Sufism

{{short description|Mystic practices in Islam}} {{About|the body of mystical practice||Sufism (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|Sufi|sanctification in Islam|Tazkiyah}} {{Sufism|all|width=19.0em}} {{Islam |expanded=culture}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Use British English|date=May 2026}} '''Sufism''' ({{Langx|ar|التصوف‎|translit=al-Taṣawwuf|rtl=yes}}) is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam that is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism.<ref> * {{cite web | url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abbf78.html | title=Iran: Information on Sufism or Tasawwuf (Islamic mysticism) in Iran |website=Refworld |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627211813/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abbf78.html|archive-date=27 June 2021|publisher=Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada|date=1 January 1991}} * {{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Cook |author-first=David |author-link=David Cook (historian) |date=May 2015 |title=Mysticism in Sufi Islam |url=https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-51 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.51 |isbn=9780199340378 |doi-access= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128012740/http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-51 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=4 January 2022|url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal|last=Anjum|first=Tanvir|date=2006|title=Sufism in History and its Relationship with Power |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20839016|journal=Islamic Studies|volume=45|issue=2|pages=221–268|doi=10.52541/isiri.v45i2.4632 |jstor=20839016|issn=0578-8072|url-access=subscription}} * {{Cite book|last=Sebottendorff|first=Baron Rudolf von|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bV4oDwAAQBAJ|title=Secret Practices of the Sufi Freemasons: The Islamic Teachings at the Heart of Alchemy|date=17 January 2013|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-62055-001-4}} * {{Cite journal |last=Belhaj |first=Abdessamad |date=2013 |title=Legal Knowledge by Application: Sufism as Islamic Legal Hermeneutics in the 10th/12th Centuries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43577536 |journal=Studia Islamica |volume=108 |issue=1 |pages=82–107 |doi=10.1163/19585705-12341276 |jstor=43577536 |issn=0585-5292|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from {{langx|ar|صُوفِيّ|translit=ṣūfīy|rtl=yes|label=none}}),<ref name="EI2">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2012 |title=Taṣawwuf |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |publisher=Brill Publishers |location=Leiden |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |volume=10 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1188 |isbn=978-90-04-11211-7 |author2=Radtke, B. |author3=Chittick, W. C. |author4=Jong, F. de. |author5=Lewisohn, L. |author6=Zarcone, Th. |author7=Ernst, C. |author8=Aubin, Françoise |author9=Hunwick, J. O. |author=Massington, L. |orig-date=2000 |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs}}</ref> and historically typically belonged to "orders" known as {{transliteration|ar|tariqa}} ({{plural form|{{transliteration|ar|turuq}}}})—congregations formed around a grand {{transliteration|ar|wali}} (saint) who would be the last in a chain of successive teachers linking back to Muhammad, with the goal of undergoing {{transliteration|ar|tazkiyah}} (self-purification) and the hope of reaching the spiritual station of {{transliteration|ar|ihsan}}.<ref name="Tariqa">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/583591/tariqa |title=Tariqa |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=4 February 2014 |access-date=29 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein |authorlink=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |title=The garden of truth: the vision and promise of Sufism, Islam's mystical tradition |date=2008 |publisher=HarperOne |isbn=978-0-06-162599-2 |oclc=191932004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Back to Basics {{!}} Tazkiyah: An Introduction to Spiritually Blossoming This Islamic New Year |url=https://www.amaliah.com/post/66929/back-basics-tazkiyah-introduction-spiritually-blossoming-islamic-new-year |access-date=19 September 2023 |website=Amaliah}}</ref> The ultimate aim of Sufis is to seek the pleasure of God by endeavoring to return to their original state of purity and natural disposition, known as {{transliteration|ar|fitra}}.<ref name="AH Shadhili"/>

Sufism emerged early on in Islamic history, partly as a reaction against the expansion of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and mainly under the tutelage of Hasan al-Basri. Although Sufis were opposed to dry legalism, they strictly observed Islamic law and belonged to various schools of Islamic jurisprudence and theology.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sufism |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism |access-date=26 June 2018 |last=Schimmel |first=Annemarie |quote=Opposed to the dry casuistry of the lawyer-divines, the mystics nevertheless scrupulously observed the commands of the divine law. [...] the mystics belonged to all schools of Islamic law and theology of the times.}}</ref> Although the overwhelming majority of Sufis, both pre-modern and modern, remain adherents of Sunni Islam, some strands of Sufi thought transferred over to the ambits of Shia Islam during the late Middle Ages.<ref name="Bos-2002" /> This particularly happened after the Safavid conversion of Iran under the concept of ''irfan''.<ref name="Bos-2002">{{cite book | last=Bos | first=Matthijs van den | title=Mystic regimes: Sufism and the state in Iran, from the late Qajar era to the Islamic Republic | publisher=Brill | publication-place=Leiden | date=2002 | isbn=1-4175-0678-4 | oclc=55505825 | author-link=Matthijs van den Bos}}</ref> Important foci of Sufi worship include {{transliteration|ar|dhikr}}, the practice of the remembrance of God. Sufis also played an important role in the spread of Islam through their missionary and educational activities.<ref name="britannica" />

Despite a relative decline of Sufi orders in the modern era and attacks from fundamentalist Islamic movements (such as Salafism and Wahhabism), Sufism has continued to play an important role in the Islamic world.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Global sufism: boundaries, structures and politics |date=2019 |first1=Francesco |last1=Piraino |first2=Mark J. |last2=Sedgwick |isbn=978-1-78738-134-6  |oclc=1091678717}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Newlon |first=Brendan |date=1 July 2017 |title=Nationalism, Language, and Muslim Exceptionalism |journal=American Journal of Islam and Society |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=156–158 |doi=10.35632/ajis.v34i3.789 |issn=2690-3741|doi-access=free }}</ref> It has also influenced various forms of spirituality in the West and generated significant academic interest.<ref name="howell" /><ref name="sedgwick2012" /><ref name="voll-OEIW" />

==Definitions== The Arabic word {{Transliteration|ar|tasawwuf}} ({{lit.|Sufism}}), generally translated as "Sufism", is commonly defined by Western authors as Islamic mysticism.<ref name=chittick-OEIW>{{cite encyclopedia|first=William C. |last=Chittick |title=Sufism. ṢūfĪ Thought and Practice|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor-first=John L.|editor-last=Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford |year=2009 |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0759|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603195417/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0759|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="Ernst-2004">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Carl W.|last=Ernst|title=Tasawwuf|editor-first=Richard C.|editor-last=Martin |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World|publisher=MacMillan Reference USA|year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Qamar-ul Huda |title=Striving for Divine Union: Spiritual Exercises for Suhraward Sufis |pages=1–4 |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t1ORAgAAQBAJ |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |isbn=9781135788438}}</ref> The Arabic term {{Transliteration|ar|Sufi}} has been used in Islamic literature with a wide range of meanings by both proponents and opponents of Sufism.<ref name=chittick-OEIW/> Classical Sufi texts, which stressed certain teachings and practices of the Quran and the {{tlit|ar|sunnah}} (teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), gave definitions of {{tlit|ar|tasawwuf}} that described ethical and spiritual goals:{{refn|group=note|The following are among definitions of Sufism quoted in an early Sufi treatise by Abu Nasr as-Sarraj {{•}} "Sufism is that you should be with God—without any attachment." (Junayd of Baghdad) {{•}} "Sufism consists of abandoning oneself to God in accordance with what God wills." (Ruwaym ibn Ahmad) {{•}} "Sufism is that you should not possess anything nor should anything possess you." (Samnun) {{•}} "Sufism consists of entering every exalted quality (khulq) and leaving behind every despicable quality." (Abu Muhammad al-Jariri) {{•}} "Sufism is that at each moment the servant should be in accord with what is most appropriate (awla) at that moment." ('Amr ibn 'Uthman al-Makki) }} and functioned as teaching tools for their attainment. Many other terms that described particular spiritual qualities and roles were used instead in more practical contexts.<ref name=chittick-OEIW/><ref name="Ernst-2004"/>

Some modern scholars have used other definitions of Sufism, such as the "intensification of Islamic faith and practice"<ref name=chittick-OEIW/> and the "process of realizing ethical and spiritual ideals".<ref name="Ernst-2004"/>

The term ''Sufism'' was originally introduced into European languages in the 18th century by Orientalist scholars, who viewed it mainly as an intellectual doctrine and literary tradition at variance with what they saw as the sterile monotheism of Islam. It was often mistaken as a universal mysticism in contrast to legalistic orthodox Islam.<ref>Huss, Boaz. "A Remarkable Resemblance: Comparative Mysticism and the Study of Sufism and Kabbalah". Esoteric Transfers and Constructions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (2021): 249–272.</ref> In recent times, the historian Nile Green has argued against such distinctions, stating that in the medieval period Sufism and Islam were more or less the same.<ref>{{cite book |title=Islam, Literature and Society in Mongol Anatolia |author=Andrew A.C.S. Peacock |year=2019 |doi=10.1017/9781108582124 |isbn=978-1-108-58212-4 |s2cid=211657444 }}</ref> In modern scholarly usage, the term serves to describe a wide range of social, cultural, political, and religious phenomena associated with Sufis.<ref name="Ernst-2004"/>

Sufism has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism",<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Ṣūfism and the Qurʾān |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān |publisher=Brill Publishers |location=Leiden |editor-last=McAuliffe |editor-first=Jane Dammen |editor-link=Jane Dammen McAuliffe |volume=V |doi=10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00196 |isbn=90-04-14743-8 |author-last=Knysh |author-first=Alexander D.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Milani |author-first=Milad |title=Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production |publisher=Brill Publishers |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-22187-1 |editor1-last=Cusack |editor1-first=Carol |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=4 |location=Leiden |pages=659–680 |chapter=The Cultural Products of Global Sufism |doi=10.1163/9789004226487_027 |issn=1874-6691 |editor2-last=Norman |editor2-first=Alex}}</ref><ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.15">Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), p.15</ref> "the mystical expression of Islamic faith",<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2014 |chapter=Sufis and Sufism |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion |publisher=Springer Verlag |location=Boston |last=Halligan |first=Fredrica R. |editor-last=Leeming |editor-first=David A. |editor-link=David Adams Leeming |edition=2nd |pages=1750–1751 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_666 |isbn=978-1-4614-6087-9}}</ref> "the inward dimension of Islam",<ref>Titus Burckhardt, ''Art of Islam: Language and Meaning'' (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2009), p. 223</ref><ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr'', ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 74</ref> "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam",<ref name="EI2" /><ref>Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), p.12: "Mystics on the other hand-and Sufism is a kind of mysticism-are by definition concerned above all with 'the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven'".</ref> the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam,<ref>Compare: {{cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |author-link1=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YQhoPEih04C |title=The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr |date=2007 |publisher=World Wisdom, Inc |isbn=9781933316383 |editor1-last=Chittick |editor1-first=William C. |editor1-link=William Chittick |series=The perennial philosophy series |location=Bloomington, Indiana |page=74 |quote=Sufism is the esoteric or inward dimension of Islam [...] Islamic esoterism is, however [...] not exhausted by Sufism [...] but the main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization of Islamic esotericism is to be found in Sufism. |access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Shah|1964–2014|p=30}}. "According to Idries Shah, Sufism is as old as Adam and is the essence of all religions, monotheistic or not." See Perennial philosophy</ref> and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".{{sfn|Chittick|2007|p=22}}

==Etymology== The original meaning of {{transliteration|ar|ṣūfī}} seems to have been "one who wears wool ({{transliteration|ar|DIN|ṣūf}})" symbolizing asceticism and detachment from worldly life<ref>{{Citation|title=The Economic Status of A Timurid Sufi Shaykh: A Matter of Conflict or Perception?|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iranian-studies/article/abs/economic-status-of-a-timurid-sufi-shaykh-a-matter-of-conflict-or-perception/117C30999EFA4B16F4AD9516CAA7DD71|website=cambridge.org|access-date=28 May 2026}}</ref>, and the Encyclopaedia of Islam calls other etymological hypotheses "untenable".<ref name=EI2/><ref name=chittick-OEIW/> Woolen clothes were traditionally associated with ascetics and mystics.<ref name=EI2/> Al-Qushayri and Ibn Khaldun both rejected all possibilities other than {{transliteration|ar|DIN|ṣūf}} (wool) on linguistic and documented grounds.<ref name=exeg>Rashid Ahmad Jullundhry, ''Qur'anic Exegesis in Classical Literature'', p. 56. New Westminster: The Other Press, 2010. {{ISBN|9789675062551}}</ref> Later, medieval scholars like Al-Biruni believed that the term 'Sufi' gradually evolved from the Greek term {{lang|ell|σοφός}} ({{tlit|el|sophos}}), which means wisdom or knowledge.<ref name="Haddad">{{Cite book |author=Gholamali Haddad Ade  |title=Sufism An Entry from Encyclopedia of the World of Islam |publisher=EWI Press Limited |year=2012 |isbn=978-1908433084 |location=Edgware, London, UK |page=4 |language=en|quote=Scholars like Qushayri (ibid.) believe that there is no evidence that the term Sufi has been derived from an Arabic root. Moreover, Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī believes that the origin of the term Ṣūfi stems from the Greek word sophos ("wisdom, knowledge").}}</ref>

Another explanation traces the lexical root of the word to {{transliteration|ar|DIN|ṣafā}} ({{lang|ar|rtl=yes|صفاء}}), which in Arabic means "purity", and in this context another similar idea of {{Transliteration|ar|tasawwuf}} as considered in Islam is {{tlit|ar|tazkiyah}} ({{lang|ar|تزكية|rtl=yes}}, 'self-purification'), which is also widely used in Sufism. These two explanations were combined by the Sufi Al-Hasan ibn Salih al-Rudhabari (d. 322 AH), who said, "The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top of purity."<ref name="Kabbani">''The Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition Guidebook of Daily Practices and Devotions'', p. 83, Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, 2004</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/f/Sufism%20in%20Islam.htm |title=Sufism in Islam |website=Mac.abc.se |access-date=13 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417203708/http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/f/Sufism%20in%20Islam.htm |archive-date=17 April 2012}}</ref>

Others have suggested that the word comes from the term {{Transliteration|ar|Ahl al-Ṣuffa}}<ref>{{EI3|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/ahl-al-suffa-COM_22663|first=Roberto|title=Ahl al-Ṣuffa|last=Tottoli|date=2009}}</ref> ("the people of the suffah" or "the bench"), who were a group of impoverished companions of Muhammad who held regular gatherings of {{tlit|ar|dhikr}}.<ref>''A Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection'' (2007) by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, Suha Taji-Farouki</ref> One of the most prominent companions among them was Abu Hurayra. These men and women who sat at the Prophet's Mosque are considered by some to be the first Sufis.<ref>The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies by Clinton Bennett, p 328</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sufiway.net/1sec4=ORigSUF811326.html |title=Origin of sufism – Qadiri |publisher=Sufi Way |year=2003 |access-date=13 August 2012 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127235314/http://www.sufiway.net/1sec4=ORigSUF811326.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History== {{main|History of Sufism}}

===Origins=== [[File:Rabia Sufi.jpg|thumb|Rabia Basri, one of the earliest female Sufi mystics during the Umayyad Caliphate]] thumb|Six Sufi masters, {{circa|1760}} The current consensus is that Sufism emerged in the Hejaz, present-day Saudi Arabia, and that it has existed as a practice of Muslims from the earliest days of Islam, even predating some sectarian divides.<ref name="Nasr-2008">{{Cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |title=The garden of truth: the vision and promise of Sufism, Islam's mystical tradition |date=2008 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0061625992 |pages=45–3736–45-3736}}</ref>

Sufi orders are based on the {{Transliteration|ar|bay'ah}} ({{Langx|ar|بَيْعَة|lit=pledge}}) that was given to Muhammad by his companions (''ṣahabah''). By pledging allegiance to Muhammad, the ''sahabah'' had committed themselves to the service of God.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://naqshbandi.org/teachings/topics/taking-initiation-bayah/|title=Taking Initiation (Bay'ah)|date=9 June 2021 |publisher=Naqshbandi Sufi Way}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VswAAAAYAAJ|title=Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi tradition|page=644|publisher=Islamic Supreme Council of America|author=Muhammad Hisham Kabbani|isbn=9781930409231|date=June 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Tasawwuf [Sufism]|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World|year=2003|first=Carl W.|last=Ernst}}</ref>

{{blockquote| Verily, those who give Bay'âh (pledge) to you (O Muhammad) they are giving Bay'âh (pledge) to God. The Hand of God is over their hands. Then whosoever breaks his pledge, breaks it only to his own harm, and whosoever fulfils what he has covenanted with God, He will bestow on him a great reward. — [Translation of Quran {{qref |48:10}}] }}

Sufis believe that by giving {{Transliteration|ar|bayʿah}} (pledging allegiance) to a legitimate Sufi shaykh, one is pledging allegiance to Muhammad; therefore, a spiritual connection between the seeker and Muhammad is established. It is through Muhammad that Sufis aim to learn about, understand and connect with God.<ref name="Naqshbandi">{{Cite web|url=https://naqshbandi.org/teachings/topics/taking-initiation-bayah/|title=Taking Initiation (Bay'ah) {{!}} The Naqshbandiyya Nazimiyya Sufi Order of America: Sufism and Spirituality|website=naqshbandi.org|access-date=12 May 2017}}</ref> Ali is regarded as one of the major figures amongst the ''sahaba'' who have directly pledged allegiance to Muhammad, and Sufis maintain that through Ali, knowledge about Muhammad and a connection with Muhammad may be attained. Such a concept may be understood by the ''hadith'', which Sufis regard as authentic, in which Muhammad said, "I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8HbK6QUhl8C&pg=PA461|title=Journal of a Sufi Odyssey|author=Shaykh Tariq Knecht|publisher=Tauba Press|isbn=9781450554398|date=9 November 2018}}</ref> Eminent Sufis such as Ali Hujwiri refer to Ali as having a very high ranking in ''Tasawwuf''. Furthermore, Junayd of Baghdad regarded Ali as sheikh of the principles and practices of ''Tasawwuf''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alim.org/library/biography/khalifa/content/KAL/79/1|title=Khalifa Ali bin Abu Talib – Ali, The Father of Sufism |work=Alim.org|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref>

Historian Jonathan A.C. Brown notes that during the lifetime of Muhammad, some companions were more inclined than others to "intensive devotion, pious abstemiousness and pondering the divine mysteries" more than Islam required, such as Abu Dharr al-Ghifari. Hasan al-Basri, a tabi', is considered a "founding figure" in the "science of purifying the heart".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Jonathan A.C.|author-link=Jonathan A.C. Brown|title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy|date=2014|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1780744209|url=https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/58|access-date=4 June 2018|ref=JACBMM2014|page=[https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/58 58]}}</ref>

Sufism emerged early on in Islamic history,<ref name="EI2" /> partly as a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and mainly under the tutelage of Hasan al-Basri.<ref name="Nasr-2008" />

Practitioners of Sufism hold that in its early stages of development Sufism effectively referred to nothing more than the internalization of Islam.<ref>{{cite web|title="Sufism": A Tradition of Transcendental Mysticism |first=Nancy|last=Emara|date=30 August 2002|website=IslamOnline.net |url=http://www.islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2002/08/article03.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724160152/http://www.islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2002/08/article03.shtml|archive-date=24 July 2009}}</ref> According to one perspective, it is directly from the Qur'an, constantly recited, meditated, and experienced, that Sufism proceeded, in its origin and its development.<ref>Massignon, Louis. ''Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane''. Paris: Vrin, 1954. p. 104.</ref> Other practitioners have held that Sufism is the strict emulation of the way of Muhammad, through which the heart's connection to the Divine is strengthened.<ref>Imam Birgivi, ''The Path of Muhammad'', WorldWisdom, {{ISBN|0-941532-68-2}}</ref>

Later developments of Sufism occurred from people like Dawud Tai and Bayazid Bastami.<ref name="Karamustafa-2007" /> Early on Sufism was known for its strict adherence to the sunnah, for example it was reported that Bastami refused to eat a watermelon because he did not find any proof that Muhammad ever ate it.{{sfn|Chittick|2007}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Nasr|first=Hossein|author-link=Hossein Nasr|title=An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgVtq3kNCrYC&pg=PA192 |year=1993|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1515-3}}</ref> According to the late medieval mystic, the Persian poet Jami,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jami |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|title=Jāmī | Persian poet and scholar|date=5 November 2023 }}</ref> Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (died c. 716) was the first person to be called a "Sufi".<ref name=exeg/> The term also had a strong connection with Kufa, with three of the earliest scholars to be called by the term being Abu Hashim al-Kufi,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Knysh |first=Alexander D. |title=Abū Hāshim al-Ṣūfī |date=1 May 2011 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |volume=3 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/abu-hashim-al-sufi-COM_23645 |access-date=16 February 2024 |publisher=Brill |language=en}}</ref> Jabir ibn Hayyan and Abdak al-Sufi.<ref name="Mas15">{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHg2DwAAQBAJ|pages=49–74 |journal=American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences |volume=32 |issue=1 |last=Masterton |first=Rebecca |author-link=Rebecca Masterton |title=A Comparative Exploration of the Spiritual Authority of the ''Awiliyā'' in the Shi'i and Sufi Traditions |publisher=International Institute of Islamic Thought |date=2015|doi=10.35632/ajiss.v32i1.260 |s2cid=166309522 |issn=0887-7653|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref> Later individuals included Hatim al-Attar, from Basra, and Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi.<ref name="Mas15" /> Others, such as Al-Harith al-Muhasibi and Sari al-Saqati, were not known as Sufis during their lifetimes, but later came to be identified as such due to their focus on tazkiah (purification).<ref name=Mas15/>

Important contributions in writing are attributed to Uwais al-Qarani, Hasan of Basra, Harith al-Muhasibi, Abu Nasr as-Sarraj and Said ibn al-Musayyib.<ref name="Karamustafa-2007">{{Cite book|title=Sufism The Formative Period|last=Karamustafa|first=Ahmet|publisher=University of California Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0520252691|location=Berkeley}}</ref> Ruwaym, from the second generation of Sufis in Baghdad, was also an influential early figure,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ridgeon|first=Lloyd|title=Morals and Mysticism in Persian Sufism: A History of Sufi-Futuwwat in Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBnHBQAAQBAJ|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-97058-0}}, p. 32</ref><ref>Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, translated by William McGuckin de Slane. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Sold by Institut de France and Royal Library of Belgium. Vol. 3, p. 209.</ref> as was Junayd of Baghdad; a number of early practitioners of Sufism were disciples of one of the two.<ref>Ahmet T. Karamustafa, ''Sufism: The Formative Period'', p. 58. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.</ref>

===Sufi orders=== {{main|Tariqa|List of Sufi orders}}

Historically, Sufis have often belonged to "orders" known as {{transliteration|ar|tariqa}} (pl. {{transliteration|ar|ṭuruq}}) – congregations formed around a grand master {{transliteration|ar|wali}} who will trace their teaching through a chain of successive teachers back to Muhammad.<ref name="Tariqa"/>

{{blockquote|Within the Sufi tradition, the formation of the orders did not immediately produce lineages of master and disciple. There are few examples before the eleventh century of complete lineages going back to the Prophet Muhammad. Yet the symbolic importance of these lineages was immense: they provided a channel to divine authority through master-disciple chains. It was through such chains of masters and disciples that spiritual power and blessings were transmitted to both general and special devotees.<ref>Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence, ''Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, p. 22, {{ISBN|1403960275}}, 9781403960276</ref>}}

These orders meet for spiritual sessions ({{transliteration|ar|majalis}}) in meeting places known as {{transliteration|ar|zawiyas}}, {{transliteration|ar|khanqahs}} or {{transliteration|ar|tekke}}.{{sfn|Glassé|2008|p=499}}

They strive for {{transliteration|ar|ihsan}} (perfection of worship), as detailed in a {{transliteration|ar|hadith}}: "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him; if you can't see Him, surely He sees you."<ref>{{cite book|last=Bin Jamil Zeno|first=Muhammad|title=The Pillars of Islam & Iman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u-bNf9xCULsC&pg=PA19 |year=1996|publisher=Darussalam|isbn=978-9960-897-12-7|pages=19–}}</ref> Sufis regard Muhammad as {{transliteration|ar|al-Insān al-Kāmil}}, the complete human who personifies the attributes of Absolute Reality,{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|Walker|2014|p=446}} and view him as their ultimate spiritual guide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barelvi|url=http://www.shattariyah.blogspot.com/p/barelvi.html}}</ref>

Sufi orders trace most of their original precepts from Muhammad through Ali ibn Abi Talib,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=ʿAlī – Shiʿism, Sufism, and the chivalric orders|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ali-Muslim-caliph|access-date=12 June 2021|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> with the notable exception of the Naqshbandi order, which traces its original precepts to Muhammad through Abu Bakr.<ref>{{cite book|title=Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition|last=Kabbani|first=Muhammad Hisham|publisher=Islamic Supreme Council of America|year=2004|isbn=978-1-930409-23-1|page=557|author-link=Hisham Kabbani}}</ref> However, it was not necessary to formally belong to a tariqa.<ref>Dagli, C., Ayduz, S. (2014). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam. Vereinigtes Königreich: Oxford University Press. p. 267</ref> In the Medieval period, Sufism was almost equal to Islam in general and not limited to specific orders.<ref name="Peacock">{{Cite book |first1=A.C.S.|last1=Peacock|title=Islam, Literature and Society in Mongol Anatolia|publisher=Cambridge University Press| date=2019|doi=10.1017/9781108582124|isbn=9781108582124|s2cid=211657444}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=24}}

Sufism had a long history already before the subsequent institutionalization of Sufi teachings into devotional orders (''tariqa'', pl. ''tarîqât'') in the early Middle Ages.<ref name=Trimingham>{{cite book|first=J. Spencer|last=Trimingham|date=1998|title=The Sufi Orders in Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-512058-5}}</ref> The term ''tariqa'' is used for a school or order of Sufism, or especially for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking ḥaqīqah (ultimate truth). A tariqa has a murshid (guide) who plays the role of leader or spiritual director. The members or followers of a tariqa are known as ''murīdīn'' (singular ''murīd''), meaning "desirous", viz. "desiring the knowledge of knowing God and loving God".<ref>{{cite thesis|type=Dissertation (Master of Science in Religion)|author=Mário Alves da Silva Filho|url=http://www.ibeipr.com.br/conteudo/academicos/misticaislamica.pdf|title=A Mística Islâmica em ''Terræ Brasilis'': o Sufismo e as Ordens Sufis em São Paulo|language=pt|trans-title=Islamic Mystique in Terræ Brasilis: Sufism and Sufi Orders in São Paulo|location=São Paulo|publisher=Pontífica Universidade Católica de São Paulo PUC/SP|date=2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414212630/http://www.ibeipr.com.br/conteudo/academicos/misticaislamica.pdf|archive-date=14 April 2015}}</ref>

Over the years, Sufi orders have influenced and been adopted by various Shi'i movements, especially Isma'ilism, which led to the Safaviyya order's conversion to Shia Islam from Sunni Islam and the spread of Twelverism throughout Iran.<ref>Daftary |Farhad |2013 |A History of Shi'i Islam |New York NY |I.B. Tauris and Co ltd. |page 28 |{{ISBN|9780300035315}} |4 August 2015</ref>

===Sufism as an Islamic discipline=== [[File:Dance_of_Sufi_Dervishes.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Dancing dervishes, by Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād (c. 1480–1490)]] [[File:Hoeltzer24.jpg|thumb|Monar Jonban, a "dancing" monument, built over the grave of the Sufi ascetic Amu Abdullah Suqla in 12th century. A person stands on top and shakes one minaret, causing the second minaret to move with the same oscillation.]]

Existing in both Sunni and Shia Islam, Sufism is not a distinct sect, as is sometimes erroneously assumed, but a method of approaching or a way of understanding the religion, which strives to take the regular practice of the religion to the "supererogatory level" through simultaneously "fulfilling ... [the obligatory] religious duties"<ref name=EI2/> and finding a "way and a means of striking a root through the 'narrow gate' in the depth of the soul out into the domain of the pure arid un-imprisonable Spirit which itself opens out onto the Divinity."<ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.15"/> Academic studies of Sufism confirm that Sufism, as a separate tradition from Islam apart from so-called ''pure Islam'', is frequently a product of Western orientalism and modern Islamic fundamentalists.<ref>Michael S. Pittman ''Classical Spirituality in Contemporary America: The Confluence and Contribution of G.I. Gurdjieff and Sufism'' Bloomsbury Publishing {{ISBN|978-1-441-13113-3}}</ref>

As a mystic and ascetic aspect of Islam, it is considered as the part of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of the inner self. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.<ref name=Trimingham/> ''Tasawwuf'' is regarded as a science of the soul that has always been an integral part of Orthodox Islam. In his ''Al-Risala al-Safadiyya'', ibn Taymiyyah describes the Sufis as those who belong to the path of the Sunna and represent it in their teachings and writings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tasawwuf as ethical science: Embodied pedagogy in the poetics of Khoja Ahmad Yasawi |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/action/cookieAbsent |access-date=2026-05-25 |website=www.tandfonline.com |doi=10.1080/23311983.2025.2521206}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Payind |last2=Alam |last3=McClimans |first3=Melinda |last4=Cory |first4=Stephen |date=2022-06-02 |title=The Mystical Tradition of Sufism, or Tasawwuf |url=https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/religionsofmiddleeast1/chapter/the-mystical-tradition-of-sufism-or-tasawwuf/ |journal= |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Smirna Si |url=http://archive.org/details/TAYMIYYA |title=Ibn Taymiyya on Fana}}</ref>

Ibn Taymiyya's Sufi inclinations and his reverence for Sufis like Abdul-Qadir Gilani can also be seen in his hundred-page commentary on ''Futuh al-ghayb'', covering only five of the seventy-eight sermons of the book, but showing that he considered ''tasawwuf'' essential within the life of the Islamic community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=181 - By the Book: Ibn Taymiyya {{!}} History of Philosophy without any gaps |url=https://historyofphilosophy.net/podcast/islamic-world/eastern-traditions/ibn-taymiyya |access-date=2026-05-25 |website=historyofphilosophy.net}}</ref>

Al-Ghazali narrates in ''Al-Munqidh min al-dalal'': {{blockquote|The vicissitudes of life, family affairs and financial constraints engulfed my life and deprived me of the congenial solitude. The heavy odds confronted me and provided me with few moments for my pursuits. This state of affairs lasted for ten years, but whenever I had some spare and congenial moments I resorted to my intrinsic proclivity. During these turbulent years, numerous astonishing and indescribable secrets of life were unveiled to me. I was convinced that the group of Aulia (holy mystics) is the only truthful group who follow the right path, display best conduct and surpass all sages in their wisdom and insight. They derive all their overt or covert behaviour from the illumining guidance of the holy Prophet, the only guidance worth quest and pursuit.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppiuQgAACAAJ|title=Deliverance from Error: An Annotated Translation of Al-Munqidh Min Al Dal−al and Other Relevant Works of Al-Ghaz−al−i|last1=Ghazzālī|last2=Ghazzali|last3=al-Ghazali|first3=Abu Hamid Muhammad|last4=McCarthy|first4=Richard Joseph|date=1999|publisher=Fons Vitae|isbn=978-1-887752-27-5}}</ref> }}

===Formalization of doctrine=== [[File:A_Sufi_in_Ecstasy_in_a_Landscape_LACMA_M.73.5.582.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|''A Sufi in Ecstasy in a Landscape''. Isfahan, Safavid Persia (c. 1650–1660), LACMA.]]

In the eleventh-century, Sufism, which had previously been a less "codified" trend in Islamic piety, began to be "ordered and crystallized" into orders which have continued until the present day. All these orders were founded by a major Islamic scholar, and some of the largest and most widespread included the Suhrawardiyya (after Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi [d. 1168]), Qadiriyya (after Abdul-Qadir Gilani [d. 1166]), the Rifa'iyya (after Ahmed al-Rifa'i [d. 1182]), the Chishtiyya (after Moinuddin Chishti [d. 1236]), the Shadiliyya (after Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili [d. 1258]), the Hamadaniyyah (after Sayyid Ali Hamadani [d. 1384]), the Naqshbandiyya (after Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari [d. 1389]).<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr'', ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 76</ref> Contrary to popular perception in the West,<ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.16">Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), p.16</ref> however, neither the founders of these orders nor their followers ever considered themselves to be anything other than orthodox Sunni Muslims,<ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.16"/> and in fact all of these orders were attached to one of the four orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam.<ref name="themuslim500.com">{{cite web |title=Profile of Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyeb on ''The Muslim 500''|url=http://themuslim500.com/profile/sheikh-al-azhar-ahmad-altayyeb|website=The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims|access-date=4 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606040251/http://themuslim500.com/profile/sheikh-al-azhar-ahmad-altayyeb|archive-date=6 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Thus, the Qadiriyya order was Hanbali, with its founder, Abdul-Qadir Gilani, being a renowned jurist; the Chishtiyya was Hanafi; the Shadiliyya order was Maliki; and the Naqshbandiyya order was Hanafi.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Massington, L.|author2=Radtke, B.|author3=Chittick, W.C. |author4=Jong, F. de |author5=Lewisohn, L.|author6=Zarcone, Th.|author7=Ernst, C.|author8=Aubin, Françoise |author0=Hunwick, J.O.|date=2012|title=Taṣawwuf |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd |publisher=Brill|editor=P. Bearman|editor2=Th. Bianquis|editor3=C.E. Bosworth|editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1188}} ''q.v.'' "Hanafi", "Hanbali", and "Maliki", and under "mysticism in..." for each.</ref> Thus, it is precisely because it is historically proven that "many of the most eminent defenders of Islamic orthodoxy, such as Abdul-Qadir Gilani, Ghazali, and the Sultan Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn (Saladin) were connected with Sufism"<ref name="Titus Burckhardt 2008, p. 4">Titus Burckhardt, ''Introduction to Sufi Doctrine'' (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2008, p. 4, note 2</ref> that the popular studies of writers like Idries Shah are continuously disregarded by scholars as conveying the fallacious image that "Sufism" is somehow distinct from "Islam".<ref>Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), pp. 16–17</ref><ref name="Titus Burckhardt 2008, p. 4"/><ref>Rozina Ali, "The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi", ''The New Yorker'', 5 January 2017</ref> Nile Green has observed that, in the Middle Ages, Sufism more or less was ''Islam''.<ref name="Peacock"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=24}}

===Growth of influence=== [[File:Jahangir with sufi.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8| A Mughal miniature dated from the early 1620s depicting the Mughal emperor Jahangir (d. 1627) preferring an audience with Sufi saint to his contemporaries, the Ottoman sultan and the king of England, James I (d. 1625); the picture is inscribed in Persian: "Though outwardly shahs stand before him, he fixes his gazes on dervishes."]]

Historically, Sufism became "an incredibly important part of Islam" and "one of the most widespread and omnipresent aspects of Muslim life" in Islamic civilization from the early medieval period onwards,<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Is orthodox Islam possible without Sufism? – Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (Dr. Timothy Winter)|date=13 May 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQWNeGyRu0k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/uQWNeGyRu0k| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} when it began to permeate nearly all major aspects of Sunni Islamic life in regions stretching from India and Iraq to the Balkans and Senegal.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown – What is Sufism?|date=13 May 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpFatRwdPm0|via=YouTube}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}

The rise of Islamic civilization coincides strongly with the spread of Sufi philosophy in Islam. The spread of Sufism has been considered a definitive factor in the spread of Islam, and in the creation of integrally Islamic cultures, especially in Africa<ref>For the pre-modern era, see Vincent J. Cornell, ''Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism'', {{ISBN|978-0-292-71209-6}}; and for the colonial era, Knut Vikyr, ''Sufi and Scholar on the Desert Edge: Muhammad B. Oali Al-Sanusi and His Brotherhood'', {{ISBN|978-0-8101-1226-1}}.</ref> and Asia. The Senussi tribes of Libya and the Sudan are one of the strongest adherents of Sufism. Sufi poets and philosophers such as Khoja Akhmet Yassawi, Rumi, and Attar of Nishapur (c. 1145 – c. 1221) greatly enhanced the spread of Islamic culture in Anatolia, Central Asia, and South Asia.<ref>Leonard Lewisohn, ''The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism'', Khaniqahi-Nimatullahi Publications, 1992.</ref><ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization'', HarperSanFrancisco, 2003. (Ch. 1)</ref> Sufism also played a

role in creating and propagating the culture of the Ottoman world,<ref>Dina Le Gall, ''A Culture of Sufism: Naqshbandis in the Ottoman World, 1450–1700'', {{ISBN|978-0-7914-6245-4}}.</ref> and in resisting European imperialism in North Africa and South Asia.<ref>Arthur F. Buehler, ''Sufi Heirs of the Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh'', {{ISBN|978-1-57003-783-2}}.</ref> [[File:Blagaj – Vrelo Bune 5.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|Blagaj Tekke, built c. 1520 next to the Buna wellspring cavern beneath a high vertical karstic cliff, in Blagaj, Mostar, Bosnia. The natural and architectural ensemble, proposed for UNESCO inscription,<ref>{{cite web|title=The natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5280/ |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Tentative List of Bosnia and Herzegovina |date=11 December 2007 |access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> forms a spatially and topographically self-contained ensemble, and is a National Monument of Bosnia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tekke in Blagaj on the Buna Spring, the natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj |url=http://old.kons.gov.ba/main.php?id_struct=50&lang=4&action=view&id=2558 |publisher=Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina "Tekke in Blagaj on the Buna Spring, the natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj" |date= 9 May 2005|access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref>]]

Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, a "Renaissance" whose physical artifacts survive.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Sufism - Mysticism, Islamic Traditions, Sufi Orders {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism/History |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251229173228/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism/History |archive-date=2025-12-29 |access-date=2026-05-25 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> In many places a person or group would endow a waqf to maintain a lodge (known variously as a ''zawiya'', ''khanqah'', or ''tekke'') to provide a gathering place for Sufi adepts, as well as lodging for itinerant seekers of knowledge. The same system of endowments could also pay for a complex of buildings, such as that surrounding the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, including a lodge for Sufi seekers, a hospice with kitchens where these seekers could serve the poor and/or complete a period of initiation, a library, and other structures. No important domain in the civilization of Islam remained unaffected by Sufism in this period.<ref>Victor Danner, ''The Islamic Tradition: An introduction''. Amity House. February 1988.</ref>

===Modern era=== Opposition to Sufi teachers and orders from more literalist and legalist strains of Islam existed in various forms throughout Islamic history. It took on a particularly violent form in the 18th century with the creation of the Wahhabi movement.<ref name=OEIW-voll>{{cite encyclopedia|first=John O.|last=Voll|title=ṢūfĪ Orders|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic 9.3World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0759|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124035305/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0759|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 November 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Whirling dervishes in Galata Mawlawi House, 1870.png|thumb|Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi Order photographed by Pascal Sébah (Istanbul, 1870)]]

Around the turn of the 20th century, Sufi rituals and doctrines also came under sustained criticism from modernist Islamic reformers, liberal nationalists, and, some decades later, socialist movements in the Muslim world. Sufi orders were accused of fostering popular superstitions, resisting modern intellectual attitudes, and standing in the way of progressive reforms. Ideological attacks on Sufism were reinforced by agrarian and educational reforms, as well as new forms of taxation, which were instituted by Westernizing national governments, undermining the economic foundations of Sufi orders. The extent to which Sufi orders declined in the first half of the 20th century varied from country to country, but by the middle of the century the very survival of the orders and traditional Sufi lifestyle appeared doubtful to many observers.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| first=Alexander |last=Knysh| entry=Sufism|title=The New Cambridge History of Islam|series=Volume 4: Islamic Cultures and Societies to the End of the Eighteenth Century |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010 |editor-first=Robert|editor-last=Irwin|pages=60–61}}</ref><ref name=OEIW-voll/>

However, defying these predictions, Sufism and Sufi orders have continued to play a major role in the Muslim world, also expanding into Muslim-minority countries. Its ability to articulate an inclusive Islamic identity with greater emphasis on personal and small-group piety has made Sufism especially well-suited for contexts characterized by religious pluralism and secularist perspectives.<ref name=OEIW-voll/>

In the modern world, the classical interpretation of Sunni orthodoxy, which sees in Sufism an essential dimension of Islam alongside the disciplines of jurisprudence and theology, is represented by institutions such as Egypt's Al-Azhar University and Zaytuna College, with Al-Azhar's current Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb recently defining "Sunni orthodoxy" as being a follower "of any of the four schools of [legal] thought (Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki or Hanbali) and ... [also] of the Sufism of Imam Junayd of Baghdad in doctrines, manners and [spiritual] purification."<ref name="themuslim500.com"/>

The relationship of Sufi orders to modern societies is usually defined by their relationship to governments.<ref>Masatoshi Kisaichi, "The Burhami order and Islamic resurgence in modern Egypt". ''Popular Movements and Democratization in the Islamic World'', p. 57. Part of the New Horizons in Islamic Studies series. Ed. Masatoshi Kisaichi. London: Routledge, 2006. {{ISBN|9781134150618}}</ref>

[[File:تراث مصري 03.jpg|thumb|Egyptian Sufi Tanoura twirling in Muizz Street, Cairo]]

Turkey, Persia and The Indian Subcontinent have all been a centre for many Sufi lineages and orders. The Bektashi were closely affiliated with the Ottoman Janissaries and are the heart of Turkey's large and mostly liberal Alevi population. They have spread westwards to Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and, more recently, to the United States, via Albania. Sufism is popular in such African countries as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, and Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam.{{sfn|Babou|2007|p=184–6}} Mbacke suggests that one reason Sufism has taken hold in Senegal is because it can accommodate local beliefs and customs, which tend toward the mystical.{{sfn|Mbacké|Hunwick|2005}}

The life of the Algerian Sufi master Abdelkader El Djezairi is instructive in this regard.{{sfn|Chodkiewicz|1995|loc=Introduction}} Notable as well are the lives of Amadou Bamba and El Hadj Umar Tall in West Africa, and Sheikh Mansur and Imam Shamil in the Caucasus. In the twentieth century, some Muslims have called Sufism a superstitious religion which holds back Islamic achievement in the fields of science and technology.<ref name="OxfordStudy">{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2260?_hi=6&_pos=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119133444/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2260?_hi=6&_pos=2|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 November 2012|title=Sufism|website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>

A number of Westerners have embarked with varying degrees of success on the path of Sufism. One of the first to return to Europe as an official representative of a Sufi order, and with the specific purpose to spread Sufism in Western Europe, was the Swedish-born wandering Sufi Ivan Aguéli. René Guénon, the French scholar, became a Sufi in the early twentieth century and was known as Sheikh Abdul Wahid Yahya. His manifold writings defined the practice of Sufism as the essence of Islam, but also pointed to the universality of its message. Spiritualists, such as George Gurdjieff, may or may not conform to the tenets of Sufism as understood by orthodox Muslims.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Googelberg|first=compiled form Wikipedia entries and published by Dr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXACBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA407|title=Islam|date=22 November 2012 |publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-291-21521-2}}</ref>

==Sufi orders== === Silsila === This chart explains the spiritual chain (''silsila'') of major Sufi orders and their connection to Muhammad.<ref name="Trimingham" />

''Note: This chart is intended to help illustrate how spiritual masters are connected through the lineage. To keep it less cluttered, the names of intermediate spiritual masters have been omitted. For a detailed lineage of the spiritual orders, please visit their respective pages.''

{{Tree chart|border=6| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A01='''Muhammad''' d. 632|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#73f84c;font-size: 15px;font-style:italic|}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=4| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01 | | | | | | | |A02 | | | |A03 | | | | | | | |A04 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A01='''Abu Bakr''' d. 634|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 13px| A02='''Umar''' d. 644|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 13px| A03='''Uthman''' d. 656|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 13px| A04='''Ali''' d. 661|boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 13px}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{Tree chart|border=3| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01| | | | | | | | | |A03 | | | | | |A02| | | | | | | |A04 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A01='''Salman the Persian''' d. 653 |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px| A02='''Hasan ibn Ali''' d. 670 |boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px| A03='''Husayn ibn Ali''' d. 680 |boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px| A04='''Hasan al Basri''' d.728 |boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px|}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |:| | | | | | | | | | | |:| | | | |F|~|~|A|~|~|~|~|7| | ,|-|-|^|-|-|.| | | |}} {{Tree chart|border=2| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |L|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|A01| | | |:|| | | || | |:|A02 | | | |A03 | | | | | | | A01='''Imam Jafar Sadiq''' |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px| A02='''Habib al-Ajami''' |boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px| A03='''Abd al-Wahid ibn Zaid''' |boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#96f83e;font-size: 12px| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |F|~|~|~|~|~| A |~|M|~|~|%|~|7| |F|~|~|~|%|A|~|~|7| | | | |:|}} {{Tree chart|border=3| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||A03 |||| ||Q|||:||A01 | | | |:||||:|| | |A02| | A01='''Bayazid Bastami''' |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#1ff5c7; background:#fae051;font-size: 14px| A02='''Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad''' |boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A03='''Ahmad al-Rifa'i''' ''(Rifa'i Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| }} {{Tree chart|border=3| | | | | | | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |:| | | | | | | |Y|P|P|b2|P|P|b2|P|P|P|P|b2|P|P|A01 | | | |:| | | A01='''Maruf Karkhi''' |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#1ff5c7;background:#fae051;font-size: 15px| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||A01|~|~|~|A02 | | | | | ||||:|||:|||||:|| ||:| | | | |:| |

A02='''Ahmad al-Badawi''' ''(Badawiyyah Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0|

A01='''Ibrahim al-Desuqi''' ''(Burhaniyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||:||A01||||:|||A02 | | | |:| | | A01='''Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani''' |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A02='''Sari al-Saqati''' |boxstyle_A02=border-color:#1ff5c7;background:#fae051;font-size: 15px|

}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A02|~|~|~|~|~|~|V|~|~|~|~|%|~|~|J| | | | |:| ||:|||||A01 || | | A01='''Ibrahim ibn Adham''' |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051;font-size: 15px| A02='''Abdullah Shattar''' ''(Shattariyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| }}

{{Tree chart|border=3| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01| | ||L|7||| | | | |L|A02 | | | | | |:| | | | | | A01='''Yusuf Hamadani''' |boxstyle_A01=border-color:#4aef19;background:#fae051;font-size: 14px| A02='''Junayd Baghdadi''' <big> </big>|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#4aef19;background:#fae051;font-size: 14px| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||F|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|V|A|~|~|~|7| |:|F|~|~|~|~|~|V|~|A|V|~|~|~|~|7|:| | | | | |}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01| | | | | || | |A02 | | |A03 | |:|A04 | | ||:| |A05 | || |A06| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A01='''Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani''' ''(Khwajagan Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A02='''Zahed Gilani''' ''(Zahediyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A03='''Ahmad Yasawi''' ''(Yasawiya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A04='''Abu Bakr al-Shibli''' |boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A05='''Abu Al-Rudbari''' |boxstyle_A05=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A06='''Mumshad Al-Dinawari''' |boxstyle_A06=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051|}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | || | || | | | | | || | || | |:| | | | | | | |F|~|~|A|~|7|| |:|||:| |:| | |||:|| |:| ||F|~|~|A|~|~|~|7| | | | | }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | || | || | | | | | || | |||A01 || | | | |A02||A03||A04||:| |o2|P|P|P|P|b2|P|A05 ||:| ||||||A07| | | ||| A01='''Bahauddin Naqshband''' ''(Naqshbandi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700; background:#98FB98;font-size: 12px;font-style:italic| A02='''Umar Khalwati''' ''(Khalwati Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A03='''Safi-ad-Din Ardabili''' ''(Safaviyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A04='''Haji Bektash Veli''' ''(Bektashi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A05='''Abu Bakr Nassaj Tusi''' |boxstyle_A05=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98;background:#fae051| A07='''Abu Ishaq Shami Chishti''' |boxstyle_A07=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| }}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | || | || | | | | | || | ||||: || | | | | || ||||:| | || | |F|J||:| |||A01 ||:|||:|||||||:|||| A01='''Abu Madyan''' ''(Madyani Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700; background:#98FB98| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01 | | | | | | | | | |A02 | | | | |:| |A03 | | | |:| |A04| |:|| | | | | |A05| | | | A01='''Khwaja Ahrar''' ''(Ahrari Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700; background:#98FB98| A02='''Hajji Bayram''' ''(Bayrami Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A03='''Abdul Qadir Gilani''' ''(Qadiri Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700; background:#98FB98;font-size: 12px;font-style:italic| A04='''Ahmad Ghazali''' |boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A05='''Muinuddin Chishti''' ''(Chishti Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A05=border-color:#FFD700; background:#98FB98;font-size: 12px;font-style:italic| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |F|~|~|A|~|~|7| | | | | | || | :| | | | ||:|||:| | | | |:||F|A|~|7|:| | || ||||:||||||||||||}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01 | | | |A02 | | | || | | |:| | | | | |L|~|~|%|~|~|~|A03 |:|||L|A04|||||A05|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|7| | A01='''Mujaddid Alf Sani''' ''(Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700; background:#A4F7D0| A02='''Ameer Abul Ula''' ''(Naqshbandi-Abul Ulai Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A03='''Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish''' |boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A04='''Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi''' |boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#fae051| A05='''Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki''' |boxstyle_A05=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||:| | | |||:| | || | || | |:| | | | | | | ||:| | |||:||:||F|~|~|A|~|7|||||F|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|V|A|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|7|||}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01 | | | |A02 | | | | | | |A03| | | |||B01||| |A04|:|A05| | |A06| | | |A07 |||| || |A08 |||||||A09|||||||| A01='''Khâlid-i Shahrazuri''' ''(Naqshbandi-Khalidiyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700; background:#A4F7D0| A02='''Munim Pak''' ''(Munemi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A03='''Ahmad al Tijani''' ''(Tijani Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700; background:#A4F7D0| A04='''Al-Shadhili''' ''(Shadhili Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98;font-size: 12px;font-style:italic| A05='''Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi''' ''(Suhrawardiyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A05=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98;font-size: 12px;font-style:italic| A06='''Najm al-Din Kubra''' ''(Kubrawiya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A06=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A07='''Nizamuddin Auliya''' ''(Chishti-Nizami Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A07=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A08='''Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari''' ''(Chishti-Sabiri Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A08=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A09='''Khizr Rumi Qalandar''' ''(Chishti-Khizri Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A09=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| B01='''Shah Barkatullah Marehrwi''' ''(Barkaatiyah Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_B01=border color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||:| || ||| || || | || | || | | | | | | |:|| ||||:||:|| |||||:|||||:||||||}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A06| | ||| | | || | || | || | | | | | |A05| | ||A01|L|A02|||A03||||A04|||||| A01='''Muhammad al Wafa''' ''(Wafai Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700; background:#98FB98| A02='''Jalaluddin Rumi''' ''(Mevlevi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#FFD700;background:#98FB98| A03='''Shaikh Badruddin Samarkandi''' ''(Firdausiya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A04='''Ashraf Jahangir Semnani''' ''(Ashrafi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A04=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A05='''Ahmad Raza Khan''' ''(Razviyah Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A05=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| A06='''Nazim Al-Haqqani''' ''(Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A06=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||| |: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||A01 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A01='''Ahmad Zarruq''' ''(Zarruqi Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| }} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||| |: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}} {{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||A01 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A01='''Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi''' ''(Darqawiyya Sufi Order)''|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#FFD700;background:#A4F7D0| }}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

=== Spiritual chain of major Sufi orders ===

==== Qadiriyya ==== {{Main|Qadiriyya}} Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani → Shaykh Abū Saʿīd al-Mukharramī → Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qurashī (al-Ḥakkārī) → Shaykh Abū al-Faraj al-Ṭarsūsī → Shaykh ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Tamīmī → Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Tamīmī → Shaykh Abū Bakr al-Shiblī → Shaykh al-Junayd al-Baghdādī → Shaykh al-Sarī al-Saqaṭī → Shaykh Maʿrūf al-Karkhī → Imam ʿAlī al-Riḍā → Imam Mūsā al-Kāẓim → Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq → Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir → Imam Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn → Imam al-Ḥusayn → Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib → Muḥammad

==== Chishti Order ==== {{Main|Chishti Order}} Sources:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kandhalvi |first=Muhammad Zakariya |title=The Mashaikh of Chisht, Translation Majlisul Ulama of South Africa. |publisher=Adam Publishers, India}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rizvi |first=Saiyid Athar Abbas |title=A History of Sufism in India, Volume One |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. |year=1978 |edition=1st |pages=114–115}}</ref>

Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti → Khwāja ʿUthmān Harvānī → Ḥājjī Sharīf Zindānī → Muḥammad Maudūd Chishtī → Abū Yūsuf Chishtī → Abū Muḥammad ibn Abī Aḥmad → Abū Aḥmad ʿAbdāl Chishtī → Abū Isḥāq Shāmī Chishtī → Mamshād ʿUlw Dīnawarī → Amīnuddīn Abū Hubayrah Baṣrī → Saʿduddīn Huḍhayfah Marʿashī → Ibrāhīm ibn Adham al-Balkhī → Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ → ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Zayd → al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī → ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib → Muḥammad

==== Naqshbandi ==== {{Main|Naqshbandi}} Baha' al-din Naqshband → Sayyid Amīr Kul��l → Muḥammad Bābā Sammāsī → ʿAlī Rāmitanī (Azīzān) → Maḥmūd Anjīr Faghnawī → ʿĀrif Riwgarī → ʿAbd al-Khāliq Ghujduwānī → Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Hamadānī → Abū ʿAlī al-Farmadī al-Ṭūsī → Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Kharaqānī → Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī → Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq → Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr → Salmān al-Fārisī → Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq → Muḥammad

==== Suhrawardiyya ==== {{Main|Suhrawardiyya}} Source:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Trimingham |first=J. Spencer |title=The Sufi Orders in Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1971 |pages=30}}</ref>

Shihab ad-din Suhrawardi → Abū Najīb ʿAbd al-Qādir Suhrawardī → Khwāja Aḥmad Ghazzālī → Shaykh Abū Bakr Nisāj → Shaykh Abū al-Qāsim Gurgānī → Khwāja Usmān Maghribī → Shaykh Abū ʿAlī Kātib → Shaykh Abū ʿAlī Rudhbārī → Imām Junayd Baghdādī → Sarrī Saqaṭī → Maʿrūf Karkhī → Dāwūd Ṭāʾī → Ḥabīb al-ʿAjamī → al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī → ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib → Muḥammad

==== Kubrawiya ==== {{Main|Kubrawiya}} Source:<ref name=":0" />

Najm ad-Dīn Kubrā → Shaykh Rūzbahān Baqlī → Khwāja ʿAmmār Yāsir → Shaykh Abū Najīb Suhrawardī → Khwāja Aḥmad Ghazzālī → Shaykh Abū Bakr Nisāj → Shaykh Abū al-Qāsim Gurgānī → Khwāja Usmān Maghribī → Shaykh Abū ʿAlī Kātib → Shaykh Abū ʿAlī Rudhbārī → Imām Junayd Baghdādī → Sarrī Saqaṭī → Maʿrūf Karkhī → Dāwūd Ṭāʾī → Ḥabīb al-ʿAjamī → al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī → ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib → Muḥammad

==== Shadhili ==== {{Main|Shadhili}} Nūruddīn Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī → ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Mashīsh → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Madanī → Taqīuddīn al-Ṣūfī → Fakhruddīn → Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī → Tājuddīn → Shamsuddīn → Zaynuddīn Maḥmūd al-Qazwīnī → Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Baṣrī → Abū al-Qāsim Mirwānī → Abū Muḥammad Saʿīd → Abū Muḥammad Saʿd → Fātiḥ al-Masʿūdī → Saʿīd al-Qirwānī → Abū Muḥammad Jābir → Imām al-Ḥasan → ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib → Muḥammad

==== Rifaʽi ==== {{Main|Rifaʽi}} Sayyid Aḥmad ar-Rifāʿī → Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ar-Rifāʿī → Sayyid Yaḥyā Naqīb → Sayyid Thābit → Sayyid ʿAlī Hāzim Abū al-Fawāris → Sayyid Abū ʿAlī al-Murtaḍā → Sayyid Abū al-Faḍāʾil → Sayyid Abū al-Makārim al-Ḥasan → Sayyid al-Mahdī al-Makkī → Sayyid Muḥammad Abū al-Qāsim → Sayyid Ḥasan Qāsim Abū Mūsā → Sayyid Abū ʿAbdullāh Ḥusayn → Sayyid Aḥmad Ṣāliḥ al-Akbar → Sayyid Mūsā Sānī → Sayyid Ibrāhīm al-Murtaḍā → Imām Mūsā al-Kāẓim → Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq → Imām Muḥammad al-Bāqir → Imām Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn → Imām al-Ḥusayn → ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib → Muḥammad

==Aims and objectives== [[File:Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam 2014-07-31.jpg|thumb|The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam (built 1324 A.D) is located in Multan, Pakistan. Known for its multitude of Sufi shrines, Multan is nicknamed ''The City of Saints''.]]

Traditionally, Muslims believe that Islam is the route to God and aim to become closer to God in Paradise—both after death and following the Last Judgment. Sufis also hold that it is possible to draw nearer to God and more fully experience the divine presence in this life.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Aminrazavi |first=Mehdi |date=7 March 2009 |title=Mysticism in Arabic and Islamic Philosophy |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arabic-islamic-mysticism/ |access-date= |quote=Mystical elements exist in Islam in two different and independent ways. Practically, Sufism represents the esoteric dimension of Islam in its purest form... esoteric wisdom can either be attained through practical wisdom, which includes inner purification and asceticism...}}</ref> The chief aim of Sufism is to seek the pleasure of God by working to restore within themselves the primordial state of ''fitra''.<ref name="AH Shadhili">{{cite book|author=Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili|author-link=Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili|title=The School of the Shadhdhuliyyah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=res8GwAACAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Islamic Texts Society|isbn=978-0-946621-57-6}}</ref>

To Sufis, the outer law consists of rules pertaining to worship, transactions, marriage, judicial rulings, and criminal law—what is often referred to, broadly, as "qanun". The inner law of Sufism consists of rules about repentance from sin, the purging of contemptible qualities and evil traits of character, and adornment with virtues and good character.<ref>Muhammad Emin Er, ''Laws of the Heart: A Practical Introduction to the Sufi Path'', Shifâ Publishers, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-9815196-1-6}}</ref>

===Teachings=== thumb|right|upright=0.8|Man holding the hem of his beloved, an expression of a Sufi's agony of longing for the divine union

To the Sufi, it is the transmission of divine light from the teacher's heart to the heart of the student, rather than worldly knowledge, that allows the adept to progress. They further believe that the teacher should attempt inerrantly to follow the divine law.<ref>Abdullah Nur ad-Din Durkee, ''The School of the Shadhdhuliyyah, Volume One: Orisons''; see also Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, ''Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition'', {{ISBN|978-1-930409-23-1}}, which reproduces the spiritual lineage (''silsila'') of a living Sufi master.</ref>

According to Moojan Momen, "one of the most important doctrines of Sufism is the concept of {{tlit|ar|al-Insān al-Kāmil}} ("the Perfect Human"), which posits that there will always exist a "''qutb''" (pole or axis of the Universe) on Earth: one who is the perfect channel of grace from God to humankind and in a state of {{tlit|ar|wilayah}} ('sanctity', or 'being under the protection of Allah'). The Sufi ''qutb'' is similar to that of the Shi'i imam.<ref name=qutb/><ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman Madzillah-ul-Aqdus|title=Sultan Bahoo: The Life and Teachings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlyMAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA277|year=2015 |publisher=Sultan ul Faqr Publications|isbn=978-969-9795-18-3}}</ref> However, this belief puts Sufism in conflict with Shia Islam, since both the ''qutb''—who, in most Sufi orders, is the head of the order—and the imam fulfill the role of "the purveyor of spiritual guidance and of Allah's grace to mankind". The vow of obedience to the ''shaykh'' or ''qutb'' that is taken by Sufis is considered incompatible with devotion to the imam.<ref name=qutb>{{cite book|last=Momen|first=Moojan|author-link=Moojan Momen|year=1985|title=An Introduction to Shiʻi Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shiʻism|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-03531-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosh0000unse_d5k7 |url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosh0000unse_d5k7/page/n272 209]}}</ref> {{check quotation}} As a further example, a prospective adherent of the Mevlevi Order would have been ordered to serve in the kitchens of a hospice for the poor for 1001 days prior to being accepted for spiritual instruction, and a further 1,001 days in solitary retreat as a precondition of completing that instruction.<ref>See Muhammad Emin Er, ''Laws of the Heart: A Practical Introduction to the Sufi Path'', Shifâ Publishers, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-9815196-1-6}}, for a detailed description of the practices and preconditions of this sort of spiritual retreat.</ref>

Some teachers, especially when addressing more general audiences or mixed groups of Muslims and non-Muslims, make extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor.<ref>See examples provided by Muzaffar Ozak in ''Irshad: Wisdom of a Sufi Master'', addressed to a general audience rather than specifically to his own students.</ref> Although approaches to teaching vary among different Sufi orders, Sufism as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such has sometimes been compared to other, non-Islamic forms of mysticism (e.g., as in the books of Seyyed Hossein Nasr).

Many Sufis believe that reaching the highest levels of success in Sufism typically requires that the disciple live with and serve the teacher for a long time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islamic cultures and societies to the end of the eighteenth century|last=Knysh|first=Alexander|others=Irwin, Robert, 1946–|isbn=9781139056144|location=Cambridge|chapter=Sufism|oclc=742957142}}</ref> An illustrative example is the folk narrative of Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, who lent his name to the Naqshbandi Order. It is believed that he served his initial instructor, Mohammad Baba As-Samasi, for 20 years until as-Samasi's demise. Subsequently, he is purported to have served several other mentors for considerable durations. Historical accounts indicate that he dedicated many years to aiding the less privileged members of the community. Following these efforts, his mentor advised him to focus on the care of animals, including cleaning their wounds and providing assistance.<ref>Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, ''Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition'', {{ISBN|978-1-930409-23-1}}</ref>

===Muhammad=== {{rquote|right|His [Muhammad's] aspiration preceded all other aspirations, his existence preceded nothingness, and his name preceded the Pen, because he existed before all peoples. There is not in the horizons, beyond the horizons or below the horizons, anyone more elegant, more noble, more knowing, more just, more fearsome, or more compassionate, than the subject of this tale. He is the leader of created beings, the one "whose name is glorious Ahmad". —Mansur Al-Hallaj{{sfn|Ernst|2010|p=125}} }} [[File:Muhammad2.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|The name of Muhammad in Islamic calligraphy. Sufis believe the name of Muhammad is holy and sacred.]]

Devotion to Muhammad is of primary importance in Sufism.{{sfn|Ernst|2010|p=130}} Sufis have historically revered Muhammad as the prime personality of spiritual greatness. The Sufi poet Saadi Shirazi stated, "He who chooses a path contrary to that of the prophet shall never reach the destination. O Saadi, do not think that one can treat that way of purity except in the wake of the chosen one."<ref>{{cite book|first=Gholamreza|last=Aavani|title=Glorification of the Prophet Muhammad in the Poems of Sa'adi|page=4}}</ref> Rumi attributes his self-control and abstinence from worldly desires as qualities attained by him through the guidance of Muhammad. Rumi writes, "I 'sewed' my two eyes shut from [desires for] this world and the next – this I learned from Muhammad."{{sfn|Gamard|2004|p=169}} Ibn Arabi regards Muhammad as the greatest man and states, "Muhammad's wisdom is uniqueness ({{tlit|ar|fardiya}}) because he is the most perfect existent creature of this human species. For this reason, the command began with him and was sealed with him. He was a Prophet while Adam was between water and clay, and his elemental structure is the Seal of the Prophets."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Seals of Wisdom (Fusus al-Hikam)|first=Ibn|last=Arabi|url=https://bewley.virtualave.net/fusus27.html|others=Aisha Bewley|archive-date=28 February 2015|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228113511/http://bewley.virtualave.net/fusus27.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Attar of Nishapur claimed that he praised Muhammad in such a manner that was not done before by any poet, in his book the ''Ilahi-nama''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Fariduddin|last=Attar|title=Ilahi-nama – The Book of God|others=John Andrew Boyle (translator)|quote=Thou knowest that none of the poets have sung such praise save only I.}}</ref> Fariduddin Attar stated, "Muhammad is the exemplar to both worlds, the guide of the descendants of Adam. He is the sun of creation, the moon of the celestial spheres, the all-seeing eye...The seven heavens and the eight gardens of paradise were created for him; he is both the eye and the light in the light of our eyes."<ref>{{cite book|first=Fariduddin|last=Attar|title=Ilahi-nama – The Book of God|others=John Andrew Boyle (translator)}}</ref> Sufis have historically stressed the importance of Muhammad's perfection and his ability to intercede. The persona of Muhammad has historically been and remains an integral and critical aspect of Sufi belief and practice.{{sfn|Ernst|2010|p=130}} Bayazid Bastami is recorded to have been so devoted to the ''sunnah'' of Muhammad that he refused to eat a watermelon because he could not establish that Muhammad ever ate one.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.tasawwuf.co/writings/love_allah/love_chapter9.pdf|title=The Signs of a Sincere Lover|page=91}}</ref>

In the 13th century, a Sufi poet from Egypt named Al-Busiri the {{tlit|ar|al-Kawākib ad-Durrīya fī Madḥ Khayr al-Barīya}} (The Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation), more commonly referred to as {{tlit|ar|Qaṣīdat Al-Burda}} (Poem of the Mantle), in which he extensively praised Muhammad.<ref name="celestial">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-nY3_DXo-gC|author=Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych|title=The Mantle Odes: Arabic Praise Poems to the Prophet Muhammad|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253354877|year=2010}}</ref> This poem is still widely recited and sung amongst Sufi groups and lay Muslims alike all over the world.<ref name="celestial"/>

====Sufi beliefs about Muhammad==== {{more citations needed|section|date=January 2026}} According to Ibn Arabi, Islam is considered the best religion because of Muhammad. He believed that the first being created was the reality or essence of Muhammad ({{tlit|ar|al-ḥaqīqa al-Muhammadiyya}}). Ibn Arabi saw Muhammad as the highest human and the master of all creatures, serving as the primary role model for people to emulate. He also held that God's attributes and names are displayed in this world, with Muhammad embodying their most complete and perfect form. To Ibn Arabi, one can see God through Muhammad, implying that divine attributes are manifested in him. He argued that Muhammad is the clearest proof of God's existence, and knowing him is equivalent to knowing God. Additionally, Ibn Arabi argued that Muhammad is the master of all humanity in this life and the hereafter, making Islam the best religion because Muhammad embodies Islam.{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|Walker|2014|p=446}}

===Sufism and Islamic law=== [[File:Fatehpur Sikri near Agra 2016-03 img03.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Salim Chishti, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India]]

Sufis believe the ''sharia'' (exoteric "canon"), ''tariqa'' ("order") and ''haqiqa'' ("truth") are mutually interdependent.<ref>Muhammad Emin Er, ''The Soul of Islam: Essential Doctrines and Beliefs'', Shifâ Publishers, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-9815196-0-9}}.</ref> Sufism leads the adept, called a ''salik'' ('wayfarer'), in their ''sulûk'' ('road') through different stations (''maqāmāt'') until they reaches their goal: ''tawhid'', the confession that God is One.{{sfn|Schimmel|2013|p=99}} Ibn Arabi wrote, "When we see someone in this Community who claims to be able to guide others to God, but is remiss in but one rule of the Sacred Law—even if he manifests miracles that stagger the mind—asserting that his shortcoming is a special dispensation for him, we do not even turn to look at him, for such a person is not a sheikh, nor is he speaking the truth, for no one is entrusted with the secrets of God Most High save one in whom the ordinances of the Sacred Law are preserved ({{tlit|ar|Jamiʿ karamat al-awliyaʾ}})".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catheyallison.com/Reliance_of_the_Traveller.pdf |title=Reliance of the Traveller |author=Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri |author2=Nuh Ha Mim Keller |date=1368 |pages=778–795 |work=Amana Publications |access-date=14 May 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819082808/http://www.catheyallison.com/Reliance_of_the_Traveller.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailyrollcall.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/the-reliance-of-the-traveller.pdf |title=A Classic Manual of Islamic Scared Law |author=Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri |author2=Nuh Ha Mim Keller |date=1368| work=Shafiifiqh.com|access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref>

It is related, moreover, that Malik ibn Anas, one of the founders of the four schools of Sunni law, was a strong proponent of combining the "inward science" ({{tlit|ar|ilm al-bātin}}) of mystical knowledge with the "outward science" of jurisprudence.<ref name="Gibril F. Haddad 2007 p. 179">Gibril F. Haddad, ''The Four Imams and Their Schools'' (London: Muslim Academic Trust, 2007), p. 179

'''^'''</ref> For example, the famous twelfth-century Maliki jurist and judge Qadi Iyad, later venerated as a saint throughout Muslim Iberia, narrated a tradition in which a man asked ibn Anas "about something in the inward science", to which he replied: "Truly none knows the inward science except those who know the outward science! When he knows the outward science and puts it into practice, God shall open for him the inward science – and that will not take place except by the opening of his heart and its enlightenment." In similar traditions, it is related that ibn Anas said: "He who practices Sufism (''tasawwuf'') without learning Sacred Law corrupts his faith (''tazandaqa''), while he who learns Sacred Law without practicing Sufism corrupts himself (''tafassaqa''). Only he who combines the two proves true (''tahaqqaqa'')".<ref name="Gibril F. Haddad 2007 p. 179"/>

The Amman Message, a detailed statement issued by 200 leading Islamic scholars in 2005 in Amman, specifically recognized the validity of Sufism as a part of Islam. This was adopted by the Islamic world's political and temporal leadership at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Mecca in December 2005, and by six other international Islamic scholarly assemblies, including the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of Jeddah, in July 2006. The definition of Sufism can vary widely across traditions (what is meant may be simple ''tazkiah'' rather than the various manifestations of Sufism across the Islamic world).<ref>[https://ammanmessage.com/ The Amman Message Summary]. Retrieved on 2 February 2010.</ref>

===Traditional Islamic thought and Sufism=== [[File:Tomb of said-ul-Auliya sayyid Ali hamadani.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Sayyid Ali Hamadani, Kulob, Tajikistan ]] [[File:Shrine Of Allo Mahar sharif.jpg|thumb|right|218px|Urs of Islamic Naqshbandi saints of Allo Mahar is celebrated on 23 March every year.]]

The literature of Sufism emphasizes highly subjective matters that resist outside observation, such as the subtle states of the heart. Often, these resist direct reference or description, with the consequence that the authors of various Sufi treatises resorted to allegorical language. For instance, much Sufi poetry refers to intoxication, which Islam expressly forbids. This usage of indirect language and the existence of interpretations by people who had no training in Islam or Sufism led to doubts being cast over the validity of Sufism as a part of Islam. Also, some groups emerged that considered themselves above the ''sharia'' and discussed Sufism as a method of bypassing the rules of Islam in order to attain salvation directly. This was disapproved of by traditional scholars.

For these and other reasons, the relationship between traditional Islamic scholars and Sufism is complex, and a range of scholarly opinions on Sufism in Islam has been the norm. Some scholars, such as Al-Ghazali, helped propagate it, while others opposed it. William Chittick explains the position of Sufism and Sufis this way: {{blockquote|In short, Muslim scholars who focused their energies on understanding the normative guidelines for the body came to be known as jurists, and those who held that the most important task was to train the mind in achieving correct understanding came to be divided into three main schools of thought: theology, philosophy, and Sufism. This leaves us with the third domain of human existence, the spirit. Most Muslims who devoted their major efforts to developing the spiritual dimensions of the human person came to be known as Sufis.{{sfn|Chittick|2007}}}}

===Persian influence on Sufism=== Persians played a huge role in developing and systematising Islamic mysticism. One of the first to formalise Sufi principles was Junayd of Baghdad—a Persian from Baghdad.<ref>Silvers, Laury (2013-09-01). "al-Fatḥ al-Mawṣilī". ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE''. <q>(...) uncle of the famous early Persian Ṣūfī Junayd al-Baghdādī (d. 298/911).</q></ref> Other great Persian Sufi poets include Rudaki, Rumi, Attar of Nishapur, Nizami Ganjavi, Hafez, Sanai, Shams Tabrizi and Jami.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nemanja |date=25 October 2022 |title=5 Greatest Persian Poets and Why They Remain Relevant |url=https://symbolsage.com/greatest-persian-poets/ |access-date=3 December 2022 |website=Symbol Sage |language=en-US}}</ref> Famous poems that still resonate across the Muslim world include the ''Masnavi'', ''Bustan'', ''The Conference of the Birds'', and ''The Divān of Hafez''.

=== Neo-Sufism === [[File:5861-Linxia-Yu-Baba-Gongbei-main-building-roof.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|The mausoleum (''gongbei'') of Ma Laichi in Linxia City, China]]

The term ''neo-Sufism'' was originally coined by Fazlur Rahman Malik and used by other scholars to describe reformist currents among 18th-century Sufi orders, whose goal was to remove some of the more ecstatic and pantheistic elements of the Sufi tradition and reassert the importance of Islamic law as the basis for inner spirituality and social activism.<ref name=voll-OEIW>{{cite encyclopedia|first=John O.|last=Voll|title=Sufism. ṢūfĪ Orders.|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor-first=John L.|editor-last=Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0759|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124035305/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0759|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 November 2012}}</ref><ref name=howell>{{cite web|title=Sufism in the Modern World|first=Julia|last=Howell|website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay1010_surfism_modern_world.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219000847/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay1010_surfism_modern_world.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 February 2013}}</ref> In recent times, it has been increasingly used by scholars like Mark Sedgwick in the opposite sense, to describe various forms of Sufi-influenced spirituality in the West, in particular the deconfessionalized spiritual movements which emphasize universal elements of the Sufi tradition and de-emphasize its Islamic context.<ref name=howell/><ref name=sedgwick2012>{{cite book|chapter=Neo-Sufism|first=Mark|last=Sedgwick|title=The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements |editor-first=Olav |editor-last=Hammer |editor-first2=Mikael|editor-last2=Rothstein|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2012}}</ref>

==Devotional practices== [[File:Dhikr Rifa-iyya.jpg|thumb|Sufi gathering engaged in ''dhikr'']]

The devotional practices of Sufis vary widely. Prerequisites to practice include rigorous adherence to Islamic norms (ritual prayer in its five prescribed times each day, the fast of Ramadan, and so forth). Additionally, the seeker ought to be firmly grounded in supererogatory practices known from the life of Muhammad (such as the "sunnah prayers"). This is in accordance with the words, attributed to God, of the following, a famous ''Hadith Qudsi'':{{blockquote|My servant draws near to Me through nothing I love more than that which I have made obligatory for him. My servant never ceases drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love him. Then, when I love him, I am his hearing through which he hears, his sight through which he sees, his hand through which he grasps, and his foot through which he walks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sunnah.com/qudsi40:25|title=Hadith 25, 40 Hadith Qudsi - Forty Hadith Qudsi - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|website=sunnah.com}}</ref> }}

It is also necessary for the seeker to have a correct creed (''aqidah''),<ref>For an introduction to the normative creed of Islam as espoused by the consensus of scholars, see Hamza Yusuf, ''The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi'', {{ISBN|978-0-9702843-9-6}}, and Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Maghnisawi, ''Imam Abu Hanifa's Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar Explained'', {{ISBN|978-1-933764-03-0}}.</ref> and to embrace with certainty its tenets.<ref>The meaning of ''certainty'' in this context is emphasized in Muhammad Emin Er, ''The Soul of Islam: Essential Doctrines and Beliefs'', Shifâ Publishers, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-9815196-0-9}}.</ref> The seeker must also, of necessity, turn away from sins, love of this world, the love of company and renown, obedience to satanic impulse, and the promptings of the lower self. (The way in which this purification of the heart is achieved is outlined in certain books, but must be prescribed in detail by a Sufi master.) The seeker must also be trained to prevent the corruption of those good deeds which have accrued to his or her credit by overcoming the traps of ostentation, pride, arrogance, envy, and long hopes (meaning the hope for a long life allowing us to mend our ways later, rather than immediately, here and now).

Sufi practices, while attractive to some, are not a ''means'' for gaining knowledge. The traditional scholars of Sufism hold it as absolutely axiomatic that knowledge of God is not a psychological state generated through breath control. Thus, practice of "techniques" is not the cause, but instead the ''occasion'' for such knowledge to be obtained (if at all), given proper prerequisites and proper guidance by a master of the way. Furthermore, the emphasis on practices may obscure a far more important fact: The seeker is, in a sense, to become a broken person, stripped of all habits through the practice of (in the words of Imam Al-Ghazali) solitude, silence, sleeplessness, and hunger.<ref>See in particular the introduction by T. J. Winter to Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali, ''Al-Ghazali on Disciplining the Soul and on Breaking the Two Desires: Books XXII and XXIII of the Revival of the Religious Sciences'', {{ISBN|978-0-946621-43-9}}.</ref>

===Dhikr=== {{main|Dhikr}}

thumb|upright=0.65|The name of Allah as written on the disciple's heart, according to the Sarwari Qadri Order

''Dhikr'' is the remembrance of God commanded in the Quran for all Muslims through a specific devotional act, such as the repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from ''hadith'' literature and the Quran. More generally, ''dhikr'' takes a wide range and various layers of meaning.<ref>{{cite web|author=Abdullah Jawadi Amuli|url=http://media.basirat.ca/docs/dhikr_and_the_wisdom_behind_it.pdf|title=Dhikr and the Wisdom Behind It|translator=A. Rahmim|access-date=8 February 2020}}</ref> This includes ''dhikr'' as any activity in which the Muslim maintains awareness of God. To engage in ''dhikr'' is to practice consciousness of the Divine Presence and love, or "to seek a state of godwariness". The Quran refers to Muhammad as the very embodiment of ''dhikr'' of God (65:10–11). Some types of ''dhikr'' are prescribed for all Muslims and do not require Sufi initiation or the prescription of a Sufi master because they are deemed to be good for every seeker under every circumstance.<ref>Hakim Moinuddin Chisti ''The Book of Sufi Healing'', {{ISBN|978-0-89281-043-7}}</ref>

The ''dhikr'' may slightly vary among each order. Some Sufi orders<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naqshbandi.org/dhikr/difference.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970529081521/http://naqshbandi.org/dhikr/difference.htm |archive-date=29 May 1997 |url-status=dead |title=The Naqshbandi Way of Dhikr |access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref> engage in ritualised ''dhikr'' ceremonies, or ''sema''. ''Sema'' includes various forms of worship such as recitation, singing (the most well known being the Qawwali music of the Indian subcontinent), instrumental music, dance (most famously the Sufi whirling of the Mevlevi order), incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance.<ref>Touma 1996, p.162.{{full citation needed|date=February 2020}}</ref>

Some Sufi orders stress and place extensive reliance upon ''dhikr''. This practice of ''dhikr'' is called ''Dhikr-e-Qulb'' (invocation of God within the heartbeats). The basic idea in this practice is to visualize the name of God as having been written on the disciple's heart.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://goharshahi.net/images/books_files/menar-e-noor_files/What%20is%20Remembrance%20and%20what%20is%20Contemplation.htm|title=What is Remembrance and what is Contemplation?|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415182616/http://www.goharshahi.net/images/books_files/menar-e-noor_files/What%20is%20Remembrance%20and%20what%20is%20Contemplation.htm|archive-date=15 April 2008}}</ref>

===Muraqaba=== {{main|Muraqaba}}

[[File:Eugène Girardet - La Prière.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|An Algerian Sufi in Murāqabah. ''La prière'' ('The Prayer') by Eugène Girardet.]]

The practice of ''muraqaba'' can be likened to the practices of meditation attested in many faith communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sultan-bahoo.com/tafakkur-muraqbah-meditation-concentration/#Tafakkur-Muraqbah|title=Muraqaba|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609000104/http://www.sultan-bahoo.com/en/tafakkur-and-muraqbah-meditation-and-concentration.html#Tafakkur-Muraqbah|archive-date=9 June 2015}}</ref> While variation exists, one description of the practice within a Naqshbandi lineage reads as follows: {{blockquote|He is to collect all of his bodily senses in concentration, and to cut himself off from all preoccupation and notions that inflict themselves upon the heart. And thus he is to turn his full consciousness towards God Most High while saying three times: "''Ilahî anta maqsûdî wa-ridâka matlûbî''—my God, you are my Goal and Your good pleasure is what I seek". Then he brings to his heart the Name of the Essence—Allâh—and as it courses through his heart he remains attentive to its meaning, which is "Essence without likeness". The seeker remains aware that He is Present, Watchful, Encompassing of all, thereby exemplifying the meaning of his saying (may God bless him and grant him peace): "Worship God as though you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you". And likewise the prophetic tradition: "The most favored level of faith is to know that God is witness over you, wherever you may be".<ref>Muhammad Emin Er, ''Laws of the Heart: A Practical Introduction to the Sufi Path'', {{ISBN|978-0-9815196-1-6}}, p. 77.</ref>}}

===Sufi whirling=== {{Main|Sufi whirling}}

[[File:Whirling dervishes, Rumi Fest 2007.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Whirling Dervishes, at Rumi Fest 2007]]

Sufi whirling (or Sufi spinning) is a form of ''Sama'' or physically active meditation which originated among some Sufis, and practised by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order. It is a customary dance performed within the ''sema'', through which dervishes (also called ''semazens'', from Persian {{lang|fa|سماعزن}}) aim to reach the source of all perfection, or ''kemal''. This is sought through abandoning one's ''nafs'', egos or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one's body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the Sun.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hayatidede.org/popups/about_sema.htm|title=The Sema of the Mevlevi|publisher=Mevlevi Order of America|access-date=26 March 2009}}</ref>{{New archival link needed|date=April 2026}}

As explained by Mevlevi practitioners:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.whirlingdervishes.org/whirlingdervishes.htm|title=None}}</ref> <blockquote>In the symbolism of the Sema ritual, the semazen's camel's hair hat (sikke) represents the tombstone of the ego; his wide, white skirt (''tennure'') represents the ego's shroud. By removing his black cloak (''hırka''), he is spiritually reborn to the truth. At the beginning of the Sema, by holding his arms crosswise, the semazen appears to represent the number one, thus testifying to God's unity. While whirling, his arms are open: his right arm is directed to the sky, ready to receive God's beneficence; his left hand, upon which his eyes are fastened, is turned toward the earth. The semazen conveys God's spiritual gift to those who are witnessing the Sema. Revolving from right to left around the heart, the semazen embraces all humanity with love. The human being has been created with love in order to love. Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi says, "All loves are a bridge to Divine love. Yet, those who have not had a taste of it do not know!"</blockquote>The traditional view of most orthodox Sunni Sufi orders, such as the Qadiriyya and the Chisti, as well as Sunni Muslim scholars in general, is that dancing with intent during dhikr or whilst listening to Sema is prohibited.<ref name="qadiri">{{cite web |last1=Hussain |first1=Zahid |date=22 April 2012 |title=Is it permissible to listen to Qawwali? |url=https://www.thesunniway.com/articles/item/71-is-it-permissible-to-listen-to-qawwali |access-date=12 June 2020 |website=TheSunniWay |quote=Unfortunately, the name "Qawwali" is now only used if there is an addition of musical instruments and at times with the "add on" of dancing and whirling depending on the mood of those present. Musical instruments are forbidden. And so is dancing if it is with intent.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Desai |first1=Siraj |date=13 January 2011 |title=Moulana Rumi and Whirling Zikr |url=https://askmufti.co.za/moulana-rumi-and-whirling-zikr/ |access-date=12 June 2020 |website=askmufti |quote=However, later on this Simaa’ was modernized to include dancing and music, thus giving rise to the concept of "whirling dervishes". This is a Bid’ah and is not the creation of orthodox Sufism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Abidin |first=Ibn |title=Radd al-Muhtar |publisher=Darul Ma'rifa |volume=6 |page=396}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Hashiyah at-Tahtaawi|page=319|publisher=Al-Ilmiyya}}</ref>

===Singing=== [[File:Kurdish Dervishes practice sufism (Dhikr).ogv|thumb|Kurdish Dervishes practice Sufism with playing ''Daf'' in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan.]]

Musical instruments (except the ''Daf'') have traditionally been considered as prohibited by the four orthodox Sunni schools,<ref name="qadiri" /><ref>Murad, Abdul Hakim. "Music in the Islamic Tradition". ''Cambridge Muslim College Retreat''. 18 May 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Listening to Islamic Songs with Musical Instruments|last=Rabbani|first=Faraz|url=https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/listening-to-islamic-songs-with-musical-instruments/|website=Seekers Guidance|date=25 December 2012|access-date=12 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Is Music Prohibited in Islam?|url=https://www.myreligionislam.com/detail.asp?Aid=6192|website=My Religion Islam|access-date=12 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Music and Singing – A Detailed Article|author=Muhammad Ibn Adam|url=https://daruliftaa.com/miscellaneous/music-and-singing-a-detailed-article/|website=Darul Ifta |location=Leicester|date=14 April 2004}}</ref> and the more orthodox Sufi tariqas also continued to prohibit their use. Throughout history most Sufi saints have stressed that musical instruments are forbidden.<ref name="qadiri" /><ref name="Siyar">{{cite book|title=Siyar-ul-Auliya: History of Chishti Silsila|author=Muhammad bin Mubarak Kirmani|translator=Ghulam Ahmed Biryan|language=ur|publisher=Mushtaq Book Corner|location=Lahore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Fawa'id al-Fu'aad: Spiritual and Literal Discourses|first=Nizamuddin|last=Auliya|translator=Z. H. Faruqi|date=31 December 1996|isbn=9788124600429|publisher=D.K. Print World Ltd}}</ref> However some Sufi Saints permitted and encouraged it, whilst maintaining that musical instruments and female voices should not be introduced, although these are common practice today.<ref name="qadiri" /><ref name="Siyar" />

For example ''Qawwali'' was originally a form of Sufi devotional singing popular in the Indian subcontinent, and is now usually performed at ''dargahs''. Sufi saint Amir Khusrau is said to have infused Persian, Arabic Turkish and Indian classical melodic styles to create the genre in the 13th century. The songs are classified into hamd, na'at, manqabat, marsiya or ghazal, among others.

Nowadays, the songs last for about 15 to 30 minutes, are performed by a group of singers, and instruments including the harmonium, tabla and dholak are used. Pakistani singing maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is credited with popularizing qawwali all over the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/nusrat_fateh_ali_khan_28502/en_US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320015139/http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/nusrat_fateh_ali_khan_28502/en_US|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 March 2013|title=Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: National Geographic World Music|date=20 March 2013|access-date=9 October 2018}}</ref>

== Saints == {{Main|Wali}}

[[File:Ахмад Газали, беседующий с учеником.jpg|thumb|right|A Persian miniature depicting the medieval saint and mystic Ahmad Ghazali (d. 1123), brother of the famous Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111), talking to a disciple, from the ''Meetings of the Lovers'' (1552)]]

''Walī'' ({{langx|ar|ولي}}, plural {{transliteration|ar|''ʾawliyāʾ''}} {{lang|ar|أولياء}}) is an Arabic word whose literal meanings include "custodian", "protector", "helper", and "friend".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=1302,ll=3066,ls=79,la=4919,sg=1252,ha=906,br=1072,pr=171,aan=742,mgf=869,vi=392,kz=3008,mr=805,mn=1581,uqw=1902,umr=1196,ums=1010,umj=961,ulq=1833,uqa=460,uqq=444|title=Mawrid Reader |website=ejtaal.net}}</ref> In the vernacular, it is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the more literal "friend of God".<ref>John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); Idem., ''Tales of God Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009), et passim.</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Radtke, B.|author2=Lory, P.|author3=Zarcone, Th.|author4=DeWeese, D.|author5=Gaborieau, M.|author6=Denny, F.M.|author7=Aubin, Françoise|author8=Hunwick, J.O. |author9=Mchugh, N.|date=2012|title=Walī|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd|publisher=Brill|editor=P. Bearman|editor2=Th. Bianquis|editor3=C.E. Bosworth|editor4=E. van Donzel|editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1335}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of the Sudan |series=Historical Dictionaries of Africa |first1=Robert S. |last1=Kramer |first2=Richard A. Jr. |last2=Lobban |first3=Carolyn |last3=Fluehr-Lobban |year=2013 |edition=4 |location=Lanham, Maryland, USA |publisher=Scarecrow Press, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield |page=361 |isbn=978-0-8108-6180-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OKZRewiEOsC&q=%22holy+man%22+wali&pg=PA361 |quote=QUBBA. The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man... A qubba is usually erected over the grave of a holy man identified variously as '''wali''' (saint), faki, or shaykh since, according to folk Islam, this is where his baraka [blessings] is believed to be strongest... |access-date=2 May 2015 }}</ref> In the traditional Islamic understanding of saints, the saint is portrayed as someone "marked by [special] divine favor ... [and] holiness", and who is specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles."<ref>Radtke, B., "Saint", in: ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān'', General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.</ref> The doctrine of saints was articulated by Islamic scholars very early on in Muslim history,<ref>J. van Ess, ''Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert Hidschra. Eine Geschichte des religiösen Denkens im frühen Islam'', II (Berlin-New York, 1992), pp. 89–90</ref><ref>B. Radtke and J. O’Kane, ''The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism'' (London, 1996), pp. 109–110</ref><ref name=EI2/><ref>B. Radtke, ''Drei Schriften des Theosophen von Tirmid̲'', ii (Beirut-Stuttgart, 1996), pp. 68–69</ref> and particular verses of the Quran and certain ''hadith'' were interpreted by early Muslim thinkers as "documentary evidence"<ref name=EI2/> of the existence of saints.

Since the first Muslim hagiographies were written during the period when Sufism began its rapid expansion, many of the figures who later came to be regarded as the major saints in Sunni Islam were the early Sufi mystics, like Hasan of Basra (d. 728), Farqad Sabakhi (d. 729), Dawud Tai (d. 777-81), Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (d. 801), Ma'ruf al-Karkhi (d. 815), and Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910). From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, "the general veneration of saints, among both people and sovereigns, reached its definitive form with the organization of Sufism ... into orders or brotherhoods."<ref name="Titus Burckhardt 2009 p. 99">Titus Burckhardt, ''Art of Islam: Language and Meaning'' (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2009), p. 99</ref> In the common expressions of Islamic piety of this period, the saint was understood to be "a contemplative whose state of spiritual perfection ... [found] permanent expression in the teaching bequeathed to his disciples."<ref name="Titus Burckhardt 2009 p. 99"/>

===Visitation=== {{Main|Ziyara}}

thumb|right|Sufi mosque in Esfahan, Iran

In popular Sufism (i.e. devotional practices that have achieved currency in world cultures through Sufi influence), one common practice is to visit or make pilgrimages to the tombs of saints, renowned scholars, and righteous people. This is a particularly common practice in South Asia, where famous tombs include such saints as Sayyid Ali Hamadani in Kulob, Tajikistan; Afāq Khoja, near Kashgar, China; Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh; Ali Hujwari in Lahore, Pakistan; Bahauddin Zakariya in Multan Pakistan; Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India; Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, India; and Shah Jalal in Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Likewise, in Fes, Morocco, a popular destination for such pious visitation is the Zaouia Moulay Idriss II and the yearly visitation to see the current sheikh of the Qadiri Boutchichi Tariqah, Sheikh Sidi Hamza al Qadiri al Boutchichi to celebrate the Mawlid (which is usually televised on Moroccan National television).<ref>{{Cite news|title=Popular Sufi leader in Morocco dies aged 95|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/popular-sufi-leader-in-morocco-dies-aged-95-1.1964439|access-date=30 December 2020|work=Gulf News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=28 March 2018|title=Confreries: A Crossroads of Morocco's Literary and Spiritual Diversity |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/03/243298/confreries-crossroads-moroccos-literary-spiritual-diversity/|access-date=30 December 2020|work=Morocco World News}}</ref> This action has voiced particular condemnation by the Salafis.

===Miracles=== {{Main|Karamat}}

In Islamic mysticism, ''karamat'' ({{langx|ar|کرامات}} ''karāmāt'', pl. of {{lang|ar|کرامة}} ''karāmah'', lit. generosity, high-mindedness<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Hans|last1=Wehr|first2=J. Milton |last2=Cowan| year=1979 |title=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic|publisher=Spoken Language Services|edition=4th|url=https://ejtaal.net/aa/#q=krm}}</ref>) refers to supernatural wonders performed by Muslim saints. In the technical vocabulary of Islamic religious sciences, the singular form ''karama'' has a sense similar to ''charism'', a favour or spiritual gift freely bestowed by God.<ref name=karama>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Gardet, L.|date=2012|title=Karāma|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd|publisher=Brill|editor=P. Bearman|editor2=Th. Bianquis|editor3=C.E. Bosworth|editor4=E. van Donzel|editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0445}}</ref> The marvels ascribed to Islamic saints have included supernatural physical actions, predictions of the future, and "interpretation of the secrets of hearts".<ref name=karama/> Historically, a "belief in the miracles of saints (''karāmāt al-awliyāʾ'', literally 'marvels of the friends [of God]')" has been "a requirement in Sunni Islam".<ref>Jonathan A.C. Brown, "Faithful Dissenters", ''Journal of Sufi Studies'' 1 (2012), p. 123</ref>

=== Shrines === A ''dargah'' (Persian: درگاه ''dargâh'' or درگه ''dargah'', also in Punjabi and Urdu) is a shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervish. Sufis often visit the shrine for ''ziyarat'', a term associated with religious visits and pilgrimages. ''Dargah''s are often associated with Sufi eating and meeting rooms and hostels, called ''khanqah'' or hospices. They usually include a mosque, meeting rooms, Islamic religious schools (madrassas), residences for a teacher or caretaker, hospitals, and other buildings for community purposes.

==Theoretical perspectives== thumb|right|upright=0.8|The works of Al-Ghazali firmly defended the concepts of Sufism within the Islamic faith.

Traditional Islamic scholars have recognized two major branches within the practice of Sufism and use this as one key to differentiating among the approaches of different masters and devotional lineages.<ref name="Heart 2008">Muhammad Emin Er, ''Laws of the Heart: A Practical Introduction to the Sufi Order'', Shifâ Publishers, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-9815196-1-6}}</ref>

On the one hand there is the order from the signs to the Signifier (or from the arts to the Artisan). In this branch, the seeker begins by purifying the lower self of every corrupting influence that stands in the way of recognizing all of creation as the work of God, as God's active self-disclosure or theophany.<ref>For a systematic description of the diseases of the heart that are to be overcome in order for this perspective to take root, see Hamza Yusuf, ''Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart'', {{ISBN|978-1-929694-15-0}}.</ref> This is the way of Imam Al-Ghazali and of the majority of the Sufi orders.

On the other hand, there is the order from the Signifier to his signs, from the Artisan to his works. In this branch the seeker experiences divine attraction (''jadhba''), and is able to enter the order with a glimpse of its endpoint, of direct apprehension of the Divine Presence towards which all spiritual striving is directed. This does not replace the striving to purify the heart, as in the other branch; it simply stems from a different point of entry into the path. This is the way primarily of the masters of the Naqshbandi and Shadhili orders.<ref>Concerning this, and for an excellent discussion of the concept of attraction (''jadhba''), see especially the Introduction to Abdullah Nur ad-Din Durkee, ''The School of the Shadhdhuliyyah, Volume One: Orisons'', {{ISBN|977-00-1830-9}}.</ref>

Contemporary scholars may also recognize a third branch, attributed to the late Ottoman scholar Said Nursi and explicated in his vast Qur'an commentary called the Risale-i Nur. This approach entails strict adherence to the way of Muhammad, in the understanding that this wont, or ''sunnah'', proposes a complete devotional spirituality adequate to those without access to a master of the Sufi way.<ref>Muhammad Emin Er, ''al-Wasilat al-Fasila'', unpublished MS.</ref>

===Contributions to other domains of scholarship=== Sufism has contributed significantly to the elaboration of theoretical perspectives in many domains of intellectual endeavour. For instance, the doctrine of "subtle centers" or centres of subtle cognition (known as ''Lataif-e-sitta'') addresses the matter of the awakening of spiritual intuition.<ref>[http://nurmuhammad.com/HeartLevels/coverLataif5levelsofheart.htm Realities of The Heart] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108154441/http://nurmuhammad.com/HeartLevels/coverLataif5levelsofheart.htm |date=8 January 2007 }} Lataif</ref> In general, these subtle centres or ''latâ'if'' are thought of as faculties that are to be purified sequentially in order to bring the seeker's wayfaring to completion. A concise and useful summary of this system from a living exponent of this tradition has been published by Muhammad Emin Er.<ref name="Heart 2008"/>

Sufi psychology has influenced many areas of thinking both within and outside of Islam, drawing primarily upon three concepts. Ja'far al-Sadiq (both an imam in the Shia tradition and a respected scholar and link in chains of Sufi transmission in all Islamic sects) held that human beings are dominated by a lower self called the nafs (self, ego, person), a faculty of spiritual intuition called the qalb (heart), and ruh (soul). These interact in various ways, producing the spiritual types of the tyrant (dominated by ''nafs''), the person of faith and moderation (dominated by the spiritual heart), and the person lost in love for God (dominated by the ''ruh'').{{sfn|Schimmel|2013}}

Of note with regard to the spread of Sufi psychology in the West is Robert Frager, a Sufi teacher authorized in the Jerrahi order. Frager was a trained psychologist, born in the United States, who converted to Islam in the course of his practice of Sufism and wrote extensively on Sufism and psychology.<ref>See especially Robert Frager, ''Heart, Self & Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony'', {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0778-0}}.</ref>{{primary source inline|date=September 2023}}

Sufi cosmology and Sufi metaphysics are also noteworthy areas of intellectual accomplishment.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/philosophers-sufis-and-caliphs/philosophical-sufis-among-scholars-ulama-and-their-impact-on-political-culture/D3514A6470BA39F7301678CCAA0DD529 |title=Philosophical Sufis among Scholars (ʿulamāʾ) and Their Impact on Political Culture |first=Ali Humayun |last=Akhtar |date=10 June 2017 |series=Philosophers, Sufis, and Caliphs: Politics and Authority from Cordoba to Cairo and Baghdad |pages=135–237 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107182011}}</ref>

==Prominent Sufis== {{See also|List of Sufi saints|List of Sufis}}

===Rabi'a Al-'Adawiyya=== [[File:Rabia al-Adawiyya.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of Rabi'a grinding grain from a Persian dictionary]]

Rābi{{hamza}}a al-{{hamza}}Adawiyya or Rabia Basri was a Sufi saint, one of the earliest Sufi mystics and an influential religious figure from Iraq.<ref name="Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Margaret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqYDbBFAcB0C&q=rabia+the+mystic |title=''Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam'' |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781108015912 |page=252}}</ref> Rabi'a was born of very poor origin, but was captured by bandits at a later age and sold into slavery. She was, however, released by her master when he awoke one night to see the light of sanctity shining above her head.<ref>Smith, Margaret. ''Rabi'a The Mystic''. Cambridge University Press, 1928.</ref> Prominent Sufi leader Hasan of Basra is said "I passed one whole night and day with Rabi'a ... it never passed through my mind that I was a man nor did it occur to her that she was a woman... when I saw her I saw myself as bankrupt and Rabi'a as truly sincere."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Leila |title=Women and Gender in Islam |publisher=Yale University |year=1992 |page=96}}</ref> Rabi'a al-Adawiyya is known for her teachings and emphasis on the centrality of the love of God to a holy life.<ref>Ahmed, Leila. ''Women and Gender in Islam''. Yale University Press, 1992, p. 87.</ref> She is said to have proclaimed, running down the streets of Basra, Iraq:

{{blockquote | text = 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. | source = Rabi'a al-Adawiyya}}

There are different opinions about the death and resting place of Rabia Basri. Some believe her resting place to be Jerusalem whereas others believe it to be Basra.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Qalandaria: Brief History of Hazrat Rabia al Basri R . A |url=https://qalandaria.blogspot.com/2010/10/brief-history-of-hazrat-rabia-al-basri.html |access-date=15 July 2022 |website=Qalandaria}}</ref><ref>Meeting of [http://shattariyah.blogspot.com/p/rabia-basri.html Rabia Basri] with Hasan Basri By [http://shattariyah.blogspot.com/p/sayyed-aminul-qadri.html Sayyed Aminul Qadri] Retrieved 25 July 2022.</ref>

===Junayd of Baghdad=== Junayd al-Baghdadi (830–910) was one of the earlier Sufis. He was a Persian Sufi and one of the most famous of the early Islamic saints and is a central figure in the spiritual lineages of many Sufi orders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Silvers |first=Laury |date=1 September 2013 |title=al-Fatḥ al-Mawṣilī |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-fath-al-mawsili-COM_27033?s.num=76&s.rows=100 |journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE |language=en |quote=(...) uncle of the famous early Persian Ṣūfī Junayd al-Baghdādī (d. 298/911).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Browne |first=Edward Granville |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=baJfjwEACAAJ |title=A Literary History of Persia |publisher=BiblioBazaar |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-345-72256-7 |authorlink=Edward Granville Browne}}, page 428: "It is noteworthy that both Bayazid and Junayd were Persians, and may very likely have imported to sufism."</ref> Junayd al-Baghdadi taught in Baghdad throughout his lifetime and was an important figure in the development of Sufi beliefs. Like Hasan of Basra before him, was widely revered by his students and disciples as well as quoted by other mystics. Because of his importance among Sufis, Junayd was often referred to as the "Sultan".<ref>''Concise Encyclopedia of Islam'', C. Glasse, ''al-Junayd'' (p. 211), Suhail Academy co.</ref>

===Bayazid Bastami=== Bayazid Bastami was a recognized and influential Sufi personality from the Tayfuriyya order.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A History of Sufism for Western Readers - The Fountain Magazine |url=https://fountainmagazine.com/all-issues/2015/issue-107-september-october-2015/a-history-of-sufism-for-western-readers-september-octomber-2015 |access-date=16 January 2025 |website=fountainmagazine.com |last1=Yavuz |first1=Sait }}</ref> Bastami was born in 804 in Bastam.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmad |first=Khwaja Jamil |title=Hundred great Muslims [by] Jamil Ahmad. |date=1971 |publisher=Ferozsons |oclc=977150850}}</ref> Bayazid is regarded for his devout commitment to the Sunnah and his dedication to fundamental Islamic principles and practices.

===Shaykh Abdul Qadir Gilani=== [[File:Roof hafez tomb.jpg|thumb|right|Geometric tiling on the underside of the dome of Hafiz Shirazi's tomb in Shiraz]]

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166) was a Mesopotamian-born Hanbali jurist and prominent Sufi scholar based in Baghdad, with Persian roots. Gilani spent his early life in Na'if, a town just East of Baghdad, also the town of his birth. There, he pursued the study of Hanbali law. Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi gave Gilani lessons in fiqh. He was given lessons about hadith by Abu Bakr ibn Muzaffar. He was given lessons about Tafsir by Abu Muhammad Ja'far, a commentator. His Sufi spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas. After completing his education, Gilani left Baghdad. He spent twenty-five years as a reclusive wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq. In 1127, Gilani returned to Baghdad and began to preach to the public. He joined the teaching staff of the school belonging to his own teacher, Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi, and was popular with students. In the morning he taught hadith and ''tafsir'', and in the afternoon held discourse on the science of the heart and the virtues of the Quran. He is the founder of the Qadiriyya order, of which its eponym is his patronym.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Sufism – Sufi orders |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism |access-date=18 April 2021 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

===Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili=== Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili (died 1258) was the founder of the Shadhiliyya order, and introduced ''dhikr jahri'' (the remembrance of God out loud, as opposed to the silent ''dhikr''). He taught that his followers need not abstain from what Islam has not forbidden, but to be grateful for what God has bestowed upon them,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shazuli.com/thareeqush-shukr.html|title=Thareeqush Shukr|website=Shazuli.com|access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref> in contrast to the majority of Sufis, who preach to deny oneself and to destroy the ego-self (''nafs''). The "Order of Patience" (Tariqus-Sabr), Shadhiliyya is formulated to be "Order of Gratitude" (Tariqush-Shukr). Imam Shadhili also gave eighteen valuable ''hizbs'' (litanies) to his followers, out of which the notable ''Hizb al-Bahr''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deenislam.co.uk/mix/Hizb_ul_Bahr.htm|title=Hizb ul Bahr – Litany of the Sea|website=Deenislam.co.uk|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref> is recited worldwide even today.

===Moinuddin Chishti=== [[File:Sufi Prayer Book LACMA M.87.21.jpg|thumb|A Mughal-era Sufi prayer book from the Chishti order]]

Moinuddin Chishti (1141–1236), known as ''Gharīb Nawāz'' ("Benefactor of the Poor"), was the most famous Sufi saint of the Chishti Order. Moinuddin Chishti introduced and established the order in the Indian subcontinent. The initial spiritual chain or silsila of the Chishti order in India, comprising Moinuddin Chishti, Bakhtiyar Kaki, Baba Farid, Nizamuddin Auliya (each successive person being the disciple of the previous one), constitutes the great Sufi saints of Indian history. Moinuddin Chishtī turned towards India, reputedly after a dream in which Muhammad blessed him to do so. After a brief stay at Lahore, he reached Ajmer along with Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori, and settled down there. In Ajmer, he attracted a substantial following, acquiring a great deal of respect amongst the residents of the city. Moinuddin Chishtī practiced the Sufi ''Sulh-e-Kul'' (peace to all) concept to promote understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 December 2011 |title=Sultan-e-Hind: Mysticism takes centre stage |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/308807/sultan-e-hind-mysticism-takes-centre-stage |access-date=18 April 2021 |website=The Express Tribune}}</ref>

=== Bahauddin Naqshband === Bahauddin Naqshband (1318–1389) was a prominent Sufi master of the 14th century who founded the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Born in the village of Qasr-i Hinduvan near Bukhara, Uzbekistan, he was a descendant of Muhammad. His early life was marked by a deep spiritual inclination. He sought out the guidance of renowned Sufi teachers and quickly demonstrated exceptional talent and understanding. His primary teacher was Mohammad Baba As-Samasi, who initiated him into the spiritual path. His approach to Sufism emphasized inner contemplation, discipline, and a focus on the unseen. He advocated for a balanced lifestyle, combining spiritual practices with worldly responsibilities. His teachings were rooted in the Quran and the Sunnah, and he emphasized the importance of following the example of Muhammad.

The Naqshbandi order became one of the most influential Sufi orders in Islamic history. It spread throughout Central Asia, the Middle East, and eventually to South Asia and the West. The order's emphasis on spiritual discipline, inner work, and social engagement resonated with many seekers.

===Ahmad Al-Tijani=== [[File:Shams al-Ma'arif.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|A manuscript of Sufi Islamic theology, ''Shams al-Ma'arif'' (The Book of the Sun of Gnosis) was written by the Algerian Sufi master Ahmad al-Buni during the 12th century.]]

Ahmed Tijani (1737–1815), in Arabic سيدي أحمد التجاني (''Sidi Ahmed Tijani''), was the founder of the Tijaniyya Sufi order. He was born in a Berber family,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rdZAAAAYAAJ|title=Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia|last=Jestice|first=Phyllis G.|date=15 December 2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781576073551|pages=858}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0sBgAAQBAJ|title=Studies in West African Islamic History: Volume 1: The Cultivators of Islam, Volume 2: The Evolution of Islamic Institutions & Volume 3: The Growth of Arabic Literature|last=Willis|first=John Ralph|date=12 October 2012|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136251603|pages=234}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4iWqgTzvp8C |title=Mohammedanism|last=Gibb|first=H. A. R.|date=1970|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=9780195002454 |pages=116}}</ref> in Aïn Madhi, present-day Algeria, and died at the age of 78 in Fez.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bangstad|first=Sindre|title=Global Flows, Local Appropriations: Facets of Secularisation and Re-Islamization Among Contemporary Cape Muslims|date=2007|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-5356-015-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Akyeampong|first1=Emmanuel Kwaku|url=|title=Dictionary of African Biography|author2=Henry Louis Gates Jr. |date=2 February 2012|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-538207-5}}</ref>

===Al-Ghazālī=== al-Ghazali (c. 1058 – 1111) was a Persian polymath.<ref>Böwering, Gerhard. "ḠAZĀLĪ". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 17 December 2012.</ref> He was a prominent Sufi, jurisconsult, legal theoretician, mufti, philosopher, theologian, logician and mystic.<ref>"Ghazali, al-". The Columbia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 December 2012.</ref> He is considered to be the 11th century's ''mujaddid'', a renewer of the faith, who appears once every 100 years.<ref>William Montgomery Watt, Al-Ghazali: The Muslim Intellectual, p. 180. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1963.</ref> Al-Ghazali's works were so highly acclaimed by his contemporaries that he was awarded the honorific title "Proof of Islam".<ref>Janin, Hunt (2005). The Pursuit of Learning in the Islamic World. McFarland. p. 83. ISBN 0786419547.</ref> He was a prominent mujtahid in the Shafi'i school of law.<ref>Al Beirawi, Abu Ismael (12 April 2016). Essays on Ijtihad in the 21st Century. CreateSpace. p. 35. ISBN 9781539995036.</ref> His magnum opus was Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm ad-dīn ("The Revival of the Religious Sciences").<ref>Sonn, Tamara (10 October 1996). Interpreting Islam: Bandali Jawzi's Islamic Intellectual History. Oxford University Press. pp. 30</ref> His works include Tahāfut al-Falāsifa ("Incoherence of the Philosophers"), a landmark in the history of philosophy.<ref>Griffel, Frank (2016). "Al-Ghazali". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 ed.)</ref>

===Sayyed Badiuddin=== Sayyid Badiuddin<ref name="Wise2016">{{cite book|author=James Wise|title=Notes on the Races, Castes and Trades of Eastern Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mzUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|date=10 November 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-99740-9|page=78}}</ref> was a Sufi saint who founded the Madariyya Silsila and order.<ref>{{cite book|title=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkYLAQAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=The Institute|page=241}}</ref> He was also known by the title Qutb-ul-Madar.<ref name="bhatt">{{cite journal |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Ananda |title=Madariya Sufi Silsila Their Distinctive Characteristics and Relations with the Indian Powers |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2008 |volume=69 |pages=384–402 |jstor=44147203 }}</ref>

He hailed originally from Syria, and was born in Aleppo<ref name="Wise2016" /> to a Syed Hussaini family.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Suvorova|first=A. A.|title=Muslim saints of South Asia: the eleventh to fifteenth centuries|date=2004|publisher=RoutledgeCurzon|isbn=0-203-59271-9|location=London|pages=171|oclc=57176198}}</ref> His teacher was Bayazid Tayfur al-Bistami.<ref>{{cite book|author=Murray Thurston Titus|title=Indian Islam: a religious history of Islam in India|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280326|year=1930|publisher=H. Milford, Oxford university press|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280326/page/n145 128]}}</ref> After making a pilgrimage to Medina, he journeyed to India to spread the Islamic faith, where he founded the Madariyya order.<ref name=bhatt/> His tomb is at Makanpur.<ref>[https://shattariyah.blogspot.com/p/zinda-shah-madar.html Zinda Shah Madar] Retrieved 17 July 2022</ref>

===Ibn Arabi=== Ibn 'Arabi (or Ibn al-'Arabi) (AH 561 – AH 638; 1165–1240) was one of the most influential Sufis, revered for his profound spiritual insight, refined taste, and deep knowledge of God. Over the centuries, he has been honored with the title "The Grand Master" (Arabic: الشيخ الأكبر). Ibn Arabi founded the Sufi order known as "Al Akbariyya" (Arabic: الأكبرية), which remains active to this day. The order, based in Cairo, continues to spread his teachings and principles through its own sheikh. Ibn Arabi's writings, especially al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya and Fusus al-Hikam, have been studied within all Sufi orders as the clearest expression of ''tawhid'' (Divine Unity), though because of their recondite nature they were often only given to initiates. His teachings later became known as the school of ''wahdat al-wujud'' (the Oneness of Being). He himself considered his writings to have been divinely inspired. As he expressed the way to one of his close disciples, his legacy is that "you should never ever abandon your servant-hood (''ubudiyya''), and that there may never be in your soul a longing for any existing thing".<ref>K. al-Wasa'il, quoted in ''The Unlimited Mercifier'', Stephen Hirtenstein, p. 246</ref>

===Mansur Al-Hallaj=== Mansur Al-Hallaj (died 922) is renowned for his claim, ''Ana-l-Haqq'' ("I am the Truth"), his ecstatic Sufism and state-trial. His refusal to recant this utterance, which was regarded as apostasy, led to a long trial. He was imprisoned for 11 years in a Baghdad prison, before being tortured and publicly beheaded on 26 March 922. He is still revered by Sufis for his willingness to embrace torture and death rather than recant. It is said that during his prayers, he would say "O Lord! You are the guide of those who are passing through the Valley of Bewilderment. If I am a heretic, enlarge my heresy".<ref>Memoirs of the Saints, p.108.{{full citation needed|date=February 2020}}</ref>

===Yusuf Abu al-Haggag=== Yusuf Abu al-Haggag (c. 1150 – c. 1245) was a Sufi scholar and sheikh preaching principally in Luxor, Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |title=تعرف على تاريخ ومولد ودورة الإمام أبو الحجاج الأقصرى السنوية × 15 معلومة |url=https://www.youm7.com/story/2018/4/30/%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%88%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%A9/3771991 |work=اليوم السابع |language=Arabic}}</ref> He devoted himself to knowledge, asceticism and worship.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 March 2023 |title=Sufis celebrate birthday of Sheikh Abu El-Haggag at Luxor mosque |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2266696/middle-east |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref> In his pursuits, he earned the nickname "Father of the Pilgrim". His birthday is celebrated today annually in Luxor, with people convening at the Abu Haggag Mosque.

== Notable Sufi works == {{Main|Sufi literature}}

Among the most popular Sufi works are:<ref>{{cite book|author=Mohammed A. Rauf|title=A Brief History of Islam: With Special Reference to Malaya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bfVrAAAAIAAJ|date=1964|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Kuala Lumpur|asin=B005JNAG7A|page=89}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Lloyd Ridgeon, University of Glasgow|title=The Cambridge Companion to Sufism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Z2TBQAAQBAJ|series=Cambridge Companions to Religion|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107018303|pages=75–76}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Leonard Lewisohn|title=The Heritage of Sufism: Classical Persian Sufism from Its Origins to Rumi (700-1300)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xh-9DwAAQBAJ|volume=1|date=2018|publisher=Oneworld Publications|via=Distributed by Simon & Schuster|isbn=9781786075260|page=3}}</ref> * ''{{ill|Al-Ta'arruf li-Madhhab Ahl al-Tasawwuf|ar|التعرف لمذهب أهل التصوف}}'' (The Exploration of the Path of Sufis) by Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi (d. ca. 380/990), a popular text about which 'Umar al-Suhrawardi (d. 632/1234) is reported to have said: "if it were not for the Ta'arruf, we would know nothing about Sufism".<ref>{{cite book|author=Erik S. Ohlander|title=Sufism in an Age of Transition: ʿUmar al-Suhrawardī and the Rise of the Islamic Mystical Brotherhoods|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9ywCQAAQBAJ|series=Islamic History and Civilization|volume=71|date=2008|publisher=Brill Publishers|location=Leiden-Boston|isbn=9789047432142|page=46}}</ref> * ''{{ill|Qūt al-Qulūb|ar|قوت القلوب}}'' (Nourishment of the Hearts) by Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 386/996), an encyclopedic manual of Sufism (Islamic mystical teachings), which would have a significant influence on al-Ghazali's ''Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din'' (The Revival of the Religious Sciences).<ref>{{cite book|author=Harry S. Neale|title=Sufi Warrior Saints: Stories of Sufi Jihad from Muslim Hagiography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8JfEAAAQBAJ|date=2022|publisher=I.B. Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing|location=London|isbn=9780755643387|page=122}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1=Jay L. Garfield|editor2=William Edelglass|title=The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0iMBtaSlHYC|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, USA|isbn=9780195328998|page=424}}</ref> * ''Hilyat al-Awliya wa Tabaqat al-Asfiya'' (The Ornament of God's Friends and Generations of Pure Ones) by Abu Na'im al-Isfahani (d. 430/1038), which is a voluminous collection of biographies of Sufis and other early Muslim religious leaders.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Josef W. Meri|title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1ZsBgAAQBAJ|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=New York and London|isbn=9781135455965|page=401}}</ref> * ''Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya'' (The Qushayrian Treatise) by al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072), an indispensable reference book for those who study and specialize in Islamic mysticism. It is considered as one of the most popular Sufi manuals and has served as a primary textbook for many generations of Sufi novices to the present.<ref>{{cite book|author=Aaron W. Hughes|title=Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95jSBFFaDkUC|date=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780231531924|page=170}}</ref> * ''Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din'' (The Revival of the Sciences of Religion) by al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111). It is widely regarded as one of the most complete compendiums of Muslim thought and practice ever written, and is among the most influential books in the history of Islam. As its title indicates, it is a sustained attempt to put vigour and liveliness back into Muslim religious discourse.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Ian Richard Netton|title=Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bYtmAgAAQBAJ|date=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London and New York|isbn=9781135179601|page=276}}</ref> * ''{{ill|Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq|ar|الغنية لطالبي طريق الحق}}'' (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of the Truth) by 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 561/1166).<ref>{{cite book|author=A.J. Arberry|title=Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mp3K7wd1VPAC&pg=PA85|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135029982|page=85|quote=Many of 'Abd al-Qādir's writings, sermons and prayers have been preserved; his most celebrated book, al-Ghunya li-tālibī tarīq al-haqq, was for many generations a favourite manual of instruction.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Saeko Yazaki|title=Islamic Mysticism and Abū Ṭālib Al-Makkī: The Role of the Heart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NxkTTvX9t44C&pg=PA129|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415671101|page=129}}</ref> Translated from Arabic into English for the first time by Muhtar Holland. * ''{{ill|'Awarif al-Ma'arif|de|ʿAwārif al-maʿārif}}'' (The Gifts of Spiritual Perceptions) by Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi (d. 632/1234), was one of the more popular Sufi books of his time, and posthumously it became the standard preparatory text book for Sufi novices around the Islamic world.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rana Safvi|title=In Search of the Divine: Living Histories of Sufism in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkeHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT122|date=2022|publisher=Hachette India (Registered name: Hachette Book Publishing India Pvt. Ltd) An Hachette UK company|location=India|isbn=9789393701169|page=122|quote=Sheikh Shihabuddin Abu Hafs Suhrawardi was a great scholar who wrote the Awarif al-Ma'arif (The Gifts of Spiritual Perceptions), which became one of the most popular Sufi books for seekers to read, memorize, and study regularly.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://anqa.co.uk/about-ibn-arabi/contemporaries/shihabuddin-abu-hafs-‘umar-al-suhrawardi|title=Shihabuddin Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Suhrawardi|website=anqa.co.uk|publisher=Anqa Publishing|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230204184000/https://anqa.co.uk/about-ibn-arabi/contemporaries/shihabuddin-abu-hafs-%E2%80%98umar-al-suhrawardi|archive-date=4 February 2023|quote=One of the great teaching masters, who developed his uncle's methods, Abu Hafs was responsible for establishing the order that took his name, the Suhrawardiyya. He wrote ‘Awarif al-ma’arif (which can be translated variously as The Benefits of the Spiritually Learned or The Gifts of Spiritual Perceptions), one of the most popular Sufi textbooks for later generations.}}</ref> * ''{{ill|Al-Hikam al-'Ata'iyya|ar|الحكم العطائية}}'' (The Aphorisms of Ibn 'Ata' Allah) by Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Sakandari (d. 709/1309), a collection of 261 Sufi aphorisms and proverbs (some counted it 264) containing precise contemplative reflections on man's relations with God, based on the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah, and deals with issues related to tawhid (Islamic monotheism), ethics, morality and day-to-day conduct.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Iskandari|translator=Muhammed Nafih Wafy|title=The Book of Aphorisms (Kitab al-Hikam)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGn55hQzutQC|date=2018|publisher=Islamic Book Trust is affiliated with The Other Press|location=Selangor, Malaysia|isbn=9789675062612|page=10}}</ref>

=== Sufi commentaries on the Qur'an === Sufis have also made contributions to the Qur'anic exegetical literature, expounding the inner esoteric meanings of the Qur'an.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://institute.global/policy/what-sufism|title=What Is Sufism?|website=institute.global|publisher=Tony Blair Institute for Global Change|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210515103321/https://institute.global/policy/what-sufism|archive-date=15 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Zekeriya Bașkal|title=Yunus Emre: The Sufi Poet in Love|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iZRCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT25|date=2013|publisher=Blue Dome Press|isbn=9781935295914|page=25|quote=We should also bear in mind that Sufis emphasize inner development, the inner esoteric meanings of the sacred texts, and the imagination.}}</ref> Among such works are the following:<ref>{{cite book|author=Mulla 'Ali al-Qari|editor=ناجي السويد|title=تفسير الملا علي القاري المسمى (أنوار القرآن وأسرار الفرقان)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNtLDwAAQBAJ|date=2012|language=ar|publisher=Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya|location=Beirut, Lebanon|isbn=9782745175960|pages=3–4}}</ref>

* ''{{ill|Tafsir al-Qu'ran al-'Azim|ar|تفسير التستري}}'' (Interpretation of the Great Qur'an) by Sahl al-Tustari (d. 283/896),<ref>{{cite book|author=Aysha Hidayatullah|title=Feminist Edges of the Qur'an|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aan0AgAAQBAJ|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199359585|page=26}}</ref> the oldest Sufi commentary on the Qur'an.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Seyyed Hossein Nasr|title=Islamic Spirituality: Foundations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ncz9AQAAQBAJ|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134538959|page=30}}</ref> * ''{{ill|Lata'if al-Isharat|ar|تفسير القشيري}}'' (Subtleties of the Allusions) by al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072).<ref>{{cite book|author=Harry S Neale|title=Jihad in Premodern Sufi Writings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQmkDQAAQBAJ|date=2016|publisher=The Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature|location=New York|isbn=9781137561558|page=59}}</ref> * ''{{ill|'Ara'is al-Bayan fi Haqa'iq aI-Qur'an|ar|عرائس البيان في حقائق القرآن}}'' (The Brides of Explication Concerning the Hidden Realities of the Qur'an) by Ruzbihan al-Baqli (d. 606/1209). * ''{{ill|Al-Ta'wilat al-Najmiyya|ar|تفسير التأويلات النجمية}}'' (Starry Interpretations) by Najm al-Din Kubra (d. 618/1221). This is a jointly-authored work, started by Najm al-Din Kubra, followed by his student Najm al-Din Razi (d. 654/1256) and finished by 'Alā' al-Dawla al-Simnani (d. 736/1336).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/anatolia/data/documents/TK_Sul_HaciMahmut_31|title=al-Ta'wilat al-Najmiyya|website=arts.st-andrews.ac.uk|publisher=The University of St Andrews|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230214223903/https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/anatolia/data/documents/TK_Sul_HaciMahmut_31|archive-date=14 February 2023}}</ref> * ''Ghara'ib al-Qur'an wa Ragha'ib al-Furqan'' (Wonders of the Qur'an and Desiderata of the Criterion) by Nizam al-Din al-Nisaburi (d. ca. 728/1328). * ''Anwar al-Qur'an wa Asrar al-Furqan'' (Lights of the Qur'an and Secrets of the Criterion) by Mulla 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014/1606). * ''Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan'' (The Spirit of Explanation in the Commentary on the Qur'an) by Isma'il Haqqi al-Brusawi/Bursevi (d. 1137/1725).<ref>{{cite book|editor=Andrew Rippin|title=The Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUu04ozMXOcC|date=2006|publisher=First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=9781405178440|page=358}}</ref> He started this voluminous Qur'anic commentary and completed it in twenty-three years.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Oliver Leaman|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wS2CAAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781472569455|page=65}}</ref> * ''Al-Bahr al-Madeed fi Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Majeed'' (The Vast Sea in the Interpretation of the Glorious Qur'an) by Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba (d. 1224/1809).

==Reception== ===Persecution of Sufi Muslims=== {{Main|Persecution of Sufis}}

{{See also|Sectarian violence among Muslims|Sufi–Salafi relations}} [[File:Shrine Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sehwan Shareed, Pakistan.jpg|thumb|right|Muslim pilgrims gathered around the Ḍarīẖ covering the grave (''qabr'') of the 13th-century Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (shrine located in Sehwan Sharif, Pakistan); on 16 February 2017, ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the shrine, which resulted in the deaths of 90 people.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hassan |first=Syed Raza |date=17 February 2017 |title=Pakistan's Sufis defiant after Islamic State attack on shrine kills 83 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-blast-sufis/pakistans-sufis-defiant-after-islamic-state-attack-on-shrine-kills-83-idUSKBN15W1OP |work=Reuters |location=London |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= |date=17 February 2017 |title=88 dead, 343 injured in Sehwan shrine explosion: official data |url=http://dailytimes.com.pk/pakistan/17-Feb-17/88-died-343-injured-in-sehwan-shrine-explosion-official-data |work=Daily Times (Pakistan) |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= |date=20 February 2017 |title=Sehwan blast: Death toll reaches 90 as two more victims succumb to injuries |url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/131752-Sehwan-blast-Death-toll-reaches-90-as-two-more-victims-succumb-to-injuries |work=Geo News |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref>]]

The persecution of Sufism and Sufi Muslims over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution and violence, such as the destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs, and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, and discrimination against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries.{{sfn|Cook|2015}} The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Shia Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist" (i.e., that the supreme Shiite jurist should be the nation's political leader).

In most other Muslim-majority countries, attacks on Sufis and especially their shrines have come from adherents of puritanical fundamentalist Islamic movements (Salafism and Wahhabism), who believe that practices such as visitation to and veneration of the tombs of Sufi saints, celebration of the birthdays of Sufi saints, and ''dhikr'' ("remembrance" of God) ceremonies are ''bid‘ah'' (impure "innovation") and ''shirk'' ("polytheistic").{{sfn|Cook|2015}}<ref name="Specia-2017">{{cite news |last=Specia |first=Megan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/middleeast/sufi-muslim-explainer.html?emc=edit_ne_20171124&nl=evening-briefing&nlid=68634180&te=1 |title=Who Are Sufi Muslims and Why Do Some Extremists Hate Them? |work=The New York Times |date=24 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043849/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/middleeast/sufi-muslim-explainer.html?emc=edit_ne_20171124&nl=evening-briefing&nlid=68634180&te=1 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/may/10/islam-sufi-salafi-egypt-religion|title=Salafi intolerance threatens Sufis|first=Baher|last=Ibrahim|work=The Guardian|date=10 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mir|first=Tariq|title=Kashmir: From Sufi to Salafi|url=http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/kashmir-sufi-resurgence-salafi-islam-belief-conflict-rising-salafism-muslim-islam|work=November 5, 2012|publisher=Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting|access-date=20 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/egypt/salafists/salafi-violence-against-sufis|title=Salafi Violence against Sufis|website=Islamopedia Online|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530232126/http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/egypt/salafists/salafi-violence-against-sufis|archive-date=30 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Egypt, at least 305 people were killed and more than 100 wounded during the November 2017 Islamic terrorist attack on a Sufi mosque located in Sinai; it is considered one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of modern Egypt.<ref name="Specia-2017"/><ref name="Walsh-Declan">{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Declan |last2=Youssef |first2=Nour |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/middleeast/mosque-attack-egypt.html?emc=edit_ne_20171124&nl=evening-briefing&nlid=68634180&te=1 |title=Militants Kill 305 at Sufi Mosque in Egypt's Deadliest Terrorist Attack |work=The New York Times |date=24 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032823/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/middleeast/mosque-attack-egypt.html?emc=edit_ne_20171124&nl=evening-briefing&nlid=68634180&te=1 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref> Most of the victims were Sufis.<ref name="Specia-2017"/><ref name="Walsh-Declan"/>

===Perception outside Islam=== thumb|A choreographed Sufi performance on a Friday in Sudan

Sufi mysticism has long exercised a fascination upon the Western world, and especially its Orientalist scholars.<ref name=Geaves /> In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European orientalists treated Sufism and Islam as distinct subjects, leading to "an over-emphasis on the translation of classical Sufi mystical literature" in the academic study of Sufism at the expense of the lived practices in Islam, as well as a separation of Sufism from its Islamic roots in the development of Sufism as a religious form in the West.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ernst |first=Carl W. |title=The Dabistan and Orientalist Views of Sufism |journal=Academia.edu |date=7 May 2025 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43971427 |access-date=16 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Geaves |first=Ron |chapter=Sufism in the West |date=2014 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-sufism/sufism-in-the-west/0E365403019DD6826F782FE0B2C89671 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Sufism |pages=233–256 |editor-last=Ridgeon |editor-first=Lloyd |series=Cambridge Companions to Religion |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01830-3 |access-date=30 April 2022}}"Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European orientalists would develop the thesis that Sufism and Islam were separate religious phenomena. The effect on Sufism in the West was twofold. The first impacted on the academic study of Sufism and the second on the development of Sufism as a religious form in Europe and North America. The separation of Sufism from its Islamic roots led to an over-emphasis on the translation of classical Sufi mystical literature at the expense of the lived religion practised throughout the Muslim world and perceived as part and parcel of a normative Islamic worldview, even if deeply contested in the Muslim majority world."</ref> Figures like Rumi have become well known in the United States, where Sufism is perceived as a peaceful and apolitical form of Islam.<ref name=Geaves>{{cite book|first1=Ron|last1=Geaves |first2=Theodore|last2=Gabriel|first3=Yvonne|last3=Haddad|first4=Jane Idleman|last4=Smith|title=Islam and the West Post 9/11 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing|page=67}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Corbett |first1=Rosemary R. |title=Making Moderate Islam: Sufism, Service, and the "Ground Zero Mosque" Controversy |publisher=Stanford University Press |date=2016 |isbn=9780804791281 |url=http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=23704 |access-date=2 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029043841/http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=23704 |archive-date=29 October 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Seyyed Hossein Nasr states that the preceding theories are false according to the point of view of Sufism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nasr|first1=Seyyed Hossein Nasr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgVtq3kNCrYC&q=origins+of+tasawwuf&pg=PA192|title=An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines|date=1 January 1993|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9780791415153|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> [[File:Nasreddin.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|A 17th-century miniature of Nasreddin, a Seljuk satirical figure, currently in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library]]

The Islamic Institute in Mannheim, Germany, which works towards the integration of Europe and Muslims, sees Sufism as particularly suited for interreligious dialogue and intercultural harmonisation in democratic and pluralist societies; it has described Sufism as a symbol of tolerance and humanism—nondogmatic, flexible and non-violent.<ref>Jamal Malik, John R. Hinnells: ''Sufism in the West'', Routledge, p. 25</ref> According to Philip Jenkins, a professor at Baylor University, "the Sufis are much more than tactical allies for the West: they are, potentially, the greatest hope for pluralism and democracy within Muslim nations." Likewise, several governments and organisations have advocated the promotion of Sufism as a means of combating intolerant and violent strains of Islam.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Philip|last1=Jenkins|author-link1=Philip Jenkins|title=Mystical power|url=https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/25/mystical_power/?page=full|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=26 June 2014|date=25 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708011457/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/25/mystical_power/?page=full|archive-date=8 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, the Chinese and Russian<ref>{{cite news|first1=Tom|last1=Parfitt|title=The battle for the soul of Chechnya|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/22/chechnya.tomparfitt|access-date=26 June 2014|agency=Guardian News and Media Limited|date=23 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914003527/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/22/chechnya.tomparfitt|archive-date=14 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> governments openly favour Sufism as the best means of protecting against Islamist subversion. The British government, especially following the 7 July 2005 London bombings, has favoured Sufi groups in its battle against Muslim extremist currents. The influential RAND Corporation, an American think-tank, issued a major report titled "Building Moderate Muslim Networks", which urged the US government to form links with and bolster<ref>{{cite news|title=Sufism: Of saints and sinners|url=https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2008/12/18/of-saints-and-sinners|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=26 June 2014|date=18 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516212549/http://www.economist.com/node/12792544|archive-date=16 May 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Muslim groups that opposed Islamist extremism. The report stressed the Sufi role as moderate traditionalists open to change, and thus as allies against violence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Muslim Networks and Movement in Western Europe|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/15/muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-sufi-orders/|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=26 June 2014|location=Government Promotion of Sufism|date=15 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623113335/http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/15/muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-sufi-orders/|archive-date=23 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Angel|last1=Rabasa|first2=Cheryl|last2=Benard|first3=Lowell H.|last3=Schwartz|first4=Peter|last4=Sickle|title=Building Moderate Muslim Networks|url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG574.pdf|website=RAND Corporation|access-date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531114438/http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG574.pdf|archive-date=31 May 2014|url-status=live|year=2007}}</ref> News organisations such as the BBC, Economist and Boston Globe have also seen Sufism as a means to deal with violent Muslim extremists.<ref>{{cite news|first1=ALI|last1=ETERAZ|title=State-Sponsored Sufism|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/09/state_sponsored_sufism|access-date=26 June 2014|agency=FP|date=10 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914003445/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/09/state_sponsored_sufism|archive-date=14 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Idries Shah states that Sufism is universal in nature, its roots predating the rise of Islam and Christianity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Munn|first=Richard C.|date=January–March 1969|title=Reviewed work(s): The Sufis by Idries Shah |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |publisher=American Oriental Society|volume=89|issue=1|pages=279–281 |doi=10.2307/598339 |jstor=598339}}</ref> He quotes Suhrawardi as saying that "this (Sufism) was a form of wisdom known to and practiced by a succession of sages including the mysterious ancient Hermes of Egypt.", and that Ibn al-Farid "stresses that Sufism lies behind and before systematization; that 'our wine existed before what you call the grape and the vine' (the school and the system)..."{{sfn|Shah|1970|p=28-29}} Shah's views have however been rejected by modern scholars.<ref name="britannica"/> Such modern trends of neo-Sufis in Western countries allow non-Muslims to receive "instructions on following the Sufi path", not without opposition by Muslims who consider such instruction outside the sphere of Islam.{{sfn|Shah|1964–2014}}

===Similarities with Eastern religions=== {{See also|Hindu-Islamic relations#Sufism}} Numerous comparisons have been made between Sufism and the mystic components of some Eastern religions.

The tenth-century Persian polymath Al-Biruni in his book ''Tahaqeeq Ma Lilhind Min Makulat Makulat Fi Aliaqbal Am Marzula'' (Critical Study of Indian Speech: Rationally Acceptable or Rejected) discusses the similarity of some Sufism concepts with aspects of Hinduism, such as: Atma with ruh, tanasukh with reincarnation, Mokhsha with Fanafillah, Ittihad with Nirvana: union between Paramatma in Jivatma, Avatar or Incarnation with Hulul, Vedanta with Wahdatul Ujud, Mujahadah with Sadhana.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

Other scholars have likewise compared the Sufi concept of Waḥdat al-Wujūd to Advaita Vedanta,<ref>Malika Mohammada ''The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India'' Aakar Books 2007 {{ISBN|978-8-189-83318-3}} page 141</ref> Fanaa to Samadhi,<ref>''The Jamaat Tableegh and the Deobandis'' by Sajid Abdul Kayum, Chapter 1: Overview and Background.</ref> Muraqaba to Dhyana, and tariqa to the Noble Eightfold Path.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mohammada |first1=Malika |title=The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India |date=2007 |publisher=Aakar Books |isbn=978-81-89833-18-3 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwzbYvQszf4C&pg=PA90 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref>

The ninth-century Iranian mystic Bayazid Bostami is alleged to have imported certain concepts from Hindusim into his version of Sufism under the conceptual umbrella of baqaa, meaning perfection.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Siddiqui | first1=Ataullah | last2=Waugh | first2=Earle H. | title=American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 16: 3 | publisher=International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) | page=12 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vnY5DwAAQBAJ&dq=baqa+nirvana&pg=PA12 | access-date=27 December 2021 | language=en}}</ref> Ibn al-Arabi and Mansur al-Hallaj both referred to Muhammad as having attained perfection and titled him as ''Al-Insān al-Kāmil''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laliwala |first1=J. I. |title=Islamic Philosophy of Religion: Synthesis of Science Religion and Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-476-2 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2Wz4HEoOgYC&dq=insan+i+kamil+baqa&pg=PA81 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chamankhah |first1=Leila |title=The Conceptualization of Guardianship in Iranian Intellectual History (1800–1989): Reading Ibn ʿArabī's Theory of Wilāya in the Shīʿa World |date=3 September 2019 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-22692-3 |page=253 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GGtDwAAQBAJ&dq=insan+i+kamil+baqa&pg=PA253 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Madzillah-ul-Aqdus |first1=Sultan ul Ashiqeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman |title=Sultan-Bahoo-The Life and Teachings |date=11 March 2015 |publisher=Sultan ul Faqr Publications |isbn=978-969-9795-18-3 |page=49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlyMAwAAQBAJ&dq=insan+i+kamil+baqa&pg=PA299 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bahoo |first1=Sultan ul Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan |title=Risala Roohi Sharif (The Divine Soul): English Translation and Exegesis with Persian Text |date=2015 |publisher=Sultan ul Faqr Publications |isbn=978-969-9795-28-2 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeZGCwAAQBAJ&dq=insan+i+kamil+baqa+muhammad&pg=PA58 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=Clinton |title=In Search of Muhammad |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-304-70401-9 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADytAwAAQBAJ&dq=insan+i+kamil+baqa+muhammad&pg=PA190}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=Clinton |title=In Search of Muhammad |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-304-70401-9 |page=190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADytAwAAQBAJ&dq=insan+i+kamil+baqa+muhammad&pg=PA190 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref> Inayat Khan believed that the God worshipped by Sufis is not specific to any particular religion or creed, but is the same God worshipped by people of all beliefs. This God is not limited by any name, whether it be Allah, God, Gott, Dieu, Khuda, Brahma, or Bhagwan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nicholls |first1=Ruth J. |last2=Riddell |first2=Peter G. |title=Insights into Sufism: Voices from the Heart |date=31 July 2020 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-5748-2 |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdz0DwAAQBAJ&dq=avatar+sufism&pg=PA181 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref>

Buddhist stories also circulated in Sufi circles. One of them being a story about blind men trying to describe an elephant.<ref>Elverskog, Johan. ''Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhkkx</nowiki>. Accessed 23 August 2025. p. 73.</ref>

===Influence on Judaism=== {{Original research section|date=July 2017}} {{see also|Jewish philosophy}} There is evidence that Sufism influenced the development of some schools of Jewish philosophy and ethics. In the first writing of this kind, we see ''Kitab al-Hidayah ila Fara'iḍ al-Ḳulub'', ''Duties of the Heart'', of Bahya ibn Paquda. This book was translated by Judah ibn Tibbon into Hebrew under the title ''Chovot HaLevavot''.<ref>''A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya ibn Paquda's Duties of the Heart'', Diana Lobel</ref>{{blockquote|The precepts prescribed by the Torah number 613 only; those dictated by the intellect are innumerable.|author=|title=|source=Kremer, Alfred Von. 1868. "Notice sur Sha‘rani". ''Journal Asiatique'' 11 (6): 258.}}

In the ethical writings of the Sufis Al-Kusajri and Al-Harawi there are sections which treat of the same subjects as those treated in the ''Chovot ha-Lebabot'' and which bear the same titles: e.g., "Bab al-Tawakkul"; "Bab al-Taubah"; "Bab al-Muḥasabah"; "Bab al-Tawaḍu'"; "Bab al-Zuhd". In the ninth gate, Baḥya directly quotes sayings of the Sufis, whom he calls ''Perushim''. However, the author of the ''Chovot HaLevavot'' did not go so far as to approve of the asceticism of the Sufis, although he showed a marked predilection for their ethical principles.

Abraham Maimonides, the son of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, believed that Sufi practices and doctrines continue the tradition of the biblical prophets.<ref>See Sefer Hammaspiq, "Happerishuth", Chapter 11 ("Ha-mmaʿaḇāq") s.v. hithbonen efo be-masoreth mufla'a zo, citing the Talmudic explanation of Jeremiah 13:27 in Chagigah 5b; in Rabbi Yaakov Wincelberg's translation, ''The Way of Serving God'' (Feldheim), p. 429 and above, p. 427. Also see ibid., Chapter 10 ("Iqquḇim"), s.v. wa-halo yoḏeʾaʿ atta; in ''The Way of Serving God'', p. 371.</ref>

Abraham Maimonides' principal work was originally composed in Judeo-Arabic and entitled "כתאב כפאיה אלעאבדין" ''Kitāb Kifāyah al-'Ābidīn'' (''A Comprehensive Guide for the Servants of God''). From the extant surviving portion it is conjectured that the treatise was three times as long as his father's ''Guide for the Perplexed''. In the book, he evidences a great appreciation for, and affinity to, Sufism. Followers of his path continued to foster a Jewish-Sufi form of pietism for at least a century, and he is rightly considered the founder of this pietistic school, which was centered in Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Maimonides, Abraham |website=Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/maimonides-abraham|access-date=18 April 2021}}</ref>

The followers of this path, which they called ''Hasidism'' (not to be confused with the [later] Jewish Hasidic movement) or Sufism (''Tasawwuf''), practiced spiritual retreats, solitude, fasting and sleep deprivation. The Jewish Sufis maintained their own brotherhood, guided by a religious leader like a Sufi sheikh.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://bcrfj.revues.org/index2312.html |title=Jewish pietism of the Sufi type |first=Mireille |last=Loubet |journal=Bulletin du Centre de Recherche Français À Jérusalem |date=15 October 2000 |issue=7 |pages=87–91 |access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>

''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', in its entry on Sufism, states that the revival of Jewish mysticism in Muslim countries is probably due to the spread of Sufism in the same geographical areas. The entry details many parallels to Sufic concepts found in the writings of prominent Kabbalists during the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |date=1906 |volume=11 |pages=579–581 |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/}}</ref>{{sfn|Shah|1970|p=14-15}}

==Culture==

=== Literature === [[File:Maulana Jelaledin Muhammad Rumi in konya.jpg|thumb|Tomb shrine of Rumi, Konya, Turkey]]

The 13th century Persian poet Rumi is considered one of the most influential figures of Sufism, as well as one of the greatest poets of all time. He has become one of the most widely read poets in the United States, thanks largely to the interpretative translations published by Coleman Barks.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Curiel|first1=Jonathan|title=Islamic verses / The influence of Muslim literature in the United States has grown stronger since the Sept. 11 attacks|url=http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Islamic-verses-The-influence-of-Muslim-2732710.php|website=SFGate|date=6 February 2005}}</ref> Elif Şafak's novel ''The Forty Rules of Love'' is a fictionalized account of Rumi's encounter with the Persian dervish Shams Tabrizi.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/01/forty-rules-love-elif-shafak-review|title=The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak – review|date=1 July 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=5 May 2017|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Muhammad Iqbal, one of the greatest Urdu poets, has discussed Sufism, philosophy and Islam in his English work ''The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The reconstruction of religious thought in Islam|last=Muhammad|first=Iqbal|date=1990 |publisher=Kitab Bhavan|isbn=978-8171510818|edition=4th|location=New Delhi|oclc=70825403}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=September 2023}}

=== Sama === Sama is regarded as an important element in different Sufi orders. In South Asia, it is affiliated mostly with Chishti Order. It develops into a distinct art form, especially during the reign of Khwaja Amir Khusrau and his contemporary Sufi masters, such as Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya and others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dehlvi |first=Ghulam Rasool |date=28 April 2024 |title=Amir Khusro & Chishti Sufi Tradition of Sima'a |url=http://www.shattariyah.blogspot.com/p/amir-khusro-chishti-sufi-tradition-of.html |access-date=29 April 2024 |website=Qadri Shattari}}</ref> Spiritual experiences were desired by Sufis through Sama, listening to poetry or Islamic mystical verses with the use of different musical instruments, aiming to attain ecstasy in divine love of God and Muhammad.<ref>Ghani, Kashshaf (29 November 2023). Sufi Rituals and Practices: Experiences from South Asia, 1200-1450. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-288923-2.</ref>

===Visual art=== {{Main|Islamic art}}

Many painters and visual artists have explored the Sufi motif through various disciplines. One of the outstanding pieces in the Brooklyn Museum's Islamic gallery has been the museum's associate curator of Islamic art, is a large 19th- or early-20th-century portrayal of the Battle of Karbala painted by Abbas Al-Musavi,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3054 |title=Battle of Karbala |author= |date=2020 |publisher=Brooklyn Museum |access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref> which was a violent episode in the disagreement between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam; during this battle, Husayn ibn Ali, a pious grandson of Muhammad, died and is considered a martyr in Islam.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cotter|first=Holland|date=11 June 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/arts/design/12sufi.html|title=The Many Voices of Enlightenment|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 January 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In July 2016, at International Sufi Festival held in Noida Film City, UP, India, H.E. Abdul Basit who was the High Commissioner of Pakistan to India at that time, while inaugurating the exhibition of Farkhananda Khan ‘Fida’ said, "There is no barrier of words or explanation about the paintings or rather there is a soothing message of brotherhood, peace in Sufism".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mstv.co.in/2016/07/05/exhibition-of-paintings-by-farkhananda-khan-at-sufi-festival/|title=Exhibition of Paintings by Farkhananda Khan at Sufi Festival|date=5 July 2016|website=mstv.co.in|access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref>

== Scientific research == A systematic review published in 2023 examined the relationship between Islamic-Sufi spirituality and mental health outcomes, revealing a positive connection between Sufi spirituality and reductions in anxiety and depression among patients.<ref>Cetinkaya, Merve, and Jo Billings. 2023. "Systematic Review of the Relationship between Islamic-Sufi Spirituality and Practice and Mental Well-Being". ''Mental Health, Religion & Culture'' 26 (10): 1065–80. doi:10.1080/13674676.2023.2256265.</ref>

A study on political Sufism in contemporary Kazakhstan examined patterns of religious continuity and the role of Sufi networks in political mobilization.<ref>Karimov, Nodar et al. "Revitalizing faith: an inquiry into political Sufism and religious continuity in contemporary Kazakhstan". ''Frontiers in sociology'' vol. 9 1447966. 20 November 2024, doi:10.3389/fsoc.2024.1447966</ref>

An overview of Sufi studies at American universities indicated that Sufism has become a significant area of scholarly inquiry, with dedicated programs and research centres focusing on its various aspects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hermansen |first=Marcia |date=18 May 2021 |title=The Academic Study of Sufism at American Universities |url=https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/download/423/2164 |journal=Loyola University Chicago |via=ajis}}</ref>

Recent bibliometric analyses have also mapped the intellectual structure and global trends in Sufi studies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Çakmaktaş |first1=Büşra |last2=Özçelik |first2=Abdullah |title=Understanding Global Trends and Key Influences in Sufi Studies: A Comprehensive Analysis |journal=SAGE Open |date=2025 |volume=15 |issue=3 |article-number=21582440251357164 |doi=10.1177/21582440251357164|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist|group=note}}

===Citations=== {{reflist}}

===Further reading=== {{refbegin|30em}} * {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Matthew |title=Feeling Like Lovers: Affect in Medieval Sufism |year=2026 |publisher=University of California Press |doi=10.1525/luminos.265 |isbn=978-0-520-42635-1 |url=https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.265}} * {{cite book |last=Field |first=Claud |title=Mystics and Saints of Islam |year=1910 |publisher=Francis Griffiths |url=https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/24314}} * {{cite journal|last1=Babou|first1=Cheikh Anta|title=Sufism and Religious Brotherhoods in Senegal|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies|date=2007|volume=40|issue=1|page=184}} * {{cite book|last=Chittick|first=William|author-link=William Chittick|title=Sufism: A Beginner's Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LI0kjBlXS5UC|year=2007|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1-78074-052-2}} * {{cite book|last=Chodkiewicz|first=Michel|author-link=Michel Chodkiewicz|title=The Spiritual Writings of Amir ʿAbd al-Kader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AisToMtog14C|year=1995|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2446-9}} * {{cite book|last=Chopra|first=R.M.|title=SUFISM (Origin, Growth, Eclipse, Resurgence)|date=2016|publisher=Anuradha Prakashan|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-93-85083-52-5}} * {{cite book|last=Ernst|first=Carl W.|chapter=Muḥammad as the Pole of Existence|pages=123–138|editor-first=Jonathan E.|editor-last=Brockopp|title=The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139828383}} * {{cite book|last1=Fitzpatrick|first1=Coeli|last2=Walker|first2=Hani|year=2014|title=Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AtvBAAAQBAJ|publisher=ABC-Clio|isbn=978-1-61069-177-2}} * {{cite book|last=Gamard|first=Ibrahim|title=Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses, Annotated & Explained|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-17EZOGivqMC|year=2004|publisher=SkyLight Paths Publishing|isbn=978-1-59473-002-3}} * {{cite book|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|title=The New Encyclopedia of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7tu12gt4JYC|year=2008|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-6296-7}} * {{cite book|last=Guénon|first=René|author-link=René Guénon|title=Insights Into Islamic Esoterism and Taoism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2MicNN1KiUC|year=2001|publisher=Sophia Perennis|isbn=978-0-900588-43-3}} * {{cite book|last1=Mbacké|first1=Khadim|last2=Hunwick|first2=John O.|title=Sufism and Religious Brotherhoods in Senegal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUrOn6papygC|year=2005|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-342-5}} * {{cite journal |last=Rahimi |first=Sadeq |date=September 2007 |title=Intimate Exteriority: Sufi Space as Sanctuary for Injured Subjectivities in Turkey |journal=Journal of Religion and Health |publisher=Springer |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=409–421 |doi=10.1007/s10943-006-9073-2 |jstor=27513026|s2cid=26296782 }} * {{cite book|last=Schimmel|first=Annemarie|author-link=Annemarie Schimmel|title=Mystical Dimension of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V59xBAAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Noura Books|isbn=978-979-433-797-4}} * {{cite magazine |last=Schmidle |first=Nicholas |date=December 2008 |title=Pakistan's Sufis Preach Faith and Ecstasy |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Faith-and-Ecstasy.html |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122031623/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Faith-and-Ecstasy.html |archive-date=22 January 2009 }} * {{cite book|last=Sells|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Sells|title=Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qurʼan, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrU54SYQSyoC|year=1996|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-3619-3}} * {{cite book|last=Shah|first=Idries|year=2015|title=The Sufis|publisher=ISF Publishing|isbn=978-1784790035|author-link=Idries Shah}} * {{cite book|last=Shah|first=Idries|year=1970|title=The Way of the Sufi|publisher=E.P. Dutton}} * {{cite book|last=Zarrabi-Zadeh|first=Saeed|date=2016|url=https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138100121|title=Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity: A Comparative Study of Jalal al-Din Rumi and Meister Eckhart|publisher=Routledge|series=Routledge Sufi Series|isbn=978-1-13-810012-1}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Wiktionary|Sufi}}  {{Commons category|Sufism}} {{Wikiquote}} {{Wikibooks|Sufism}}

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