Assalamu alaykum,
I second brother Qasim in the first point strongly and regarding the second point, I would say it doesn’t matter what terminology you use since what matters is the act, not the title. In fact, I think, if we use a terminology mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah but on the other hand the PATH is again not from the Sunnah, then that is, I believe, even more dangerous, because then it would lead the masses to believe the PATH is also from the Sunnah.

Secondly, as far as the Tasawwuf complementing Shariah is concerned then, as far as I know, Sufi’s divide the population into three categories:
1) Commoners/Awam unaas
2) High Class/Khawas
3) Elite/ Khawas ul khawas

The thing is that in front of ordinary people like us, they speak in the same language as we do, i.e. Quran and Hadith. But as we progess upwards, i.e. among themselves, they speak about meanings of the Ayat of Allah or acts etc more and more based on “nothing”. So we should be careful before choosing a “Shaykh” and see whether the PATH is based on Quran and Sunnah or not.

A very small but sensitive example is the following:
La Ilaha Illa Allah, at Level 1 means:
“La Ma’booda Illa Allah”
(None is worthy of Worship except Allah)
Level 2:
“La Maqsooda Illa Allah”
(None is wanted other than Allah”
Level 3:
“La Mawjuda Illa Allah”
(None exist except Allah)
(english my own)
Now in this example, the second meaning can be somewhat derived from the texts, but the third? From Which ayah or hadith or sahabi do we derive this?

MashaAllah brother Suhaib! Allot of us have negativity towards sufism due to our ignorance. Many of the greatest ulama praised sufism , and at the same time disapproved some acts carried by certain sufis. Alhamdullilah purification of the nafs is a must, especially in the world we are living in today.

And Allah knows best.

Salam.. I was also wondering the same thing but then i found out tasawwuf is actually al ihsan.(Worship Allah as though you can see him, and if u cant, know he sees you.
Its from the hadith where Gabriel(as) came down as human form in the masjid to Muhammad(saw)infront of all the companions.

“If one does not have a shaykh, then his shaykh is the shaytan.”

This saying belongs to Bayazed’i Bestami (ks) and for sure he wasn’t an ignorant sufi and much deeper in the path of fena fillah when compared to today’s fake scholars rejecting mursheed requirement.

And I think that one should search for Mursheed Al Haq (not the fake ones) by praying to Allah (swt) as far as he/she can while gaining Shariah knowledge. Strong iman is the first requirement in tasavvuf as I know so Shariah knowledge is a must. Also tasavvuf is not a very simple thing which can be learned through books only as Shaykh Zarrūq made the point clear about mentioning the importance of mursheed.

Jazak Allah al khayr.

I searched the saying that you wrote in your article about the “If someone studies fiqh and not taṣawwuf, they will become corrupt; and if they study tasawwuf and not fiqh, they will become heretics” this saying is falsely attributed to great Imams may Allah سبحانه have mercy on them all; http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/Fatwa/ShowFatwa.php?lang=a&Id=62464&Option=FatwaId.
As for why doesn’t the books of Fiqh talk about Tazkiyyah, i guess that answer is found on the name of the book itself, because its a fiqh book.
And Allah سبحانه mentions in Surat Annour these interesting Ayats:
إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّـهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن يَقُولُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۚ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٥١﴾وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّـهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَخْشَ اللَّـهَ وَيَتَّقْهِ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ ﴿٥٢﴾ النور
The response of the believers, when they are invited to Allah and His Apostle that he may judge between them, is only to say: We hear and we obey; and these it is that are the successful. (51)And he who obeys Allah and His Apostle, and fears Allah, and is careful of (his duty to) Him, these it is that are the achievers. (52) Annour
And Subhan Allah, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned many many Ahadiths about Tazkiyyah and he never mentioned Tassawuff, as for the sayings related to Sufism i have never met any Hadith that speaks about Sufism or anything like it in the way that contemporary Sufi sects and tareeqats are appearing to be, actually i find many Hadiths that describe the contemporary sufis actions and misguidance.
قال مالك لأهل الكلام ((فإذا أردتم الكلام والتوسع في العلم فابحثوا في الفقه ومسائله وأحكامه والفرائض ومسائلها والمناسخات وقسم التركات ومسائل الإقرار والولاء ودوره وجوه ثم الوصايا ومسائلها ثم المسائل التي تعمل بالجبر والمقابلة والحساب والمساحة فلكم في هذا سعة عما قد نهيتم عن الخوض فيه مما لم يتكلم فيه سلفكم وكرهه إمامكم ولا يفضي بكم إلى خير ولا تخلون فيه من إحداث بدعة إمامكم فيها إبليس يمقتكم الله بها ويتبرأ منكم نبيكم صلى الله عليه وسلم من أجلها ويفارقكم إخوانكم من أهل السنة لمفارقتكم سنة نبيكم عليه أفضل الصلاة والسلام وتردون عن حوض نبيكم صلى الله عليه وسلم كما قد جاء أنه يأتي يوم القيامة قوم إلى الحوض فيختلجون دون النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال فأقول أصحابي أصحابي فيقال إنك لا تدري ما أحدثوا بعدك فأقول بعدا وسحقا أعاذنا الله وإياكم من ذلك ولكن إن لزمتم سنة نبيكم صلى الله عليه وسلم وقبلتم وصيته وسلكتم طريق سلفكم وتركتم الفضول فكونوا على يقين من السلامة وأبشروا بالفضل والكرامة والخلود في دار المقامة {مع الذين أنعم الله عليهم من النبيين والصديقين والشهداء والصالحين وحسن أولئك رفيقا)) أرجو قراءة هذا الكتاب تحريم النظر في كتب الكلام