[RogHammon]

This is an excellent point, however, the question remains: what group of Sufis do you think represent the sort that Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah spoke about in his Majmoo al-Fatawa? If you could substantiate this with quotes from his Majmoo al-Fatawa, then please go right ahead- perhaps he named or specified a tariqa that he was in favor of, and enumerated upon its practices- this would help in differentiating the Sufis who have deviated strongly from the Sufis who stuck strictly to practices found in the Qur'an and Sunnah.

It would also help if you connected it to the Sufis of today- perhaps which group it was then and whether their practices are the same now as they were then.

As far as i am aware he makes no distinction as to which tariqah is better and which is not, infact he praises the Major known Sufis eselwhere in his work - and he doesn't criticise any specific Tariqahs.

He instead repudiates claims made by the Anti-Sufis (in his day and age) that Sufism and Tasawwuf are people of Bid'ah and are out of the Sunnah.

I dont think Ibn Taymiyyah touched very much upon it's practcies but if you mean dhikr gatherings and ijtimas of other sorts then yes elsewehere in his Majmu' he does talk about it in his answers to various questions - il see if i find something.

To me it is simple, find a Shaykh who is proficient in Shari'ah, i.e. Mufassir, Muhaddith, Faqeeh and be under their tutelage in Tasawwuf be it in any Tariqah. Because those who have knowledge in Deen find a balance in both the external and the internal.

WaSalaam