Allah al-Tustarī said:

“O Sufis, do not abandon black ink on white paper, for no one has abandoned black ink on white paper without falling into heresy.”

Al-Junayd said:

“This knowledge of ours is founded upon the Book and the Sunnah. Whoever has not read the Quran and written down hadith is not to be followed in this matter.”

Many of these people recoil from anyone who mentions Islamic law or the Quran, carries a book, or writes. This is because they have sensed that such material contains things that contradict their way. Their devils therefore drive them away from it, just as a Jew or a Christian keeps his son from hearing what Muslims say, lest his beliefs about his religion change, and just as Noah’s people would put their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments so that they would neither hear his words nor see him.

Allah Most High said of the polytheists:

“Those who disbelieve say, ‘Do not listen to this Quran, but make noise during its recitation, so that you may prevail.’”

He Most High also said:

“Why, then, do they turn away from the reminder, like startled wild donkeys fleeing from a lion?”

They are among those most eager for innovated listening practices—listening to musical instruments—and among those least inclined toward the listening prescribed by Islamic law: listening to the verses of Allah Most High.

One thing that made their way seem attractive to them was finding many of those occupied with religious knowledge and books turning away from worshipping Allah Most High and following His path, whether through preoccupation with worldly affairs, involvement in sins, or ignorance and denial of what those devoted to Allah and His worship attain. The presence of such people thus helped to alienate them, and a kind of mutual hatred developed between the two groups, resembling