They renounced all physical pleasures, abstaining from food, sleep, and mingling with people. They increased their patience and wore coarse garments. Thus, their conditions became refined, their hearts purified, and their souls cleansed from the vices of this world and its evils. For this reason, they immersed themselves in new states and lived a life oblivious to everything around them.

This Sufi way of life, with its philosophy, emerged in the Islamic world as a result of the expansion of the Islamic realm and the entry of many people from other faiths into Islam. This led to the infiltration of some philosophies into Islamic thought in general, and into Sufi thinking in particular. This, in turn, led some Sufis to openly express views that contradicted the essence of Islamic creed, such as the concept of *hulul* (incarnation) and *wahdat al-wujud* (unity of existence).

Dr. Ahmed Gali believes that the Khatmiyya were influenced by the idea of *wahdat al-wujud*, which means the manifestation, appearance, and unity of God in the universe. The first to establish and advocate this idea among the Sufis was Muhi al-Din Ibn Arabi, the author of *Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya* and *Fusus al-Hikam*. He also has a collection of poems in which he addressed many Sufi meanings that carry philosophical dimensions and content.

Dr. Gali presents a number of views attributed to Abdullah al-Mahjoub (the grandfather), in which he mentions a set of meanings suggesting that al-Mahjoub believed in the principle of *wahdat al-wujud*. He then presents a portion of the poetry of al-Mahjoub and Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani as evidence of the extent to which these two men were influenced by this idea.

Dr. Gali then proceeds to discuss several other issues that arise within the Khatmiyya, which he believes are invalid from a Sharia perspective because they contradict and oppose the true Islamic creed. He points out that the Khatmiyya believe in the theory of the Muhammadan Reality or the Muhammadan Light, and they also believe in *fana* (annihilation). He cites excerpts from their writings and from the poems of Sayyid Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani and Sayyid Hashim bin Muhammad Uthman.

In reality, the Mirghani family drew from the wellspring of Islamic Sufi thought and learned from scholars and sheikhs who belonged to the Sufi current. Sufism at that time was dominant and prevalent in people's beliefs and thinking. The Sufi terms and expressions found in the works of Sufi scholars, whether in prose or poetry, Ahmed Amin (Dr.): *Dhuhr al-Islam*, Part 2, 4th Edition (Cairo: Maktabat al-Nahda), p. 91. Ahmed Amin (Dr.): The previous source, p. 84. Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed Gali (Dr.): Previous source, p. 99. Ahmed Gali (Dr.): Previous source, p. 89.