[Inclination Toward Superstition Among Sufi Muslims]

As an example, most Sufi Muslims have no basis but enthusiasm for many of their religious beliefs. Precisely for this reason, they do not recognize a significant role for the intellect in knowing. Similar to Salafists, they do not consider it as proof and even compose poems disparaging it. For instance, they say: «پاي استدلاليان چوبين بود/ پاي چوبين سخت بي‌تمكين بود»[1], which means, “the leg of people of reasoning is wooden, and a wooden leg is highly unstable,” and by reasoning, they mean rational reasoning! However, it is certain that Allah has repeatedly used reasoning in His Book, has reported the arguments of His Prophets, has commanded His Prophet to practice reasoning, and has asked disbelievers to present their argument if they have any, and the basis of reasoning in all these cases is the intellect. Therefore, it remains unclear that if the leg of people of reasoning is wooden, what the leg of others would be; because the intellect is the most solid foundation for knowing, and other foundations are weaker than it. As for intuition, which is considered the foundation for knowing the truth among Sufis—if it refers to perceiving the truth beyond nature—it does not conflict with the intellect; rather, it is one of its tools, serving it like the sense of sight. The attempt of Sufis to portray intuition as conflicting with the intellect is similar to the attempt of Ahl al-Hadith to portray Sharia as conflicting with the intellect, which is not real and is nothing more than an illusion; unless what is meant by intuition is the imperfect and variable human enthusiasm, which, due to its imperfection and variability in its essence, can conflict with the intellect. Precisely for this reason, it cannot be a criterion for knowing; especially considering that people’s enthusiasm, whenever it is not based on the intellect, is as numerous as they are, and following it, apart from being baseless, leads to discord among them, which is undesirable.