Sufi terminologies

16-4-2001 | IslamWeb

Question:

In Tasawuf teaching there was a term that called Shariah, Tareeqa', Hakeekah and Maarifa'. Is this term really have been teaching by the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) to his companion (R.A.).

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The expressions you mentioned in your question such as al-Tareeqah, al-Haqeeqah etc., were not know in the era of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessing be upon him). Neither these words nor their traditional meanings are found in the Qur'an or Sunnah. In addition, the companions of the Prophet, their followers and the pious predecessors did not use these terminologies since they adhered to the Sunnah only.
We are proud of those pious predecessors, who were in the good centuries as the Prophet informed and we derive much benefit from their knowledge. These good predecessors did not use to introduce new terminology in Shariah and undoubtedly were not innovators.
Allah knows best.