Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam in which Muslims seek divine love and truth through direct personal experience of God. This mystic tradition within Islam developed in several stages of growth, emerging first in the form of early asceticism, based on the teachings of Hasan al-Basri, before entering the second stage of more classical mysticism of divine love, as promoted by al-Ghazali and Attar of Nishapur, and finally emerging in the institutionalised form of today's network of fraternal Sufi orders, based on Sufis such as Rumi and Yunus Emre.TY - JOUR AU - Sala, Renato PY - 2018/01/01 SP - 115 EP - 138 T1 - AHMED YASAWI: LIFE, WORDS AND SIGNIFICANCE IN THE KAZAKH CULTURE VL - 89 DO - 10.26577/JH-2018-2-228 JO - Journal of history ER - At its core, however, Sufism remains an individual mystic experience. A Sufi can be characterized as one who seeks fana' (annihilation of the ego in God, dissolving individual ego-consciousness) followed by baqa' (subsistence in God, returning to ordinary human existence where one's life, character, and actions are entirely sustained by and aligned with the Divine). Both occur without ontological union or indwelling; the union Sufis actually speak of—despite any ecstatic language suggesting otherwise—is strictly one of love, will, and conscious accord. This state is illustrated by many scriptural sections such as Sahih al-Bukhari 6502 (a Hadith Qudsi where God describes the culmination of this closeness):
Early history The exact origin of Sufism is disputed. Some sources state that Sufism is the inner dimensions of the teachings of Muhammad whereas others say that Sufism emerged during the Islamic Golden Age from about the eighth to tenth centuries. According to Ibn Khaldun Sufism was already practised by the Sahaba, but with the spread of material tendencies, the term Sufi was just applied to those who emphasize the spiritual practice of Islam.Gholamali Haddad Adel, Mohammad Jafar Elmi, Hassan Taromi-Rad Sufism: An Entry from Encyclopedia of the World of Islam EWI Press 2012 page 3
Origins Abu Bakr Muhammad Zakaria states in his book "Hindusiyat wa Tasur" that Kamel Amiel al-Shaibi and Abdullah Waris Bin Ishaq in separate texts say that the first person to use the word Sufi was Abu Hashem al-Kufi (2nd century AH), and Ibn Taymiyya said in his Majmual Fatwa that Basra was a center of Sufism at that time.
Ahmet Karamustafa describes renunciation ( zuhd) as a widespread form of piety in Muslim communities in the first century of Abbasid rule. Ibrahim ibn Adham al-Balkhi (d. 777-8) took on an ascetic lifestyle with a "radical aversion" to mainstream social life. The followers of the preacher Hasan al-Basri founded a ribat on Abadan Island on the Tigris near Basra. Karamustafa also cites Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya, Shaqiq al-Balkhi, Al-Darani, Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Yahya ibn Mu'adh al-Razi, and Bayazid Bastami as some of the pioneering figures in the introspective trends that would lead to what would later be called Sufism.
Orientalists proposed a variety of origin theories regarding Sufism, such as that it originated as an Indo-European response to Semitic influence, Buddhism, Neo-Platonism, and Christian ascetism or Gnosticism.Mark Sedgwick Western Sufism: From the Abbasids to the New Age Oxford University Press 9780199977659 2016 p. 36 Modern academics and scholars however, have rejected early Orientalist theories asserting a non-Islamic origin of Sufism, Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved on August 1, 2016 Carl Ernst states that the tendency to try and disassociate Islam from Sufism was an attempt by Orientalists to create a divide between what they found attractive within Islamic civilization (i.e. Islamic spirituality) and the negative stereotypes of Islam that were present in Britain. Hosein Nasr states that non-Islamic origin theories are false according to the point of view of Sufism. Many have asserted Sufism to be unique within the confines of the Islamic religion, and contend that Sufism developed from people like Bayazid Bastami, who, in his utmost reverence to the sunnah, refused to eat a watermelon because he did not find any proof that Muhammad ever ate it. According to William Chittick, Sufism can simply be described as "the interiorization, and intensification of Islamic faith and practice."
Sufis of Baghdad A distinct practice of piety associated with introspection, drawing from different practices and ideas, took form in Baghdad in the second half of the 9th century. Members of the first generation of Sufis in Baghdad included Harith al-Muhasibi, , Abu Sa'id al-Kharraz, Abu al-Husain al-Nuri, Junayd al-Baghdadi, Ruwaym, and . A following generation included Abu Bakr al-Shibli, , Rudbari, and .
Codification of doctrine Towards the end of the 1st millennium CE, a number of manuals began to be written summarizing the doctrines of Sufism and describing some typical Sufi practices. Two of the most notable are Kashf al-Mahjûb (Revelation of the Veiled) of Hujwiri, and Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya (The Message) of Al-Qushayri.The most recent version of the Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya is the translation of Alexander Knysh, Al-Qushayri's Epistle on Sufism: Al-risala Al-qushayriyya Fi 'ilm Al-tasawwuf (). Earlier translations include a partial version by Rabia Terri Harris (Sufi Book of Spiritual Ascent) and complete versions by Harris, and Barbara R. Von Schlegell. According to the late medieval mystic Jami, Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (died c. 716) was the first person to be called a "Sufi".Rashid Ahmad Jullundhry, Qur'anic Exegesis in Classical Literature, New Westminster: The Other Press, 2010.
Two of al Ghazali's finest treatises, the "Revival of Religious Sciences" and the "Alchemy of Happiness," depicted Sufism as the complete fulfilment of Islamic Law. This became the mainstream position among Islamic scholars for centuries, challenged only recently on the basis of Orientalism and Wahhabism.Several sections of the Revival of Religious Sciences have been published in translation by the Islamic Texts Society; see http://www.fonsvitae.com/sufism.html . The Alchemy of Happiness has been published in a complete translation by Claud Field (), and presents the argument of the much larger Revival of Religious Sciences in summary form.
All Sufi orders claim a direct chain of leadership to Muhammad, through Ali, with the exception of the Naqshbandis who claim a direct connection to Muhammad through Abu Bakr. In the eleventh century, Sufi orders (Tariqa) were instrumental in the institutional spread of Sufism.
Muslim Spain
Beginning in the ninth century and continuing throughout the tenth century, al-Andalus was home to fairly strict, orthodox beliefs and practices. Quranic studies and jurisprudence (fiqh) were the accepted and promoted types of scholarship that shaped the region's beliefs and practices. Early fuqaha in Spain were somewhat skeptical of philosophical thought as well as of Sufism. In later centuries, especially the twelfth and thirteenth, Sufism became more accepted and somewhat assimilated into Andalusi Islam. Scholars have generally seen this later flourishing in two different ways. For some, it reflects the influence of the mystical tradition in Cordoba attributed to Ibn Masarra.Maribel Fierro, "The Polemic about the 'Karamat al-awaliya' and the Development of Sufism in al-Andalus," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 55, no. 2 (1992), 236. Others give exclusive credit to the influence of eastern mystics, most often including al-Ghazali's thoughts and teachings. See p. 911.
One figure in particular has often been credited as being the earliest introduction of Sufism to Spain: Ibn Masarra. See p. 890. He lived from 883 to 931 and was born outside of Cordoba. Many consider him to have established the first Sufi school in the province; however, his teachings were outside of the so-called "mainstream" Sufism that was more common in the East during his lifetime.
With Ibn Masarra there was a “brief flowering” of Sufism in Spain, and later Spanish Sufis reflected his influence on them. After Ibn Masarra's death, in 940 his followers fell under heavy persecution by the jurists who destroyed Ibn Masarra's works and also forced his followers to recant. The effects of his thought and that of his disciples would appear again in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries amidst later Sufis such as Ibn Arabi. See p. 855.
By the twelfth century, shifts towards the acceptance—or at least tolerance—of philosophy and Sufism into what had previously been strictly orthodox beliefs were occurring. Many people began to read and translate the works of philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato. At the forefront of the philosophical movement in Spain were Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd, and a Jewish scholar named Ibn Maimun. Ibn Tufail introduced the element of Sufism into this philosophical way of thinking. Andalusi Sufism was at its peak at this time. Also at this time, eastern Sufism was developing more as a communal movement, whereas that of the West (including in al-Andalus), it remained largely an individual pursuit. See p.910.
A group of Sufi masters who defended the works of theosophists such as Ghazali and al-Qushayri began emerging in the late eleventh and early- to mid-twelfth centuries. Abu l-‘Abbas ibn al-‘Arif (1088-1141) was one of the most prominent Sufis in Spain and one of the earliest ones during Sufism's peak in the peninsula. He belonged to what Spanish scholar of Islam, Miguel Asin Palacios, termed the "School of Almeria," so named for its geographical location. See pa. 780.
Ibn al-Arif was one of the first to interpret Ghazali in the West, and he also founded a method of spiritual training called tariqah. Ibn al-‘Arif's disciple Ibn Qasi set up a group of religious followers in Portugal and built a monastery in Silves. He authored the Khal al-Na’lain, which Ibn ‘Arabi would later write a commentary on.A.M Mohamed Mackeen, "The Early History of Sufism in the Maghrib Prior to Al-Shadhili" Journal of the American Oriental Society 91, no 3 (1971): 403 Ibn Barrajan (d. 1141), who a student and friend of Ibn al-‘Arif, lived and taught in Seville but was originally from North Africa, has been called the Ghazali of the West. Ibn Barrajan and Ibn al-‘Arif were both tried for heresy because their views conflicted with those of the Almoravids in power; however, Ibn Barrajan appears to have been more active in using Sufism as a means of challenging Quranic scholars and jurists. See p. 864.
Ibn Arabi, another key figure of this period of Sufism in the region, was born in Murcia in 1165 at the beginning of the Almohad reign. He is one of the most important Sufis of Spain, although he--like many other Andalusi Sufis--would eventually leave the peninsula and travel throughout North Africa and the East. His works in Andalusia focused mainly on the perfect human individual, monastic metaphysics, and mystical path to spiritual and intellectual perfection. Central themes of Ibn 'Arabi's were the unity of all beings, or “wahdat al-wujud,” and also how God reflects God's self in the world. According to Ibn ‘Arabi, the main practices of Andalusi Sufis included ascesis, poverty, and devotion to the Qur’an. See p. 928.
Not long after the death of Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Andalus experienced a “spiritual aridity” in the mid-fourteenth century. The one exception to that trend was Ibn Abbad al-Rundi (1332-1390), a member of the Shadhiliyya order who was born in Ronda and whose scholarship brought together mystical and juridical paths. His work helped Sufism become more accepted within the Islamic sciences.
Although Sufism would no longer directly be a part of Andalusi life after the Catholic Monarchs reconquered all Spain, some have seen Sufism's lasting influence in Spain. See p. 530.
Medieval Age and Turko-Mongol period