Sufism

(Changing Lead Into Gold)

Sufism defines a spiritual path derived from the Prophet Muhammad's spiritual practices leading to his full spiritual enlightenment and beyond. The practices were outlined by Muhammad's companions, particularly his cousin, and fourth successor, Aly who wrote the first manual on the subject.

Aly reported how the Prophet dispatched him to be Chief Justice in Yemen. When Aly complained he didn't know how to judge cases, the Prophet touched Aly's chest and opened his heart center. Subsequently Aly had no difficulty judging any case.

Opening the heart is an important Sufi goal. The heart helps the seeker sense the spiritual world. al-Ghazali once said: "If God took over the heart, it is flooded with Grace, enlightened, opened, and the secret of the Kingdom is revealed."

The famous Sufi woman, Rabi'a al-Adawiyyah said: "My God, If I worshipped you out of fear of the fire, then burn me with the fire of hell; and if I worshipped you out of desire for paradise, then deprive me of it; but if I worshipped you for your love; then don't deprive me, my God, of your eternal beauty". She also said: "I did not worship Him fearing His fire and desiring His paradise, then I would be like a bad hired hand; but I worshipped Him out of love and yearning for Him".

The Sufi transcends: obedience for nearness, blessings for the Source, creatures for the Creator; himself for his Lord.

The Qur'an outlines the path in many places: The Heart is a faculty like hearing and sight. Those who struggle for God's sake will be guided to his paths. Believers who are mindful of God will be given a light to differentiate the Truth from the rest. The path leads ultimately to God. The most honored by God are the most mindful. God draws to Him whoever He wants; and guides to Him whoever he delegates to others. God devotes His Grace to whoever He wants. Be mindful of God and seek the means to Him. Every seeker knows what quenches his thirst.

Ibn Khaldun summarized the path: "Perseverance, retreat, and meditation usually lead to the lifting of the veil of the senses and the revelation of the divine domains that ordinary senses cannot perceive. The soul is one of those domains."

Sufis weep when they listen to the Qur'an or to Sufi poetry. They long for being in the presence of the Beloved and achieve ecstasy whenever they are rewarded by a glimpse.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) concluded that the Sufi path can be traveled by determination and practice and not by reading and research. He declared that the Sufi is brave because he is shielded from the fear of death; is very good because he is shielded from the love of what is not right; is forgiving because his ego is above being hurt by a human mistake; is forgetting hatred because his memory is busy with the Truth.

Abu Muhammad al-Gargiri defined the Sufi path as entering every high character trait and exiting every low. Abu Bakr al-Kattani defined the path as character: Improving character, improves spiritual purity.

Abul Hasan al-Nuri declared that the path is not a plan or science; otherwise it would be traveled with effort and study. The path can be traveled by acquiring divine character traits.

Many of the early Sufi masters were also chemists who used chemical terms; such as filtration, distillation, crystallization, and dissolution; to describe the nature of each spiritual step. One prominent example of those masters is Jabir Ibn Hayyan the father of modern chemistry.

The process of converting an average person to an enlightened one was compared to making gold from a base metal like lead. The spiritual aspect was beyond westerners who erroneously define alchemy as the art of making gold from lead. Alchemy is derived from the Arabic word for chemistry, al-Chimya.

Sufis vary in their treatment of material wealth. Some follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad who gave up his wealth and lived an austere life after his Muslim mission began. Others live affluent lives, pursue their business interests and require their followers to pursue a business or trade to support themselves and their dependents. They emphasize non-attachment to the material and use their wealth to help the needy.

When the Prophet started his mission, the Arabs lived somewhere between the extremes of the very wealthy Meccans who lived in luxury and the ascetic Bedouins who believed the hardships of life as desert migrants were character building and good for the soul.

Even the wealthy Meccans gave their children to Bedouin wet nurses who nursed the children for two years and kept them for several years in a desert setting to teach them pure Arabic, character and strength away from the luxuries of Mecca. The Prophet had such a nurse, Halima, for 5 years. He showed his respect for her in public by offering her his coat to sit on.

This gave all Arabs respect for asceticism and for those who survive hardships. Unfortunately, this also gave many Arabs an ascetic, inflexible and harsh point of view.

Abu al-Abbas al-Murcie differentiated between the ascetic and the Sufi: "The ascetic came from the world to the hereafter; and the Sufi came from the hereafter to the world." This follows the example of the Prophet Muhammad who returned to Mecca to continue his mission after his full spiritual enlightenment.

Sufi masters have performed miracles defying the physical laws of the universe. In a meditation manual, al-Shadhily (1185 -1278), who founded the Shadhily order, cautioned beginners against the trap of performing miracles, such as walking on water, flying, healing, being in different places at the same time, etc..., to impress people. He emphasized that such a trap would prevent the seeker from advancing to higher spiritual levels.

This follows the example of the Prophet Muhammad who veiled his miracles by preceding them with sincere prayers to God and following them by thanking and praising God.

Sufism is usually practiced within fraternal Orders

Since the seventh century AD, Sufis traveled to non-Muslim towns and villages singing love songs, telling stories, and informing people about Islam. They were the original minstrels or troubadours. Many converted to Islam after contacting Sufis. European minstrels or troubadours in the middle ages copied their practice from the Sufis after changing the Beloved from God to women. Sufis consider romantic love to be a weak facsimile of spiritual love.

Sufi music and dancing disturb many fundamentalist or ascetic Muslims. Sufi music is usually accompanied by Sufi chanting or Zikr Allah which is not frivolous. The Mawlawis are the only Sufis who whirl during their religious ceremonies or Sam'a. Whirling is not dancing; it produces a transcendental state. Dancing and music are not prohibited by Islam. According to al-Ghazali, the Prophet accompanied 'Aisha, his wife, to be entertained by dancing and music performed by Ethiopians in the mosque in Medina.

Many Sufis excelled in philosophy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, geography, physics, and astronomy during the 8 centuries when Muslims ruled the civilized world. Latin translations of their books started Europe on the path leading to the Renaissance.

The Sufi motto is "My Lord, increase my Knowledge."

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Revised on 10/3/99