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191 CHAPTER 22 Sufism Islamic mysticism organizes its practices and doctrines around seeking out a form of unity with God, and Sufism is the name applied to its many different schools and expressions. The term is derived from the Arabic word to describe a person who is engaged in the mystic path: s .ufī. There is some uncertainty about the root meaning of the word, but most accept that it derives from the word for wool, s .ūf, and refers to the coarse, woolen garments that were worn by early Muslim ascetics. Some also believe that this term for mysticism comes from s .afā’, meaning “purity.” Sources of Sufi Spirituality Muhammad was a mystic, and his very role of prophet confirms the mystical sense of communication with the ultimate, with a transcendent relationship with God. On the other hand, he was a worldly leader who also engaged in the mundane issues of human life as a social, political, religious, and military, as well as prophetic leader. He is considered to be exceptional by Muslims because of his unique ability to transcend what are usually separate and conflicting aspects of human leadership. Different Muslims, then, relate to Muhammad differently: some in terms of social or political leadership , some in terms of military leadership, and some in terms of his mystical qualities as the recipient of divine revelation and what is generally considered to have been his intimate relationship with God. 192 A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O I S L A M F O R J E W S In the early years under Muhammad’s leadership, God seemed extremely immanent. As Muhammad articulated the divine word in the Qur’an, “We created humanity and We know what the soul whispers inside, for We are closer to humanity than the jugular vein” (Q.50:6). New religious movements invariably exude an excitement and immediacy that tend to subside when they become successful, grow in numbers and strength, and build the necessary institutions to manage a large community. Normalization brings formalization , hierarchies, and bureaucracies. Much of the initial spontaneity inevitably becomes institutionalized through the routine of ritual, even though a major goal of ritual is to re-create and “democratize” the original spirituality of a few by bringing it to a larger mass of participants. But as the devotional life of Muslims became more formalized and dominated by a religious leadership associated with institutional mosques, many yearned for the warmer and more immediate spirituality that was associated with Muhammad and the original, intimate community of Believers. The entire career of the Prophet took place before there was an empire. The revelations of the Qur’an, the Sunna of the Prophet, and all the stories of the righteous companions in the deserts of Arabia took place in a simpler time before the corrupting influence of wealth and power. Soon after, Islam became a major justification for empire within the caliphates, and it naturally became associated by many with harsh rule, greed, and injustice. By only a few decades after the death of the Prophet, the revolutionary and progressive Arabian religious movement of Islam had become the religion of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern empires and bureaucracies, armies, and realpolitik. In reaction, many Muslims began looking for something deeper, something more closely connected to the transcendent. They longed for the experience of an ultimate reality that exists beyond the limits of power, wealth, and political influence. They aspired to retrieve the emphasis on love that epitomized for them the core of the divine relationship. In Muslim circles, those movements that strove and continue to strive to recapture the mystical intimacy and immediacy of the religious experience are called Sufism. Sufi Qur’an Interpretation As noted in Part 2, Qur’an interpretation evolved into two general categories (and many subcategories within them). One is called tafsīr and relates to the contextual or “plain” interpretation of the outward, literal, and essential meanings of the Qur’an. The other is called ta’wīl and relates to the investigation of internal, allegorical, and symbolic meanings. Sufis became deeply involved in the latter approach. According to those engaged in ta’wīl, there are, in addition to the plain or evident meanings of Qur’an verses 193 C H A P T E R 2 2 (sometimes called the “obvious” meanings), hidden or internal meanings that get to the issues that transcend normative, mundane life. The Qur’an...

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