Al-Ḥiṣnī on the Sufis of His Time

About the author

Taqī al-Dīn Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥiṣnī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 829 AH) رحمه الله تعالى was a Shāfiʿī jurist from Damascus. He is well known for Kifāyat al-Akhyār fī Ḥall Ghāyat al-Ikhtiṣār, his commentary on the short manual of Shāfiʿī law commonly called Matn Abī Shujāʿ. The book explains its legal questions and discusses their evidence.¹

In reading what Shāfiʿī authors wrote about the Sufis of their times, we need to pay attention to whom they were describing and what they were criticizing. Here I have collected a few passages from al-Ḥiṣnī’s Kifāyat al-Akhyār. I have placed each Arabic passage before its English translation so that his words can be read directly.

These are selections, not a claim to have gathered everything he wrote on the subject. The judgments within the quotations are his statements about the people and conduct he describes; they are not being applied here to present-day individuals or groups. Ellipses mark omissions already present in the supplied selection. Sufi terms are retained in transliteration, with their meanings in square brackets. Three typographical errors in the supplied Arabic have been corrected. The terminology footnotes and bracketed explanations are editorial, not al-Ḥiṣnī’s words.

1. Seeking knowledge

«قلت هذه مسألة حسنة نفيسة قل من يعرفها على وجهها فينبغي الاعتناء بها ولا يغتر بفعل ضعفاء الطلبة وجهلة المتصوفة فإن الشيطان يتلاعب بصوفية زماننا كتلاعب الصبيان بالكرة وأكثرهم صدهم عن العلم مشقة الطلب فاستدرجهم الشيطان. قال السيد الجليل أبو زيد: قعدت ثلاثين سنة في المجاهدة فلم أر أصعب علي من العلم. وقال السيد الجليل أبو بكر الشبلي: إن في الطاعة من الآفات ما يغنيكم أن تطلبوا المعاصي في غيرها. وقال السيد الجليل ضرار بن عمرو: إن قوما تركوا العلم ومجالسة العلماء واتخذوا محاريب وصلوا وصاموا حتى يبس جلد أحدهم على عظمه خالفوا فهلكوا، والذي لا إله غيره ما عمل عامل على جهل إلا كان ما يفسد أكثر مما يصلح. وهذه زيادة خارجة عن الفن الذي نحن فيه فمن أراد من هذه المناداة فعليه بكتاب سير السالك في أسنى المسالك والله أعلم»

I say: This is a valuable point that few understand properly, so it deserves attention. One should not be misled by the conduct of poorly grounded students or the ignorant among the Sufis. Satan plays with the Sufis of [our time] as children play with a ball. The difficulty of seeking knowledge has kept most of them from it, and Satan has gradually drawn them astray.

The noble master Abū Zayd said, ‘I spent thirty years in mujāhadah [striving against the self]², and I found nothing harder than seeking knowledge.’ And the noble master Abū Bakr al-Shiblī said, ‘There are enough pitfalls in obedience that you have no need to look elsewhere for sins.’ And the noble master Ḍirār ibn ʿAmr said, ‘Some people abandoned knowledge and the company of scholars. They took up places of prayer and prayed and fasted until their skin dried against their bones. They went against [what was right] and perished. By the One besides whom there is no god, no one acts in ignorance without doing more harm than good.’

This is an addition outside the subject we are discussing. Whoever wants more of this admonition should turn to the book Siyar al-Sālik fī Asnā al-Masālik. And Allah knows best.

Friday prayer; online text, p. 148. The supplied collection gives p. 147.

2. The prayer for rain

«وينبغي أن يكون الاستسقاء بالمشايخ المنكسرين والعاجزين والمحزونات والصغار لأن دعاء هؤلاء أقرب إلى الإجابة، والحذر أن يقع الاستسقاء بقضاة الرشا وفقراء الزوايا الذين يأكلون من أموال الظلمة ويتعبدون بآلات اللهو؛ فإنهم فسقة ومعتقدون أن مزمار الشيطان قربة وزنادقة، فلا يؤمن على الناس بسؤالهم أن يزداد غضب الله سبحانه وتعالى على تلك الناحية»

Rain should be sought through the supplications of humble, brokenhearted elders, those who are helpless, grieving women, and children, for their supplications are more likely to be answered. Beware of seeking rain through judges who take bribes and the fuqarāʾ [Sufi devotees] of the zawāyā [Sufi lodges]³ who live on the wealth of oppressors and worship with instruments of amusement. They are openly sinful, believe that Satan’s pipe is a means of drawing near [to Allah], and are heretics. When they supplicate, there is no assurance that Allah’s anger, glorified and exalted is He, will not increase against the people of that region.

Chapter on the prayer for rain; supplied collection’s reference: p. 152.

3. Claims of piety and entitlement to zakāh

«قلت قد كثر الجهل بين الناس لا سيما في التجار الذين قد شغفوا بتحصيل هذه المزبلة للتلذذ بأكل الطيب ولبس الناعم والتمتع بالنساء الحسان والسراري إلى غير ذلك، وبقي لهم بكثرة مالهم عظمة في قلوب الأراذل من المتصوفة الذين قد اشتهر عنهم أنهم من أهل الصلاح المنقطعين لعبادة ربهم، قد اتخذ كل منهم زاوية أو مكانا يظهر فيه نوعا من الذكر، وقد التفّ عليهم من له زي القوم، وربما انتمى أحدهم إلى أحد رجال القوم كالأحمدية والقادرية وقد كذبوا في الانتماء؛ فهؤلاء لا يستحقون شيئا من الزكوات ولا يحل دفع الزكاة إليهم ومن دفعها إليهم لم يقع الموقع وهي باقية في ذمته. وأما بقية الطوائف وهم كثيرون كالقلندرية والحيدرية فهم أيضا على اختلاف فرقهم فيهم الحلولية والملحدة، وهم أكفر من اليهود والنصارى، فمن دفع إليهم شيئا من الزكوات أو من التطوعات فهو عاص بذلك…»

I say: Ignorance has become widespread among people, especially merchants who are consumed with gathering this refuse so that they can enjoy fine food, soft clothing, beautiful women and concubines, and other such things. Their great wealth has given them standing in the hearts of the lowliest among the Sufis, who have become known as righteous people [devoted] to the worship of their Lord. Each has taken a zāwiyah [Sufi lodge] or some other place where he makes a show of a form of dhikr [remembrance of Allah], and people wearing the dress of al-qawm [the Sufi community] [have gathered] around them. One of them may claim an affiliation with one of the rijāl al-qawm [men of the Sufi community]⁴, as with the Aḥmadiyyah and Qādiriyyah, while lying about that affiliation.

These people are not entitled to any zakāh, and it is not lawful to give it to them. Whoever gives it to them has not discharged his obligation; it remains his responsibility. As for the other groups, of which there are many, such as the Qalandariyyah and Ḥaydariyyah, their various factions also include those who believe in divine indwelling and those who reject the religion. They are more disbelieving than the Jews and Christians. Whoever gives them any zakāh or voluntary charity sins by doing so…

Chapter on those entitled to zakāh; supplied collection’s reference: p. 190.

4. Idleness and the appearance of devotion

«نعم لو لم يجد من يستكسبه أعطي، فلا يعطى هؤلاء الحرافشة ولا أهل البطالات من المتصوفة كمن بسط له جلدا في زاوية من زوايا الجامع ولبس مرطا دلس به على الأغنياء من أهل الدنيا الذين لا حظ لهم في العلم، يعطون بجهالتهم من لا يستحق ويذرون المستحق، والله أعلم»

Yes, if he cannot find anyone to employ him, he is given [zakāh]. But it is not given to these rabble or to the idle among the Sufis, such as a man who spreads out a skin for himself in a corner of the congregational mosque and puts on a cloak to deceive wealthy, worldly people who have no share of knowledge. In their ignorance, they give to those who are not entitled to it and leave those who are. And Allah knows best.

Chapter on those entitled to zakāh; supplied collection’s reference: p. 193.

5. At the tables of oppressors

«قلت ومن المصائب العظيمة ما يصنعه الظلمة من تقليد الظالم وأخذ الأموال بالباطل ثم يصنعون بذلك شيئا من الأطعمة يتصدقون به فيتعدى شؤمهم إلى الفقراء، وأعظم من ذلك مصيبة تردد فقهاء السوء وصوفية الرجس إلى أسمطة هؤلاء الظلمة ثم يقولون هو يشترى في الذمة… ولا يعلم هؤلاء الحمقى أن في ذلك إغراء على تعاطي المحرمات، ويتضمن مجالسة الفسقة وهي حرام على وجه المؤانسة بلا خلاف… وهم على ارتكاب ذلك لا ينهونهم عن منكر، وذلك سبب إرسال المصائب على الأمم بل سبب هلاكهم ولعنهم على لسان الأنبياء، وقد نص على ذلك القرآن العظيم، ولهذا تتمة مهمة في كتابنا قمع النفوس، والله أعلم»

I say: Among the great calamities is what oppressors do: appointing an oppressor and taking wealth unlawfully, then using it to prepare food that they give in charity. The evil consequences of their conduct then reach the poor. A still greater calamity is that corrupt jurists and foul Sufis repeatedly attend the tables of these oppressors, then say, ‘It is bought against a liability [rather than with specified money]’…

These fools do not know that this encourages the commission of forbidden acts. It also involves keeping company with openly sinful people, which is forbidden, without disagreement, when done for friendly companionship… While engaging in this conduct, they do not forbid them from wrongdoing. That is a cause of calamities being sent upon nations; indeed, it is a cause of their destruction and their being cursed on the tongues of the prophets. The Noble Qur’an expressly states this. There is an important continuation of this discussion in our book Qamʿ al-Nufūs. And Allah knows best.

Chapter on recommended acts while fasting; supplied collection’s reference: p. 200.

6. Endowing instruments for samāʿ

«فيحرم الوقف على شراء آلة لقطع الطريق، وكذا الآلات المحرمة كسائر آلات المعاصي، كما يصنعه أهل البدع من صوفية الزوايا بأن يوقفوا آلة لهو لأجل السماع ويقولون: لا سماع إلا من تحت قناع، ولا يأبى ذلك إلا فاسد الطباع؛ وهؤلاء قد نص القرآن على إلحادهم وليس في كفرهم نزاع…»

It is forbidden to establish an endowment for purchasing an implement for highway robbery. The same applies to prohibited instruments, like all instruments used for sin. This is what the people of innovation among the Sufis of the zawāyā [Sufi lodges] do when they endow an instrument of amusement for samāʿ [devotional listening]⁵. They say, ‘There is no samāʿ [devotional listening] except from beneath a veil, and no one rejects it but someone of corrupt disposition.’ The Qur’an has expressly stated the heresy of these people, and there is no dispute about their disbelief…

Chapter on waqf (endowments); supplied collection’s reference: pp. 304–305.

7. The Sufi who is sincere in his spiritual path

«[الشرط] الرابع أن لا يكون هناك من يتأذى به لحضوره لأنه لا يليق به مجالسته… كأن يدعو السفلة وهو ذو شرف، والسفلة أسقاط الناس كالسوقة والجلاوزة وهم رسل الظلمة وقضاة الرشا والقلندرية وفقراء الزوايا الذين يأتون ولائم من دب ودرج من المكسة وغيرهم… وكذلك أمر الصوفي الصادق في سلوكه لا يجب عليه الحضور إذا دعا غيره من صوفية هذا الزمان الذين يأتون دعوة كل بر وفاجر ويتعبدون بآلات اللهو والطرب وما أشبه ذلك…» ثم قال في المنكرات: «ولا يسقط عنه الإنكار بحضور فقهاء السوء فإنهم مفسدون للشريعة، ولا بفقراء الرجس فإنهم جهلة أتباع كل ناعق لا يهتدون بنور العلم ويميلون مع كل ريح».

The fourth [condition] is that no one be present whose attendance causes him distress because it is not fitting for him to keep that person’s company… For example, the host may invite low people while he is a man of standing. The low people are the dregs of society, such as the rabble and the enforcers, who are the agents of oppressors, judges who take bribes, Qalandars, and fuqarāʾ [Sufi devotees] of the zawāyā [Sufi lodges] who attend the feasts of anyone and everyone, including collectors of unlawful levies and others…

The same applies to the Sufi who is sincere in his sulūk [spiritual wayfaring].⁶ He is not obliged to attend if the host also invites other Sufis of this time who accept the invitation of every righteous person and evildoer and worship with instruments of amusement and music, and similar things…

On objectionable conduct, he also says:

The presence of corrupt jurists does not relieve him of the duty to object, for they corrupt the Sharīʿah. Nor does the presence of foul fuqarāʾ [Sufi devotees], for they are ignorant followers of every caller. They are not guided by the light of knowledge and lean with every wind.

Chapter on the wedding feast; supplied collection’s reference: pp. 374–375. The Arabic connecting sentence between the two quotations belongs to the supplied collection.

8. Seeking the wealth of oppressors

«قلت وأشد الناس فسقا من المسلمين فقهاء السوء وفقراء الرجس الذين يترددون إلى الظلمة طمعا في مزابلتهم مع علمهم بما هم عليه من شرب الخمور وأنواع الفجور وأخذ المكوس وقهر الناس على ما تدعوهم إليه أنفسهم الأمارة وسفك الدماء وقمع من دعاهم إلى ما نزلت به الكتب وأرسلت به الرسل؛ فلا يغتر بصنع هؤلاء الأراذل من الفقهاء ويجب اتباع ما جاء به سيد السابقين واللاحقين صلى الله عليه وسلم…»

I say: The most openly sinful people among the Muslims are corrupt jurists and foul fuqarāʾ [Sufi devotees] who repeatedly visit oppressors, coveting their refuse. They know that these people drink wine, commit all kinds of wickedness, collect unlawful levies, force people to submit to whatever their commanding souls desire, shed blood, and suppress those who call them to that with which the Books were revealed and the messengers were sent.

One must not be misled by the conduct of these lowly jurists. Rather, one must follow what was brought by the master of those who came before and those who came after ﷺ…

Chapter on equal treatment of wives, in the discussion of estrangement; supplied collection’s reference: p. 381.

9. Claims of revelation and entry into Paradise

«وكذا لو ادعى أنه أوحي إليه وإن لم يدع النبوة، أو ادعى أنه يدخل الجنة ويأكل من ثمارها وأنه يعانق الحور العين، فهو كفر بالإجماع، ومثل هذا وأشباهه كما يقوله زنادقة المتصوفة، قاتلهم الله ما أجهلهم وأكفرهم، وأبلم من اعتقدهم…»

Likewise, if someone claims that revelation has been given to him, even if he does not claim prophethood, or claims that he enters Paradise, eats its fruits, and embraces the wide-eyed maidens, this is disbelief by consensus. Such statements and others like them are what the heretics among the Sufis say. May Allah fight them! How ignorant and disbelieving they are! And more foolish still is whoever believes in them…

Chapter on apostasy and the ruling concerning an apostate; supplied collection’s reference: p. 492.

10. Conduct that compromises a witness’s standing

«وقول الشيخ محافظا على مروءة مثله احترز به عمن ليس كذلك… وكذا المغني سواء أتى الناس أو أتوه، وكذا الرقاص كهذه الصوفية الذين يسعون إلى ولائم الظلمة والمكسة، ويظهرون التواجد عند رقصهم وتحريك رؤوسهم وتلويح لحاهم الخسيسة صنع المجانين، وإذا قرئ القرآن لا يستمعون له ولا ينصتون، وإذا نعق مزمار الشيطان صاح بعضهم على بعض بالوسواس؛ قاتلهم الله ما أفسقهم وأزهدهم في كتاب الله وأرغبهم في مزمار الشيطان وقرن الشيطان، عافانا الله من ذلك»

The shaykh’s words, ‘maintaining the murūʾah (dignified conduct) expected of someone like him,’ exclude anyone who does not do so… The same applies to a singer, whether he goes to people or they come to him, and to a dancer, like these Sufis who hasten to the feasts of oppressors and collectors of unlawful levies. They display tawājud [deliberately evoked spiritual ecstasy]⁷ while dancing, moving their heads, and waving their wretched beards, acting like madmen. When the Qur’an is recited, they neither listen nor remain silent. But when Satan’s pipe screeches, they shout at one another with whisperings.

May Allah fight them! How openly sinful they are, how indifferent to the Book of Allah, and how eager for Satan’s pipe and Satan’s horn! May Allah keep us safe from that.

Chapter on testimony; supplied collection’s reference: p. 567.

A closing thought

We should not read these passages as though Sufism were all one thing. It covers a very broad spectrum. Shāfiʿī scholars wrote in different times and circumstances, and their discussions need to be read with the people and practices before them in mind.

Here, we are reading al-Ḥiṣnī’s account of what he encountered in his time. Some of the conduct he describes may be recognizable in our own, but that does not make every Sufi the same or justify applying his statements to everyone who carries the name. Even within these selections, he speaks of “the Sufi who is sincere in his sulūk [spiritual wayfaring].” That distinction should remain before us as we read his criticism.

Sources

Arabic selections: the supplied collection, “مواضع التصوف والمتصوفة في «كفاية الأخيار» لتقي الدين الحصني: حصرٌ نصّي وتحليلٌ سياقي.” Its references name the edition edited by ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Balṭajī and Muḥammad Wahbī Sulaymān, Dār al-Khayr, Damascus, 1994. Edition record and searchable text.

Al-Ḥiṣnī’s biography, reproduced by al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah from al-Ziriklī’s al-Aʿlām; Dār al-Minhāj’s description of Kifāyat al-Akhyār. ↩
Mujāhadah here is the discipline of struggling against the self and its desires, not armed fighting. Al-Qushayrī رحمه الله تعالى describes it in terms of breaking the self’s attachment to habitual comforts and resisting its inclinations. See al-Risālah al-Qushayriyyah, chapter on mujāhadah, especially the discussion beginning “أصل المجاهدة”. ↩
Fuqarāʾ is the plural of faqīr, literally “poor.” In Sufi writing, faqr also carried a spiritual meaning: al-Qushayrī رحمه الله تعالى relates it to dependence on Allah in his chapter on faqr. Here, the connection with zawāyā and the surrounding passages points to Sufi devotees, not everyone who lacks money. Zāwiyah means a corner, but in these passages it also denotes a place used for Sufi devotion; its plural is zawāyā. Compare the lodge described in section 3 with the mosque corner in section 4. ↩
Al-qawm literally means “the people” or “the group.” In this passage, the dress, claimed affiliations, and named Sufi groups identify the community intended. Rijāl al-qawm therefore means its men or figures; the wording itself does not establish an institutional rank. This is a contextual explanation of the supplied Arabic in section 3. ↩
Samāʿ literally means listening or hearing. In earlier Sufi literature it could refer to listening to poetry sung or recited melodically for its spiritual effect; see al-Qushayrī’s chapter on samāʿ. Here al-Ḥiṣnī explicitly discusses instruments. The term alone should not be taken to mean that every historical form of samāʿ involved the same practices. ↩
Sulūk here means proceeding along a path of spiritual discipline, rather than merely “behavior” in the everyday sense. That reading follows al-Ḥiṣnī’s phrase “الصوفي الصادق في سلوكه” in this passage. “Spiritual wayfaring” names the pursuit; it does not imply a particular spiritual attainment. ↩
Tawājud is not simply another word for wajd [spiritual ecstasy]. An earlier discussion in al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah, chapter 235, volume 2, p. 535, distinguishes deliberately calling forth or outwardly assuming such a state from a state that comes upon the heart unexpectedly. Here al-Ḥiṣnī describes its outward display critically. ↩