what is the most important belief in sufism

In this way, Sufis seek to directly connect with the divine. Sufism takes “doing the beautiful” as its especial domain, which is based on submission and faith (Chittick, 2000). Here the Sheikh and the follower hold hands and close their eyes in solemn meditation. The following allegory helps to explain the Sufi approach to God: Sufis understand the Prophet Mohammed’s saying, “God was, and nothing was Him” to mean that God’s existence is supreme to all others. The controversy surrounding Sufism is perhaps best exemplified by Mansur al-Hallaj, who identified himself by one of the names of Allah—‘Ana Al-haqq,’ which means “I am the truth, I am the Reality or I am God.” These words had him branded as a blasphemer, and authorities in Baghdad ordered him to execution (Chittick, 2000; Tell, 2002; Waines, 2003; Abdin, 2004). Additionally, poetry, dancing and music are devotional tools used by Sufis to remind the seeker of God’s presence. The first way is to recognize God the divine in every person, and to care for every person with whom we come in contact, in our thought, speech, and action. Sufism is a way of life in which a deeper identity is discovered and lived. They attempt to reach a state of fana (a temporary ecstatic intoxication of divine love) and baqa (a prolonged condition of complete "human in-dwelling with God”). Eventually puritanical Muslims attacked Sufis, saying their poetry and music were infections from Christianity and Hinduism and were antithetical to the principles of Islam (Dalrymple, 2004). "There are three ways of knowing a thing. Some Sufis were executed for their preaching; other Sufis saw their shrines destroyed; and still others were forced underground in countries like Saudi Arabia, where mysticism and the worship of saints are labeled as apostasy (Khan, 2005). Rabia was a female Sufi and known for her love and passion for God. Sinai. The shift of Sufism from asceticism to divine love captured the attention of the masses and elites, and soon Sufism began to flourish in Baghdad spreading then to Persia, Pakistan, India, North Africa, and Muslim Spain.[2]. This period (especially the thirteenth century) is considered to be the "Golden Age" of Sufism. Surrender to Love. Seyyedeh Dr. Nahid Angha. Later, there were some scholars who considered some aspects of Sufism heresy. The follower willfully and wholeheartedly pledges to respect the Sheikh as his leader and guide to the path of God. Muraqaba (Persian: Tamarkoz) is the word used by many Sufis when referring to the practice of meditation. Sometimes the Sufi songs, or dances are performed as an appeal for the Presence of God, his prophets, and angels. At the seventh stage, the Sufi is said to see everything as a manifestation of God and is stripped of all notions of culture, race and ideology (Safi, 2003). Non-Muslims often mistake Sufism as a sect of Islam. The former doctrine is predicated on the belief that all phenomena are manifestations of a single reality called Wujud (being), or al-Haq (Truth, God). Al-Ghazali's ihya ulum-aldeen (احياء علوم الدين), Imam Nawawi's Bustan al-Arifeen etc.). Abu Hamzah recognized the voice of God in the cawing of a crow, for which authorities expelled him from Tarsus (Melchert, 1996). Most importantly, however, it is an invitation to meaningfulness and well-being. "Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the most important thing is to seek God in the heart of mankind." Through self-denial, careful introspection and mental struggle, Sufis hope to purify the self from all selfishness, thus attaining ikhlas, absolute purity of intention and act. Sufism has produced a large body of poetry in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi. People of ascetic temperaments were found throughout Muslim communities early in the history of Islam. In some Sufi orders, muraqaba may involve concentrating one's mind on the names of God, on a verse of the Qur'an, or on certain Arabic letters that have special significance. The pursuit of truth is the quest for a particular goal, a quest pursued no matter how difficult the path — and for the most important truths, the way may be long and arduous indeed. Sufism was traditionally considered the systematization of the spiritual component of Islam. Rumi writes, “Hallaj had been annihilated, so those were the words of the Real” (Chittick, 2000, p. 17). Review of Books and Religion. I believe in freedom of belief/religion so if Sufism is the religion a person believes in then it’s their right. But the glory of the incarnation is that God was manifested in human form. This deeper identity, beyond the already known personality, is in harmony with all Muraqaba is very similar to the Merkavah practice, which is one of the meditations used by Kabbalists to attain higher states of consciousness. [3] Other theories have been suggested for the origins of Sufism, which link it to outside non-Muslim influences. The essence of being/Truth/God is devoid of every form and quality, and hence unmanifested, yet it is inseparable from every form and phenomenon either material or spiritual. The most important orders to emerge out of Mesopotamia are Rifa'iyyah, Suhrawardiyyah, Kubrawiyyah and Qadiriyyah. Khalwa refers to a form of retreat, once widespread but now less common. The following article first appeared in the journal Sufism: An Inquiry.. However, of all the books in English about Sufism this might be the most beautifully written, grounded, and evocative "primer" on Sufism as the There are pitfalls to reading this book without a certain degree of understanding of Islam previously as the language Lings uses can be a barrier to grasping his meaning and some will take issue with the ideas presented. Kabbalists also use a practice called Zakhor which in Hebrew literally means remembrance. Muhammad, for example, used to retreat to the cave where he received his first inspiration—but had been going there for many years prior to his meeting with the angel Gabriel. [4], If early Sufism arose out of the practice of asceticism—the turning away from worldly life to concentrate on prayer to Allah—then it likely resulted in being limited to a small number of devoted practitioners. In the first stage, Sufi followers were to give themselves over to service of their brethren and to following the law. The Sufis are the men of the highest morality. Al-Azhar) like Ibn Ata'illah were Sufi masters. Sufism – What is it?Sufism (Sufism) may be best described as a mystical practice that emphasizes certain unique rituals for guiding spiritual seekers into a direct encounter with God. In Uyghur culture, this includes a dance form also originally associated with Sufi ritual. Among the oldest and most well known of the Sufi orders (tariqas) are the Qadiri, Chisti, Oveyssi, Shadhili, Jerrahi, Naqshbandi, Nimatullahi, Mevlevi and the Ashrafi. Others included Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, founder of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, Sahabuddin Suharwardi in Asia minor, and Moinuddin Chishti in India. One major figure and catalyst in its growth was the female mystic Rabiah al-Adawiyah (died 801), who emphasized the absolute love for Allah above everything else. Through these "organs" or faculties and the transformative results from their activation, the basic Sufi psychology bears some resemblance to the schemata of kabbalah and the tantric chakra system. A significant part of Persian literature comes from Sufism, which produced great works of poetry such as the Walled Garden of Truth, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the Conference of the Birds and the Masnavi, all of which contain teachings of the Sufis. [8] The Mevlevi order, founded by Rumi, became famous for their whirling dance (El-Zein, 2000). ‘It is an invaluable contribution to the study of the subject and may well become a standard textbook… Highly recommended.’ Choice. Another thing to notice here is that there is not only similarity in practice but also a strong similarity in the spelling and sounding of the words in Sufism and Kabbalah. An Introduction to Sufism. In Ouakam, the NabyAllah movement surfaced recently and established a Mosque of the Divinity. Sufis make extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor to express divine longing and mystical experience. Humans can achieve this love if they give themselves entirely to the Allah's will (Abdin, 2004). From 1200-1500 C.E., Sufism experienced an era of increased activity in various parts of the Islamic world. In thi… There is nothing called Sufism or Sufi Islam. The word Hadhra means Presence in Arabic. Junayd was among the first theorist of Sufism; he concerned himself with ‘fanaa’ and ‘baqaa’, the state of annihilating the self in the presence of the divine, accompanied by clarity concerning worldly phenomena. Sufis can be associated with Shi'a Islam, Sunni Islam, other currents of Islam, or a combination of multiple traditions. ... you may answer: 'Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the most important thing is to seek God in the heart of humanity.'" We could say that there are those who acce… Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Wāsitī said: “As his essence is not caused, so his attributes are not caused: to attempt to display the eternal is to despair of understanding anything of the realities of the attributes or the subtleties of the essence (of God. In Morocco, it's the mystic chants accompanying the Gnawa (or Gnaoua) ritual to bring in the night of trance (Derdeba), just before the holy month of … Jihad According to the followers of Sufism, early scholars of Islam had positive attitudes towards Sufism. The essence of Being/Truth/God is devoid of every specific form and quality, and hence unmanifested, yet it is inseparable from every form and phenomenon either material or spiritual. The vow of obedience to the Shaykh or Qutb which is taken by Sufis is considered incompatible with devotion to the Imam". A number of scholars perceive influences from pre-Islamic and non-Islamic schools of mysticism and philosophy on Sufism such as, For a detailed essay on the role that Sufism plays in traditional Islam, please refer to, Art, Music, Literature, Sports and leisure, Previous (Sufficient reason, principle of), https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Sufism&oldid=1030305, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, The conventional view is that the term originates from, Another possible etymology is that the root word of Sufi comes from the Arabic word. The Arabic word literally means "to observe, guard or control one's thoughts and desires." It is and will remain a critic of worldliness by which it is meant everything that causes us to be forgetful of the Divine reality. Sema refers to Sufi worship practices involving music and dance. A central method on the Sufi path is a ritual prayer or dhikr (“remembrance”, derived from the Qur'anic injunction to remember God often in Surah 62:10). A final etymology, advanced by the tenth-century author Al-Biruni, is that the word, Dalrymple, W. "The ecstasy of God’s dancers. As a mystic and ascetic aspect of Islam, it is considered as the part of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of the inner self. ", Hardin, N. "Doris Lessing and the Sufi way. [2] These ascetics focused on introspection and maintained a strict control over their life and behavior. Along with anticipation and anguish, the dance of the whirling dervish symbolizes the exhilaration that comes from the search for divine love (El-Zein, 2000; Tell, 2002). The schools were formed by reformers who felt their core values and manners had disappeared in a society marked by material prosperity that they saw as eroding the spiritual life. Additionally, many Sufi brotherhoods (turuq) flourished with lodges and hospices that became places for practicing Sufis and other mystics to stay and retreat. In the first couplet we read that love is an attribute of God – as stated in the Qur'an. Muslims believe that most of the prophets, and also Maryam (Mary) the mother of Issa (Jesus), lived in some form of seclusion at some point in their life. ". These practices were also used to heighten awareness and concentration of one’s inner mind, and were a central part of Sufism from the early days. Sufis make extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor to express divine longing and mystical experience. Rifa'iyyah was founded in Basra, Iraq in the 12th century, soon spreading from Iraq into Syria and Egypt. Others have derived sufi from the word saff; this refers to the sufis’ “first rank” before God. The relationship between orthodox Islam and Sufism is complicated due to the variety of Sufi orders and their histories. All created beings carry within themselves, or more precisely within their spiritual being, the spiritual presence of God. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_3',167,'0','0']));eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_4',167,'0','1']));eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'newworldencyclopedia_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_5',167,'0','2'])); Qawwali is a form of devotional Sufi music common in Pakistan, North India, Afganistan, Iran and Turkey. Zakhor serves the same purpose in Kabbalah as Dhikr serves in Sufism. Though their belief system is rooted in the pre-Islamic tradition, the figure credited as the founder of the Yazidi faith is Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, a Sufi preacher who died in 1162. Emerging duing the eighth century C.E. Dhikr as a devotional act includes the repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from hadith literature, and sections of the Qur'an. Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam. They held that Sufism was never distinct from Islam and to fully comprehend and live correct with Sufism one must be a practicing Muslim obeying the Sharia. This is an interesting ceremony, which by far, is the most important principle of Sufism as it is common among all Sufi Orders. For example, Al-Ghazali defended Sufis as true Muslims. Their practices included fasting, wearing light clothing in the depths of winter, or withdrawing themselves from the world. ", Loutfy, N., and G. Berguno. While critics have thought of Sufism as a belief system that is alien to Islam, supporters of Sufism have argued that its tradition is in fact grounded in three themes that repeatedly appear in the Qu’ran, which are “submission” (Islam), “faith” (Iman), and “doing the beautiful” (Ihsan). Sufis believe that excessive rationalism blocks human understanding of God's immersive and loving nature. Many of the traditional scholars who were part of famous Islamic institutions (eg. eval(ez_write_tag([[336,280],'newworldencyclopedia_org-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',162,'0','0'])); Sufism is said to have originated during the time of Prophet Mohammad (seventh century C.E.). Almost all traditional Sufi orders trace their "chains of transmission" back to the Prophet via his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (except the Naqshbandi order which traces its origin to caliph Abu Bakr). The problem with creating names/ideas around the idea of "Sufism" is that it immediately polarizes and creates divisions. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. It is one of the outstanding works of 11th-century-Persian literature. As Sufism grew and as the Mongol empire expanded from Persia through Central Asia, Sufis absorbed ideas from local people who followed such ancient traditions as Zoroastrianism, Vedanta, Gnosticism, Buddhism, or Shamanism. ", Tell, C. '"A poet and a mystic: Jalaluddin Rumi. (Touma 1996, p.162). One of the first Sufi orders was the Yasawi order, named after Khwajah Ahmed Yesevi in modern Kazakhstan. Another suggested origin is from "Ashab al-Suffa" ("Companions of the Veranda") or "Ahl al-Suffa" ("People of the Veranda"), who were a group of Muslims during the time of the Prophet Muhammad that spent much of their time on the veranda of the Prophet's mosque devoted to prayer. More generally, any activity in which the Muslim maintains awareness of God is considered dhikr. Reformulation does not mean that Sufism will compromise its challenge to a stubbornly materialistic society. [5] Thus Sufism came to bridge gaps between the Muslim population and rulers and the local people they ruled over. God alone possesses reality and provides the reality to everything else in the world (Chittick, 2000, p. 12). Realizing that language was an inadequate and even dangerous way of describing their spiritual journey, Sufis became careful in using language to express themselves (Waines, 2003). In Senegal, there are four brotherhoods that represent Sufism including Layenism, Tijanism, Mouridism, and Qadiriyya. Islamic mystics are called Sufis and their way of life is Sufism (also spelled Sufiism). Sufism is more accurately described as an aspect or dimension of Islam. Jesus Christ came to make the lofty God knowable to all mankind.Hebrews 1:3: “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 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