Summary of the concepts of Ahl al-Sunnah
Sufism and the Sufis
The Sufism attributed to the Sufis
is a doctrine that states that knowledge of Allah Almighty
is attained through tasting and ecstasy
not through rational inference.
Most of them lean towards the Hindu doctrine of self-torment
to become qualified for union with the deity, which they call annihilation (fana').
Some Muslims have inclined towards Sufism
after the fourth century Hijri.
They introduced dancing and listening to music into the religion.
They have innovative, deviant terminology
and innovations, some of which lead their adherents
out of the fold of Islam,
and others less so.
The emergence of Sufism in its early stages
was due to historical reasons,
including the weakness or deviation of the central Caliphate
and people's indulgence in luxury and pleasures,
their forgetting of the Hereafter and distancing themselves from its path.
The reaction to that
was to oppose and reject the worldly life.
This was followed by influence from Indian or Christian monasticism.
Among what the Sufis call
is the influence of the Jabriyyah (determinists) doctrine
and abandoning the taking of means.
Their deviant terms are numerous and varied.
We will present the most important of them in the following concepts.