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Mysteries of the Sufi path – The Sufi Community in Jordan and Its Zawiyas, Hadras and Orders by Dr. Mohammed Abu Rumman

MYSTERIES OF THE SUFI PATH – THE SUFI COMMUNITY IN JORDAN AND ITS ZAWIYAS, HADRAS AND ORDERS

Book introduction

Writing about Sufism differs from writing about other Islamic movements or schools. Sufism has unique intellectual and cultural sources and a totally different language. And although everyone drinks from the same well –Islam itself– the particular character of Sufism stems from differences in its fields of interest, objectives, and course.

Sufism has branched into multifarious orders and approaches, and it has an expansive and diverse heritage.

This heritage encompasses everything from specialized books on Sufism written by scholars of the discipline and specialized academic books on shari‘a and Qur’anic interpretation from a Sufi perspective, to books about Sufi poetry, orders, history, and schools.

Despite all that, there are general principles and concepts, and common ground on which all Sufis stand, even if only theoretically.

Therefore, before diving into this book’s subject matter on the schools and characteristics of Sufism in Jordan, we must set down an intensive but concise introduction that deals with some key, funda- mental issues around the concept, approach, and nature of Sufism.

This introduction is fairly “theoretical” from a philosophical, historical, and conceptual point of view. It will help us examine and evaluate Jordanian Sufism and compare it with theoretical approaches and schools, while postponing a discussion of Sufi orders and their scope in Jordan.

Sufism

There is no specific, conclusive meaning for the term “Sufism.” Ignoring the general definition and etymology, which are old contro- versies, the meaning and scope of Sufism are also many and multifarious, given the discipline’s particular nature.

Thus, some scholars of Sufism give dozens of definitions, while some Sufi scholars view Sufism as having more than a thousand meanings.

Why this multiplicity of definitions for Sufism?

The answer to this question may itself be a golden key for gaining entry to the con- cept of Sufism, because it originates in the multiplicity and diversity of sources of knowledge, and the way they intermingle Qur’anic texts and traditions concerning the Prophet (as cited by the Companions, Successors, and righteous believers) with the subjective, experiential knowledge of each individual who has entered on the path of Sufism and lived it.

Such a person has passed through spiritual and emotion- al states that make the experience a specifically personal one, and so he or she would present a personal definition of Sufism linked to that subjective spiritual experience. Thus, in most books on Sufism, we find definitions linked to prominent scholars.

They say: the definition according to Abu Al-Qasim Al-Junayd, or Al-Muhasibi, or Al-Tirmidhi, or SariAl-Saqati, or Al-Ghazali, or Dhul-Nun Al-Misri, or Al-Bistami … and so on.

You may find that most of these well-known Sufis, and others, have more than one definition of Sufism because the definitions are linked to an individual’s subjective, interior experience and condition, which lead him or her to a particular, experiential meaning of Sufism.4

In the context of this multiplicity and diversity of delineations and definitions, the key to understanding Sufism is based on “relationship with God.”

Most scholars and Sufis rely on the premise that the foundation of Sufism is captured in the term Ihsan (“perfection,” spiritual beauty), which appears in the well-known hadith in which Gabriel asks the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), “What is ihsan?” Muhammad answered,

“To worship God as if you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you.”5But how do you worship God as if you see Him? This is where the path of Sufism begins, by working on “reform of the heart.”

The heart is the vessel of faith and knowledge of God, and the purer it is, the further from material things, the more it aspires to reach the divine light, the further one will be able to travel along the path of Sufism, ascending toward God.

Sufis’ principal and original concern, then, is for the human heart. The hadith states: “Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the whole body is sound; and if corrupted the whole body is corrupted. It is the heart.”7

So, how can the heart be reformed? The answer is through “spiritual struggle,” by curtailing the human heart’s concern with this world, and by thinking about and meditating on God through worship, behaviors, and actions that bring one closer to God.

This includes “remembrance of God” (dhikr), a spiritual exercise of the heart that occupies significant space on the Sufi path.

The more the heart is cleansed and purified of worldly ties, the high- er it ascends, granted understanding and subjective knowledge of God.8

We see that Abu Al-Qasim Al-Junayd (or, as Sufis call him, the “imam of the sect,” i.e. Sufism) says: “The one who is with God is without relationships” or “The one who sits with God is without con- cerns,” and Sufism is “the surrender of the self to God Most High to do as He wants” and is also “that the Truth (God) causes you to die from your self and revives you in It,” and so on.9

On the whole, Sufi scholars are unanimous in considering it a “path” along which travelers advance until they reach their destination and their aim, which is God.

 A “great war” erupts on the path to God for every human being.

It is not a war of arms or materiel but of jihad Al-nafs, the struggle against the self or lower soul (nafs).

This fight goes longer than a round or two, and it has no set duration, no beginning or end. This war lives with humanity, and indeed within every Muslim human being who fights and struggles to be on the “path of truth” and not the path of Satan.

 The Muslim’s heart lives by drawing toward purity, love of God, faith, and conviction, which helps him to correct behaviors and outward actions through inner righteousness.