As one hears the word “Sufism“ or “Sufi' in today’s times, two things come to his/her mind. One is that it relates to an individual phenomenon and society gains very little from it. And second, it is based on principles not incorporated by the fundamental teachings of Islam. That Sufism is something superfluous to the message of Islam. And that it was invented after the HOLY PROPHET (PBUH) and His noble companions left this world. These misconceptions about Sufism are much more prominent in younger generations than the elder and older ones. In this article, I will try to demonstrate as to why the views mentioned above about Sufism and Sufis are not right but are based on false propaganda run by so-called religious scholars who in no way are helping in spreading the message of peace and love of Islam.
To begin with, let us analyze the word “Sufism “ first. “Sufism “ comes from the word “Suuf' or “Suffah'. “Suuf' in Arabic means “wool' and “Suffah' means “something pure, devoid of any kind of impurities “ or it has some resemblance with the “orderly grouping of people in rows focused and dedicated to one common goal “. The literal meaning of Sufism gives us some kind of indication that it deals with purification, worship, love, peace, and harmony.
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If someone asks to define Sufism in a brief sentence giving us the gist of its concept, it can be described as:
“The spiritual phenomenon or exercise which focuses on the purification and enlightenment of heart and soul of a human being and fills them with the love of Almighty and His all creations'.
So, a Sufi promotes love and peace, not hate and terror. When a person has peace in his heart, he radiates peace to the surrounding beings as well. He never breaks the heart of anyone as his Beloved (Almighty) dislikes it. He is dedicated to every job that pleases his Beloved and he denounces any such act that does not make his Beloved happy. When his heart becomes such that it is devoid of anyone’s grudges, jealousy, hate, greed, pride, ego, and selfishness, the Almighty fills his heart with light, and secrets are revealed to him. Now, as we have got to know about the core of Sufism, we are in a position to reject with reason the false perceptions about Sufism, mentioned in the beginning. The first perception rather conception was that Sufism does not help an individual bring some positive and humane changes in society. As I stated earlier, a follower of Sufism loves all the creations of the Almighty, even objects (devoid of life), he cannot harm society in any way. He rather sacrifices his own wishes and demands for the sake of Allah (SWT) and in the better interest of the people around him. Even if someone threatens him with violence, he stands calm and contained and has no ill feelings towards him. A Sufi shows love and support to his neighbors and relatives. He gives them the best advice and he stands firm in his belief. He always tends to work for the betterment of people around him whether he has direct or indirect relations with them or not. His inner self is enlightened and he enlightens everyone who engages with him. He spreads peace and love everywhere he goes. So, society benefits in every way when there are people who are selfless and have no prejudices. Imagine the impact, the people connected with this message of love can bring about in this current world of greed and cruelty. No one will die of hunger as there is someone to share a meal with him. No weak will be suppressed by the powerful as there is someone to stand by him. No one could promote hate in the name of religion, as there is someone preaching the message of love in the name of religion. No one will be able to divide people having different perspectives of life, as there is someone holding people together by making them understand that “humanity comes first”. Therefore, there is a reasonable argument in favor of Sufism that it not only adds good to society but also removes many menaces that affect people physically and spiritually.
The second propaganda that revolves around Sufism (mentioned in the beginning) is that it is an invention made in contrast to the HOLY teachings of the Qur’an and HOLY teachings of BELOVED PROPHET (PBUH). This misconception can only be embedded in people’s minds by people who have no hold on the Quranic principles and teachings of HOLY PROPHET (PBUH). Sufism was born in the times of HOLY PROPHET (PBUH) and He (PBUH) Himself prepared a group of companions who were specialists in the field of Spirituality and who became the earliest Sufis. So, HOLY PROPHET (PBUH) is the founder and Source of light on Sufism. This group of companions is called “As'haab-e-Suffah'. So, the word Sufism derives from the name of a group of companions of HOLY PROPHET (PBUH). One question that may strike the mind is why only a few companions were taught “Sufism “ or Spirituality while it was the need of every companion of HOLY PROPHET (pbuh). The answer is simple and reasonable. HOLY PROPHET (pbuh) did not only make a group of these companions dealing with spirituality. But He(pbuh) prepared several other groups as well. For example, some companions were made specialists in the field of analysis of Qur’anic teachings (Mufassirs), some were made in the field of jurisprudence (the Islamic low or Fiqq), some were made in reciting the Qur’an with proper knowledge of rules of recitation (Hafiz), some were made in the field of defense strategies & many more such groups were prepared. Likewise, there had to be a group of companions who became specialists in spirituality. But all other companions were not totally ignorant of spiritual teachings. Every one of them practiced Sufism at his own place but everyone was not the specialist.
The base of Sufism which HOLY PROPHET (PBUH) laid down in His time, became a total institution thereafter. The companions followed Sufism and preached it to their followers and they transferred it to their followers and so on till now. It has reached us through a chain at the inception of which stands the HOLY Source of BELOVED PROPHET (PBUH). So, those saying that Sufism has nothing to do with Islam should open their eyes and deeply study the Islamic teachings. The misconceptions that people have about Sufism are not only credited to these people but a bunch of other people too who unfortunately call themselves the “Sufis'. These are fake and self-proclaimed “Sufis' instead. Sufism was the merger of physical and spiritual ways of life but these fake “Sufis “, for their comfort and to make money, bisected the two ways. They never practiced Islam physically (for example did not offer regular prayers) but wanted to be called Sufis just to please themselves and not the Almighty. Sufis are selfless but these fake ones concentrate everything on their own self. They damaged the core philosophy of Islam and made people part ways from Sufism, the message of selflessness.
At the end, I would like to state something pertaining to the title of this article. The title “The Only Ray of Hope “ has been justified so far. Why have I called “Sufism “, the only Ray of Hope? The answer is that if at all we want to project Islam as the religion of peace, harmony, and love and as a religion that defies terror and protects the rights of humans of every breed, race, caste, creed, or color, we have to go back to the principles of Sufism. Our ancestors practiced Sufism in their lives and wanted us to follow the same path but somehow we younger people got distracted from this path of love, harmony, and peace. There is a greater need for us to promote a positive image of Islam which is only possible through the light of Sufism- which combines the two seas of Shari'ah (orders of Quran and Hadith) and purification of spirits.
That’s all I think I would have liked to say in answering some important questions regarding Sufism and delivering a message that many of us could pay heed to.
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