Sufism the way of divine life

Sufis are Muslim Mystics. A Mystic is somebody who surrenders themselves to a God or religious ideology. Ever since the 800s, various Sufi orders have appeared with various holy men offering methods that promise to have Muslims increase their faith in God (Allah) and become closer to him. Sufis have a whole concept of Awliya (Sainthood) for Muslims who became so close to God that they became his “friends”. Generally these Saints become venerated. Take Morocco, a Sufi nation, where such Saints are common with cities even having local saints. Sufism is not the third sect of Islam, it’s a name for the various orders in both Sunni and Shia Islam.

Sufi Orders encourage membership by promoting the belief in Sainthood, if you follow their instructions you can possibly become a Saint. Because of this, there tends to be “Cults” of Saints in the Islamic world among Sufis. Sufi Orders are part of Sunni and Shia Islam, so the tolerance they show comes from both those sects. As I told one fellow long ago, it’s amusing to hear somebody call Sufis very tolerant but Sunnis violent. Because the majority of Sufis are Sunnis. (Shia Islam has a weak Sufi movement from what I gather). However, at the end of the day, it depends on the order. To use two Turkish orders: The Mevlevi Order is , to oversimplify, an order of “dancers” as their order has a focus on whirling which they believe helps them worship Allah more.

Sufism is the term generally used for a more mystical interpretation of Islam, its name believed to have been taken from the roof word “suf,” or wool, perhaps for the woolen robes worn by early Sufi ascetics, rejecting wealth and worldliness. The label “Sufiyya,” rooted in the Arabic word “tasawwuf,” from which the English word “Sufism” is derived was first applied to a modern urban movement in eighth-century Baghdad. As one modern scholar of Sufism has speculated: “The term ‘Sufi’ had a certain ‘avant-garde’ or ‘cutting edge’ resonance among both renunciants and others…this ‘hip’ quality facilitated its application to the new movement.’

Starting from simple notions of clean living and exile from the luxuries of civilization, Sufism exfoliated into a subtle theology, emphasizing a more intimate relation with God and the possibility of inner union, or reunion, with the divine. Sufis tend to favor verses of the Quran that emphasize closeness and accessibility over the sheer transcendence of God. Especially beloved is the fifteenth verse of Sura 50: “We indeed created man; and We know what his soul whispers within him, and we are nearer to him than the jugular vein.”

Rumi rarely used the term “Sufi” about himself directly. He preferred words such as “dervish,” the Turkish version of a Persian word for those who renounced the world, or for the poor in God. Sufi orders, organized much as monastic orders were organized in the West, were beginning to be codified during Rumi’s life, but were often still less formal. The Mevlevi Order of Whirling Dervishes, which is the lineage of Rumi, was only organized coherently after his death by his son Sultan Valad and then by his grandson. Like Saint Francis of Assisi and the subsequent development of the Franciscan Order, the establishment of the Mevlevi Sufi Order associated with Rumi mostly occurred after his death. His own mystical practice and whirling was less bound by rules.

To use a popular example from my city Meknes, we have the Sultan Moulay Ismail who is hailed as a Saint by local Sufis like my much of my family. Because of this, we pray at his tomb! To serve God and win He's Contentment thereby reaching He's Closeness. Sufism (correct term is Tassawwuf) shouldn't be viewed as a sect but a science of discipline and spiritual rectification where one can truly take on the path to attain what you are supposed to. Furthermore, one learns also that you shouldn't just aim for a place in Paradise but to yearn for God Himself. Unfortunately, Tassawwuf has been over-mythicized and misrelated to to the point that many people are confused of what it really is.

This has been partly due to pseudo-Sufis, Orientalism, slander from extremists and misinterpretation of poetry. It isn't something which can be understood through poetry nor should it be based on stereotyping. It has to be guides by a Shaykh who has attained enough perfection to teach. This Shaykh has to have taken it from he's Shaykh, and so on, all the way until the chain of Shuyukh (plural) reaches the Prophet (Salutations and Peace of God be upon him). There shouldn't be any fabrication in the chain nor should the tariqa (or order if you like) have been infiltrated by others. All that said, I hope you understand what it is before just delving into it.

You are light. Before this world, you were in a state of oneness in spirit form. You descended here into this low vibration dense material world, to know yourself. And know, without a shadow of a doubt (”yaqeen”) that you are pure light. Once you reach this station (”marifat”) with certainty; your job is to enlighten others and help them get back to the original light that they truly are inside. The spirit is the true self (”ruh” - Quran 15:39). This is the path of tariqat, a path to Allah. Because from Allah we come and to Allah we go back (”inna lillahi, wa inna ilayhi rajiuun”) (Quran 2:156).

Sufis emphasize a life dedicated to the path of God and Islam. The Quran says: When thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to create a mortal out of mire, And when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down before him prostrate, The angels fell down prostrate, every one, Saving Iblis; he was scornful and became one of the disbelievers. (38:71–74) The verse mentions something very important. It also addresses spiritual realm instead of a material one. Adam was sent to live in the world as the first human being and became the ancestor to all humans.

The world we live in is material. But our essence remains spiritual. Sufis believe same about the Quran and human life. There is a deep spiritual meaning to both. Sufis believe that the soul is realized by spiritual practices of Islam and abstinence from the world. Sufis believe in the attainment of spiritual enlightenment. Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, a school of practice that emphasizes the inward search for God and shuns materialism.

It has produced some of the world's most beloved literature, like the love poems of the 13th century Iranian jurist Rumi. Sufis tend to find the meaning of life from within themselves. They believe that a person can do wonders if he/she realizes his/her true worth: East, west, south, or north makes little difference. No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within. If you travel within, you’ll travel the whole wide world and beyond.