COLLECTION OF IDEAS

SUFISM: NOTES AND REFERENCES FOR DISCUSSION PAPER.

Purpose of paper Understand Islamic spirituality

Key Elements

My introduction

DIVINE REVELATION

Origins of Sufism
Qur'anic Revelation
Companions of the Right the Foremost
Drawing Nigh to God
insight, creativity and the arts

Ways of love and knowledge etc

Moses and the 'Green Man', Kihdr, Elija. Elisha, John theBaptist, Bab
Rumi
Ibn Arabi
Attar
Shayki (getbook)
Daqawi??
Baha'i
Mathew Fox???
Qur'an
Bible
Bahai

REFERENCES:

(1) "Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century by Martin Lings.
ORIGINS OF SUFISM, Ch 2. p34
(2) IDRIES SHAR
(3) IBN ARABI
KERNAL OF THE KERNAL
WHO SOEVER KNOWETH HIMSELF
(4) RUMI
(5) 'ABDU'L-BAHA ET AL
(6) MATHEW FOX
(7) DARQAWI

NOTES ON SUFISM
for discussion paper, "Mysticism in the Qur'an"

Extracts from "Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century by Martin Lings.
ORIGINS OF SUFISM, Ch 2. p34

Origins of Sufism

The translation of sufi as a "mystic' ..... in its original sense ... denote(s) one who has access, or seeks access, to 'the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven'

Whereas, Sufism is the Islamic way of transcending one's own soul, that is, of 'letting one's Spirit rise above oneself,' and it is where the human self ends that the Heavenly Mysteries begin.

The name Sufism only came to be used after two or three generations of Islam, although it is rooted in the first generation. (more research.) One of its roots reach back prior to Islam to Muhammad's pre- Islamic practice of spiritual retreat with the scattered hermits of Arabia known as the Hunafa'. The Hunafa' contained what was left of the mysticism of Muhammad's ancestors, Abraham and Ishmael and it was in one of his retreats in a cave on Mount Hira at the outskirts of Mecca, when he was forty years old, that he received the first Qur'anic revelation.

Qur'an the Eternal Uncreated Word of God

In order to understand what is meant by the doctrine that the Qur'an is the Eternal, Uncreated word of God, it is necessary to make a distinction between inspiration and revelation' especially for those with a Christian background. In Christianity the "revelation" is, not the Gospels, but Christ. It is an essential point of Islamic orthodoxy that Qur'an is a revelation, direct from God Himself, not just an inspired writing by Muhammad.

The Holy Book says of itself, speaking with the voice of God:

If We caused this Qur'an to descend upon a mountain, thou wouldst see the mountain lying prostrate with humility, rent asunder through the fear of God;.... (lix 21)

The first word to be revealed was Iqra', 'recite' and Qur'an itself means 'recitation'. The revealing of a text to be recited by the community, amounts to a form of mysticism, since to recite such a text is to undergo a Divine 'interference' of the soul by the Spirit or a mysterious penetration of this world by the next. The practice of taking advantage of this possibility becomes, after a certain point, no less than the following of a mystical path.

The Sufis have always sought to take full advantage of the Presence of the Infinite by drowning themselves in the verses ('ayat', literally 'miraculous' signs) of the Revelation.

In one of his poems, Shaikh Al 'Alawi (the subject of the book) says of the Qur'an

'It hath taken up its dwelling in our hearts and on our tongues and is mingled with our blood and our flesh and our bones and all that is in us. p36

The Qur'an was revealed as a means of Grace for the whole Islamic community, not only for an elect nor yet only for the generality of Moslems it abounds in verses like the following, which may be applied to every level of spirituality; treasures, which every one is free to carry off as much as he (or she) has strength to bear. The meaning depends on the intelligence of the one who recites them.

God leadeth to His Light whom he will. xxiv, 35

Leadeth us along the straight path, i6

He it is Who has sent down the Spirit of Peace into the hearts of the faithful that they may increase faith upon faith. xlviii, 4

These verses can be interpreted in the highest sense, as openings through which the immortal in man may pour itself out in escape from the mortal limitations of the soul.

...this...... transcendence of words which are metaphysical in content as well as in "fabric" applies pre-eminently to the Divine Names and above all to the Supreme Name Allah (God)

One of the first injunctions revealed to the Prophet was:

Invoke in remembrance the Name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with an utter devotion. lxxiii, 8

This verse inaugurated ... a practice which has been ever since the Moslem mystic's chief means of approach to God. p36

The Quran is the Book of Allah in every sense of the word "of". It comes from Him, it is "of substance" with Him, He is its basic theme.... . The Name Allah occurs so often that it may be considered as the warp on which Quranic text is woven.

Drawing Nigh to God

The verse:

Verily ye have a fair pattern in the Messenger of God. xxxiii, 21

is full of meaning at every level .... but its highest significance must be understood in the light of .... the very first injunctions received by the Prophet at Mecca:

Prostrate thyself and draw nigh (to God). xcvi,19
The ritual act of prostration, which is an extremity of self-effacement, is implicit in one of Muhammad's secondary names, Abd Allah, the slave of God. Without the complete self effacement of slavehood it is impossible to draw nigh or, in other words, without first being empty of other than God it is impossible to be filled with the ever present Reality of His Names, of which the Qur'an says:

We (God) are nearer to him (man) than his jugular vein. l,16

The realisation of this Nearness is implicit in another of the Prophet's names, Habib Allah, the Beloved of God, for the following Tradition, though it is of universal import, it refers to him first and foremost:

"My slave ceaseth not to draw nigh unto Me with devotions of his free will (devotions in addition to the obligatory minimum) until I love him; and when I love him, I am the Hearing wherewith he heareth , and the Sight wherewith he seeth, and the hand wherewith he smiteth, and the foot wherewith he walketh ' (Bukhari)

The full range of Sufism, as it has shown itself to be through-out the centuries lies summed up in this (above) Tradition.

In speaking to his closest followers Christ said:

'It is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given' St Mathew, xiii,11

In speaking to the whole community of Moslems the Qur'an generalises the same idea in the words: p38

'We exalt in degree whom We will; and above each one that hath knowledge is one that knoweth more' xii,76

Elsewhere the Qur'an is more explicit referring to the Companions of the Right who are no doubt the general believers since they are said to be many among the earlier generations and many among the later generations, and they are contrasted with the Companions of the Left who are the dammed. Above the Companions of the Right are the Foremost , and these are said to be, many among the earlier generations and few among the later generations. (Lvi,13-4). The later generations are those between whom and the revelations Much time has elapsed so their hearts were hardened. (Lv11,16) The superlative in the title is confirmed by the definition the Near (brought near by God to Himself).

In another chapter the Near are represented as drinking from a fountain named Tasmin. Below them are the Righteous who have not this direct access to this fountain but who are given to drink a draught that has been flavoured at it with the perfume of musk. lvii, 16 p39

The same imagery is used in the third chapter where the Righteous are represented as drinking a draught which has been flavoured with camphor from a fountain named Kafur, to which only the slaves of God have direct access. According to the commentary, slavehood and nearness are two aspects of the one higher spiritual degree, representing respectively extinction in God and Eternal Life in Godl. The Saints drink at Kafur in as much as they are Slaves and at Tasmin in as much as they are Near.

Heart Knowledge

The same is true as regards the understanding of the Divine Names, and certain Holy Traditions such as ,

'I am the Hearing wherewith he heareth and the Sight wherewith he seeth'

"We are nearer to him than his jugular vein"

The difference is as between one who takes such statements as a manner of speaking, allowing them to pass over his head , and one in whom they awaken a 'vertical' consciousness which is what the Sufis call dhaug, literally taste. This word is used in view of the directness of such perception, to show that it transcends indirect mental knowledge, being no less than some degree of 'Heart-knowledge'. p40

In connection with one of the Prophet's mystical visions, the Qur'an says that it was his Heart which saw,(Liii,11) and a Qur'anic commentary which states that "other- worldly realities are perceived first by the Heart'. What is meant by Heart here, and what the ancients of both East and West mean by saying that the Heart is the Throne of the Intellect. Just as the moon is the last outpost of daylight in the darkness of night so the Heart is the last outpost of Divine Light, that is, direct Knowledge (Gnosis, ma'rifah) in the darkness of the soul's knowledge, which even in its highest form is only mental and therefore indirect. The 'Eye of the Heart', ...is the Intellect in its true sense,- the organ of transcendent vision.

The heart vision .. hierarchically nearer to the Truth than ... the vision of the outward eye could never achieve the union of separate elements and the integration of widely scattered fragments if the universe had not been enshrouded by the all-enshrouding Lights of Unification which are lit from the tree of "Whereso'er ye turn there is the face of God". This is from the Verse of light

God is the Light of the Heavens and the earth. His light (on earth) is like niche, wherein is a lamp; the lamp is of glass; the glass is like a shining planet. It is lit from a sacred olive tree that is neither of the East nor the West, the oil whereof well nigh blazeth though the fire have not touched it - Light upon Light! God leadeth to His Light whom he will, and God citeth symbols for
men, and God is the Knower of all things.' (xxiv35)

The symbol of the sacred olive tree neither of the East nor the West is the tree of "so where ever ye turn", that is the tree of Gnosis. p174

The aspiration 'to let one's Spirit (one's centre of consciousness) rise above oneself' presupposes at the very least some remote awareness of the existence of the Heart, which is the point where the human self ends and the Transcendent Self begins. If the clouds of the night are so thick so as to prevent the moon of the Heart from showing the slightest sign of its presence, there can be no such aspiration. p40

Submission, Faith and Excellance

The Arabs of the desert say: 'We believe'. Say thou (Muhammad): 'Ye believe not, but say rather: 'We submit', for faith hath not yet entered our hearts. Yet if ye obey God and His messenger, He will not withhold from you any rewards that your deed deserve. Verily God is Forgiving, Merciful'. (xlix, 14)

Divine Mercy stretches out to find a place ... for those who are faithful believers as well as those willing to submit and obey God and his Messenger.

The much loved and often repeated verses which the Qur'an recommends especially for times of adversity:

'Verily we are for God, and verily unto Him are we returning'' (ii,156) and

"He is the First and the Last and the Outardly Manifest and the Inwardly Hidden.' (lvii, 3)

are like the crown of Sufi Gnosis where "there is no point of reference other than He."

After the Qur'an and the Prophet the highest authority is Ijma', that is, the unanimous opinion of those who are thoroughly versed in the Qur'an and the Traditions and whom are therefore qualified to establish, by inference and on analogy, precedents about points not definitely and explicitly laid down by the two higher authorities. The process by which they reach their conclusions is called ijtihad, (striving).

The difference between the four great schools of Islamic law, are due to differing ijtihad of four eminent canonists. But each school admits the right of the other schools to hold their own opinions, and it is often said: "In the canonists differences there lieth a mercy"

The law is not the only plane of the religion, however, as it was reported in the following Tradition by 'Umar, the second Caliph:

'One day when we were with the Messenger of God there came unto us man whose clothes were exceeding whiteness and whose hair was of exceeding blackness, nor were there any signs of travel upon him, although none of us had seen him before. He sat down knee unto knee opposite the Prophet, upon whose thighs he placed the palm of his hands, saying: 'O Muhammad, tell me what is the surrender unto God (al Islam)'. The Prophet answered: "The surrender is that thou should testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's Apostle, that thou shouldst perform the prayer, bestow the alms, fast Ramadan and make if thou canst, the pilgrimage to the Holy House. He said: "Thou hast spoken truly" and we were amazed that having asked the question he should corroborate him. Then he said:"Tell me what is faith (iman)", and the Prophget answered: "It is that thou shouldst believe in God and His Angels and His Books and His Apostles and the Last Day, and that thou shouldst believe that no good or evil cometh but by His Providence." "Thou hast spoken truly" he said, and then: "Tell me what is excellence (ihsan)". The Prophet answered: "It is that thou shouldst worship God as if thou sawest Him, for if thou seest Him not , He seeth thee." .... Then the stranger went away, and I stayed there long after he had gone, until the Prophet said to me: O Umah, knowest thou the questioner, whom he was?" I said: "God and His Prophet know best, but I know not at all." "It was Gabriel" said the Prophet. He came to teach you your religion" ( A great Sufi of Baghdad d 910) p 45

Thus Islam in its fullest sense consists of three planes -- surrender or submission (islam in the narrow sense of the word), faith (iman) and excellence, (ihsan)

The Prophet's definition of ihsan is the word for worship ('abada), means literally 'to serve as a slave', and indicates not merely a series of acts but a perpetual state. Thus to worship God 'as thou sawest Him' implies perpetual remembrance of God and to achieve this some form of spiritual guidance and method is, practically speaking indispsensable. Here in fact lies the origins of the Sufi brotherhoods, without which the plane of ihsan, which the first generations of Islam was relatively spontaneous and unorganised, could never have been prolonged throughout the centuries.

Remembrance of God

The Qur'an insists without respite on remembrance of God, "dhikr Allah", and this insistence holds the place in Islam that is held in Christianity by Christ's two commandments.

The first .... The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. ..... the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (St. Mark, Chapter 12)

It is the use of the Qur'anic ... term remembrance rather than "love" which has more than anything else, (given) Islamic mysticism (Sufism) its special terminology.
There appears to a predominance, in Christian mysticism of 'Love' and in the Sufism of 'Knowledge', (Gnosis). The contemplative orders of monasticism in the Roman Catholic Church are closer to the path of Love than to that of Gnosis. On the other hand what has been termed the 'Sufi path of Love' is akin to Love within the general framework of Knowledge.

Very typical of Sufism is Hasan al Basri's (d728) saying:

'He that knoweth God loveth Him, and he that knoweth the world abstaineth from it", and the saying of another early Sufi:

'Intimacy (uns) with God is finer and sweeter than longing'.

... one aspect of this (Sufi) path of Knowledge reflects the symbolism of light in which the Qur'an abounds and the joyous and often dazzling imagery through which it allows its reader to taste the Mysteries of the next world,... another aspect reflects not only the stark simplicity of some of the Qur'anic formulations but also certain sayings of the Prophet which have an unmistakable 'dry' flavour about them, a sober objectivity which puts everything in its proper place.

For example

'Be in this world as a stranger or a passer-by.' (Bukari), and

'What have I to do with this world? Veriy I and this world are as a rider and a tree beneath which he taketh shelter. Then goeth on his way and leaveth it behind him.' (Ibn Majah) p46

Oneness of Being p121

..... Mysticism in all ages and countries is fundamentally the same, however it may be modified by its peculiar environment and by the positive religion to which it clings for support. We find remote and unrelated systems showing an extraordinarily close and even coinciding in many features of verbal expression.




The saying of the most Great Shaikh Muhi Din 'Arabi (Ibn 'Arabi )1164-1240) wrote a Treatise on Being (Risale-t-ul-wujudiyyay) as a commentary on the Oneness of Being.



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