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The Way of Islamic Tasawwuf (Sufism)
By:
Dr. Ahmad Shafaat
(1985)
What is Islamic tasawwuf (Sufi
Islam) and why does it look so mysterious?
Genuine Islamic tasawwuf is the very heart and soul of Islam
itself. Like everything else, Islam has two sides: an outside
(zahir) and an inside (batin). The outside of Islam
consists of statements of beliefs that Muslims must profess as well
as laws and principles that must govern their personal and
collective lives. The inside of Islam is faith and love, light and a
life of contact with the Unseen. The outside of Islam is the main
concern of such Islamic sciences as kalam (theology), fiqh
(jurisprudence) and Shari'ah (law). The
inside of Islam is the main source of Islamic tasawwuf.
The Holy Qur'an says that the purpose of the coming of the Prophet
of Islam was, among other things, to bring men from darkness to
light, give them gifts of faith and divine love in a way that gives
them a new spiritual life:
"It is He who sends down from on
high clear signs unto His servant (Muhammad) in order to lead
you from darkness into light: for, verily, God is most kind to
you and full of grace." (57:9)
"O you who believe (in earlier
revelations). Be mindful of God and believe in His
(present) Messenger. (As a result) he will grant you doubly of
His grace, and will light for you a light wherein you shall
walk, and will forgive you: for God is much-forgiving, full of
grace." (57:28)
"Say (O Prophet): If you love God,
follow me, and God will love you..." (3:31)
"Respond to the call of God and the
Messenger whenever he calls you unto that which brings to you
life (from your previous state of spiritual death); and know
that God intervenes between man and (the desires of) his heart
and unto Him you shall be gathered." (8:24) Replica Rolex Submariner Date
A person may profess the beliefs that
Shari`ah tells him to profess and he may also do by his
willpower many of the things that he is expected to do and yet he
may not have faith and love, light and life that the Prophet was
sent to bring to men. His heart may still be devoid of faith and
love, he may still be lost in darkness and his inside may still be
dead spiritually. Referring to this reality the Holy Qur'an says:
"The desert Arabs say: We believe.
Say (unto them, O Muhammad!) You have not yet attained to faith;
you should (rather) say, We (want to) surrender (in Islam) - for
true faith has not yet entered your hearts." (49:14)
The purpose of Islamic tasawwuf
is to make true faith and its various fruits a reality in the lives
of Muslims (and interested non-Muslims). Islamic tasawwuf
thus breaths life into the body and structure of Islam. Unlike
kalam, fiqh and Shari`ah, tasawwuf is not a
science. It does not aim to study faith and love, light and a
life of contact with the Unseen. It aims to experience them
and then transmit the experience. As a Muslim saint has written:
"Tasawwuf is not
a way of doing things nor a system of thought but a set of qualities
and a way of being." (Abu al-Hasan)
This way of being may be summed up as
"freedom from slavery of desires, courage in confronting falsehood,
a charitable nature and leaving this world to others with
happiness." In conclusion, why does tasawwuf look so
mysterious? Because the batin (or the Inner) with which it
deals is mysterious. And the batin has to be mysterious
because otherwise it would not be batin but be zahir.
* In a city there once took place a
murder. Two men were apprehended as suspects; one of the men was
innocent while the other was guilty. When the trial took place and
the court finished its deliberations, the guilty man was acquitted
while the innocent one was declared guilty and sentenced to hang. A
friend of God was watching all this and wondered about the fate of
the two men. He whispered in his heart to his Lord,
"O zahir and batin of the
universe, I know that Your ways are mysterious and man can never
comprehend them. But still, it is puzzling my mind greatly why an
innocent man was allowed to hang while the guilty one was let go."
As the friend of God was thus talking to his Lord, he fell asleep
and had a dream during which God revealed to him the answer to his
question:
"I behave with men
according to what they hope from Me. The man who was acquitted of
murder even though he was guilty of it used to pray in jail, 'O the
Gracious One! Have mercy on me.' So I had mercy on him and let him
go free, for I am free to do with My creatures what I will."
"As for the innocent man
who was hanged, he used to pray, 'O Just One! Do justice.' Now long
before he was apprehended for murder he was sitting on the bank of
the river with a twig in his hand. An ant climbed up the twig while
he was watching. He dipped the twig in the water flowing beside him,
and the ant drowned and died. Since he wanted justice from Me, I let
him hang in exchange for the life of one of My creatures that he
took without any reason."
So, O man,best replica watches while you should do jihad
for justice in the world, never seek justice for yourself from God.
For, before God we are all guilty and it is only in His mercy that
we can find safety.
* One day a man went to an 'arif
(a knower of truth) and described how a certain other teacher was
prescribing ridiculous exercises to his disciples. "The man is
obviously a fraud. He asks his disciples to have meditation sessions
during which they should think of nothing. Clearly, it is impossible
to think of nothing."
The `arif then asked him:
"Why have you come to see me?" The man
replied: "I want to know what would you advise
a person who wants to develop himself spiritually." The `arif
then said: "Man cannot really develop
himself spiritually. It is God who leads him to His way."
The man replied: "But surely there must be something that a
person can do to raise his spiritual level." The `arif said:
"Maybe...Well, why don't you try this: find
out what it is that you most dearly love in this world and give it
up."
The man was very profoundly impressed by
the advice. "What a sublime way to free oneself." The man went away
and gave away some of the valuable items in his home. For a while
the man felt very good about himself and sang praises of the `arif
in front of everyone. But soon his condition began to return to its
original state.
A student of the `arif learnt of
the man's experience and mentioned it to the `arif, who made
the following comment:
"Perhaps one day he will learn that his
answer does not lie in one word of advice, one visit, one simple
solution. Only by a continuous contact with a teacher does a seeker
absorb, little by little, that which gradually accumulates into an
understanding of truth."
Salih of Qazwin taught his
disciples: "Whoever knocks at the door
continually, it will be opened to him." Rabia Basri, hearing
him one day said: "How long will you keep
saying that the door will be opened? The door has never been
shut." |