sufism

[Hamza Asadullah]

[/B]

I didn't say that. I think you might have misunderstood me.





I've copied the quotes above, to make it clear.

The quote in the original post said that we needed to do concentration exercises to get our faith that the purpose of our creation is to recognise Allah. I disagree with that because Allah told us that the Purpose of our creation was to worship Him. He didn't say it was to merely recognise Him. There are many people that recognise Allah but do not worship Him. According to the above Sufi teaching, even by not worshipping Him, they'd still be fulfilling the purpose of their creation - this is completely contrary to what Allah has said in the Qur'an (51:56).

As to the mental exercises, sure you need to do mental acrobatics in order to understand the trinity, but not to "get our faith as to why we were created". We are encouraged to ponder and contemplate in the Qur'an, and Allah knows how much my attention wonders in salaah, and how much I have to try to concentrate hard - but I disagree with what was stated in the original post, which was having to do mental exercises in order to know something that Allah already told us clearly in the Qur'an.

If everyone did mental exercises to glean the purpose of their creation, everyone would arrive at different conclusions as to why they were created (as has in fact happened above; a conclusion at odds with the Qur'an). Allah took mercy on us and told us straight, so that none of us would be in any doubt as to the purpose.

I hope that was a bit clearer as to what I was trying to say.

Asalaamu Alaikum, My dear sister before commenting on a matter we should learn about it so that we may be familiar with it so that any misconceptions we may have may be eradicated.

Here is what Ibn Taymiyya (661 - 728 AH) said about Tasawwuf:

"Tasawwuf has realities and states of experience which they talk about in their science. Some of it is that the Sufi is that one who purifies himself from anything which distracts him from the remembrance of Allah and who will be so filled up with knowledge of the heart and knowledge of the mind to the point that the value of gold and stones will be the same to him. And Tasawwuf is safeguarding the precious meanings and leaving behind the call to fame and vanity in order to reach the state of Truthfulness, because the best of humans after the prophets are the Siddiqeen, as Allah mentioned them in the verse:

"(And all who obey Allah and the Apostle) are in the company of those on whom is the grace of Allah: of the prophets, the sincere lovers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous; Ah! what a beautiful fellowship." (an-Nisa', 69,70)

"...some people criticised Sufiyya and Tasawwuf and they said they were innovators, out of the Sunnah, but the truth is they are striving in Allah's obedience [mujtahidin fi ta'at-illahi], as others of Allah's People strove in Allah's obedience. So from them you will find the Foremost in Nearness by virtue of his striving [as-saabiq ul-muqarrab bi hasab ijtihadihi]. And some of them are from the People of the Right hand [Ahl al-Yameen mentioned in Qur'an in Sura Waqi'ah], but slower in their progress.... And this is the origin of Tasawwuf. And after that origin, it has been spread and [tasha'abat wa tanawa'at] has its main line and its branches.

[Majmu'a Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya al-Kubra, Vol. 11, Book of Tasawwuf, p. 497].


Jalaluddin as-Suyuti (849 - 911 AH.) said regarding Tasawwuf

"At-Tasawwuf in itself is the best and most honorable knowledge. It explains how to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and to put aside innovation." [Ta'yid al-Haqiqat al-'Aliyya,p 57]


If you need some clarification on Tasawwuf then please read the following links:

The Place of Tasawwuf in Traditional Islam.

http://www.sunnipath.com/library/Articles/AR00000144.aspx

The meaning of Tasawwuf

http://www.sunnipath.com/Library/Articles/AR00000139.aspx


And Allah knows best in all matters

 

[Insaanah]

I reckon its a pre-requisite to recognize why we were created before actually worshiping and glorifying Allah.

So do I, and am glad that Allah told us.

Many a Muslims while glorifying Allah swt through dhikr actually realize after reading Allah's majestic names that their purpose of creation is to actually worship Allah due to those grandiose qualities/attributes as reflected in His names.

I see. I think you're saying they realise that their purpose is to worship Allah, but they realise that for themselves through their dhikr? I assume you mean that their dhikr then confirms what Allah told them in the Qur'an.

sister i am just telling u, Abdullah ibn abbas RA was most authentic in tafseer and if He was saying about this aya that "leyabadon" mean "liyahrafoon" so i dont know how u disagree.

Ok. That's why I quoted from Tafsir ibn Kathir because it says that Ibn Abbaas (RA) said that it means to worship Allah willingly or unwillingly. It may be that Ibn Abbaas (RA) also said that it means to recognise Him. Allahu a3lam.

2ndly in my personal opinion if someone recognize (mahrifat) HIM as He is, then surely he will obey/worship him.

There are some people in this world, who believe in God, but don't worship Him.

2ndly sister we cant disagree that eman is related to dhikar. allah swt says "fazakir inna zikara tanfa hul mohmineen". also in hadith prophet pbuh had siad to suhaba RA keep refreshing ur eman. suhaba Ra by which thing, prophet PBUH reply by reciting kalma La ilaha ilallah in abundance. there are so many hadiths in this context so we cant deny them.

I hope I am not being perceived as somehow trivialising the importance of dhikr, nor as one who denies ahadeeth related to it. I have never said that nor implied that, nor is that my belief. On the contrary, I have always said that dhikr is important, even in my previous post in this thread, and also in other threads, where I have said that dhikr is one of the things Allah has told us to do katheera, in abundance.

Br Hamza, thank you for your informative post and links.

My intention was never to be argumentative in this thread. Neither have I ever denied dhikr, or ahadeeth or tafseer.

May Allah forgive me if I said anything wrong.

And Allah knows best in all matters, and may He increase us in knowledge, imaan and wisdom, and forgive our shortcomings. Ameen.

 

[Salahudeen]

The sufi's I know today sit in the dark and shake their heads violently side to side, I found this pretty weird, the lights just went out and I was in the dark and I just saw people shaking their heads really fast going "allah hu" in unison, in all honesty it creeped me out.

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

Asalaamu alaikum, i saw the same thing. When i was in Pakistan a decade ago one of my cousin took us to a brelwee Masjid where every Thursday night they turned the lights out and swayed their heads from left to right and some did so quite voilently saying Allah hu. There was this one guy who wore a green pagri swayed his head left to right so voilently that when the lights were turned on his green pagri (Imaama) ended up several metres away and that is no over exaturation. Clearly this practice is bida' and brelwees have done a lot to tarnish sufism by mixing i to it bida' and culture and tradition. True sufism is nothing like how brelwres practise it today.

May Allah guide us so that we do everything to please him and nothing to anger or displease him.

 

[tigerkhan]

i remeber i was reading Hayat Us Suhaba, one person came to Abdullah bin Umar (or Ibn Abbas RA or Ibn Masood, i forgot) and said, today i go to the other masjid and there ppl was doing dhikar and one person said now read this, now recite this and all ppl are obeying him and one person bcm senseless (wajad) bcz of fear of Allah SWT. that Suhabi RA said now never sit with them. we have seen the time of prophet PBUH and these ppl are not on the way of prophet PBUH

 

[IslamicRevival]

Everything is Bidah and shirk to you guys

 

[tigerkhan]

There are some people in this world, who believe in God, but don't worship Him.

u had just quoted a line and not the full para. it is as

2ndly in my personal opinion if someone recognize (mahrifat) HIM as He is, then surely he will obey/worship him. eg in worldly matter we see ppl obey their boss just bcz they have in mind that our income is in his hand. however we know that profit and loss is in hand of allah SWt but we dont have blv on this thing as much blv we have on our boss. so there are levels of mahrifat. allah swt send all ambiya and main duty was to introduce Allah swt to the ppl. also in one hadith qudsi allah swt says i created this world so that i can be recognized.

sister once some arab ppl came to Prophet PBUH. Prophet PBUH give them dawa to islam. they accept and said we bcm "momin". Allah SWT said aya in quran that these ppl are saying that they bcz momin however they had just accept islam, eman had not enter into their heart (qalal ahrabiyo aamana qul lum tumino wala kin qoulo aslamna, walama yadhulul eman fiy qulobihim)... so ppl claim that they know Allah SWT, they Blv in GOD, but actually they dont. eg if someone says i know what fire is, he will not put his hand in it bcz he knows it burns. Similarly if they know Allah SWT is lord, they obey and worship HIM.

 

[Salahudeen]

i remeber i was reading Hayat Us Suhaba, one person came to Abdullah bin Umar (or Ibn Abbas RA or Ibn Masood, i forgot) and said, today i go to the other masjid and there ppl was doing dhikar and one person said now read this, now recite this and all ppl are obeying him and one person bcm senseless (wajad) bcz of fear of Allah SWT. that Suhabi RA said now never sit with them. we have seen the time of prophet PBUH and these ppl are not on the way of prophet PBUH

'Amr ibn Yahya said:

"I heard my father narrating from his father who said: 'We were at the door of 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood before the early morning prayer. When he came out we walked with him to the mosque. Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari came up to us and said, "Did Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan come out to you yet?" We said, "No." He sat down with us until [Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan] came out.

When he came out, we all stood up to greet him, and Abu Moosa said to him: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, earlier I saw in the mosque something that I have never seen before, but it seems good, al-hamdu Lillaah." He said, "And what was it?" He said, "if you live, you will see it. I saw people in the mosque sitting in circles waiting for the prayer. In every circle there was a man, and they had pebbles in their hands. He would say, 'Say Allaahu akbar one hundred times,' and they would say Allaahu akbar one hundred times; then he would say, 'Say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times,' and they would say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times; then he would say, 'Say Subhaan Allaah one hundred times,' and they would say Subhaan Allaah one hundred times.'

He asked, 'What did you say to them?' He said, 'I did not say anything to them; I was waiting to see what your opinion would be and what you would tell me to do.' He said, 'Why did you not tell them to count their bad deeds and guarantee them that nothing of their good deeds would be wasted?' Then he left, and we went with him, until he reached one of those circles. He stood over them and said, 'What is this I see you doing?'

They said, 'O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, these are pebbles we are using to count our takbeer, tahleel and tasbeeh.'

He said, 'Count your bad deeds, and I guarantee that nothing of your good deeds will be wasted. Woe to you, O ummah of Muhammad, how quickly you are getting destroyed! The Companions of your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) are still alive, his garment is not yet worn out and his vessels are not yet broken. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, either you are following a way that is more guided than that of Muhammad or you have opened the door of misguidance!'

They said, 'By Allaah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, we only wanted to do good.'

He said, 'How many of those who wanted to do good failed to achieve it! The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that people recite Qur'aan and it does not go any further than their throats. By Allaah, I do not know, maybe most of them are people like you.'

Then he turned away from them. 'Amr ibn Salamah said, 'I saw most of the members of those circles fighting alongside the Khawaarij on the day of Nahrawaan.'"

[Reported by al-Daarimi, al-Sunan, no. 210, ed. by 'Abd-Allaah Haashim al-Yamaani. Al-Albaani classed its isnaad as saheeh in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah under hadeeth no. 2005. See Majma' al-Zawaa'id by al-Haythami, 1/181]

 

[Salahudeen]

Asalaamu alaikum, i saw the same thing. When i was in Pakistan a decade ago one of my cousin took us to a brelwee Masjid where every Thursday night they turned the lights out and swayed their heads from left to right and some did so quite voilently saying Allah hu. There was this one guy who wore a green pagri swayed his head left to right so voilently that when the lights were turned on his green pagri (Imaama) ended up several metres away and that is no over exaturation. Clearly this practice is bida' and brelwees have done a lot to tarnish sufism by mixing i to it bida' and culture and tradition. True sufism is nothing like how brelwres practise it today.

May Allah guide us so that we do everything to please him and nothing to anger or displease him.

ameen, the thing is akhi hamza, they justify it with hadith about gatherings of dhikr. For example the hadith about the angels roaming the Earth looking for gatherings of dhikr.

 

[Beardo]

Everything is Bidah and shirk to you guys

I probably shouldn't have approved your post, but it made me laugh. lol. Sometimes, that is what it seems like.

 

[tigerkhan]

Everything is Bidah and shirk to you guys

no brother, hasna and bidha is what that is defined by Allah SWT and Prophet PBUH...we cant change it. so what is wrong, its wrong even whole umma start practicing it and what is right is right even no1 practice it.

 

[tigerkhan]

'Amr ibn Yahya said:

"I heard my father narrating from his father who said: 'We were at the door of 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood before the early morning prayer. When he came out we walked with him to the mosque. Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari came up to us and said, "Did Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan come out to you yet?" We said, "No." He sat down with us until [Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan] came out.

When he came out, we all stood up to greet him, and Abu Moosa said to him: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, earlier I saw in the mosque something that I have never seen before, but it seems good, al-hamdu Lillaah." He said, "And what was it?" He said, "if you live, you will see it. I saw people in the mosque sitting in circles waiting for the prayer. In every circle there was a man, and they had pebbles in their hands. He would say, 'Say Allaahu akbar one hundred times,' and they would say Allaahu akbar one hundred times; then he would say, 'Say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times,' and they would say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times; then he would say, 'Say Subhaan Allaah one hundred times,' and they would say Subhaan Allaah one hundred times.'

He asked, 'What did you say to them?' He said, 'I did not say anything to them; I was waiting to see what your opinion would be and what you would tell me to do.' He said, 'Why did you not tell them to count their bad deeds and guarantee them that nothing of their good deeds would be wasted?' Then he left, and we went with him, until he reached one of those circles. He stood over them and said, 'What is this I see you doing?'

They said, 'O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, these are pebbles we are using to count our takbeer, tahleel and tasbeeh.'

He said, 'Count your bad deeds, and I guarantee that nothing of your good deeds will be wasted. Woe to you, O ummah of Muhammad, how quickly you are getting destroyed! The Companions of your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) are still alive, his garment is not yet worn out and his vessels are not yet broken. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, either you are following a way that is more guided than that of Muhammad or you have opened the door of misguidance!'

They said, 'By Allaah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, we only wanted to do good.'

He said, 'How many of those who wanted to do good failed to achieve it! The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that people recite Qur'aan and it does not go any further than their throats. By Allaah, I do not know, maybe most of them are people like you.'

Then he turned away from them. 'Amr ibn Salamah said, 'I saw most of the members of those circles fighting alongside the Khawaarij on the day of Nahrawaan.'"

[Reported by al-Daarimi, al-Sunan, no. 210, ed. by 'Abd-Allaah Haashim al-Yamaani. Al-Albaani classed its isnaad as saheeh in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah under hadeeth no. 2005. See Majma' al-Zawaa'id by al-Haythami, 1/181]

JazaKallah oh khair for the exact quote. b4 i was thinking that on the end there was that line that most of these ppl join Khawarij but was not sure. no alhumdulliah its clear.

 

[Muslimhuman]

Salaam brother
Small question. Could you plz tell me which suits have not deviated? I'd love to know

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Sufis, not suits

 

[anatolian]

Salaam brother
Small question. Could you plz tell me which suits have not deviated? I'd love to know

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Sufis, not suits

Salam. The ones who dont have deviated thoughts and practices.

 

[Muslimhuman]

Are the naqshbandi one of them?

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Yes, but do you know which ones they are specifically, by name?

 

[MazharShafiq]

Allaah forbids us to call on anyone except Him in matters that are beyond the person's capabilities. If a person does this, Allaah will count him as a mushrik, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

And invoke not, besides Allaah, any that will neither profit you, nor hurt you, but if (in case) you did so, you shall certainly be one of the zaalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers). [Yoonus 10:106]

 

[anatolian]

Are the naqshbandi one of them?

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Yes, but do you know which ones they are specifically, by name?

No I cannot name any. There are deviated and straight ones in all groups. Thats not related to the nature of sufism or this or that sufi branch but to the mentality of the adherents.

 

['abd al-hakeem]