WHY THE SUFIS DON'T CONDEMN BID'AH
By
Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori
In tasawwuf (Sufism), there is no such thing as bid'ah (innovation, whether in relation to 'aqeedah or 'ibaadah) despite the fact that the صلىالله عليه وسلم warn against it in most or all of his sermons. When you accuse them of various acts of bid'ah they engage in, they would say they are not bid'ah. And when you ask them to name one common bid'ah being practiced by Muslims today, they will not be able to mention any. They do not condemn bid'ah because most of their activities are premised on it. Sufi itself is a form of bid'ah in Islaam. So, expecting the Sufis to condemn bid'ah is like expecting them to condemn themselves. The Sufis believe the concept of bid'ah is a fabrication of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah despite the clear provisions of the Qur'an and Sunnah warning against it.
The Sufi people believe anyone can say or do anything about the deen without basis from the Quran or Sunnah and it would be accepted from him. That is why they are very close to the Christians and the Jews in their manners of worship. They make a lot of noises. They sing, beat drum and dance. They use rosary like the Catholic Christians. They value the photo image of their so called saints and attach so much importance to them despite the fact that image making is not halal in Islaam. They call their saints for help and guidance. Whereas, Islaam is premised on nuquul (revelations) and not 'uquul (human intellect) because it is generally believed in the shari'ah that human intellect is not capable of making laws that can override divine revelations.
As explained by one of the scholars of Sunnah, Sheikh Ahmad Fareed حفظه الله in his work, "من أخلاق السلف", one of the best qualities of the salaf as saalih (pious predecessors) is their restraint from any work or statement until they can verify its status in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Today, Muslims just do whatever they like or say whatever they like without basis from the Qur'an and Sunnah. The Sheikh mentioned and I quote:
"فقد كان السلف الصالح يحثون علي التقيد بالكتاب والسنة واجتناب البدع، ويشدون في ذالك"
"Indeed, the pious predecessors used to encourage people to chain themselves with the Book of Allah and the Traditions of the Prophet and move away from innovations in the deen, and they used to be harsh on this" [Min Akhlaaq As-salaf, pg 12]
The Sheikh mentioned that even 'Umar Bin Khattab رضي الله عنه during his time did not take bid'ah lightly. He used to exercise fear not to fall into bid'ah. It was reported that even when 'Umar had concluded on a matter and he had resolved to implement it, and any of his followers says to him, "the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم did not do this and he did not order the doing of this", 'Umar رضي الله عنه would withdraw from his decision immediately without hesitation. So, who are we to think we can innovate in the deen when people like 'Umar used to avoid it by all possible means?
May Allah guide us aright and make us fervent followers of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his companions رضي الله عنهم.
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