Sufyan al-Thawri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| <region> scholar Medieval era |
|
|---|---|
| Name: | Sufyan al-Thawrt ibn Said |
| Birth: | |
| School/tradition: | |
| Influences: | |
| Influenced: | |
| The Eight Ascetics |
|
|
Sufyan al-Thawri ibn Said (d. 778) was a tabi'i Islamic scholar and well-known saint of Kufa, of whom a great number of anecdotes are recorded. He was one of the 'Eight Ascetics,' who included (usual list) Amir ibn Abd al-Qays, Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, Uways al-Qarani, al-Rabi ibn Khuthaym, al-Aswad ibn Yazid, Masruq ibn al-Ajda', and Hasan al-Basri. It is said that he was offered high office positions during the Umayyad caliphate but consistently declined.[1]
[edit] Regarding Tasawwuf
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya relates in Madarij al-salikin, and Ibn al-Jawzi in the chapter entitled "Abu Hashim al-Zahid" in his Sifat al-safwa after the early hadith master Abu Nu`aym in his Hilyat al-awliya, that Sufyan al-Thawri said:
If it were not for Abu Hashim al-Sufi (d. 115) I would have never perceived the presence of the subtlest forms of hypocrisy in the self... Among the best of people is the Sufi learned in jurisprudence.[2]
Ibn al-Jawzi also narrates the following:
Abu Hashim al-Zahid said: "Allah has stamped alienation upon the world in order that the friendly company of the murideen (seekers) consist solely in being with Him and not with the world, and in order that those who obey Him come to Him by means of avoiding the world. The People of Knowledge of Allah (ahl al-ma`rifa billah) are strangers in the world and long for the hereafter."[3]
(Reproduced with permission from Shaykh [Hisham Kabbani]'s The Repudiation of "Salafi" Innovations (Kazi, 1996) p. 277.)
[edit] Notes
Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.
