This poetry and derived lesson is from Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi. These three lines of poetry contain the ten principles of tasawwuf or Islamic spirituality.
Arabic
إن مبادي كل فن عشره الحد و الموضوع ثم الثمره
و فضله ونسبة و الواضع و الاسم الاستمداد حكم الشارع
مسائل و البعض بالبعض اكتفى و من درى الجميع حاز الشرفا
10 Principles of Tasawwuf
- The definition – الحد
- The subject – الموضوع
- The fruit – الثمرة
- The merit – فضله
- The relation of this discipline to others – نسبته إلى غيره من العلوم
- The pioneer – الواضع
- The name – الاسم
- The sources – الاستمداد
- The legal ruling – حكم الشارع
- The issues discussed – مسائله
Principle 01: The definition – الحد
Over two thousands definitions of Tasawwuf have been drawn.
The great scholar Imam Ahmed Zarruq said:
صدق التوجه إلى الله من حيث يرضاه بما يرضاه
Quote
Tasawwuf has more than two thousand explanatory definitions; all ultimately refer to the following: ‘true devotion to Allah from where He likes by the means He likes.’
Some of those commonly related definitions are:
- Acting upon knowledge (العمل بالعلم)
- Noble character (التصوف أخلاق)
- Acquiring the good characters and getting rid of the bad (اكتساب الأخلاق الحسنة والتخلص من السيئة)
Principle 02: The subject – الموضوع
The primary opinion on what is the subject of tasawwuf is: the Divine Essence (الذات العلية). As in the seeking of the ‘How’ of how Allah can be known.
Another opinion says that the subject of this discipline is: ‘hearts and souls’ because it works on their purification and cultivation.
Both opinions are correct as the latter looks at the goal and the former looks at the means as it has been correctly said by the one of the early Muslims (presumably Sahl ibn Abdullah), ‘He who knows himself will know his Lord.’ (Hilyat al-Awliya’ 10/201). Source.
Principle 3: The fruit – الثمرة
The fruit or the benefit of this discipline are three:
- The purification of the heart.
- Knowing the Master of the worlds.
- Attaining the Station of Ihsan.
Principle 4: The merit – فضله
Tasawwuf is of high merit. Its nobility stems from its subject. Ihsan is one of the three dimensions of this dīn and the highest of them.
Principle 5: The relation of this discipline to others –نسبته إلى غيره من العلوم
Tasawwuf is the base of the Sharia; without it all acts of worship would be imperfect. It is the core of the Quran and the Sunnah and the tissue of Muslim spiritual life.
Imam Malik (ra) famously said:
من تصوف و لم يتفقه فقد تزندق و من تفقه و لم يتصوف فقد تفسق و من جمع بينهما فقد تحقق
Whoever acquires tasawwuf without fiqh is a heretic and whoever studies fiqh without tasawwuf is unrighteous and who combines both has the reality.
Shaykh Faisal said the following:
This is important to recognize because if we engage in tasawwuf without adhering to fiqh we may be led astray, and if we focus on fiqh without tasawwuf there will be a dryness in your Islam; there will be an inner vacuum which will be present, and whenever there is a vacuum, something out of necessity will fill its space. And we’re seeing this manifest in the ummah today, this vacuum is being filled with extremism. The people who follow fiqh without tasawwuf have a spiritual vacuum in them, and in most cases its filled with extremism. And the nature and substance of the extremist groups attest to this.
Imam Abul-Hasan ash-Shadhili said:
مَن لَم يَتَغَلْغَل فِي عِلْمِنَا هَذَا مَاتَ مُصِرًّا عَلَى الكَبَائِرِ وَهُوَ لَا يَشْعُرُ
He who does not deeply and truly acquire this discipline will die persisting on major sins without being aware of it.
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf has a lecture series on logic with one section on logic and spirituality. In that lecture he covers this quote and elaborates from it. It is worth adding that here.
Principle 6: The pioneer – الواضع
The word al-wadi means the one that sets forth this branch of knowledge. The pioneer of this branch of knowledge is of course the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Many hadiths highlight the spiritual dimension of a Muslim’s life, the foremost is the foundational hadith of Jibreel (as). The first one who made this knowledge known is Sayyiduna Ali (r) and then his son Sayyiduna al-Hasan (r) and then the scholar to elaborate on it was Imam al-Hasan al-Basri.
Principle 7: The name – الاسم
The word Tasawwuf, also called ilm al-tasawwuf (علم التصوف), has its etymology derived from wool (suf), or from purity (safa), or from the special place (suffa; ahl al-suffa) of a group of the Sahaba in the Holy Sanctuary of the Prophet ﷺ. Tasawwuf has been known by this name since the second century of hijra, and this is during the time of the Salaf. It has been frequently called initiatic travelling (ilm al-suluk) and spiritual behavior (ilm al-ihsan), cultivation (ilm al-tarbiyah), purification (ilm al-tazkiyah).
Imam Hasan al-Basri said, and the others scholars agreed that before it’s name, it was always a ‘reality without a name’ in the time of the Prophet and the Companions.
Principle 8: The sources – الاستمداد
Tasawwuf is derived from Quran and Sunnah as the sources and proofs of its material. The sayings of the great scholars represent a rich treasure for the seekers and the masters.
Principle 9: The legal ruling – حكم الشارع
The legal ruling of studying tasawwuf is obligatory (fard), since all human beings are susceptible to sins except the Prophets.
Imam Abul-Hasan ash-Shadhili said:
مَن لَم يَتَغَلْغَل فِي عِلْمِنَا هَذَا مَاتَ مُصِرًّا عَلَى الكَبَائِرِ وَهُوَ لَا يَشْعُرُ
He who does not deeply and truly acquire this discipline will die persisting on major sins without being aware of it.
Principle 10: The issues discussed – مسائله
Tasawwuf tackles some of the cardinal elements of the religion (deen) such as:
- sincerity (ikhlas),
- truthfulness (sidq),
- religious cautiousness (wara),
- conscious awareness (khushu),
- reliance (tawakkul),
- asceticism (zuhd),
- love (mahabba);
And similarly all their opposites, which are the diseases of the hearts such as:
- insincerity (riya),
- hypocrisy (nifaq),
- arrogance (kibr),
- greed (tama), and so on.
It also tackles subtle subjects such as:
- the passing of thoughts (khawatir),
- the states of the heart (ahwal al-qalb),
- inspirations (ilhamat). One of its most important subjects is the remembrance i.e., in the evocation and recitation of the name of Allah and its virtues. This is known as dhikr.
Other issues pertain to the shaykh and his qualifications, the disciple (murid) and his adab.
Foundational works in tasawwuf
The Beauty of the Righteous (Hilyat al-Awliya), by al-Hafiz Abu Nu’aym al-Asfahani
The Revival of the Sciences of the Deen (Ihya Ulum al-Din) by Imam al-Ghazali
Al-Risalah, by Imam Abul Qasim al-Qushayri
The Book of Aphorisms (Kitab Al-Hikam) by Ibn Ata’illah
Revelation of the Unseen (Futuh al-Ghayb) by Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani
Awarif Al-Ma’arif, by al-Suhrawardi
Qawa’id Al-Tasawwuf, by Ahmad Zarruq