History of Sufism

Last updated

Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam in which Muslims seek divine love and truth through direct personal experience of God. [1] This mystic tradition within Islam developed in several stages of growth, emerging first in the form of early asceticism, based on the teachings of Hasan al-Basri, before entering the second stage of more classical mysticism of divine love, as promoted by al-Ghazali and Attar of Nishapur, and finally emerging in the institutionalized form of today's network of fraternal Sufi orders, based on Sufis such as Rumi and Yunus Emre. [2] [1] At its core, however, Sufism remains an individual mystic experience, and a Sufi can be characterized as one who seeks the annihilation of the ego in God. [3]

Contents

Early history

The exact origin of Sufism is disputed. Some sources state that Sufism is the inner dimensions of the teachings of Muhammad whereas others say that Sufism emerged during the Islamic Golden Age from about the eighth to tenth centuries. According to Ibn Khaldun Sufism was already practiced by the Sahaba, but with the spread of material tendencies, the term Sufi was just applied to those who emphasize the spiritual practice of Islam. [4]

Origins

Abu Bakr Muhammad Zakaria states in his book "Hindusiyat wa Tasur" that Kamel Amiel al-Shaibi and Abdullah Waris Bin Ishaq in separate texts say that the first person to use the word Sufi was Abu Hashem al-Kufi (2nd century AH), and Ibn Taymiyya said in his Majmual Fatwa that Basra was a center of Sufism at that time. [5]

Ahmet Karamustafa describes renunciation (زُهد zuhd ) as a widespread form of piety in Muslim communities in the first century of Abbasid rule. [6] Ibrahim ibn Adham al-Balkhi (d. 777-8) took on an ascetic lifestyle with a "radical aversion" to mainstream social life. [6] The followers of the preacher Hasan al-Basri founded a ribat on Abadan Island on the Tigris near Basra. [6] Karamustafa also cites Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya, Shaqiq al-Balkhi, Al-Darani, Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Yahya ibn Mu'adh al-Razi, and Bayazid Bastami as some of the pioneering figures in the introspective trends that would lead to what would later be called Sufism. [7]

Sufis of Baghdad

A distinct practice of piety associated with introspection, drawing from different practices and ideas, took form in Baghdad in the second half of the 9th century. [6] Members of the first generation of Sufis in Baghdad included Harith al-Muhasibi, Abu Hamza al-Baghdadi  [ ar ], Abu Sa'id al-Kharraz, Abu al-Husain al-Nuri, Junayd al-Baghdadi, Ruwaym, and Khayr an-Nassaj  [ ar ]. [8] A following generation included Abu Bakr al-Shibli, Al-Jurayri  [ ar ], Rudbari, and Ja'far al-Khuldi  [ ar ]. [8]

Codification of doctrine

Towards the end of the 1st millennium CE, a number of manuals began to be written summarizing the doctrines of Sufism and describing some typical Sufi practices. Two of the most notable are Kashf al-Mahjûb (Revelation of the Veiled) of Hujwiri, and Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya (The Message) of Al-Qushayri. [9] According to the late medieval mystic Jami, Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (died c. 716) was the first person to be called a "Sufi". [10]

Two of al Ghazali's finest treatises, the "Revival of Religious Sciences" and the "Alchemy of Happiness," depicted Sufism as the complete fulfilment of Islamic Law. This became the mainstream position among Islamic scholars for centuries, challenged only recently on the basis of Orientalism and Wahhabism. [11]

The tomb of Khoja Afaq, near Kashgar, China. Kashgar-apakh-hoja-d04.jpg
The tomb of Khoja Afāq, near Kashgar, China.

All Sufi orders claim a direct chain of leadership to Muhammad, through Ali, with the exception of the Naqshbandis who claim a direct connection to Muhammad through Abu Bakr. In the eleventh century, Sufi orders (Tariqa) were instrumental in the institutional spread of Sufism. [12]

Muslim Spain

Beginning in the ninth century and continuing throughout the tenth century, al-Andalus was home to fairly strict, orthodox beliefs and practices. [13] Quranic studies and jurisprudence (fiqh) were the accepted and promoted types of scholarship that shaped the region's beliefs and practices. Early fuqaha in Spain were somewhat skeptical of philosophical thought as well as of Sufism. In later centuries, especially the twelfth and thirteenth, Sufism became more accepted and somewhat assimilated into Andalusi Islam. [14] Scholars have generally seen this later flourishing in two different ways. For some, it reflects the influence of the mystical tradition in Cordoba attributed to Ibn Masarra. [15] Others give exclusive credit to the influence of eastern mystics, most often including al-Ghazali's thoughts and teachings. [16]

One figure in particular has often been credited as being the earliest introduction of Sufism to Spain: Ibn Masarra. [17] He lived from 883 to 931 and was born outside of Cordoba. Many consider him to have established the first Sufi school in the province; however, his teachings were outside of the so-called "mainstream" Sufism that was more common in the East during his lifetime. [18]

With Ibn Masarra there was a “brief flowering” [19] of Sufism in Spain, and later Spanish Sufis reflected his influence on them. After Ibn Masarra's death, in 940 his followers fell under heavy persecution under the jurists who destroyed Ibn Masarra's works and also forced his followers to recant. [20] The effects of his thought and that of his disciples would appear again in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries amidst later Sufis such as Ibn Arabi. [21]

By the twelfth century, shifts towards the acceptance—or at least tolerance—of philosophy and Sufism into what had previously been strictly orthodox beliefs were occurring. Many people began to read and translate the works of philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato. At the forefront of the philosophical movement in Spain were Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd, and a Jewish scholar named Ibn Maimun. [22] Ibn Tufail introduced the element of Sufism into this philosophical way of thinking. Andalusi Sufism was at its peak at this time. [23] Also at this time, eastern Sufism was developing more as a communal movement, whereas that of the West (including in al-Andalus), it remained largely an individual pursuit. [24]

A group of Sufi masters who defended the works of theosophists such as Ghazali and al-Qushayri began emerging in the late eleventh and early- to mid-twelfth centuries. Abu l-‘Abbas ibn al-‘Arif (1088-1141) was one of the most prominent Sufis in Spain and one of the earliest ones during Sufism's peak in the peninsula. [13] He belonged to what Spanish scholar of Islam, Miguel Asin Palacios, termed the "School of Almeria," so named for its geographical location. [25]

Ibn al-Arif was one of the first to interpret Ghazali in the West, and he also founded a method of spiritual training called tariqah. [22] Ibn al-‘Arif's disciple Ibn Qasi set up a group of religious followers in Portugal and built a monastery in Silves. He authored the Khal al-Na’lain, which Ibn ‘Arabi would later write a commentary on. [26] Ibn Barrajan (d. 1141), who a student and friend of Ibn al-‘Arif, lived and taught in Seville but was originally from North Africa, has been called the Ghazali of the West. [27] Ibn Barrajan and Ibn al-‘Arif were both tried for heresy because their views conflicted with those of the Almoravids in power; however, Ibn Barrajan appears to have been more active in using Sufism as a means of challenging Quranic scholars and jurists. [28]

Ibn Arabi, another key figure of this period of Sufism in the region, was born in Murcia in 1165 at the beginning of the Almohad reign. He is one of the most important Sufis of Spain, although he--like many other Andalusi Sufis--would eventually leave the peninsula and travel throughout North Africa and the East. [29] His works in Andalusia focused mainly on the perfect human individual, monastic metaphysics, and mystical path to spiritual and intellectual perfection. Central themes of Ibn 'Arabi's were the unity of all beings, or “wahdat al-wujud,” and also how God reflects God's self in the world. [30] According to Ibn ‘Arabi, the main practices of Andalusi Sufis included ascesis, poverty, and devotion to the Qur’an. [31]

Not long after the death of Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Andalus experienced a “spiritual aridity” [32] in the mid-fourteenth century. The one exception to that trend was Ibn Abbad al-Rundi (1332-1390), a member of the Shadhiliyya order who was born in Ronda and whose scholarship brought together mystical and juridical paths. [33] His work helped Sufism become more accepted within the Islamic sciences. [34]

Although Sufism would no longer directly be a part of Andalusi life after the Catholic Monarchs reconquered all Spain, some have seen Sufism's lasting influence in Spain. [35]

Medieval Age and Turko-Mongol period

In the medieval period, Islam and Sufism were practically synonyms and a distinction between Sufism and Islamic orthodoxy virtually absent. [36] (p20–22) The heterodoxy of mysticism, in contrast to formal theology, enabled Islam to survive during the Turko-Mongol period in the thirteenth-Century. [37] Under Turko-Mongolian rulership, Sufi authors and teachings such as those of Ahmad Yasawi, Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, Rumi and Sultan Walad, a leading interpreter of the ibn Arabi, flourished throughout the Islamic world. [36] (p8) During this period, Sufism became focused on the purification of the soul to achieve the status of the "perfect human" (al-Insān al-Kāmil). [38] (p9)

Authors such as Ahmad Yasawi and Yunus Emre spread Sufism and Perso-Arabic ideas through Anatolia and Central Asia. [36] (p20) The idea of syncretism between Turko Shamanic religion and Islam, upheld by many earlier scholars has been challenged in recent scholarship. [36] (p21) There is, arguably, a lack of similarities between Shamanism and Anatolian Sufism, as well as a lack of unified orthodoxy of Islam and Sufism during this period. [36] (p21-22)

13th to 16th Centuries

Between the 13th and 16th centuries CE, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, a "Golden Age" whose physical artifacts are still present. In many places, a lodge (known variously as a zawiya , khanqah , or takya ) would be endowed through a pious foundation in perpetuity ( waqf ) to provide a gathering place for Sufi adepts, as well as lodging for itinerant seekers of knowledge. The same system of endowments could also be used to pay for a complex of buildings, such as that surrounding the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, including a lodge for Sufi seekers, a hospice with kitchens where these seekers could serve the poor and/or complete a period of initiation, a library, and other structures. No important domain in the civilization of Islam remained unaffected by Sufism in this period. [39]

Sufism was an important factor in the historical spread of Islam, and in the creation of regional Islamic cultures, especially in Africa [40] and Asia. Recent academic work on these topics has focused on the role of Sufism in creating and propagating the culture of the Ottoman world, including a study of the various branches of the Naqshbandi [41] and Khalwati orders, [42] and in resisting European imperialism in North Africa and South Asia. [43]

Spread to India

Nizamuddin Auliya's tomb (right) and Jama'at Khana Masjid (background), at Nizamuddin Dargah complex, in Nizamuddin West, Delhi Nizamuddin Dargah and Jamaat Khana Masjid, Delhi.jpg
Nizamuddin Auliya's tomb (right) and Jama'at Khana Masjid (background), at Nizamuddin Dargah complex, in Nizamuddin West, Delhi

Muslims of South Asia prominently follow the Chishtiyya, Naqshbandiyyah, Qadiriyyah and Suhrawardiyyah orders. Of them the Chishti order is the most visible. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, a disciple of Khwaja Usman Harooni, the propounder of this order, introduced it in India. He came to India from Afghanistan with the army of Shihab-ud-Din Ghuri in 1192 AD and started living permanently in Ajmer from 1195. Centuries later, with the support of Mughal rulers, his shrine became a place of pilgrimage. Akbar used to visit the shrine every year.

Turkic conquests in South Asia were accompanied by four Sufi mystics of the Chishtiyya order from Afghanistan: Moinuddin (d. 1233 in Ajmer), Qutbuddin (d. 1236 in Delhi), Nizamuddin (d.1335 in Delhi) and Fariduddin (d.1265 in Pakpattan now in Pakistan) . During the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq, who spread the Delhi sultanate towards the south, the Chistiyya spread its roots all across India. The Sufi shine at Ajmer in Rajasthan and Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, Ashraf Jahangir Semnani in Kichaucha Shariff belong to this order.

The Suharawardi order was started by Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, a Persian Sufi born in Sohrevard near Zanjan in Iran, and brought to India by Baha-ud-din Zakariya of Multan. The Suhrawardiyyah order of Sufism gained popularity in Bengal. In addition, the Suhrawardiyyah order, under the leadership of Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi (d. 1234), also bequeathed a number of teachings and institutions that were influential in shaping other order that emerged during later periods.

The Khalwati order was founded by Umar al-Khalwati, an Azerbaijani Sufi known for undertaking long solitary retreats in the wilderness of Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran. While the Indian subcontinent branches of the order did not survive into modern times, the order later spread into the Ottoman Empire and became influential there after it came under persecution by the rise of the Safavid Shahs during the sixteenth century. [42]

The Qadiriyyah order founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani whose tomb is at Baghdad. It is popular among the Muslims of South India. Baha-ud-Din Naqshband (1318-1389) of Turkestan founded Naqshbandi order of Sufism. Khwaja Razi-ud-Din Muhammad Baqi Billah whose tomb is in Delhi, introduced the Naqshbandi order in India. The essence of this order was insistence on rigid adherence to Sharia[ citation needed ] and nurturing love for the Prophet. It was patronized by the Mughal rulers, as its founder was their ancestral Pir (Spiritual guide). "The conquest of India by Babur in 1526 gave considerable impetus to the Naqshbandiyya order" . Its disciples remained loyal to the throne because of the common Turkic origin. With the royal patronage of most of the Mughal rulers, the Naqshbandi order caused the revival of Islam in its pure form. Sufi orders were sometimes close to the ruling powers such as the Ottoman Empire, helping their spread and influence. [44]

Sufism in Bangladesh

Sufism in Bangladesh is more or less similar to that in the whole Indian subcontinent. India, it is claimed, is one of the five great centers of Sufism, the other four being Persia (including central Asia), Baghdad, Syria, and North Africa. Sufi saints flourished in Hindustan (India) preaching the mystic teachings of Sufism that easily reached the common people, especially the spiritual truth seekers in India. [45] Sufism in Bangladesh is also called pirism, after the pirs or teachers in the Sufi tradition [46] (also called Fakir). [47] The Sufism tremendously influenced local population and thus these Sufi masters were the single most important factor in South Asian conversions to Islam, particularly in what is now Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshi Muslims are influenced to some degree by Sufism. The conversion to Islam of the population of what was to become Bangladesh began in the thirteenth century and continued for hundreds of years. Muslim pirs who wandered about in villages and towns were responsible for many conversions. [48]

A majority of Bangladeshi Muslims perceive Sufis as a source of spiritual wisdom and guidance and their Khanqahs and Dargahs as nerve centers of Muslim society [49] These majority of Muslims in Bangladesh are Sunni, who mainly follow the Hanafi school of thought (madh'hab). [50]

Modern history

Current Sufi orders include Ba 'Alawiyya, Chishti, Khalwati, Naqshbandi, Nimatullahi, Oveyssi, Qadria Noshahia, Qadiria Boutshishia, Qadiriyyah, Qalandariyya, Sarwari Qadiri, Shadhliyya, Tijaniyyah, and Suhrawardiyya. [51]

Sufism is popular in such African countries as Morocco and Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Sunni Islam. [52] Sufism is traditional in Morocco but has seen a growing revival with the renewal of Sufism around contemporary spiritual teachers such as Sidi Hamza al Qadiri al Boutshishi. Sufism suffered setbacks in North Africa during the colonial period; the life of the Algerian Sufi master Emir Abd al-Qadir is instructive in this regard. [53] Notable as well are the lives of Amadou Bamba and Hajj Umar Tall in sub-Saharan Africa, and Sheikh Mansur Ushurma and Imam Shamil in the Caucasus region. In the 20th century some more modernist Muslims have called Sufism a superstitious religion that holds back Islamic achievement in the fields of science and technology. [54] A number of western converts to Islam have also embraced Sufism,[ citation needed ] sometimes resulting in considerable syncretism or generic spiritualism detached from Islam, as in the case of "Universal Sufism" or the writings of René Guénon or G. I. Gurdjieff.

One of the first to return to Europe as an official representative of a Sufi order, and with the specific purpose to spread Sufism in Western Europe, was the Ivan Aguéli. Other noteworthy Sufi teachers who were active in the West include Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Inayat Khan, Nazim Al-Haqqani, Javad Nurbakhsh, Bulent Rauf, Irina Tweedie, Idries Shah and Muzaffer Ozak. Currently active Sufi academics and publishers include Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee, Abdal Hakim Murad, Syed Waheed Ashraf and the Franco-Moroccan Faouzi Skali.

Orientalism

Orientalists proposed a variety of origin theories regarding Sufism, such as that it originated as an Indo-European response to Semitic influence, Buddhism, Neo-Platonism, and Christian ascetism or Gnosticism. [55] [56] Modern academics and scholars however, have rejected early Orientalist theories asserting a non-Islamic origin of Sufism, [57] [58] [59] Carl Ernst states that the tendency to try and disassociate Islam from Sufism was an attempt by Orientalists to create a divide between what they found attractive within Islamic civilization (i.e. Islamic spirituality) and the negative stereotypes of Islam that were present in Britain. [60] [61] Hosein Nasr states that non-Islamic origin theories are false according to the point of view of Sufism. [55] Many have asserted Sufism to be unique within the confines of the Islamic religion, and contend that Sufism developed from people like Bayazid Bastami, who, in his utmost reverence to the sunnah, refused to eat a watermelon because he did not find any proof that Muhammad ever ate it. [62] [63] According to William Chittick, Sufism can simply be described as "the interiorization, and intensification of Islamic faith and practice." [62]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Titus, Murray T., Indian Islam, 1979, p 117.
  2. ^ Markovitz, Claude (ed), A History of Modern India, Anthen Press, 2002, p 30.
  3. ^ Contemporary Relevance of Sufism, 1993, published by Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
  4. ^ Rizvi, Saiyied Athar Abbas, History of Sufism in India, Volume 2, 1992, p180.
  5. Chopra, R. M., "SUFISM" (Origin, Growth, Eclipse, Resurgence), 2016, Anuradha Prakashan, New Delhi. ISBN   978-93-85083-52-5.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sufism</span> Body of mystical practice within Islam

Sufism is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism and asceticism.

<i>Tariqa</i> School or order of Sufism

A tariqa is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking haqiqa, which translates as "ultimate truth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Arabi</span> Sufi scholar and philosopher (1165–1240)

Ibn ʿArabī was an Andalusi Arab scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influential within Islamic thought. Out of the 850 works attributed to him, some 700 are authentic while over 400 are still extant. His cosmological teachings became the dominant worldview in many parts of the Muslim world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chishti Order</span> Sufi mystic order in Islam

The Chishti order is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chisht where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to South Asia by Mu'in al-Din Chishti in the city of Ajmer.

<i>Wali</i> Islamic understanding of saints

A wali is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate a saint, otherwise referred to by the more literal "friend of God".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayazid Bastami</span> 9th-century Persian Sufi mystic

Abū Yazīd Ṭayfūr bin ʿĪsā bin Surūshān al-Bisṭāmī (al-Basṭāmī), commonly known in the Iranian world as Bāyazīd Bisṭāmī, was a Persian Sufi from north-central Iran. Known to future Sufis as Sultān-ul-Ārifīn, Bisṭāmī is considered to be one of the expositors of the state of fanā, the notion of dying in mystical union with Allah. Bastami was famous for "the boldness of his expression of the mystic’s complete absorption into the mysticism." Many "ecstatic utterances" have been attributed to Bisṭāmī, which lead to him being known as the "drunken" or "ecstatic" school of Islamic mysticism. Such utterance may be argued as, Bisṭāmī died with mystical union and the deity is speaking through his tongue. Bisṭāmī also claimed to have ascended through the seven heavens in his dream. His journey, known as the Mi'raj of Bisṭāmī, is clearly patterned on the Mi'raj of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Bisṭāmī is characterized in three different ways: a free thinking radical, a pious Sufi who is deeply concerned with following the shari'a and engaging in "devotions beyond the obligatory," and a pious individual who is presented as having a dream similar to the Mi'raj of Muhammed. The Mi'raj of Bisṭāmī seems as if Bisṭāmī is going through a self journey; as he ascends through each heaven, Bisṭāmī is gaining knowledge in how he communicates with the angels and the number of angels he encounters increases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sufi philosophy</span> Philosophy in Sufism

Sufi philosophy includes the schools of thought unique to Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam, also termed as Tasawwuf or Faqr according to its adherents. Sufism and its philosophical tradition may be associated with both Sunni and Shia branches of Islam. It has been suggested that Sufi thought emerged from the Middle East in the eighth century CE, but adherents are now found around the world.

Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi was a Muslim judge and scholar of Maliki law from al-Andalus. Like Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, Ibn al-Arabi was forced to migrate to Morocco during the reign of the Almoravids. It is reported that he was a student of Al-Ghazali. He was a master of Maliki Jurisprudence. His father was a student of Ibn Hazm. He also contributed to the spread of Ash'ari theology in Spain. A detailed biography about him was written by his contemporary Qadi Ayyad, the Malikite scholar and judge from Ceuta.

Abu Talib Muhammad ibn Ali al-Makki, was a hadith scholar, Shafi'i jurist, and Sufi mystic.

Miguel Asín Palacios was a Spanish scholar of Islamic studies and the Arabic language, and a Roman Catholic priest. He is primarily known for suggesting Muslim sources for ideas and motifs present in Dante's Divine Comedy, which he discusses in his book La Escatología musulmana en la Divina Comedia (1919). He wrote on medieval Islam, extensively on al-Ghazali. A major book El Islam cristianizado (1931) presents a study of Sufism through the works of Muhyiddin ibn 'Arabi of Murcia in Andalusia. Asín also published other comparative articles regarding certain Islamic influences on Christianity and on mysticism in Spain.

Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Masarra ibn Najih al-Jabali (883–931) was an Andalusian Muslim ascetic and scholar. He is considered one of the first Sufis as well as one of the first philosophers of al-Andalus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashf</span> Islamic and Sufi concept

Kashf "unveiling" is a Sufi concept dealing with knowledge of the heart rather than of the intellect. Kashf describes the state of experiencing a personal divine revelation after ascending through spiritual struggles, and uncovering the heart in order to allow divine truths to pour into it. Kashf is etymologically related to mukashafa "disclosure"/ "divine irradiation of the essence", which connotes "gain[ing] familiarity with things unseen behind the veils". For those who have purified their hearts, and who come to know the Divine Names and Attributes to the fullest of their individual capacities, the veils in front of the purely spiritual realms are opened slightly, and they begin to gain familiarity with the unseen. In Sufism, an even further revelatory capacity exists by which the Divine mysteries become readily apparent to the seeker through the light of knowledge of God. This is called tajalli "manifestation".

Abu Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Abu al-Fath (1058–1138/9), called Ibn Khafajah, a native of Alzira, was a poet of al-Andalus during the reign of the Almoravids. He was born in 1058 in Alzira near Valencia where he spent most of his life. He was the maternal uncle of poet Ibn al-Zaqqaq.

Ibn al-Arif or Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Musa ibn Ata Allah al-Mariyyi al-Sanhaji, also known as Al-Urruf was a famous Sufi. He is especially well known as the founder of a Sufi school or tariqa, which was based on the teachings of Ibn Masarra, and as the author of Mahasin al-Majalis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Qushayri</span> Islamic scholar and Sufi philosopher (986–1072)

'Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawazin Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī al-Naysābūrī was an Arab Muslim scholar, theologian, jurist, legal theoretician, commentator of the Qur’an, muhaddith, grammarian, spiritual master, orator, poet, and an eminent scholar who mastered a number of Islamic sciences. Al-Qushayri, combined the routine instruction of a Shafi'i law specialist and Hadith expert (muhaddith) with a solid slant to mysticism and ascetic lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Barrajan</span> Arab Andalusian Sufi and philosopher

Abū al-Ḥakam ʿAbd al-Salām b. ʿAbd al Raḥmān b. Abī al-Rijāl Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Lakhmī al-Ifrīqī al-Ishbīlī was an Arab Sufi figure of Al-Andalus, considered to be one of the greatest Sufi masters and hadith scholars. He spread his teachings in the first half of the 12th century.

Abu Muhammad Ruwaym bin Ahmad was an early Muslim jurist, ascetic, saint and reciter of the Qur'an. He was one of the second generation of practitioners of Sufism (tasawwuf).

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Saʿāda al-Mursī (1103–1170) was an Andalusī Muslim judge and scholar with Ṣūfī tendencies.

Sufism in Spain was practiced in Al-Andalus mainly in the 9th century. Although it did not reach the extent of other lands, it would strongly influence Islam in Spain and Iberian culture in general.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sufism". Britannica. 5 January 2024.
  2. ↑ TY - JOUR AU - Sala, Renato PY - 2018/01/01 SP - 115 EP - 138 T1 - AHMED YASAWI: LIFE, WORDS AND SIGNIFICANCE IN THE KAZAKH CULTURE VL - 89 DO - 10.26577/JH-2018-2-228 JO - Journal of history ER -
  3. ↑ Angha, Nahid (1991). Principles of Sufism (reprint ed.). Fremont, California: Jain Publishing Company (published 2024). pp. 6–8. ISBN   9780875730615 . Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  4. ↑ Gholamali Haddad Adel, Mohammad Jafar Elmi, Hassan Taromi-Rad Sufism: An Entry from Encyclopedia of the World of Islam EWI Press 2012 ISBN   978-1-908-43308-4 page 3
  5. ↑ Zakarīyā, Abū Bakr Muḥammad (2016). al-Hindūsīyah wa-taʼththur baʻḍ al-firaq al-Islāmīyah bi-hā. Jiddah. pp. 1240–1250. ISBN   978-603-90755-6-1 . Retrieved 7 January 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. 1 2 3 4 Karamustafa, Ahmet T., 1956- (2007). Sufism : the formative period. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 1, 20. ISBN   978-0-520-25268-4. OCLC   72799902.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Karamustafa, Ahmet T., 1956- (2007). Sufism : the formative period. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 3. ISBN   978-0-520-25268-4. OCLC   72799902.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. 1 2 Karamustafa, Ahmet T., 1956- (2007). Sufism : the formative period. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN   978-0-520-25268-4. OCLC   72799902.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ The most recent version of the Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya is the translation of Alexander Knysh, Al-Qushayri's Epistle on Sufism: Al-risala Al-qushayriyya Fi 'ilm Al-tasawwuf ( ISBN   978-1859641866). Earlier translations include a partial version by Rabia Terri Harris (Sufi Book of Spiritual Ascent) and complete versions by Harris, and Barbara R. Von Schlegell.
  10. ↑ Rashid Ahmad Jullundhry, Qur'anic Exegesis in Classical Literature, New Westminster: The Other Press, 2010. ISBN   9789675062551
  11. ↑ Several sections of the Revival of Religious Sciences have been published in translation by the Islamic Texts Society; see http://www.fonsvitae.com/sufism.html Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine . The Alchemy of Happiness has been published in a complete translation by Claud Field ( ISBN   978-0935782288), and presents the argument of the much larger Revival of Religious Sciences in summary form.
  12. ↑ Carl W. Ernst (2003), Tasawwuf [Sufism], Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, The institutional spread of Sufism was accomplished through the "ways" or Sufi orders (see Tariqa), which increasingly from the eleventh century offered the prospect of spiritual community organized around charismatic teachers whose authority derived from a lineage going back to the Prophet Muhammad himself.
  13. 1 2 Trimingham, J. Spencer (1998). The Sufi Orders in Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 46.
  14. ↑ Sarrano Ruano, Delfina (2006). "Why did the Scholars of al-Andalus distrust al-Ghazali?: Ibn Rushd's al-Jadd's Fatwa on Awliya-Allah". Der Islam: Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur des Islamischen Orients. 83 (1, 137–156): 152.
  15. ↑ Maribel Fierro, "The Polemic about the 'Karamat al-awaliya' and the Development of Sufism in al-Andalus," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 55, no. 2 (1992), 236.
  16. ↑ Addas, Claude (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 909–936. See p. 911.
  17. ↑ Marin, Manuela (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 878–894. See p. 890.
  18. ↑ Knysh, Alexander (2000). Islamic Mysticism : a Short History. Leiden: Brill. p. 113.
  19. ↑ Trimingham, J. Spencer (1998). The Sufi Orders in Islam. Leiden: Brill. p. 46.
  20. ↑ Knysh, Alexander (2000). Islamic Mysticism: a Short History. Leiden: Brill. p. 115.
  21. ↑ Urvoy, Dominique (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 849–877. See p. 855.
  22. 1 2 Mackeen, A.M. Mohamed (1971). "The Early History of Sufism in the Maghrib Prior to Al-Shadhili (d. 656/1258)". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 91 (3): 398–408. doi:10.2307/600258. JSTOR   600258.
  23. ↑ Fierro, Maribel (1992). "The Polemic about the 'karamat al-awliya' and the Development of Sufism in al-Andalus (Fourth/Tenth-Fifth-Eleventh Centuries)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 55 (2): 236–249. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00004596. hdl:10261/117194. S2CID   161137958.
  24. ↑ Addas, Claude (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 909–936. See p.910.
  25. ↑ Cruz Hernandez, Miguel (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 777–803. See pa. 780.
  26. ↑ A.M Mohamed Mackeen, "The Early History of Sufism in the Maghrib Prior to Al-Shadhili" Journal of the American Oriental Society 91, no 3 (1971): 403
  27. ↑ Faure, A. (2013). "Ibn Barrad̲j̲ān". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online.
  28. ↑ Urvoy, Dominique (1994). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 849–877. See p. 864.
  29. ↑ Knysh, Alexander (2000). Islamic Mysticism: a Short History. Leiden: Brill. p. 164.
  30. ↑ Knysh, Alexander (2000). Islamic Mysticism: a Short History. Leiden: Brill. pp. 168–169.
  31. ↑ Addas, Claude (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 909–936. See p. 928.
  32. ↑ Trimingham, J. Spencer (1998). The Sufi Orders in Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 84.
  33. ↑ Honerkamp, Kenneth L. (2009). Amina Gonzalez Costa and Gracia Lopez Anguita (ed.). Historia del sufismo en al-Andalus: Maestros sufies de al-Andalus y el Magreb. Cordoba, Spain: Almuzara. pp. 143–164.
  34. ↑ Honerkamp, Kenneth L. (2009). Amina Gonzalez Costa and Gracia Lopez Anguita (ed.). Historia del sufismo en al-Andalus: Maestros sufies de al-Andalus y el Magreb. Cordoba, Spain: Almuzara. pp. 145, 163.
  35. ↑ Lopez-Baralt, Luce (1994). Salma Khadra Jayyusi (ed.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill. pp. 505–554. See p. 530.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 Peacock, A.C.S. (2019). Islam, Literature and Society in Mongol Anatolia. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108582124. ISBN   978-1-108-58212-4. S2CID   211657444.
  37. ↑ Iran After the Mongols. (2019). Vereinigtes Königreich: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  38. ↑ TY - JOUR AU - Sala, Renato PY - 2018/01/01 SP - 115 EP - 138 T1 - Ahmed Yasawi: Life, Words and Significance in the Kazakh Culture VL - 89 DO - 10.26577/JH-2018-2-228 JO - Journal of history ER -
  39. ↑ Victor Danner - "The Islamic Tradition: An introduction." Amity House. February 1988.
  40. ↑ For the pre-modern era, see Vincent J. Cornell, Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism, ISBN   978-0-292-71209-6; and for the colonial era, Knut Vikyr, Sufi and Scholar on the Desert Edge: Muhammad B. Oali Al-Sanusi and His Brotherhood, ISBN   978-0-8101-1226-1.
  41. ↑ Dina Le Gall, A Culture of Sufism: Naqshbandis in the Ottoman World, 1450-1700, ISBN   978-0-7914-6245-4.
  42. 1 2 John J. Curry, The Transformation of Muslim Mystical Thought in the Ottoman Empire: The Rise of the Halveti Order, 1350-1650, ISBN   978-0-7486-3923-6.
  43. ↑ Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh, ISBN   978-1-57003-783-2.
  44. ↑ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Sufi Islam: What you need to know | DW | 25.11.2017". DW.COM. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  45. ↑ Dastagir, Md Golam (June 2002). "Some Aspects of Khwaja Enayetpuri's Sufism". Copula. 19. Department of Philosophy, Jahangirnagar University.
  46. ↑ Dastagir, Golam. "Public lecture: Islam and Multiculturalism in Contemporary Bangladesh: A Reflection". International Institute of Advance Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  47. ↑ Eaton, Richard M (1993). "The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760". ark.cdlib.org. The Question of Sufis and Frontier Warfare. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  48. ↑ Heitzman, James; Worden, Robert, eds. (1989). "Islam in Bangladesh". Bangladesh: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 73–76.
  49. ↑ Clinton Bennett; Charles M. Ramsey (1 March 2012). South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation, and Destiny. A&C Black. ISBN   978-1-4411-3589-6.
  50. ↑ "Bangladesh". Emory Law - Islamic Family Law. 2002. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  51. ↑ The Jamaat Tableegh and the Deobandis by Sajid Abdul Kayum, Chapter 1: Overview and Background.
  52. ↑ "Sufism and Religious Brotherhoods in Senegal," Babou, Cheikh Anta, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, v. 40 no1 (2007) p. 184-6
  53. ↑ See in particular the biographical introduction to Michel Chodkiewicz, The Spiritual Writings of Amir Abd Al-Kader, ISBN   978-0-7914-2446-9.
  54. ↑ From the article on Sufism in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
  55. 1 2 Nasr, Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1993-01-01). An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines . SUNY Press. p.  192. ISBN   9780791415153 . Retrieved 17 January 2015. origins of tasawwuf.
  56. ↑ Mark Sedgwick Western Sufism: From the Abbasids to the New Age Oxford University Press 9780199977659 2016 p. 36
  57. ↑ Carl W. Ernst (2003), Tasawwuf [Sufism], Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
  58. ↑ Chittick, William (2007), Sufism: A Beginner's Guide, Oneworld Publications, p. 6, ISBN   978-1-78074-052-2
  59. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved on August 1, 2016
  60. ↑ Chittick 2007, p. 6.
  61. ↑ Carl W. Ernst, "Between Orientalism and Fundamentalism:Problematizing the Teaching of Sufism" in Teaching Islam, Oxford University Press, pp. 108–123
  62. 1 2 Chittick 2007.
  63. ↑ Nasr, Hossein (1993). An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. SUNY Press. ISBN   978-0-7914-1515-3.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.