[Aqgkvwzm]

To start, I am a Mulsim that follows the Sunnah and Quran. THATS IT. If I don't see a reference and start to doubt and then can't continue to read until I make sure the hadith is sahih. So, thats my nature.

Recently, I got hold of a book called Endless Bliss, written by the Turkish islamic scholar Hüseyin Hilmi Işık. Now, the stuff that I read in this book was all correct. In a sense that there want anything out of the Sunnah, or anything contradictory. This book is basically EVERYTHING about Islam. From Music being haram, to whats harram and halal, to Salah, etc. All of the things I read to this date were in accordance to the Sunnah and Quran. This book is over a thousand pages by the way.

I was reading through the first 30 or so pages and then saw a referencing/quote from "Imam Rabbani". To be honest, I did not recognize the name. So, being the skeptic that I am, I searched him up. It turns out that he was a SUFI (oops). And the author of this book, the turkish scholar is also a Sufi. MNow I still continued to read and the only thing out of the ordinary was the mention of Tassawuf. Other than that, all good.

Now, they keep referencing, Imam Rabbani's letters. Even though the information seems legitimate and correct.

is imam Rabbani a trusted source??? i WAS SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT THIS WAS A BOOK WRITTEN BY A SUFI.

[voksveta]

Yes, Imam Rabbani AKA Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi AKA mujaddid alf-thani is a trusted source. It seems that you have some misconceptions/preconceived notions about what a sufi is, probably due in part to anti-sufi propaganda on the one hand, and the misrepresentation of tasawwuf by false sufis who do not obey the shariah on the other. Please visit www.tasawwuf.org for more information.

I am not familiar with Hüseyin Hilmi Işık, so I cannot say whether or not he is reliable. Perhaps someone else can elaborate on that.

[Aqgkvwzm]

Can you give me any public speakers (non-sufi) that agree with you, I sorry fro being skeptical but Sufis get a bad name these days and I don't wanna stray off the Sunnah.

[voksveta]

Can you give me any public speakers (non-sufi) that agree with you, I sorry fro being skeptical but Sufis get a bad name these days and I don't wanna stray off the Sunnah.

Agree with me regarding what? Sorry, I'm not sure what you meant.

[Aqgkvwzm]

To be honest as I mentioned, i did not see anything out of the Sunnah in the book, but the word SUFI is a red alarm to most Muslims, and I have fallen into this trap. What is the difference between sufis and the followers of Haditha nd Quran? Due to the anti-sufi news and some sufi bida'h going around, I find it hard to trust any sufi books. So can you please tell me who Imam Rabbani is? and if he is accepted by non-sufis too?

[BruceQW]

Salam

are you familiar with the well known sufis Mufti Taqi Uthmani and Mufti Ebrahim Desai?

"Sufi" is a very loaded term and often those who are in fact sufis, do not refer to themselves as such and just call themselves muslim, because using the word sufi often brings up images of people worshipping/bowing to graves and other nonsense while dressed in green from head to toe.

real tasawuf has nothing to do with these, how can we attribute any of this nonsense to the great sufis Abdul Qadir Jilani, Imam Shafi, Imam Ghazali, Hasan Al Basri .....

[BruceQW]

Hey listen to this lecture it'll clarify things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I43IriBx4BE

and if you're really intrigued after hearing it then listen to this very comprehensive series
http://www.sacredlearning.org/tasawwuf

you can then also read this book on sufism and its inseparability from the shariah by Shaykhul hadith Zakariyah Kandhalwi
http://www.scribd.com/doc/25518400/Shariat-Tariqat

[voksveta]

To be honest as I mentioned, i did not see anything out of the Sunnah in the book, but the word SUFI is a red alarm to most Muslims, and I have fallen into this trap. What is the difference between sufis and the followers of Haditha nd Quran? Due to the anti-sufi news and some sufi bida'h going around, I find it hard to trust any sufi books. So can you please tell me who Imam Rabbani is? and if he is accepted by non-sufis too?

In reality, there is no difference between true sufis and followers of quran and sunnah (I don't say quran and hadith, because sunnah and hadith are not necessarily the same thing). If you are familiar with the hadith of Jibreel , you know the deen has three main branches: Islam, Iman, and Ihsan. The sufi shuyukh specialize in the third one, Ihsan, just like other scholars focus on Islam (fiqh) or Iman (aqidah).

Ihsan is also referred to as tazkiyah. Sufi is just a popular term used to refer to the shuyukh who specialized in ihsan/tazkiyah and their students. This is because some of them used to wear rough wool (suf) clothing in order to remove the love of dunyawi things (like fine clothing) from their hearts. This was not something from the sunnah, just a permissible means of purifying the heart.

Over the centuries, different shuyukh and their students have developed different approaches to ihsan, just like different mazahib have developed different approaches to fiqh. So each sufi tariqah has developed slightly different methods for purifying the heart. It is true that some of their practices were not carried out explicitly by the Prophet or the sahaba, however, the practices do not contradict the sunnah either. They are simply permissible means to attaining the practice of the sunnah and the purification of the hearts which have been developed through experience. However, they usually have at least some basis in the sunnah. For example, muraqabah is a form of fikr, or reflection, which we are commanded to do in the Quran.

In reality, all Muslims need to work on attaining ihsan (to worship Allah as though you see Him), however, not all Muslims choose to seek the help of a shaykh in attaining this goal, and that's fine as well. So if there is any difference between a sufi and a non-sufi, it's simply that the sufi has decided to seek the help of a spiritual guide to attain ihsan, while a non-sufi has not. A true sufi will never contradict the sunnah.

Unfortunately, these days you have a lot of people claiming to be sufis. These people regularly disobey the shariah, abandon the sunnah (listening to music, mixing with women), or have incorrect beliefs which stem from excessive praise for their shuyukh or other misunderstanding. Some might believe in pantheism, or some other such nonsense. These people give the true sufis a bad name, and sadly these are the ones that come to mind when we hear "sufi". But just like we reject the qadianis despite their claims that they are muslim, we reject these people as well.

[voksveta]

As for Imam Rabbani, I'm not an expert. He was an Indian shaykh who lived during the Mughal era (16th/17th century AD). He is considered to be a great Islamic reformer, because he preached against various un-Islamic policies that had been adopted by the Mughals at the time, like abolishing the jizya, celebrating all religions, appointing Hindus in government, etc. He placed supreme importance on obeying shariah. I don't know of any books written by him, but there probably are some.

Hopefully some more knowledgeable people can provide more details.

But like you said, if you don't find anything in his teachings that contradict the sunnah, don't worry about whether he was sufi or not sufi.

search the following in google:

"site:www.sunniforum.com mujaddid alf thani"

"site:www.sunniforum.com imam rabbani"

"site:www.sunniforum.com sirhindi"

You should get some informative search results.

[MasTaBlau]

Sufi is only a problematic term when one refers to himself as a sufi before or instead of a muslim. Don't get caught up in adjectives.

[Phoneemer]

Can you give me any public speakers (non-sufi) that agree with you, I sorry fro being skeptical but Sufis get a bad name these days and I don't wanna stray off the Sunnah.

Ok. You want the Deen of the "public speakers", not the Sufis. Best of luck.

[weluvjessicaalba]

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah

If you would like more information about who Imam Rabbani is then I would recommend you contact Shaykh Naeem Abdul Wali who is amongst the very few from the western world who have studied the letters of Imam Rabbani(rah). Since I cannot give out his contact on a public forum it would be best for you to contact him via this website by using the contact option.

Naeemabdulwali.com

[PPActionnGuys]

Can you give me any public speakers (non-sufi) that agree with you, I sorry fro being skeptical but Sufis get a bad name these days and I don't wanna stray off the Sunnah.

Can I ask you what is the sunnah?

[DoctorDulitlBest]

Kindly don't jump on him

[Aqgkvwzm]

Can I ask you what is the sunnah?

I follqo the Quran and any Sahih hadith from all of the well known and authenticated books of hadith, like Bukhari, Muslim, etc.

This book mentions quotes from Imam Rabbani's letters, I do not know this guy. There is no hadith reference that he gives, thats why Im skeptical and want to know if he is authentic.

[evammaUselp]

Imam Rabbani Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi ra was one of the most authentic scholar,mujahid and Dai of Islam.Allah swt gave him taufeeq to serve Islam in a time when the king of that time Akbar,had literally created a new Din by the name of "Din e Elahi" which was a mixture of Hinduism,Jainism,Buddhism,Christinity....and Islam;It was Shaikh Ahmad ra,who worked all his life,to change the wrong aqaed of the kingdom from within,by targeting the king,s own court officers.He was a Sufi indeed,but the one who said "I need Nass,not Fus",meaning,"My reliance is on Nusoos of kitab and sunna,rather than Fusus Al Hikam,the book by Ibne Arabi ra".His letters are full of objections on those Sufi,s who don,t follow Sharia and Sunna.Indeed he was a bright star in the history of Islam,a pillar of tajdeed,a light house of Islamic spirituality,....a man to be trusted,loved,respected and honoured.May Allah grant him jazae azeem for his efforts to save this Din in a very critical time in the history of Indian sub-continent.