Debate over Sufi Practices

Muslim scholars were not united on the question of the permissibility of Sufism. While most appreciated the heightened levels of religious devotion it inspired among the general population, some disapproved of how certain Sufis expressed their faith. Poetry and song about wine and illicit love, as well as communal dancing and veneration for the tombs of those regarded as saints, could at times provoke opposition from more hardline elements of the Ulema.