The Mystical Tradition of Sufism
Like the world’s other major religions — Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity — Islam also developed a mystical tradition: Sufism (SOO-fih-zuhm). It arose in the ninth and tenth centuries as a popular reaction to the materialism and worldliness of the later Umayyad regime. Sufis sought a personal union with God — divine love and knowledge through intuition rather than through rational deduction and study of the shari’a. The earliest of the Sufis followed an ascetic routine (denial of physical desires to achieve a spiritual goal), dedicating themselves to fasting, prayer, meditation on the Qur’an, and the avoidance of sin.
The woman mystic Rabi’a (717–801) epitomized this combination of renunciation and devotion. An attractive woman who refused marriage so that nothing would distract her from a total commitment to God, Rabi’a attracted followers, for whom she served as a spiritual guide. One of her poems captures her deep devotion: “O my lord, if I worship thee from fear of hell, and if I worship thee in hope of paradise, exclude me thence, but if I worship thee for thine own sake, then withhold not from me thine eternal beauty.”7
Between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries groups of Sufis gathered around prominent leaders called shaykhs; members of these groups were called dervishes. Dervishes entered hypnotic or ecstatic trances, either through the constant repetition of certain prayers or through physical exertions such as whirling or dancing (hence the English phrase “whirling dervish” for one who dances with abandonment).
Picturing the PastSufi Collective Ritual Collective or group rituals, in which Sufis tried through ecstatic experiences to come closer to God, have always fascinated outsiders, including non-Sufi Muslims. Here the sixteenth-century Persian painter Sultan Muhammad illustrates the writing of the fourteenth-century lyric poet Hafiz. Notice the various musical instruments and the delicate floral patterns so characteristic of Persian art. (Or. Ms. 104, from The Kulliyyati-I Sa’di [The Collected Works of Sa’di], 1556, vellum/Edinburgh University Library, Scotland/With kind permission of the University of Edinburgh/The Bridgeman Art Library)ANALYZING THE IMAGE What sort of architectural space is depicted here? What distinctions do you see among the people in terms of how they dress and what they are doing?CONNECTIONS How common are music and dance in religion? What do they provide?
Some Sufis acquired reputations as charismatic holy men to whom ordinary Muslims came seeking spiritual consolation, healing, charity, or political mediation between tribal and factional rivals. Other Sufis became known for their writings. Probably the most famous medieval Sufi was the Spanish mystic-philosopher Ibn al’Arabi (1165–1240). He traveled widely in Spain, North Africa, and Arabia seeking masters of Sufism. In Mecca he received a “divine commandment” to begin his major work, The Meccan Revelation, which evolved into a personal encyclopedia of 560 chapters. Also at Mecca, the wisdom of a beautiful young girl inspired him to write a collection of love poems, The Interpreter of Desires, for which he composed a mystical commentary. In 1223, after visits to Egypt, Anatolia, Baghdad, and Aleppo, Ibn al’Arabi concluded his pilgrimage through the Islamic world at Damascus, where he produced The Bezels [Edges] of Wisdom, considered one of the greatest works of Sufism.