1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

23 Questions

The Sufi's often sit in a Halqah and repeat the names of Allah in unison. Is it allowed to sit in such a group and do Dhikr with them?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

It is not allowed to take part in any practice of Bid'ah.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and his holy Progeny Ahlul Bayt (AS) practiced remembering Allah (SWT) with out such Halqah, and we must follow them not others.

We respect all our Muslim brothers and their different ways of practicing religion according to their schools of thoughts, but we as followers of Ahlul Bayt (AS), follow the Prophetic way of worshipping Allah (SWT).

Wassalam.
Had Sufism already been established in the true teachings of Islam way back before the different sects were broken off and that we observe in this current age?
Rebecca Masterton

Until around the time of Imam al-Sadiq (as), the term 'Sufi' was not in regular use, and the few that used it as an appellation were of the Mu'tazili and Imami schools, not the Sunni Ash'ari or Maturidi schools, which now dominate the Sufi scene.

Sufism is an amalgamation of Islamic ideas and practices and others that have been integrated into it from spiritual traditions that existed prior to Islam expanding into wider territories.

I have written a paper on this in more detail, if you are interested. Please write to me at [email protected] and I can send it to you.
Had Sufism already been established in the true teachings of Islam way back before the different sects were broken off and that we observe in this current age?
Zoheir Ali Esmail

Thank you for your question. Spirituality is an essential aspect of the source literature (which are the bases of the true teachings of Islam), however, the term Sufism remains loosely defined in western scholarship and it has been the subject of much discussion.

The term invokes a specific reading of the history of mysticism,  its theology, its institutions and its practices and it can be argued that it is a predominantly Sunni account of spirituality in the Muslim world. Discussion of the sources of this tradition was an important question in the early study of Sufism and while some scholars claimed that the sources of Sufism were outside of the scriptural sources, others argued that they were rooted in them. The second opinion became more acceptable and early Companions of the Prophet (saw) were referred to as proto-Sufis, signifying that the Sufi tradition was a later development, while its sources firmly originated in Islam. 

Juxtaposing Shi'i to Sufism (Shi'i Sufism) may adequately describe some Shi'i expressions of Sufism, and indeed the term irfan was used by some seminarians in Iran to distinguish a tradition acceptable to the traditional seminary, different to these forms of Shi'i Sufism. The importance this form of irfan places on the divine law and its inner aspects, as well as in the more complex aspects of tawhid and walayah ensues that it provides a strong reading of the scriptural sources. It has also been argued that the Shi'i source literature has a mystical aspect of its own and is, therefore, the impetus of its own form of spirituality.

May you always be successful.