Introduction to Sufism: The Inner Path of Islam Book

Translator's Foreword

Transliteration System for Arabic Characters

Preface

CHAPTER 1: Fundamentals 1

DEFINITIONS AND OBJECTIVES 1

A Mysticism? 2

Knowledge and Love 3

Who is the Sufi? 4

A Reality without a Name 5

The Science of Spiritual States 6

The Initiatory Path 8

Goals of the Sufi 11

Purifying the Soul 12

Knowing God 12

Union with God, or "Extinguishing Oneself' in Him? 14

Dying to Oneself, and Living Again Through Him 15

DIVERSITY IN SUFISM 16

A Rich Pallet of Spiritual Types 16

Sufi Literature 19

Inward Alchemy 21

SUFISM AND SHI'ISM 22

Doctrinal Affinities 22

Two Rival Esoterisms 24

THE ROLE OF THE FEMININE IN SUFISM 27

The Eternal Feminine in Islamic Mysticism 27

The Effects of the Male Ambience 29

SOME PREJUDICES REGARDING SUFISM 29

Sufism is a Kind of Quietism, and is the Egotistical Search for Individual Salvation 29

Sufism is a Popular Religion, Conceived as a Reaction to the Legalism of "Orthodox" Islam 31

CHAPTER 2: Sufism and Islam 33

TWO NAMES FOR A SINGLE REALITY 33

The Fundamentally Koranic Character of Sufism 33

THE KORANIC MODEL 35

"To Combine One's Flesh and Blood with the Koran" 35

The Sufi Travels His Path Through the Book 37

A Multitude of Meanings: Sufi Exegesis 38

The Hadith Qudsi, or "Divine Utterance" 42

THE MODEL OF MUHAMMAD 43

"Sufis are Those Who Follow the Path of the Messenger of God and Strive to Acquire His Noble Virtues" 43

The Prophet as Primordial Light 44

The Reality of Muhammad, Mediator between the Divine and Human Realms 45

The Inner Sunna 47

Sufism and Prophetic Tradition (Hadith) 48

The Master of Masters 50

Devotion to the Prophet 53

THE ISLAM OF "EXCELLENCE" 54

Islam, Iman, Ihsan 54

Sufism Illuminates the Five Pillars 56

Sufism, or Plenary Islam 58

THE LAW (SHARI'A), THE WAY (TARIQA), AND THE REALITY (HAQIQA) 59

A Law for Sufis Only? 60

The Science of "Unveiling", the Science of Shari'a 62

A Living Law 64

CHAPTER 3: Sufism in Islamic Culture: Historical Perspective 65

THE PATH OF THE PIONEERS 65

A Foundational Attitude: The Ascetic Renunciation of the World 65

The "Path of Blame" (Malama): From Concealment to Provocation 67

From Asceticism to Mysticism 68

Bistimi, the Archetype of "Intoxication" 69

The Baghdad "School" of Sufism (Ninth-Tenth Centuries) 70

Hallaj 70

Junayd 71

Hakim Tinnidhi: Between Prophecy and Sainthood 73

Persecutions 73

Successors of Junayd and Hallaj 74

The Four Founders of the Legal Schools and Sufism 75

THE CENTURIES OF MATURATION (Tenth-Twelfth Centuries) 78

Legal Scholars, Traditionnists, Sufis: Assertion of Identities 78

Radiance from Khurasan (Tenth-Eleventh Centuries) 79

Sufism and Shafi'ism 79

Manuals of Sufism 80

Ghazzali: The Supremacy of Spiritual Intuition over Reason 83

The Persistence of the Mysticism of "Intoxication" 85

POETRY AND METAPHYSICS 87

Iranian Mystical Poetry (Twelfth-Fifteenth Centuries): 'Attar, Rumi, and Others 87

Rumi: Music and Dance 89

Turkish Mystical Poetry: Yanus Emre 91

Arabic Mystical Poetry: Ibn 'Arabi and Ibn al-Farid 92

The Necessity of Interpreting Mystical Poetry 93

Sufi Terminology 94

Ibn 'Arabi and the Metaphysics of Being 95

Ibn Sab'in, or Oneness Without Compromise 98

CREATING A STRUCTURE FOR SUFISM 99

(Twelfth-Fifteenth Centuries)

The Formation of the "Initiatory Paths" (Tariqa) 101

Iraq 102

Central Asia and Iran 104

India 108

Muslim Spain and the Maghreb 109

Egypt and Syria 111

Anatolia 114

The Caucasus 115

INTEGRATION AND EXPANSION: "SUFISM, THE HEART OF ISLAM" 117

Recognition of Sufism by the Ulama 117

Sufism is Prominent as the Spirituality of Sunni Islam 120

Hanbalism and Sufism 121

Places of Sufi Social Interactions 122

The "Cult of Saints" 124

The Esoteric Governance of the World 125

SUFISM AND REFORMISM (Eighteenth-Twentieth Centuries) 126

A Decline of Sufism? 126

The Search for Original Purity (Eighteenth-Nineteenth Centuries): Sufism and Wahhabism 127

The Muhammadian Path 128

Renewed Paths and New Paths 129

Lesser Jihad and Greater Jihad 132

The Sudanese Mahdi 133

Emir 'Abd al-Qadir 133

Sufi Reformism at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Amadou Bamba and the Shaykh al-'Alawi 134

Sufism: A Fertile Ground for "Salafi" Reformism 136

Sufism and Islamicism in the Twentieth Century: Politicization 139

"Sufi Scholars" in Contemporary Times 141

CHAPTER 4: Sufism As It Is Lived 142

MASTER AND DISCIPLE 142

A Necessary Relationship 142

An Excessive Veneration? 143

A Reciprocal Code of Conduct 145

A Single Master 146

A Second Birth 146

Sufi Psychology, or the "Science of the Soul" 149

Succession and Delegation of Authority 151

METHODS AND RITES OF AFFILIATION 153

Initiatory Rites 153

The "Investiture of the Cloak" (Khirqa) 153

"Making the Pact" ('Ahd, Bay'a) 154

"The Secret Teaching of Formulas of Invocation" (Talqin) 155

From True Aspirant to Simple Associate 155

A Fluid World: Multiple Affiliations 156

Uwaysi Initiation 157

CODES OF CONDUCT 158

Correct Inner Attitudes 158

Food 159

Clothing 159

Sleep 159

Travel 159

Between Brothers 160

A Rule for Community Life 161

INITIATORY METHODS 162

The Invocation (Dhikr) 162

The Highest Form of Worship 162

Formulas of the Invocation 164

From the Dhikr of the Tongue to that of "Inner Consciousness" 166

The Invocation of the Tongue (Dhikr al-Lisan) 166

The Invocation of the Heart (Dhikr al-Qalb) 167

The Invocation of the Inner Consciousness (Dhikr al-Sirr) 167

Aloud, or in Silence? 167

Group Sessions of Dhikr 168

SPIRITUAL POETRY AND MUSIC: SAMA' 170

The Echo of the Divine Word 170

Subtlety and Ambiguity of Santa' 171

A Joyful and Widespread Practice 172

Litanies and Prayers 174

The Retreat (Khalwa) 176

Rules of the Retreat 177

Not to Stop at Supernatural Phenomena 179

The "Retreat in the Midst of the Crowd" 180

CHAPTER 5: Sufism and Interreligious Openness 182

Religious Pluralism in Islam 182

The Transcendent Unity of Religions 183

The Legacy of Prophetic Pluralism 188

The "Hidden Idolatry" of Common Believers 189

The Temptation of Syncretism 190

The Pressures of Exoterism and History 191

CONCLUSION: Sufism Yesterday, Sufism Today 194

The "Degeneration of Time" 194

The Illness of "Brotherhoodism" 195

Adapting to Cyclical Conditions 196

Towards a Restructuring of the Roles of Sufism 198

The Messianic Adventure 199

Sufism in the West 200

Maps 204

Glossary and Index of Technical Terms 207

Index of Proper Names 213

Biographical Notes 219