Children
of Abraham
Richard L. Shafer[1]
Mystics seek to experience God
directly. Sufis – mystics of Islam - approach
their study so seriously that they act as if there is nothing but God – only
God is self-sufficient. Everything else
in the world depends on God to work, to function, or be. In fact, Sufis see the unity of God in
everything and everyone.[2] Many of us who aren’t Sufis do too.
As
was written last month, “Sufis …. have developed a variety of means of knowing
God….”[3] In fact, according to Huston Smith[4],
Sufism began in the 8th or 9th century as a direct
reaction to their perception that Islam was becoming too worldly. They apparently thought the world was
interfering with their contemplation of God, and so they developed new ways to seek
to encounter God directly. Smith names
three such ways as mysticisms of love, of ecstasy, and of intuition.
Sufi love poetry
tells of the pangs of love for God, in the absence of God, or the separation of
God from humans. “A remarkable 8th
century woman saint, Rabi’a, discovered in her solitary vigils….that God’s love
was at the core of the universe; not to steep oneself in that love and reflect
it to others was to forfeit life’s supreme beatitude.”[5]
The 13th century Persian poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi is one of the best
known of the Sufi poets. His poetry is
among the most popular in this country today.[6]
Sufi “ecstasy”
derives from experiences of ‘standing outside’ their bodies. The Qur’an says that Prophet Mohammed made a
“night journey” through the seven heavens into God’s presence. On this Night Journey to Heaven, during
Ramadan, Mohammed, with the help of Moses, negotiated with God the numbers times
prayers would be said each day. Starting
at 50 times per day, the number was successfully reduced, again and again,
until Mohammed refused to ask for any more relief beyond the mandatory 5 times
per day. Sufis seek to emulate that
journey, entranced or in a trance.
In the mysticism of
intuition, the language of the Qur’an is interpreted and studied for its
symbols. Verses are said to have
multiple significances. Sufis consider
that repeating God’s name keeps them focused on God. (Christians and Jews do too.) So, for example, pronouncing and repeating
each of the ninety nine names of Allah produces a spiritual state in the
believer.[7]
But like mystics in Christianity and
Judaism, Sufis are not universally accepted in Islam. Some Muslims consider Sufism blasphemous,
while others are merely threatened by it.
“Mysticism breaks
through the boundaries that protect the faith of the typical believer. In doing so it moves into an unconfined
region that, fulfilling through it is for some, carries dangers for those who
are unqualified for its teachings.
Without their literal meaning being denied, dogmas and prescriptions
that the ordinary believer sees as absolute are interpreted allegorically, or
used as points of reference that may eventually be transcended. Particularly shocking to some is the fact
that the Sufi often claims, if only by implication, an authority derived
directly from God and a knowledge given from above rather than learned in the
schools.”[8]
Copyright Richard
L. Shafer 2005
[1] This is one
of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian
tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings,
beliefs and practices of the Abrahamic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism
[2] Ahmed, Akbar S., ISLAM TODAY: A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO
THE MUSLIM WORLD. I.B. Tauris,
[3] Fadiman, James and Robert Frager, ed. ESSENTIAL
SUFISM, p. 197
[4] Smith, Huston, THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS, Harper San
Francisco, 1991. p. 258
[5] Smith p. 259
[6] (I’ve been reading THE SOUL OF RUMI, translated by Coleman Barks, -- HarperSanFrancisco, 2001 -- and enjoying it thoroughly!)
[7] Ahmed, p. 50
[8] Smith p. 264