What is Tasawwuf (Sufism), and is it forbidden in Islam?
Some Islamic scholars consider Sufism to be Shirk. Is this true?
What are we talking about here?
The Place of Tasawwuf in Traditional Islam is by a friend, Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Keller
thinks that the word “Sufi,” referring to a kind of person, came first,
and then that tasawwuf arose as the description of a person like that,
what they do, and this seems likely to me. So tasawwuf would be the
description of some practice or common characteristic of people called
“Sufi.” Everyone who is called “Sufi”? The word has come to be very
widely and loosely applied. So, if we care about fundamentals, no, not
everyone.
Sufism,
the Wikipedia article, seems pretty good to me, if one sets aside the
accidents of language and the hosts of assumptions. For example, the
article starts with
Sufism or Tasawwuf[1] (Arabic: تصوف), is defined as the inner mystical dimension of Islam.
Okay,
that’s true. If one understands what “mystical” means. My guess is that
few could define it
The
article then talks about “Sufis” as followers of “Masters,” when it
would be much closer to say that some people follow Sufis who followed
Sufis, and on back, but this is what I call the “leaky bucket.” If you
don’t keep filling the bucket from the Source, after a time, what is
being passed on is empty. A real Sufi will fill the bucket, because the
Sufi is living as is then described:
Sufis strive for ihsan (perfection of worship) as detailed in a hadith: "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him; if you can't see Him, surely He sees you."
Continuing
the bucket analogy, someone might come across the spring, the source,
without being connected with that silsila, that chain of transmission.
Is water only water if it is passed down with the leaky bucket?
No.
Water is water and is available as it has always been available, from
the beginning of the human relationship with reality. However, people do
both, sit with those who sat with those who sat with those who sat with
the Prophet, and all that, and find the water and not only drink it,
but immerse themselves in it … and pass it on, by the permission of
Allah.
So is this “forbidden”? I mean, by now, does that question still exist?
However,
then, in the Details, we have “scholars” talking about “shirk.” What
shirk? Well, it is alleged that “Sufis” do this or that.
There are practices that uneducated people CALL Tasawwuf that are shirk. For example, some people pray to the grave of a shaykh. That is shirk and NOT Tasawwuf. Also some people engage in wild dancing, calling it Tasawwuf. This is not part of the Sunnah.
“Uneducated
people?” Aren’t we talking about “some scholars”? Are they
“uneducated”? Perhaps. But then there are those who are mentioned in the
Qur’an as “donkeys carrying books.” Does the Qur’an deprecate learning.
Certainly not! But there is learning that was not accompanied by the
development of insight. If a “scholar” talks about tasawwuf and equates
it, with its ancient traditions, with the practices of those who may be
corrupt, that would show the lack of depth of understanding
characteristic of a donkey. Actually that insults donkeys.
I would greatly prefer to sit with this Donkey,
than with the corrupt among the scholars. The donkey would remind me of
the wisdom and generosity of Allah, and the merits of patience and
trust.
Let’s dispose of this. I was
introduced to Islam by “Sufis.” When I pointed that out in discussion
here, one fellow asked me if I prayed to graves. Because, brother,
that’s forbidden. So some kid barely old enough to know how to clean
himself is telling someone easily old enough to be his grandfather,
what’s so, forgetting that the people of arrogance cannot enter the
Garden. Okay, maybe he just wants to help. I get that. However …. did he
listen to the response? Is he learning from those who came before, or
is he following his own nafs?
No, I saw no
sign that he was listening, seeking closeness to God, or even to another
human being. If you are Muslim and you have been awake, you have met
these people. If is even possible you have been one. (It is easy to fall
into the idea that it’s our job to guide everyone else. Nice intention,
perhaps, but do not get stuck there. It’s a dangerous place. So get
over it, as quickly as possible.)
Basically,
I’ve known many who follow many different forms of tasawwuf. Not once
has a teacher in any of these lines prayed to a grave or encouraged
anyone to do so. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, it might,
somewhere, the world is vast.
It can be,
however, difficult to distinguish respect for those who came before from
worship. What matters is the underlying faith, and judging this in
others can be difficult, and next to useless. The object of our
scrutiny, if we are concerned about ihsan, is our own stand, our own
being. Period.
Respect is a mark of faith. Hatred and contempt are the marks of Satan. Know them by their marks.
Now,
what about “wild dancing”? What is that? I’ve seen some youtube videos
of some men moving rhythmically. Some of it looks wild to me. But those
are of unclear origin.
I never saw that, like that, in person, but have seen and have participated in hadra,
which is a collective practice of dhikrullah, in this case saying a
name or names of God, repetitively, with movements. Is that forbidden?
It could be considered to be an innovation. Dancing was allowed by the
Prophet, there is a well-known hadith, but it wasn’t “religious.”
Dhikrullah is clearly a form of worship, focusing the mind on Allah. The
practical experience is one of “purification,” that is, of the mind
being cleared of everything but the presence of God.
There are those who disapprove. I will leave them to be judged by their lord.
What if it works?
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