PRISTINE SUFISM: INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF TASAWWUF (SUFISM)

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF TASAWWUF

By: Ustadh Wm. Halim Breiannis

Culled from the book:

“Raheeq al-Quloob (TheNectars of the Hearts): Lessons on the Science of Spiritual Wayfaring in Islam”

All praises are due to Allah Who created mankind in the womb of their mothers and then ensouled them. And may the best benedictions and peace be upon the best example for those who hope in Allah and the Last Day; his family, companions and all who tread upon his enlightened sunnah. To proceed:

This brief introduction is not so much for the book in hand but in order to familiarize the reader with the science itself. This is, perhaps, necessary due to the great misunderstandings and misconceptions that surround this field. This introduction is written as a technical manual and as such does not reflect the tone or over all voice of the book itself. It is simply meant to make the science clear for the reader, removing doubts and correcting conceptions before one embarks upon the journey to follow.

In order to arrive at a better understanding of the science of tasawwuf, we will look at and go over the ma'badi 'ashr (the ten principles every science must have) in relation to this science. These principles are: the name, definition, subject matter, the issues the science deals with, the sources of the science, the founders/codifiers, the legal judgment concerning its study, it's relationship with the other sciences, the virtues associated with it and it's fruits or benefits. These will be looked at in such a way as to make this subject matter clear for the reader.

As for its name, it has been called the science of tasawwuf, tazkiyyah, sulook, and ihsaan. The terms tazkiyyah (purification) and ihsaan (spiritual excellence) are Qur'anic terms while sulook (wayfaring) and tasawwuf are terms not used in this way in the Qur'an and sunnah - similar to the usage of the terms fiqh and aqeedah in their current usage. As for the origin of tasawwuf, there is much said as to its etymology - it is said that it comes from صف [whool garments], صَفّى [purity], صُفّى [the poor people of the prophet's masjid], صِفّة[lofty character traits] and other than this. The truth is, the etymology is not important as it is the meaning and usage of the term that is most relevant and not where the word originated.

As for the definition, Sidi Ahmad Zarruq (May Allah have mercy upon him) defined it saying, "Tasawwuf is a science, the intent of which is to rectify the hearts and single them out for Allah and no other." Imam Junayd Al-Baghdadi defined it saying, "Tasawwuf is to observe every lofty characteristic and to abandon every lowly trait." That is to say, the science of tasawwuf is the science which aims at purifying the hearts, rectifying the character and establishing true sincerity with regards to our Lord. And in fact, these two matters are the very essence of all divinely revealed religions : establishing and rectifying our relationship with Allah and establishing and rectifying our relationship with His creation. The proof for this can be found throughout the Qur'an, the sunnah and even in the Isra'iliyyaat. How many times do we find Allah's words " الذين ءامنوا و عملوا صلحت " ("Those who believe and do righteous good deeds"). From the sunnah the prophet( صلى الله عليه و يلم ) saying, " قل ءمنت بالله ثمّ استقم " ("Say I believe in Allah and then be upright") or his mentioning the Branches of Faith and how the highest is to believe in Allah, the lowest is to remove harm from the pathways and from them is modesty of character. And from the Isra'iliyyaat is Isa Ibn Maryam's (عليه سلام ) teaching that the greatest command is to love your God with all your heart, mind and soul and the second greatest command is to love for others that which you love for yourself and that is the basis for every other commandment. This is sufficient to show that it is these two matters that are not only the basis for the science of tasawwuf but the very essence of the revealed message from our Lord.

There are several key subject matters that this science deals with but perhaps they can be narrowed to four: character reformation, establishing Taqwa, establishing mindfulness, and breaking the nafs (breaking here meaning training and controlling like one does a steed and not in the destructive sense). It is the “how-to” of each of these that serve as questions and issues which the science addresses, as it is not meant to be an academic venture but a means of change and growth. As for the subject of character reformation, it is that one eliminates all vices and lowly traits from one's character (such as conceit, pride, envy, love of prestige, etc.) and build in themselves the lofty virtuous character traits (such as truthfulness, patience, gratitude, renunciation, etc.).

As for the subject of Taqwa, it is that one obeys Allah inwardly and outwardly and avoids disobeying Him inwardly and outwardly in order to shield one's self from His displeasure. As for the outward aspects, it is that one purifies and guards over the seven inroads to the heart - the eyes, ears, tongue, stomach, private parts, hands, and feet; using them in such a way as to please Allah and keeping them from that which is displeasing to Him. As for the inward aspects, it is that one cures the diseases of the heart, all of which are said to go back to two, love of leadership and heedlessness of the hereafter. These two are the roots of all the rest, so we see pride, love of praise, arrogance, and the like stemming from love of leadership, while stinginess, envy, ingratitude, boastfulness, competition for worldly matters and the like stem from heedlessness of the hereafter. The scholars have said, however, that the essence of these two, as well as the head of every wrong action is love for this worldly life. Knowing this, the fastest cure for the diseases of the heart, in their myriad manifestations, is to follow the prescription of the prophet ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) and remember death often. As for establishing mindfullness, this is done through constant and consistent remembrance and reflection, while breaking the nafs comes through struggling over the desires with a reduction of food, sleep, and speech and an increase in solitude.

Moving onto the sources of the science, as with all of the sacred sciences it's sources are the Qur'an and sunnah. Allah tells us of the Day of Judgement in the Quran,

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ,

إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

"The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail

Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart"

(26:88,89)

And,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّىٰ

"Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success"

(87:14)

Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, swore by the sun and moon, the day and night, the heavens and earth, by man's soul and even by Himself,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا

"Indeed, he succeeds who purifies his self

And indeed, he fails who corrupts his self"

(91:9,10)

As for the sunnah, there are entire volumes collecting nothing but the ahadith (prophetic narrations) that pertain to this science. A number of them can be mentioned here but perhaps it suffices to mention that which Imam Muslim collected in his Saheeh wherein Abu Hurairah said that the messenger of Allah ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) said, "Allah the Most High does not look at your outward forms or your wealth but rather He certainly looks at your hearts and deeds." Or his ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) saying in the Hadith of Jibreel that "Ihsaan is that one worship as though they see Allah and if they do not, know that He sees you." Or the Hadith of Wilayya as it authentically reported in the Saheeh of Imam Al-Bukhari, on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the messenger of Allah ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) said, “Allah the Almighty has said, ‘Whoever has animosity towards one of my awliyya, I declare war upon him. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than the religious duties that I have imposed upon him; and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supplementary works such that I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks. Were he to ask of Me, I would surely give him; and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it.’" This Hadith almost serves as a “how-to” for tasawwuf. These ayat and ahadith serve not only to show that the science is based upon the Qur'an and sunnah but also as a proof for its legitimacy as one of the sacred sciences.

In order to discuss the founders or codifiers of the science, a look at each of the first three generations is perhaps most useful, and from each generation only three people will be named as that is sufficient to establish the origin from amongst the Salafu-s-Saliheen. It is already established in the paragraphs above that the origin of the science is with Allah and His messenger ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) so the first generation to be looked at will be that of the companions. It should be mentioned here that the prophet ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) didn't teach every single thing to every companion but instead we find sahaaba that were specialists in particular fields and so who were from the specialists of this field? Perhaps the foremost is Imam Ali (may Allah ennoble his face) and much is recorded in this regard from him. After him is Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) who is perhaps foremost in the area of Hadith on Zuhd (renunciation). And after him it suffices to mention Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) who Imam Bukhari recorded as saying, "I memorized from the prophet ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) two kinds of knowledge, the first, I teach it freely; the second, were I to teach it my throat would be cut." And we know of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he had a rope containing a thousand knots and he would not sleep until after counting ten thousand istighfar (the seeking of God’s forgiveness).

As for those most known for this science amongst the second generation, that of the tabi'een, they were Al-Hasan Al-Basri who was nursed by our mother Umm Salamah and came of age in the vicinity of Imam Ali (may Allah be pleased with them all). Also of the most famous of the early Sufis are Ibrahim Al-Adham who was originally a prince from Balkh, and from the direct line of the prophet ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ), Ali Ibn Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib, known as Zaina-l-'Abideen.

From amongst the third generation, the tabi'a-tabi'een, are Sahl Ibn Abdullah At-Tustari, Dhu Nun Al-Misri, and Imam Al-Harith Al-Muhasibi. But perhaps the best known Sufi of the third generation and the one recognized as the codifier of the science is Imam Junayd Al-Baghdadi who was known to be a great faqih (scholar of jurisprudence), very exact upon the Qur'an and sunnah and was called the Imam of his time. It was he who famously said, "All the paths to Allah are closed except for the footsteps of the prophet ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ).

This is just a sampling to show that the science was established upon the Qur'an and sunnah by the Salafu-s-Saliheen and so the sufiyya are not "other" than the salaf but rather from them. To prove this point further we can look at the words of Imam Malik who said, "Whoever practices tasawwuf without learning fiqh corrupts his faith and whoever learns fiqh without practicing tasawwuf corrupts himself. Only one who combines the two proves true." His student, Imam Ash-Shafi'i said something similar when he said, "Be both a faqih and a Sufi, do not be only one of them."

If one wanted to look further, into the ranks of the rightly guided amongst the kalaf (later generations) who upheld the science of tasawwuf one could find names such as Abdul Qadr Al-Jaylaani, Imam Ghazali, Imam An-Nawawi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Qayyum and Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on them all). Ibn Taymiyya referred to Abdul-Qadr as "our sheikh", commented upon his book and was buried in a graveyard designated as a waqf (endowment) for Sufis only. What is more, he can be quoted as saying, "whoever follows Al-Junayd is firmly upon the straight path but whoever opposes him has been misguided." This then should make the matter clear to anyone who is sincere.

As for the legal judgement concerning studying the science, the basic aspects of the science are an individual obligation as Allah said,

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ,

إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

"The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail

Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart"

(26:88,89)

As for the relationship between this science and the other sciences, understand that this deen has it's roots and two trunks from which all other branches grow. As for its roots, this is the science of aqeedah which none can do without. As for the two trunks, they are the sciences of the shariah and the sciences of tasawwuf...all other sciences are but branches from them. If one has the trunk of Shariah without tasawwuf, they constrict the deen and earn Allah's displeasure. If one has the trunk of tasawwuf without the Shariah they are misguided and Allah allows them to go astray. The relationship between tasawwuf and the other sciences is one of balance. This is due to the fact that "indeed Allah looks at your hearts and your actions."

The virtue of any science is in relation to its subject matter and aims and since the science of tasawwuf relates to our relationship with Allah and arriving to Him with a sound heart, it is from the most virtuous of sciences. As for its fruits and benefits, they can only be attained by its application, never just by studying it alone. They include sincerity and truthfulness, Taqwa and wara'a, love and purity of heart.

Before ending this work, it is fitting to mention the words of Sidi Ahmad Zarruq regarding the science. He said, "If anyone is asked about the foundations of his path he should reply, the foundations of our path are five : Taqwa, publicly and privately; adherence to the sunnah, in word and deed; indifference to others, whether they accept you or reject you; contentment with Allah, in times of hardship and of ease; and turning to Allah, in prosperity and adversity." This then is the core teachings of tasawwuf and the entire science can be summed up in two ayat from the Qur'an...in fact, the entirety of Islam is contained in them:

قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

"Say: "Verily, my Salat (prayer), my sacrifice,

my living, and my dying are for Allah,

the Lord of all creation"

(6:162)

And,

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

"Say: "If you (truly) love Allah then follow me

(The prophet Muhammad),

Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins.

And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

(3:31)

By: Ustadh Wm. HalimBreiannis

Culled from the book:

“Raheeq al-Quloob (TheNectars of the Hearts): Lessons on the Science of Spiritual Wayfaring in Islam”

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