Sufism

Origin

Sufism emerged in the first centuries of Islam from the ascetic and mystical impulse already present in the Prophet Muhammad's life and teaching. The early Sufis, called zuhhad (renunciants), included Hasan al-Basri (642 to 728) and the woman saint Rabia al-Adawiyya (around 718 to 801), who introduced the language of divine love into Islamic spirituality. The term sufi, probably derived from suf meaning wool (the rough garment of the ascetics), appears from the eighth century. The early Sufi schools of Basra, Kufa, and Baghdad developed distinctive doctrines and practices. The first systematic Sufi handbooks include the Risala of al-Qushayri (around 1045) and the Ihya Ulum al-Din of al-Ghazali (around 1100), which integrated Sufism into mainstream Sunni theology.

From the twelfth century, Sufism organised itself into tariqas or orders, structured brotherhoods with initiation chains traced back through generations of masters to the Prophet. The major orders include the Qadiriyya, founded by Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (1077 to 1166); the Suhrawardiyya, founded by Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi (1097 to 1168); the Shadhiliyya, founded by Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (1196 to 1258); the Mawlawiyya or Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, founded by the followers of Rumi in Konya after 1273; the Naqshbandiyya, deriving from Baha ad-Din Naqshband (1318 to 1389); and the Chishtiyya of South Asia, founded by Muin ad-Din Chishti (1142 to 1236). Sufism is now present in every Muslim country and in significant Western communities.

Teachings and method

Sufi doctrine describes the spiritual path as a journey through stations (maqamat) and states (ahwal) toward the goal of fana, the annihilation of the egoic self, followed by baqa, the subsistence in God. The classical stations include repentance, abstinence, renunciation, poverty, patience, trust, and satisfaction. The states include awe, intimacy, longing, love, gnosis, and certainty. The seven stages of the nafs or self, from the commanding self (nafs al-ammara) to the perfectly tranquil self (nafs al-kamila), provide a developmental map drawn from the Quran and elaborated by Sufi masters.

The central practice is dhikr, the remembrance of God through the repetition of divine names or formulae. The Shahada (la ilaha illa Allah, there is no god but God) is the foundational dhikr. The ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah provide an extensive vocabulary of remembrance. Dhikr is practised silently or aloud, alone or in group circle, often accompanied by specific breathing patterns and bodily postures. Sama is the practice of sacred listening to music and poetry, sometimes accompanied by movement; the Mevlevi sema or whirling ceremony is the most famous form. Sohbet is the practice of mystical conversation between master and disciple.

In practice

Traditional Sufi practice requires affiliation with a tariqa and bayah (initiation oath) to a sheikh, who guides the disciple through a structured course of dhikr, retreat (khalwa), study, and ethical refinement. The disciple receives a personal wird, a sequence of formulae and Quranic verses to recite daily, and progresses through stages of practice as the sheikh judges fit. Public Sufi events include weekly hadras (group dhikr circles), annual mawlid celebrations of saints, and pilgrimages to sheikh tombs. The Mevlevi sema is performed publicly in Konya each December on the anniversary of Rumi's death.

Western interest in Sufism grew through the translations of Reynold Nicholson (Rumi's Masnavi, 1925 to 1940), the work of Frithjof Schuon and the Traditionalist school, the popular books of Idries Shah (1924 to 1996), and the poetry translations of Coleman Barks and others. Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882 to 1927) founded the Sufi Order in the West in 1910, presenting Sufism as a universal mysticism independent of formal Islam. Traditional Sufis distinguish between such universalist Sufism and Sufism within the Islamic tradition. Combine Sufi reading with Gnosticism, Alchemy (Sufi influence on European alchemy is documented), and Rosicrucianism for the wider mystical context.

Symbolic depth

The deepest Sufi teaching is the doctrine of unity, called tawhid in Arabic. For Ibn al-Arabi and the school of wahdat al-wujud (the unity of being), there is only one reality, and the apparent multiplicity of the world is the self-manifestation of this single reality through countless forms. The human being, made in the divine image, has the capacity to know this directly through love and through the unveiling that follows the annihilation of the separate self. The lover and the beloved are one, the seeker is the sought, the worshipper is the worshipped at the deepest level. This teaching, articulated in countless variations across Sufi poetry, is the heart of Sufism.

Sufi symbolism is rich and concrete. The Beloved is the divine, called by the names of human lovers (Layla, Salma). The tavern is the place of mystical intoxication. The wine is divine grace. The cup is the heart. The Simurgh is the king of birds whose name in Persian breaks into si murgh, meaning thirty birds, in Attar's Conference of the Birds (around 1177), where thirty birds reach the king to discover that they themselves are the king. Rumi's Masnavi, 25,000 verses across six books, is the master poem of Sufi teaching. Continue with Taoism (parallel non-dualist mysticism), Gnosticism, and the full glossary for further reading.

Also known as

• Tasawwuf
• Islamic Mysticism
• Path of the Heart
• Sufi Way
• Dervish Tradition