Can you name some of the early Sufis?
The term Sufi was used as a surname for the first time in the second half of the 8th century in Kufah. It has been recorded that the name of this individual was Jabir ibn Hayyan as-Sufi. Jabir, known as Giber in western writings, who was also a scientist. The interesting point though, is that Jabir was a Shi'a. This is why a number of Muslim researchers considered Sufism to be a product of the Shi’as’. Furthermore, Jabir had his own kind of philosophy that he developed. He died in 776 C.E., in the later part of the 8th century. There were also other individuals in Kufah, Iraq, where Ismaeelism came from.[1]
There was also an individual, Abu Hashim Uthman ibn Shareek, who also died in the same period. He was attached to the Sunni school and was also known as as-Sufi. This is why I view this as being a product of both, arising as a splinter from both Shi'aism and Sufism. In fact, the term Soofiyyah was first used where the term Sufism came from, to describe a group of Shi’a mystics and the school of thought who evolved there. Its last known leader died in Baghdad in 825 C.E. and his name was ‘Abdak as-Sufi. ‘Abdak’ is one of the forbidden names, which means ‘your slave or your worshipper’. [2]
References:
[1] A.A Tabari, Sufism, pp 3
[2] A.A Tabari, Sufism, pp 9-15
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