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Are There Sufis?

To: tariqas@europe.std.com
From: nagasiva@luckymojo.com (haramullah)
Subject: Are There Sufis? (was are we sufis??)

50000515 IVom

assalam alaykum, my kin.

a correspondent wrote:
>lol silly me i keep thinking that sufis are those who we follow..........we 
>are just followers and we are known as mureeds........?  

most organizational sufis seem to be called murids, yes, the leaders
are called sheikhs.

>My shiekh may Allah raise his status and increase his lights .......said 
>that all the time he tried to follow his murshid  and found he was like 
>an ant who had broken legs........and could not keep up with him........
>and at that time he was his murshid's khalifa.  

what does it mean to be someone's khalifa?
 
>this term sufi is used too much?  like someone said "I am trying to follow 
>my sheikh ...i don't even know what "sufi" means........" 

occasionally discussion of the term comes up in this email list, with a
variety of etymological and practical origins offered. the ones that I
remember off-hand are 'suf' as related to wool (on account of the robes
some sufis wear) and there was a connection to the 'Bench' (followers)
of Muhammad, if memory serves.

usually, like most esoteric identifiers, the term is projected as an
ideal or donned like an enveloping identity. in the former few would
claim to be a sufi, in the latter many identify as such, associating
sufism with what they experience in relation to their sheikh.

aside from proclamations of faith, the location and identity of who
are and who are not sufis (or Sufis) depends upon the criteria of
those who are making the assessment. not only are CURRENT groups
subject to dispute surrounding inclusion (especially those which
transcend Muslim theology and incorporate univeralism), but through
TIME a question has intermittently arisen as to "whether there are
any sufis left". witness:

	The mystical movement that created Sufism culminated
	in the ninth and tenth centuries (A.H. third and fourth
	centuries). By the year 996 (A.H. 386) a Sufi named
	Talib al-Makki reported that Junayd, who died in
	909 (A.H. 297), was the last true representative of
	Sufism. In his *Risalah* or Essay (1045 C.E.; A.H. 437),
	al-Qushayri, a student of [Abu 'Abdul-Rahman Muhammad
	ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Khalid ibn Salim
	ibn Rawia al-Sulami, the author of the work for which
	this text forms a part of the Forword] wrote complaining 
	that Sufism and religion were coming to an end. Such 
	complaints, which continue today, seem by their very 
	existence to contradict themselves, although it is true 
	that Sufism reached its peak at about the time of the 
	martyrdom of Hallaj, who made the famous declaration "I 
	am the Truth" in 922 (A.H. 309). His execution epitomizes 
	the violent confrontation between the *shari'ah* (the

	orthodoxy that dominated Islam) and the *tariqah*
	(mysticism), but did not end the struggle, although
	this tragedy helped to bring orthodoxy and mysticism
	closer together.
	-------------------------------------------------------
	From the Foreword to "The Way of Sufi Chivalry",
	 introduced and interpreted by Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi,
	 Inner Traditions International, 1991; pp. 3-5.	
	______________________________________________________

it is always easiest to have ready-made answers to the persistent
and troublesome questions such as "what is sufism?" and "am I a
sufi?", still more so for the more important such as "who or what
am I?" and "who or what is divinity?". those who cannot stand the
harsh road of uncertainty clasp the robe of their guide, seize
upon the traditional knowledge, and cling for dear life. those
who dwell in uncertainty are an unknown quantity all around, may
be mad or saintly, and may never enter into the presence of the
Most Compassionate despite their dedication.

peace be with you,

haramullah

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