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Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (Rahimuhullah) is amongst those scholars who is respected highly by all Muslim thinkers. Sheikh Abdul Qadir al Jilani (Rahimuhullah) in the book attributed to him i.e. Al-Ghuniya tut Talibeen did not dedicate one page, nor 20 nor a chapter rather dedicated the last whole section to “Tassawuf” and praised Sufis immensely, he also advocated to have followed their path himself (rather is amongst the greatest Sufis known to Muslim Ummah)

The Truthful Fuqara are those people who walk the path of Sufis, They clean themselves from the evil desires. They are amongst the Abdaal and Awliya… [Al-Ghuniya Tut Talibi Fi Tariq al Haqq, Page No. 449]

Ama Ba’d: (O concerned) May Allah grant you good, I ask for help from Allah and write this book fulfilling your proposal. The compilation of this book deals with the sayings and conditions of an eminent group (amongst Muslims). This group is of Sufis and A’ima, their merits shall be mentioned in order of their Tabaqat i.e. starting from the era of Sahaba, then Tabiyeen and then those who followed them. These are the people who knew well the proofs and realities.

Note: The first Hadith which al-hafidh narrates is the beautiful Hadith al Qudsi saying: Whosoever nurses a grudge against a friend of mine (i.e. Wali Ullah) I declare war on him [Also narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih: Volume 8, Page No. 131)

Narrated by Abu Zakriyyah bin Abi Ishaq who said that he went to the gathering of Abul Hassan bin Samoon (rah) where a person asked him: What is Tassawuf?, He replied: It has a name and also reality, which of the two have you asked about? The questioner said: Both, He replied: In name it means to forget the world and its residents (i.e. dedicate yourself only to Allah), whereas the reality of it is to deal nicely with creation, not to harm them and also to share their pain for the sake of Allah.

Lineage of Shahab ud din Suharwardi has been mentioned before in the biography of his uncle Abul Najib Abdul Qahir (rah) reaching back to Sayyidna Abu Bakr (RA). You were a shafi’i Faqih and a Salih (righteous) sheikh, who did a lot of striving in worship and Riyazah. Many of the Sufis took you as a teacher in Mujahida and Khalwat. And in your era till your last age there was none like you.

The Sufi training is a religious one. It is free from any reprehensible intentions. They aspire to total concentration upon Allah with a direct approach towards him so that they also get the zawq as attained by knowers of Allah and his Tawhid (Ahlul Irfan wa-tawhid). This is why to create an accord in their thoughts they keep themselves hungry in order to flourish their soul in remembrance of Allah and thus attain success in achieving their goals, because when the soul feeds on Dhikr (of Allah) it attains knowledge and closeness to Him, but if it is far from Dhikr (of Allah) then Shaytan becomes dominant upon it…..

Whatever knowledge of the unseen and Tassaruf attained (by Sufis) is not what they intended for originally. Had it been intentional then the devotion of Sufis would have been directed toward something other than Allah, namely toward knowing unseen and get Tassaruf. What a losing business that would have been! In reality, it would have been Shirk. Some (Sufis) said: Whosoever tried to attain Marifah for the sake of Marifah (committed shirk), this is why their devotion is only (to come near) the Master, and nothing else.

If meanwhile some (supernatural perception) is obtained then it is accidental and unintentional. Many (Sufis) hate and shun (supernatural perception) when it accidentally happens to them, and pay no attention to it. They only want Allah for his sake only and nothing else. It is well known that (supernatural perception) does occur among (Sufis). If they attain knowledge of Unseen and have Firasah (sight) then they call it the un-covering. Their experiences of supernatural activity creating a change in environment are called Karamah. Nobody can deny their Kashf, Firasah and Karamah, however Abu Ishaq Isfraini and Abu Muhammad bin Abu Zayd Maliki have rejected the Karmah (of Sufis) so that no comparison is made between Mojiza (Mircales performed by Anbiya) and others, But the Mutakalimeen showed a distinction between Mojiza and Karamah i.e. former is shown as a challenge whereas latter is not.

Note: After this Ibn Khaldun (rah) mentions Karamah of non-anbiya i.e. Sahaba and Awliya, the first example he gives is of Hadrat Umar(RA) saying loudly “Ya Sariyah tul Jabal” while giving Khutba in Madina and Sariya (ra) heard it too though he was very far away in Iraq.

This is a precise book written by a Faqir of Allah called Abdul Kareem bin Hawazin al Qushayri. It is written about the group of Sufis living in Islamic world, the year of its writing is 437 AH. Ama Ba’ad (O the one listening, reading and seeing) May Allah be pleased with you. Allah has granted these (Sufis) a top ranking status, He has chosen them above all slaves after the Prophets and Messengers. Allah’s blessing and Peace be upon them, may Allah keep on choosing their hearts for expressing His secrets as amongst whole Ummah they are granted the Nur (of guidance) [Ar Risalah al Qushayriya, Page No. 42]

Abul Qasim al-Khazzaz and It is also said Al-Qawairi, in reality he was from Nahawand, born and grew young in Baghdad, heard ahadith from Al Hussain bin Arfa (rah) and got the knowledge of Fiqh from Abul Thawr Ibrahim bin Khalid Kalbi (rah) and in his presence at the age of about 20 he started to give verdicts. We have mentioned him in Tabaqat al Shafiyyah. He was student of Siri Saqti (rah) and Harith al-Muhasibi (rah) which made him attain a lot of fame.He was firm in worship due to which Allah opened doors of many uloom upon him and he talked about the tariqa of Sufiya. It was his norm that he used to pray 300 Rakaat everyday and recite 30,000 Tasbihat and for 40 years he did not sleep on (soft) bed, due to such deeds Allah granted him beneficial knowledge along with correct implementation in a way that nobody else in his time had acquired. He knew all the branches of Uloom very well to the extent that he left no shortcoming in whatever matter he talked about, rather he used to explain every single ruling in such many ways that no other alim could have done. Same was his situation in (uloom) of Tassawuf.