Toluwaleke Olutayo

Professor Velez
WHO 2012
3/27/16
Sufism and Islamic mystics.
Sufism is an unconventional practice of Islam that seeks to attain a more personal relationship
with God through eliminating/undermining the need for institutionalized Islam which was the
norm when Sufism as a movement began to flourish. The Sufis (practitioners of Sufism) believed
that a direct and personal relationship with God can be established though meditation and ascetic
discipline. Sufism is a practice that seeks to help an individual achieve inner awakening and
enlightenment. The movement developed as a protest against corrupt leaders who did not
embody Islam. The Sufis were against the legalism and formalism of the institutionalized version
of Islam which paid more attention to form of worship as opposed to content. In ancient and
modern times, Sufism has received a lot of pushback and criticisms by conservative Muslims due
to its unorthodox practices and habits. Sufism involves a lot of mysticism, and divinity. In fact,
many Sufis lived like Buddhist monks in that they were outstanding men of saintly nature. They
valued personal inner awakening and enlightenment and also they meditated a lot. Although,
mainstream Islam and Sufism believe that prophet Mohamed was the messenger of God, the
Sufis believe that only following the sharia and the Sunnah is not enough to guarantee spiritual
enlightenment. They believe that one must go the extra mile and must be in a constant state of
dhikr (ascetic discipline) in order to achieve enlightenment.

One of the most prominent Sufis in history was a man named Jalal ad-Din Rumi. He is the author
of a very influential text in the Islamic world known as The Masnavi. This Masnavi is a series of
six books of poetry that contains in total, twenty five thousand verses (Strayer 509). It is a
spiritual text that helps guides Sufis on how to reach their ultimate goal of being in true love with
God. According to the BBC, The ecstatic poems of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian
poet and Sufi master born 807 years ago in 1207, have sold millions of copies in recent years,
making him the most popular poet in the US. Globally, his fans are legion (Ciabattari).
Another prominent Sufi, and the main center of this paper, is a man named Mullah Nasrudeen.
Although there have been many disagreements as to where he was born, many historians believe
that he was born in the Sivrihisar which is in modern day Turkey. He was an Islamic scholar and
philosopher with a large sense of humor. Although very few mentions of the man himself has
been seen in ancient history works, numerous tales using Mullah Nasrudeen as the main
character has emerged from the Islamic world. These tales are characterized with a lot of humor,
and lying beneath this humor, an important message. These tales were used to communicate
important issues such as inequality, corruption, and cultural assimilation. Many of the tales
involving Mullah Nasrudeen were not actually written by him. However, the tales were based off
of his character as a wise, humorous and witty scholar.
In 1906, an eight-page magazine called Molla Nasraddin was published in Azerbaijan. The
magazine became so popular that its readership spread across the Islamic world. From Morocco
to Iran, the magazine gained a lot of readers. The magazine was a satirical periodical used to
satirize religious fanatics and leaders and also raise awareness of the importance of assimilating
western ideals and norms into the Islamic world. According to the BBC, this magazine was
banned repeatedly because it was subversive of established authorities (Ciabattari). Although it

did not explicitly criticize authoritarians, the magazine did this through humor making it a more
subtle form of criticism. Also, tales of Mullah Nasrudeen helped raise awareness of women
issues and rights. An excerpt from an academic commentary about the Mullah Nasrudeen
magazine known as Slavs and Tatars written by historian Christopher Keller goes thus:
Several illustrations stress the need for womens education and point to Armenian literacy
and modern educational system as the example to follow, a particularly potent
counterpoint given the historic enmity between the Azeris and Armenians, who
represented the most visible Christian population. Much like the advocation of womens
rights, the use of Armenian examples allowed the weekly to further criticize the
hypocrisy and fanaticism of the Muslim clerics and the traditional machismo of
Caucasian societies. In its fight for equal rights for women, MN rails against the
oppressive effects of polygamy, pokes fun at parents preference for a son over a daughter
and exposes the double standard of Azeri men towards Azeri women. Azeri Muslims who
insist on piety for their female counterparts have no issue frolicking with European
women when travelling (Keller 7).
This magazine helped to satirize the hypocrisy of Islamic leaders in Muslim countries admist
serious pushback and intimidation. This is a trend peculiar to Sufism as a movement since its
inception. Sufism as helped to undermine institutionalism and has called for a more direct
fellowship with God. This is what makes it significantly different from the mainstream practice
of Islam.

Works Cited
Ciabattari, Jane. "Why Is Rumi the Best-selling Poet in the US?" BBC. N.p., 21 Oct. 2014. Web.
29 Mar. 2016.
Masters, H. G. "Slavs And Tatars." Artasiapacific 75 (2011): 110. Supplemental Index. Web. 29
Mar. 2016.
Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: A Global History with Sources for AP. Second ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. Print.