| Sufism's Many Paths |
| Dr. Alan Godlas University of Georgia |
| 'Ibaaraatuhum shattaa wa-husnuka waahid Wa-kullun ilaa dhaaka al-jamaali yushiir Their expressions are manifold and Your loveliness is one And everyone points to that beauty Quoted by Shaykh 'Abd al-Halim Mahmud, former Shaykh al-Azhar . Jumla ma'shuq ast-o 'aashiq pardah'i Zenda ma'shuq ast-o 'aashiq mordah'i All is the Beloved and the lover is a veil The Beloved is alive and the lover is dead Mathnawi Rumi . Man qaala laa ilaaha ill Allah, dakhala al-janna Whoever says, 'There is no god, but God,' enters Paradise. Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad |
| Ever since Sufis first began to speak about Sufism, they have defined it in many different ways. For some time now, scholars in the West have discussed Sufism's definition and origin. Sufis--which is what practioners of Sufism are called--see themselves to be on a spiritual journey toward God. In order to guide spiritual travellers and to express the states of consciousness experienced on this journey, Sufis produced an enormously rich body of literature, often using a specialized technical vocabulary, this journey is referred to as the path (tariqah). While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and will become close to God in Paradise--after death and the "Final Judgment"-- Sufis believe as well that it is possible to become close to God and to experience this closeness--while one is alive. Furthermore, the attainment of the knowledge that comes with such intimacy with God, Sufis assert, is the very purpose of the creation. Here they mention the hadith qudsi in which God states, "I was a hidden treasure and I loved that I be known, so I created the creation in order to be known." Hence for the Sufis there is already a momentum, a continuous attraction on their hearts exerted by God, pulling them, in love, towards God. They experience the joyful ecstasy of being gently drawn to their Eternal Beloved, yet this primordially blissful return seems to have been interrupted. The Persian poet Hafiz remarked, O Wine giver, pour me a cup and pass it around for love seemed easy at first, but later the difficulties arose. . . . Obstacles on the Path These difficulties or obstacles to getting closer to God derive primarily from one's self or ego (nafs). In other words, it can be said that if one is not recognizing or experiencing God's "closeness" or presence, the responsibility for this condition lies with one's own self. Some of the gross effects of the dominance of the nafs are that one may become overwhelmed by the need to gratify desires such as anger, lust, and the many addictions that afflict us. Other gross effects are that one may become dominated by states of consciousness such as anxiety, boredom, regret, depression, and self-pity-- so that one feels like a powerless victim or prisoner tortured within one's own mind. A more subtle but devasting effect, however, is to imagine that God is absent from one's experience, which then results in one's ceasing to surrender gratefully and lovingly into God's embrace. In fact, being overcome by this subtle effect opens the door for the gross effects. Hence, one of the emphases of Sufism is upon the struggle to overcome the dominance that one's nafs has over one, a struggle that first and foremost involves choosing at each moment to remember and surrender actively to God--irrespective of whether the form in which God becomes manifest is absence or presence. . . . Struggle With One's Nafs The behavioral absolutes of the shari'ah (Islamic law) set the outer limits that the Sufi must keep within. But the Sufi struggle with one's nafs puts further curbs on the Sufi's behaviour and consciousness. Usually this struggle is spoken of as having two dimensions: negation (nafy) and affirmation (ithbat), corresponding to the two components of the first shahadah (testification of faith), La ilaha (There is no deity) and illa Allah (except for God). In reference to the two kinds of effects of the dominance of the nafs mentioned above, the "negation" can be said to take the form of attempting to control oneself from acting out one's anger or gratifying addictions, to negate the thought that one will find fulfillment through these means, to negate the sense that one cannot escape one's depression, and to give up imagining that God is absent. The "affirmation" can be said to take the form of embracing and engaging the presence of God in whatever form it may appear within one's consciousness--even in the form of the thoughts that "God is absent," "I am depressed, or "I am distant from God." This unconditional embrace of the presence of God is simply called taslim in Muslim languages. This word is cognate with and is at the root of the word "Islam," and in light of the meaning expressed here, I have translated it as "engaged surrender." In this regard, the struggle with one's own nafs has been called the greater struggle or greater "holy war" (al-jihad al-akbar) in contrast to the lesser struggle (al-jihad al-asghar), which is against injustice and oppressors in this world. The concept derives from the popular hadith of the Prophet, in which he said to Muslims returning from a battle, "You have returned from the lesser struggle to the greater struggle." And he was asked, "What is the greater struggle?" He answered, "The struggle against one's self (nafs), which is between the two sides of your body." Needless to say, in Sufism these two struggles are mutually reinforcing and occur simultaneously. In particular, the practice of "engaged surrender" in the "greater" struggle with one's own nafs diminishes certain obstacles in the consciousness of the Sufi, obstacles that--if not stuggled against--will hinder the Sufi's capacity to engage in the "lesser" struggle in their life in the world. . . . Awakening to the Awareness of the Unmanifest World At any moment in the course of following the Sufi path, Sufis may have an experience in which they become drawn into the presence of God. This experience has often been called jadhbah (attraction) or wajd (ecstasy) (lit. finding). Another way of speaking of this experience is to describe it as "awakening to the 'unmanifest or unseen world'(al-ghayb)." The following link, written by the Muslim scholars of the as-Sunnah Foundation, explains both the Prophet Muhammad's knowledge of the Unseen as well as the unveiling (kashf ) or knowledge of the Unseen that the "friends of God" or "saints" (awliya' ) attain. . . . Remembering God The Qur'an instructs Muslims to remember God, whose reality encompasses and pervades both the unmanifest and manifest worlds (al-ghayb wa-al-shahadah). Sufis have developed this into the quintessential Sufi practice of silent and vocal dhikr (remembrance). An inherent problem in dhikr, however, is the difficulty in remembering God when one has little or no awareness of God. To start with, Muslims begin with a name of God, such as "Allah," which is often called the "comprehensive" name (al-ism al-jami'). It is comprehensive in the sense that it comprises all of the infinite names of God, which refer to the source of the awareness of all of reality. In down to earth terms, the ultimate source of one's awareness of the words on this page, for example, is the reality of one of the names of God, all of which are encompassed by the name Allah. In short, the source of one's present awareness--whatever that awareness may be--is encompassed by the name Allah. Thus, remembering God can begin quite simply and ordinarily with the awareness of two things: one's present awareness and the name Allah--even when one has no awareness of the reality to which the name Allah refers......... . . . Remembrance (dhikr), and Love The Sufi follows the path toward God primarily by means of love. For the Sufi who is enraptured with the love of God (who is the source of all existence, or, as some might say, who is all of existence), all of existence is extraordinarily beautiful. In contrast, one who is not in love with God to this degree will not see what is so awesome about existence. A discourse on love by Shams-i Tabrizi (the man who was the catalyst of Rumi's divine ecstasy) illustrates this. While some Sufis such as Rumi become utterly consumed by love's fire, for most who wish to love God, their love is merely a wavering flame, ever in danger of diminishing. Hence, by remembering God's forgotten reality and beauty, Sufis rekindle the flame of their love for God. In Sufism, it is remembrance that makes the heart grow fonder. In a nutshell, this is the relationship between dhikr and love. |
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