SUFISM

SUFISM

Perfect Masters and Sufi Dervishconsider the path of love (Ishq) as a means of attaining oneness with God. Different religious philosophies of the world stress the path of shariyat  or karm kand , but these pursuits are limited to the fulfillment of physical and mental wellbeing rather than accomplishing spirituality. Sufism, as per Sufi mystics, is the journey of the soul for oneness with the Lord through Love (Ishq). Khwaja Moinuddin belonged to “Chishti” lineage of Sufism and before his life and teachings are elaborated, thought process of Sufism needs to be focused.

Sufism is the journey of the mind and soul, and traveler on this path is called Sufi who walks the path from one’s ego self to the Supreme Self. Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi  states that unless one is fired by a passionate yearning (Vireh) for the Divinity, this path cannot be traversed.  Only the soul that is burning with intense (inner) craving can complete this journey. It is thus also termed as journey of the lover towards the Beloved because the Sufi remains immersed and  intoxicated in  Lord’s love (Ishq)

Some people believe origination of the word “Sufi” from “Soof” which means “wool”. This is because Sufis wear long woolen gown/garment that represents simplicity, unadulterated from vices of the physical world. Such dresses have become symbolic of Sufis.  Some others believe that Sufi word is derived from “Sfaa” or clean—thereby implying shunning all perversions and remain untouched from all negative tendencies. Righteousness and honesty are the foremost principles of Sufis and mandate that purity of heart is the first priority; for the Lord prefers inner spotlessness to outer hygiene. Some people believe that word Sufi is a derivative from the word  (Ahal –Al -Sufa) or a balcony  that was in front of Prophet Muhammad’s Masjid-Nabwi .

Januun Misri states that Sufi is the one, who, when utters any word, he speaks of the Truth (Haq) and in silence, his each pore should evidence that he is bereft of  greed or attachment of this world. Bishar-Al- Hafi mentions that the Sufi keeps his mind pristine pure by anchoring support of the Lord.

A Sufi prefers knowledge of inner mysteries of the Divine to the superficial knowledge of this phenomenal world and lives in the will of the Lord. He happily abides by all decrees of the Lord. He does not complain about what is directed by Lord. He remains unperturbed by excesses, needs or wants of life. Except the Lord, he cherishes nothing else.

In Arabic language, Sufism is called Tasuvf. Hazrat Marroof Warsi was asked what is meant by Tasuvf? He explained that Tasuvf means  –to manifest the Truth; to speak and discuss about the Truth; to stay away from what worldly people crave for; to live by His will; to prioritize life as per Divine ordinances and to keep the mind in abeyance from greed.

Sheikh Abu Sayyad Kharaj states Tasuvf implies--   “to have a very pure relationship with the Lord; to get filled with His light; experience bliss in His remembrance implying thereby that to wean mind away from any relationship with temporal desires and to fill the heart with His Love; appreciate the glory of the Lord and live only in His remembrance (zikr).

Another Sufi mystic Amir-Al-Momnin has descripted that Tasuvf is a permutation of four (Arabic) words. Each word carries gnostic interpretation of a spiritual phase and its attributes. Tasuvf carries twelve fundamental principles and the one who ensure full compliance to them is said to be the Sufi.

1.      Ta – first letter means Tarak =renunciation (tayag); Toba=(repentance) and Tuka=( worshipping the Lord)

2.      S— second word refers to, Sabar=(patience); Sadakat (truthfulness) and Sfaa=(cleanliness)

3.      V--third word implies , Vud=(love, Ishq),Vird=(remembrance, simran) and Vfaa=(faith/trust)

4.      F---fourth word denotes, Fard=(aloofness), Fakiri=(submission and surrender) and Fnaa (annihilation of the self )

Sufis so believe that every speck of this cosmic creation is lighted (created) by the Lord, yet no entity is God and neither God is any entity. He is the beginning, the end, the manifested and the un-manifested, the external and the internal, the Creator and the Creation. The Truth is One.

Man is the crown of the creation and is made in the image of the Lord. He has all the attributes of God but he remains unaware of them. He is ignorant of real objective of human life. Man is specially endowed with power of treading path of realization of the Truth so that he may “Know Thyself” and attain oneness with God. The more the mind gets enlightened on its journey towards the Truth, the more it gets respite from the temporal world of phenomenon.  Finally man accomplishes a state of mind wherein he gets increasingly inclined to live life of the Truth with God. Prophet Mohammad captures that state of mind as “my eyes may be sleeping, while my heart always remains awake”.

To walk the path of the Truth (Haq), there is a need of a mentor who guides and leads on that very path. That is why the necessity of a Pir, Sheikh or Kamil Murshid (Perfect Master), is a must. Without grace of a perfect Master, oneness with the Lord is impossible. Such a master cleanses the mind and helps disciple’s soul ascend from one spiritual state to another. It is said that should anyone traverse the spiritual journey without submission to a perfect Master, it may be so construed that the person is guided by the Satan. He can be compared to a tree which is uncared by the gardener, resulting into fruitless tree or whose fruit is bitter.

Sufism mandates—starting life afresh and aspiring for a spiritual journey. Murshid and Murid’s or Guru and Disciple’s the very basis of relationship is based on Love (Ishq) and devotion (Ibadat). This relationship survives in perpetuity and not to be presumed as a contractual arrangement that survives with mutual liking or gets annulled if one of the parties wishes to abandon. That is why it is said that if one becomes a disciple in real sense, he will remain a disciple till eternity. To abide by the commandments of the Master, then remains the real objective of the disciple. The essence of the life of a follower is to have full faith and humility towards the Master. The Master expounds to the seeker the technique of spiritual practice. The Master also blesses disciple with spirituality by showering His grace through His sight (drishti).

The objective of a Sufi is to indistinguishably merge with the Truth but question is how to attain that goal.  God cannot be accessed through intellect as he is beyond the realm of mind. By reading books too, His realization is also an impossibility. Sufis very strongly endorse that God can be realized by the one who falls in Love (Ishq) with Him. That is why Khawaja Muinnidin mentions—

अकल दी अख ऐ मुईन, न शक्ल यार दिखलावे

जिस रूप लैला दा ताकना होवे , ओह मजनू बन जावे

“By the eye of intellect, Oh” Muinn” that face of the Friend (God) cannot be seen

If one wants to see the form of Laila, then he must become a Majnu”

Sufis deem the Lord as their beloved and themselves as lovers (Aashq). Sufis consider love (Ishq) at the pedestal of pinnacle. They believe that love (Ishq) is not subservient to devotion while true devotion has to be compliant with demands of love (Ishq). Devoid of love (Ishq), the devotion is akin a physical body sans the soul. So long as lover and the beloved are not in a state of oneness, the fire of separation rages within the lover.

तेह तेरे दीदार दी पियारे, मेंनु लोचा जंगल लिआई

ऐसी अग इश्क दी लगी , जिस रूह अते जान सुकाई

Thirst of vision of the beloved, dragged me into jungle.

  Fire of love (Ishq) is raging -- that has rendered my soul and the very life as lifeless.

According to Shibri, love (Ishq) is that fire of heart, which, in the absence of God reduces all cravings into ashes. Sufis also believe that unless grace of the Lord is bestowed, love does not spring in the heart.

Bayazid Bistami has mentioned—“I thought that I remember the Lord, I know the Lord; I love Him; I seek Him; but when I attained some nearness with Him, then I realized that before my remembrance; He was remembering me; before I knew Him, He knew me; before I loved Him, He was loving me; before I sought Him, He was seeking me to enable me to find Him.

When Sufi experiences a state beyond pain and pleasure, difference between “I and you” ceases, his heart is thoughtless except solitary thought of his Beloved, then he merges his  self with the Supreme self. That is known as “Fnaa”—annihilation of the self. Many Sufis call stage beyond Fnaa as “Baqa” or “Amar Pad” or “Salvation”. This is deemed as the highest state of attainment. The peak of Fnaa is the starting point of Baqa—wherein the soul remains merged with Lord till eternity.

The greatest single impediment in this journey is of Nafs-Mind. So long as mind (Nafs) does not irrevocably shun worldly temptations, meditative concentration on the Lord cannot be pursued.  Till such time mind is appropriately molded, this journey remains out of the realm of possibility. Purity of the heart is thus the sole basis of this path. To tame mind, deterrents are a must. The Sufis thus keep aloof from worldly desires and cravings of mind. Self-control, renunciation or detachment is comparable to such precautions. Some believe that when Sufi Dervishrealized transient nature of this creation, then they considered these deterrents of insulating themselves from the world as the prime necessity. Sufis maintain that this creation is exceptionally transitory that it does not merit focus of any sorts. The more a person gets tangled in this world, the more his complications multiply. Thought of acquisition of this or that material entity creates anxiety in man. Anything that man wishes to acquire or accomplish creates attachment in him and thus he neglects other aspects of human life.  Renunciation of world and its detachment is termed ZUHAD or Tapsaya or Penance. Experiencing blissfulness or ZUHAD is the state when Lord is the only causative factor of that bliss and none else.

The main prerequisite of being a Sufi is to abide by the will of Lord. This is called FKAR or RAZI-B-RAZA. It is equally important that a Sufi should not complain about his poverty nor the greed or thriftiness of others.

“Sufi eats less, speaks less, and sleeps less. His devotion to the Lord is meditative concentration on the form of his beloved and His ZIKR( Simran or remembrance ). In the beginning ZIKR is done by the tongue but slowly KALBI ZIKR—Simran from the heart commences. This implies that while he is engaged in any work, his mind remains absorbed in the ZIKR. Thereafter this transmutes to ZIKRE RUHI—the Simran or remembrance done by the soul.

Through patience, contentment and living in the will of the Lord, a Sufi keeps himself absorbed in contemplation of the Lord. Slowly he proceeds towards Muqame-Haq or the Primal Abode.

Progression in Sufism is deemed to be in four steps : SHARIAT, TAREEQAT,MARFAT AND HAQEEQAT.

SHARIAT includes Namaz, Roza (fasting), Haj(visiting Macca) Zakat(charity). Some Sufis practice SHARIAT, while many others consider it unnecessary. Real objective of SHARIAT is reining tendencies of mind so that attention gets focused on the Lord instead of the world. SHARIAT is a starting point and not the destination.

TAREEQAT contains attributes of purity of character, honesty, truthfulness, patience, humility, renunciation and service etc. with which spiritual practice as per the technique elaborated by the Murshid—the perfect Master, is to be applied. The gain to a spiritual aspirant accrues from devotion to the Lord, but unless heart (KALB) is made pure, devotion is not fruitful.

MARFAT means to detach mind and senses from the soul by spiritual practice and to “know thyself”. Inner mystical experience is the very soul or essence of MARFAT.

HAQEEQAT is that pinnacle where the soul, purified from all influences of mind and senses becomes one with the Divine Truth. The soul then gets released from the mortal (FNAA) creation by attaining perpetual redemption to state of MUQAME HAQ (SATLOK) and attains eternal life –called BAQA or AMAR JEEVAN.

SHARIAT of different religions may vary but TAREEQAT,MARFAT AND HAQEEQAT are universal for all religious philosophies.

LINEAGE OF SUFISM

According to Sufi’s tradition, Prophet Mohammad familiarized some of his close associates and disciples with TAREEQAT –to lead a pure life with devotion to the Lord--and blessed them with Divine grace, which is called AL-BARQA-AL-MOHAMMADIA. He then permitted them to transmit his instructions to prospective seekers in the coming days, so that they may also be recipient of Lord’s spiritual grace.

Thus Prophet Mohammad vested some of his followers with responsibility for spreading his mystical teachings to coming generations. This work then continued from one generation to another and missionaries of mystical knowledge came to be known as Murshids, Sheikhs or Darveshs. Each Sufi Darvesh would have a Murshid and each Darvesh would establish one or more Khalifas (Caliphates). Thus Dervishof such type created a chain that came to be known as Silsila (Lineage or Tradition). When a Murshid or Darvesh became very prominent in a lineage or Silsila, then his successor Dervishwould also add his name with them. For example, Abdul Kadir Jilani’s lineage has come to be known as Kadria’s family and line of eighth Darvesh of Chishti was named after “Chishti”.

It is difficult to pinpoint a fixed date of start of Sufi descent in India, but it is believed that it could have commenced in the beginning of 11^th century. Historical details of Sufis is available from Sind, Panjab and North-Western areas. Some of Indian Sufi lineages are SUHARAVARDI, NAKSHBANDI, KADRI, FIRDAUSI AND CHISHTI.  

SUHARAVARDI tradition commenced from ABDUL-KAHIR-ABU-NAJIB-SUHARAVARDI, who was a disciple AHMAD GAZALI. The start of this lineage of Junaid Baghdadi and Al-Gazali is believed to have initiated from Hazrat Ali, son–in-law and Caliph of Prophet Mohammad. The spread of this line was largely carried out by Sheikh Shabbudin-Abu–Hafs-Al Suharavardi. During Mongolian invasion, Sufis of this tradition migrated from Iran to India, which led to expansion of Sufism in this region. Here Sheikh Bhauddin Zakaria, the follower of Sheikh Shabbudin, initiated the process and thereafter Sayyad Jaluluddin Surkhposh Bukhari established a focal point in North East Multan for dissemination of teachings of this tradition. After that, Sheikh Rukkanddin propagated the same to Delhi. Sultanates of Delhi, from King Alluddin Khilji to Mohammad Bin Tuglak accorded respect and reverence to this lineage.   

In India, FIRDAUSI tradition is believed to have commenced from Khawja Baddurdin Samarkandi. In fact Firdausi lineage is an off shoot of Suharvardi. In 14th Century, this line expanded in Bihar. Sheikh Shrafuddin Ahmd Bin Yaya Mneri was a great Sufi Darvesh of Firdausi lineage. He provided a new turn to Firdausi philosophy.  He instilled deep and candid insights in his work MALOFZAAT. Amongst Bihar’s Sufis, names of Makhdum Isral Mneri, Makhdum Ismail Mneri and Hazrat Makhdum Yaya Mneri are prominent.

NAKSHBANDI tradition is linked to Yakub Yusuf Al-Hamdani. Later on Kwaja Bahuddin Nakshbandi strengthened this line and thus was named Nakshbandi.  One of the caliphates of Khawaja Hamdani, named as Abdul Khalik Gijdwani outlined “eight fundamental principles” of this tradition. These principles are still adhered to by the followers of Nakshbandi. In mid-Asia,countries of Mangols, Timur and Uzbekhs were also influenced by this philosophy. In India, Khwaja Baqi Bilah( died in 1785) started this lineage. Khwaja Mir Dard, Shah Waliullah, Sheikh Ahmed preached about this system.

KADRI  tradition was born in Baghdad through the great Sufi Darvesh Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Kadir Jilani. With utmost respect he is called and honored as “Pir Dastgir”, “Peerane Pir”, “Gosul- Azam”. It is so believed that in India this tradition commenced through Mohammad Gos which belonged to the family line of Abdul Kadir Jilani. Prominent Indian Sufis of Kadri line are Hazrat Inayyat Shah, Sain, Bulle Shah,Hazrat Sultan Bahu and Hazrt Mian Mir. Shah Latif Bhitai of Sind is also related to this tradition.

CHISHTI tradition is named after city of Chishit in Khursan province of Iran. Some Dervishmade city of CHISHT as the Centre of dissemination of their spiritual sermons. This town became so prominent that Dervishhailing from this place came to be known as Chishti.  Some historians have associated commencement of this lineage from Hazrat Ali, the Caliph of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, like Suharvardi line. Then, after Khawaja Abu Ishak Shami Chishti, the Darvesh of this family were called Chishti. Khawaja Abu Ishak Shami died in 950 AD.  After him, there were six Sheikhs and thereafter Khawja Moinuddin Hasan Sanjari Chisti came in this lineage. From Iran he arrived in India and made city of Ajmer as the Centre of sermonizing this tradition.  Gradually, this thought process got propagated throughout India.

Khawja Moinuddin appointed two Caliphs : Khwaja Qutabuddin Bakhtiar Kaki and Khawja Hamiduddin Nagori. Khwaja Qutabuddin Bakhtiar Kaki extensively preached Chisti tradition in and around Delhi. Sultan Shamsuddin Altmash, king of Delhi held him in great reverence. Amongst Khwaja Qutabuddin Bakhtiar Kaki’s Caliph Khawja Fariduddin Massoud carries a special prominence. He later gained famed as Baba Farid Shakarganj. Out of five Caliphs of Baba Farid, Hazrat Nizzamuddin Aulia is very famous. Khawja Moinuddin also enjoyed a very close rapport with second Caliph, Khawja Hamiduddin Nagori. He was a very adept scholar of Arabic and Persian. His mystical attainments were such that Khawja Moinuddin honored him with the title of SULTANUL-TARIKEEN (Emperor of Darveshs). His poetry in Hindi penetrates deep in the innermost recesses of hearts when he depicts about Divine love. This tradition thereafter thrived through Khwaja Husain Nagori and  Sheikh Kabir.