Tasawwuf Without Law Will Lead One Astray

"People ask about those who engage in a great deal of remembrance yet

neglect or ignore the obligatory rites of worship as if they have transcended

the need for these rites. This is unmitigated ignorance. The first and foremost

obligation on every human being is to gain knowledge. A human being is nothing

until he has learned what is obligatory on every individual (fard 'ayn). Without

this, a person has no rank or standing with regard to God, and nothing is more

consequential to a person other than his or her standing with God. When God

created us, He gave us accountability and the means and ability to carry out

our responsibilities. Anyone who does not care to learn the first order of

knowledge is living the life of a farm animal, a creature that does nothing

but graze in this life, which is entirely insufficient in God's sight.

Shaykh Ould al-Khadim has mentioned the names of many renowned scholars

of the past who were learned in the outward and inner sciences, the latter being

tasawwuf. These scholars say that before tasawwuf, there must be Sacred Law.

Tasawwuf without law will lead one astray.

There is a confused sense of spirituality in which one feels he or she can

attain to the Reality without tending to the responsibilities and obligations

of the Shari'a. This is a misleading phenomenon that spreads because of its

appeal: spiritual sensation without any moral obligation. A person on this path

may do as he or she wills and take solace in pseudo-sensations. This virulent

trend seizes people and whisks them away from the truth, although they feel

quite content. Islam does not call people to unreasoned faith. It demands that

a person learn authentic knowledge, which buttresses true spiritual growth. This

real spirituality is protected by the Shari'a, just as a shell protects its fruit.

If one removes the husk, the ear is exposed and it begins to rot. A person who

tries to attain spirituality without the Shari'a will eventually destroy his soul

and become, in essence, a false person. There are people who outwardly don the

mantle and comportment of spiritual enlightenment, but who are filled with

diseases of the heart."

excerpted commentary of Chapter 'The Root of All Diseases of the Heart',

from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's Purification of the Heart (Matharat Al-Qulub)