The Term Tasawwuf and the Word Sufiya
Ibn Taymiyyah says that the word sufiya was not known in the first three centuries of Islam. It spread after that. Scholars disputed its origin.
- Some said it came from Ahl al-Suffa, but that is wrong linguistically.
- Some said it came from the first row before Allah, or from safwa (the pure ones), but this is also wrong.
- Some linked it to the tribe of Sufah in Makkah, but this was weak and unknown to most ascetics.
- The well-known view is that it comes from suf (wool), because early worshippers in Basrah wore wool as a sign of zuhd.
Ibn Sirin (d. 110AH) criticised wearing wool to imitate the Messiah. He said the Prophet’s example is better, since he wore cotton and other materials. The name sufi arose from this outward practice, but later tasawwuf grew into many branches.
Some modern writers argued that tasawwuf was influenced by Christian monasticism. They relied on Ibn Sirin’s remark about imitating the Messiah.
Valid Tasawwuf
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Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Jawzi both acknowledged that the early people of zuhd focused on disciplining the nafs, sincerity, truthfulness, patience, and abandoning worldly excess.
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Their intentions were good. They wanted closeness to Allah, and they worked hard against their desires.
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They did not restrict worship to love only, nor did they abandon Sharia duties.
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True tasawwuf is when love, fear, and hope are combined, following the Quran and Sunnah, and holding to the straight path.
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Ibn Taymiyyah said worship is everything Allah loves of words and deeds, outward and inward.
Invalid Tasawwuf
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When sufiya abandoned knowledge and took only action, Iblis deceived them.
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They fell into extremes: rejecting all dunya benefits, starving themselves, not sleeping, or acting on fabricated hadith.
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Later they introduced innovations: patched robes, sama, clapping, dancing, exaggerated awrad, and separating “outer knowledge” from “inner knowledge.”
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Some reached false beliefs: hulul (indwelling), ittihad (union), or claiming obligations fall once a person is “perfected.” Ibn Taymiyyah called this the worst form of kufr.
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They exaggerated about awliya, granting them ranks above Prophets, or believing they control the universe.
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They sought closeness to Allah through singing, duff, and dancing, which the imams all condemned. Ibn Taymiyyah said this intoxicates hearts worse than wine and brings enmity, corruption, and shaytani influence.
Restricting Worship to Love Alone
Later sufiya restricted worship to mahabbah (love) only. They rejected fear and hope. Some even said they do not worship Allah out of fear of Hell or hope for Paradise.
Ibn Taymiyyah says that worship is comprehensive. It includes love, fear, hope, humility, submission, dua, and all that Allah loves. Ibn al-Qayyim described worship as complete love with humility, the two poles of servitude.
The Salaf said:
- Whoever worships Allah only with love is a zindiq.
- Whoever worships Him only with hope is a murji.
- Whoever worships Him only with fear is a haruri.
- True worship is with love, fear, and hope together.
Allah described His Prophets as calling upon Him with fear and hope, desiring His mercy and fearing His punishment.
Binding Themselves to Adhkar and Awrad
Sufiya made special adhkar and awrad invented by their shuyukh. They divided dhikr into:
- Dhikr of the common: La ilaha illa Allah
- Dhikr of the elite: repeating Allah
- Dhikr of the elite of the elite: saying Hu
Ibn Taymiyyah said this is misguidance. The isolated name or pronoun is not meaningful speech. It is neither iman nor kufr. The best dhikr, proven by authentic hadith, is La ilaha illa Allah.
Some sufi teachers admitted they used isolated names only to focus the heart. This led to shaytani states, where shayatin misled them into false experiences. Ibn Taymiyyah said such innovations are a path to kufr.
Exaggeration About the Awliya and Shuyukh
Sufiya gave wilayah to specific shuyukh without proof. They even claimed their awliya are above Prophets, taking directly from the source of revelation. Some claimed infallibility for them.
Ibn Taymiyyah said no one can oppose the Quran and Sunnah, even the greatest Sahabah. Extraordinary acts like flying in the air or walking on water do not prove wilayah.
These acts can occur for awliya, but also for enemies of Allah, disbelievers, innovators, or through shayatin.
True awliya are known by iman, taqwa, obedience, and following the Sharia. Not by miracles or strange powers.
Singing, Dancing, and Sama
From false sufi practice is seeking closeness to Allah through singing, dancing, duff, whistling, and clapping.
- Imam al-Shafi’i said: “I left Baghdad and saw something invented by the heretics. They call it taghbir, by which they turn people away from the Quran.”
- Imam Ahmad said it is bidah and forbade sitting with its people.
- Early imams like Yazid ibn Harun condemned it.
- Al-Junayd attended it at first but abandoned it later in life.
Ibn Taymiyyah said these practices bring no benefit to hearts, only harm. They intoxicate worse than wine, distract more than wine from dhikr and prayer, and cause worse enmity and hatred than wine. Shayatin descend on them, speak on their tongues, and mislead them.
As for dancing, Allah did not command it, nor His Messenger, nor any imam. The Quran commands calmness, humility, and dignity in walking. The worship of Islam is ruku and sujud, not dancing.
Abandoning The Sharia
Ibn al-Jawzi said early ascetics were sincere but deceived. Iblis turned them away from knowledge and made them focus on action without knowledge. When knowledge was lost, they stumbled in darkness. Some rejected worldly benefits, some lived in extreme hardship, some acted on fabricated hadith.
Later, Imams like al-Harith al-Muhasibi spoke about hunger and whispers.
Then others refined tasawwuf, adding patched robes, sama, dancing, and clapping. They distanced themselves from scholars, called Sharia knowledge “outer knowledge,” and their way “inner knowledge.”
Some fell into false imaginations, claiming passionate love of Allah like infatuation with a human image. Some claimed hulul (indwelling) or ittihad (union). Iblis led them to new laws and bidah.
Ibn Taymiyyah said the worst form is when they claim obligations fall away once a person is “perfected.” They say commands are only for the common people. This, he said, is among the worst forms of kufr, worse than Jews and Christians, because they reject all commands and prohibitions. They are outside all religions and even worse than mushrikin who held on to remnants of earlier truth.
Full Article
The term tasawwuf and the word sufiya were not known in the early centuries of Islam, rather they appeared later, or they were brought in from other nations.
Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) said: “As for the word sufiya, it was not well known in the first three centuries, rather it became well known after that.
The word has been transmitted from more than one of the imams and shuyukh, like Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH), Abu Sulayman al Darani (d. 215 AH) and others. It has also been reported that Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 AH) used it, and some have mentioned that al Hasan al Basri (d. 110 AH) used it.
They disputed about the origin to which the word sufi is connected, because it is a form of ascription like Qurashi or Madani and similar words. It was said that it comes from Ahl al Suffa, but this is wrong, because if that were the case it would be Sufi, not Sufi.
It was said that it comes from the first row in front of Allah, but this too is wrong, because if that were the case it would be Sufi, not Sufi. It was said that it comes from safwa (the pure ones) of the creation of Allah, but this too is wrong, because if that were the case it would be Safawi.
It was said that it comes from the tribe of Sufah ibn Bishr ibn Ad ibn Bishr ibn Tabikhah, an Arab tribe that lived in Makkah in ancient times, to whom ascetics were attributed. Although this matches the form of the word, it is weak too, because these people are not well known to most ascetics, and if ascetics were to be ascribed to them, that would have been more appropriate in the time of the Sahabah and Tabi’een.
And also, most of those who used the name sufi did not know of this tribe, and would not like to be linked to a tribe of Jahiliyyah that has no existence in Islam.
And it was said, and this is the well known opinion, that it comes from suf (wool), because tasawwuf first appeared in Basrah.
The first one to establish a small lodge for the sufiya was one of the companions of Abdul Wahid ibn Zayd (d. 177 AH). Abdul Wahid was from the companions of al Hasan al Basri, and in Basrah there was an extreme tendency to zuhd (renunciation of worldly life), worship, fear, and the like, more than in other towns.”
Abu Shaykh al Asbahani (d. 369 AH) narrated with his chain from Muhammad ibn Sirin (d. 110 AH) that it reached him that a people preferred wearing wool, so he said: “A people choose to wear wool and say they are imitating the Messiah, son of Mary.
But the example of our Prophet is more beloved to us, and he used to wear cotton and other things, or words similar to this.” Then he said: “These people were given the name from their outward appearance, which was wearing wool. So one of them was called sufi. But their path was not restricted to wearing wool, nor did they obligate that, nor did they attach the matter to it, but they were only ascribed to it because it was an apparent sign.”
Then he said: “This is the origin of tasawwuf, then after that it branched out and became many kinds.”
Majmu al Fatawa (11/5–18)
The words of Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, show that tasawwuf arose in the lands of Islam by the worshippers of Basrah due to their extreme asceticism and worship, then it developed after that.
Some modern writers concluded that tasawwuf was influenced by other religions such as Hinduism and Christian monasticism.
They used as support what the Shaykh narrated from Ibn Sirin when he said: “A people choose to wear wool and say they are imitating the Messiah, son of Mary. But the example of our Prophet is more beloved to us.” This shows that tasawwuf had some relation to Christianity.
The stance of the sufiya regarding worship and religion
The sufiya, especially the later ones, adopted a way in religion and worship that differs from the way of the Salaf, and departs much from the Quran and the Sunnah. They built their religion and worship on symbols, codes, and terms they invented. These can be summarised as follows:
Restricting worship to love alone
They restricted worship to mahabbah (love). They built their worship of Allah only upon love, neglecting the other aspects such as fear and hope. As some of them said: I do not worship Allah out of desire for His Paradise, nor out of fear of His Fire. There is no doubt that love of Allah is the foundation of worship, but worship is not limited to love as they claim.
Rather it has many sides and types other than love, such as khawf (fear), raja (hope), dhull (humility), khudu (submission), dua (supplication), and others.
It is, as Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, “a comprehensive term that includes everything that Allah loves and is pleased with from words and deeds, outward and inward.” (Majmu Fatawa 10/149).
Ibn al Qayyim (d. 751 AH) said:
وعبادة الرحمن غاية حبه … مع ذل عابده هما قطبان
وعليهما فلك العبادة دائر … ما دار حتى قامت القطبان
The worship of al Rahman is complete love of Him
Along with humility of His slave, these are the two poles
And upon them revolves the orbit of worship
It remains as long as these two pillars stand
Kitab Nuniyyat Ibn al-Qayyim al-Kafiya al-Shafiya Page 35
For this reason, some of the Salaf said: Whoever worships Allah with only love is a zindiq (heretic).
Whoever worships Him with only hope is a murji. Whoever worships Him with only fear is a haruri (Khariji). Whoever worships Him with love, fear, and hope together is a believer and a muwahhid.
Allah described His Prophets and Messengers as calling upon their Lord in fear and hope, as hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment, and as supplicating to Him in raghban (desire) and rahban (fear).
Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “And this is a matter into which many of the shuyukh have fallen. Its cause is weakness in realising the servitude which the Messengers explained and which the command and prohibition they brought made clear.”
He also said: “Many of those who take the path of claiming love of Allah have entered into kinds of ignorance of religion, either by exceeding the limits set by Allah, or by neglecting the rights of Allah, or by claiming false claims that have no reality.”
He also said: “Those shuyukh who expanded in listening to poems that speak of love, longing, blame, fairness, and passion, this was their main aim. For this reason Allah revealed the verse of testing love, in which He tested those who claim it, saying: قل إن كنتم تحبون الله فاتبعوني يحببكم الله “Say, if you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you” (Al Imran 31).
So none is truly a lover of Allah except the one who follows His Messenger. The obedience and following of the Messenger is the fulfilment of servitude.
And many of those who erred, who followed shuyukh in zuhd and worship, fell into some of what the Christians fell into: claiming love of Allah while opposing His Sharia, abandoning striving in His path, and the like. They hold in religion, by which they seek closeness to Allah, to something similar to what the Christians hold, of ambiguous words and stories whose narrators are not known to be truthful. Even if they were truthful, they are not infallible. So they make their leaders as lawgivers of a religion for them, just as the Christians made their priests and monks lawgivers of a religion for them.
Then they diminish servitude, and claim that the elite go beyond it, just as the Christians claimed about the Messiah. They also affirm for the elite a kind of partnership with Allah, similar to what the Christians affirm for the Messiah and his mother, along with other types too long to explain in this place.”
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (10/207-213)
The sufiya mostly do not return in their religion and worship to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet, nor do they follow his example.
Rather, they follow their own tastes and the ways their shuyukh set for them of innovated paths, adhkar (remembrances), and awrad (regularly recited dhikr or spiritual practice known as the wird, which is prescribed by a spiritual guide (murshid) for the spiritual nourishment and progress of a student (murīd).
They may even use stories, dreams, and fabricated hadiths to support what they are upon, instead of using evidence from the Book and the Sunnah. This is what their religion is built upon.
It is known that worship is not correct unless it is built upon what came in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah.
Since this is the source to which they return in their religion and worship, and they have left returning to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah, they became divided parties.
Allah said:
﴾وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ ﴿
“And that this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow the other paths, for they will separate you away from His path.” (al Anam 153).
The path of Allah is one, it does not divide and there is no disagreement upon it. Whatever is besides it are scattered paths which lead the one who takes them away from the straight path of Allah.
This applies to the groups of the sufiya, because every group has its own special tariqah (path) that differs from the other, and every group has a shaykh they call Shaykh al Tariqah, who sets for them a method that differs from other groups, and takes them away from the straight path.
This shaykh, whom they call Shaykh al Tariqah, has full authority and they carry out whatever he says without any objection.
They even say: the murid (follower) with his shaykh should be like the dead body with its washer. Some of these shuyukh claim that they receive directly from Allah what they command their murids and followers with.
Binding themselves to adhkar and awrad set by their shuyukh
Part of the religion of the sufiya is to commit to adhkar and awrad set for them by their shuyukh. They bind themselves to them and worship by reciting them, and sometimes they prefer reciting them over reciting the Quran, and they call them dhikr al khassah (remembrance of the elite).
As for the dhikr that is established in the Book and the Sunnah, they call it dhikr al amma (remembrance of the common).
For example, saying “La ilaha illa Allah” according to them is the dhikr of the common. As for the dhikr of the elite, it is saying only the single name “Allah.”
And the dhikr of the elite of the elite, according to them, is saying “Hu” (He).
Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: Most of them go out into practices that are not legislated. Among these is the path of Abu Hamid al Ghazali (d. 505 AH) and those who followed him.
These people command the one who has sweetness in worship not to do more than the obligations, neither in reciting nor in looking into hadith of the Prophet nor anything else. Rather, they may command him with dhikr.
Then they may say what Abu Hamid says: the dhikr of the common is “La ilaha illa Allah,” the dhikr of the elite is “Allah, Allah,” and the dhikr of the elite of the elite is “Hu, Hu.”
Dhikr by the single name, whether expressed or implied, is an innovation in the Sharia and a mistake in both expression and language. For the isolated name is not speech, and it is neither iman nor kufr.
It is established in the authentic hadith that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The best speech after the Quran are four, and they are from the Quran: Subhan Allah, al Hamdu lillah, La ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu Akbar.”
In another hadith he said: “The best dhikr is La ilaha illa Allah.” And he said: “The best thing I and the Prophets before me have said is La ilaha illa Allah, alone without partner, His is the dominion, His is the praise, and He has power over all things.”
The hadiths on the virtue of these words are many and authentic.
As for dhikr with the single name, it is a bidah not legislated, not speech that is understood, and not containing iman.
For this reason some of the later ones who commanded it explained openly that their intent was not dhikr of Allah the Exalted, but rather to gather the heart upon one specific thing until the soul is prepared for what will come to it. So he would command his murid to say this name repeatedly.
When his heart gathered, a shaytani state would be cast upon him, so the shaytan would possess him and make him imagine that he had risen into the highest assembly, and that he had been given what Muhammad ﷺ, was not given on the night of Isra and Mi’raj, nor what Musa, peace be upon him, was given on the day of al Tur. This and similar matters occurred to some people even in our own time.”
As al Ghazali (d. 505 AH) and those like him who commanded this method, they did not think that it would lead to kufr. But it should be known that innovations are a pathway to kufr.
They would command the murid to empty his heart of everything, to sit in a dark place, cover his head, and say: Allah, Allah.
They believe that if his heart is emptied in this way, it becomes prepared, and then a kind of knowledge descends upon his heart which is the sought goal. Some of them even say that he receives something of the same type as what the Prophets received.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (10/396-397)
Their exaggeration about the awliya and shuyukh
The exaggeration of the sufiya concerning the awliya (friends of Allah) and shuyukh contradicts the aqeedah of Ahl al Sunnah wa al Jamaah.
The aqeedah of Ahl al Sunnah wa al Jamaah is to be loyal to the awliya of Allah and to be enemies to His enemies.
Allah said:
﴾إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ﴿
“Your only protector is Allah, His Messenger, and those who believe, who establish the prayer and give the zakah while bowing in prayer.” (al Maidah 55).
And He said: ﴾يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ﴿
“O you who believe, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies.” (al Mumtahanah 1).
The awliya of Allah are the believers who have taqwa, who establish the prayer and give zakah while bowing. We must love them, follow them, and respect them.
Wilayah (friendship of Allah) is not restricted to certain individuals. Every believer with taqwa is a wali of Allah, even though he is not infallible from error. This is the meaning of wilayah and awliya and what is due concerning them according to Ahl al Sunnah wa al Jamaah.
But the awliya among the sufiya have other definitions. They give wilayah to specific people without any evidence from the Sharia for their wilayah.
They may even grant wilayah to one not known for iman or taqwa, but known for the opposite, like sorcery, magic, and making permissible the forbidden. They sometimes prefer those they claim to be awliya over the Prophets. Some of them say:
“The rank of prophethood is a barzakh, between the Messenger and below the wali.”
They say that the awliya take from the same source as the angel who delivers revelation to the Messenger. They also claim for them infallibility.
Ibn Taymiyyah then said: “And whoever opposes anything that the Messenger brought, imitating in that someone he thinks to be a wali of Allah, he builds his case on the idea that this man is a wali of Allah and that the wali of Allah cannot oppose anything.
Yet even if this man were among the greatest of the awliya of Allah, like the senior Sahabah and the Tabiin who followed them in excellence, nothing would be accepted from him if it opposed the Book and the Sunnah. So how then if he is not like them?
You will find that many of these people rely in their belief that someone is a wali of Allah on the fact that some kind of unveiling happened for him in some matters, or he performed some extraordinary action.
For example, he points to a person and the person dies, or he flies in the air to Makkah or elsewhere, or he walks on water sometimes, or he fills a jug from the air, or he spends time knowing some of the unseen, or he disappears from people at times, or that someone sought help from him while he was absent or even dead, and saw him come and fulfill his need, or he informs people of what was stolen from them, or of the state of someone absent, or an illness, and the like. None of these things proves that he is a wali of Allah.
Rather, the awliya of Allah are agreed that if a man were to fly in the air or walk on water, one should not be deceived by that until it is examined whether he is following the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and agreeing with his commands and prohibitions.
The karamat (miracles) of the awliya of Allah are greater than these things. These extraordinary matters, even though their doer may be a wali of Allah, may also be an enemy of Allah. For these extraordinary things occur for many disbelievers, polytheists, People of the Book, hypocrites, people of bidah, and from the shayatin.
It is not permitted to think that everyone who shows some of these things is a wali of Allah. Rather, the awliya of Allah are known by their attributes, actions, and conditions that the Book and the Sunnah show. They are recognised by the light of iman and Quran, by the realities of inner iman, and by the outward laws of Islam.
For example, these extraordinary matters and the like may be found in people, yet one of them does not even make wudu, nor does he pray the obligatory prayers.
Rather, he lives among filth, befriends dogs, dwells in public baths, rubbish dumps, and graveyards, his smell is foul, he does not purify himself with the legislated purification nor clean himself.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The angels do not enter a house in which there is a person in janabah or a dog.”
He also said about the latrines: “These latrines are attended by the shayatin.”
He said: “Whoever eats from these two foul plants, let him not approach our masjid, for the angels are harmed by what harms the sons of Adam.”
He said: “Indeed Allah is Tayyib (Good) and accepts only what is good.” He said: “Indeed Allah is clean and loves cleanliness.” He said: “Five harmful creatures are to be killed in both halal and haram places: the snake, the mouse, the crow, the kite, and the rabid dog.”
In another narration: “The snake and the scorpion.” He commanded, peace and blessings be upon him, to kill dogs.
He said: “Whoever keeps a dog without need for farming or herding, his reward decreases every day by a qirat.”
He said: “The angels do not accompany a group who have with them a dog.” He said: “If a dog licks the bowl of one of you, let him wash it seven times, one of them with soil.”
Majmu al Fatawa (11/213-215)
The sufiya did not stop at this point of giving wilayah to such people. Rather they exaggerated further and gave them some of the attributes of rububiyyah (lordship).
They claim that they control the universe, know the unseen, and respond to those who seek help from them in things that only Allah is able to do.
They call them al Aghwath (the rescuers), al Aqtab (the poles), al Awtad (the pillars). They call upon their names in hardships while they are dead or absent. They seek from them to fulfill needs and to relieve difficulties.
They glorify them in their lifetimes and worship them after their deaths. They build domes upon their graves, seek blessings from their soil, make tawaf around their graves, dedicate offerings to them, and call their names in their requests. This is the path of the sufiya concerning wilayah and the awliya.
Their drawing near to Allah through singing, dancing, beating duffs, and clapping
From the false religion of the sufiya is that they seek nearness to Allah through singing, dancing, beating duffs, and clapping, and they regard this as worship.
The elders sit in these gatherings smoking, while senior leaders and their followers discuss some false beliefs attached to the dead in shrines. From our reading, it has become clear that the musical performance of some modern sufi orders is taken from what is called the Christian choral prayers.
Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained the time of its appearance, the stance of the imams towards it, and who invented it
He said: Imam Ash Shafi’i (d. 204 AH) said about it: “I left behind in Baghdad something invented by the heretics. They call it taghbir, by which they turn people away from the Quran.”
The taghbir that al Shafi’i mentioned was only that they would strike with a small stick on a piece of leather, like a cushion or the like. At that time they had not yet introduced the flutes joined together, nor the duffs with jingles.
When Imam Ahmad (d. 241 AH) was asked about this taghbir, he said: “It is a bidah,” and he forbade sitting with its people. Likewise, Yazid ibn Harun (d. 206 AH) and other imams condemned it.
A group of shuyukh attended it, but among those who attended were some who later left it and repented from it.
As for al Junayd (d. 297 AH), no one ever transmitted that he danced during sama, nor that he attended a sama gathering with duffs and flutes.
It has been said that he attended taghbir at the beginning of his life, but he would not stand up in it. In the end of his life, he abandoned it and would say: “Whoever forces himself into sama is tested by it. Whoever comes across it incidentally finds relief in it.”
That is, he may hear verses that match his state, whether love, sorrow, or fear. What a person hears without intending it does not fall under command or prohibition, like a sudden glance or smelling a scent without deliberately seeking it.
For this reason the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not command Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, to block his ears when he heard the flute of a shepherd.
If the Prophet himself had not blocked his own ears, then blocking them would not have been obligatory in that case, because it was hearing without intentional listening. The Prophet only did that by way of recommendation.
This is according to the view of those who accept the hadith. As for some of the scholars of hadith, like Abu Dawud (d. 275 AH) and others, they said it is munkar.
Al-Masāʾil wa al-Ajwibah Page 160
Ibn Taymiyyah said: For this reason, you find that the one who becomes accustomed to it and nourished upon it does not long for the Quran, nor does he rejoice in it, nor find in listening to its verses what he finds in listening to poems.
Rather, when they hear the Quran, they hear it with distracted hearts and idle tongues. But when they hear the listening of whistling and clapping, their voices rise, their bodies calm, their hearts become quiet, and they consume drink.
So whoever spoke about this, asking if it is disliked or permissible, and compared it to what women sing at festivals and weddings, has not been guided to distinguish between the path of the losers and that of the successful.
And whoever spoke about this, asking if it is from the religion, or from the listening of the muttaqin, or from the states of those near to Allah and the moderate ones, or from the deeds of the people of certainty, or from the way of the lovers beloved by Allah, or from the actions of those travelling to the Lord of the worlds, then his words about it were far from the truth.
It is like someone being asked about the disputed issue of kalam, whether it is praiseworthy or blameworthy, and he begins to speak about grammar, dividing words into noun, verb, and particle, or he speaks about the merit of silence, or that Allah permitted speech, and the like of that which does not touch the very issue in dispute.
So if this is understood, then know that in the prime of the first three preferred centuries, neither in the Hijaz, nor in al Sham, nor in Yemen, nor in Egypt, nor in the Maghrib, nor in Iraq, nor in Khurasan, among the people of religion, piety, zuhd, and worship, was there any gathering upon such listening of whistling and clapping, neither with a duff, nor with a palm, nor with a reed. Rather, it was invented after that in the late second century. When the imams saw it, they condemned it.
Al Shafi’i (d. 204 AH), may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I left behind in Baghdad something invented by the heretics.
They call it taghbir.
They distract people from the Quran with it.”
Yazid ibn Harun (d. 206 AH) said: “None practices taghbir except a fasiq. And when did taghbir ever exist?”
Imam Ahmad (d. 241 AH) was asked about it and he said: “I dislike it. It is an innovation.” He was asked, “Should I sit with them?”
He said: “No.”
Likewise, the rest of the imams of the religion disliked it.
The greatest of the righteous shuyukh never attended it. Ibrahim ibn Adham (d. 161 AH) never attended, nor al Fudayl ibn Iyad (d. 187 AH), nor Ma’ruf al Karkhi (d. 200 AH), nor Abu Sulayman al Darani (d. 215 AH), nor Ahmad ibn Abi al Hawari (d. 246 AH), nor al Sari al Saqti (d. 253 AH), and others like them.
Those shuyukh who did attend it among the praiseworthy left it at the end of their lives. Senior mashayikh condemned its people, as did Abd al Qadir al Jilani (d. 561 AH), al Shaykh Abu al Bayan, and others.
And what al Shafi’i, may Allah be pleased with him, mentioned, that it was an invention of the heretics, is the statement of an imam expert in the foundations of Islam.
For this listening was not desired and called to at first except by those accused of heresy, like Ibn al Rawandi, al Farabi (d. 339 AH), Ibn Sina (d. 428 AH), and their likes. Abu Abd al Rahman al Sulami (d. 412 AH) mentioned in the issue of sama from Ibn al Rawandi that he said: “The jurists differed about sama: some permitted it, some disliked it.
As for me, I obligate it, or he said, I command it,” opposing the consensus of the scholars.
Al Farabi was skilled in singing, which they call music. He had a known method among the people of the craft of music. His story with Ibn Hamdan is well known, when he struck the instruments, making them weep, then laugh, then sleep, then he left.
Ibn Sina mentioned in his Isharat, in the chapter on the stations of the gnostics, encouragement for it, and also encouragement for loving forms and images, in a way that fits the path of his predecessors among the philosophers and the Sabians, the polytheists who worshipped stars and idols, like Aristotle and his followers among the Greeks, and those who followed him like Porphyry, Themistius, and Alexander of Aphrodisias.
Aristotle was the minister of Alexander son of Philip the Macedonian, the one whom the Jews and Christians use as a point in their dating, who lived about three hundred years before the Messiah son of Mary.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (11/568-569)
The Shayk then said: Whoever has knowledge of the truths of the religion, and of the states of the hearts, their knowings, their tastes, and their findings, knows that the listening of whistling and clapping brings no benefit nor interest to the hearts, except that within it there is harm and corruption greater than it. It is to the soul like poison to the body.
It acts upon the souls like the burning effect of wine in cups.
For this reason, it causes its followers an intoxication greater than the intoxication of wine. They find a pleasure without discernment, just as the wine drinker finds. In fact, they obtain more and greater than what the wine drinker obtains.
This distracts them from the remembrance of Allah and from the prayer more than wine distracts them. It creates among them enmity and hatred worse than wine, to the point that some of them kill others without laying a hand, but because of what attaches itself to them of the shayatin.
Shayatin descend upon them in that state and speak upon their tongues, just as the jinn speak upon the tongue of the one possessed.
Sometimes it is speech like the speech of non-Arabs whose words are not understood, like the tongue of the Turks, Persians, or others, while the person possessed by the shaytan is an Arab who cannot speak in that language.
But the speech comes in the form of the speech of those whose shayatin are their brothers. Sometimes it is speech that is not comprehensible and has no understood meaning. Those with unveiling, witnessing, and preservation know this.
And these people, who leave the Sharia and yet enter the Fire, are of this type. For the shayatin take hold of one of them until the feeling of his body disappears, to the point that the possessed may be struck with severe blows and he does not feel it.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (11/573-574)
As for dancing, Allah did not command it, nor His Messenger, nor any of the imams.
Rather Allah said in His Book:
﴾وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ﴿
“Be moderate in your walk and lower your voice.” (Luqman 19).
And He said:
﴾وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا﴿
“And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth with humility.” (al Furqan 63).
With calmness and dignity. The worship of the Muslims is ruku and sujud.
As for the duff and dancing, Allah did not command them, nor His Messenger, nor any of the Salaf of the Ummah.
Ibn Taymiyyah said: As for the one who says, “This is a net by which the common people are caught,” he has spoken the truth. For most of them only take it as a net for food and social gatherings over food.
As Allah said about them:
﴾يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الْأَحْبَارِ وَالرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ النَّاسِ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ﴿
“O you who believe, indeed many of the rabbis and monks consume the wealth of people in falsehood and turn them away from the path of Allah.” (al Tawbah 34).
And whoever does this is among the leaders of misguidance, about whom it will be said as their heads are in the Fire:
﴾يَوْمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يَا لَيْتَنَا أَطَعْنَا اللَّهَ وَأَطَعْنَا الرَّسُولَا \* وَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّا أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَاءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلَا \* رَبَّنَا آتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْنًا كَبِيرًا﴿
“On the Day when their faces are turned in the Fire, they will say, ‘If only we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.’ And they will say, ‘Our Lord, indeed we obeyed our leaders and our great ones, and they led us astray from the path. Our Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them with a great curse.’” (al Ahzab 66–68).
As for the truthful among them, they too make it a net, but it is a torn net, from which the catch escapes after entering, as is often the case. For those who entered into the innovated sama on the path without any basis legislated by Allah and His Messenger were left with corrupt states.
But worshipping Allah, loving Him, obeying Him, desiring Him, devoting oneself to Him, and relying upon Him, this is better than what they do. The Sharia of Islam, the Quranic law, and the paths that lead to the truth, these gather the benefits of this world and the Hereafter.
Since this practice is not legislated, and there is no command for it, then purifying oneself for it, sitting in silence for it, or expecting mercy through it, is from the customs of monks. It is not from the worship of the people of Islam and iman, nor from the worship of the people of the Quran, nor from the worship of Ahl al Sunnah and ihsan. And all praise is due to Allah alone.
Majmu al Fatawa 11/601-602)
These sufiya who seek closeness to Allah through singing and dancing fall under the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
﴾وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا﴿
“And those who took their religion as play and amusement.” (al Araf 51).
Their abandoning of the legal duties as a result of the development of tasawwuf
Among the false sufi beliefs is what they call ahwal (states), which end up causing the one who has them to abandon the legal duties.
The origin of tasawwuf, as Ibn al Jawzi (d. 597 AH) mentioned, was training the self and striving against one’s nature, restraining it from blameworthy traits, and carrying it upon good traits such as zuhd, patience, sincerity, and truthfulness.
Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about a group who persisted in “riyadah” (spiritual exercises) until they thought they had become perfected in essence. They then said: We no longer care what we do.
The commands and prohibitions are only customs for the common people. If someone has been perfected, the obligations drop from him.
The essence of prophethood, they said, goes back to wisdom and benefit, and its aim is to control the common people. As for us, we are not from the common, so we are not bound by taklif (legal responsibility), because we have been perfected and know the wisdom.
Is this statement kufr from the one who says it, or is he to be declared an innovator without takfir? And does such a person deserve excuse if he has humility towards the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?
He answered: There is no doubt among the people of knowledge and iman that this statement is among the greatest and most severe forms of kufr. It is worse than the statement of the Jews and Christians. For the Jew and the Christian believed in part of the Book and disbelieved in part, and they are the true disbelievers.
They acknowledge that Allah has commands and prohibitions, promises and threats, and that these apply to them until death. This is if they hold to Judaism or Christianity in their altered and abrogated form.
As for if they were among the hypocrites of their religion, as is common among their mutakallimeen and philosophers, they were worse than the hypocrites of this Ummah, because they showed kufr outwardly and hid nifaq inwardly. They are worse than the one who shows iman outwardly and hides nifaq inwardly.
The point is that those who hold to a law that is abrogated and altered are better than these who claim that commands and prohibitions have completely fallen from them. For these are outside of all the books, the sharia, and the religions.
They do not commit to any command or prohibition of Allah at all. These are worse than the mushrikin who held on to remnants of earlier religions, like the Arabs who held on to remnants of the religion of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. For those people had with them some truth which they accepted, even though they were mushrikin. But these ones have left every truth, thinking that they have become free with no command upon them and no prohibition.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (11/401-402)
