Tasawwuf aims

Tasawwuf aims, by purifying man’s heart and employing his senses and faculties in the way of God, to live a life at the spiritual level. Tasawwuf also enables man, through constant performance of the acts of worshipping God, to deepen his consciousness of being a servant of God. It enables him to renounce the world with respect to its transient dimension and the face of it that is turned to human desires and fancies, and awakens him to the other world and to the face of this world that is turned toward the Divine Beautiful Names.

The benefit of Tasawwuf is that man develops the angelic dimension of his existence and acquires a strong, heart-felt and experienced conviction of the truths and articles of faith that at first he had accepted only superficially.

The principles of tasawwuf may be listed as follows:

* Reaching substantial, true belief in Divine Oneness and living in accordance with its demands.
* In addition to heeding the Divine Speech (the Qur’an), discerning the commands of the Divine Power and Will on the face of the universe (the laws of creation and life which are the subject matter of the sciences) and obeying them.
* Overflowing with Divine love and getting on well with all other beings in the consciousness (originating from Divine love) that the universe is a cradle of brotherhood.
* Acting with a spirit of altruism and therefore giving preference or precedence to the well- being and happiness of others.
* Acting in accordance with the demands of the Divine Will—not with the demands of our own will—and trying to lead our lives at the ‘peaks’ of self-annihilation in God and subsistence with Him.
* Being open to love, spiritual yearning, delight and ecstasy.
* Acquiring the ability to discern or unveil what is in hearts or minds through the expressions of the face and the Divine mysteries and meanings on the face of events.
* Visiting such places and seeking the company of such people as will encourage avoidance of sin and striving in the way of God.
* Being content with lawful or licit pleasures, and being determined not to take even a single step toward the sphere of the unlawful.
* Continuously struggling against worldly ambitions and the illusions that lead us to suppose this world to be eternal.
* Never forgetting that even in the way of serving religion and striving for the guidance of people to the way of the Truth, salvation is only possible through certainty or conviction (of the truth of religious principles of belief and conduct), sincerity or purity of intention and aiming only to please God.
(adapted from an article on tasawwuf )