Imam Abdul Qadir al-Jilani رضي الله عنه mentions the following heretical paths who call themselves Sufis.

Disclaimer: The featured image does not represent heretical behaviour but used for illustrative purposes.

Hululiyya

The Hululiyya, Incarnationists, claim that it is lawful to look at a beautiful body or a beautiful face, whether of a woman or a man, whoever it is, whether they are wives or husbands, daughters or sisters of others. They also intermingle and dance together. This is clearly against the precepts of Islam and the preservation of honour and decency in its laws.

Haliyya

There are those who are called Haliyya who seek to be ecstatically entranced by singing and moving and shouting and clapping hands. They claim that their shaykhs are in such a state that they are over and above the jurisdiction of religious law. This certainly does not correspond to the behaviour of the Most Beloved of Allah, who in every way abided by religious laws.

Awliya’iyya

The Awliya’iyya claim to be in the proximity of Allah and say that when the servant comes close to Allah, all religious obligations are lifted from him. They further claim that a wait, the one close to Allah, becomes His friend and is therefore superior to a prophet. They say that knowledge came to the Messenger of Allah through Gabriel 2D, while to the wall divine knowledge comes direct. Their false view of their state and what they attribute to themselves is their greatest sin, which destroys them and brings them to heresy and infidelity.

Shamuraniyya

The Shamuraniyya believe that the word is eternal, and that whoever pronounces the eternal word is not bound by religious obligations; for them there is no consideration of lawful and unlawful. They use musical instruments in their rituals. They do not separate men from women. They do not see any difference between the two sexes. They are but an incorrigible gang of infidels.

Hubbiyya

The Hubbiyya say that when men come to the stage of love they are freed of all religious obligations. They do not conceal their private parts.

Huriyya

The Huriyya, like the Haliyya, by shouting and singing and clapping of hands seek a state of trance, and in that trance they claim to have intercourse with the houris; when they leave their trance they take total ablution. They are destroyed by their own lies.

Ibahiyya

The Ibahiyya refuse to propose good deeds and to forbid evil ones. On the contrary, they consider the unlawful lawful. They apply this idea to women. For them, all women are lawful to all men.

Mutakasiliyya

The Mutakasiliyya make a principle out of laziness and beg from door to door for their sustenance. They claim that they are thus leaving the worldly and they rot in their laziness.

Mutajahiliyya

The Mutajahiliyya feign ignorance and purposely dress immod-estly, trying to look and behave like nonbelievers, while Allah says Do not incline towards the wrongdoers … (Sura Hud, 1 13) And the Prophet says, ‘Whoever tries to appear like a people is considered to be one of them’.

Wafiqiyya

The Wafiqiyya claim that only Allah is able to know Allah, Therefore they abandon the path of seeking truth, and their purposeful ignorance leads them to destruction.

Ilhamiyya

The Ilhamiyya count on inspiration, abandon knowledge, forbid study, and say that the Qur’an is a veil for them and that the poetic muse is their Qur’an. They abandon the Qur’an and prayers and teach their children poetry instead.

To conclude, those who follow the path of truth in accordance with the religious law are fewer than few. The true followers of this path are known by two witnesses. One is the exterior witness, which shows that the seeker’s daily life is reinforced by religious ordinances and practices. The second, the inner witness, is the example the seeker follows and emulates and by which he is guided. Indeed, there is none other to follow than the Prophet of Allah who is the means, the bridge, and at one time the seeker and the truth he seeks. Without doubt his divine spirit is the only intermediary. That is the law which must be followed for the continuation of religious order in the life of a real believer.

Beware, O traveller on the path to truth, that the blind do not lead the blind. Your sight should be so keen that you are able to distinguish the smallest particle of good from the smallest particle of evil.