Asceticism and its Legitimate Limits in Infallible Imam's Arguments against the Sufis of their Time

Abstract Although the term Riyadha in the minds of many refers to the extreme ascetic practices of Sufis, however in its true religious sense it is the hidden aspect of Shari’ah and the standard method of tariqa and the only way for overcoming the evil desires and ascending toward proximity to the Almighty. The difference between superficial Sufi concept of Riyadha and the true religious concept of the term is not on the necessity of Riyadha, rather the difference lies on its motivations and dimensions. When the Prophet says that the “Riyadha of my Ummah is jihad”, he does not intend to reject Riyadha, rather he wants to reject the false understanding of the concept and replace it with its correct understanding. The fact that Islam is a social and universal religion, does not limit Riyadha into its individual aspect, rather it extends it into the higher social aspects. Thus, although it decreases the bodily harms of Riyadha, however it intensifies its blow on the idol of the ego. In this paper by referring to the arguments of infallible Imams against some Sufis of their time, I try to present religious concept and criteria of Riyadha.