What is the difference between Fiqh and Tasawwuf?

Fiqh governs the outward form of a deed, its rules and its conditions. Tasawwuf is the discipline that gives that same deed its inner meaning, the pure intention and the cognizance of Allah.

In Islam the action and the deed are extremely important, and the value of those deeds is added through the sincerity of intention. Islamic Jurisprudence, or Fiqh, governs the regulations and determines the conditions of the deeds. Tasawwuf is the discipline which gives the profound meaning to that deed.

As the body is nothing without a soul, and a soul is immaterial without a body, so the outer aspect of the deed and the inner aspect of the deed are interrelated. An action only becomes an action in virtue of its sincerity. Sincerity has the same relation to an action as the soul has to the body. A body without a soul is called dead, and an action without sincerity is worthless.

Some regard knowledge superior to action, while others regard action more important. Both are integral. Prayer is not really prayer until it is performed with purification, with intention, and facing the Qiblah. It is an action, but if it is not performed with knowledge it loses its essence.