What Ibn Taymiyya Says About the Term ‘Tasawwuf‘
And now permit us to mention what Imam Ibn Taymiyya, mentioned about the definition of Tasawwuf.
“This is a term that was given to those who were dealing with that kind of science [tazkiyyat an-nafs and Ihsan]. And it is like when one uses the term “from the Quraishi family” or from the Madani people or from the Hashemi family. It is a lineage (nasab), just as we say Hashemi for the descendants of the Prophet (s) or Quraishi for his tribe and Madani for those of his city, we say Sufi (nisbatan) indicating the relationship of those people to that science.”
He continues,
“the majority of the scholars (jumhour al-‘ulama), did not deny that science since it complies with the shari’ah and the Sunnah and they were supporting it.”
‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin ‘Abdul Wahhab On Tasawwuf
Here we would like to quote for you from his eminence Mohammed Manzour Nu’mani in his letter, page 85, from his book Ad-Dia’aat Mukathaffa Di’d ash-Shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Abdal Wahhab where he says:
“Shaykh ‘Abdullah, the son of shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Abdul Wahhab, said about Tasawwuf:
“laa nunkiru at-tariqat as-sufiyyata…”
“My father and I, we don’t deny or criticise the Science of Sufism, but on the contrary we support it because it cleans the external and the internal of the hidden sins which are related to the heart and the veins and the outward form, even though the individual might externally be on the right way, but internally he might be on the wrong way. And that is why tasawwuf is necessary. But we don’t expect and we don’t like to see some of those using the name of Tasawwuf…”
We are going to stop here, because it will be too lengthy for our readers and our time is limited, since we said we needed more time people accused us of avoiding the issue. And what we have said here is only a drop in an ocean of what can be said about this subject. And we are still addressing only the first question.
