Etymology and historical development of Sufism in Islam

Origination and Growth of Sufism

The word Sufism came in use in the second century of Hijrah. Historians have intensely contested the etymology and source of the word Sufi. Numerous people say that this word is used from Suffah.

Some Sahabah used to spend their time in Prophet's mosque devout to learning in regard to their religion and to prayers. Consequently, they claim that later people who succeed the People of the Suffah were given this name. There are others who say that the source of this word is in "Saff" which means the prayer line. There were some very religious people who used to come to prayers constantly and were regularly in the first line and so they were given this name. Some people say that the word is taken from "Safa" which means pureness and those who tried to keep themselves ethereally clean were given this name. It is also said that the root of this word is in "Suf" which means wool. In previous times, some devout people who used to wear simple clothes made of animal's hair.

As White Cloud exemplifies, other Sufi teachers, philosophers and poets are coming through the door opened by Rumi. But Sufism is more diverse than many Western readers may realize. As it has developed and spread over more than a millennium, it has also given birth to a variety of significant teachers and followers, splintering the tradition. Sufism, as it has evolved in America over the past 40 years, has split into two camps: "traditional" Sufism, which says Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam, and non-Islamic Sufism -- what some would call "New Age" Sufism or others would term "universalist."

Nasr bluntly assesses some interpretations of Sufism that have gained adherents in the United States: "It's easier in America than in Europe to sell diluted interpretations of Sufism. There's less knowledge here, and the New Age wave began in America and went to Europe." http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/islam/pw111300.htm

Islamic Publishing Is Poised for Growth

They were modest and had nothing to do with the world and worldly things, so they were given this name. It is also claimed that this word is taken from the Greek word "sophia" which mean prudence and tact. They propose that in the second century of Hijrah some Greek philosophical books were interpreted and some Muslims became swayed and convinced with the theory of knowledge ideas Subsequently their rivals gave them the name Sufis.

There are several other definitions as well, but they all seem unlikely. Nonetheless, we do not know what is the actual source of this word. The source of the Sufi movement appears to be in Zuhd, being satisfied with very little worldly things. In the early hundred years of Islam there were numerous people who lived the life of Zuhd. They evaded worldly extravagance and niceties and devoted themselves to religion and to the memory of Allah.

Sufism, by the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th Century, was already like a big tree, with various branches and various birds singing in it.

A the spread of Islam was not done by fire and sword

.. But rather by the preaching of the Sufis who knew how to win the hearts of the people."

We find poetry and prose in all the languages of Islam. We find that Sufism permeated the countries from West Africa to India, and, in fact it was the Sufis who brought Islam to the border countries of Asia and Africa. Sir Thomas Arnold in Sudan told me the teacher of Muhammad iqbal in Lahore had published exactly 100 years ago his famous book The Preaching of Islam, in which he shows that the spread of Islam was not done by fire and sword as most of our sources are won't to say, but rather by the preaching of the Sufis who knew how to win the hearts of the people. And the Sufis wrote their poetry in the language of the people of their lands.

They taught the love of God, love of the Prophet, love of mankind to the illiterate, simple people who were unable to understand the Arabic of the theologians. It was the same in Europe with the introduction of mystic poems." http://www.naqshbandi.org/events/sufitalk/sufismeu.htm

Sufism and its Influence on Europe lecture by Dr. Anne-Marie Schimmel delivered at Stanford University, May 4, 1997 sponsored by CAIR

Subsequently when the period of specialty came and various disciplines emanate, some people became proficient in Qur'an, some in Hadith, some in Fiqh. In the same way some people were recognized as the experts in 'Ilm al-Suluk, the learning of religious living. These are the people who became recognized as Sufis.

Sufism has a long memoir in Islam. Betwixt the Sufis there were some who followed the Qur'an and Sunnah, but there were different others who thought up their own teachings. Some of these teachings were not taken from the Quran and actual Sunnah, but from the Neo-Platonic ideas, Gnosticism, Syrian and Egyptian Christianity and afterward from Hinduism and Buddhism.

One should be watchful and vigilant when vocalizing concerning Sufism. It is not right to generalize. Neither all Sufism is corrupt, nor all of it is righteous. Some Sufis were great experts of real and pure Islamic spirituality, but there were others who went to extremes and left the path of actual Sunnah.

In Sufism, the heart is considered to be the center of the intellect and the conscious center of Being. Troublesome deeds, for the purpose of this paper, can be anything that holds us in a state of limited consciousness. Many individuals may strive for the knowledge of unity, the vision of Universal Reality, yet few achieve this knowledge in a lifetime. Those who do achieve this level are called Sufis. For the rest, we live in a limited stage or state of understanding or knowledge, within the realm of multiplicity.

One phrase that is used in Sufism to describe the realm of multiplicity is that the heart is veiled in ignorance, which indicates a state of less than full consciousness. This state is also defined as living in darkness or searching for light. The light can be considered a metaphor for ultimate or cosmic consciousness. In Sufism it is understood that wisdom, light, and a complete system of existence exists, yet they are often hidden from view. As the great Sufi, Amir al-Moumenin Ali said, "You think you are a small body, yet within you is wrapped the greater world." Through this saying Sufis are given the key to understanding existence. It is not to focus on the small body or to look somewhere outside, but rather, the greater world (awareness of existence) is wrapped within, more specifically, within the heart." http://www.sufismjournal.org/psychology/psychologyconsciousness2.html

Sufism and Consciousness: part two

Sufism

With respect to Sufism, complete cognizance of the complete actuality results in the Sufi's being thoroughly not cognizant of Creation and of his own self to be more accurate, it results in his being conscious of the fact that in actuality there is no being of creation and even of his own self.

This theory often leads to great disparity in negating his soul, the Sufi ends up adoring it; in negating creation, he repeal life itself.

Notwithstanding In Sufism, there seems to be a powerful inclination to reference severity as highly alluring. If nothing else, there is at least an aberrant stress on the negation of worldly life.

Sufism is not readily defined, for it is neither a particular religion nor a faith. It does not demand affiliation to prescribed conviction or ritual, and gladly receive people of all races, country, and convictions. It has dwell all over the centuries in numerous cultures.

Sufism is a method of looking at the world and a way of existing in the world. It accentuates carrying ones supreme ethics and morals into every day routine.

It is a way for mankind to rouse to the bounties of life, both as individuals and on the whole, in every area of human endeavors.

Each of us ensuing paths in the direction of the recreation of a sense of entirety, balance with nature, and sustainability have to fill in the breaks of our culture.

Sufism for spirituality, verve and the greater states of awareness that are essential to observe what to do in such intricate situations.

The Sufi Path presents an unchangeable advance to spiritual life. One of its charm is that it brings simultaneously an ancient heritage with deep roots as well as a viewpoint, which clasp the strain and skepticism of contemporary life.

The Sufi does not hide from problems and gloom but get ready to be present no matter what is recently in front of them. The Sufi seeks awakening, looking for God's impression in all aspects of life. It is implied that Sufism furnish a chance in the direction of complement in this world.

There are numerous viewpoint which one might inscribe in regard to Sufism, nevertheless, I think the most pertinent viewpoint would be to share what Sufism can offer a follower on the path to self-realization.

Sufism has never cling to a solitary principle of faith or prescribed conviction, to some extent it has grown-up through a spiritual open to a barter of theories and customs with those mystical schools with which it has been adjoined all through the history.

It will not be quite true to say that al-Ghaz-l?'s final resort to Sufi-mysticism was merely the result of his disillusionment with philosophy and dissatisfaction with scholastic theology. This is only a part of the truth; his own confessional statement to this effect in al-Munqidh seems to be rather an over-statement of the actual facts. Sufistic influences had all along been working upon his mind right from his early childhood. We need only recall that his father was a pious dervish and his guardian a Sufi devout, that in his youth he studied 1 and even practised Sufism first under Yusuf al-Nassaj in Tus and then under al-Farmadhi at Nishapur and that his own brother Ahmad al-Ghaz-l? (d. 520/1126) made a name as a great Sufi. It is not improbable that he should have also learnt of Sufism from his teacher Imam al-Haramain, for it is reported that the Imam himself had been the pupil of the renowned Sufi abu Nu'aim al-Isfahani (d. 430/1038). So al-Ghaz-l?'s eventual adoption of the Sufi way of life was in reality a continuation of these early influences and not simply the consequence of his failure to find the philosophical solution of theological problems. Further, it has to be emphasized that, in spite of his explicit official denunciation of philosophy, al-Ghaz-l? could never completely part company with it. His Sufi-mysticism was as much influenced by his thorough study of philosophy as by theology; in its final development it was the mysticism of a philosopher and a theologian. http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/gz/articles/hmp-4-30.htm

History of Muslim Philosophy

Part 4. The Middle-Roaders

Chapter XXXI

AL-GHAZ-L? (Continued)

MYSTICISM

Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the principal thing of significance is to pursue God in the heart of mankind.

A doctrine in the harmony of man with God is primary to Sufism. Sufis seek to accomplish a personal sharing with God while visionary moments of union brought about by numerous methods, together with reflection, recital of holy phrases, respiring exercises, dancing, hymn singing, melody, and physical circulation.

Numerous famous Sufi shaykh captivated large bodies of followers, and the sites of their brotherhoods became not only distinguished spiritual establishment, but also recommend social and cultural community centers equipping medicinal, instructional, and welfare services, in addition to food for the poor and famished.

These centers generally gathered substantial riches from presents from pilgrims and from endowments, a significant institution contributing community social services. With riches they acquire social and administrative power.

This construction of a sense of an alternative community amid Sufism endangered the standing of firmly incorporated religious authorities ulama, damaging their institutionalized understanding of a general, united Islamic community "ummah" pursuing the Shariah, the direct path of Islamic law.

Sufi customs are found this day among both Sunni and Shia communities, in spite of the fact that it tends to be more prevalent among Sunnis, possibly on account of the fact Shia affix great importance to the intercession of saints and most Shia hug spiritualism and encourage emotional reply to God and to Shia martyrs, chiefly those linked with the calamity of Karbala which is celebrated on Ashura, the 10th day of Moharram, when emotional recital, emotional plays (taziya) and street parade, which encompass self-flagellation, take place.

Sufis explicate their personal experiences in an extensive variety of poetic assertions. The poetry of the Sufis is carefully thought about the best in the Persian language and among the most remarkable of all poetic styles. Principally distinguished are Sadi and Hafiz of Shiraz in Iran, and Baydil from the Persian-speaking Mogul court of Delhi.

Sufism is the discipline of the expedition and excursion. It is taking the antique way, the primitive path of uninterrupted encountering of the Real. The Sufi is omnipresent. He has reduced and then taken away the notation of individuality to permit a lucid outlook of the cosmic actuality. The Sufis has rolled up the structure in its turn and shattered it. He has gone farther.