The place of Tasawwuf in traditional Islam. Nuh Ha Mim Keller

The Place of Tasawwuf in Traditional Islam By Nuh Ha Mim Keller 1995 Perhaps the biggest challenge in learning Islam correctly today is the scarcity of traditional `ulama. In this meaning, Bukhari relates the sahih, rigorously authenticated hadith that the... More

The Place of Tasawwuf in Traditional Islam By Nuh Ha Mim Keller 1995 Perhaps the biggest challenge in learning Islam correctly today is the scarcity of traditional `ulama. In this meaning, Bukhari relates the sahih, rigorously authenticated hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Truly, Allah does not remove Sacred Knowedge by taking it out of servants, but rather by taking back the souls of Islamic scholars [in death], until, when He has not left a single scholar, the people take the ignorant as leaders, who are asked for and who give Islamic legal opinion without knowledge, misguided and misguiding" (Fath al-Bari, 1. 194, hadith 100). The process described by the hadith is not yet completed, but has certainly begun, and in our times, the lack of traditional scholars—whether in Islamic law, in hadith, in tafsir `Qur anic exegesis —has given rise to an understanding of the religion that is far from scholarly, and sometimes far from the truth. For example, Less