Do Sufis have to follow the Shariah?

Tasawwuf entails that life be spent according to the Shariah, and any “Tasawwuf” that sets itself against the Shariah is irreligious and rejected.

This is the dividing line between true Tasawwuf and the pretenders. Some claim that there is no need to adhere to the Shariah in Tasawwuf.

The answer comes from Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanvi rahimahullah, citing al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya: “Tasawwuf that is against the Shariáh is irreligious and rejected. Whoever says that there is a path to Allah different to what the Shariáh has outlined, then he is a liar. Hence, a person who has no adab (prescribed Islamic etiquette) cannot be a Shaykh. We have no path to Allah except that which has come by way of Shariáh, and we have no path to Allah except that which the Shariáh has shown.” [Thanvi, Ta'lim al-Deen]