Islam & Mysticism

It is indeed the matter of great privilege to participate in the conference held by Foundation of SAARA Writers in New Delhi, India. The topic Sufism becomes very important under the given international situation and scenario. Today, the world needs religious harmony and interfaith dialogue. "Live and let live" has been always the motto, mission and mantra of all Sufis. The present world is a scientific and rational world. It should have been more tolerant, moderate and peaceful, but unfortunately for its material, parochial, religious and political proclivities and trends, it has exhibited the worst type of religious extremism, regional rifts, linguistic stifles and sectarian conflicts. We need to spread the message of peace, love and humanity. To achieve these glorious goals, we need to unite under the umbrella of oneness of humankind. We can only achieve this goal by imbibing the spirit of Sufism. Sufism is not a cult. It is a way of way. It means that we are all the creature of the same God, and we must live like the members of one family. It is a spiritual and practical philosophy. It is a universal notion. All religions preach service of God and love of Mankind. In my opinion, Sufism is of two types --modern Sufism and ancient Sufism. By modern Sufism, we mean international brotherhood. It is the form of humanism. Oldous Hexley was one of the pioneers of human universalism. We cannot ignore the intellectual, literary and intuitive services of William Shakespeare and Hafiz Sherazi in this context. The ancient Sufism laid more stress on God and rigorous spiritual practices. It became a cult. Its proponents misused it and commercialized it. Though, the element of the love for humans was always its focal point, but with the passage of time, it turned into monasticism and hermitage. The real Sufism is the one that keeps the balance between God and Man. The real Sufism polishes and purifies soul. It is a positive side of human personality. It peaches peace and humanity. It rejects war and bloodshed. It is a political and social movement while the ancient Sufism preached self-abnegation and self-mortification. The modern Sufism does not preach superstitions and mortification. Modern Sufism is not a cult to be sold. It is a universal movement to unite all humans on one platform to up root prejudices of color, class, cult, creed and country.

Modern Sufism provides peace of mind and world peace. The practice of religious rituals without spirit makes one orthodox, heterogeneous and retrogressive. The spirit of all religions is the save and serves humankind and worship the Creator. When we sincerely, soberly and solemnly worship God, we have to love His creatures. We cannot hate humans. The person who hates humans cannot be the lover of God. The false and self-styled saints who sell the name of God and act as the custodians of faith are swindlers. Such people are condemned in the Bible and the Quran for their malicious deeds. They are not the spiritualists. In the ancient history of mysticism, we find the spiritual moves such as Chinese Taoism, Greek Mysticism, Hindu Mysticism, Buddhism, Christian, Islamic and Sikh Sufism. All religions have preached and promoted Sufism. Unfortunately, as alluded earlier, Sufism has been hijacked by the cunning professionals. It has become a business. We have to reconstruct, rejuvenate and reform it. The traditional Sufis only pray and preach self-negation and per-destination. They have made the societies passive. Instead of preaching humanitarianism, they preach monotheism. They have puzzled their followers and ensnared them in the labyrinths of whims, whimsicality, taboos, superstitions and asceticism. The modern Sufism preaches love , parity, piety, equity, equality, peace, justice, sobriety, humanity, morality, humility, truth, steadfastness, moderation and patience. It rejects colonialism, imperialism, feudalism, monarchy, militarism, regionalism, extremism, terrorism and sectarianism.

Being a Muslim, I would briefly discuss the Islamic concept of Sufism. Dr. A.r. Nicholson in his book titled "Mystics in Islam," Mr. Watt in " Muslim Intellectuals," Mr. Crage in " The Mind of the Quran," Imam Ghazali in " Ahya-e-Uloom" and Hazrat Data Gunj Baksh Hujvairi in "Kasf-ul-Mahjoob" have shed ample light on the Islamic Sufism. The exponents of Shariah (The Law) put much emphasis on the religious obligations, prayers and rites. On the other hand, the Muslim Sufis laid more stress on the spirit of religious rites and rituals. The former are known as mullahs and the latter ones are known as Sufis. The mullahs made the mosques as their abodes and the Sufis made the monasteries as their forts. This division and dichotomy polarized the Muslims. The mullahs are known as the hardliners, radicals, fundamentalists and extremists, while the Sufis are branded as impassive, inert and heretics by these mullahs. The Safi’s brand these Sufis as heretics and out of the pale of Islam. The followers of Imam Ghazali believe in both. They practice the laws of Shariah and also act upon the spirit of these religious rituals. Imam Ghazali in his book titled "Ihya-e-Uloom" writes, " Shariah is flower and Tariqah its' fragrance."  Similar views are propounded by great Sufi saint Hazrat Data Gunj Baksh. He in his book entitled "Kash-ul-Mahjoob" writes, "Shariah without Haqeeqa is a mirage and Haqeeqa without Shariah is hypocrisy."

In Greek philosophy Plato promoted Gnosticism. The author of Fasusul Hikim and Fatoohat -e-Makkiya, eminent Muslim thinker and saint Sheikh-e-Akbar Ibn-e-Arabi seems under the influence of Platonic mysticism. An eminent philosopher and agnostic of our age Bertrand Russell in his book “Logic and Mysticism” believes in some immaterial powers but names such miraculous forces as mental super activities. The materialists do not believe in spiritual and mystical powers.

In the history of Prophets we find Abraham doing miracles with the command of God. He minced the meat of four birds, mixed it, and put it at four mounds and called them and the four birds were raised to life and flew towards him. He was thrown into flames by Namrod but the fire extinguished and he remained safe. This was a miracle. David used to touch the iron and it melted like wax. Moses threw his staff on the ground and it devoured the rope made snakes instantly. He threw his staff in the Red Sea and it gave way to him and to his people, the Israelites. Jesus cured the blind and the leper. Even he raised the dead to life.

The Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) parted the moon in to two pieces. He picked up the pebbles and they recited Kalima. What these miracles show? Theses miracles tell us that God can interfere in the Natural system. He has the power of changing the Natural rules. The Natural law is that fire burns. But when it did not burn Abraham that proved the supremacy of soul over matter. It is the negation of materialism and atheism. It is not with the Abrahamic or Semitic prophets that they have shown miracles. In Hinduism we read about the miracles of Krishna. Yoga is a rigorous physical and spiritual practice which trains the people to do wonders.

Taoism in the expression of mysticism in ancient Chinese religion, and the Tao Te Ching (The book of the way and the power) is one of the great mystical scriptures. Buddah was a miraculas personality. These founders of different religions like Guro Nanak of Sikhism with their spiritual message showed miracles. Not only the prophets, there followers were endowed by God such miraculous powers that hindered of thousands people embraced their religions after seeing their miracles. They were saints. The Christian monasticism represents mysticism. Saint Teresa of Avila and the Saint Jhon of Cross were great saints. Hazrat Ali (A.S) is famous for his spirituals and miraculous attributes. 

In Islam material and spiritual go side by side. As a human being is compound of matter and soul, similarly “Shariah” (The Law) is the body and “Tariqah” (The Spirit) is the soul. The clerics stress more on the law while the Sufis give more importance to the spirit. But there is another group of Muslim Sufis who believe in the amalgamation of the law end the spirit. They are known as Ahl-e-Haqiqah; the people of reality. To them the jurist pay more attention to the religious legalism and theologians are more concerned with the religious dogmatism while the Sufis believe in asceticism. The people of Reality believe in full truth; not in half-truth. The people of the law and theology are strict about rites, rituals, and practices. They are hard liners. They are sectarian and extremist as well. While the people of spirit claim to be moderate, humane and universal. The Sunnis and the Shias believe in Shariah and Tariqah while the Wahabis do not believe in Sufism. There are so many Sunni sufistic orders such as Qaderiyya, Naqshbandiyya, Chistiyya, and Mouliviyya etc. The Shias believe in the Willayya of Hazrat Ali (A.S). It is interesting to note that nearly all Sunni mystical orders stem out from Hazrat Ali (A.S).

Sufism has been controversial in the Muslims. The theologians have always opposed it. The Mosque and Monastery have been clashing between each other. Many Muslim scholars and poet were Sufis. They believed in Shariah and Tariqah and condemn the clerics for their dry and spiritless ritualism. Malcolm Clark in his book entitled “Islam for Dummies” writes “Sufis played a major role in converting people to Islam in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia (today Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) and central Asia.      

 I deem it necessary to mention that our modern age stresses much on the need of moderation, harmony, interfaith dialogue and peace. The world has become a global village. The advancement in science and technology has altogether altered the mind set of humans. The people have become more rational and cosmopolitan. Under the circumstances we need the unification of humans on one platform. This noble goal can only be achieved through practicing Sufism in letter and spirit. In the modern terminology we can say that we can find God through Man. We can not ignore the importance of Man in Universal Sufism. Abraham bin Adham received the right message by angel in his dream who asked him to love man if you wanted to be loved by God. Religious extremism and terrorism are rejected by Sufis and they embrace all and sundry. The Sufis believe in the maxim of Jesus Christ; hate the sin not the sinner. We have to spread the fragrance of tolerance and harmony by loving all humankind.
I want to conclude this dissertation by citing a stanza from the poem under the title“The Divine Image" written by William Blake who is well known for his deep religious mystical views. He says:

" And all must love the human form

In heathen,Turk, or Jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell.
There God is dwelling too."