Sufism (also known asTassawuf) is a group or branch inIslam with amystic path or system. Someone who practices Sufism is called a Sufi, and may be aDervish or aFakir.
At first, Sufism only meant making Islam more personal and internal. Some say it first came from constantly reciting theQur'an,meditating, and through experience. Others believe that Sufism is trying to live as the Islamic prophetMuhammad did, to be closer to God. This is how the Prophet taught his disciples.[1] Additionally, the Muslim conquests had brought large numbers ofChristianmonks andhermits, especially inSyria andEgypt, under Muslim rule.[2] They believed in a deeply spiritual and mystical (even 'Platonic') way of life and many of their ways became part of early Sufism.[2]
Some of these teachings were summarized in texts (inArabic initially). Important contributions in writing are attributed toUwais al-Qarni, Harrm bin Hian,Hasan Basri and Sayid ibn al-Mussib, who are regarded as among the first Sufis in the earliest generations of Islam.Harith al-Muhasibi was the first one to write aboutmoral psychology.Rabia Basri was a Sufi known for her love and passion for God, expressed through her poetry.Bayazid Bastami was among the first theorists of Sufism.
Sufism already had a long history when some teachers began to set up formal schools or orders (Tarika orTariqah) in the earlyMiddle Ages. Almost all existing Sufi orders today trace their roots and chain of transmission (silsila) back to Muhammad, via one of these orders.
The main idea in Sufism is that people can have 'personal knowledge' or oneness with God in their lives.[3] In order to be one with God, you have to destroy your idea of yourself, or yourego. This is known asfanaa (annihilation).[4] Apart from saying Sufi prayers, that vary according to different orders, you should be humble, considerate, and only act in order to control yourdesires.
Afterfanaa is achieved, you arereborn to live with, in, through and for God, (baqaa,permanency). This is the state where you have achieved the divine love of God, and come ever closer to a unity with God.[5] You should now strive to be one with God. A person who has crossed the various Sufi 'stages' and achieved this sort of mystic union with Allah, is called aWali (asaint or friend of God) and the state is termedWilayat (friendship/union).[6]
In Sufism there exist many different orders (tarikas), that were founded from the 12th and13th centuries until today/contemporary times. Some of the major Sufi orders are:
Modernpractitioners, who have achieved the degree ofsheikh (Master/Preceptor) and are accounted to have a high spiritual status, are still found in various places.[9]
Sufipractices are usuallydefined within the basic tenets of Islam, theSharia (orShariah) although some orders includesinging anddancing in the love of God, something some Muslimsdisapprove of. Some Muslims of a moreorthodoxmind-set believe that any actions outside the scope ofSharia, or Sufi activities practised by non-Muslims are wrong. For a non-Muslim the most important ideas in Sufism are love for fellow human beings (which reflects one's love of God) and living ones life in such a way where all actions are against the self. This starts the path offanaa. In terms ofdiscipleship and training, almost all the major Sufi orders are willing to take students who are not Muslims.[10]
There are some Muslim schools of thought, such as theWahhabi, who oppose Sufism because they feel itobliterates the difference between God and man and bypasses the common method ofsalvation in their interpretations ofSharia. Although there are non-Islamic versions of Sufism too (generally defined as 'Universal Sufism')puritanical and rigid people in Islam don't like them. As a result, we often see a great deal of misunderstanding and conflict regarding Sufism and Sufic practices.
Orthodox Islam, especiallyfundamentalist groups like the Wahhabi andSalafi have been the mostintolerant andviolent against what they think of as 'Deviant Sufism'.[11] They havepersecuted theKharijites, theIsmailiShia cult (sometimes termed the 'Assassins'), theAhmadiyya movement and several other groups and individuals with Sufi-like mystical tendencies and practices. During the laterMughal Empire inIndia, even the earlygurus ofSikhism were persecuted by orthodox Islamicmullahs since they had chosen to put some of the ideas and poetic verses of the Sufi saintBaba Farid into theirscriptures. Over the last twodecades, considerable persecution has been made of the spiritual reformer andsageRiaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi and his followers inPakistan.[12] He was opposed and threatened and forced to flee the country and his books banned there, and anyone publicly supporting him is liable to immediatearrest.[13]
Even proper, formal Sufi orders have suffered persecution for various reasons. In recent times Sufism wasbanned inIran.[14] This happened in spite of the famousAmman Message, a joint declaration made by over 200 of the most noted moderate Islamic scholars in a conference inAmman,Jordan, in 2005, stressing that Sufism is very much 'part' of Islam.[15]
Some volumes for further reading on Sufism include:
Abu-Nasr, J (2007)Muslim Communities of Grace:Sufi Brotherhoods in Islam London;
Burckhardt, T (1963)An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine Lahore;
Godlas, A (2000)Sufism's Many Paths U of Georgia Press;
Shah, Idries (1971)The Sufis New York;
Schimmel, A (1983)Mystical Dimensions of Islam Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press;
Smoley, Richard & Kinney, Jay. 2006.Hidden wisdom: a guide to the western inner traditions. 2nd ed; Wheaton, Illinois: Quest Books.ISBN978-0-8356-0844-2 (Chapter 10 deals with Sufism in the West)
Chopra, R. M., "SUFISM" (Origin, Growth, Eclipse, Resurgence), 2016, Anuradha Prakashan, New Delhi,ISBN978-93-85083-52-5.
↑Sheikh Abu Bakr Muhammad Sibahi,Tareekhi Tassawuf aur uss ka Irtaqa (Historical Tassawuf/Sufism and its Later Evolution) Lahore: Qurtaba Press, 1966, pp.23-28
↑Ehsan Ur Rehman,Islam ya Kufr? Deen mein biddat ke maamlay (Islam or Unbelief? Some innovations in the Faith) Monograph, Lahore and Karachi, 1992, pp.51-52
