“Beyond its substance (to which I shall turn momentarily) learned Sufism confers the additional advantage of attaching its participants to a tradition

Tradition, of course, is the repository of tried and tested wisdom, heroes and heroines, and a deep sense of belonging that defies the tendency of modern society to break down community and isolate individuals. Without tradition, each generation begins almost anew, deeply distrustful of its predecessor and having to learn old lessons all over again. This is all the more critical in the case of Blackamericans. For the loss of the African past, on the one hand, and the deep distrust of the European past, on the other, have denied Blackamericans the luxury of being able to look back for trusted insights and answers that they can embrace as their own. This has essentially forced them into a posture of perpetual on-the-job training, especially as regards religion and the life of the spirit.

Yet, traditions are also notorious for growing old, foolish, and blind, losing sight of the historical contexts and forces that produced them, imaging themselves that have come down like revelation from heaven, inalterable in every aspect. Sufism, even if we restrict it to its personal piety side, has shown the extent to which it is subject to this. Indeed, it has ranked among the most expedient of all expressions of Islam as a front for religious chicanery, gurucharlatanism, and cultlike exploitation. Blackamerican Muslims must be careful and discriminating in the manner in which they approach this legacy. And they must not be afraid to ignore what they deem to be irrelevant or harmful and add what they deem to be useful or necessary. Rather than restrict themselves to a single order, a single figure or a single Sufi text, Blackamerican Muslims should avail themselves of the best from the entire tradition of Sufism, in a spirit of autodidactic license and responsibility. Even here, however, the goal should be the concepts, emphasis, and accumulated wisdom of learned Sufism, not the institutional structures, romantic exaggerations, or fossilized liturgical practices. Especially to be avoided, moreover, are the religiously fraudulent excesses and escapades of the Muslim world’s popular Sufism along with Modern Islam’s often blind and virulent prejudices against Sufism in all its forms.”

-pg. 193 of Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the Third Resurrection by Dr. Sherman Abdal-Hakim Jackson