Sufism and its Place in Islam by A.R.
In this article I will attempt to explain Sufism in light of contemporary issues and the various viewpoints of its critics. I will make an emphasis on the views of the hardliners in Saudi Arabia highlighting their opposition to Sufism and the Pakistanis with their wholehearted support of Sufism.
What is Sufism?
Sufism is not a sect of Islam. Sufism, or rather the way (tareeka), is the ever-growing philosophy based on the search for Islamic truth and the essence of all things. The definition is varied, ranging from each person, but it is simply the search through meditation and self-contemplation of why things are as they are and what is the reality behind things most people take for granted in life. Islam without Sufism is dead, ritualistic, and without substance. Thus we see that it is a part and parcel of Islamic tradition, stretching from the time of the Holy Prophet (s), the greatest philosopher of the world, to the modern people who strive in search of truth and deeper meaning in their lives. Sufi is not a term invented for the purpose of some elite class, it is merely a designation given by others to the tradition. In many parts of the Islamic world, Sufi merely means scholar, teacher, or knowledgeable person. Sufism is accepted as a proper way to truth by the vast majority of the world's Muslim including those from South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Persia, Turkey, Albania, North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and the Muslim diaspora.
Rejection of Sufism
Many people in the Arab countries, particularly the Arab/Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, are completely opposed to Sufism. This movement is also gaining ground among misguided younger people in the Muslim diaspora in North America and Europe. Their rationale for such vehement and strong oppression and denigration of Sufis is based on a number of fallacies. They claim that the Sufis worship the graves of the saints, use musical instruments, sing in their circles, and also teach individuals wrong knowledge. Granted there are laymen who accept the Sufi way and to show their zeal and servitude ask dead men to intercede for them, this is not a practice condoned by the majority of Sufis in the world. This is a wrong practice not based on Islamic principles, thus has no relation to Sufism. The use of musical instruments and singing to remember God and holy events in Islamic history is a long and grand part of Islamic civilization. Muslims are among the greatest musicians of the world, with a number of instruments and use of the human voice known only in the lands where Muslims have flourished. According to a strict, narrow, and wrong interpretation of Islam, it may even be unpermissible to use the beauty of the human voice to sing praises of Allah (swt), the Prophet and Islamic heroes. The majority of Muslims do not follow such an incorrect way which discriminates and suppresses the culture of other Muslim people as we may see in the countries mentioned above. Strict and narrow views afflict a minority of Muslims, most of whom simply lack the common sense and religious knowledge to think otherwise. Regrettably, these governments support the persecution of Sufis and various other Muslim groups in the region.
Strength of Sufism
As mentioned above, more than 85% of the world's Muslim believe that Sufism is an acceptable and noble way to seek the path to Allah (swt) in Islam. Almost all Muslim countries which embraced Islam have done so by the efforts of Sufi scholars who infiltrated the minds, hearts, and imaginations of the native people of those regions. Without the tehreeka (way), Islam's presence would barely extend out of the Arabian peninsula. Sufism is the major dynamic Islamic force in the majority of Muslim countries and the reason for Islam's resurgence in many nations. One region in particular where Sufism has had a great effect is Southwest Asia (Persia, Turkey, and Pakistan). Persian philosophers (such as Maulana Jalaluddin al-Rumi, Maulana al-Shiraazi, Maulana al-Saadi) and their students where responsible for spreading Islam to the Turkestanis and the Indians. The South Asians (Pakistanis, Indians) produced many notable philosophers and poets such as Maulana Naqshbandi, Maulana Chisti, Maulana Mirza Ghalib, and Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The amount of integration of Sufism into the new emerging Muslim Indian culture resulted in Sufism becoming an indigenous way of seeking truth. Muslims of India, since more than one thousand years ago, became the fore bearers and guardians of the Sufi path and this resulted in the conversion of hundreds of millions of people to the folds of Islam. In South Asia, an area replete with seeking of salvation through meditation and thought, Islam found root and became the most dynamic force in India for nearly one thousand years. Pakistan resulted from the vision and imagination of the great Muslim philosopher Iqbal and thus Pakistan's very roots are founded in the Sufi way. From this time until now, Pakistan has become a bastion of the long lost art of the contemplative and imaginative nature of the Islamic renaissance and a springboard for a plural, just, and accepting culture which embraces all Muslims, regardless of Sunni, Shia. This is being done for the cause of saving Islam from narrow and uneducated interpretation by hardliners who wish to Arabize and monopolize Islamic thought into a dull, ritualistic religion from the great religion of philosophers, saints, heroes, and prophets which Islam truly is.
Conclusion
Those who reject Sufism, reject part of Islam. Their religion can never be Islam, because Islam is a religion 'for those who contemplate.' It may be possible to follow Islam this way, but it is impossible to reach a higher level as a Muslim with this erroneous concept. Most of those who reject Sufism, reject it out of ignorance and because some misguided 'scholars' have taught them to hate something whose scent they have never smelled, nor whose petals have they touched. The rose of Sufism, is a flower whose origin is Allah (swt) from the teachings of the Noble Prophet Mustafa (s) and whose end is also Allah (swt). The capacity for understanding is limited to those whose hearts are pure and open, and those who are chosen by Allah's grace for higher knowledge. The philosophic way is mentioned in the Quran in Surat al-Kahf (a surat of particular relevance to the Endtimes) in the lesson of Maulana al-Khidr to Hazrat Musa (alayhis salam) of deeper knowledge. Knowledge can come from any avenue and no one may ever monopolize on knowledge. Thus Sufism cannot be excluded from the beautiful religion of Islam and it continues to further add beauty to it everyday.