TASAWWUF ESTABLISHED WITH
THREE VERSES OF THE QUR'AN
AND A HADITH:
The Word Sufism is an english word,
in our Deen we only use arabic to
describe the Deen, the word in Arabic
for Sufism is Tasawwuf, and the act
you perform is called Tazkiyah an
Nafs, purifying your self of evil and
bad while promoting good qualities
in your self, and what you try to
achieve by it is Ihsan, Human
Perfection.
1) Surah Shams, 91:9 Allah takes an
oath in the Quran like no other and
swears by the act of Tasawwuf, “Qad
Aflaha man Zakaha” (Zakaha =
Tazkiya an nafs), “He Who Purifies it
succeeds”, This is talking about
getting rid of your bad qualities,
Tazkiya Nafs.
2) Surah Abbasa, 80:3 The Blind Man
comes to the Prophet (saws) seeking
Islam and the Prophet (saws) frowns
upon Him as his attention is
elsewhere, Allah responds by Saying,
“Wama yudrika La-alahu
Yazaka” (Yazaka = Tazkiyah an Nafs),
“Yet for all thou didst know, [O
Muhammad,] he might perhaps have
grown in purity”, So in Surah al
Shams Allah mentioned the first part
of Tazkiyah an Nafs and that is
Purifying your self of Evil, In Surah
Abbasa he mentions the second part,
learning and Promoting Good
qualaties in your character and
growing as a person.
3) Surah Ashurah, 26:88-89, Allah
says, “The Day whereon neither
wealth nor sons will avail, But only
he (will prosper) that brings to Allah
a sound heart”, “a heart free of sins
and love for this worldly life” (Tanwir
al miqbas Min Tafsir Ibn Abbas). You
Have to know the Acts of Tazkiyah
Nafs to Free your Heart from Sin and
love for this Dunay (world), and Only
One science in islam deals with this
Subject in all of islams history and
that is Tasawwuf, Fiqh does not
cover Human Character and
Psychology, it covers the Fiqh of
Halal and Haram, how to actually
change your self, the ullumah dealt
with that in a different science of
islam.
4) The most famous Hadith in all of
Islam is the hadith of Jibril (hs),
which occurred 86 days before the
prophets (saws) death, it defines all
the parts of Islam with out a Doubt,
into Fiqh (Islam), Aqeedah (Iman),
Ihsan (Tasawwuf) and the Sings of
the Hour.
Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
said, “While we were sitting with the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
with him and grant him peace, one
day a man came up to us whose
clothes were extremely white, whose
hair was extremely black, upon whom
traces of travelling could not be
seen, and whom none of us knew,
until he sat down close to the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, so that he rested
his knees upon his knees and placed
his two hands upon his thighs and
said,
‘Muhammad, tell me about Islam.’
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said,
‘Islam is that you witness that there
is no god but Allah and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah, and you establish the prayer,
and you give the Zakat, and you fast
Ramadan, and you perform the hajj of
the House if you are able to take a
way to it.’
He said, ‘You have told the
truth,’ and we were amazed at him
asking him and [then] telling him that
he told the truth.
He said, ‘Tell me about Iman.’
He said, ‘That you affirm Allah, His
Angels, His Books, His messengers,
and the Last Day, and that you affirm
the Decree, the good of it and the
bad of it.’
He said, ‘You have told the truth.’
He said, ‘Tell me about Ihsan.’
He said, ‘That you worship Allah as if
you see Him, for if you don’t see Him
then truly He sees you.’
He said, ‘Tell me about the Hour.’
He said, ‘The one asked about it
knows no more than the one asking.’
He said, ‘Then tell me about its
tokens.’
He said, ‘That the female slave
should give birth to her mistress, and
you see poor, naked, barefoot
shepherds of sheep and goats
competing in making tall buildings.’
He went away, and I remained some
time. Then he asked, ‘Umar, do you
know who the questioner was?’ I
said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know
best.’ He said, ‘He was Jibril who
came to you to teach you your
deen’.” (Muslim abd Bukhari narrated
it).
The Entire point of Ihsan, Human
Perfection is to worship Allah as if
You see Him, the acts that help a
person Achieve this are defined by
the Acts of Tazkiyah an Nafs (91:9).
The Prophet (saws) said,”Many
amongst men attained perfection but
amongst women none attained
perfection except Maryam (Mary), the
daughter of ‘Imran, and Asiya, the
wife of Fir’aun (Pharaoh). And the
superiority of Aishah to other women
is like the superiority of Tharid (an
Arabic dish) to other meals.” (Sahih
Al-Bukhari)
Ihsan, Perfection, is something to be
achieved and this is done through
Tazkiyah an nafs (Purification of the
Self). Allah says about human
Perfection in the Quran “We sent
unto her Our Spirit (Jibril) and it
assumed for her the likeness of a
perfect man.” (19:17)
All the Ullumah of Islam, in all our
history knew about Tasawwuf and
Most of the Great Ullumah practised
it because they wanted to achieve
Human Perfection, about this Allah
Says in the Quran “So for this let the
competitors compete.” (83:26),
Encouraging the Ummah to out do
each other in gaining nearness to
Him (Azza wa Jall) and This Verse is
referring to illiyyun which is the
Highest part of Janatul Firdaus just
beneath the Throne of Allah.
The List of Ullumah who Practiced
Tazkiyah an Nafs is extensive and
includes, Imam Bukhari, Imam
Nawawi, Imam Tirmidhi, Imam Abu
Hanifa, Imam Shafii, Imam Malik,
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn
Taymiya, and surprisingly at one
point in his life Muhammad Ibn Abul
Wahhab whose Family was Sufi and
Practiced Tasawwuf. The Wahabi-Sufi
Argument, by those properly
educated in it, is one over which
Practice in Tasawwuf is acceptable in
Islam and which isn’t, this is usually
Ikhtilaf (difference of opinion)
between the Hanbali Madhab which
is literalist in its understanding and
the other three Madhhabs. Not
wether Tasawwuf is part of Islam or
Not, which is Kufr to claim it isn’t
since it is mentioned in the Quran in
a similar way to how Fiqh and
Aqeedah are mentioned.
These labels, Fiqh, Aqeedah and
Tasawwuf are what the traditional
sciences came to be called, Just like
Ahl al Sunnah are Sunni and the
successors are labeled Tabiin and
Tabi Tabiin, just because some
western Muslim kids suddenly woke
up one day in a world where their
parents didn’t teach them anything
about the Deen while growing up,
and thought this science must be
new, doesn’t mean the subject is
new.
If the science of Tasawwuf is about
Human nature and perfecting it and
that is the Point of Deen entirely then
how can it be new, “He it is Who
sent among the unlettered ones a
Messenger (Muhammad SAW) from
among themselves, reciting to them
His Verses, purifying them, and
teaching them the Book and Al-
Hikmah. And verily, they had been
before in manifest error”(62:2),
[ Tafsir al Tustari] “It is He who sent
to the unlettered [folk] a messenger
from among them”… The Imam said:
The unlettered are those who
believed in Muḥammad and were
connected to him through following
(ittiba) him and emulating (iqtidāʾ)
him. Whoever does not emulate him
is not of his nation. His words,
Exalted is He: [62:3] And [to] others
from among them who have not yet
joined them…That is, those who
came after him who believed in him
and followed him, God will join with
the first [generation of believers].
This is a Promise from Allah to those
who follow the Ihsan of the
companions, Allah will join them
together in the this life and the next.
This all dates back to the time of the
messenger himself (saws) and this is
reflected in the major Hadith
Collections.
These works are part of each
scholars larger Ahadith collection
and they cover an important part of
Tasawwuf: Imam Tirmidhi’s Book of
Asceticism, Imam Muslims Book of
Zuhd (Asceticism) Piety And
Softening Of Hearts, Imam Muslims’
The Book of Manners and Etiquette
(Adab), Imam Bukhari’s Book of
Good Manners and Form (Al-Adab),
Imam Bukhari’s Book “To make the
Heart Tender”, Imam Maliks Book on
Good Character, Imam Ibn Majah’s
Book of Zuhd (Asceticism), Imam
Abu Dawwud’s Book of General
Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab), Imam
Bukhari’s Al-Adab Al-Mufrad (on
Conduct and behaviour). All these
books mention Ahadith about the
prophets (saws) Life that are
Important to Tasawwuf. Softening of
Hearts and making it Tender is not
referring to how a person feels after
giving them a Big Teady Bear, this is
talking about how to cure a heart
from one of the worst sicknesses a
human can suffer and that is Hard
Heartedness.
“Woe, then, unto those whose hearts
are hardened against all
remembrance of God! They are most
obviously lost in error!” (39:22).
“Allah does not change the condition
of people until they change what is in
themselves.” (Quran, Surah Al Ra’d,
13:11), untill they Practice Ihsan.
This understanding that Tasawwuf is
part of Islam is stated clearly in The
history of the Wahabi’s, Ibn Taymiyah
himself was a Qadiri Sufi and Died a
Qadiri Sufi, his Major work majmool
al Fatawa, which is 37 volumes, the
11th Volume is entitled al Tasawwuf
in which he teaches the science of
Tasawwuf, he has an essay in it
called al-Sufiyya wa al-fuqara. In his
commentary Ibn Taymiyya stresses
that the primacy of the Shari`a forms
the soundest tradition in tasawwuf,
and to argue this point he lists over a
dozen early masters, as well as more
contemporary shaykhs like his fellow
Hanbalis. In his al-Risala al-
safadiyya, Ibn Taymiyya defends the
Sufis as those who belong to the
path of the Sunna and represent it in
their teachings and writings.