Title: Sufism & Islam... Question: Sometimes I wonder about a few things, one is the relationship of Islam and Sufism...can anyone please explain it? Isn't a Sufi also a Muslim? Answer: Sufism, to a layman, is a mystical approach toward Islam. It is, however, very difficult to say that Sufism is, in any way, a part of Islam. A close study of the source of religious knowledge and the basic beliefs of Sufism, in the light of the Qur'an shows that not only are the sources or the basic beliefs of Sufism not mentioned in the Qur'an, but also that they run parallel to that of Islam. To keep my answer short, I shall only briefly present the example of Tawheed [1] , the most basic article of faith in Islam. According to Islam, the most desirable level of the belief of Tawheed is to hold that no one, besides God, deserves to be given the status of a deity and thus no one, besides God, deserves to be given the rights that are deserved by a deity. This, according to the Qur'an was the teaching of all the Prophets of God, including Muhammad (pbuh). However, in the eyes of Sufism, this is only the starting level of the belief of Tawheed . They hold that the ultimate and true level of Tawheed is the acceptance of the belief that no one besides God enjoys existence. The case of Risaalah [2] and Aakhirah [3] is also not any different. Both these beliefs are held in absolutely parallel senses in Islam and Sufism. Thus, in principle, Sufism, in my opinion, is a complete religion parallel to Islam. The sources of the two are different, their beliefs are different and their attitude toward the Shari`ah - Islamic law - is different. As far as the question whether a Sufi should be considered a Muslim or not is concerned, it is beyond my jurisdiction to call anyone a non-Muslim. I can only tell you that the ideology that the Sufis ascribe to is not based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah . 15 th January 2000 [1] i.e. the belief in the oneness of God. [2] i.e. the belief in Prophethood. [3] i.e. the belief in the Hereafter.