Organization for Islamic Learning

Islamic Mysticism

From the early days of Islamic empire under the Umayyads (8th century) the mysticism that began as an ascetic reaction to growing worldliness in the Muslim community finally became institutionalized in the mysticism of personality, whose goal was spiritual and moral perfection. Sufism, as Islamic mysticism came to be known, aimed to internalize the formally undertaken ritual acts, and emphasized rigorous self-assessment and self-discipline. In its early form Sufism was mainly a form ascetic piety that involved ridding oneself of any dependence on satisfying one's desire in order to devote oneself entirely to God. Mystical practices developed by the Sufi masters comprised a moral process to gain the relative personal clarity that comes at moments of retreat and reflection. A further dimension of this reflection was to cultivate an ability to face reality about oneself and to love any being capable of needing love. From daily moments of reflection the mystic experienced more intense levels of awareness, which could take ecstatic forms, including ecstatic love of God. This aspect of Sufism brought the mystics into direct conflict with the `ulama, who emphasized active obedience to God as the highest goal of religious meaning and purpose. Sufi teaching that a symbolic and spiritual fulfillment of religious duties was as good as the actual rites was seen by the `ulama as a kind of antinomian behavior in the community that considered literal adherence to the requirements of law as the valid form of religiosity. In general, Sufis increasingly tended to minimize religious differences among different faiths and cultivated humanism based on universalistic spiritual and moral qualities.

By the eleventh century the Sufi masters had developed a new form of religious orientation which brought about the acceptance of Sufism by the ordinary people in many parts of the Islamic world, near the end of the twelfth century, were organized in several formal Sufi brotherhood or order (tariqa) in which women also participated. Each order taught a pattern of invocation and meditation that used devotional practices to organize a group of novices under a master. Special controls of breath and bodily posture accompanied invocative words or syllables to make possible more intense concentration. The `ulama, who had been suspicious of early elitist Sufism, were now persuaded to accept the Sufism of the masses and to try to discipline it. The ultimate approval of Sufism as a genuine form of Islamic piety was facilitated by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111), who taught Islamic law and theology in Baghdad. His writings in connection with his personal spiritual crisis at the height of his professional success demonstrated that Sufism could be a powerful discipline for curing doubt and experiencing truth.

A number of Sufi masters served as analysts for younger Sufis, helping them to understand their psychic states and making sense of their place in the universe. In the pre-modern Islamic world, where medical treatment was not generally available to an average person, some prominent Sufis practiced traditional medicine based on the theory of the four humors that kept the body functioning. Herb remedies were used to treat ailments caused by imbalance in the four qualities in the body (hot and cold, moist and dry), which led to an imbalance of the humors. Other Sufis treated certain physical and psychical disorders through the writing of talismans and amulets. Talismans, even using sections of the Qur'an, and exorcism, are used in treating mental disorders even today in rural areas of the Islamic world.

© Organization for Islamic Learning October 2007