What is taṣawwuf (Sufism)? Is it Islamic?
Al-Ghazali, Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Nawawi — none of the great scholars separated taṣawwuf from Islam. They treated it as the inner science of the religion, distinct from the outer sciences of fiqh and ʿaqīdah.
10 passages from 7 books in the library
In the classical tradition, taṣawwuf (Sufism) is the inner discipline of the religion, not something separate from it. Imam al-Ghazali speaks of the Sufi as a recognized figure — "a Sufi reciter, Sufi preacher, or Sufi scholar" — and distinguishes the Sufi's mode of knowing from the jurist's: "The difference between a scholar and a Sufi in knowledge is related to this. A Sufi speaks" from inner experience. Its heart is purification through restraint: "the purification of the body is hunger," and, as Abu Sulayman the Sufi warned, wearing wool means nothing if the heart still craves the world.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 7 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"It is acceptable to refer to someone as a Sufi reciter, Sufi preacher, or Sufi scholar"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Huraira. For everything there is a purification, and the purification of the body is fasting,"
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"For everything, there is a purification, and the purification of the body is hunger."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"The difference between a scholar and a Sufi in knowledge is related to this. A Sufi speaks"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"With my purification vessel I carry my drink and water for purification for prayer."
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"Abu Sulayman the Sufi mentioned that wearing wool as a mark of renunciation is inappropriate if one's heart desires five dirhams."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The second is that she is not in a waiting period for someone else, whether due to widowhood, divorce, questionable intercourse, or purification from intercourse through ownership of a slave."
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"He should not approach her during menstruation or after its end and before purification as it is forbidden by explicit textual evidence"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"The purification is proportional to the extent of one's giving and the joy in spending for the sake of Allah Almighty."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"From mid-morning till azr should be for compiling and reading, interrupted only by meals, purification,"
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