Originally Posted by Popeyesays 
The basic quality of Sufism that sets it apart is the notion that one can enter into an ecstatic state and become one with God[/QUOTE]
This however should not be taken litterally; it merely means that one reaches a state of meditation where he is intoxicated with spirituality and therefore cannot distinguish between himself and God; in such an ecstatic state he can utter statements such as 'I am God' but such outwardly blasphemous and idolatrous statements are not taken to account due to his diminished responsibility brought on by the ecstatic/intoxicated state
in Islam, any concept of man becoming one with God in a way where the person becomes part of God himself is the greatest of all evils
this could be understood further in my answer to a query about The Sufi Order International:
I am curious to know what the Muslim response might be to The Sufi Order International (www.sufiorder.org).
Answer:
I've had a peep in there and came across a section where it says that human soul is divine and that the purpose of this order is to make people aware of the divinity inside of them; I never really looked much further to see if they practice the five pillars of Islam, etc, but that was enough to tell me that this order is completely out of the folds of Islam for Islam considers to attribute divinity to anything other than the Lord Allmighty Allah, is the greatest of all evils, hence this is obviously one of those shirky orders trying to dupe? people into thinking that there is some Islamic validity to it's teachings by attaching the name 'sufi' to it
Sufism is indeed a part of Islam, but it has to be within the perimeters of the Quran and Sunnah
here are a few links that give the Islamic perspective on sufism:
www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/nuh/sufitlk.htm
qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?id=3623
[URL="http://www.sunnah.org/events/hamza/hamza.htm"]www.sunnah.org/events/hamza/hamza.htm[/URL]
hope that helps
Peace
The basic quality of Sufism that sets it apart is the notion that one can enter into an ecstatic state and become one with God[/QUOTE]
This however should not be taken litterally; it merely means that one reaches a state of meditation where he is intoxicated with spirituality and therefore cannot distinguish between himself and God; in such an ecstatic state he can utter statements such as 'I am God' but such outwardly blasphemous and idolatrous statements are not taken to account due to his diminished responsibility brought on by the ecstatic/intoxicated state
in Islam, any concept of man becoming one with God in a way where the person becomes part of God himself is the greatest of all evils
this could be understood further in my answer to a query about The Sufi Order International:
I am curious to know what the Muslim response might be to The Sufi Order International (www.sufiorder.org).
Answer:
I've had a peep in there and came across a section where it says that human soul is divine and that the purpose of this order is to make people aware of the divinity inside of them; I never really looked much further to see if they practice the five pillars of Islam, etc, but that was enough to tell me that this order is completely out of the folds of Islam for Islam considers to attribute divinity to anything other than the Lord Allmighty Allah, is the greatest of all evils, hence this is obviously one of those shirky orders trying to dupe? people into thinking that there is some Islamic validity to it's teachings by attaching the name 'sufi' to it
Sufism is indeed a part of Islam, but it has to be within the perimeters of the Quran and Sunnah
here are a few links that give the Islamic perspective on sufism:
www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/nuh/sufitlk.htm
qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?id=3623
[URL="http://www.sunnah.org/events/hamza/hamza.htm"]www.sunnah.org/events/hamza/hamza.htm[/URL]
hope that helps
Peace