Shaitan" and its a good read.
Modernism,secularism are indeed a Fitna of this age and Salafism has its own issues as well. We should focus on them as well but Tasawwuf has been a bigger calamity in view than these fitnas.

The way the earlier Sufis tried to induct their personal experiences, Platonic philosophies and Greek mythologies into Islam, made Tasawwuf a disorganized religion in its own self.

when you declare this you are not only insulting (and indirectly declaring the kufr of) great early Muslim such as..

Imam Jafar as Sadiq (ra)

Imam Hassan al Basri (ra)

Sheikh Junaid Baghdadi (ra)

you are also insulting thousands more of the early Muslims who were practitioners of tasawwuf before and after them.