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It is not possible to speak of islah without referring to the Sufi tradition. Sufism is not a separate religion nor a “parallel path “ opposed to Islam as practiced according to the shari’a. Sufism is rather an Islamic movement that intends to discover and elaborate on the spiritual elements already found in the pillars of islam and iman in order to lead people to a union of love with God. Sufis see their efforts as an expression of the “interior struggle,” al-jihad al-akbar, to attain a union of love and will with God. The Sufis drew up a practical program of inner growth and spiritual direction so that ordinary Muslim “laity” - manual laborers, craftsmen, housewives, farmers - could live united with God in the midst of their daily activities. From the first generations, some Muslims stressed the potential of the Qur’anic message to transform a believer inwardly. They protested against the worldly power and wealth that entered the community soon after the death of Muhammad. They stressed the need for a simple, prayer-centered life and adopted many ascetical practices. Starting from Qur’anic teaching, they stressed the transforming power of God’s love. Their early leader and hero, Hasan al-Basri, criticized rulers for luxury and nepotism. By the second century there was already a community of ascetics in Abbadan (modern Iraq) who wrote treatises about the love of God. About this time, they began to be called “Sufis,” although the origin of the word is disputed (suf, wool; ahlu saffa, people of the bench; safa’, purity.) Spiritual teachers attracted disciples and wrote down instructions for their students. Chains of initiation grew up, so that a student on the path identified, through his spiritual teacher and teacher’s teacher, with one of the great spiritual masters of the past. In the early centuries, Sufi life was informal, disciples gathered around a spiritual guide (Arabic, shaykh, Persian, pir, with the Hindi word guru often used in the Indian subcontinent and the Javanese kiai in Indonesia).