The Sufis Do Not Make Up Their Own Aqidah or Fiqh November 12, 2006
Posted by aMuslimForLife in Sufi Saying (Wisdom from the Scholars of Ihsan), Tasawwuf/Sufism, Traditional Islam.trackback
The Sufis Do Not Make Up Their Own Aqidah or Fiqh
Imam Ahmad Zarruq says in his Rules of Sufism:
Rule 61: The knowledge of anything may only be taken from those who possess it.
” So a Sufi is not to be relied upon in jurisprudence unless his mastery of it is known. Nor a scholar of jurisprudence to be relied upon in Sufism unless his realization of it is known. Nor a hadith scholar to be relied upon in either unless he is competent in them. Thus the seeker in the path of Sufism must take knowledge of Sacred Law from scholars of jurisprudence; he but returns to those realized in tariqa in what concerns bettering his inner self regarding it [jurisprudence] and other than it [hadith]“ (Qawa‘id al-Tasawwuf, 36).
My Thoughts:
There is a misconception that exist among learnt and ignorant alike concerning those who travel the path of Tasawwuf. One of these misconception is that the Sufis have their owe fiqh and Aqidah. It is clear from the words of Imam Ahmad Zarruq, who was a Sufi Master, Maliki Jurist and Hadith scholar, that a Sufi cannot make up his own fiqh or Aqidah but rather he or she must follow the fiqh of one of the rightly guided jurists. And there is a consensus that one’s fiqh must conform to the fiqh of one of the four rightly guided Madhabs of Fiqh, namely, the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi and Hanbali. Along with fiqh, one’s Aqidah must conform to one of the rightly guided schools of Aqidah, which are the Asharis, Maturidis and Atharis (but not Salafi).
And this is the make up of Ahlus Sunnah Wa Jamaah and the rightly guided Sufis of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah follow one of these schools of Fiqh and one of these schools of Aqidah.
And Allah knows best.
That’s very interesting.
I don’t know too much about Sufism, but am currently taking a class in it at my college. Some of the works that we read seem at the surface level to go against Islamic principles or sayings of the Prophet, but I’ve learned to realize that there may be an underlying meaning. Often, the terminology is specific to the Sufi way and understanding, and what appears to be heretical is actually not.
I’m working on a presentation about Ibn al-’Arabi right now, considered by many to be a foremost scholar of the Sufis as well as a friend (wali) of Allah. Here is something interesting he said about Sufis: “We are a group whose works are unlawful to peruse, since the Sufis, one and all, use terms in technical senses by which they intend other than what is customarily meant by their usage among scholars, and those who interpret them according to their usual significance commit unbelief.”
wassalaam
salaam,
That’s cool. what will the presentation be about exactly???
That is a pretty interesting quote, do you know where that quote came from???
maa salaama,
aMusliMForlife
wassalaam,
It was about Ibn al-’Arabi’s life & works and focused on his metaphysics. I came across the quote in Reliance of the Traveller, translated by Sheikh Nuh Keller, in the section giving biographical notes of various scholars (to be exact, pg x265).
ma’salaama
An excellent post
As a poor darvish struggling on the path, I thank you for it.
Ya Haqq!
http://www.owaisiah.com (click FAQ)
http://www.naqshbandiaowaisiah.com (click Library)
Paltalk – “Our Sheikh” room 2wice a day live zikr
Mohammad Khan
mkhan60@gmail.com
I was wondering if anyone would help me find some good sources on Sufism.I am taking a class which is about the role of Hadith in islam and sadly my teacher and most of the students in the class are against sufism and even that i am not a Muslim, but i really like sufism( i am a big fan of Molana):) and to me sufis are one of the most honest peole on earth. I don’t understand what is wrong with dancing and singing if that is what makes some to get closer to god…anyway, i wanted to talk about the use of hadith in Sufism, but i am not sure where to start. I can’t find good sources on the web.I was wondering if anyone could help me.( i just want to have a unique presentation which make some of Shias ans Sunis to realize they are not any better than others
)
Thanks
hasti
http://thetranslators.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/forbidden-forms-of-dhikr-shaykh-abdul-fattah-abu-ghudda-translated-by-a-haque/