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“I call upon the Muslims to revive the science of Tasawwuf”

Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah Addresses Global Sufi Gathering

“I call upon the Muslims to revive the science of Tasawwuf”

On the day of Friday July 10th, 2009, during the second international conference in honor of Sidi Shiker (a well-known Moroccan Wali), Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah invited the Muslims to revive the science of Tasawwuf and to return it to its proper place, by which the sciences of the Din itself may be revived.

Bin Bayyah, who is one of the top scholars of Mauritania, also stated in his speech entitled “The Foundations of Tasawwuf in the Book and the Sunnah”, that Tasawwuf (Sufism) is not a separate religion, but rather that it derives from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and that the scholars have developed its principles just as they have developed and derived the principles of Fiqh (Islamic Sacred Law) from those two sources as well.

The Shaykh also addressed in some detail the meaning of Tasawwuf, saying: “This word has become widespread and famous to the point that the meaning it points to has become obscured”, adding that Tasawwuf – like the other Islamic madhahib – was cognizant of the rifts that appeared in the Islamic Ummah, and confirmed that “Tasawwuf is a proof against the Sufi, the Sufi is not a proof against Tasawwuf”. In his definition of Tasawwuf, Bin Bayyah stressed that it is “Ihsan” (spiritual excellence), deriving this from the famous hadith Jibril, and adding that this means to seek perfection, and to have love for and longing towards meeting Allah Most High.

The Shaykh also mentioned that Tasawwuf is one (legitimate) science among the sciences of Islam, and stated that an Islamic science can either focus on the outward aspect, namely the actions of the limbs, which is termed “fiqh”, or it can focus on the inward aspect, namely the purification of the soul, softening of the heart, being inwardly detached from the dunya, and so on, and this is termed “tasawwuf”.

n terms of its Islamic origins, the Mauritanian scholar affirmed that its origins lie in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and quoting numerous verses and hadiths to support this, as well as some of the statements of the early founders of Tasawwuf, such as Imam Junayd who said: “This way of ours is confined within the principles of the Qur’an and Sunnah”.

The Shaykh also depended heavily on many occasions during his speech on the book “Qawa’id at-Tasawwuf” (Principles of Sufism) by Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq (d. 846 H), adding that this Moroccan scholar is indeed the “police” of the Sufis in the entire world.

At the end of his speech, Shaykh Bin Bayyah addressed some of the criticisms against Tasawwuf over history, such as the question of the Shuyukh specifying the dhikrs (and their numbers) for their followers, the use of dhikr beads, the question of Tawassul (using the righteous as a means to gain Allah’s blessings) and Tabarruk (deriving blessings from the relics of the righteous), and visiting the graves of the righteous Awliya, confirming in each point that they have a solid basis in Islam.

Originally published by Isra International

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  • May Allah preserve the Sheikh for this Ummah- he is such a blessed man and we are so lucky to be able to learn from him.

  • Ma Sha Allah. The best way to work on the inward and cleanse the heart, is what Allah says: To read the Book of Allah, and to remember Death.

  • mashAllah;

    the Shaykh speaks well, and his defence of Tassawuf as a ‘alim/scholar is better than anything I could offer as an ‘awwam. may Allah unite our hearts, and keep enmity for other muslims from devouring all the good that this Ummah can and should be offering to humanity.

  • I am just waiting for a solid cirriculum based on the book and AUTHENTIC SUNNAH. If anyone can do it, its the
    shaikh. may Allah preserve the shaikh

  • Interesting post Shaykh Suhaib. If possible, can you post something on what tasawwuf is? We hear negative and positive definitions and explanation to Tasawwuf and I myself have a lot of preconceived notions on the topic that are deprived of firm knowledge.

    JazakAllah khair

  • Assalam-u-Alaikum,
    To brother ibnmasood

    Definitely Shaykh Suhaib can answer your question better. But I thought I should just chip in.

    http://www.ashrafiya.com/about/

    Tasawwuf

    Bismillah

    The purpose of a Muslim’s life is to attain Allah swt’s pleasure.

    To do this successfully, he has to act on the shariah completely.

    The part of the shariah dealing with external acts of worship has been classified as fiqh. While the part dealing with internal states, character and actions is the subject of disscussion in tasawwuf.

    In summary, acquisition and rectification of internal moral states (iklaq e batini) with adherence to external commands of Shariah is tasawwuf. These internal moral states form the basis of worship performed by our body. They include,

    A. Acquisition of;

    Repentance (taubah)
    Sincerity (ikhlas)
    Slavehood (abdeyat)
    Love of Allah swt (muhabbat)
    Awe (khashoo)
    Fear (khauf)
    Hopefulness (raja’)
    Humility (tawaduh)
    Thankfulness (shukur)
    Patience (saber)
    Reliance (tawakul)
    Dependence (tafweedh)
    Acceptance (raz(dh)a)
    Abstinence (zuhud) , etc. and

    B. Elimation or rectification;
    Love of the worldly (hubb e dunyah)
    Love of fame (hubb e jah)
    Arrogance (kibr)
    Showing off (riya)
    Backbiting (ghibah)
    Calamities of Tongue: Lying (kazb), carrying tales (namemah), humiliating others, talking harshly & rudly, talking unnecessarilry.
    Anger (gazab)
    Envy and Hatred (hasad wa bugz wa keana)
    Being stingy (bukhl)
    Being spend-thrift (israf)
    Greed (hirs), etc.

  • Assalam alaikum wr wb,

    Brothers and sisters,

    This paragraph gives me pause.

    “At the end of his speech, Shaykh Bin Bayyah addressed some of the criticisms against Tasawwuf over history, such as the question of the Shuyukh specifying the dhikrs (and their numbers) for their followers, the use of dhikr beads, the question of Tawassul (using the righteous as a means to gain Allah’s blessings) and Tabarruk (deriving blessings from the relics of the righteous), and visiting the graves of the righteous Awliya, confirming in each point that they have a solid basis in Islam.’

    Tabarruk – so called – sounds like the use of amulets and such and visiting graves, except to remember death, sounds like Shirk.

    Comments, moderators/Imam Suhaib Webb? What exactly was said by the Sheikh? Perhaps his comments were taken out of context?

    Wassalam and Fee Amanillah,
    Sabina

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