What is the ruling on applying the term Sufis to the awliya (close friends of Allah), the worshippers, and the ascetics from among the people of the Sunnah?

The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. What is the ruling on applying the term Sufis to the awliya (close friends of Allah), the worshippers, and the ascetics from among the people of the Sunnah who did not enter into any of the religious innovations (bid'ah) of the Sufis?

The Shaykh:
No, the Sufis are innovators, but the Sufis vary in degree. Sufism, in its origin, is entirely a religious innovation (bid'ah), but it developed with its practitioners until it reached the point of the unity of existence, as previously mentioned regarding Ibn Arabi, al-Hallaj, and their followers. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable.

The Shaykh:
It develops because a religious innovation (bid'ah) leads to another religious innovation, and evil leads to evil. So, when Sufism was an innovation in its origin, it developed until it led its practitioners to disbelief (kufr). Yes.