In response to the growing Middle
East crisis, especially that promoted by the Islamic group ISIS, a Muslim body on Sunday (Sept. 8) urged
India’s Prime Minister to promote
Sufism as a counter to terrorism.
While
some the Western countries are urging a military solution perhaps a more peaceful
means such as the one suggested above by the Muslim group in India should be
considered. It maybe the only bridge that could lead to mutual trust
and understanding between the major Islamic sects in the Middle East and bring an end to the growing religious extremism.
Sufism is an Islamic Mystical tradition which is above barriers of religion, caste, creed or region. It
teaches love and humanity and non-violence while terrorism teaches hate
and violence.
Today’s headlines are filled with the politics of Islam, but
there is another side to the world's fastest-growing religion. Sufism is the
poetry and mysticism of Islam. This mystical movement from the early ninth
century rejects worship motivated by the desire for heavenly reward or the fear
of punishment, insisting rather on the love of God as the only valid form of
adoration. Sufism has made significant contributions to Islamic civilization in
music and philosophy, dance and literature. The Sufi poet Rumi is the
bestselling poet in America. But in recent centuries Sufism has been a target
for some extremist Islamic movements as well as many modernists. The ‘Garden of Truth’ (2007) presents the
beliefs and vision of the mystical heart of Islam, along with a history of Sufi
saints and schools of thought.
In a world threatened by religious wars, depleting natural
resources, a crumbling ecosystem, and alienation and isolation, what has
happened to our humanity? Who are we and what are we doing here? The Sufi path
offers a journey toward truth, to a knowledge that transcends our mundane
concerns, selfish desires, and fears. In Sufism we find a wisdom that brings
peace and a relationship with God that nurtures the best in us and in others.
Noted scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr helps you learn the secret
wisdom tradition of Islam and enter what the ancient mystics call the
"garden of truth." Here, liberate your mind, experience peace, discover
your purpose, fall in love with the Divine, and find your true, best self.
Here follows a brief outline of Sufism as described by author Timothy Freke to his introduction of his book 'The Wisdom of the Sufi Sages' (1998):
Here follows a brief outline of Sufism as described by author Timothy Freke to his introduction of his book 'The Wisdom of the Sufi Sages' (1998):
Sufis are Muslim mystics who trace their spiritual lineage to the great prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Like all mystics, Sufis are not concerned with secondhand knowledge about God, but with a personal experience of God. For Sufis the outer forms of religion are merely vehicles for spiritual content that lies beyond all rites and creeds. Sufi sage Shibli is said to have run through the streets carrying flaming coals announcing he was going to set fire to the Ka' aba[i], the most sacred place- in Islam, so that Muslims would concern themselves less with a place and more with the Lord of the Ka’ aba. Such enthusiasm for Truth has often caused Sufis to be branded as heretics, and horribly persecuted by orthodox Islamic authorities. Yet their wisdom has survived to inspire generations it spiritual seekers.
Sufism is a voyage of discovery into ourselves and beyond ourselves; a pilgrimage to become the perfect servants of Allah; a love affair with the Divine Beloved in which the lovers merge in mystical union. The Sufis may be seen, as esoteric and mystifying, but actually they are trying to point us to something so obvious that we miss it. God is everywhere and everything. We are God. There is nothing but the Oneness of God. It is only our own sense of being a separate ego that obscures the omnipresent Truth. 'Sufism is simply about seeing things as they are - - a mystical realization that is available to all. When the Sufi saint Rabi’a heard Sahli of Qazwin teaching "Knock and the door will open for you" she admonished him what are you talking about Salih the Door has never been shut.” The great mystic poet Jalaliddin Rumi wrote, I knocked and the door opened but I found I'd been knocking from the inside.
The Sufis approach God through many divine Names 'that I express his various attributes, but the Name "Allah" combines and transcends all these attributes, Allah is the Supreme Reality. The word "Allah" combines the roots "al" and "la" to express "The Oneness of Being and Nothingness." God embraces all opposites. As it says in the Holy Qur'an "He the first and the last, the apparent and the hidden." He is he "Soul of all souls" as Rumni puts it. He is not confined by any one creed but is the one God who speaks through all genuine religion, manifesting Himself in different ways appropriate to the individual seeker."
[i] a cuboid building at the centre of Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Many Christians will be surprised to discover the similarities
between the two religions contained in the following quotes from the great
Suffi master Rumi:
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the
barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
― Rumi
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
― Rumi
“Stop acting
so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”
― Rumi
“What you
seek is seeking you.”
― Rumi
“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in
another form.”
― Rumi
“You were
born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”
― Rumi
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a
river moving in you, a joy.”
― Rumi
“Forget
safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.”
― Rumi
“Knock, And
He'll open the door
Vanish, And He'll make you shine like the sun
Fall, And He'll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, And He'll turn you into everything.”
― Rumi
“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have
gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
― Rumi,
I want to know the joy
of how you whisper
"more”
― Rumi
“Ignore
those that make you fearful and sad, that degrade you back towards disease and
death.”
― Rumi
“My soul is
from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.”
― Rumi
“In your
light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside
my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this
art.”
― Rumi
“silence is
the language of god,
all else is poor translation.”
― Rumi
“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows
flowers, not thunder.”
― Rumi
“Yesterday I
was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing
myself.”
― Rumi
“Where there
is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.”
― Rumi
“Let
yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”
― Rumi
“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying
about who hears or what they think.”
― Rumi
“Everything
in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.”
― Rumi
“Be grateful
for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
― Rumi
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