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Sufi – A holy Mystic
By Nyla Ashraf
First historical traces of Sufism as a mystical path appeared within two centuries of the founding of Islam in the seventh century A.D. sufis were popularly accepted and respected within their surrounding communities and their mysticism was seen as an extension and deepening of Islamic practice sufism as a whole flourished and traveling Sufis were influential in introducing Islam to new cultures. Sufi's are Muslim mystics who trace there spiritual lineage to the great prophet Mohammad the founder of Islam. Like all mystics sufi's are not concerned with secondhand knowledge about God but with own personal first hand experience of God.
"I define the word sûfî in wide terms by applying it to anyone who believes that it is possible to have direct experience of God and who is prepared to go out of his way to put himself in a state whereby he may be enabled to do this. Many will not be happy about this definition, but I find it the only possible way to embrace all the varieties of people involved in the orders" Trimingham, J.S. (1998:1)
According to this view the outer forms of religion for sufis were merely vehicles for the spiritual content that lay beyond all rites and creeds. The sufi sage Shibli is said to have run the streets carrying flaming coals announcing he was going to set fire to the Ka'aba, the most sacred place in Islam so that muslims would concern themselves less with a place and more with the Lord of the Ka'aba such enthusiasm for truth has often caused sufis to be branded as heretics and horribly persecuted by orthodox Islamic authorities yet their wisdom has survived to inspire generations of spiritual seekers. Sufism is a voyage of discovery into ourselves and beyond ourselves; a pilgrimage to become perfect servants of Allah. The sufis may seem esoteric and mystifying but actually they are trying to point us to something so obvious that we miss it, sufism is simply about seeing things as they truly are - a mystical realization that is available to all. The true mystic is not a devotee lost in ecstatic communion or a reclusive saint who avoids others the true mystic lives alongside other people “Sufism took seed directly from Islam was nurtured by it and has reached maturity in Islam. Sufism has been called the soul of Islam, its mystical flower” (Schimmel, 1975). Sufism is an intrinsic part of Islam and sufi orders and traditions are widely present all over the world concentrated a lot in the subcontinent of India & Pakistan and is fast catching up in the west. Sufism is the way towards the knowledge of our self and our relation with our Lord it comprises the inner knowledge that is presented to us in the holy Qur'an. Sufi is the term attributed to a person practicing Sufism. To realize Allah one should purify his body, heart and soul. The Shari'ath (rules) stresses the purification of our body, sufism as practiced and preached by sufis stresses on the purification of our nafs, heart and soul.
The life of a Sufi is regulated strictly in accordance with Islamic theology and traditions and to attain this his first lesson is unshakable belief in the existence of God and unconditional surrender to God’s will which entails a strenuous life attended by rigid austerity and self-denial. A sufi performs regular prayers and meditation to attain the divine knowledge and realization of truth this particular knowledge is passed on 'in secret' by one Sufi to another having the requisite qualifications i.e. one who does not think evil does not see evil, does not hear evil and does not speak evil without this divine knowledge one cannot fathom the hidden mysteries of the nature and those of the soul to sum up the whole object of sufism is to attain the highest spiritual perfection. A sufi will be distinguishable from others on account of his detachment from his parents, children, wealth, power, position and comforts his ignorance vanishes in the effulgence of the Divine Light of the most High, the Lord of the entire Universe in such an ecstatical devotion there is neither pain nor sorrow for him as he is overwhelmingly dedicated to the will of the Almighty God. A Sufi saint can be called a spiritual king far above all temporal kings disguised in the patched robes of a humble dervish Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty (R.A) (May peace of God be upon his soul) was one of the greatest Sufi saints the world has ever known his spiritual influence and benedictions have been and are still a perpetual source of inspiration courage and guidance to the afflicted humanity irrespective of caste creed or religion.
The Making of a Sufi:
Suluk: the spiritual journey - The first and foremost requirement is the purification of the soul the process is generally a long and difficult one it consists of the three stages. The carnal soul: In the first stage one struggles against the carnal soul or nafs al-ammara as it is called by the Sufis. Nafs al-ammara is the tendency in man to disobey God and to take pleasure in evil deed and thought this inclines man towards gossip, backbiting, vain talk, pride, selfishness, lust, hatred and jealousy the struggle to overcome nafs al-ammara involves the purifying of the body, tongue, mind and heart. a) The body is purified by keeping it free from dirt by preserving its members from harm and by not indulging in sexual license. b) The tongue must be purified by restraining it from backbiting, malicious gossip and vain talk, or from using it to alter the truth. c) The mind must be purified by abstaining from suspicion, plotting and thinking ill of others. d) The heart must be purified by keeping it free from lust, jealousy, greed, selfishness, hatred and pride. e) In this stage, a Sufi constantly examines the motives of his likes and dislikes. The reproaching soul: When he has subjugated the carnal soul nafs al-ammara, the sufi enters upon the second stage of purification in which he is able to respond readily to the call of the reproaching soul which is called nafs al-lawwama it is the nafs al-lawwama which reproaches man for his evil deeds and impels him to acts of mercy and generosity. The contented soul: After this stage has become firmly established in him the Sufi enters the third stage which is known as the station of the contented soul nafsal-mutma'inna in this stage the sufi develops to the fullest the tendency to obey God and to act in perfect harmony with His commandments here the soul is reconciled with all other stations of the path such as poverty, patience, gratitude and trust in God here the soul finds perfect satisfaction in being governed by the heart the divine spark in man here the Sufi becomes truly free from fear and grief. As God said in the Qur'an, "Lo, indeed, the friends of God have no fear, nor are they grieved." Fear and grief are qualities of man and friends of God are relieved of the burden of these qualities fearlessly and with the strength of faith they invite man to God, the source of man's creation and the goal of his life here lies the difference between a true teacher and a false one: the true teacher invites man to God, and the pretender invites man to himself in this stage a Sufi is filled with love, mercy, kindness, and a burning zeal to help others in order to reach this high station a sufi must constantly strive to control his ego to curb his anger and impatience he must eat less, sleep less, talk less, and deny himself the pleasure of other people's company sometimes he withdraws completely from the worldly activities and occupies himself entirely with the remembrance of God and meditation as he makes progress spiritually he is able to extend the length of his periods of seclusion culminating in retreats of forty days' duration in this seclusion the sufi fasts during the day breaking his fast after sunset with only a small piece of bread and some water during the nights he keeps constant vigil and chants selected verses from the Qur'an 125,000 times. Meditation, ecstasy, states, stations and ascension:
The various stages on the mystical path are known as maqamat, or the 'stations', which can be reached by any sufi by means of prayer, fasting, meditation, and the hal or 'mystical state', which may be vouchsafed to the sufi by the grace of God but is not attainable by the mystic's own efforts a sufi may be blessed by an experience which reveals to his soul the reality of the whole universe from the lowest layer of earth to the highest heaven this experience is called mi'raj or the 'ascension' in this, he is generally accompanied by the spirit of his sheikh, and comes in contact with the spirits of other sheikhs and prophets various stations are also revealed to him with different colors and lights.
Extinction (fana) and subsistence (baqa):
One of the important phases of mystical experience which is attained by the grace of God by a traveler on the mystical path is the state of fana fi Allah, 'extinction of the self in God', which is the transition to the state of baqa billah or the 'eternal life in union with God' by passing away from self the individual does not cease to exist but is permitted to enjoy the supreme mystical experience in union with God he is fully absorbed into the love of God which gives him an everlasting awareness of the all-pervading presence of God this doctrine is further explained in an authentic tradition of the Prophet (pbuh) which states that God said: Nothing is more pleasing to me as a means for my slave to draw near unto me than the worship I have made binding upon him and my slave does not cease to draw near unto me with added devotions of his free will until I love him and when I love him I am the hearing wherewith he hears and the sight wherewith he sees and the hand wherewith he smites and the foot whereon he walks most sufis who have gone through this experience have preferred to live eternally in the greatest depth of silence which transcends all forms and sounds yet a few others have produced works of unsurpassed glory especially in the fields of literature and music which have crowned the culture of the entire Islamic world their works have inspired sufis and non-sufis for generations. "The unity of the Sufis is the integration of paradoxes and ontological contrasts ; it is the union of all the diverse qualities which characterize the order of multiplicity" ( Nasr, S.H 1997:.105)
The pseudo-Sufis
Over the centuries as the sufi orders grew the sufi masters were generally recognized as sages and men of wisdom and grace enjoying the esteem of the general populace the growing social prestige of the sufis attracted self-seekers who posed as sufis and dervishes and embarked upon the exploitation of the goodwill of the people these pretenders indulged in superstitious practices neglected moral order and religious ordinances and boasted of their ignorance and lack of learning in order to cover their own lack of discipline and dedication to the goal some of these charlatans even tried to cut sufism from its very roots--namely the Qur'an and the practice of the Prophet (pbuh) the acts of these pseudo-sufis never altered the true course of Sufism, the heart of sufism remained pure well guarded by the traditional practice of the initiation of a seeker into a sufi order by a sufi master, the master's authority had properly been passed upon him by a previous master through the investiture of the traditional mantle of authority symbolized by the presentation of a patched cloth this initiation is supported by the tree of lineage going back through all the previous masters to the Prophet (pbuh) from whom the authority to instruct in the esoteric doctrine originated even today this is the general practice of all the recognized sufi orders, it is Sufi masters such as al-Junayd, al-Ghazzali, Ibn Arabi, Shaykh Abdul-Karim al-Jili, Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, and Jalaluddin Rumi, among many others who devoted their lives to spreading the light and grace among all men irrespective of man's geographical, social, religious and racial origin they left for all men a rich tradition of love and peace for all times even today their example is a source of light and guidance to the seekers of truth everywhere. Indeed, only through total surrender to the will of God can man hope to attain freedom and peace. "Because all men worship God whether they know it or not because it is the sigh of the merciful who has brought them into existence because each of them bears within him the imprint of one of the infinitely multiple faces of the one, it is to eternal bliss that they have been and are being guided from the beginning of eternity" Addas, Cl. (1993: 293)
Above all else sufis prize sincerity and one approaching a teacher with an open heart and sincere intent is not likely to be turned away while sufism is rightfully proud of the unbroken chain of saints and masters through whom its teachings and methods have been passed every worthwhile teacher has met the challenge of finding new ways to present that heritage within the context of their time and place. A Sufi is he whose thought keeps pace with his foot -- i.e. he is entirely present: his soul is where his body is and his body is where his soul is and his soul where his foot is and his foot where his soul is this is the sign of presence without absence we live in a culture that has been described as materialistic, alienating, neurotically individualistic, narcissistic, and yet ridden with anxiety, shame, and guilt from the sufi point of view humanity today is suffering under the greatest tyranny, the tyranny of the ego we worship innumerable false idols but all of them are forms of the ego.
There are so many ways for the human ego to usurp even the purest spiritual values but a true sufi is the one who makes no claims to virtue or truth but who lives a life of presence and selfless love more important than what we believe is how we live if certain beliefs lead to exclusiveness, self-righteousness, fanaticism, it is the vanity of the believer that is the problem if the remedy increases the sickness an even more basic remedy is called for the idea of presence with love may be the most basic remedy for the prevailing materialism, selfishness and unconsciousness of our age in our obsession with our false selves in turning our backs on God we have also lost our essential self our own divine spark in forgetting God we have forgotten ourselves remembering God is the beginning of remembering ourselves.
A researcher is interested in studying the social organization of the sufi tradition of Qualandars in South Asia for this he should ideally carry out his field work in the shrine of the most popular Qualandar saint namely Lal Shahbaz of Sehwan ( Sind, Pakistan ) but in case he is denied permission to do fieldwork in Pakistan, he can always approach the other Qualandar shrines, such as of Bu Ali Shah in Panipat in ( Haryana, India ) for permission or may decide to do his field work in the shrine of Abu Bakar Tusi in New Delhi ( Srivastava,2001:4)
References
Addas, Claude , 1993, Quest for the Red Sulphur, Cambridge: The Islamic Text Society .
Helminski, Kabir , 1992, Living Presence. New York, J. P. Tarcher/Perigee.
Kinney, Jay , 1999, Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions, New York: Arkana/ Penguin.
Nasr, S.H , 1997, Three Muslim Sages, New York : Caravan
Schimmel, Annemarie, 1975, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press.
Srivastava, Vinaya Kuman (ed), 2004, Methodology and Fieldwork, New Delhi: Oxford university Press.
Trimingham, J.S ,1998, The Sûfî Orders in Islam, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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