Sufism as a term should not be used … Rather we should say in Islam is there a basis to correct our character and improve our spiritual dispositions … and the answer is yes … So is correcting of character and improving spiritual disposition the same or different to Shari’ah?
Of course it is different … In Shar’iah as long as a person prays on time he is removed of any blame … But for Sufis … blame will apply to a person who prays without khushu’ and presence of mind and heart. It is not always easy to do that so the Sufis developed tassuwwuf as a science to teach us how to sustain long term khushu’ and presence of mind and heart.
So moving on to the next question … Can it follow practices not allowed by Shari’ah?
No it cannot follow practices that are not allowed by Shari’ah … However, it can make use of practices from within the Sunnah and within the rules of what is permissible to create solutions to issues of conscious state, character, adab, etc … It is in fact impossible to be excellent (muhsin) without being good and Shari’ah is the lower limit of goodness … so it would be a contradiction to infer that Sufis allow haram things. However, there may be ikhtilaf issues that people should consider before saying Sufis are doing haram things, because where there is ikhtilaf that is where people should be less judgmental. Sufis try to not be judgmental regardless …
There are some people who attach themselves to a label “Sufi” just like there are Muslims who do not practice Islam there are Sufis who do not practice tassuwwuf. Sufi however is a tag that many non-Muslims also attach themselves to … There are complete heretical groups who call themselves Sufis that does not mean Sufis are heretical … it merely means people should be careful in distinguishing between heretics and Muslims. Traditionally Sufis never called themselves that - rather the great sages and walis were called Sufis by the people. When I speak to people I don’t say I am a Sufi - because that would be like saying I am a Saint … Rather I say I am pro-tassuwwuf. I am a Sunni Hanafi Muslim again meaning that I claim to follow it without any claim to how good I am at following that madhab. I am a Shadhili merely because I have taken bayah in the Shadhili tariqah without any claim of how established I am as a Sufi - I am in fact quite far from where I need to be, to be a Sufi …
A true Sufi cannot be a non-practicing Muslim - but a true Sufi does not need to be a scholar or 'alim all he needs to be able to do is the basics of Islam and have in his heart complete sincerity towards his faith. That is itself is a miracle and such a person would be considered a wali.
A silsila technically should be possible to be extruded from the shajarah it describes the holistic pattern of methods as passed down the chain of scholars … The tree (shajarah) is the diagrammatic connectivity of Sufi masters going back to RasoolAllah (SAW) to demonstrate license and authenticity. Tariqah means method of adoption where certain patterns of tassuwwuf are taken to community level and undertaken in social settings - opinions are split some people say tariqah or silsila is necessary and others say it is not necessary - what is definitely required is that the science of tassuwwuf should not be attempted without a master or teacher in the science - because it can lead to heresy.
It is a position among the Sufis that even people who find the term Sufi reprehensible can be from the awliya … so long as they exhibit the traits of Sufis … which is excellent character and conformity to Sunnah.
Sufis will promote jihad b’il Qatl but only for those who are prepared for it. A raging person who has had his family killed and property decimated will be unlikely to fight in a war in the correct “state of being”. Today people who want to fight are the ones who want to get even - they have personal vendettas and they treat each individual of the opposition as the very same person who has done them the injustice. Jihad b’il qatl is about finding every excuse to avoid harming the other person. It is about curbing hatred and anger on the battlefield and keeping to rules of engagement. It is mostly about compassion. The help of angels comes to those armies that are pure from sins and grudges … The call of jihad today is not about fighting rather it is about stopping the fighting even if means getting harmed or killed in the process. The view of jihad as “fighting” is a limited view … rather it should be “fighting for good when the sway is not to fight” and “stopping fighting (for the good) when the sway is to fight” … these two define jihad in such a way that it becomes clear that the mujahid is the one who seeks to end fitnah by placing himself as a barrier between two or more parties. This way Sufis would hold the best understanding of the term and rather jihad is a manifestation of tassuwwuf. Struggle is exactly what tassuwwuf is underpinned by …
To be honest, I find Sufism inconsistent with Islam. Following a Silsilah is not required. But teachers are required for students who learn quran and hadith for academic purpose. If dawah and tableegh is done by preachers properly, no need for teachers for average muslims. And responsibility of average muslims is they should learn quran and basic ahadith regarding belief and ibadah and it has almost nothing to do with peer-mureed model. Peer-mureed model is to keep muslims ‘practicing’ while keeping them away from quran and basics of belief system. unlikely to happen and illogical IMO. infact peer-mureed model makes people feel that we will be forgiven because of our peer even if prayers are missed, as “blessings/barakat” of following our peer are with us.
For jihad, most sufis say they believe in defensive jihad. Where-as there is nothing special to be mentioned with defensive jihad as this type of struggle can even be done by disbeliever nation if invaded.
I agree or at least sympathise with most of this response by brother ajazali, because it is addressed at what “Sufism” is - it does not however deal with what I have spoken about earlier which is about tassuwwuf. The Peer-mureed model in essence was a useful one, but on the whole the methods employed in most silsilas today can have the effect that ajazali has mentioned. It is important hence to note the difference between what he has said and what I have said earlier.
I didn’t understand the jihad argument - I thought I made it very clear what we believe regarding jihad earlier.
I have observed sufis from both brevlis and deobandis. In pakistan, in non-urban areas deobandi are hardly identified as sufis. Majority of sufis are from brelvis and they are hardly practicing. Beside I have met several other sufis, I also know closely some sufis who regularly visit Sufi Barkat Ali, they never impressed me with their ways.
That every muslim nations has its own responsibility to take care of oppression and jihad is fardh for me only when ‘my nation’ is invaded, carries no values of jihad. Disbelievers do defend themselves when they are invaded by external forces.
And when jihad is fardh people have to be ready. If everyone, from Islam, has the right to stay at home when jihad is fardh no one would opt for jihad.
Sharia is jurisprudence based on legal rulings, forms of logic and analogies. Sufism does not fall outside. Sufism is not like a science where biology is separated form physics or chemistry. Sufism is not a mutually exclusive ethnic or madhab group. As an analogy a Mufti is general practitioner/physician where as a sufi saint aims at highest specialization. Sufism draws on the comprehensive understanding of creator and created beyond the material world (metaphysics based on sharia) but also includes the material world seen.
Why do we need it?
Who is we? We don’t need it. For a person the sincere adherence to 5 basic principles/pillars of Islam should suffice. For those who wish to rise will build lofty soul on top of these 5 pillars. That is a sufi seeker.
Can it follow practices not allowed by sharia?
As described above, it must follow that Sufism must be rooted and and built upon sharia. Sharia is basically man’s understanding of nature and nature of God. But, there comes a point in existence where common sharia might not be applicable to a sufi in a particular circumstance.
Can a sufi be not practising muslim?
Sufi is not a title or group affiliation, or sir name, or genetic nature or state of divinity. It is a state of a human. It can fluctuate. A sufi seeker guards himself from any deviations to maintain devotional love.
Can one be walli of ALLAh without followig a silsilh?
Whose silsila did Dawood, Musa, Yaqoob, Muhammed, Isa, Ibrahim, Rumi, Thabrizi, Bulla, Guru Nanak, Baba Ganjh bakhsh follow? Affiliation to sillia or not. Every human being is sovereign. It is only DNA that gets transferred, rest man attains by his own struggles and devotion. The Silsila may be a companion for a while or not…
Do sufiya allow jihad bil qitaal? if yes under which circumstances?
Anything allowed by Allah and His messenger cannot be disallowed by any wali of God
I know, deobandis in general would not mind if they are called sufis. But I discuss those sufis that actively propagate sufism, tazkia, mrakba type stuff you know.
Let me explain it with my limited knowledge on the subject
In Quran there is no term called Sufi, rather it calls Al-Nas, Muslim, Moemen, and Awuliya. the word sufi has many meanings and most popular is that as they wear thick cloths made out of Sauf that is why they are called Saufi’s or Sufis.
Many will differe with above, but this is what my limited knowledge tells me.
for your post # 20 & 21 both were very helpful. 