If people will look back deeply into history they will find - TopicsExpress

If people will look back deeply into history they will find that after the brave work of the Sahaba, (the Companions of the Prophet(s)), Islam spread East and West and to the Far East through the dawa and irshad of the scholars and followers of Tasawwuf (Sufism), who followed the True Way of the Caliphs of the Prophet (s)--radi- Allahu anhum. They were the scholars of true Sufism, which upholds the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah and has never deviated from them. Islamic zuhd (asceticism) flourished in the first Hijri century and developed into schools that had their foundation and basis of their teachings in the Sunnah and Shariah, propagated by zahid scholars who came to be known as the Sufis. Among them were the first four Imams, Imam Malik, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafii and Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, as well as al-Imam Abi Abdallah Muhammad AL-BUKHARI, Abul Husain MUSLIM bin al-Hajjaj, Abu Isa TIRMIDHI. Others were Hasan al-Basri, al-Junaid, Imam Awzai And later these included at- Tabarani, Imam Jalaluddin as- Suyuti, ibn Hajar al-Haythami, al- Jardani, ibn Qayyim al-Jawzi, Imam Muhyiddin bin Sharaf bin Mari bin Hassan bin Husain bin Hazam bin NAWAWI, Imam Abu Hamid GHAZALI, Sayyid Ahmad al- Farouqi Sirhindi, to name a few. The Muslim world has come to know Islam through the efforts of these zahid scholars who were known as Sufis because of their loyalty, sincerity and purity of heart. We are not hiding the fact that at that time, some enemies of Islam came to take an extreme approach, using the name of Sufism, and pretending to be Sufis while spreading strange ideas in order to demolish the true Sufi teachings and poison Muslim ideas about Tasawwuf which the majority of Muslims were following. True Tasawwuf is based on zuhd and Ihsan (purity of the heart). The great Imams of the Muslim world, whose guidance was followed in all Muslim countries, were known to have Sufi masters. Imam Malik, Imam Abu Hanifa, (whose teacher was Jafar as-Sadiq) Imam Shafi (who followed Shayban ar-Rai) and Imam ibn Hanbal (whose teacher was Bishr al-Hafi) all embraced Tasawwuf. All courts and universities of Muslim countries teach from the schools of these four Imams up to today. For example, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Djibouti, and some other countries follow the Shafii madhhab. Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya and Somalia follow the Maliki school. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and some other countries follow the Hanbali school. Turkey, Pakistan, India, Ceylon, and some of the Russian republics follow the Hanafi school. The Far Eastern Muslim countries follow the Shafii school. Most courts of Muslim countries depend for their fatwas on these four schools and all these four schools accepted Tasawwuf. Imam Malik in his famous saying said, man tasawaffa wa lam yatafaqa faqad tazandaqa, wa man tafaqaha wa lam yatasawaf faqad tafasaq, wa man tasawaffa wa tafaqaha faqad tahaqaq. which means: Whoever studied Tasawwuf without Fiqh is a heretic, and whoever studied Fiqh without Tasawwuf is corrupted, and whoever studied Tasawwuf and Fiqh will find the Truth and Reality of Islam. At a time when travel was most difficult, Islam spread quickly through the selfless efforts of Sufi travelers well-schooled in the ascetic discipline (zuhd ad- dunya) required of those Allah had chosen for so noble a task. Their life was dawa and their sustenance was bread and water. Through such abstinence they were able to reach the West and the Far East with the blessing of Islam.