Sufism
<p ><b>Sufism</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" title="Arabic language" >Arabic</a>: الصوفية <i>al-ṣūfiyya</i>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language" title="Persian language" >Persian</a>: تصوف <i>taṣawwuf</i>) is a concept in Islam, defined by scholars as the inner, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical" title="Mystical" class="mw-redirect" >mystical</a> dimension of Islam; others contend that it is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perennial_philosophy" title="Perennial philosophy" >perennial philosophy</a> of existence that pre-dates religion, the expression of which flowered within the Islamic religion.<sup id="cite_ref-Dialogue_Talk_1-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-Dialogue_Talk-1" >[1]</a></sup> Some hold the notion its essence has also been expressed via other religions and metareligious phenomena, while others believe Sufism to be totally unique within Islam.<sup id="cite_ref-Godlas_2-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-Godlas-2" >[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-3" >[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-4" >[4]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-5" >[5]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-books.google.ca_6-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-books.google.ca-6" >[6]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-7" >[7]</a></sup> A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a <b>ṣūfī</b> (صُوفِيّ). They belong to different <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariqah" title="Tariqah" class="mw-redirect" >ṭuruq</a></i> or "orders"—congregations formed around a master—which meet for spiritual sessions (majalis), in meeting places known as zawiyahs, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanqah" title="Khanqah" >khanqahs</a>, or tekke.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-8" >[8]</a></sup>
All Sufi orders (<i>turuq</i>) trace many of their original precepts from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_prophet" title="Islamic prophet" class="mw-redirect" >Islamic prophet</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad" title="Muhammad" >Muhammad</a> through his cousin and son-in-law <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_ibn_Abi_Talib" title="Ali ibn Abi Talib" class="mw-redirect" >Ali ibn Abi Talib</a>, with the notable exception of the Sunni <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqshbandi" title="Naqshbandi" >Naqshbandi</a> order who claim to trace their origins through the first sunni <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliph" title="Caliph" >Caliph</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr" title="Abu Bakr" >Abu Bakr</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-SupremeCouncil_9-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-SupremeCouncil-9" >[9]</a></sup> However, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevi" title="Alevi" class="mw-redirect" >Alevi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bektashi" title="Bektashi" class="mw-redirect" >Bektashi</a><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-10" >[10]</a></sup> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia" title="Shia" class="mw-redirect" >Shia</a> Muslims claim that every Sufi order traces its spiritual lineage (<i>silsilah</i> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silsila" title="Silsila" >Silsila</a>) back to one of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Imams" title="The Twelve Imams" >the Twelve Imams</a> (even the Naqshbandi silsilah leads to the sixth imam <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%27far_al-Sadiq" title="Ja'far al-Sadiq" >Ja'far al-Sadiq</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_the_Persian" title="Salman the Persian" >Salman the Persian</a>, a renowned follower of the first imam <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_ibn_Abi_Talib" title="Ali ibn Abi Talib" class="mw-redirect" >Ali ibn Abi Talib</a>), the spiritual heads of Islam who were foretold in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_of_the_Twelve_Successors" title="Hadith of the Twelve Successors" >Hadith of the Twelve Successors</a>and were all descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali. Because of this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_ibn_Abi_Talib" title="Ali ibn Abi Talib" class="mw-redirect" >Ali ibn Abi Talib</a> is also called the "father of Sufism".<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-11" >[11]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-12" >[12]</a></sup> Prominent orders include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevi" title="Alevi" class="mw-redirect" >Alevi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bektashi" title="Bektashi" class="mw-redirect" >Bektashi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burhaniya" title="Burhaniya" class="mw-redirect" >Burhaniya</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mevlevi" title="Mevlevi" class="mw-redirect" >Mevlevi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_%27Alawiyya" title="Ba 'Alawiyya" >Ba 'Alawiyya</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chishti" title="Chishti" class="mw-redirect" >Chishti</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifa%27i" title="Rifa'i" >Rifa'i</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalwati" title="Khalwati" class="mw-redirect" >Khalwati</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqshbandi" title="Naqshbandi" >Naqshbandi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%27matull%C4%81h%C4%AB" title="Ni'matullāhī" >Nimatullahi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwaisi" title="Uwaisi" >Oveyssi</a>, Qadiria Boutshishia, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qadiriyyah" title="Qadiriyyah" class="mw-redirect" >Qadiriyyah</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qalandariyya" title="Qalandariyya" >Qalandariyya</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarwari_Qadiri" title="Sarwari Qadiri" >Sarwari Qadiri</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadhili" title="Shadhili" >Shadhiliyya</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suhrawardiyya" title="Suhrawardiyya" >Suhrawardiyya</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_13-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-ReferenceA-13" >[13]</a></sup>
The origin of Sufism is also discussed in the book <i>Mystical Dimensions of Islam</i>, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annemarie_Schimmel" title="Annemarie Schimmel" >Annemarie Schimmel</a>.
Sufis believe they are practicing <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ihsan" title="Ihsan" >ihsan</a></i> (perfection of worship) as revealed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel" title="Gabriel" >Gabriel</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad" title="Muhammad" >Muhammad</a>: "Worship and serve <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah" title="Allah" >Allah</a> as you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you". Sufis consider themselves as the original true proponents of this pure original form of Islam. Sufism is opposed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabi" title="Wahhabi" class="mw-redirect" >Wahhabi</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafist" title="Salafist" class="mw-redirect" >Salafist</a> Muslims.
Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God".<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-14" >[14]</a></sup> Alternatively, in the words of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darqawa" title="Darqawa" >Darqawi</a> Sufi teacher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Ajiba" title="Ahmad ibn Ajiba" >Ahmad ibn Ajiba</a>, "a science through which one can know how to travel into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_presence" title="Divine presence" >presence of the Divine</a>, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits".<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-15" >[15]</a></sup>
Muslims and mainstream scholars of Islam define Sufism as simply the name for the inner or esoteric dimension of Islam<sup id="cite_ref-Godlas_2-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-Godlas-2" >[2]</a></sup> which is supported and complemented by outward or exoteric practices of Islam, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia" title="Sharia" >Islamic law</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-16" >[16]</a></sup> In this view, "it is absolutely necessary to be a Muslim" to be a true Sufi, because Sufism's "methods are inoperative without" Muslim "affiliation".<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-17" >[17]</a></sup> In contrast, author <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idries_Shah" title="Idries Shah" >Idries Shah</a> states Sufi philosophy is universal in nature, its roots predating the rise of Islam and Christianity.<sup id="cite_ref-Munn_18-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-Munn-18" >[18]</a></sup> Some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariqah" title="Tariqah" class="mw-redirect" >schools of Sufism</a> in Western countries allow non-Muslims to receive "instructions on following the Sufi path".<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-19" >[19]</a></sup> Some Muslim opponents of Sufism also consider it outside the sphere of Islam.<sup id="cite_ref-Godlas_2-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-Godlas-2" >[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-20" >[20]</a></sup>
Classical Sufis were characterised by their attachment to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhikr" title="Dhikr" >dhikr</a>, (a practice of repeating the names of God, often performed after prayers)<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-21" >[21]</a></sup> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism" title="Asceticism" >asceticism</a>. Sufism gained adherents among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the worldliness of the early <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate" title="Umayyad Caliphate" >Umayyad Caliphate</a> (661–750 CE).<sup id="cite_ref-FirstDynasty_22-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-FirstDynasty-22" >[22]</a></sup> Sufis have spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, originally expressing their beliefs in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" title="Arabic language" >Arabic</a>, before spreading into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language" title="Persian language" >Persian</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language" title="Turkish language" >Turkish</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India" title="Languages of India" >Indian languages</a> and a dozen other languages.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism#cite_note-23" >[23]</a></sup>
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