Islamic Sects - Sufism

Sufism is a mystical-ascetic form of Islam. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. Tasawwuf is regarded as a science of Islam that has always been an integral part of Orthodox Islam. But the tasawwuf of the Sufis is different insofar as it has historically been accused of innovation by orthodox scholars throughout the ages however in his Al-Risala al-safadiyya, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya defends the Sufis as those who belong to the path of the Sunna and represent it in their teachings and writings. Jurist and Hadith master Ibn Taymiyya's sufi inclinations and his reverence for Sufis like `Abd al-Qadir Gilani can also be seen in his hundred-page commentary on Futuh al-ghayb, covering only five of the seventy-eight sermons of the book, but showing that he considered tasawwuf essential within the life of the Islamic community. 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,al-Ansari al-Harawi and `Abd al-Qadir, and the latter's own shaykh, Hammad al-Dabbas:The upright among the followers of the Path - like the majority of the early shaykhs (shuyukh al-salaf) such as Fudayl ibn `Iyad, Ibrahim ibn Adham, Ma`ruf al-Karkhi, al-Sari al-Saqati, al-Junayd ibn Muhammad, and others of the early teachers, as well as Shaykh Abd al-Qadir, Shaykh Hammad, Shaykh Abu al-Bayan and others of the later masters -- do not permit the followers of the Sufi path to depart from the divinely legislated command and prohibition

Imam Ghazali narrates in Al-Munqidh min-al-dalal:"The vicissitudes of life, family affairs and financial constraints engulfed my life and deprived me of the congenial solitude. The heavy odds confronted me and provided me with few moments for my pursuits. This state of affairs lasted for ten years but wherever I had some spare and congenial moments I resorted to my intrinsic proclivity. During these turbulent years, numerous astonishing and indescribable secrets of life were unveiled to me. I was convinced that the group of Aulia (holy mystics) is the only truthful group who follow the right path,display best conduct and surpass all sages in their wisdom and insight. They derive all their overt or covert behaviour from the illumining guidance of the holy Prophet, the only guidance worth quest and pursuit.” This is what defines the intent and path of Islam via real submission of ones nafs to Allah and His commandments. Sufism does not claim to be factory producing homogeneous and homophobic muslims. And that is the reason Sheykh Abdul Qadir Jilaani was hambali and Sheykh Moinuddeen Chishti was hanafi. In due course of time so many misconceptions have been developed by those who do window shopping for Sufism from outside. In fact, anything which is not from Allah and His messenger is not a Sufi affair.