Abu Talib al-Makki (an early Sufi) against kalam:

[Abd al-Haqq Marshall]

"They [the Ulema] used to receive the instruction one from the other and perserved it carefully, because their hearts were clear of doubts, free from wordly preoccupations, and unsullied by passion; because their purpose was lofty, their resolution strong, and their intention excellent. Then, after the year 200, and when three centuries had elapsed, in this deplorable fourth century the compilations on scholastic theology (kalam) first appeared, and the scholastic theologians began to write according to reason, opinion, and analogy. Gone now was the instruction (ilm) of the pious, vanished the intuitive knowledge (ma'rifa) of the firm of faith- the teaching of piety, the inspiration of rectitude and belief. So matters have continued to develop down to this present time. Now the scholastic theologians are called learned ('ulama), the mere romancers are named gnostics ('arifin), the narrators and informants learned, although they have no true grounding in religious lore nor the apperception that comes of faith." - Abu Talib al-Makki, Qut al-Qulub

[Suhaib Jobst]

Kalam is a deviation which came only later, and had no real connection to the true sciences of Tasawwuf. The Fuqaha and Ahl al-Suffa understood Tasawwuf as an Islamic science based on joining the outward and inward parts: Ihsan. These were identified with knowledge of the Shari'ah and Haqiqa (essence of Truth), respectively. NONE of them conceived of a Tasawwuf separated from the Shari'ah, as the two sciences were clearly indispensable.

Imam Malik (rahimahullah): "Whoever studies Fiqh (tafaqaha) and didn't study Tasawwuf will be corrupted; and whoever studied Tasawwuf and didn't study Fiqh will become a heretic; and whoever combined both will reach the Truth."

(Quoted in Ali al-Adawi, Hashiyat al-Adawi 'ala Sharh Abi al-Hasan li-Risalat Ibn Abi Zayd al-Musammat Kifayat al-Talib al-Rabbani li-Risalat Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani fi Madhhab Malik, 2/195).

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (rahimahullah):

"...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).

"Some people accept everything of sufism, what is right as well as what is wrong; others reject it totally, both what is wrong and what is right, as some scholars of kalam and fiqh do. The right attitude towards sufism, or any other thing, is to accept what is in agreement with the Quran and the Sunnah, and reject what does not agree." [Majmu Fatawa Shaykh al-Islam, vol. 10, p. 82].

[Madarijas-Salikeen]

as salaamu alaykum,

jazakallah khayr ikhwan. Do you all mind if i use the info in your post for another forum?

[Abd al-Haqq Marshall]

as salaamu alaykum,

jazakallah khayr ikhwan. Do you all mind if i use the info in your post for another forum?

Do whatever you want. I didn't write it.

[Suhaib Jobst]

Those who studied Tasawwuf considered it to be inseparable from following the Sunna and abiding by the dictates of the Shari'a. Along with the general decline of the Muslims and appearance of various deviations, there appeared a form of "esoteric" Sufis who claimed to possessed "secret knowledge" which absolved them from the commands of the Deen.

These deviated individuals also claimed the ability to perform miracles which boggles the mind, so that people are lead astray by way of these phony "miracles". Whereas the genuine Awliya may perform acts of Karamat, spiritual matters conforming to the Shari'a, the Muyizat (miracles) are solely bestowed upon the Prophets as witnesses to their nations.

So those who used "tasawwuf" as an excuse to engage in such deviated practices, or to claim "esotericism", or to become intoxicated and utter statements utterly reprehensible to the Muslim's ears, or indeed who engaged in that innovated practice of Kalam (theological rhetoric), represented nothing but a deviation from Tasawwuf and were recognized as such by the early Ascetics.

Shaykh al-Ta'ifa, Junayd al-Baghdadi (rahimahullah) was told: "There is a group which claims they arrive at a (spiritual) state in which legal responsibility (Ahkam) no longer applies to them." So he responded: "They have (indeed) arrived, but to hell." (Cited in Iqaz al-Himam fi Sharh al-Hikam, Cairo: 1972, p. 210)

Sufyan at-Thawri (rahimahullah), one of the Taba‘ at-Tabi‘i (generation after the Tabi'in) and foremost among the Fuqaha of the second century (Hijri), demonstrated the there was no Tasawwuf without Fiqh: "If it had not been for Abu Hisham as-Sufi, I would never have perceived the action of the subtlest forms of hypocrisy in the self. Among the best of people is the Sufi learned in jurisprudence." (Quoted in Imam Ibn Qayyim, Manazil as-Sa'ireen).

Hence, as the narration showed, the adoption of Kalam by the "esoteric" Sufis was a deviation from true sciences of Tasawwuf and this period of Islamic scholarship must be viewed in that context, insha'Allah. Wa Allahu A'lam.

Suhaib Jobst
18 Rabee al-Awwal 1429H / 26 March 2008