What is Sufism? Sufficient is the first two hadith of An-Nawawi’s Arbain — tasawwuf begins with innamal a’malu bin niyyat and ends with an ta’buda lLah kaannaka tarahu fain lam takun tarahu fainnahu yarak.
Start by questioning the intent of all your actions (first hadith) until they are, for the sake of Allah, all in pure submission to reality. Once you are inline with reality, you know the Real. Thus you worship as if you see Allah (second hadith).
This is inline with the writing of Imam Al-Ghazali in his Bidayatul Hidayah. In fact, he extends it to also include the outer and the inner. You cannot reach the end without knowing the beginning, and you cannot know the inward without recognizing the outward.
A sufi is not to be seen in opposition to a Muslim. Rather a sufi can be juxtaposed to an intellectual (alim), a warrior (jihadi), and a propagator (tablighi). All four of these types of people are simply Muslims. The sufi shall not despise the alim, jihadi or tablighi and vice versa.
Especially, may the intellectual-scholar not chide the sincere sufi, for so advises Imam al-Ghazali,
The evil scholar, although he turns men from this world by his words and speech, calls them to it by his actions and states. A man’s actions and states speak more eloquently than his words and speech; human nature is more inclined to share in actions than to follow words and statements. The corruption which the deluded scholar causes with his actions is greater than the improvement he effects by his words; for the ignorant man does not venture to set his desire on the world till the scholars have done so. Thus the scholar’s knowledge becomes a cause of God’s servants venturing to disobey Him. Despite this his ignorant soul feels presumtuous; he is filled with expectation and hope of divine favour, and this leads him to feel that by his knowledge he has done favour to God, and this suggests to him that he is better than many people.