The issue of psychological purification and spiritual refinement among the Sufis.

Eid Abbasi : And the third issue is the issue of psychological purification and spiritual refinement. This issue has become widespread among the later scholars through the path of the Sufis. These are the ones who rely on spiritual struggles and textual means for the purification of souls, and on the matters their shaykhs introduced, which they claimed would lead them to Allah. They relied on things other than what came to them from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And the truth is said: the Sufis, the first stage of Sufism is religious innovation, and the last stage of it is heresy. When a person enters Sufism, he must commit some religious innovations. For what distinguishes the Sufi from the others among the people of the Sunnah? The people of the Sunnah adhere to the Book and the Sunnah and the guidance of the righteous predecessors. So how is the Sufi different from them? If they say: "We are upon the Book and the Sunnah," very well, why then do you reserve a path for yourselves? Why do you adhere to specific recitations? Why do you adhere to a specific type of dhikr and a specific method for it? Why do you divide the Muslims? This one is Shadhili, this one is Rafi'i, this one is Qadiri, and so on?
Indeed, the clear and bright truth indicates that they innovate in the religion of Allah. They do not suffice with the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the guidance of the righteous predecessors, but rather they add what they have deemed good for themselves and what they have added to the religion from matters of which it is innocent, and matters that are misguidance. Therefore, the Salafi Sufis reject the paths of the Sufis in general and in detail. And the issue is not, as some imagine, a matter of terminology, and ... Sufism is the same as what came in Islam regarding the degree of ihsan, or unveiling, or purification, or softening of hearts, or the aspect of ...
The other misguidance is that they believe there is a way to know the unseen and to know the realities of matters through unveiling, and they do not return to what came to them through the Shari'ah. They disdain learning, and some of them burned their books, and others said: "You take your knowledge from the dead about the dead, and we take it from the Living who does not die."
And what we said ... unveiling is among the ugliest falsehoods and among the most misleading misguidance. If a person looks at it with a comprehensive and correct view, he will find it to be the abolition of everything that Islam brought us, with the replacement of what came through the ... and misguidance, desires, and the whispers of Satan. This is a great danger, beyond which there is no danger. It is a negligence where they claim that the angels come to them and inspire them, and that Allah is the one who informs them and inspires them. What is the evidence for that? What guarantees that it is revelation from Allah? That it is inspiration from Allah and not the whispers of the devils?
And matters are known by their results and their effects. Also, the occasion does not allow for elaboration on that; so it suffices us to be content with this.