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Sufism: the Mystical Side of Islam Sufism Sufism: The Mystical Side of Islam And they say: "None shall enter Paradise unless He be a Jew or a Christian. Those are their desires." Say: "Produce your proof if ye are truthful." Sura 2:111 William VanDoodewaard, Sufism: The Mystical Side of Islam, unpublished article, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada: 1996 During the eighth and ninth centuries A.D., a new emphasis began to develop Reference Notes: within the religion of Islam. This emphasis was a reaction against the prevailing impersonal and formal nature of Islam. For many Muslims the shari‘a, while 1Andrew Rippin, Muslims: Their seen as necessary, failed to satisfy their deepest spiritual longings and desires. Religious Beliefs and The search for deeper meaning began with a pietistic asceticism, which in turn Practices (New York: led to the development of the popular mystical side of Islam - known as Routledge, 1990), 118. tasawwuf or Sufism. 2see Appendix A - The controversial nature of the subject of Sufism becomes evident when one Sufism: An Interview realizes that this short introduction already reveals a viewpoint which the Sufi with Imam Mohamad would strongly disagree with. For, if the Sufi spiritual quest is to be viewed as M. Algalaleni. legitimate, even within Islam itself, it must be rooted in the Quran and the sunna 3Rippin, 118.. of Muhammad. Andrew Rippin, in his work Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, states that “Sufis.. in their search for legitimation of their spiritual 4Fazlur Rahman, Islam quest [must show] whether Islam as a religion contained within it a (London: Weidenfeld spiritual-ascetic tendency from the very beginning.”1 and Nicholson, 1966), 131.. In defense of Sufi legitimacy, some Muslims argue that it was simply a response 5Rahman, 131.. to the growing materialism in the Islamic world.2 However, this argument skirts the basic reason for Sufism, as during early Islamic times under Muhammad’s 6Seyyed Hossein Nasr, leadership, wealth was enjoyed and served as a great motivation for the military Sufi Essays (London: expansion of Islam. Muslims, at the time, followed a legal system allowing George Allen and unbridled materialism, though they were fully observant of the present religious Unwin Ltd., 1972), 11-12.. doctrine. The formal and legal nature of the Islamic system never addressed the issue of materialism, and as a result was seen as inadequate by those who 7Nasr, 12.. became Sufis in their search for deeper spirituality. Consequentially, Islam was to all appearances a religion of a decidedly unspiritual nature. 8Tara Charan Rastogi, Islamic Mysticism - To admit this would be devastating to the religion of Islam. Yet, if Islam is to be Sufism (New Delhi: defended as a spiritually adequate, Sufi doctrine and practice must be proven to Sterling Publishers Private Ltd., 1982), 1.. be inherently Islamic in nature, as “to suggest that Islamic mysticism is, in fact, a borrowing from outside raises the spectre of denial of the intrinsically spiritual 9Titus Burckhardt, An nature of Islam and thence the spiritual nature of Muslims themselves.”3 Introduction to Sufism (Wellingborough: The Thus we are left with several controversial, yet critically important questions. Aquarian Press, 1990), First, was Sufism present from the very beginnings of Islam, in the life of 15.. Muhammad and the Quran? Secondly, has Sufism borrowed from the outside - 10Rippin, 119.. http://www.rim.org/muslim/sufism.htm (1 of 13) [23/01/2001 7:47:38 PM] Sufism from other religions? And finally, how does the evidence for the answers to 11 these questions reflect on the nature of Islam itself? In Arabic “Inna li’Llahi wa-inna ilayhi Sufism has influenced many Muslims, and is, especially in the West, portrayed raji ‘un.” Martin Lings, What Is Sufism? and regarded as a valuable and legitimate part of the Islamic faith. Fazlur (London: George Allen Rahman, in his work Islam, says that “considerable ink has been spent by & Unwin Ltd., 1975), modern scholarship on the ‘origins’ of Sufism in Islam, as to how far it is 28.. ‘genuinely’ Islamic and how far a product, in the face of Islam, of outside 12 influences, particularly Christian and Gnostic.”4 Rahman seems to hint that Lings, 32.. some of this ink has been wasted, as he concludes that “outside influences must 13Haqiqa refers to the have played an accessory role and these no one may deny, but they must have ‘inner Truth’ or ‘inner supervened upon an initial native tendency.” However, aside from a vague Reality’ that Sufis reference to the ideas of trust in and love of Allah as being a result of believe is at the heart 5 of Islamic revelation. “developments within the intellectual and spiritual life of the community,” William Stoddart, Rahman fails to clarify or give any support to his claim that the essential and Sufism - The Mystical central basis of Sufism is Islamic. Doctrines and Methods of Islam (New York: Another Muslim scholar, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, in his work Sufi Essays, Paragon House expresses his disdain of “[scholars of Islam in the West] following the older Publishers, 1986), 41.. practice of explaining Sufism away as some kind of alien influence within 14Eisegesis, or the Islam,” and rejoices with the fact that “many are now willing to accept the practice of interpreting Islamic origin of Sufism and the unbreakable link connecting Sufism to Islam.”6 meaning into a While these are responses to the questions initially posed, they seem to be more passage, bears a striking resemblance to concerned with the maintenance of the outward appearance of Islamic unity, Sufi methods of than with critical academic research and appraisal. Quranic interpretation. Orthodox Muslims Not only do these statements seem one-sided from a scholarly standpoint, but opposed to Sufism they also run counter to what Nasr terms “indigenous puritanical movements of argue that Sufi a rationalist and anti-mystical kind”7 found within Islam. As one author interpretations are indeed eisegesis - in succinctly states, the fact remains that within Islam, Sufism is often “frowned other words the Sufis upon by Muslim orthodoxy, yet quite amazingly fawned upon and romantically are ascribing an ‘inner’ fondled by Muslim masses.”8 meaning which the verses themselves do In response to critics, Sufis argue that tasawwuf has been present from the very not contain. See also beginnings of Islam, and profess to find evidence for their claims in the sunna note 17 for further comment on Sufi and the Quran. On this basis they state that tasawwuf “is the esoteric or inward self-legitimatization.. (batin) aspect of Islam.”9 15Rippin, 119.. According to Sufi doctrine a number of verses in the Quran provide clear support for their mysticism. Perhaps the most often quoted as a proof is Surah 16Rippin, 120.. 24:35, “Allah is the Light of Heaven and Earth! His light may be compared to a niche in which there is a lamp; the lamp is in a glass; the glass is just as if it 17Fazlur Rahman in were a glittering star kindled from a blessed olive tree, {which is} neither his work Islam states, “the Sufis, in order to Eastern nor Western, whose oil will almost glow though the fire has never justify their stand, touched it. Light upon light, Allah guides anyone He wishes to His light.”10 formulated (ie. Another verse, often chanted in Sufi gatherings, and which the Sufis claim sums verbally invented) up the whole of Sufism is Surah 2:156, “Verily we are for Allah, and verily unto statements, sometimes http://www.rim.org/muslim/sufism.htm (2 of 13) [23/01/2001 7:47:38 PM] Sufism Him we are returning.”11 A third often used verse is Surah 50:6, “We (Allah) quite fanciful and 12 historically completely are nearer to him (man) than his jugular vein.” The Sufis believe that fictitious, which they Muhammad has said that every verse of the Quran has ‘an outside and an inside’ attributed to the - a belief clearly in line with their quest for the haqiqa.13 However, the very Prophet.” Rahman, method of Quranic interpretation used by the Sufis in order to support their 134.. 14 claims, can arguably be seen as a reliance on eisegesis rather than exegesis. 18J. Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Many of the traditions about the life of Muhammad which are often referred to Orders in Islam by Sufis are not found in the major hadith collections (Bukhari, Muslim, (Oxford: The Kulayni, Ibn Babuya), having been rejected by the collectors as unsound.15 Clarendon Press, However, within Sufi spheres the traditions are maintained - and viewed by 1971), 246.. Sufis as giving full legitimacy to the Sufi way of Islam. Yet, as Andrew Rippin 19Rippin, 120.. suggests, “[this] simply indicates that they [Sufis] have, like all other Muslims, always gone back to the prime sources of Islam for inspiration as well as 20Nasr, 15.. justification of their position.”16 The ulama regarding the shari‘a as the organizing principle in the life of the Islamic community, as the revealed way - 21Burckhardt, 16.. 17 guaranteed by Allah; have and continue to largely oppose Sufism. As one 22Burckhardt, 16.. scholar has stated, “[opponents] have never been wanting; [Sufis’] beliefs have been refuted, their practices condemned, their dervishes ridiculed and 23Rahman, 132.. occasionally executed, and their shaikhs castigated.”18 Thus the question remains whether the Quran and sunna were used for justification or inspiration, 24Rahman, 133.. an area requiring extensive research which does not yet seem to have been 25Rahman, 140. Other undertaken. authors also agree with Rahman’s position on As there is clearly no consensus on Sufi legitimacy as derived from the Quran this point. A.J.
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