Diffrence between Sufi and Sunni?

[Ramadan90]

:sl:

What is the diffrence between those two? What I have read is that sufi muslims are more "spiritual" whatever that means. Someone that can explain?

[asiya45]

:sl:
Good question brother, I always wanted to know that.

[Sunnie Ameena]

I would also like to know the difference. I will be looking forward to someone posting information on this thread.

[Insanely.Krazii]

Sunnis focus on the teachings and Sunah of the holy Prophet whereas Sufi follows the basic as well as the spiritual practices.Sunni is a word derived from the Arabic word Sunah. There are many stories about the origin of the word Sufi like the person who wears wool etc. Sufi means a saint in the English language.Sunni and Sufi both follow Islam and have same beliefs but a Sunni is more involved with worldly matters whereas Sufi is more concerned with the world hereafter. Sunni follows the code of life sent by God in the form of Sunah and Quran. Sunni Muslims follow these codes and spend their lives accordingly to get to heaven as a reward for their worldly noble deeds.They are fearful of Allah as their literature and teachings incorporate fear of hell whereas a Sufi advocates eternal and divine love rather than fear. The ambition of a Sufi is to attain spiritual enlightenment through meditation, prayers and by quitting worldly desires. Sunni believes in the indirect approach to enlighten the soul whereas a Sufi attempts to experience and feel God with the help of the direct approach.

There are many different stories and ideas about the origins of the word "sufi", however they are people who believed in a form of spirituality and tried to incorporate it with the mainstream Islam, they had derived their ideologies from many different religious practices like the Gnostics, Aristotlean and Platonic ideas, Buddhists and other spiritualist traditions. Sufis focused more on practicing love for God rather than fearing him and all their central philosophy revolves around love as the only ambition that can assuage man from his fears and help him achieve salvation.

Sunnis are generally an offshoot of the Orthodox version of Islam and strictly believe in the immutability of beliefs and the word of Quran and follow it to letter and spirit. Sunni Muslims do not believe in incorporating practices in Islam that were not observed by the Prophet and the original believers.

Sunni Muslim has five major legal schools and several minor ones whereas Sufi has many orders of Sufism. Almost ninety percent of Muslims around the world are Sunni and they get their religious knowledge based on the Quran and the seven books of Hadith narrated by the companions of the Prophet.

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[tango92]

you have to define the terms your talking about

sunni and sufi both cover a large group of people laying claiming to that name. most sufis may also say they are sunnis.

[Ramadan90]

Sunnis focus on the teachings and Sunah of the holy Prophet whereas Sufi follows the basic as well as the spiritual practices.Sunni is a word derived from the Arabic word Sunah. There are many stories about the origin of the word Sufi like the person who wears wool etc. Sufi means a saint in the English language.Sunni and Sufi both follow Islam and have same beliefs but a Sunni is more involved with worldly matters whereas Sufi is more concerned with the world hereafter. Sunni follows the code of life sent by God in the form of Sunah and Quran. Sunni Muslims follow these codes and spend their lives accordingly to get to heaven as a reward for their worldly noble deeds.They are fearful of Allah as their literature and teachings incorporate fear of hell whereas a Sufi advocates eternal and divine love rather than fear. The ambition of a Sufi is to attain spiritual enlightenment through meditation, prayers and by quitting worldly desires. Sunni believes in the indirect approach to enlighten the soul whereas a Sufi attempts to experience and feel God with the help of the direct approach.

There are many different stories and ideas about the origins of the word "sufi", however they are people who believed in a form of spirituality and tried to incorporate it with the mainstream Islam, they had derived their ideologies from many different religious practices like the Gnostics, Aristotlean and Platonic ideas, Buddhists and other spiritualist traditions. Sufis focused more on practicing love for God rather than fearing him and all their central philosophy revolves around love as the only ambition that can assuage man from his fears and help him achieve salvation.

Sunnis are generally an offshoot of the Orthodox version of Islam and strictly believe in the immutability of beliefs and the word of Quran and follow it to letter and spirit. Sunni Muslims do not believe in incorporating practices in Islam that were not observed by the Prophet and the original believers.

Sunni Muslim has five major legal schools and several minor ones whereas Sufi has many orders of Sufism. Almost ninety percent of Muslims around the world are Sunni and they get their religious knowledge based on the Quran and the seven books of Hadith narrated by the companions of the Prophet.

I think the sunni teaching emphasize enough how important the purification of the soul is and how important the herafter is. What is the diffrence? How much of the people who are exactly following the teaching is irrelevant.

Why only love? Why not fear? Taqwa consist of both hope(love) and fear. It is like bread and water, both are essential. Why do sufi teaching only have love for Allah?

[Insanely.Krazii]

Well, I read that...: Sufism is a traditional Islamic science that is an explanation of the station of spiritual excellence (ihsan) mentioned in the Gabriel Hadith and emphasized in the Qur'an and Sunna. It is the science of sincerity, which is the condition for the acceptance of works.
*Sunni Sufism is firmly grounded in the Shariah, and has been an integral part of Islamic scholarship.


The Shari`ah is of fundamental importance to the Sufi path. This point is very strongly made by the great Naqshbandi Sufi, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (also known as Imam ar-Rabbani), in his letters. Here is a small excerpt from one of his letters, where he clarifies this topic:

The Shari`ah has three parts: knowledge, action, and sincerity of motive (ikhlas); unless you fulfil the demands of all these parts, you do not obey the Shari`ah. And when you obey the Shari`ah you obtain the pleasure of God, which is the most supreme good in this world and the Hereafter. The Qur'an says: "The pleasure of God is the highest good." Hence, the Shari`ah comprehends all the good of this world and the next, and nothing is left out for which one has to go beyond the Shari`ah.
The tariqah ["way"] and the haqiqah["reality"] for which the Sufis are known, are subservient to the Shari`ah, as they help to realize its third part, namely, sincerity. Hence they are sought in order to fulfil the Shari`ah, not to achieve something beyond the Shari`ah. The raptures and ecstasies which the Sufis experience, and the ideas and truths which come to them in the course of their journey, are not the goal of Sufism. They are rather myths and fancies on which the children of Sufism are fed. One has to pass over them all and reach the stage of satisfaction (rida) which is the final goal ofsuluk ["travelling", i.e. the Sufi path] andjadhbah ["overwhelming love"]. The purpose of traversing the stages of of tariqah and haqiqah is nothing other than the realisation of ikhlas which involves the attainment of rida. Only one out of a thousand Sufis is graced with the three illuminations (tajalliyat sih ganah) and gnostic visions, given ikhlas and elevated to the stage of rida.

[Quoted from "Sufism and Shari`ah: A study of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi's Effort to Reform Sufism," by Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari, pp. 221-2. Originally from Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi's letters, Vol. I:36.]
For those who may not have heard of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi, he lived in India in about the 16th Century, and he reinvigorated and re-purified Islam in India, after the highly destructive anti-Islamic policies of the Moghul ruler Akbar. Most of the Naqshbandi lineages today stem from Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi -- this is an indication of his great influence. I think there is a strong parallel between Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi's time and the world today, and so I think we can learn very much from this great Shaykh's life and writings.

[Ramadan90]

you have to define the terms your talking about

sunni and sufi both cover a large group of people laying claiming to that name. most sufis may also say they are sunnis.

:sl:

Could you elaborate on this brother please?

[Insanely.Krazii]

I think the sunni teaching emphasize enough how important the purification of the soul is and how important the herafter is. What is the diffrence? How much of the people who are exactly following the teaching is irrelevant.

Why only love? Why not fear? Taqwa consist of both hope(love) and fear. It is like bread and water, both are essential. Why do sufi teaching only have love for Allah?

True, I agree.

[tango92]

:sl:

Could you elaborate on this brother please?

well, "sunni" - could simply refer to the divide between sunnis and shias, or the "ahlus sunnah wal Jammah" the so called saved sect prophesised by the prophet pbuh

It was narrated from Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood among us and said: “Those who came before you of the people of the Book split into seventy-two sects, and this ummah will split into seventy-three: seventy-two in Hell and one in Paradise, and that is the jamaa’ah (main body of Muslims).”

there will not cease to be a group from my Ummah manifest and upon the truth not being harmed by those who forsake them neither by those who oppose them until the hour is established.
Hadeeth saheeh, collected by Muslim (3/1523), Ahmad (5/278-279), Aboo Dawood (3/4), Tirmidhee (4/420), Ibn Maajah (1/4-5), Haakim (4/449-450), at-Tabaraanee in Mu'jam al-Kabeer (7643) and Aboo Daawood at-Tayaalisi (p. 94, no. 689). Authenticated by al-Albaanee in As-Saheehah (270-1955).

people of the barelvi sect also refer to themselves as "sunni"


many scholars of Ahlus sunnah also considered themselves "sufi" eg imam ghazali

back in the day a "sufi" was simply a person who focussed on coming close to Allah. you could say all the prophets and sahaba were "sufi" although they never used that name. see the below ayah

"O you who have believed, fear Allah and seek the means [of nearness] to Him and strive in His cause that you may succeed."

5:35

but today many sufi sects have deviated from the path. alot of sufis hold to an "order" or methodology. i.e a method of coming close to Allah. based on the life of individuals they consider to be saints, or wali's.

its difficult to give a complete picture, especially as i'm by far not the most knowledgeable - my best advice is not to follow any particular group.

just look at the life of the prophet, take what he gives you and leave what he forbids you. do not add anything new in the religion. you will enter Jannah.

[Ramadan90]

^^ Thanks for the elaboration bro. Sounds very interesting.

[marwen]

Sufism after all is a concept, it means asceticism. Every muslim should have an attitude of sufism, in the sense that he should not attach himself to this life and that he should have a spiritual relationship with Allah (alone), and have a retreat from this life from time to time.
But then appeared a stream of sufism when some muslims made a group and called themselves "sufis".

here is a lecture about the origins and types of sufism :

[Alpha Dude]

This is a bit of a flawed question. It's like asking for the difference between a person who lives in London and another who lives in the UK.

Sufism is the science of the purification of the heart. It's not a mutually exclusive matter to being a follower of Sunni Islam.

[CosmicPathos]

Ibn taymiyyah was a sufi himself. I find many aspects of some sufism very satisfying.

[Insanely.Krazii]

Ibn taymiyyah was a sufi himself.

Sheikh Rashîd al-Hasan, professor at King Khâlid University
Ibn Taymiyah was not a member of the Qâdiriyyah. He had never followed or belonged to any Sûfî order. He indeed praised `Abd al-Qadir al-Jilâni and his book Futûh al-Ghayb. He also had good things to say about other Sufi scholars such as Abû `Abd al-Rahmân al-Sulamî, Sahl b. `Abd Allah al-Tustûr and al-Junayd. This only shows us how fair and objective he was in his approach. He used to be just and would accept the truth regardless of where it came from. Moreover, he would praise whoever said it. That does not in the remotest way imply that he followed the practices of the Qâdiriyyah.

Ibn Taymiyah explained some of the texts of Futûh al-Ghayb and found it to be a good book. [Majmû` Fatawâ Ibn Taymiyyah (10/456)]. At the same time he criticized the ways of the Qâdiriyyah and their habit of sitting alone, pretending to be with Allah and demonstrated how they were mistaken in this regard. He rejected their practice of innovating rites, remembrances, and prayers. This is clear to anyone who studies the works of Ibn Taymiyah.

For further reference, please refer to the following:

Majmû’ al-Rasa’l wal Masa’il, first edition (4/247-248).
Majmû’ Fatâwa Ibn Taymiyyah, first edition (22/525).
Al-Radd `Ala al-Muntiqiyyîn, Lahore edition (p 35).
Al-`Ubudiyyah, fifth edition (pp 73-82).


http://al-mustaqeem.tripod.com/id38.html

[CosmicPathos]

ibn taymiyyah was a sufi in the sense that he was an active practicioner of zuhd and all those things which your regular sunni non-sufi scholars didnt do. Does Yasir Qadhi practice zuhd? Or do any other scholars we see practice those things?

of course i am not saying that ibn taymiya was a type of sufi who indulged in bidah.

[Insanely.Krazii]

What do you mean by zuhd?

I read that:

Praise be to Allaah.
Zuhd does not mean wearing scruffy clothing, withdrawing from people and keeping away from society, or fasting constantly. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the leader of all zaahids (ascetics) but he would wear new clothes; adorn himself to meet delegations, for Jumu’ah and for Eid; mix with people and call them to do good and teach them about their religion; and he forbade his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) to fast constantly. Rather zuhd means shunning that which is haraam and that which Allaah hates; avoiding shows of luxury and overindulging in worldly pleasures; focusing on doing acts of worship; and making the best preparation for the Hereafter. The best explanation of that is the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote.
Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas


Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah wa’l-Ifta (24/369).

[CosmicPathos]

What do you mean by zuhd?

I read that:

Praise be to Allaah.
Zuhd does not mean wearing scruffy clothing, withdrawing from people and keeping away from society, or fasting constantly. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the leader of all zaahids (ascetics) but he would wear new clothes; adorn himself to meet delegations, for Jumu’ah and for Eid; mix with people and call them to do good and teach them about their religion; and he forbade his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) to fast constantly. Rather zuhd means shunning that which is haraam and that which Allaah hates; avoiding shows of luxury and overindulging in worldly pleasures; focusing on doing acts of worship; and making the best preparation for the Hereafter. The best explanation of that is the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote.
Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas


Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah wa’l-Ifta (24/369).

Zuhd does not mean remaining dirty and unclean, but also dressing in expensive clothes or modern fashionable clothes is not zuhd. Zuhd is in simplicity and fighting one's nafs and not following worldly fashion trends.

Prophet wore clothes with stitches in it. He barely ate meat. Can you tell me how many times in his life did Prophet pbuh wore new clothes? 10 times or he bought new clothes every month? Those are examples of zuhd. Today it is considered quite normal to buy new clothes every month or every other month.

[Insanely.Krazii]

Zuhd does not mean remaining dirty and unclean, but also dressing in expensive clothes or modern fashionable clothes is not zuhd. Zuhd is in simplicity and fighting one's nafs and not following worldly fashion trends.
Prophet wore clothes with stitches in it. He barely ate meat. Can you tell me how many times in his life did Prophet pbuh wore new clothes? 10 times or he bought new clothes every month? Those are examples of zuhd. Today it is considered quite normal to buy new clothes every month or every other month.

Aha okay I understand. Jzk.