Sufism: The Opium of the Masses? Answering Some Bizarre Claims of Dr Faruqi

Question: I was reading Ismail R al Faruqi & Lois Lamya'al Faruqi's "The cultural Atlas of Islam" (which is one of the encyclopedia series from Macmillans) when I came across a disturbing chapter on Tasawwuf. The authors make quite a few claims which I found shocking and wanted to know the basis (if any) of, and any appropriate academic refutations from yourselves.

1. To start off, it may be interesting to note that Dr. Faruqi translated Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's infamous "Kitab al-Tawhid."

1. The author's state that "Ibn 'Arabi did reach and express the conclusion that all religions are one, and that religious controversy, dispute, and competition is utterly senseless." Is this true?

Walaikum assalam,

This is clearly dealt with by Sheikh Nuh Keller. The article is on Mas'ud Khan's site: http://www.masud.co.uk

2. The authors claim that Tasawwuf became a disease which caused or exacerbated the following symptoms:

The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, "There shall always remain a group in my community manifest on the truth, unaffected by those who oppose them, until the last day." He also instructed us to, "Be with the large group."

Such people should be told to bring proofs, if they are true.

Such claims entail stating that the leaders and heroes of the Ummah for century after century were misguided. If you read the Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali, he says the same things stated by later Sufis, in matters of high experiential tasawwuf. If we accept that all the greatest scholars of the Ummah, who were inevitably sufis were misguided, then how possibly can we say that the deen has been authentically preserved?

This is why Imam al-Kawthari (Allah be pleased with him) poignantly titled his work on non-madhhabism, "Non-Madhhabism is the Bridge to Non-Religion."

a) that Khashf(gnostic illumination) subsitututed knowledge and thus sufis abandoned critical, rational, emperical thinking for subjective, estoric inclination. The result of this was that "mathematics was mixed with numerology; astronomy  with astrology; chemistry with alchemy, etc."

Baloney. The biggest scholars of every science were Sufis. Nawawi, Subki, Ibn Hajar, Ayni, Ibn al-Humam, Ibn Abidin, Dardir, Sawi, Ulaysh, Bajuri... these late scholars (and sufis) did no such thing...

b) karomat and belief in 'little miracles' destroyed the Muslim's respect for natural causation

What does he mean by "natural causation" ? He is stepping on very dangerous ground if he means what he says...

Belief in miracles is an integral part of Islamic belief, as stated in all its classic texts, from the very earliest ones.

As for causality, the Sufis' views on this correspond fully to the Ashari and/or Maturidi position (depending on the sufis).

In short, this position can be summarized as, "We have been commanded to take the means, and we have been commanded to negate that they have any causational effect. Whoever relies on means has associated partners with Allah. Whoever negates means denies the Wisdom of Allah."

c) sufis preached Ta'abbud - the deliberate giving up of social, political and economic activity for the sake of ritual worship.

Who are these "sufis" ??? Most Sufis lived within society, as traders, workers, businessmen, mujahids, rulers, scholars...

Yes, some renounced worldly activities, but so did a lot of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace). Heard of Ahl al-Suffa, sir?

The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, "Be in this world as a stranger or a passer by..." The hadiths on zuhd are many, and well known.

d) Tawakkul replaced the "absolute necessity of human intervention into the causal nexus of nature"

Tawakkul is something Allah Most High enjoined in the Qur'an. It does not negate taking means, which the Sufis did. They sought the strongest means to fulfill the central purpose of creation, which Allah Most High expressed in the Qur'an, "I have not created jinn or humans except that they may worship Me." Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) explained "worship Me," as "know Me." This is found in the major tafsirs...

Throughout the ages, Sufism was a means for people, even marginally committed believers, to maintain strong spiritual attachments with the religion. It is far harder to change hearts than minds...

Who spread Islam across the lands but the Sufis? Who produced the scholars whose works the Ummah benefited from in every field? Who conquered Constantinople but a Sufi? Who drove away the Crusaders from the blessed lands of Sham except Sufis?

Who were the strongest in opposition to colonial rule?

e) Tassawuf taught a shortcut through dhikhr and prayers and manipulation of the arbitrary supernatural forces thus opening the door to magic, talismanship and charlatanism.

Fear Allah, sir! Which sufis permit such matters? This is why the scholars interdicted reading the works of the people of innovation: they cloud the mind and darken the heart. It is enough wrong that such men accuse the most beloved of Allah's servants of such sin.

f) unquestioned, unreasoned obedience to one's Shaykh replaced tawhid

Nonsense. Obedience to a true shaykh is reason itself: one selects a true spiritual guide, who is clearly able to guide one to Allah. Then, one follows his guidance, whose only purpose is to enable one to draw closer to Allah Most High on the path of His Beloved Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace). What is the shaykh guiding one to? True tawhid.

The point is not just that one's belief in Allah be an item of abstract knowledge at the back of one's mind, rarely affecting one's behavior or active consciousness. Rather, the point is that one's behavior and consciousness correspond to reality: Allah is Absolute, and all else is merely His creating.

g) cultivation of the mystical trance replaced fulfillment of daily duties and lifelong obligations

 Such as?

3. Ismail Faruqi concludes that such symptoms created the fall of Baghdad, the Tartar disaster and the rise of the Wahhabiyya. Also he asserts that as a result of Tasawwuf " Muslims became apolitical, asocial, amilitary, anethical, and thus nonproductive, unconcerned for the ummah, an individualist, and in the last resort, an egoist, whose prime objective was to save himself, to be absorbed in the consuming majesty of the divine. ..

Nonsense.

Walaikum assalam.
Faraz Rabbani.