Chapter 15 — Web Material Sufism and Islamic Tradition Five Pillars of Isla ‘There are five pillars of Islam: beating witness, daily prayer, fasting. chetity, and pilgrimage toMecea, Bearing Witness, or the Confession of Faith. Entrance into Islam begins with the recitation of these basic tenets of Ilamic faith: “I bear witness thet there is no god but God’ andl bear witness that Muhammad is servant and a messenger of God” It is to acknowledge verbally that one accepts the realty of God and Muhammad as God's Messenger. Beating witness to something requites us to be auvake, conscious. To realize the truth of the essestion, “There is no god but God” is to know firsthend the unity of God. Thisis, in one sense, not the begnning oflstam but the pinnacle of the Islamic mystical path. Daily Prayer. Five times a day the call to prayer is sounded. Prayer times are at dawn, noon, midafternoon, dusk, and night. The prayers deliberately interrupt the community's daily activities, to zeorient its members to their ‘moral end religious concerns. ‘The times of prayer are visible manifestations of the doctrine that all are equal in the eyes of God, sarespective of class, social, and economic distinctions. All Muslims who come to the mosque pray together without regard to wealth or status. A king may pray beside a beggar. ‘Ton ‘Arabi (1165-1240), known as the greatest of Sufi teachers, hes wuitten about prayer Do everything you doin order to came close to your Lordin your warship and ‘prayers. Think that each deed may be your lest act, each prayer you last prostration, thet youmey not have another chance. (Ibn ‘Arabi, 1992, p. 8) Prayer isa time to be in God's presence, a priceless opportunity for thse who realize the potential of sincere prayer. Fasting. Each yeas, all Muslims who ere able fast from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan. Individuals ‘ue supposed to abstain from eating, dinking and making love, and from impure thoughts and harmful deeds, during this time. It is e difficult practice, intended to help the individual remain aware of the conflicting forces between the lower and the higher natures AL-Gheazali (19868) describes the outer and inner levels of festing as follows: ‘The fasting of the general public involves refreining from satisfying the appetite of the stomach and the appetite ofthe sex, as has already been discussed. ‘The fasting of the select few is to keep the ears, the eyes, the tongue, the hands, and the feet as well as the other senses free from sin. ‘The fasting of the elite among the select few is the fast of the heatt from mean, thoughts end worldly worries and its complete unconcern with anything other then God and the last day, as well as by concesn over this world. (p. 20) Fasting strengthens the will and is considered a great aid in the struggle with our lower self, or nafs (see “Obstacles” section), Alms.‘At the end of the month of Ramadan, every household is required to give one-fostieth, or two and a half ‘percent, ofits eecumulated wealth to the poor. “If God hed wished he could make all crestion sich, but for ‘your tril he has created the poor that you might make gifts o them” (Al-Ghazzali, 1972, p. 16). All things axignate from God, end having goods and money is seen as custodianship, one retains the right to possessions by retuening some of them to the larger Muslim community from which they came. The root meaning of the Arabic word for elms, zekiat,! is “puxity”” People punify their wealth by giving avay @ share of it Pilgrimage ‘The Keabe inthe city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabi, isthe most holy shine in Isiam. All Mustims ae required to visit once an thar lifetime, provided they cen efford to do so, There is ast of rigorous observances to be followed atthe time of pulgim age, which occurs during a specified week each yes. This faa ritual has kept the ferent Muslin peoples ware of thes lustre bond The pagum age ss time in adult life when devotion tothe spaituel completly overshadows worldly interests For most of Islamic history, most pilgrims jouneyed to Mecca on foot or on horseback. It was a difficult and dangezous journey of severel months if not longer ‘The Keran ‘The Koren, or Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, was reveeled to Mubunm ad so thet humankind could know God's truth It contains essenttlly three levels of instruction. The frst is eset of doctsnes that describes xelity and humanity's special sole int. The second level is @ commentary on the opportunaties snd putflls that occur in ie, The tard level isa tengible menifestelion of evant, the words of the Koran ere the dzect words of God channeled through the messenger Munem ad ‘This ie the Book Initis guidance suxe, without doubt, ‘To those who fear [ae in awe of] God ‘Who believe in the Unseen, Ace steadfast in prayer, ‘And spend out of whet We Have provided for them. Koran, 2:2-3) ‘The Koren discusses seligious and secular matters. It includes laws of inheritance, rules for marriage and ivarce, and questions of property rights, as well as ethical and religious proscriptions The central ‘premise of islam is thet there can be no division of church and state, every act, every abject, every ‘elationshap is past of the divine nature. The posnbilty of realizing the divine natuse at every moment is interwoven info the daily practice of Islam. Itis what Mubamamad taught and how he lived. ‘Sufi Teaching and Ortho: Islam Intam is about outer, exoteric practice, whereas Sufism focuses on the inner effects of practice and subtle, esoteric truths One story, of en encounter between a Sufi teacher and a conventionally pious man, allustrates the difference (One day aman came to the teacher Bayeaid and said “Thhave fasted and prayed for thisty years and have found none of the spisitual joy of which you speak” “If you hed fasted and prayed for three huméved years, you would never find i,” answered the ee low is that?” asked the man ‘aux selfishness is acting as a veil between you and God.” ‘ll me the cure.” “Itis a cure you cannot carry out,” ssid Bayezid. Those around him pressed him to reveal it. After atime he spoke “Goto the nearest barbershop and have your heed shaved, stip youself of yow clothes except for aloincloth Take a nosebag full of waite, hang it around your neck. Go into the market placeand cry out-‘Anybody who gives me a slap on the neck shall have a walnut ' Then proceed to the ew courts and do the seme thing” “Tcan't do that,” said the man. “Suggest some other remedy” “This is the indispensable preliminary to a cure,” answered Bayezid, “But asl told you, you are incwable.” (Adapted from sl-Ghezzeli, 19644, pp. 128-130) ‘Women in Sufism and in Islam Itis often difficult to distinguish cultural, seigious, and paychological ideas concerning the special status of women, nevertheless, the attempt is necessary in examining the role of women in Sufi thought From the easly sise of Islam as a world religion, « succession of women have been regarded as saints in. Sufscxcles end within Orthodox Islam. From Rebia (a d. 717-801) tothe cwzent pesiod, these stints heve ‘been venerated and their work regarded with the seme esteem es that of their male countexparts Smith, 1977). An early Sufi teacher sede it clear that inthe spntual life thee coud be neither mele nor female (Giubistes in Smith, 1977). In contemporery Sufi teachings and groupings, women are present The couse of training is besed on the capacities of the individual, not onthe sex. laine Tweedke [1979] hes ‘waite « uid and detailed personal account of her own training and development atthe hands of « contemporary Sufi teacher) Essentially, the sise of Islam changed the status of women, affording them “Iegal protections in the area of ‘mariage, divorce and inheritance that axe considesed to mark a vast improvement over the situation of women in pre-Islamic society” Smith, 1980, p. 517). Despite their spiritual equality and their improved status through Islam, the position of women in most Indamic cultures is fer from equal. Asin Europe and the Americas, women have been denied equal access to education and propesty rights, as well as the freedom to travel and to better themselves. A growing literature in the West is sorting out the contradiction between the repressive attitudes sill cusrent in many ‘Muslim countries and the fact that, according to serious Islamic scholars, religious and spisitual doctrines donot support this repression Smith & Heddad, 1975) ‘Abu Hamid al-Ghazz: ‘The writings of Abu Hamid Muhammad Ibn Muhammed, known e¢ al-Gheazeli (1058-1111), are among the most widely zead Sufi teachings Because of his influence, many Islamic theologians finally accepted ‘Sufism within formal Islam. Called the Proof of Idam and the Restorer of Islam, he is one of the dominant figures in Islamic theology. Western authorities agree that al-Ghezzeli was among the few Musim thinkers who exercised profound effects on Inter Christian thought Hie work altered the public view of Sufism from thet of suspect, even heretical teaching, to a valued and ‘essential part of Islam. “The accepted position of Suliam, wherebyit is acknowledged by many Moslem hvines as the inner meaning of Islam, is a dizect result of Ghazzelt's work” Shah, 1964, p. 148), ‘AL-Gheazeli wes bom in the small town of Tus in Iran. His fether died when el-Ghazzeli was young, and hhe and his brother were raised by a Sufi who also provided for their easly education Al-Gheazeli was an excellent student, when he was old enough, he went to a lexger town to study theology and canon lew. He ‘was interested.n these areas, he Later wrote, because they were the most direct paths to posable fame and, wealth However, his studies offered him other, more personel lessons. For exemple, once when he was seturning to Tus, he was set upon by a band of thieves, who took all his belongings, including his lecture notes. Unable to bear the loss ofthe notes, he ran after the thieves, begging them to give him beck his ‘work, The leader asked him why pieces of paper should be soimpostant Al-Gheazeli replied thet there ‘was lesening in them. “I travelled for the sake of hearing them and writing them down and knowing the science in them” Gin MecDenald, 1999, p.76). The sobber laughed at al-Ghezzeli and told lam thet knowledge that can be stolen is not knowledge at all. He returned the notes, but al-Ghazzali took the incident a8 a message from God, he spent the next few years leeming and memorizing his scholesly notesAfter studying under a number of distinguished teachers, he was offered a position at the Nizamiya ‘Academy at Baghdad, the most important seat of Islamic leauning He gained an international reputation ‘asa teacher, and he also eamed the respect of politicians and religious leaders. By the age of 34, he had reached the pinnacle of the Islamic intellectual world (Qayyum, 1976). By age 39, he had waitten 70 ‘books. In the midst of his growing fame, however, al-Ghazzali became severely depressed; he lost confidence in hus teaching his taining end his owa capacities. Eventuslly, he grew to doubt even the experiences of his senses, Finelly, he suffered a pastel paralysis of his vocal cords, which prevented him from teaching The doctors who examined him could find no physicel cause for the symptoms. After two months he withdcew from the university and let it be known thet he was making « pilgimage to Mecca, Actually, he put all his ‘property in trust, left his femily, and became a wandering dervish He ad studied the systems of formel philosophy and theology, but they seemed no longer fruitful he had ead the Sufi mystics, but Inew he could not understand them. “I saw that in order to understand it (Sufism) thoroughly one must combine theory with practice” (19688, p. 46). ‘AL-Gheazeli found the principles of mysticism easy to leam but difficult to practice | acquited a thorough knowledge of their reseaxch, and Ieasned all that was possible to learn of theis methods by study and oral teaching It became cleat to me .. that Sufism consists in experience rather then in definitions end thet whet | was Incking belonged to this domain, not of instruction, but of .. initiation (1968a, pp. 47-48) During the next 10 years, el-Ghezzali wrote his most important work, The Revival of Religious Sciences (4972), which aligned Sufi experiences with Islamic beliefs and practices. He established a framework in ‘which pathological, normel, and mystical behaviors are linked in a single, unified field of human experience. He seinstated the elements of personel development end transpersonel experiences into an, Islam that was rapidly becoming sigd and estictive. In addition to various scattered works, he wrote @ ‘popular, abridged version of The Revival of Religious Sciences titled The Alchemy of Happiness (196-4) ‘which desesibes how one can overcome one’s lover neture and find happiness through correct knowledge of the self, God, this world, and the next world. ‘After 11 years of wandering he accepted, under pressure from the sultan, a tesching position at Naysabur ‘Several years later, he setwned to his birthplace and, in the company of his disciples, lived a deeply religous and mystical life until his death, at age 55. AL-Gheazali taught others to replace dogna with practice, piety with self-examination, and belief with @ ‘elentless examination of the cizcumstances of daily life. His books are still widely read throughout the ‘Middle Est. His ideas spread to the West, where they influenced Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Francis, of Assia She, 1964), Basic Concepts: Knowledge In The Book of Knowledge (1966), sl-Ghazzeli divides knowledge into two categories. detrimental and ‘useful, Detrimental knowledge cesteacts from or zetards the understanding of oneself Sufism has tuaditionslly viewed scholasly taining as antithetical to true understanding, and el-Ghazzali's own legal and scholarly background made him especielly senutive to its mits. According to him, three forms of scholarship restrict our ability to learn Logic is Limited, especially n evaluating spinitual questions, ‘because it does not generally allow the inclusion of navel or seemingly contradictory inform ation. Philosophy does not consider realistic situations and is self-limiting because it does not validate sts conclusions through actual experience. Academic knowledge is vain postusing, it is detrimental when it paredes itself ax the exclusive path to leaning. More! Relationships ALGheazali discussed two special situations the relationship of teachers to students and the relationship ‘between close companions‘The kernel of the human development called “Sufism” is the basic Inman unit: the members who meet together and casry on the studies prescribed for them by a contemporary teacher... This is ‘necessary to the realization which comes from being a Sufi. It may be called community, communion, meeting Foster, 1968, p. 14) ‘The great Sufi seint Shibli tested the sincerity of his students Shubli once entered e mystical state end was locked up as a madman, Many of those who had heard him teach went to vist hima ‘Iai esked “Who ee you?” “We ae some of those who love and follow you” Shibli began throwing stones et his vistors. They begen torun away, eying, “It is true, Shibli seally hes gone exezyi” ‘Then Shublt called out to them, “Dido'tI heer you sey that you loved me? You could not even ‘bear @ stone or two before running avvay. What beceme ofthat sincere lave you claimed you led for me? Did you love fly away with a couple of stones? If you had really loved me, you would hhave patiently enduved the litle bit of discomfort | caused you" (Adapted from traditional souwces) ‘Sufism is difficult to evaluate because it hes taken so many forms and adapted its teachings tomany ‘ifferent cultucel settings. Sufism hes been presented here as a theary of personality and a way to self- understanding rather than as a zeligous doctrine ‘Sufism is an ancient tradition; but it has not become so formal, so burdened with old ideas and practices, thet it hes lost ts selevance. It is sill responsive to new cultural demands and is still modifying its ‘methods and its message for a new generation of students who can be taught Sufism Shab, 1981), tis difficult to accept the emphasis on the need for a living, personal teaches. Wehave became accustomed to the idea that there is nothing we cannot do for owselves. Bookstores bulge with shelves of do-it-yousself literature on everything from cexpentry to beekeeping, Yoga to childbirth Whet Sufism suggests is that we must do the work ourselves, but a teacher can help us accomplish ous task. Its common exzor to think that because we are striving diligently, our efforts wall lead to some personel ‘benefit. No matter how herd we whip ow horses, no matter how vigoroudy we kick their sides, no matter hhow fast they go-if we are racing around a cixculer track, we will not advance beyond the point! at which we started, (One begins to appreciate the Sufi point of view by experiencing the distinctions between useless knowledge and useful knowledge as illustrated by the following stary- ‘Nasrudin sometimes took people for trips in his boet. One day a fussy pedagogue hited him to Feary him across a very wide siver ‘As soon as they were afloat the scholar asked whether it was going to be rough. “Don’t ask me nothing about i,” said Nasrudin lave younever studied gramme?” ‘No,” said the Mulla “In thet case, half your life hes been wasted” ‘The Mulla said nothing, Soon a terzible storm blew up. The Mulla’s crazy cockleshell was filling with water. He leaned aver towards his companion. “Have you ever lesrnt to swim?” ‘No,” suid the pedent “In that case, schoolmaster, ALL your life is lost, for we are sinking” (Shah, 19724, p. 18) ‘This story raises some questions: What have you leerned that is useful knowledge? What have you leaned thet is extraneous to your life? What have you leamed thet may, even now, be holding you beck? ‘Sufism proposes that the more we can sift out the true from the unimportant and the false, the closer we fre to being able to see the larger picture of humenity, of which ow personality is such a small pastthas been said thet in the West we are able to use only very litle ofthe Sufi teaching, It is all too new to ‘us, it contains too many ideas thet we immediately dismiss It is for this reason that, according to some teachers, they are laying the groundwork for later, more direct teaching experiences. One contemporary teacher hes explained the point this way. ‘There are different ways of “awakening” Man may be asleep, but he must wake in the sight way. One necessity is thet when he is awake, he will also have the means to profit by his wakefulness. It s the ‘preparation for this profiting as well as the preparation for waking which is ou current endeavor (Pendlebury, 1974, p. 74) ‘The Role of the Sufi Teacher ‘The Necessity ofa Guide. ‘Why is « guide necessary? Mohammed Shafi, « psychishist knowledgeable in Sufi tradition, suggests ‘The Sufis feel thet maturity cannot be achieved alone. They feel there is a need for guidance and ciscipline. The path is unknown, the night is dack and the roedis full of danger. Dangers include ‘preoccupation with selfishness, false visons, misinterpretetions of mystical states, arrest in development, Fixation in a particular state, appeal to various drugs to create false mystical experiences and not infrequently overwhelming sntiety and insanity (1968, p. 11) ‘A guide is someone who has explored his or her awn inner nstuse and is capable of leading others to explore their own inner spisitual depths. A tercher instructs from experience, as the following story points out Nasruddin, « Sufi teacher, was serving as a local judge. Awomen came to him with her son and complained that her son hed an uncontrollable sveet tooth She asked Nesruddin to tell the bay to stop esting sweets all the time. Nasruddin agreed and told her to come back in two weeks When they setumned, he seid simply, “Young man, sop eating sveetel It is no good for you” ‘The mother asked, “Why did youhave us wait for two weeks? Couldn't you have said this tomy son when we first came to you?” ‘Nasruddin replied, “No couldn't possibly have told that to your son two weeks ago. First, had to stop eating sweets! ‘This story only seems funny because we are used to learning fecte and talking about them without living ‘bywhet we have lesrned, One of the requirements of a teacher isto practice What he ar she teaches, Empty words help no one Duties of a Teacher. AL-Ghezzali (1966, pp. 145-152) describes eight duties of « teacher. Although the teaching techniques: ‘and personel styles of teachers vary widely ts is an excellent guide to understanding the complex role of the sheikh 1. “The first duty of the teacher is to be sympathetic to students end teat them as his own childeen” Generally, the group of dervishes who work with a teacher form en ihwan, or fellowship. Theix group islike a femily The dervishes are brothers and sisters and the sheikh is father and mother. In many Orders, any romantic or sexual involvement between sheikh and dervish is absolutely forbidden and is considered a form of incest ‘Much of the spisituel growth in Sufism is based on the love and compassion of the dervishes for ‘each other, their love for the teaches, and the teacher's love and understanding of each dervash. ‘Tremendous change is possible when the dervishes find thet their teacher is fully aveze of their faults and weaknesses end still loves and respects them. If this loving family stmosphere is not ‘Present, litle or nothing is accomplished. “The second duty of the teacher isto follow the example of the Law-giver: he should seek no remuneration for his services ...and accept neither seward nor thanks” This is related to the ancient tradition, found in both Judaism and Islam, that one does not take money for teaching God's scriptures or divine truth. Religious teaching is too important to mix with business considerations. 3. “[The teaches] should not withhold from the student any advice, or allow him to attempt work at any grade unless he is qualified for st” The teacher is openhanded with his ot her teaching At the same ‘ume, overambitious students need to be discouraged from taking on duties or practices that arebeyond their capacities To staxt a practice and then dip it because itis too difficult can be very disheartening and can seriously slow a student's progress. Too many students begin with unrealistically high goals and then become frustrated and dap out entisely 4. “The teacher, in dissuading the student from his evil ways, should do so by suggestion rather then, openly, and with sympathy rather than with odious upbraiding... Open dissuasion destroys the veil of ave, iwates defience, and encourages stubborness.” ‘A good teacher will often point out specific rules of religious or spisitual law without specifying just who needs to heer these rules at the moment. Hopefilly, cestan students will realize thet these sules pertain to them and will try and change, without ever having been singled out or embarassed. 5. “The person who is teaching « certain science should not belittle or disparage the value of other sciences before his students” A wise teacher will praise the strengths and advantages of other teachers end disciplines end will say nothing about their faults. Ideally the teacher will find something positive to say about everyone and every tracktion In this way, the teacher models patience and tolerance 6. “He should limit the student to whet the latter is able to understand and should not requise of him anything which his mind cannot grasp for fear that he would develop # feeling of dislike for the subject, and his mind would become confused” An older man came to a teecher one day and seid thet his doctors told him he had a texminal illness. He had not been particularly zeligious, but now he wanted to begin reading the Koran, and he wanted to know where to stert The teacher seid, “Don't art reading the Koran now. Began with Rumi's Mathnewi, which is really en extended commentary on the Koran.” He knew thet the man would quickly become discouraged trying to understand the Koren without # substantiel period of preparation. 7. “The tercher should give his backward students only such things as are clear and suitable to their limited understanding and should not mention to them anything sbout the details thet are apt to follow but which he deems fitting forthe present to withhold... Even the most foolish and most feebleminded among men is usually the most pleased with the perfection of his mind” (Our imaginations distort reality. We don't see ourselves as we truly are, or the world as it truly is. ‘The teacher's ob isto lead students back to reality. At the early stages in particular, the teacher has to be fully aware of the distortions in the minds of each student 8. “The teacher must do what he teaches and not allow his works to give the lie to his wards.” ‘One day, a teacher was asked about patience. He spoke beautifully about patience, with words full of wisdom. Just then, a scorpion stung his foot, not just once but repeatedly However, he did not snterrupt his talk, despite the pain ‘When his listeners became aware of whet hed happened, they wondered why the teacher had not moved his foot away from the scorpion, “Lwas discussing patience,” he explained. “I could hardly give you any advice on thet subject ‘without setting an example of patience myself I would have felt ashamed before God” Fadiman & Frager, 1997, p. 184) In the West we are often taken in by those who write or speak beautifully about greet truths. To tlk about the truth end not ive it is hypocrisy, and it can weaken ot even destroy students’ faith to realize thet their teacher does not practice what he or she preaches. Empty words hve no weight.