Read complete books and articles on: Sufism

Sufism - sooˈfĭzəm, an umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam. While Sufism is said to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, gnosticism, and Indian mysticism, its origins are traced to forms of devotion and groups of penitents (zuhhad) in the formative period of Islam. The early pious figures, later appropriated by Sufism, include Ali, Hasan al-Basri (d. 801), and Rabia al-Adawiyya, a woman from Basra (Iraq) who rejected worship motivated by the desire for heavenly reward or the fear of punishment and insisted on the love of God as the sole valid form of adoration. The word Sufi first appears in the 8th cent., probably in connection with the coarse wool that many ascetics wore.

Two central Sufi concepts are tawakkul, the total reliance on God, and dhikr, the perpetual remembrance of God. Al-Muhasibi (d. 857) and his disciple Junayd (d. 910) are representative early figures. The introduction of gnostic elements (marifa) into Sufism is often attributed to Dhu-n-Nun al-Misri (d. 859). Sufism nonetheless faced growing opposition from orthodox clerics. The scholastic and ecstatic paths further diverged with the concept of fana, the dissolution into the divine, advocated by al-Bistami (d. 874), and used by Hallaj in the declaration of his unity with God, which eventually led to his execution in 922. Islamic orthodoxy and Sufism were not irreconcilable, as attested by the attempt by al-Ghazali (d. 1111) to infuse conformist Muslim religious life with mysticism.

The evolution of Sufism in the post-Ghazali period was influenced by Ibn al-Arabi and Ibn al-Farid. Their theoretical contributions led to the development within Sufism of a complex system of initiation and progression toward the Divine and set the stage for the emergence of organized Sufi orders. This phase of literary Sufism was also characterized by the prominence of Persian works, notably those of Shihab ad-Din Suhrawardi (d. 1191), Farid ad-Din Attar, and Jalal ad-Din Rumi, and the subsequent development of Persian, Turkish, and Urdu mystic poetry. Important Sufi figures elsewhere in the Islamic world include Muin ad-Din Chishti in India and Baha ad-Din Naqshband (d. 1390) in central Asia.

Sufi orders, which assimilated aspects of native religious traditions more readily than more dogmatic versions of Islam, played a major role in the expansion of Islam into sub-Saharan Africa and central, S, and SE Asia. The oldest extant order with attested historicity is probably the Qadiriyya, founded by Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166) in Baghdad. Other important orders include the Ahmadiyya (notably in Egypt), Naqshbandiyya (Central Asia), Nimatullahiyya (Iran), Rifaiyya (Egypt, SW Asia), Shadhiliyya (N Africa, Arabia), Suhrawardiyya and Chishtiyya (S and central Asia), and Tijaniyya (N and W Africa).

The work of Idries Shah has been instrumental in introducing Sufism to the West; see his The Sufis (1964) and The Way of the Sufi (1968). Although Sufism has made significant contributions to the spread of Islam and the development of various aspects of Islamic civilization (e.g., literature and calligraphy), many conservative Muslims disagree with many popular Sufi practices, particularly saint worship, the visiting of tombs, and the incorporation of non-Islamic customs. Consequently, in recent centuries Sufism has been a target for Islamic reformist and modernist movements.

See A. J. Arberry, Sufism (1970); L. Lewin, ed., The Diffusion of Sufi Ideas in the West (1972); A. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975) and As through a Veil (1982).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Sufism

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings » Read Now
by Michael A. Sells. 395 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
2.

Islamic Spirituality: Manifestations (Part III "Sufism: The Inner Dimension of Islam") » Read Now
by Seyyed Hossein Nasr. 450 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
3.

Sufism and Islamic Reform in Egypt: The Battle for Islamic Tradition » Read Now
by Julian Johansen. 323 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

The tension between tradition and reform in the Arab world is one of the most urgent and problematic issues of today. The Sufis of Egypt are one of the most important sects in the Islamic world. Using material recorded at Sufi gatherings over the last five years, this book presents a contemporary...
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The tension between tradition and reform in the Arab world is one of the most urgent and problematic issues of today. The Sufis of Egypt are one of the most important sects in the Islamic world. Using material recorded at Sufi gatherings over the last five years, this book presents a contemporary, balanced study of their attempts to reform Sufism from within and maintain its traditions in defence of hostile criticism.
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4.

Islamic Spirituality: Foundations (Part I "Islamic Spirituality as Manifested in Sufism in Time and Space") » Read Now
by Seyyed Hossein Nasr. 548 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
5.

Islam in the World ("The Fundamentals of Sufism" p. 222) » Read Now
by Malise Ruthven. 482 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

This valuable introductory guide provides a complete and lively summary of Islam, one of the most worldly of the great religions, in which the quest for spiritual fulfillment is inevitably bound up with political aspirations. Malise Ruthven presents a full overview of the religion in its historical...
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This valuable introductory guide provides a complete and lively summary of Islam, one of the most worldly of the great religions, in which the quest for spiritual fulfillment is inevitably bound up with political aspirations. Malise Ruthven presents a full overview of the religion in its historical, geographic, and social settings. For this revised and long-awaited second edition, Ruthven divides his original chapters into more accessible sub-sections and provides new headings. Also included is a new concluding chapter that focuses on women in Islam, the challenges Islam faces in today's climate of globalization, and the key developments in Islamic political history since 1984--an especially fertile period that has seen, among other things, the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and the controversial publication of Rushdie's Satanic Verses. Islam and the World, Second Edition likewise features a new preface, redrawn maps, updated data on population and dispersal, and a new chronology of events with genealogical charts.
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6.

The Vision of Islam ("Theoretical Sufism" p. 246, "Sufism's Vision" p. 262, "Practical Sufism" p. 298) » Read Now
by Sachiko Murata, William C. Chittick. 372 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

Covering the four dimensions of Islam as outlined in the Hadith of Gabriel--practice, faith, spirituality, and the Islamic view of history--The Vision of Islam draws on the Koran, the sayings of the Prophet and the great authorities of the tradition. This clearly written book introduces the...
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Covering the four dimensions of Islam as outlined in the Hadith of Gabriel--practice, faith, spirituality, and the Islamic view of history--The Vision of Islam draws on the Koran, the sayings of the Prophet and the great authorities of the tradition. This clearly written book introduces the essentials of each dimension and then shows how each has been embodied in Islamic institutions throughout history.
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7.

Islam, Continuity and Change in the Modern World ("Reorientation of the Sufi Tradition" p. 27) » Read Now
by John Obert Voll. 442 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...personalized, mystic piety, which is called Sufism, gradually developed a theological-philosophical...first, most ulama were suspicious of Sufism but the teachings of Abu...
8.

God's Unruly Friends: Dervish Groups in the Islamic Later Middle Period, 1200-1550 » Read Now
by Ahmet T. Karamustafa. 166 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
9.

Sufism in Europe and North America » Read Now
by David Westerlund. 171 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
10.

A Note on the Psychology of Dhikr: The Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Dervishes in Istanbul, in International Journal for the Psychology of Religion » Read Now
by Antoon Geels. 23 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Psychology, Entire Library

...Repetitive prayer ( dhikr ) in mystical Islam ( Sufism ) belongs to the most central activities...a few basic aspects of dhikr within Sufism in general have been noted. We...
11.

Mysticism: Holiness East and West » Read Now
by Denise Lardner Carmody, John Tully Carmody. 321 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

The particulars of a mystical experience color and shape its essence. But as Denise and John Carmody tell us, be it a Native American vision quest, or the intense soul-wrenching experience of a great storm, or a passionate love, or a dialogue in deep prayer with a personal divinity--any of these can...
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The particulars of a mystical experience color and shape its essence. But as Denise and John Carmody tell us, be it a Native American vision quest, or the intense soul-wrenching experience of a great storm, or a passionate love, or a dialogue in deep prayer with a personal divinity--any of these can be considered a mystical episode, if it draws us into a direct encounter with ultimate reality. In Mysticism: Holiness East and West, the Carmodys apply this broad definition of mysticism--a direct encounter with ultimate reality--to mystical experiences found in the world's great religions, providing insight into mysticism and into religious practice around the globe. The Carmodys offer an informative survey of the six major world religions--the Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions--and they also examine the religious practices of North American, Latin American, African, and Australian native peoples. They illuminate the history, principal beliefs, and teachings of each religion, and then examine the lives and works of each tradition's outstanding mystics. They show, for instance, how yoga has played a large role in the development of the mystical outlooks that we can trace to India, how prophecy has been significant in the mysticism of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and how shamanism has characterized oral religious practice. We learn how Greek ideas about God came to furnish the basic language of Christian mysticism, from the concerns of the desert fathers for virtue and vice, to the flights into the divine darkness of Gregory, Denis, and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing. Equally important, the Carmodys compare the mysticism found in one tradition with that found in the others, revealing how mystical practice varies widely from one religious group to the next. They find, for instance, that Jewish mystical experience has seldom been given to the magical flight practiced by native American shamans, nor has it over-regarded miracle working. Likewise, the book compares John of the Cross's negation of the self with the Indian doctrine of "not this, not that," which relates to the Buddhist idea of Nirvana. Mystical experience takes us to the center of the world, the source of all creation, the divine place where all that happens finds its sense. Yet it may well be the least understood dimension of humanity's yearning for ultimate meaning. In providing a comprehensive and accessible guide to mysticism, the Carmodys have done a major service for anyone seeking mystical experience and for all those interested in religion as practiced throughout the world.
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12.

Mystical Poems of Rumi: First Selection, Poems 1-200 » Read Now
by A. J. Arberry. 202 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

Rumi, who wrote and preached in Persia during the thirteenth century, was inspired by a wandering mystic, or dervish, named Shams al-Din. Rumi's vast body of poetry includes a lengthy poem of religious mysticism, the Mathnavi, and more than three thousand lyrics and odes, many of which came to him...
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Rumi, who wrote and preached in Persia during the thirteenth century, was inspired by a wandering mystic, or dervish, named Shams al-Din. Rumi's vast body of poetry includes a lengthy poem of religious mysticism, the Mathnavi, and more than three thousand lyrics and odes, many of which came to him while he was in a state of trance. A.J. Arberry, who selected four hundred of the lyrics for translation and annotated them, calls Rumi "one of the world's greatest poets. In profundity of thought, inventiveness of image, and triumphant mastery of language, he stands out as the supreme genius of Islamic mysticism." "An excellent introduction to Rumi, the greatest mystical poet of Islam. . . . Rumi's scope, like that of all great poets, is universal--reaching from sensuous luxuriance to the driest irony."--Sherman Goldman, East-West Journal A.J. Arberry (1905-73) was professor of Arabic at Cambridge University.
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13.

Mystical Poems of Rumi 2: Second Selection, Poems 201-400 » Read Now
by A. J. Arberry. 178 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

Rumi's vast body of poetry includes a lengthy epic of religious mysticism, the Hathnavi, and more than three thousand lyrics and odes, many of which came to him while he was in a state of trance. A. J. Arberry, who selected four hundred of the lyrics for translation and annotated them, calls Rumi...
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Rumi's vast body of poetry includes a lengthy epic of religious mysticism, the Hathnavi, and more than three thousand lyrics and odes, many of which came to him while he was in a state of trance. A. J. Arberry, who selected four hundred of the lyrics for translation and annotated them, calls Rumi "one of the world's greatest poets. In profundity of thought, inventiveness of image, and triumphant mastery of language, he stands out as the supreme genius of Islamic mysticism." A. J. Arberry (1905-73) was professor of Arabic at Cambridge University.
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14.

Islam: An Introduction ("Mystical Islam and Sufi Brotherhoods" p. 101) » Read Now
by Annemarie Schimmel. 166 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

'The topic is becoming more significant because Islam is the most rapidly growing religious in the world. This book provides a thorough and sophisticate, but at the same time clear-headed and reliable, overview.' --Kevin Lacey
15.

Mysticism and Language (Chap. 8 "Mystical Language and the Teaching Context in the Early Lexicons of Sufism") » Read Now
by Steven T. Katz. 262 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

This is a collection of original essays designed to continue and expand the groundbreaking discussion begun in Katz's previous collections, Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis (OUP 1979) and Mysticism and Religious Traditions (OUP 1984). The publication of the earlier volumes established Katz as a...
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This is a collection of original essays designed to continue and expand the groundbreaking discussion begun in Katz's previous collections, Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis (OUP 1979) and Mysticism and Religious Traditions (OUP 1984). The publication of the earlier volumes established Katz as a leading authority on mysticism and a major figure in the study of comparative religion, and his approach to the subject has been both influential and controversial. Each of the ten essays included in Mysticism and Language analyzes the relationship between language and mystical experience in one of the world's great religious traditions. The essays are by some of the foremost authorities in the field, including Ninian Smart, William Alston, Moshe Idel, Bernard McGinn, Carl Ernst, Ewert Cousins, Steven Katz, Bernard Faure, Stephen Phillips, and Bimal Matilal.
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16.

Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism ("The Struggle Against Sufism and Popular Islam" p. 122) » Read Now
by Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr. 220 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

Nasr examines the life and thought of Mawlana Mawdudi, one of the first and most important Islamic ideological thinkers. Mawdudi was the first to develop a modern political Islamic ideology, and a plan for social action to realize his vision. The prolific writings and indefatigable efforts of...
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Nasr examines the life and thought of Mawlana Mawdudi, one of the first and most important Islamic ideological thinkers. Mawdudi was the first to develop a modern political Islamic ideology, and a plan for social action to realize his vision. The prolific writings and indefatigable efforts of Mawdudi's party, the Jamaat-i-Islami, first in India and later in Pakistan, have disseminated his ideas far and wide. His views have informed revivalism from Morocco to Malaysia. Nasr discerns the events that led Mawdudi to a revivalist perspective, and probes the structure of his thought, in order to gain fresh insights into the origins of Islamic revivalism. He argues that Islamic revivalism did not simply develop as a cultural rejection of the West, rather it was closely tied to questions of communal politics and its impact on identity formation, discourse of power in plural societies, and nationalism. Mawdudi's discourse, though aimed at the West, was motivated by Muslim-Hindu competition for power in British India. His aim, according to Nasr, was to put forth a view of Islam whose invigorated, pristine, and uncompromising outlook would galvanize Muslims into an ideologically uniform and hence politically indivisible community. In time, this view developed a life of its own and evolved into an all-encompassing perspective on society and politics, and has been a notable force in South Asia and Muslim life and thought across the Muslim world.
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