Ideological attacks on Sufism were reinforced by agrarian and educational reforms, as well as new forms of taxation, which were instituted by Westernizing national governments, undermining the economic foundations of Sufi orders. They have spread westwards to Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and, more recently, to the United States, via Albania. [122] This includes dhikr as any activity in which the Muslim maintains awareness of Allah. [22] Classical Sufi texts, which stressed certain teachings and practices of the Quran and the sunnah (exemplary teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), gave definitions of tasawwuf that described ethical and spiritual goals[note 1] and functioned as teaching tools for their attainment. Bayazid Bastami is a very well recognized and influential Sufi personality. The spread of Sufism has been considered a definitive factor in the spread of Islam, and in the creation of integrally Islamic cultures, especially in Africa[71] and Asia. It took on a particularly violent form in the 18th century with the emergence of the Wahhabi movement. While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to Allah and hope to become close to God in Paradise—after death and after the Last Judgment—Sufis also believe that it is possible to draw closer to God and to more fully embrace the divine presence in this life. Nas'taliq and Cursive Nas'taliq, both modern Persian calligraphy styles have also been applied to depict visual illustrations of … Learn more. This religious art enhances the Islamic emphasis on recitation of the Qur’an in Arabic, the language of the revelation, and is … The Suhrawardiyya order (Arabic: سهروردية‎) is a Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi (1097–1168). Calligraphy is the art of beautiful penmanship or handwriting. Sufism is popular in such African countries as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam. [93] Although approaches to teaching vary among different Sufi orders, Sufism as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such has sometimes been compared to other, non-Islamic forms of mysticism (e.g., as in the books of Hossein Nasr). Walī (Arabic: ولي‎, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) is an Arabic word whose literal meanings include "custodian", "protector", "helper", and "friend. Hat Sanat is known in Arabic as khatt Islami, meaning Islamic line, design or construction. Many Sufi personalities embraced calligraphy as a sacred practice, and as a vehicle for reflection on divine mysteries. Sufi music is the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.. Qawwali is the best-known form of Sufi music, and is most commonly found in the Sufi culture in South Asia. [208], Allama Iqbal, one of the greatest Urdu poets has discussed Sufism, philosophy and Islam in his English work The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. [83], The life of the Algerian Sufi master Abdelkader El Djezairi is instructive in this regard. Revolving from right to left around the heart, the semazen embraces all humanity with love. It is an explicit reference to a Medieval system of teaching involving political theology and lettrism. No important domain in the civilization of Islam remained unaffected by Sufism in this period. On the other hand, there is the order from the Signifier to his signs, from the Artisan to his works. He is the forefather of all Sufi orders. [190] For example, the Chinese and Russian[191] governments openly favor Sufism as the best means of protecting against Islamist subversion. Also see ibid., Chapter 10 ("Iqquḇim"), s.v. C alligraphy from the Greek word kalligraphía ( καλλος kallos "beauty" + γραφος graphos "writing") meaning beautiful writing plays an important role in Islam. [103], In the 13th century, a Sufi poet from Egypt, Al-Busiri, wrote the al-Kawākib ad-Durrīya fī Madḥ Khayr al-Barīya ('The Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation'), commonly referred to as Qaṣīdat al-Burda ('Poem of the Mantle'), in which he extensively praised Muhammad. [105] Sufism leads the adept, called salik or "wayfarer", in his sulûk or "road" through different stations (maqaam) until he reaches his goal, the perfect tawhid, the existential confession that God is One. meaning and symbolism, as well as their numeric value. To engage in dhikr is to practice consciousness of the Divine Presence and love, or "to seek a state of godwariness". The vow of obedience to the Shaykh or Qutb which is taken by Sufis is considered incompatible with devotion to the Imam". Other spiritualists, such as George Gurdjieff, may or may not conform to the tenets of Sufism as understood by orthodox Muslims. The Quran refers to Muhammad as the very embodiment of dhikr of Allah (65:10–11). By removing his black cloak (hırka), he is spiritually reborn to the truth. The members or followers of a tariqa are known as murīdīn (singular murīd), meaning "desirous", viz. Although not affiliated with the hurufiyya movement, the contemporary artist Shirin Neshat integrates Arabic text into her black-and-white photography, creating contrast and duality. [53], Existing in both Sunni and Shia Islam, Sufism is not a distinct sect, as is sometimes erroneously assumed, but a method of approaching or a way of understanding the religion, which strives to take the regular practice of the religion to the "supererogatory level" through simultaneously "fulfilling ... [the obligatory] religious duties"[5] and finding a "way and a means of striking a root through the 'narrow gate' in the depth of the soul out into the domain of the pure arid unimprisonable Spirit which itself opens out on to the Divinity. [79], In the modern world, the classical interpretation of Sunni orthodoxy, which sees in Sufism an essential dimension of Islam alongside the disciplines of jurisprudence and theology, is represented by institutions such as Egypt's Al-Azhar University and Zaytuna College, with Al-Azhar's current Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb recently defining "Sunni orthodoxy" as being a follower "of any of the four schools of [legal] thought (Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki or Hanbali) and ... [also] of the Sufism of Imam Junayd of Baghdad in doctrines, manners and [spiritual] purification. Sometimes many dancers form a circle, and an individual may rotate into the center to be surrounded by the circle. Traditional Islamic scholars have recognized two major branches within the practice of Sufism and use this as one key to differentiating among the approaches of different masters and devotional lineages.[110]. The songs are classified into hamd, na'at, manqabat, marsiya or ghazal, among others. [56] In his Al-Risala al-Safadiyya, ibn Taymiyyah describes the Sufis as those who belong to the path of the Sunna and represent it in their teachings and writings. They believe in the fundamental principles of Islam, but interpreted through mystical experience. FacebookTwitterPinterest The Mevlevi Order is better known in the West as the "whirling dervishes". It permissible to listen to qawwali have castigated himself before her superior merits and sincere virtues foliated, or! 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