** --SalAllahu 'Alayhi Wa-sallam. i.e. Peace be upon him (the Prophet).

1. At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majeh & Ahmad

2. Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Teymiyyeh, "Al-Amr Bil Ma'roof Wan-Nahiu An al-Munker

3. Al-Khawwridj, or the Kharijites: A party of heretics or schismatics, including a sect called al-Harooriyyeh, so called because they split with the Muslims, or with the religion of Islam. Among them are those who rebelled against Ali, the fourth Khaleefah, may Allah be please with him.

4. Rawafidh or Rafidheh: an army or military force which has deserted its leader. This term wsa first applied to a certain sect of the Shiites of al-Khoofeh, Iraq, who deserted Zaid, the great grand son of Ali, when he forbade them to speak against the companions of the Prophet . They had wanted Zaid to renounce the first two califs, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and Umar bin al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with them. When he refused to do so, the Rawafidh, who had pledged him allegiance, deserted him. Later this term became applied to all apostate or schismatics speaking against the companions of the Prophet .

5. Abu Dawood, an-Nisaa'i and others.

6. Imam Malik, al-Muwatta'.

7. cf. Qur'an, 59.7

8. Ibid. 3.32, 4.61

9. Ibid. 4.59

10. Ibid. 8.46

11. Ibid. 33.21

12. Imadud-Din Ibn Katheer, "Tafseer al-Qur'an al-Adtheem. Exegets of the Great Qur'an vol. 3, p. 391, Surah al-Hadj 22.78.

13. W. Montgomery Watt, "Islamic Philosophy and Theology," 1985, pp.37, 38

14. N. Fatemi, "Sufism," pp.49

15. M. Ibn Arabi, "The Bezels of Wisdom," pp.3

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Because Ibn Arabi's thinking is fundamentally Platonic, he was given the surname "Son of Plato." Ibid.

22. A.E. Affifi, The Mystical Philosophy of Ibn Arabi

23. Ibid. pp. 135

24. Monism: the doctrine that only one being exists (Oxford English Dictionary)

25. Vedanta: the chief Hindu philosophy, dealing mainly with the Upanishadic doctrine of the identity of Brahman and Atman, which reached its highest development circa 800 A.D. through the philosopher Shankara. (Random House Dictionary)

26. Bhakti (Hinduism): selfless devotion as a means of reaching Brahman. (Ibid)

27. Yoga: union of the self with the supreme being.(Ibid)

28. S.R. Sharda, Sufi Thought

29. Zoroastrianism: an Iranian religion, supposedly founded circa 900 B.C. by Zoraster, believing in supreme diety, Ahura Mazda, and a cosmic struggle between a spirit of good, Spenta Mainayu, and a spirit of evil, Angra Mainayu. Now chiefly represented by the Gabars of Iran and the Parsees of India. (R.H. Dictionary)

30. Buddhism: a religion originated in India by Buddha, and later spreading to China and other Asian countries, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire, and that the way to end that suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. (Ibid)

31. Sharda, op. cit.

32. R.W.J. Austin, introductory note on Chapter 3 of Ibn Arabi's, The Bezels of Wisdom, p.71

33. Muslim

34. cf. footnote 32.

35. Ibn Arabi, op. cit.

36. Ibid.

37. Ash-Shaikh Abu Bakr al-Djaza'iri, Illat-Tasawwuf Ya IbadalLah,pp.10

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

42. Ibid.

43. When a Muslim has put on boots while maintaining his wudu', he does not have to take them off to renew his wudu' for a whole day and night. He does not have to wash his feet for that purpose during that period, it suffices him to wipe over the upper of his boots, not the soles. Thus, if the issue were to be left to personal opinion, one would tend to wipe the soles of the boots rather than the uppers. It is the former that are exposed to dirt more than the latter.

44. Saif an-Nasr, Seera of Hamidiyyeh, 1956

45. M. Gilsenan, Saints and Sufis in Modern Egypt, Oxford Press 1973

46. Muslim

47. Ibid.

48. Muslim

49. Lane Arabic English Lexicon

50. Muslim

51. Masaa'il al-Imam Ahmad vol.ii p.185

52. Al-Jami' li-Ahkaam al-Qur'an, Vol. i p.273

53. Ali H. Abdul Hameed, Al-Bai'ah Between Sunnah and Bid'ah pp.23

54. Ibid.

55. Ibn Katheer

56. Bukhari, Abu Dawood & at-Tirmidthi

57. Ash-Shatibi, Al-I'tisam, Vol.i 133

57. cf. Article V Khalwah

58. Ibid.

59. cif. Khalwah

60. Ibid.

61. cf. article V Khalwah

62. al-Jami' al-Sahih

63. Muslim

64. R.S. Nicholson, The Idea of Personality in Sufism, 1923 p.30

65. Fatemi, op. cit

66. Muslim, Ibn Majeh & Ahmad

Fakhruddin Iraqi, Divine Flashes, p.24

67. R.A. Nicholson cit. fn.#64

68. Fatemi op.cit.

69. Fakhruddin Iraqi, Divine Flashes, p.24

70. Sh. al-Djaza'iri

71. Ibid.

72. Muslim

73. Bukhari

74. sh. al-Djaza'iri

75. Mushahadah: in Sufi terminology, the viewing to Allah with the eye as a result of extensive efforts in the path of Sufism.

76. Ahmad at-Tijani, Jawahir al-Ma'aani, as quoted in al-Djaza'iri's Ilattasawwuf. p.50

77. Fatemi, op. cit.

78. Ibn Katheer, Exegesis, Vol. II, p.315

79. Ash-Shaikh Nassir al-Deen al-Albani, Silsilatul-Ahaadith as-Saheeheh, Hadeeth # 109 Vol.I

80. Attar, op. cit.

81. Ibn Majeh

82. Ibid.

83. Sh. Al-Albani, as-Silsileh

84. R.A. Nicholson, Mystic of Islam, Bill, London, 1914, p.164

85. Sh. Al-Albani, op. cit.

86. In the authentic hadeeth reported by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawood and others, the Propeht said:

"My nation shall be divided into 73 sects, all of whom are in the Fire except one." His Companions said, 'Which one is the save?' He replied, "(The one whose members adhere to) what I and my companions are adhering to today," In another account, he said, "Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama'ah". (the Sunni Muslim)."

87. Abu Dawood & an-Nisaa'ee

88. at-Tijani, op. cit.

89. Ibid, p.96

90. Ibid, p.80

91. at-Tijani, Baqiyyatul Mustafid, pp. 79, 80

92. at-Tijani, Jawahir al-Ma'aani. p.129

93. Bukhari

94. Muslim