Sufism

Junayd of Baghdad taught that Sufism is taking on every noble character trait and abandoning every ignoble one

Junayd defines Sufism not as doctrine or ritual but as ethical transformation, a lifelong practice of acquiring virtues and shedding vices.

This saying, recorded by al-Qushayri in his eleventh-century manual Al-Risala, comes from Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910), often called the leading figure of the Sufi order for establishing a sober, scripturally grounded school of mysticism distinct from more ecstatic contemporaries like Bayazid Bastami. By defining Sufism as the acquisition of noble character (akhlaq) rather than a set of practices or beliefs, Junayd ties mystical attainment directly to everyday moral conduct - patience, generosity, humility - rather than to visionary experience alone. Al-Qushayri's Risala was written partly to defend Sufism against critics who saw it as heterodox, and citing Junayd's ethical definition rooted the tradition in recognizably Islamic virtue ethics. The formulation set a durable template: later Sufi manuals routinely open with character and conduct before addressing states and mystical stations.

Al-Qushayri (d. 1074) wrote the Risala as a defense of Sufism's orthodoxy, collecting sayings of earlier masters like Junayd to demonstrate continuity with mainstream Islamic ethics.

Al-Risala (Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya)