Essentially, you are saying there are extremists among Sufis and they shouldn't be followed, and that many people are incorrectly labelled (or self-label themselves) as Sufis. Salafis make the exact same argument: they say we are following the way of the "Salaf as-saali7" and that extremists have hijacked our name. No difference there. As for the deobandis leaving Hanafism, I'm sure they'll have something to say about that.gurey25 wrote:Sufism is a misnomer, most people identified as sufis are not sufis do not practice ihsan, but are just normal traditional muslims.Kareem99 wrote:Too much simplification going on in this thread.
It's interesting how everyone keeps saying all Sufis are peace-loving folk who are totally cool with a half-naked woman. Sufis that have an established tariqa are just as "conservative" with respect to dress code (and other fiqh matters) as Salafis. The Taliban who enforced the burqa on the Afghan women were deobandi, who are themselves strict Hanafi Sufis. I think too many of you conflate the terms "salafi" with "conservative." It's quite possible to be both conservative AND Sufi. But too many people see a woman wearing niqaab, or a man with a long beard, and they automatically think "salafi/wahabi/killer/tafiri"... Quite comical really.
Sufis can be cool, they can be brutal. So can salafis, and pretty much every other sect of every other religion out there. Let's not oversimplify.
PS: I love Somali sufis. Really cool people. Laakin kuwaan Hindida iyo Paakistaan (for the most part) have a very harsh and rude attitude in my experience. No different from "wahabis."
Now afghans are traditionally hanafi but the reality is that deobandism has merged with Wahabism/Salafism
to form a contiguous form.
What identifies them is that the deobandis have left hanfism completly, Salafist have little respect for the madhabs
for 1000 years of hard work and learning.
They believe the ravings of some lunatic in nejd is greater than the madhabs.
This is not a conflict between sufis and salafis.
It between literalist/and modernists and traditional islam.
in my opinion both extremes are to be fought against.
The esoteric deviation of some so called sufi's and their cultism is as dangerous as the brain numbing literalists of the salafis and their ilk.
both extremes will lead to downfall, as we are surrounded by the very seductive and attractive secularism.
I see secularism and ultimatley kufr is the winner in this war.
Every time we lose some one to one these cults , they minds are now open to secularism more than ever.
A few years back, I worked with two very decent Muslims, they prayed, fasted, paid the zakaah and made hajj (but one called himself a Salafi while the other said he was Sufi, but they both identified as Sunni): who am I to judge who is misguided and who is guided? As your post illustrates, there isn't even a clear consensus on who is a sufi/salafi. You aren't a scholar walaal, neither am I. And for that reason, I refrain from hurling insults at fellow Muslims. Caay iyo nacaayb meel kuma gaareeno. That was the point of my previous post: to show the good and decent "sufis AND salafis" that they have a lot more in common than they do differences. Anyways bro, hadalka meeshaan ku joojineeyaa, wallaahi I mean well. Yuu sheedaanka na soo dhex galin.
Machavielli: I agree with you wholeheartedly saaxib.
