The Shajarat al-Murād is a schematic outline of the objectives of taṣawwuf presented in Ḥakīm al-Ummah Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī al-Thānwī’s indispensable Urdu multi-volume work, Tarbiyat al-Sālik.

In this work, Mawlānā Thānwī defines taṣawwuf as the disciplined application of the inward dimension of the Sharīʿah. He begins with first principles. The purpose of a Muslim’s life is to attain the pleasure of Allah. That end requires full adherence to the Sharīʿah. Since the Sharīʿah encompasses both outward and inward dimensions, the Muslim scholarly tradition developed distinct sciences to address each. The outward dimension, including ritual worship, family law, commercial dealings, and social conduct, falls within the scope of fiqh. The inward dimension, which concerns spiritual states, moral character, and the rectification of the heart, falls within the scope of taṣawwuf.

Taṣawwuf, in this sense, consists in acquiring and refining inward moral qualities while critically staying bound to the outward commands of the Sharīʿah. These inward qualities are the foundation of all bodily acts of worship.

The excellence of the Shajarat al-Murād is found in its clarity and structure. It distinguishes between objectives and non-objectives, means and ends, practices and outcomes. It maps the architecture of spiritual health in a way that is systematic and practical.

Inspired by Mawlānā Tameem Ahmedi’s discourses on the Shajarat al-Murād, I prepared an adapted version of this schematic for psychotherapists training in an integrated Islamic system. The aim of the training was to make key concepts of the classical Sufi tradition intelligible to those engaged in contemporary therapeutic practice, especially in contexts where traditional spiritual healing is invoked but not always well understood.

I have included a PDF of the chart, titled Essentials of Spiritual Health, for those who wish to consult it. For further study, readers may turn to Tarbiyat al-Sālik and to al-Thānwī’s Sharīʿah wa Ṭarīqah, both of which elaborate on the theoretical and practical foundations of this integrated vision.