Sufi Islam is a sect which is attributed to divine love, wordlessness and purity. The word sufi is said to have rooted from the word soof, meaning woollen clothing. It is reported by ibn-e sireen that in his time, some people started to wear woollen clothes in order to look simple and worldless. They were said to do so because they anted to resemble prophet ESA A.S in appearance I.e they wanted to look like him, pious and pure. Ibne sireen did not like their manner and said that the manner of muslims should be like the manner of our beloved Prophet Muhammad pbuh who is an example for the mankind.
According to another theory, the word sufi is a derivative of greek word “sophia” which means wisdom. If these theories are joined, they would result in perfect definition of sufism. In the reported history of sufism, these people were always, simple, needless, worldless, pure , peaceful and full of knowledge and wisdom which ordinary people could not possess. They are said to have special purpose of life which was not understood by the masses and so they were above them in character as well as in honor.
When compared to the purpose of life described by ALLAH swt, the very foundation of sufism shatters. ALLAH swt has human beings with a purpose. This purpose is one and same for all human beings. It is mentioned in the noble verse of Glorious Quran in these words;
Al-Quran 51:56
“I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me.”
So, every creation has only one purpose, to worship ALLAH and nothing else. Worship does not mean to observe solitude for 40 days or living in jungles, or showing tricks. But it means to stick to Quran and Sunnah.
Sufism gained popularity mainly because of the weakness of iman and loss of knowledge of Quran and Sunnah. Their first appearance was known in Basrah ( Iraq) where people started the pattern of worship which is no where mentioned in Quran or practiced by Prophet Muhammad pbuh. Historians have written about very many sufis who supposedly revived islam in the times when a reviver was most needed. Many out of the world stories are attributed to sufis where they could perform pilgrimage while sitting in their room, eat out of season fruits, raw food that cooked before their eyes in no time etc. according to sufi literature, sufis had special relationship with ALLAH and due to this special relationship, they could know what was going to come. Sufis also had this ability to know what a man was hiding and what he did in near or far past. These attributes of sufis are called tajjali, mojaza etc. But Islam is religion of logic and reasoning. It does not buy the stories mentioned above nor can one find any mention of “mojza” given to anyone other than prophets. In fact, the knowledge of unseen rests with ALLAH alone. It is HIS decision to who to let know the secrets of life and death.
ALLAH swt makes in clear in Glorious Quran in these words;
Al-Quran 4:165
“Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the Messengers.”
So, only messengers, who were chosen by ALLAH swt knew what they were approved to know, nothing more and nothing less. No other man can possibly know what he is not mean to know. So the knowledge or wisdom part of sufism crumbles down with just two verses of Quran.
Sufism is divided into three broad categories or schools of thought which can be further divided into whatever new innovations are done in Sufi Islam.
They are listen below with respect to severity of their disbelief.
1: The theory of wahdatul wajood: this theory says that all that exists in this universe in one body or one reality. And that reality obviously is GOD according to them. This is total deviation from the ideology of islam because ALLAH swt is a separate entity, totally different from His creation.
2: The second theory says that GOD incarnates into human beings. This is again a totally deviation from the ideology of Islam but lesser than the first category.
3: The third theory focuses on the philosophy of illumination of soul. It means that soul needs light so that with it , hearts could also be illuminated. And for this, body needs to be punished rather than polished. Well, this is also an extreme.
This all is so far away from Islam. We are not taught to punish ourselves unnecessarily or to think that we have become GOD in our way of worshiping HIM. This is far away from iman which Muslims much have. And this iman starts from the fact of tuheed, i.e oneness of ALLAH and total belief in all HIS attributes.
According to another theory, the word sufi is a derivative of greek word “sophia” which means wisdom. If these theories are joined, they would result in perfect definition of sufism. In the reported history of sufism, these people were always, simple, needless, worldless, pure , peaceful and full of knowledge and wisdom which ordinary people could not possess. They are said to have special purpose of life which was not understood by the masses and so they were above them in character as well as in honor.
When compared to the purpose of life described by ALLAH swt, the very foundation of sufism shatters. ALLAH swt has human beings with a purpose. This purpose is one and same for all human beings. It is mentioned in the noble verse of Glorious Quran in these words;
Al-Quran 51:56
“I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me.”
So, every creation has only one purpose, to worship ALLAH and nothing else. Worship does not mean to observe solitude for 40 days or living in jungles, or showing tricks. But it means to stick to Quran and Sunnah.
Sufism gained popularity mainly because of the weakness of iman and loss of knowledge of Quran and Sunnah. Their first appearance was known in Basrah ( Iraq) where people started the pattern of worship which is no where mentioned in Quran or practiced by Prophet Muhammad pbuh. Historians have written about very many sufis who supposedly revived islam in the times when a reviver was most needed. Many out of the world stories are attributed to sufis where they could perform pilgrimage while sitting in their room, eat out of season fruits, raw food that cooked before their eyes in no time etc. according to sufi literature, sufis had special relationship with ALLAH and due to this special relationship, they could know what was going to come. Sufis also had this ability to know what a man was hiding and what he did in near or far past. These attributes of sufis are called tajjali, mojaza etc. But Islam is religion of logic and reasoning. It does not buy the stories mentioned above nor can one find any mention of “mojza” given to anyone other than prophets. In fact, the knowledge of unseen rests with ALLAH alone. It is HIS decision to who to let know the secrets of life and death.
ALLAH swt makes in clear in Glorious Quran in these words;
Al-Quran 4:165
“Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the Messengers.”
So, only messengers, who were chosen by ALLAH swt knew what they were approved to know, nothing more and nothing less. No other man can possibly know what he is not mean to know. So the knowledge or wisdom part of sufism crumbles down with just two verses of Quran.
Sufism is divided into three broad categories or schools of thought which can be further divided into whatever new innovations are done in Sufi Islam.
They are listen below with respect to severity of their disbelief.
1: The theory of wahdatul wajood: this theory says that all that exists in this universe in one body or one reality. And that reality obviously is GOD according to them. This is total deviation from the ideology of islam because ALLAH swt is a separate entity, totally different from His creation.
2: The second theory says that GOD incarnates into human beings. This is again a totally deviation from the ideology of Islam but lesser than the first category.
3: The third theory focuses on the philosophy of illumination of soul. It means that soul needs light so that with it , hearts could also be illuminated. And for this, body needs to be punished rather than polished. Well, this is also an extreme.
This all is so far away from Islam. We are not taught to punish ourselves unnecessarily or to think that we have become GOD in our way of worshiping HIM. This is far away from iman which Muslims much have. And this iman starts from the fact of tuheed, i.e oneness of ALLAH and total belief in all HIS attributes.