Sufism is often perceived as the mystical or inner dimension of Islam. In short, its practitioners, Sufis, place emphasis on the internal state of being, the state of one’s heart and its attunement to love, as opposed to one’s mere outward actions in the world.

They don’t ascribe to a wholly personal God, for instance, whose every desire is known, nor do they ascribe to the non-existence of God. Rather, they honor the mysteries at the heart of creation, and acknowledge that the deepest realities are unavailable to the human imagination, and that God cannot be defined or known.

They don’t ascribe to a wholly personal God, for instance, whose every desire is known, nor do they ascribe to the non-existence of God. Rather, they honor the mysteries at the heart of creation, and acknowledge that the deepest realities are unavailable to the human imagination, and that God cannot be defined or known.

Sufis are less concerned about doing “good” or “bad” actions for the sake of going to heaven and hell, and more concerned about worshipping The Real, out of pure love only. The famous Sufi, Rabia al-Adawiyyah, known for her teachings on the centrality of love of God to a holy life, is thought to have said:

Oh God, if I worship You for fear of hell, burn me in hell, and if I worship you in hope of paradise, exclude me from paradise. But if I worship you for your own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting beauty.

Sufism is not an Islamic sect per se, though Sufis can be found among different sects and across borders. In fact, because Sufis strive for humility, and aim to transcend the ego and personal identity, Sufi masters have been reluctant to identify as “Sufi”. In short, identifying as a Sufi, as opposed to non-Sufi, is giving the individual another identity marker, that can potentially allow the ego to further develop, when the whole point is to transcend the ego and perceived identity altogether to reach a higher state of being and consciousness.

Nonetheless, Sufism has a prominent place in Islam and Islamic history. After the prophet Muhammad’s death in the 6th century, Islam spread far and wide across the globe, and adherents to the faith struggled to apply the new religion. What was this religion? And how should one live it?

Sufis were among those concerned about the new wealth and worldliness of the expanding Muslim empire, embracing asceticism, and moving away from materialism to a simple life conducive to developing spiritual realization. The name “Sufi” is believed to come from the word Suf, or wool, as Sufis often wore garments made of wool.

The idea that Sufism plays a small role in Islam is flawed. From the early medieval period onwards, Sufism was widespread in the Islamic civilization and produced a flourishing of intellectual culture. In fact, Sufism was the form if Islam practiced by the majority of the worlds Muslims until the late 19th century.

The overwhelming majority of Sufis were and still are adherents of Sunni Islam.

In the modern age, Sufism has taken a dip in popularity, but is still popular in many Muslim countries including Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal. It’s interesting that in Senegal where 92 percent of the population is Muslim, 95 percent of those Muslims are Sufis.

Famous Sufis, like the Persian poet, Rumi, enhanced the spread of Islamic culture in central and south Asia. And scholars like Al-Gazzali, largely through his 11th century work, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, made Sufism accessible and widespread, and demonstrated that Sufism was compatible with Islamic law and philosophy.

Sufis often adhere to a stricter view of Islamic monotheism.
God = The Real, the only Necessary Being
Creation is contingent on God, or borrows from The Real
Creation is an illusion, likened to a dream
All men are essentially asleep in this dream world, until they pass away, OR attain a level of spiritual realization BEFORE death that allows them to “taste” of The Real.
To believe that anything but God is Real = Shirk or associating partners with God.

The famous Sufi mystic, Ibn Arabi says, in The Bezels of Wisdom – “Abraham was called the Intimate of God, because he had embraced and penetrated the Attributes of the Divine Essence.” Likewise, Sufis aim to approach God until they can taste of the Real.

Arabi explains – Abraham, then, did not cease in approaching God with supererogatory
acts until God loved him. This love consists of the “penetration” by the Divine Spirit which courses through every organ and limb of the servant’s body. Therefore, the Real became his hearing and seeing and all faculties. The Real then becomes manifest in the form of his servant and vice versa.

Arabi sums this up in his poem –
I have two aspects, He and I, 
But he is not I, in my I, 
In me, is His theatre of manifestation,
And we are for Him, vessels.

Sufis posit that the first Sufi was the prophet Muhammed himself, and then his companions. By pledging allegiance to Muhammad, his companions committed themselves to the service to God, creating a connection between the seeker and God.

Moreover, Sufis in a formal sense can be organized into orders led by a Sufi sheiks or masters, who traces his line of succession to the founder of the order, and eventually to prophet Muhammad himself.

Non-the-less, many Muslims and non-Muslims hold some common misconceptions about Sufism. For instance, many associate Sufism primarily with whirling dervishes – but this ritual is one ritual, from a particular order, in Turkey. Sufism is more complex than than the whirling dervish. Others associate Sufism with grave worship and shirk (worshipping others besides God). Though some Sufis many engage in these acts, Sufis in general believe fundamentally the oneness of God and the Unity of Being.

Sufism is a broad and complex topic, and this video shares some basic ideas, and cannot cover all there is to know. Hopefully this would spur your own research into this fascinating topic. If you have any questions on some of the ideas presented here, please let me know in the comments. Peace.