Sufism
Hopes and Fears
Since the poet Rabi'a al-Adawiyya Sufis have strived to not be guided by their hopes and fears but instead by having pure love for god. Despite this, all Muslims hope to become close to god in “Paradise”, which is after death and the last judgment. Sufis believe that they can achieve this in their life on earth and fully embrace God’s presence. A quote from Rabi'a al-Adawiyya shows this perspective,
"O God! If I worship you for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship you in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship you for Your Own sake, grudge me not your everlasting Beauty."
Rabi'a al-Adawiyya says that worshipping God for the sake of worshipping God is the best thing one can do. This also
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Since Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, Sufism has been about loving God and people, and doing everything in one’s life for the sake of love. They believe that this is true religion, and all other religions are based off of the one true message of God, they are simply deformed and changed by human error. I agree that if one is to have a religion, it should be of pure love, not based off of fear and hope, as they are merely humans putting a veil over …show more content…
Ali (601- 661 CE) was the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. All Muslims believe that Muhammad was the final messenger sent by God, the last prophet. Ali was born in Mecca, on the 13th day of the lunar month of Rajab. Many sources say that he was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Kaʿbah, a shrine said to have been built by Abraham (the first of the three patriarchs of Judaism, who played a prominent role as an example of faith in Christianity, Islam and Judaism) and later dedicated to the traditional gods of the Arabs. It became the central shrine of Islam after the advent of the religion and the removal of all idols from it. At the age of five, Ali’s father became impoverished, and Ali was taken in by Muhammad and his wife Khadījah. When Ali was 10 he became the first person after Khadījah to accept Islam, despite his father’s stubborn belief in traditional Arabic polytheism. His father did accept Ali’s decision, saying, “Since he [the Prophet Muhammad] leads you only to righteousness, follow him and keep close to him.”
Nearly every Sufi order traces its lineage to Muhammed through Ali. All Sufis believe that Ali inherited the saintly power wilāyah from Muhammed. This power makes the spiritual journey to God possible. As said earlier, Sufis strive to make a spiritual connection with God in their own life, and so having the