Answer
Salam Dear David,
Peace be with you!
Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.
The Quran commands the Muslims in the verse which means:
{And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited, and remember the favor of Allah on you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts so by His favor you became brethren} (Aal `Imran 3:103)
This divine command categorically makes it binding on all Muslims to be united as one Ummah (community of believers). And for this reason all forms of schism and sectarianism become un-Islamic.
But at the same time, as human nature is what it is, there has arisen over the centuries differing interpretations of some of the verses of the Qur’an and of the meaning of some Prophetic traditions, and these have caused a few sects to be formed within the fold of the Muslim community. But it is also a fact that, compared to other religions, the number of sects in Islam are far fewer.
We may say that the Sunni and the Shia are the two major groups among Muslims. But most Sunni and Shia believers recognize each other as genuine Muslims (except for a few deviant sects). Both the Sunni and Shia followers believe in Allah Almighty, in Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and in the Day of Judgment as exemplified in the Holy Quran in the verse that means:
{The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course.} (Al-Baqarah 2:285)
There is also a great deal of agreement between the Sunni jurisprudence and the Shia one. This is because of their dependence on the same sources, the Qur’an and the Sunnah (the example of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him), as well as on the same objective of research on religion, that is, establishing Allah’s justice and mercy among people.
Sufis
Sufism can be defined as the mystical or spiritual dimension of Islam. However, there is a general perception that one can be a follower of Sufism without being a Muslim. It is evident that certain forms of Sufism are really outside the pale of Islam.
The Sufis seek to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God, a kind of mystical experience. Mysticism is usually understood to be the experience of a direct communion with the ultimate reality. It is believed that the direct knowledge of the ultimate reality, or God, can be attained through a sort of subjective experience, somewhat akin to intuition.
Both the terms Sufi and Sufism have no basis in the traditional Islamic sources of the Quran and the Sunnah. In the early stages of the Sufi movement, the remembrance of God and asceticism were its outstanding characteristics. Sufism began with an emphasis on excessive forms of worship, but later it developed branches, accepting ideas from sources outside Islam that were so far removed from authentic religious doctrines and were expressions of exaggerated emotional states.
In fact, there is a Sufism that is well within the bounds of Islamic norms, practiced by great souls of the past. We can certainly learn from them and try to emulate them. At the same time, there are other forms of Sufism that Islam cannot approve of because they have deviated from the path of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). We must understand that any spiritual or mystical movement that takes its adherents away from the Quran and the Sunnah is outside the pale of Islam.
Faylasufs
Faylasufs were early philosophers who attempted to reconcile reason and revelation in Islam. The forerunners among them were called Mu`tazilites. Later, as a reaction to the rationalism of the Mu`tazilites, the group known as the Ash`arites came up. Some of their later followers were influenced by Greek thought, which had very little to do with Islam.
Among the Faylasufs, the names of Al-Kindi, Fakhruddin Razi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Rushd are outstanding. But it was Al-Ghazzali (1058-1111 CE) who had the greatest influence on Muslim thought in the later periods. In his writings, Al- Ghazzali effected a fusion of mysticism with reason, which made a lasting impression on Islam. He held that reason and imagination (reason not being mere analysis in his usage) could lead us to knowledge of God.
From the above, we can see that the Sufis and the Faylasufs did not form any sects, as it were. But they had their influence on Islamic thought and philosophy. Whereas the Sufis had a great influence on many ordinary Muslims of India, Pakistan and elsewhere. And there is no sect called Faylasufs anywhere in the world today. And Allah knows best.
Thank you again for your question, and please keep in touch.
Salam.