Who are the Shaathilis?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

The Shaathiliyyah is a Sufi Tareeqah (order) that was founded by Abu Al-Hasan Ash-Shaathili. He was born in the village of ‘Imaarah near Murcia in Morocco, in 593 A.H. He moved to Tunisia, then to Iraq, then Egypt and lived in Alexandria. He died in the desert of ‘Eethaab in Upper Egypt in 656 A.H. on his way to perform Hajj.

This Tareeqah is widespread in Egypt and also exists in Yemen, Palestine and some other Arab countries. Like many other deviant sects, the Shaathiliyyah has its own website. However, this website does not reflect its real beliefs and ideas which are based on a contemporary Sufi school of thought.

Therefore, we advise our questioner not to preoccupy himself with this and to concentrate, instead, on seeking knowledge from the two authentic sources: the Quran and the Sunnah according to the understanding of the righteous predecessors.

However, if the questioner is a researcher and has a good command of religious knowledge, he may read their books so as to study and evaluate their ideas in accordance with Sharee‘ah rules.

And Allaah Knows best.