The Explanation of What Is Called the Science of Spiritual Conduct

The Shaykh : This science of spiritual conduct, if it is based on the practice of Sufism, is a deviation from the religion. Just as some people wanted to do that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he said: "The path is my path, the methodology is my methodology, and the Sunnah is my Sunnah." He said (peace and blessings be upon him): You know the story from this title. It is a very strange thing. These callers to Allah turned away from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) out of ignorance and conduct. So how will Allah support Islam when the callers are the deviants? If you look at most of them—we do not accuse them all—you will find that they do not perform the prayer as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed it. If you took the most prominent figure among them and said to him, "Is it possible for me to learn from you the manner of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer?" you would fear him, because merely hearing the word "Messenger of Allah" from you would lead them to accuse you of being a Wahhabi in some countries, or a follower of the Khawarij, or an extremist, or something similar. This is the case, but may Allah reward you, teach me the manner of the Prophet's prayer. He does not know that. Why? Where does he learn the manner of the Prophet's prayer? He grew up with a school of jurisprudence. If he studied jurisprudence, it is the jurisprudence known today, and most of them did not even study the Hanafi, Shafi'i, or Maliki schools. The best of them are the doctors who graduated from the colleges of Shari'ah; they do not study anything but the headings of jurisprudence. Therefore, they worship Allah, praying, fasting, performing Hajj, and performing 'Umrah, as they found their fathers and grandfathers doing. As for his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): they do not know its meaning. No, we take Hajj from books of rituals. And so you find them sold by the thousands, and they do not point out what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed out regarding the rituals of Hajj.