No Better People Than the Sufis
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) founded the Hanbali madzhab . It was related, from Imam Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdullah al-Qalanisi ( r.a. ), that Imam Ahmad ( r.a. ) said, about the Sufis, “I do not know people better than them.” This was recorded by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad as-Saffarini al-Hanbali ( r.a. ), in Ghidha’ al-Albab li Sharh Manzhumat al-Adab . Advising his son, Imam ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad ( r.a. ), Imam Ahmad ( r.a. ) said, “O my son, you have to sit with the people of taswawwuf , because they are like a fountain of knowledge and they keep the remembrance of Allah ( s.w.t. ) in their hearts. They are the ascetics and they have the most spiritual power.” This was reported, by Shaykh Muhammad Amin ibn Fathullah Zadah al-Kurdi ( r.a. ), in his Tanwir al-Qulub .