sufism is the heart of islam

this view, which I am now going to analyse and interpret.

Firstly, although Sufism mostly concentrates on the inner world of man and deals

with the meaning and effect of religious commandments on mans spirit and heart and

is therefore abstract, it does not contradict any of the Islamic ways based on the Quran

and the Sunna. In fact its source is the Quran and the Sunna, as well as the

conclusions drawn from the Quran and the Sunna via deduction by the purified

scholars of Islam. The Quran for Muslims is their most holy book, which lays down

for them the law and commandments as well as containing a comprehensive religious

philosophy. The Sunna for Muslims is the deeds, sayings and the manners of the

prophet, which are to be emulated by Muslims all over.  Both the Quran and theSunna

are of great importance for Muslims and for their religion Islam. So if Sufism derives

its sources from the Quran and the Sunna then it must also be the heart of the religion

itself. Sufism dwells on the fundamental virtues of Islam, knowledge of God,

sincerity, perfect goodness, and other similar fundamental virtues. The priorities of

Sufism have never been different from those of the Shariah. The Shariah is the body

of Islamic religious law. Both groups have always depended on the Quran and the

Sunna, which are the two main sources of Islam. Both disciplines stress the

importance of belief and of engaging in good deeds and good conduct, the only

difference is that Sufis emphasize deepening the meaning of good deeds and

multiplying them. Sufism must be the heart of Islam since it makes the superfluous

endeavour to increase the good deeds that make Allah pleased.

Another notable fact is the meaning of the word Islam ‘surrender’. True surrender is

not only concerned with the will of a Muslim, as it must also involve their whole

being. Islam states that a person must be the perfect servant of God in the sense of

following his commands. Clearly Allah has given Muslims many faculties such as

free will and intelligence, therefore the surrender of Muslims to Allah must be

complete and total and not limited to certain faculties. It must occupy the entire

individual because otherwise unknown thoughts and emotions as well as false ideas

can combine with a misleading sense of external surrender of ones will to God to

produce acts in the name of religion that can have disastrous consequences. Sufism is

the heart of Islam because Sufis themselves surrender internally as well as externally

to the will of God, as it not only is one of their core beliefs but also they make the

extra effort to surrender to the will of God, instead of mainstream Muslims who limit

themselves to following the legalistic side of the religion. Sufis are the ones who

show the greatest attachment to the Shariah, whose inner significance they seek to

reach.

A different explanation as to why Sufism is the heart of Islam is because although the

Quran emphasizes that all Muslims stand equally before God, it also insists that

human beings are distinguished in rank according to their knowledge of the truth and

virtue, as in the verses, ‘are those who know equal with those who know not?’ 

(Quran39:9) and one of Sufism’s main goals is ultimate knowledge, knowledge of

 God, which is why they must be the heart of their religion, as they create extra

emphasis on the fundamental virtues of Islam.

In Islam itself, Sufism has been over the centuries the hidden heart that has

renewed the religion intellectually, spiritually, and ethically and has played the

greatest role in its spread and in its relation with other religions.

As this person noted in their book ‘    ‘, Sufis themselves have visualized Islam as a

circle whose hub is the haqiqah. Haqiqa refers to the ‘inner Truth’ or ‘inner Reality’

that Sufis believe is at the heart of Islamic revelation. The radii of the circle are the

tariqah, and the circumference is the Shariah. Tariqah means the path that one follows

through spiritual practise in order to reach the ultimate truth (the haqiqa). Each

Muslim is like a point on the circumference, whose totality composes the Islamic

community or ummah. To reach the haqiqah one must first stand on the

circumference, that is, practise the Shariah, and then follow the tariqah, or path to

God, whose end is the centre, God himself, or the haqiqah. This raises the truth that

Sufism is the heart of Islam, as here it undoubtedly explains how.

All the evidence noted above bestows the suggestion that Sufism is the heart of Islam

yet the confirmation has not been revised from both sides and is therefore not

balanced yet. To balance our answer to the main question ‘Sufism is the heart of

Islam’ then we must now take into consideration reasons for why Sufism might not be

the heart of Islam.

Firstly Sufism has come across many problems by fellow Muslim brothers and sisters.

For instance, much Sufi poetry refers to intoxication, ( ‘Intoxicated by the Wine of

Love. From each a mystic silence Love demands’) (Poem by famous Sufi poet Farid

ud Din Attar)  which Islam expressly forbids as haraam. Some Sufi orders use music,

drugs and alcohol to produce ecstatic states. Wine is even a symbol of divine

intoxication in the Sufi language of ecstasy. Not only are these haraam in Islam but

they also divert the spiritual focus of Sufism. How may Sufism be the pure,

uncontaminated heart of Islam when those things that are prohibited in Islam are not

forbidden in Sufism? Consequently this leads to doubts being cast over the validity of

Sufism as a part of Islam. Not only that but some groups have emerged that consider

themselves above the shariah and discussed Sufism as a method of bypassing the rules

of Islam in order to attain salvation directly, this has been dissaproved of heavily by

muslim scholars. Many Muslims have even considered Sufism as a corruption of

Islam drawing on the Sufi concept of fana, passing into Allah and feeling Allah’s

presence combined with the use of mystical experiences. Fana is interpreted, as being

at one with Allah, which is crucially erroneous as Allah is the one and only and the

major offence in Islam is to unite an additional with the most glorious Allah. A key

theme in Islam is tawhid which is the concept of monotheism and firmly holds that

God is the one and only.

Further so why Sufism has no site in being the heart of Islam is that the Sufis say:

"When you unite with the Beloved (God), then there is neither command nor

prohibition in matters of religion." Sufis here have customarily discarded the doctrine

of "the fear of God, the wrath of the Day of Judgment, the fury of the Hell-Fire and

the promise of Jannah’. They say Faith based on compulsion is slavery, and God has

created man with intelligence, free will and love. Hence the mainspring of Sufism is

 love not fear and obedience to the religious laws. Yet the one and only Allah the

Exalted describe his believers as: "Verily those who fear their Lord with reverence,

and those who believe in the signs of the Lord, and those who ascribe no partners to

their Lord, and those who give what they give while their hearts are full of fear,

because to their Lord they will return."(23.57-61) Thus it has been clearly stated here

using verses from the Quran that Sufism has gone against the doctrines of Islam, as

the love of Allah necessitates following the commands of the Messenger of Allah

with hope for reward and fear of punishment in the Hereafter.

Muslims deem that any particular act of devotion must be substantiated by the Quran

and Sunna only. Allah the Exalted says: "Say (to them), 'Produce your proof if you

are truthful'." [2: 111], and the Prophet (s.a.w) said, "The created is not to be obeyed

over the Creator." However the sheikhs in Sufism are given the standing of a deity,

when attributes which belong to only Allah, are also assigned to their Sheikhs. How

can Sufism be the heart of Islam when they are going against Allah in terms of whom

to praise and to what extent.

Never the less orthodox Muslims may condemn fundamentals of Sufism yet they

never habitually outlaw Sufism as completely incorrect. In this sense if there are

elements of Sufism criticised heavily by Muslims as well as non-Muslims alike, and

there are other elements that are not usually criticised, then how may Sufism be the

true heart of the religion of Islam when it is clearly not accepted fully and truly by all

Muslims of all sects.

To understand the true heart of Islam it is essential to understand the significance of

the prophet Muhammad s.a.w from the traditional Muslim point of view. The Quran

asserts clearly that the prophet was a man and not divine but also adds that he was

given the most exalted and noble character and that he was chosen as a model for

Muslims to emulate. For Muslims the prophet is a mortal man but also Gods most

perfect creature, or what the Sufis call the universal man. As Sufis seek spiritual

closeness with God then they are also putting themselves on the same level as

Muhammad s.a.w.

If Sufism is subsequently not the heart of Islam, in that case then what is? Could the

five pillars: Shahada, Salah, Zakah, Sawm or Hajj be the hearts of Islam. Or the

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, the ummah, the concept of jihad, the Quran, possibly

Sunnis or shia’s or a sect of Islam? These are all elements of the religion Islam, yet

what is that which stands out above the rest? If the holy Quran is the source of Islam,

then it must also be the heart of Islam? This book of divine guidance and direction

for mankind was revealed to the prophet Muhammad s.a.w through the angel Gabriel.

The prophet Muhammad s.a.w on the other hand is considered to be the central human

figure in the religion of Islam as well as being the restorer of the uncorrupted original

monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, and Jesus etc. what if the prophet Muhammad

s.a.w a Sufi? More over I mean this central religious text of Islam cannot be

unaccompanied in being the heart of Islam, meaning the prophet Muhammad s.a.w

must in addition be obliged to be the heart of Islam, or if not entirely at least a

component of it? This gives rise to the reality that every mainspring idea in Islam

(such as the five pillars, ummah, jihad) is thought of in elevated significance but yet

none single-handedly can fit the true hearts of Islam. All either must be combined

totally in order to allow the heart of Islam to be formulated or there is something that

is of even greater importance, which is veiled yet. If no one thing can be the true heart

of Islam then there must be a variety of things which when thought of together make

up the ultimate hearts of Islam, (one of which could be mysticism.)

Conclusion

After evaluating all the evidence drawn upon I have come to the conclusion

that Sufism and the mystical experiences are not at the heart of Islam because their

 negative aspects outweigh their positive aspects, and rather the oneness of Allah

(tawhid) is the true heart of Islam. As Syed Hossein Nasr has said in

his book ‘The Heart Of Islam’, at the heart of Islam stands the reality of God, the one,

the absolute, and the infinite. Greater then all we can conceive or imagine, yet closer

to us then our jugular vein. Allah is the central reality of Islam in all of its facets, and

attestation to this oneness, which is called tawhid, is the axis around which all that is

Islamic revolves. The oneness of God is for Muslims not only the heart of their

religion, but also that of every authentic religion. The uncontaminated pure and true

heart of Islam is to testify to this oneness, using the formula ‘there is no God but God

and Muhammad s.a.w is the last messenger of Allah.’ This testament is not only the

heart of Islam as well as the foundation from which all other beliefs and practises of

Islam are sought, but it is also the first words a newborn will hear.

Bibliography

Books-

‘The other side of Sufism’ by A. Tabari

‘The heart of Islam’ by Syed Hossein Nasr

‘The mystics of Islam’ by

‘The basics Islam’ by Colin Turner

Sufism By

‘The mystical doctrines and methods of Islam’ by William Stoddart

Websites-

Wikipedia - Sufism

• Sufi
• Islam
• Muhammad s.a.w
• Quran