Sufism Essays

There are various ambiguities and controversies which exist in scholarship in relation to what Sufism essentially is and what it means. Nevertheless, the common view perpetuated by scholarship is that Sufism can be defined as the mystical or interior aspect of Islam, commonly referred to as ‘Islamic mysticism’ which is practiced by an unknown amount of Muslims in our current society today (Elias, 1998; Khanam, 2006; Pazouki, 2002; Khanam, 2006). It is a movement that essentially aims at intensifying

Why was Sufism successful? Sufism was a burgeoning successful movement. It was equal to Christian and Buddhist mystics. They believed in a direct and personal path to the experience of God’s presence (pg. 220). The emotional connections to divine truth, the workings of reasoning and the revealed word was all relied upon. The Qur’an was not viewed as the only path to get to God, and sometimes they danced until they fell into a trance while searching for his grace. The practice of Sufis spread

Shia and Sunnis tend to be the most common and well-known dimensions in the religion of Islam and little is known about Sufism. Muslim theologians and scholars even view Sufism with suspicion and question it due to its unorthodox ways of practicing Islam. The readings from Abdullah Ansari of Herat and Rumi present the many teachings of Sufism and how those who follow this dimension of Islam try to connect to God closer by taking part in more spiritual practices. It’s a more spiritual form of Islam

For hundreds of years in Egypt, prior to European colonialization, Sufism, or otherwise popularly known as Islamic Mysticism, dominated the religious landscape of Egypt, essentially making practices that most scholars consider particularly Sufi today indistinguishable from just “ordinary” Islamic ones. Nile Green in his book, Sufism, makes this point, arguing that “By diversifying their spiritual method and vernacularizing their means of communication, and by founding brotherhoods and saint cults

interconnected with Islamist movements, and their respected countries hold great significance. As both Sunni and Shi’a revivalist movements receive a great deal of news time, the same cannot be said about other Islamist groups and their offshoots such as Sufism. The mystical beliefs and practices of Sufi tradition have historically set Sufis apart from their other Islamic counterparts. The Sufi movement has been traditionally regarded as apolitical or quietest, until the late 1960s when it began branding

fundamentalist Taliban at the other. The latter’s attacks against popular Sufism represent a shift toward religious orthodoxy and scripturalism in a phenomenon that is – perhaps ironically – analogous to the rejection of secularism that birthed Sufism itself. Though the occult

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

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

Arguments concerning the reasons why the extreme archetypes of Islamic renunciation began to dissipate have been the subject of many scholars’ writings. Christopher Melchert in his essay “Origins and Early Sufism” contends that the increasingly growing amount of converts to Islam and their attachment to various social and economic orders led to the degradation of the extreme austerity exhibited in early Islam. He states, “It seems likely that mass conversion to Islam was a major reason for growing

Wahhabism is a stricter Sunni branch of Islam founded in Saudi Arabia by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and it rejects the beliefs of Sufism due emphasizing false Islamic values. (Craig p.738) Moreover, this religion began to combat the false beliefs/ideas of Islam emphasized by Sufi Muslims such as saint worship and visitation to saints’ tombs and employ authorities of the Quran (Islam’s holy book) or traditions of the Prophet. (Craig p.738-739) Authorities of the Quran or who followed the traditions of the

will start by briefly describing Sufism and fasting. And then show that among other rituals in Sufism, fasting has the potential to be a tool of development through the teachings that it instils in those who practice it and benefits that accompany practicing the teaching acquired especially in Sufism.

the meaning of eros within the Christian context, it is certainly opportune to distinguish the level of words from that of concepts and realities. Concerning the duplicity of eros and agape, a philologist for example, could simply suggest that the differences between the two is one of a linguistic nature; the first being more elevated and classical with the second being colloquial. We shall now embark on the reality of eros and agape as succinctly discussed in Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus

INTRODUCTION The Ajuran Sultanate or Ajuran Empire was known as a Somali Muslim empire that ruled over the large parts of the Northeast Africa consists of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia and dominated the regional trade during the 5th to the 15th century during the era of Medieval Ages. Ajuran Sultanate was very well-known during 13th century until the late 17th century because of their strong centralized administration and has an aggressive military towards invaders. This empire also left

A long time ago, Tet Holiday plays an essential role in Vietnamese culture; it is also really meaningful for Vietnamese people. Tet holiday is the time for people wish each other health, wealthy and happiness for a new year. Although Vietnamese people solemnize Tet together, differences in the way celebrate this vacation and traditional customs between North and South still exist in Vietnam. I will introduce it, origin of Tet holiday and reasons why Tet vacation is irreplaceable. II. Body 1. History

Sedgwick’s Sufism: The Essentials tries to explain and the real origins of Sufism, and the essentialities of Sufism by starting with an introduction about why Mark had chosen to write about Sufism because many Western texts do not give the real stories and definition of Sufism, as they said in some Western books that Sufism is separated from Islam which is not true at all. Thus, Mark J. Sedgwick’s book interpreted all inspects of Sufism and its history, to illustrate the real face of Sufism to the West

Sufism was important part of Ottoman religious, political, social and cultural life. In modern times people have come to think that the mysticism(tasavvuf) is separated from life. However, this idea is a mistake in historiography and what is known as an anachronism -a thing belonging to or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists-. It is a fact that in the 13th century the study of metaphysics was at the center of i’lim. Today we understand the rational mind from information, for

Mysticism means many things to many minds and is undeniably a term that is used in varying contexts with different shades of meanings. Many have used this term to designate a special mark of spiritual disposition, and others have employed it to mark off a higher and final development of life itself. Anyone who reflects God or the Holy Spirit as the vital, determining norm or principle of his or her life could validly be called “Mystical.” Mysticism means, the attainment of higher levels of being

Sufism (tasawwuf) is a Muslim movement whose followers seek to find divine truth and love through direct encounters through god. The reason of creating this religion is because people were trying to develop within the religion of Islam. The Emphasis was a reaction against the prevailing deeper meaning began with a pietistic asceticism, which led to the development of Sufism. Sufism emerged within Islam in the 8th and 9th centuries C.E. Scholars think that Sufism cmay have been given

standard practices of a religion. It is prejudice to deem local traditions or rituals as an unqualified religious identity (Picard & Medinier, 2011) 2) The syncretistic version of a religion becomes an orthodoxy, such as where Islam that is inspired by Sufism has gained more acceptance

different Islamic empires of the past. He also affirms the exchanges between the nomadic and the urban clans. To provide a reasonable justification to his argument Voll uses the concept of Sufism. After the establishment is Islam, Sufism emerged as a developed and more systematic organization. According to Voll Sufism comprises of fundamental teachings of Islam and also a way of life which many Muslim scholars pursued. This particular type of teaching promotes learning, travelling for the sake of gaining