What Is Tasawwuf: Understanding Spirituality in Islam

This article is a transcribed and translated version of an original Urdu chapter authored by Shaykh al-Islām Mufti Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī , taken from his renowned work Islām aur Hamārī Zindagī, Volume 6.

Islam is not merely a religion of outward rituals; it is a comprehensive system of life that seeks to reform both the external actions and the internal state of the human being. The Qur’ān repeatedly links true success with the purification of the heart, moral discipline, and conscious obedience to Allah ﷻ.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَۙ
الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَۙ
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَۙ
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَاةِ فَاعِلُونَۙ
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَۙ
إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَۚ
فَمَنِ ابْتَغَىٰ وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَۙ

القرآن الكريم

These verses clarify that success is not achieved through outward worship alone. Humility in prayer, avoidance of vain and sinful matters, fulfilment of obligations, and protection of chastity are all deeply connected to the state of the heart. The Qur’ān repeatedly draws attention to the inner self, indicating that outward actions lose their true worth when the inner condition is corrupt.

Islam, therefore, does not restrict guidance to ṣalāh, fasting, zakāh, and ḥajj alone. It also addresses the inner dimension of human........

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