and in most places today as a "sect" separate from Sunni. Actually, tasawwuf is the word. "Sufism" is not an Arabic word and the "ism" in English always connotes a ideological division like "communism" etc. defined by simply the holding of certain opinions. The real word "tasawwuf" refers to the discipline in traditional Sunni Islam of closely checking and working to improve your inner spiritual life by means of the Sharia. It is the inner aspect of Islamic life which outer rules and forms are intended to purify (while purifying the inner conversely also purifies the outer). Now it has been misunderstood due to some folks through history who had nothing to do with using its name falsely. Also, there are those in modern times who want to deny any concern of Islam with spirituality. They decided that Marx was right, that religion was the 'opium of the masses' - so they wanted to turn Islam into a religion without a spiritual dimension that would distract Muslims from the all important task of competing with fascist modern western regimes for power and re-establishing an Arab empire. So, many Muslims nowadays confuse this project for an Arab empire with Sunni Islam. But Sunni Islam has an inner dimension about purifying the heart, and without this there is nothing but an empty shell. Alot of the atrocious stuff going on nowadays among Muslims is from abandoning this inner dimension. Or, it is from others claiming to embrace the inner while abandoning the outer (and this is just hypocrisy). Anyhow, the word 'sufi' does not matter. If you think the word means something else, then use a different word. But the point is there is an inner spiritual dimension of Islam, which is an essential part of Sunni Islam.
and in most places today as a "sect" separate from Sunni. Actually, tasawwuf is the word. "Sufism" is not an Arabic word and the "ism" in English always connotes a ideological division like "communism" etc. defined by simply the holding of certain opinions. The real word "tasawwuf" refers to the discipline in traditional Sunni Islam of closely checking and working to improve your inner spiritual life by means of the Sharia. It is the inner aspect of Islamic life which outer rules and forms are intended to purify (while purifying the inner conversely also purifies the outer). Now it has been misunderstood due to some folks through history who had nothing to do with using its name falsely. Also, there are those in modern times who want to deny any concern of Islam with spirituality. They decided that Marx was right, that religion was the 'opium of the masses' - so they wanted to turn Islam into a religion without a spiritual dimension that would distract Muslims from the all important task of competing with fascist modern western regimes for power and re-establishing an Arab empire. So, many Muslims nowadays confuse this project for an Arab empire with Sunni Islam. But Sunni Islam has an inner dimension about purifying the heart, and without this there is nothing but an empty shell. Alot of the atrocious stuff going on nowadays among Muslims is from abandoning this inner dimension. Or, it is from others claiming to embrace the inner while abandoning the outer (and this is just hypocrisy). Anyhow, the word 'sufi' does not matter. If you think the word means something else, then use a different word. But the point is there is an inner spiritual dimension of Islam, which is an essential part of Sunni Islam.