Introduction

Excess on either side is blameworthy. The religion of Allah is the middle path, between exaggeration and laxism. There is nothing better than equity and abandoning excess.

It is from justice to say that, among the true sufis, there are scholars who are spiritual educators (rabbaniyyin) and among their followers you find what is needed for every Muslim in terms of sincere and profound love for Allah. The purification of tawhid is not complete without the delight in supplication and without love which feels the heart. The books of sufis are full of this.

Likewise, they have a real love for the Prophet (peace be upon him), so much so than one can reach the levels of love for him which you cannot find among others. Their writings on this topic are too many to mention them.

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On the Virtues Found Among the True Sufis

What pleasure is there in following the Sunnah in appearance without an emotional attachment to the Master of the Sunnah, without mentioning him and sending prayers on him, without praising him and without an intense desire to see him?

Multiplying Dhikr such as tasbih (subhanAllah), tahmid (al hamdulillah), multiplying acts of worship such as standing in prayer, fasting, invocation, recitation of the Quran… These are signs of sincerity in love and following. True sufis were known for this, and we met some who were like this.

Sufis have been known for their sincere love of Al al Bayt (the family of the Prophet, peace be upon him), for their appreciation of their merit and their attachment to their virtue. And this is at the heart of the Religion.

Sufis also have a refined character which no one can deny, except an arrogant one. What good is there in a practising person who has little manners and who is abrupt in nature?

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On the Shortcomings Found Among Some Salafis

Facing this, we find among some contemporary callers to the methodology of the pious predecessors who apparent following (of the religion) has no internal reality, to such extent that a sort of harshness has appeared in them, as well as dryness of their eyes and a lack in worship such as dhikr and salah. They reduced the love of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the following of some external sunnah without diving into love and internal depth.

As for Al al bayt, their extremism in refuting the sufis and rafidha (shiite) brings you to think they don’t give much attention to the subject. Worse, you could even think that some are nawasib or close to that (those who disrespect the family of the Prophet, peace be upon him).

As for their manner (adab) and morals (akhlaq), there is a great need to pay attention to this. They opposed the excess of some (ghuluw) by rudeness.

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The Summary of the Issue

In summary, we can say that the points of divergence between those who call to the path of the pious predecessors and the Muhammadian Sunnah and those who call to the Sufi path and authentic “rabbani” spirituality (suluk) are:

Salafis were brought to do this out of their veneration to Allah, their purification of Tawhid, their fear of shirk, their reverence to the Sunnah and their rejection of innovations and invented matters.

Sufis were brought to do this out of love for Allah, His Messenger and anything attached to him.

Both objectives are praiseworthy and desirable.

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Advice to the Salafis

We say to the salafis: you have lacked and restricted the Sunnah and its following. You have contradicted the methodology of the salaf in what I’m going to mention. I advise you to read their biographies in depth, in fairness and with reflection, then read these books:

• Madarij as Salikin, Tariq al Hijratayn and the other sufi books by Ibn al Qayyim.

• Ash Shifa by Qadi Iyad, and what is similar to it among the books on the specifics and virtues of Al Mustafa, while constantly reading the noble Seerah.

• The books mentioning the virtues of the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him) such as Istijab Irtiqā’ al-Ghuraf by As-Sakhawi and As-Sawā‘iq al-Muharriqah by Ibn Hajar al-Makki. There is no harm in reading Muqatil al-Talibiyin until you know how much they have sacrificed to grant victory to the Truth and spread the Sunnah.

• The books of adab and akhlaq such as Al Adab ash-Shar‘iyyah by Ibn Muflih, the summaries of Ihya‘ by Al Ghazali and the Sharh Manzumat al-Adab by Al-Safarini and what is similar. You should also have a look at the books on manners of knowledge such as those by Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn al-Jama‘ah and others.

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Advice to the Sufis

As for the sufis, I advise them:

• To read the biographies of the salaf and study the books of creed according to the methodology of the People of Sunnah and Athar. The most famous among them is Sharh Usul I‘tiqad Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah by Al-Hafidh Al-Lalakai.

• To adjust their tasawuf by reading books such as those by the regulator (muhtasib) of the jurists and sufis, Ahmad Zarrouq like Qawa‘id al-Tasawuf and ‘Uddat al-Murid al-Sadiq.

• Read Ighathat al-Lahfan by Ibn al-Qayyim and Al Madkhal by Ibn al-Hajj al-‘Abdariy.

• Read Al-Mu‘ammal fi Rad ilal Amr al-Awwal by Abu Shammah and Al-Bā‘ith ‘ala Inkār al-Bida‘ wa Hawādith by Abu Bakr al-Tartushi (two books on innovations by Ash‘ari scholars) and everything in Al I‘tisām by Abu Ishaq ash-Shatibi.

• To abandon books on so-called spiritual realities and false esoteric Quranic explanations, to reject them and not delve into them, for indeed it is similar to philosophy and speculative theology which the salaf strongly denounced. These are not part of Islamic sciences. Among those books are those by Ibn Arabi Al-Hatimi, Ibn Sab‘in, Ibn Quss, Al-Qunyani and others.

• To suffice yourself with the authentic books of tasawuf by weighing them against the Book and the Sunnah.