Imam Ibn Taymiyya Mentions some Great Shaikhs of Sufism
And we wish to mention some of the shaikhs which Imam Ibn Taymiyya accepted from the well-known Sufi shaikhs. This is found in his volume entitled 'Ilm as-Sulook [the Science of Travelling the Way to God], which consists of the whole of volume 10 of Majmu'a Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya which is 775 pages in length, all of which is about the knowledge of the ways of true Sufism, the Science of Travelling to God, ['ilm us-sulook].
On page 516, the third paragraph he says:
"the great Sufi shaikhs are the best shaiks to be known and accepted, such as:
Bayazid al-Bistami [a grandshaikh of the Golden Chain of the Naqshbandi Tariqat],
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani,
Junayd bin Muhammad [the most well-known Sufi]
Hasan al-Basri,
al Fudayl ibn al-Ayyad,
Ibrahim bin al-Adham [very famous sufi, known as Sultan of the Ascetics],
Abi Sulayman ad-Daarani,
Ma'ruf al-Karkhi [a well-known Sufi],
Siri as-Saqati,
Shaikh Hammad,
Shaikh Abul Bayyan."
And Ibn Taymiyya continues:
"THOSE GREAT SUFI PEOPLE WERE THE LEADERS OF HUMANITY, AND THEY WERE CALLING TO WHAT IS RIGHT AND FORBIDDING WHAT IS WRONG."
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