# What does the Mufti think of the Naqshbandi Sufi order?

*The Naqshbandi and other Sufi orders: institutionalised, the monster they set out to defy*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/41/
- Date: 2021-02-16 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (2:23:08–2:24:25)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=8588s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/

**Topics:** Sufism and tasawwuf

**Question as asked:** What are your views on the Naqshbandi Sufi jamaat? I personally find them a bit out of it, like the Salafis: arrogant and a bit militant.

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says many Sufi orders have become institutionalised and dogmatic, the very thing mysticism set out to defy.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says many Sufi orders have become very institutionalised, the very monster they originally set out to defy.

**Evidence, his words at 2:23:46:** “being able to practice out of the box because mysticism was very out of the box but what they've just become is the very monster that they originally had set out to defy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=8626s)

## Longer summary

A super chat asks his views on the Naqshbandi Sufi jamaat, which the questioner finds out of touch, arrogant and a bit militant like the Salafis. Mufti Abu Layth says many Sufi orders today are unfortunately very institutionalised, though they were meant to defy institutionalisation and dogma and to practise outside the box, as mysticism was. He says they have become the very monster they set out to defy, quoting Nietzsche on staring into the abyss and on fighting monsters lest one become one.

## Sources and names cited

- the Naqshbandi order
- tariqah (Sufi order)
- Friedrich Nietzsche

## Transcript (machine tier, 2:23:08–2:24:25)

[2:22:31] 1000 year sentence the turkish judge that handed that must have been like somebody i don't know what era he was living in he's like yeah it sounds about right 935 years he must have just like asked him you know what he what must have happened that judge must have been in a rush and he must have just said to like his six-year-old that what do you think i should say year olds like 935 years

[2:23:08] uh okay 935 years god damn all right so i see sarasan has super chatted you do we need what are your views on naksha bundy sufi jamaat i personally find them a bit out of it like the salafis arrogant and a bit militant yeah um you see a lot of the sufic orders that you find are unfortunately very institutionalized so they are they meant to be about

[2:23:46] you see the irony is they're meant to be about defying institutionalism uh sorry institutionalization and being like challenging that kind of dogma being able to practice out of the box because mysticism was very out of the box but what they've just become is the very monster that they originally had set out to defy you know it's that same thing that nietzsche said you know when you steer into the abyss the abyss stares right back into you and

[2:24:24] beware when you fight monsters lest you become a monster and that's exactly what's happened with these institutions why did imam ahmad and imam jaafar i'm not sure that they did like that but i mean imam ahmadiyya did say a few harsh things about abu hanifa he said actually he said quite a few harsh things you know if you read them it's like

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment --PntsaR8ck/s/41. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/41/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.