Resources on traditional tasawwuf

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العلمين

 والصلاة وسلام على رسول الله محمد بن عبد الله

After numerous questions for resources on traditional tasawwuf I decided to make this blog and post recommended readings, links and papers on tasawwuf, Maliki fiqh, and Ashari aqidah, the fundamental sciences of Islam, as we find it in Hadith Gibril. No one, except hardcore wahhabis/salafis, can deny the validity of sound sufi traditions, the validity of the four rightly guided schools of Sacred Law and the Ashari and Maturidi schools of creed.

Beware, I'm not by any means a shaykh or murshid - spiritual guide. Any mistakes are only my fault. I'm only a simple Muslim trying to be a serious student of the Islamic sciences. Any opinions stated here are not from me, but taken from reliable scholars of Islam.

Tasawwuf or sufism, if you like, are all about perfecting your character and annihilation of the self in and with Allah, thereby being in the Divine Presence. The different tariqas are just different ways to reach the presence of The Real. In essence, they use different techniques of tarbiyyah to reach higher and higher spiritual states until illuminated.

Tasawwuf is practice, not theory and books, actually. Of uttermost importance are the daily awrad, or spiritual works. A wise man once said "...make 1000s and 1000s of dhikrs". A daily wird of Quran is also strongly recommended.

The shadhilis recite Wird al-'aam - The general litany - after fajr and up to sunrise and after maghib and before going to bed. Reciting Hizb al-Bahr - Litany of the sea, after salat al-asr is also a good thing to do.

Get a copy of Dala'il al-khayrat http://dalail.co.uk/dalail.htm and recite a potion each day. If you need the resitation, you can find it here: http://www.dalail.org/
   

Recommended readings
Sh. Nuh Ha Mim Keller: Sea without shore
This is his manual for his murids and published this year.

Purification of the heart, written by the muritanian shaykh Imam al-Mawlud and translated into English by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.

Mustafa al-Badawi: Sufi sage of Arabia
A biography of Imam AbdAllah al-Haddad

Books by Imam al-Haddad, translated by Mustafa al-Badawi:
The book of assistance
Gift for the seeker

CD sets
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf:
The poor mans book of assistance
Refinements of the hearts
Purification of the heart - his commentary (17 cds) on Imam Mawluds text 
Alchemy of happiness - translation and commentary of Imam al-Ghazalis text with the same name.

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi:
Invocations of the heart

Online resources 
http://www.masud.co.uk/
http://www.shadhiliteachings.com/tariq/
http://www.sacredknowledgetrust.co.uk/Default.aspx
http://www.sacredknowledge.co.uk/

Good stores for book and cd shopping:
http://kitaabun.com/shopping3/
http://www.fonsvitae.com/ (US based, but they label the parcel as "gift", so no mess with the customs.)
http://www.rootsdistribution.co.uk/
http://www.simplyislam.com/

You can get a lot for free here: http://www.ilookisee.co.uk/
Some of material at this site is copyrighted and some talks are published on the internet for free. I emailed Zaytuna Institute a few years ago, asking if the site was ok or just rip offs of the scholarly discourses. They did not answer, so I chose to download some cds I did not have. However, I prefere buying the cds, as copyright and intelectual property should be respected. Rip offs are of no benefit us, as it may reduce the production of new sets and teachings. We live in a time where the scholars are few, so the english speaking part of the Ummah really need the teachings of these great scholars.

Other literature lists will follow, insha Allah.