Sufism

“It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.” (Idries Shah,1967
The Sufis). Encyclopedia Britannica defined Sufism as “A mystical Islamic belief and
practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through
direct personal experience of God”. This essay will speak about the Roots of Sufism,
Sufism and other religions and important mystical figures.

“ The original meaning of sufi seems to have been one who wears wool and
Encyclopedia of Islam calls other etymological hypotheses "untenable”. Woolen
clothes were traditionally associated with ascetics and mystics.”( Rashid Ahmad
Jullundhry, Qur'anic Exegesis in Classical Literature2010)

There is no real founder for sufism , but they say that “the origin of Sufism to
Muhammad peace be upon him ,because he is the first of those who disappeared
and happened in the cave of Hira.”(Friday sermon from Al-Aqsa Mosque, sheikh sidi
Mohamed said said al jamal2005)

Sufism is considered one of the many doctrines of Islam. “There is disagreement

among religious scholars and Sufis themselves about the origins of Sufism. The
traditional view is that Sufism is the mystical school of Islam and had its beginnings
in the first centuries following the life of the Prophet Mohammad. Indeed, most Sufis
in the world today are Muslim and many of them are consider would consider a non-
Islamic Sufism impossible".(https://sufiway.org/the-origins-of-sufism). Some argue
that “Sufism takes its base from early Christians.”(Idries shah,1966the way of the
Sufi).

“ Sufis aim for the development of certain light-enhancing qualities in human beings,
which will make us more truly human. These qualities are associated with the
purification of the self and the heart, ethical awareness and practice, doing what is
beautiful (ihsan), becoming closer to God, developing inner knowledge or intuition
(ma’rifat), annihilation in God (fana’), and subsistence in God (baqa’). In this way, the
true purpose of Sufism is the transformation of the seeker into a more humane and
conscientious person. The character of the seeker is developed by means of spiritual
training.”( https://www.meetup.com/Sufism-Silent-Meditation-London-
Naqshbandi/pages/19308180/Aims_Of_Sufism/)

What about the relationship between Islam sheik and Sufi figures, Ibn Taymiyah in
705 say: “A great dispute occurred regarding sufism. A group of Muslims extremely
denounced sufis and sufism and said sufis are mubtade’een and are out of the
sunna (the traditions) of the Prophet (pbuh). This opinion was adopted by a large
number of imams (Islamic scholars) and transmitted later by people of fiqh (law) and
people of ‘ilmu al-kalam (theology). Another group went too far in defending sufis
and sufism. They claimed that sufis are the best among people and the most
complete after prophets and messengers.”
Nowadays, mysticism is not practiced as in the past. Its manifestations are beginning
to disappear. But there are still many contemporary Sufi sheikhs, but “their influence
is not like that of the sheikhs who came before them.” (surrounded by d.adnan
Ibrahim entitled maulana jalaluddin in 2014)

There are many influential figures in the mystical world, the most famous of them is
“Maulana Jalaluddin. Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Hussein Bahaa al-Din al-
Balkhi al-Bakri was born in Balkh on 30 September 1207 and he entrance the Sufism
world in 1244 after his meeting with Shams al-Tabrizi.”(
http://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w60c516m) alromie has a great influence on
Sufism, and his book (almthnawi)is the best guide.

There is also ibn Arabi who is one of the most famous mystics and is named the
Great Sheikh. “He was born in 1165 in Murcia. he wrote a lot of books, most famous
of them are fusus alhukm and alyaqin.”( https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ibn-arabi/)
these books provoked controversy and puzzled the philosophers of that era.

Sheikh Abu Abdullah Muhammad Fawzi al-Karaki is a contemporary Sufi sheikh.” He

was born in 1974 in Morocco”( https://www.esalna.com/12927).He has two books,
the white mahajah and planetary systems in the statement of the assets of light. His
books have some influence on the concept of Sufism today.