Models For The Devince Summary

Critique and Commentary of Week 5: Models for the Novice During our Week Five class meeting, discussions revolved around the relationship between Islam and Sufism, a relationship that was heavily debated between Sufis, their opponents, and European Orientalists. Both polemicists and Orientalists sought to disconnect Islam from Sufism, either in an effort to delegitimize Sufi cosmologies and practices or to reinforce their own conceptions of what should be considered Islamic. Nonetheless, all of the week’s authors explicitly connected their particular treatise to classical sources of Islamic knowledge: the Qur’an, the Hadith, and the explications of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. However, while the class was concerned with the authors’

The introduction of this class of people within the Prophet’s community raised more questions regarding reception and conclusion than it answered. First, how should scholars of religious studies and Islamic studies understand this group? For instance, Pr. Musawi, when sending some selections from The Beauty of the Righteous, referred to the section of the “The people of Suffa” as “[on the Sufis].” However, should we, the class, translate Suffa into Sufi? From an etymological perspective, the author definitely plays with the tri-consonantal structure of the Arabic language. The word Suffa possesses a root of Sād, Fā’, Fā’ and refers to a canopy or ledge of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina that housed the guests of the city (371). Nevertheless, this tri-consonantal root resembles some other roots popular in the Sufi worldview, for the author even invokes many of these themes within this section. The term Sufism

There are some concrete ascetic traits that the people of Suffa exhibit that are generally accepted among the Sufis. Al-Asfahāni’s presents the relationship between God and the Suffa as, “Allah...made [the people of Suffa] models of true asceticism and the apotheosis of trueness to one’s Lord for those who want nothing but Him” (372). Sufis, no doubt, accept this constant craving of God and the attempts to achieve purity. But, there is a confliction on what practices comprise proper asceticism. For instance, the people of Suffa “had no family, children, or money. No commerce or circumstances ever distracted them from their perseverance and constant remembrance of their Lord, and hence, they dedicated their entire lives to contemplation, worship, and penitence” (372). This characterization directly contradicts the works of other authors we have read this semester, which view complete renunciation of the world as unnecessary or even misguided. For example, Ibn ‘Arabī in his work What the Student Needs mentions another ascetic tradition that conflicts with al-Asfahāni’s claim of apotheosis. Although the Sufi is to persistently remember God and strive for His goodness, the type of renunciation and practices are different, for Ibn ‘Arabī states, “Most people