Tawḥīd According to Sufis

Tawḥīd According to Sufis: The Oneness of God in Sufism is an important and rewarding contribution to the study of Islamic spirituality. Drawing upon more than three and a half decades of both scholarly engagement with Sufism and personal commitment to the Sufi path, Louay Fatoohi is exceptionally well placed to address one of the most fundamental—and frequently misunderstood—subjects in the Islamic tradition: the place of tawḥīd, the affirmation of the Oneness of God, in Sufi thought and practice. The subject is surrounded by two contrary misunderstandings. On the one hand, Salafi/Wahhabi critics have frequently accused Sufis of compromising tawḥīd and falling into shirk, particularly on account of their veneration of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and the saints. On the other, students acquainted with tawḥīd principally through the propositions of Islamic theology may assume that the affirmation of divine Oneness studied in ʿaqīdah exhausts what Sufis mean by tawḥīd. Fatoohi’s compact but remarkably wide-ranging volume helps dispel both misconceptions. For the Sufi masters assembled here, tawḥīd is at once a theological truth, the foundation of religious life, and a reality whose implications must progressively penetrate the believer’s perception, dependence, will and heart.