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Sufism in History and its Relationship with Power

Author(s): TANVIR ANJUMSource: Islamic Studies, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Summer 2006), pp. 221-268Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, IslamabadStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20839016.

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IslamicStudies 45:2 (2006) pp. 221-268

Sufism inHistory and itsRelationship with PowerTANVmANJUM

Mysticism is a universalphenomenonwhich represents streakor a currentthat runs throughmany great religious traditionsof theworld, includingHinduism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Hellenism, Judaism,Christianity and Islam. In Islam, this tradition is referredto as Sufismortosawwuf. riginating fromcertainQur'?nic injunctionsand the sayings nddeeds of the Prophet (peace be on him), Sufism as a distinctmovementacquired its specificcontours at a relatively aterstage.The popularityof theSufimovement,which went hand inhand with thecrystallization f a setofSufidoctrines and practices,was far frombeing an abrupt development.Onthe contrary,the growth of Sufism into a fully-developedmovement withinstitutionalizedpracticeswas theresult f a protractedprocess stretchingvercenturiesduringwhich it proliferatedover the lengthand breadth of theMuslim lands.1But from its very inception, Sufism had a problematicrelationshipwith theMuslim establishment with the custodians of bothpolitical and religiousauthorities. he rulingelite,which had a firmgripoverpolitical power, were generally suspicious of its disruptive and revolutionarypotential,while the 'ulama' (thereligiousscholars, includingthe theologiansand jurists), articularlythosewho servedon officialpositions and had cometo represent the religious authority, were even more apprehensive of the Sufis.Some of themsincerely ontested the Sufidoctrinesandpractices,while otherswere prone to envythepublic esteemwhich the Sufisenjoyed, since the latterwere seen by the people as an alternative locus of religious authority.The presentpaper attempts o explore themeaning, origin and evolutionof Sufism and to delineate its cardinal doctrines and institutionalization fmajor Sufi practices. It also seeks to enquire the causes behind the rapidpopularity of the Sufimovement among the Muslims. In addition, it

1The term 'Muslim lands' here refersto the areas inhabited by people predominantly orsignificantlyuslim by faith uch as theMiddle East including rabia and Iraq,Persia and partsofCentral Asia.

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222 TANVIR NJUMinvestigates he relationship f the Sufiswith thevarious political authoritiesin theMuslim lands fromthe seventh o theearlythirteenthcentury.

Beforewe embarkon theseexplorations, twould beworthwhile to beclear as towhat Sufism is.What isSufism?Since there is a lack of a standard appellation for Sufism or tasawwufespecially in studieson it in non-orientallanguages, number of terms re incommon currency for it.The terms Sufism and tasawwuf are interchangeablyused forotherphrases such

asmysticism

or Islamicmysticism.However, thereare conceptual problemswith theseappellations,particularlywith the lattertwo. In fact theWestern scholarsof Sufism and the orientalistshave usuallytendedto interpretufidoctrines andpracticesthrough heprismofChristianconcepts,which might at times be quite misleading and confusing.Thistendency is evident from the use of a terminologyhaving Christianconnotations fordescribingand explainingSufi concepts.2 or instance, ermssuch as saint and sainthood carrydistinctive connotations in theChristianreligious tradition,and one is liable to confuse themwith the Christianconcept of sainthood.According to theChristian concept of sainthood, theholiness of saints srecognizedby theprocessof canonization institutedby theRoman Catholic Church. On thecontrary, here sno suchpractice in Islam,as the Sufi shaykhs o not need any formalrecognitionof their spiritualityfrom ny institution.Similarly,theusage of sociological concepts suchasMaxWeber's concept of charisma (oftenmistakenlyused as an English equivalentforbarakah) for the spiritualpowers of the Sufi shaykhs lso seems to bereductive, and hence inadequate.Beforewe look intoothermatterspertainingto Sufism,we shallbrieflyexplore themeanings of the relevant terms in use.The term 'mysticism' s used in a generic sense to referto any of themystical traditions n,or spiritual ssentials ommon to, thegreatreligions fthe world like Hinduism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism,Hellenism, Judaism, hristianity, nd Islam. It is consideredto be thecore of

2When aword is translatedfromone languageinto another,it is importantthatthe translationmust be faithful o themeaning of theword translated. ince all languagescontain theirspecificworldviews, the task of translationbecomes challenging. t becomes furthercomplicatedwhenconcepts are to be translated, and particularly when these concepts are religious, since a smalldifference inmeaning may create problems in explanation and analysis. For problems oftranslationfromone language intoanother,seeJosephF. Graham, ed.Difference inTranslation(NewYork andLondon: Ithaca, 1985).



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 223all religions.3 ysticism isgenerallybelieved to be associatedwithmysteriousphenomena. The words 'mystic' and 'mystery' have common etymologicalroots, being derived from a Greek word myein, meaning "to close the eyes."4Mysticism has been defined as "the belief thatknowledge ofGod and of realtruthmay be reached by directingone's mind or through spiritual insightindependently f reason and thesenses."5n fact trefers o theesotericaspectsand the spiritualcurrentgoing throughmany of thegreat religions.Broadlyspeaking, tunderlies somebasic principlescommon to allmystical traditions.These principles entail a direct consciousnessofGod by an individual,his orher comprehensionof theDivine Truth, and the consequentdevelopmentofhis orhermeditative and intuitive aculties.Here itseemsuseful tobriefly xplore themeaning of thetermsrelatedtomysticism. One such term ismystic, used both as a noun and as an adjective.As a noun, a mystic is defined as a person who tries to become united withGod and so reach truthsbeyond human understanding.As an adjective, it isdefined as (i) having hiddenmeaning or spiritualpower, (ii) of or based onmysticism, and (iii) causing a feeling f deep respectandwonder.6 Since theterms mysticism and spiritualism or spirituality are often usedinterchangeably, it is pertinent to look into their definitions as well.Spiritualismhas been definedas "belief n thepossibilityof receivingmessagesfromthe spirits f thedead,"whereas spiritualityas been definedas "the stateor quality of being concernedwith spiritualmatters."7The Sufi adepts alsofocus on their spiritual development and self-purification,nd in someinstances, heyare said toderive spiritualbenefit from the spirits f the Sufishaykbs of bygone ages.The term 'Sufism' isofGerman coinage. In 1821, aLatin work by F. A.G. Tholuck, aGerman professorofDivinity, introducedthe term.8 sed in3Keeping in view the dominant doctrinal trend in themystical systemsof various religions,

Dupr? has labelled Hindu mysticism as theMysticism of the Self, that of Buddhism as theMysticism ofEmptiness, thatofEastern and earlyWestern Christianity as theMysticism of theImage, thatof Islam andmodern Christianity as theMysticism ofLove, and that of JudaismasEschatologicalMysticism. For a briefaccount ofmysticism in various religious traditions, eeLouis Dupr?, "Mysticism" in The Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Macmillan, 1987),10:245-61.4Annemarie Schimmel,MysticalDimensions of slam (Lahore: Sang-e-MeelPublications, 2003rpt.,firstpublished 1975), 3.5JonathanCrowther, ed. OxfordAdvanced Learner'sDictionary ofCurrent English, 5th ed.(Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1996),770.6Ibid.7Ibid, 1146.8FriedrichAugust Gottreu Tholuck, SufismussiveTheosophiaPersarum Pantheisitica (Berlin:Duemmleri, 1821).



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224 TANVIR ANJUMcommon parlance, it is generallyperceived to be an anglicizedversion of theword tasawwufThe postfix ism'refers o a system r a philosophy.The termSufismwas popularized by theBritishOrientalists,9which has been spelledasSufiism aswell.10Owing to itshaving gained common currency,the termSufismhas been used in thispaper.A word of Arabic origin,11 asawwuf s thename given to themysticaltradition of Islam, or Islamicmysticism. It is generally considered to be astandard appellation in studies on Sufism in oriental and non-Westernlanguages. In common parlance, an individualwho becomes associatedwithSufismor becomes a 'seeker fdivine truth' sdescribedas a Sufior an initiate.

William Stoddartmakes an importantclarification n this regard: "Strictlyspeaking,theArabic word s??, like the Sanskritword yogi,refersonly to onewho has attained the goal; nevertheless, t is often applied by extension toinitiates ho are stillmerely traveling owards t."12o a Sufidoes not have tobe necessarily an adept; any individualcommitted to traversing he spiritualtrajectories ay also be termed s a Sufi.Beforewe look into the definition andmeaning of tasawwuf it seemsbefitting o explore theetymologicalderivationof tasawwuf nd Sufi.Etymological Derivations ofTasawwuf and SufiThe Arabic word tasawwuf s derived from theword Sufi [Sufi]. ifferenttheories have been put forth about the etymological derivations of the wordstasawwuf nd Sufi.Medieval scholarsof the tenth nd eleventhcenturies rotetreatises n the subjectaswell. For instance, b? BakrMuhammad b. Ibrahimal-Kal?b?dhi (d. 385/995),a fourth/tenthentury cholar ofSufism, evotes anentirechapterto explainhow theSufisaccount fortheirbeing called Sufis. ecitesvarious opinions regardingthe etymological sources of theword Sufi,which have been summarizedas such: safa' (purity), ecause of thepurityoftheirhearts; saff rank) as theyare in the firstrank beforeGod; suffahtheplatform) as the qualities of the Sufis resembled those of the ash?b al-sujfah(People of thePlatform,a groupof theCompanions of theProphet (peacebeon him) who had devoted their lives toworship and learning);s?f (wool)

9William C. Chittick, Sufism: Short Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld, 2001 rpt., firstpublished 2000), 2.10For instance see, 4Al? bn 'Uthm?n al-Hujw?r?, ashf al-Mahj?b,Eng. trans.R. A. Nicholson(Lahore: Islamic Book Foundation, 1976 rpt.,firstpublished 1911),passim.11Mawlaw? 'Abd al-'Aziz, Mawl?n? Muhammad Sa'id, and Mawlawi Muhammad Munir,Lugh?t-i a'?d?, 3d ed. (Karachi:H. M. Sa'?dCo., 1957), 168.12William Stoddart ['Imr?nYahy?], Sufism: heMysticalDoctnnes andMethods of slam (Lahore:SuhailAcademy, 1999 rpt.,firstpublished 1981),20-21.



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SUFISM INHISTORYAND ITSRELATIONSHIPITHPOWER 225because of their habit ofwearing wool, and safwab (the chosen, the select)owing to theirbeing theelite,or the chosenor selected nes.13

A fifth/eleventh entury Sufi scholar, eAl? ibn 'Uthm?n al-Hujw?r?(d. circa 464/1071), discusses the etymological roots of tasawwufat somelength nhismonumentalworkKashfal-Mahj?b (TheUnveiling of theVeiled).In addition to its etymologicalderivation from s?f or wool, he cites theopinions ofwell-known authorities in this regard.He mentions that someconsider that the Sufis are so called because theyare in the firstrank (saffiawwat). Others maintain that it is because the Sufis claim to belong to theash?b al-suffahyhile stillothers contend that the title is derived fromsofa3(purity). onetheless, al-Hujw?r? ccepts that these explanations of the truemeaning of Sufism are far from satisfying he requirementsof etymology,though each of them is supported by subtle arguments.He concludes byasserting hat theword Sufihas, infact, o etymology.14In the introduction o theEnglish translation fAw?rif al-Ma'?rif rittenby a seventh/thirteenthentury ufi-scholar hih?b al-D?nAbu Hafs 'Umarb.Muhammad al-Suhraward?(d. 632/1234),Wilberforce Clarke states that theword Sufi has been derived from s?f (wool), s?fiy (wise or pious), s?fi(woollen), safa' (purity) and s?fi (pure).15 ccording to another view, theetymological origin of the termSufi goes back to theGreek word sophia,meaningwisdom andwise. Titus Burckhardt,however, rejectsthisview.16The above discussion indicatesthat there isno consensus regardingtheetymologicalderivationof thewords tasawwuf r Sufi.Nonetheless, accordingto the generallyacceptedview by amajority of scholars of Sufism,Sufi hasbeen derived from the Arabic word s?fmeaning wool. Hence, tasawwufliterally means 'wearing wool,' and Sufi is the 'one who wears wool.'According to Ab? Nasr 'Abd Allah b. 'Ah al-Sarr?j (d. 378/988), afourth/tenth entury Sufi scholar, in pre-Islamic times itwas customaryamong the ascetics as well as the ancient prophets to wear coarse woollen13For a detailed discussion, seeAb? Bakr al-Kal?b?dhl,Kit?b al-Ta'arruf ti-Madhhab hi alTasawwuf Eng. trans.A. J. Arberry, The Doctnne of the Sufis (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1978 rpt.,firstpublished 1935),5-11.14Al-Hujwiri, Kashfal-Mahj?b, 30, 34.15SeeWilberforce Clarke, "Introduction" in Shaykh Shih?b al-D?n 'Umar ibnMuhammad alSuhrawardl, 'Aw?Hf l-Ma'?rifiPersian trans,from rabic byMahmud ibn 'Ali al-K?sh?ni, ng.trans,fromPersianH. Wilberforce Clarke (Lahore: ShaikhMuhammad Ashraf, 2001 rpt.,firstpublished 1891), 1.16Titus Burckhardt [Ibrahim al-D?n] argues that this is etymologicallyuntenable becausetheGreek lettersigma normally becomes s?n (s) inArabic and not sad (s). Itmay be, however,that there is here an intentional, ymbolical assonance. Idem,An IntroductiontoSufi octnne,trans. . M. Matheson (Lahore: ShaikhMuhammad Ashraf, 1996, rpt.,firstpublished 1976),3,n. 1. See also JulianBaldick,Mystical Islam (London: IBTauris, 1989), 3.



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226 TANVIR ANJUMgarments.17his particular attire symbolizedpenitence aswell as self-denialand rejectionofworldly desiresandmaterial needs. In theNear East,woollencloaks were also worn byNestorian Christianmonks, who had adoptedpovertyforreasonsofpiety,and later tcame tobe used by earlyMuslim Sufisaswell.Various views have been expressed about the firstusage of the termtasawwuf nd the epithetSufi.Al-Hujw?r? tracesback theuse of thewordtasawwuf o theHoly Prophet (peace be on him), as he citeshis saying:"Hewho hears thevoice of Sufis (ahial-tasawwuf) nddoes not sayAmen to theirprayers is inscribed before God among the heedless."18

As for the epithetSufior ahi al-tasawwuf, l-Sarr?jstates that thewordSufiwas currentinpre-Islamicdays forpeople of excellence and virtue,butwith specific onnotation of tasawwufitgained common currency uring thetimesof tabi%n(theSuccessorsof theCompanions of theProphet) and tabctabi?n (theSuccessorsof theseSuccessors).19ccording toAb? -Q?sim 'Abdal-Kar?m b. Hawz?n al-Qushayr? (d. 465/1072), before the second/eighthcentury,the term hi al-tasawwuf as alreadybeing used for specificgroupsand individuals having proximity with God.20 Ab? H?shim al-K?f?(d. 159/776) is consideredtobe the first ersonwho was labelledas a Sufi.21nfact,many Companions of theHoly Prophet (peacebe on him) did have whatmight be termed Sufi bent ofmind, and theyferventlyevoted themselves oprayers and worship, which is considered to be one of the characteristics of theSufis.However, for theseCompanions, including hi al-suffah People of thePlatform),22he title r epithet f Sufiwas never specifically sed in itspresentconnotation. Al-Qushayri argues that sah?bah (the Companions of theProphet)were so called because no epithetcould bemore respectableforaperson thanbeing a sah?biP This view has been corroboratedbyN?r al-D?n'Abd al-Rahm?nJ?m? d. 898/1492) aswell.24Therefore, the earliestMuslims17Ab? Nasr 'Abd Allah ibn 'Ali al-Sarr?j al-T?si,Kit?b al-Luma' fCl Tasawwuf ed. R. A.Nicholson (London: Luzac andCo., 1914),21.18Al-Hujw?ri,Kashf al-Mahj?b,30. [This is,obviously, an inauthentichadith for the term hi altasawwufhad not come intouse during the life f theProphet (peacebe on him). Ed.].19Al-Sarr?j,Kit?b al-Luma\ 21-22.20Ab? l-Q?sim 'Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri, Risalah-i Qushayriyyah,Urdu trans,withIntroduction andNotes, P?rMuhammad Hasan (Islamabad: Id?rah-'iTahq?q?t-i Isl?m?, 1970),21.21 .A. Dar, "SectionA: Sufis Before al-Hall?j" inM. M. Sharif, ed. A History ofMuslimPhilosophyelhi: Adam Publishers,2001 rpt.,firstpublished 1961), 1: 336.22For a listof thispietisticcircle of earlySufis, ee al-Hujw?r?, ashf al-Mahj?b, 81-82.23Al-Qushayri, Ris?lah-HQushayriyyah,21.24N?r al-D?n 'Abd al-Rahm?nJ?m?, afah?t al-UnsminHadar?t al-Quds, ed., introduction ndnotes,Mahm?d '?bidi (Tehran: Intish?r?t ttil?'?t,1370 Solarah), 15.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 227in the timeof theProphet (peace be on him)with predilectionspeculiar toSufis,were not designatedas Sufis.Similarly,?Abd l-Rahm?n ibnMuhammadIbnKhald?n (732-808/1332-1406) arguesthat in thefirst hreegenerations fIslam,Sufismwas toowidely diffused ohave a specific ame.However, laterwhen worldliness became common andmaterialism crept amongMuslims,thosewho dedicated themselvesto theworship ofGod were distinguishedfrom therestby thetitles fS?fiyah ndMutasawwifah.25DefiningSufismWhile referring ovarious definitions f Sufism inArabic andPersianworkson the subject,Reynold Nicholson makes an interesting bservation: thattheir chief importance lies in showing that Sufism is 'undefinable.'26Nonetheless, modern scholarsof Sufismhave attemptedto define it.Whatfollows is a selection of a fewdefinitionsof Sufismor tasawwufby someeminentscholarsof the subject.27Scholars have defined and explained themeaning and salient features fSufisminvariousways. According toMurray Titus, forinstance, ufism s "anattitude ofmind and heart towardGod and theproblems of life."28SpencerTriminghamdefinesmysticism as a specificmethod of approach to realitybymaking use of intuitive nd emotional spiritualfaculties.These faculties regenerallydormant but theycan be called intoplay through training nderguidance.29 Annemarie Schimmel defines the spiritual current in awider senseand holds that it is the consciousness of the one reality that can be calledWisdom, Light,Love or nothing.Mysticism is the love of theAbsolute? forthe power that separates true mysticism from mere asceticism is love.30According

to Burckhardt, al-tasawwufor Sufism is an

expressionof the inwardor internal (b?tin) and esoteric aspect of Islam, as distinguished from itsoutwardor external (zdbir) nd exoteric spect. Itdesignatesthe "whole of the

contemplativeways foundedon thesacredforms f Islam."31n theopinion ofA. J.Arberry, Sufism is themysticalmovementwithin Islam,whereas a Sufi,25'Abd al-Rahm?n ibnMuhammad IbnKhald?n, TheMuqaddimah: An IntroductiontoHistory,Eng. trans. ranz Rosenthal (NewYork: Bollingen Foundation, 1958), 3: 76.26Reynold A. Nicholson, TheMystics of slam (London: Routledge andKegan Paul, 1979 rpt.;firstpublished 1914),25.27While outlining theviews of scholars,no distinction has been made betweenmysticism orSufism,asmany scholars seem touse thesetermsinterchangeably.28Murray T. Titus, Indian Islam: A ReligiousHistory of Islam in India (London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1930), 111.29J.SpencerTrimingham,The SufiOrders in slam (London:Oxford University Press, 1971), 1.30Schimmel,MysticalDimensions of slam,4.31Burckhardt,An Introduction oSufi octrine, 3,164.



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228 TANVIR ANJUMtheonewho associateshimselfwith thismovement, is an individualwho isdevoted to an innerquest formystical unionwith hisCreator. It also involvesa "personaltraffickingithGod."32FrithjofSchuon divides thereligionof Islam into threebasic dimensions:islam (outwardworks of the religion), iman (faith),and ihs?n (virtueandperfection) according to the famous hadith ofGabriel (see n. 36 below).According to Schuon, the thirddimension of ihs?n,which literallymeansembellishment, beautiful activity, right-actingor charitable activity, isessentially an esoteric notion, and it is "quintessential esoterism." Ihs?n is anoperative virtue,which confersupon believing and doing the qualities thatmake themperfect,and intensifynd deepen both faith andworks.33 In thewords of Stoddart, mysticism is the "inward or supra-formal dimension"34 asopposed to the outward and formalexpressionof a religion.Explaining thedistinguishing eatures f theSufis, ardy opines thatthey"cravedforamoreemotional religion,one inwhich God appeared as a loving, succoringfriendrather than as an abstract definition of undifferentiated unity,incomprehensible nHis essence, inscrutable nd arbitrary nHis decrees."35Like Schuon,William Chittick also divides Islam into the above-mentionedthreedimensions, and identifies he thirddimension of ihs?nto be concernedwith depth, or the inner attitudesthataccompany activity nd thought, ithSufism. e arguesthattheQur'?nic usage of theword ihs?nmakes clear that tis not only an external and ethical good, but also an internal, moral, andspiritualgood.36The underlying theme in all these definitions seems to be the idea oflocating the latent divine sentiment in one's heart or conscience. It is anattitude fmind, heart and soul thatentailsan individual'sdirectrelationship

with God with a profound comprehensionof theReal and Absolute Truth.The method involved in thisquest forspiritual evelopment is contemplativeratherthan scholastic.The corepracticesof Sufism lead topurification f the32SeeA J.Arberry, "Introduction" inhisMuslim Saints andMystics:Episodes rom the adhkiratal-Auliya? Memorial of theSaints) byFand al-Din Attar (London: Routledge andKegan Paul,1979), 1-2.33Frithjof Schuon [Shaykh sa N?r al-D?nAhmad], Sufism:Veil and Quintessence,Eng. trans.William Stoddart (Lahore: SuhailAcademy, 1985rpt, firstpublished 1979), 129-30.34Stoddart, ufism:TheMysticalDoctrines andMethods of slam, 19.35PeterHardy, "Islam inMedieval India," inAinslie T. Embree, ed. Sourcesof ndian Tradition,2d rev. ed. (NewDelhi: Viking, 1991), 1:447.36William C. Chittick, Faith andPractice of slam: Three ThirteenthCenturySufiTexts (Lahore:SuhailAcademy, 2000), 2-5, 10-12.According toChittick, in the hadlthofGabriel, theProphetMuhammad (peace be on him) defined ihs?nas "serving [orworshipping] God as ifyou seeHim, because ifyou do not seeHim, He nonetheless seesyou." Chittick also adds that two

Qur'anic terms, khl?s(sincerity) nd taqw? (God-wariness), re close to ihs?n nmeaning.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 229self hich seek to regulate nddirect thespiritualUfeofpeople.A Sufiaims ata bi-dimensional development of his self; first,the strengthening f hisspiritual and personal connection with God, and second, perfecting his interpersonal relationships.The Sufis generallybelieve in threecorrespondingand complementaryspheresof Sufism:sharVah(therevealed law), tar?qah theway or themethod),and haqiqah (theultimate truth).SharVah is theprescribed law in Islam forregulating he conduct of the individualand collective life. he tar?qah s theway or themethod which guides a seekeron thepath of Sufism,while thehaqiqah, the ultimate truth r theknowledge of and nearness toGod, is thegoal of a Sufi's life.Originsof SufismVaried opinions have been expressed regardingthe origins of Sufism: somesuggestthat the roots of Sufism lay inpre-Islamicreligious traditions, hileothers argue that theQur'anic injunctions nd thedeeds and sayingsof theProphetMuhammad (peace be on him) provided the bases of Sufi doctrinesand practices. Late thirteenth/nineteenthnd early fourteenth/twentiethcenturywestern orientalistsgenerallycorroboratethe former iew,while thelater day historians and scholars of Sufism generallymaintain the latterposition.

According toE. H. Palmer, Sufismis "thedevelopmentof thePrimaevalreligion of the Aryan race."37 Nicholson points out to the external or nonIslamic influences on Sufism, which include Christianity, Neo-Platonism,Gnosticism, Buddhism, and Vedantism.However, he adds that the seeds ofSufismwere inherent n Islam, and these internalforceswithin Islam cannotbe isolated from the external factors. To quote him, "the great non-Islamicsystems ... gave a stimulus to various tendencies within Islam which affectedSufismeitherpositivelyor negatively."38ohnP. Brown alludes to the "deeplyspiritual principles"which appear in theQur'an, and the "innumerablemystical...reasonings"of theProphetMuhammad (peace be on him).39Whilecriticallyreviewing thevaried theoriesof the origins of Sufism,Edward G.Browne gives his verdict in favourof the theorythatSufism representsthe

37E. H. Palmer,OrientalMysticism:A TreatiseonSufistic ndUnitarian Theosophy fthe ersians(London: Luzac, 1969 rpt, firstpublished 1867), as cited in Schimmel,MysticalDimensions ofIslam, 9; fora detaileddiscussion, see 9-11.38Nicholson, TheMystics of slam, 20; for detaileddiscussion, see 8-23.39JohnP. Brown, TheDarvishes orOriental Spiritualism, d.with Introduction andNotes, H.A. Rose (London: FrankCass andCo. Ltd, 1968 rpt, firstpublished 1868),71-72.



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230 TANVIR ANJUMEsotericDoctrine of theProphet of Islam (peacebe on him).40Commenting on theoriginsof Sufism, uncan B. Macdonald suggests:"Like almost everything lse in Islam the seedswere already in themind ofMuhammad."41 Louis Massignon, a renowned French scholarof Sufism,hasaltogether rejected theview that Sufismwas alien to Islam. Instead,he hasargued that"it is from theKoran, constantly ecited,meditated upon, applied,that slamicmysticism proceeds, in itsoriginand development."42 mong thebetter-known scholars, H. A. R. Gibb corroborates the views of Louis

Massignon.43According toPhilipK. Hitti, Sufismhas itsorigin in theQur'anandHadith, though lateron it absorbed elements fromChristianity,NeoPlatonism, Gnosticism and Buddhism.44 G. E. von Grunebaum maintains thatSufismwas "anchored firmly n theword ofGod, that source fromwhosemultiplicity it extracted the challenge to interiorize relations with theCreator."45Trimingham considersSufism naturaldevelopmentwithin Islam,which owed littletonon-Muslim sources.He, however, adds that itreceived"radiations from the ascetical-mystical life and thought of easternChristianity."46Schimmel also argues that the view that Sufismwas anIslamized formof Vedanta philosophy or Yoga, has now been discarded. Inher opinion, "Sufismtraces tsoriginback to theProphet of Islam and takesinspiration romthedivineword as revealedthrough im in the oran."47Stoddart refutesthe view that Sufismdeveloped chieflyas a resultofexternal influences. However, as he succinctly puts it: "Sufism has sometimesborrowed formulations deriving from Neo-Platonic and other spiritualdoctrineswhich coincidewith itsown view of reality, ut thishas alwaysbeenfor convenience of expression, and does not constitute any syncretism."48Khaliq Ahmad Nizami has also suggested hat theoriginsof the Sufi ideascanbe traced back to theQur'anic and Prophetic traditions. e has rejectedthe40Edward G. Browne, A LiteraryHistory ofPersia: From the arliest Times until Firdawsi(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977 rpt, firstpublished 1902), 1:418-19; for adetailed review of thevarious theories f theoriginof Sufism, ee 418-21.41Duncan BlackMacdonald, Aspects of slam (NewYork: Macmillan, 1911), 184.42Louis Massignon, Essai sur lesorigins u lexique techniquemystiquemusulmane (Paris:J.Vrin,1954), 104, as cited in JonathanP. Berkey,The Formation of slam:Religion and Societyin theNear East, 600-1800 (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2003), 153.43Hamilton A. R. Gibb, Mohammedanism:A Historical Survey (NewYork: Oxford UniversityPress, 1963), 128.44PhilipK. Hitti,History ofthe rabs (London:Macmillan, 1958),433.45G. E. von Grunebaum, Classical Islam:A History 600-1258, Eng. trans.KatherineWatson(London: George Allen andUnwin, 1970,German ed. published fromBerlin in 1963), 131.46Trimingham,The SufiOrders in slam,2.47Schimmel,MysticalDimensions of slam, 345, 24.48Stoddart, ufism:TheMysticalDoctrines andMethods of slam, 43.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 231alternative iews thatSufidoctrinesowe theiroriginsto theGreek, VedanticorBuddhist philosophies.49 any scholars f Sufism, ncluding tsproponents,trace itsorigins back to theQur'?n50 and thepractice of theHoly Prophet(peace be on him),51and cite a number ofQur'?nic verses and ah?dith insupport of their assertion.52While discussing the origins of Sufism, the similarities between thespiritual traditions,doctrines andmystical experiencesof the adherents offaithsother than Islam and those of Sufism have been brought to the fore.First, onemay finda certaindegreeof truth n theassertionthat allmysticaltraditions ssociatedwith differentreligionsof theworld have something ncommon, but the similarities nd commonalitiesdo not necessarilymean thatthe latterwere a borrowing from the former in termsof their doctrinalsystem, methods and practices. Secondly, there were stark differences amongthemystical and spiritualtraditions swell, as each of them stemmed fromparticular religious tradition.Moreover, historical factors such as intellectualenvironment, socio-cultural conditions and political climate in which amystical system took roots and flourished, cannot be overlooked in thisregard.Lastly, like any othermystical tradition, ufismdid not develop in avoid. When theMuslims came into contactwith people of other races,culturesand intellectual raditions, mutual exchangeof ideaswas inevitable.The Sufis too imbibed ideas and concepts aswell as practices from them,which helped develop theSufidoctrinesfurther.Rise andGrowth of Sufism:A Causal ExplanationSufism is essentially a minority affair, emanding considerable intellectualsophistication

from its adherents. Nevertheless, it has popular manifestationsaswell which are generallyreferred o as 'popular religion'or 'low culture.'Regarding popular religion,Jonathan erkeymakes an important larificationthat itwas not identical but closely associatedwith Sufism.53 he early49See details inKhaliq Ahmad Nizami, T?r?kh-i asha'ikh-iChisht (Delhi: Id?rah-'iAdabiyy?t-iD?l?, 1980), 1:45-49.50See details inSeyyedHossein Nasr, "TheQuran as theFoundation of Islamic Spirituality" nSeyyedHossein Nasr, ed. Encyclopaedia of Islamic Spirituality: oundations (Lahore: SuhailAcademy, 2000), 1: 3-10.51FrithjofSchuon, "The SpiritualSignificance f theSubstance of theProphet" in ibid. 48-63.52For a brief discussion, seeY?suf Satm Chishti, Tarikh-iTasawwuf:Hindi, Yunanl, Ist?m?(Lahore: 'Ulama*Academy, 1976), 104-22. For someQur'anic verses and ah?dith relatingtoSufism, ee Stoddart,Sufism: heMysticalDoctrines andMethods of slam, 77-82.53 Berkey contends that the characteristic features of popular religion included thepopularization of practicesassociatedwith Sufis,veneration of individuals,visitationof tombs,and theriseof syncretic rends nd superstitions.dem,TheFormation of slam,248-57, esp. 249.



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232 TANVIR ANJUMcenturies f Islamwitnessed thegrowingpopularityof Sufism.The renownedSufiswho lived in the second/eighth, hird/ninthnd fourth/tenth enturiesincludedHasan al-Basr? (d. 110/728),Malik ibnDinar (d. 131/748),AbuH?shim al-K?f?, brahim ibnAdham (d. 160/777),Sufy?nb. Sa??dal-Thawr?(d. 161/778),D?w?d b.Nas?r al-T?'? (d. 165/781), 'AbdAllah ibnMubarak(d. 181/797),R?bi'ah al-'Adawiyyahal-Basri (d. 185/801),al-Fudayl ibn 'Ay?d(d. 187/803), Shaq?q al-Balkh? (d. 194/810),Ma'r?f al-Karkh? (d.200/815),Bishr ibn al-H?rith (d.227/841),Ahmad ibnHarb (d.235/849), al-H?rithb.Asad al-Muh?sib? (d.243/857), Thawb?n b. Ibr?h?mDh? 1-N?n al-Misr?(d.246/861), Sari b. al-Mughlas al-Saqat? d.253/867),Abu Yaz?d Tayf?r b. ?s?al-Bist?m? (d.261/874), Sahl b. 'Abd Allah al-Tustar? (d. 283/896),Abu -Hasan al-N?r? (d.295/908),Ab? 1-Q?sim Junaydb.Muhammad b. 'Al? alBaghd?d? (d.298/910),Husayn ibnMans?r al-Hall?j (d. 309/922),Ab? Bakr alShibl? (d. 334/946)Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Jabb?r l-Niff?r?(d. 354/965), andAb? T?lib Muhammad b. 'Al?al-Makk?(d. 386/996).

By the fifth/eleventhnd sixth/twelfthenturies,Sufism had stronglymade its presence felt in theMuslim lands. It earned approval andwideranging ppeal amongpeople.As Hodgson has observed,andpossiblywith anappreciable degree of plausibility, it transformed into a kind of"institutionalized mass religion"54 owing to its popularity andinstitutionalizationf itspractices.By thattimeSufismhad integratedntothereligious life f theMuslims, and had emerged s a dominantmode of Islamicpiety. In fact, n the last uarterof the fifth/eleventhnd theearlyyearsof thesixth/twelfthenturies, b? Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazz?l? (450-505/10581111), tried to reconcile Sufismwith the SharVah, thus bridging the gulfbetween the two.55 His younger contemporary, 'Abd al-Q?dir al-J?l?n?(d. 561/1166) furtherpopularized Sufism.As the juristic nd Sufi versions ofIslam came closer to eachother,more people including he jurists elongingtovarious schools offiqh (Muslim jurisprudence)startedenteringthe fold ofSufism. Lessons in jurisprudencewere given in the kh?nq?hswhile themadrasahs housed Sufisaswell. As a result,the institutions fmadrasah andkh?nq?hwere latermerged at the end of the ninth/fifteenthcentury.56heprocess of assimilationof the juristic nd Sufivariants of Islam gave furtherimpetusto thepopularityof Sufism nMuslim societies.54Marshall G. S.Hodgson, TheVenture of slam:Conscience andHistory inaWorld Civilization(Chicago:The University ofChicago Press, 1974),2: 210-22.55For a detailed study,seeW. MontgomeryWatt, The Faith andPractice ofal-Ghazali (London:George Allen andUnwin, 1953).56For a detailed study,seeJonathanBerkey,The Transmissionof nowledge:A SocialHistory ofIslamicEducation (Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress, 1992),47-50, 56-60.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 233A host of factors ontributed o the riseand popularityof Sufismwhichcan be explained in thebackdrop of thepolitical, intellectual,religiousand

socio-economicconditionsof the thenMuslim lands. It is in thiscontextthatcausal explanations for the historical evolution of Sufism in Egypt, Iraq,Persia,Central andWestern Asia, andAfghanistanhave been exploredbrieflyhereunder.To begin with, socio-economic, religious, theological and intellectualfactorsconsiderablycontributedto the rise and popularityof Sufism. Sufismor the Sufi trend in Islam asserted itselfduring theUmayyad rule (41133/661-750)when God-conscious persons raised thevoice that rulerswereindulgingmore than they should in this-worldly activities, involvingacquisitionofmaterialwealth andkinglyostentations, ndnot givingdue heedto salvation in theHereafter. Thus, Sufismcan be interpreted s a reactionagainstthegrowingmaterialismwhich spread inMuslim societiesas a result fprosperity in the wake of conquests and annexation of vast territories nPersia,Byzantium,Central andWesternAsia, andAfrica. Sufismthusbegan asan ascetic revolt against luxuryandworldliness, and henceforthcame to beidentified ith other-worldliness. s already pointed out, theSufi doctrineofvoluntary poverty stood in sharp contrast to the wealth of the royalhousehold and thewell-offurbanit?s. Its ideal of poverty represented silentreaction against the growing materialism and covetousness among theMuslims.

According toVictor Danner, during the second/eighth nd third/ninthcenturiestheoriginal synthetic ision of things xpounded in theQur'?n andthe Sunnah of theProphet (peace be on him),wherein the exoteric and theesoteric dimensions were complementary even if different, was graduallyreplacedby a separationbetween the esoteric and exoteric domains. In otherwords, themessage of Islamwas graduallyreducedto itsexotericaspect,whichprovoked, by way of reaction, the rise of esotericismor Sufism in thesecenturies.57 Actually during these early centuries, the territorial stretch of theMuslim Empire had considerablyexpandedand had broughtmillions into thefold of Islam. This necessitated the codificationof Hadlth literature,iqh,history,biography,andmany otherbranches of learning. ith theemergenceofvarious schools of jurisprudence,heSharVah r theexotericaspectof Islamwas crystallized.Consequently, not only due attentionwas not paid to theesotericaspect of Islam,but rigidity nd formalism lso crept in thepracticesof thevarious schools offiqh. The Sufis,who had by now come to representthe esotericaspectof Islam,were critical f the cold rigidity nd formalism f57VictorDanner, "The Early Development of Sufism"inS.H. Nasr, ed.Encyclopaedia of slamicSpintuality: oundations, 1:239, 252.



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234 TANVIR ANJUMthese schools. They showed antipathy towards ceremonialism in religiousobservances with exclusive stress on ritualistic expressions, often devoid ofinner meaning or essence, which was prevalent among the people at large.More emphasiswas laidon theoutwarddimensionofvaried actsofworship,often in disregard of their inward significanceor purpose.58Under theinfluence f theseso-called 'externalist'theologians, urists nd (ulama\59howere more concernedwith the outward forms of Islamic observances, thepeople generally tended to reduce Islam to ritualsand ceremonies. In thesecircumstances, Sufism stood as a symbol of reaction against the prevalence of"dogmatic piety"60 and formalism, and thus represented non-conformism toreligiousconservatism. n thewords ofTitus, Sufismwas a "naturalrevoltofthe human heart against the cold formalism f a ritualisticreligion."61heSufiswere also perturbed by hair-splitting heological quibbles and bittercontroversies mong theproponents and adherents f various schools offiqh,which occasionally led to riots nurban centres uchasBaghdad.

During the 'Abbasid period, the God-conscious people came to face,along with the challenge of materialist and this-worldlytrends, anotherchallenge, that posed by Greek thought and theMu'tazilah. While thisdevelopment contributed to the intellectualgrowth of theMuslims in apositivemanner, ithad itsexcesses too.The most basic formof thechallengewas that, udgedon thebasis of reasonalone,nothingcouldhappenwithout acause.The implicationwas thatsinceeverything as happening according tofixed laws, God now stood inactive, without any active role in the functioningof the universe. In fact, the translationof Greek philosophical texts intoArabic had encourageda rationalenquiry into the tenets f theMuslim faith.For theMuslim philosophers and rationalists ssociatedwith theMu'taziliteschool of thought, the main criterion for every reality was reason. In other

words, asDanner has aptly put it,knowledge was reduced to "abstract, mentalcategories, bereft of direct, spiritual vision of theReal..."62 The Muslim 'ulama'presented theiranswer to the challengeunder a new branch of knowledge58For a brief discussion on theouter and innermeanings ofQur'anic verses and ah?d?th, eeMartin Lings [Ab? Bakr Sir?j-ud-D?n],What isSufismi (Lahore: SuhailAcademy, 1983 rpt.,firstpublished 1975),28-32; SyedAli Ashraf, "The InnerMeaning of the IslamicRites: Prayer,Pilgrimage,Fasting,Jihad" inNasr, ed.Encyclopaediaof slamicSpintuality: oundations, 1:11130.59Hodgson has used the term 'Shari'ah-minded' 'ulama* for the externalist uUma\ Idem,TheVentureoflsUm: TheClassicalAge of slam,vol. 1,passim.^Grunebaum, Classical Islam, 131.61Titus, Indian Islam, 111.62Danner, "The Early Development of Sufism"inNasr, ed.Encyclopaedia of slamicSpiHtuality:Foundations, 1:254.



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SUFISM INHISTORYAND ITSRELATIONSHIPITH POWER 235called Ilm al-Kal?m. The Sufispresentedtheir wn answer,which emphasizedimmersion in search of nearness toGod. According toMuhammad Iqbal(d. 1357/1938), the germs of scepticism latent in rationalism ultimatelynecessitated an appeal to a super-intellectual source of knowledge.63 Sheerrationalismand pursuit of religioustruthsusing dialecticalmethods, largelyborrowed from theGreek intellectual radition, rove introvertedpeople likethe Sufis to search theUltimate Truth by emotionalmeans involving theintuitive faculties of human beings. The Sufis aspired for a kind offreethinking n theirpursuit of the ultimate knowledge of God and theuniverse.They sought a direct and personalmethod of comprehendingthe

Absolute Truth or theSupremeBeing. Itwas believed that the searchor questforGod, out ofGod's own blessings, as to result nmaking a person's heartfilledwith knowledge: a person could thus have ma'rifah or intuitiveknowledge, andultimatelyhaq?qah,theknowledgeof andnearnesstoGod.This approachwas distinctnot only from the conventional mode ofthinking revalentamong themajority of conformistulam?\ theologians ndjurists,but also from the rationalist approach of the Mu'tazilites. Thefourth/tenth nd fifth/eleventhenturiesare considered to be the apogee of

Mu'tazilite thought,afterwhich itwitnessed a constantdecline, after twascountered by al-Ghazz?l?,who was a philosopher-cum-theologianturnedSufi.64Thus, Islamic philosophical and intellectualmovements such asMu'tazilism in away also provided a stimulusto theSufi tendencieswithinIslam.Apart from these, therewere political factorsaswell which played acrucial role in the rise and popularityof Sufism.A briefdescriptionof thesefactors seems quite appropriate here.The more the social decay and political instability, he greaterwas theimpetus for the spread of Sufism. The discontent within theMuslimcommunity in its early days resulted in disturbances and turbulencewhichculminated in the assassinationof the thirdand the fourthRightlyGuidedCaliphs, 'Uthm?n ibn 'Aff?n(d. 35/656) and 'Ah ibnAb? T?lib (d.40/661).The RightlyGuided Caliphate was followedby theUmayyads, and lateron

by the 'Abb?sids, who turned the state into a hereditarymonarchy,notwithstanding heirclaims to theCaliphate. In fact, ince the demise of theProphet (peacebe on him), andmore particularly ince theassassination f theCaliph 'Ali, the question of political authorityand transfer f power wasnever quite resolved.Husayn (d.61/680), the son of theCaliph 'Ali, led the63Muhammad Iqbal, TheDevelopment ofMetaphysics nPersia (Lahore:Bazm-i Iqb?l, 1959 rpt.,firstpublished 1954),79.64See . 55 above.



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236 TANVIR ANJUMfamous rebellion againsttheUmayyad rule.The rebellion ended indisasteratKarbal?' in Iraq in 61/680, and consequently,the familyofCaliph 'Ahwasalmost exterminated.The tragic events at Karbal?' rocked the Muslimcommunity,and spurred movement of pious penitence among a section ofitsmembers forhaving failed to come to the supportofHusayn againstthe

Umayyads.Under theUmayyads, theArabs, who constitutedtherulingelite,cameto have a major share in the political,military, administrative, ocial andeconomic power, whereas the non-Arabs, barring a few exceptions, weregenerally enied anynoticeable share n thegovernment. he dissatisfactionfthepeople, particularlyof thenon-Arabs,with the rulers' scantattentiontothe requirements of socio-economic justice found political, religious,philosophical, social,cultural nd literaryxpressions.The grievancesof theKh?rijites and Sh?'ites foundpolitical expressioninthe outbreak of various revolts during theUmayyad rule. The maw?l?movement represented heresentment f thenon-Arab subjectswho, despitetheir cceptanceof Islam,were placed below theArabs in social and politicalhierarchies. They were at times even subjected to taxes, which weretheoretically upposed to be imposedon thenon-Muslims.65hese andmanyother discriminatorymeasures drove many of them to revolts. Iraq andKhur?s?nwere theprovinces thatwere threatened ost by revolts and otherdisturbances. Since these centres of discontent had witnessed Umayyadpersecution, it isperhapsnot insignificanthat it is thesevery areas thatsawthegrowthof Sufism. In a hostile environment f political persecution, thepeople of Iraq, especiallyofK?fah andBasrah thestrongholds foppositionagainsttheUmayyads

? foundsolace in thefoldof religion, ndmore notablyin Sufism.Under the 'Abb?sids,on the intellectualplane theMu'tazilites rejectedtheAsh'ar? model of theology66 ince, in theirview, themodel served theinterests f the rulingelite.The model is, in fact,perceived by some as aninstrument f unquestioning subservienceto the political authority.Onescholar, for instance, asserts that the reasons for the rise of both the

65Bertold Spuler,TheMuslim World: Historical Survey, heAge oftheCaliphs, Eng. trans, romGerman F. R. C. Bagley (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960), 1:39-40, 44; Reuben Levy, The SocialStructureof slam (Being the second edition ofThe Sociologyof slam) (Cambrigde:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1979, rpt.;firstpublished 1957),58.66Ash'arism is a philosophico-religiousschool of thought ssociatedwith Ab? 1-Hasan 'Ali ibnIsm?'?l al-Ash'ar? (d. 324/936). For al-Ash'ari's life and works, Ash'arite theology and itsfundamentalprinciples, and Ash'arite metaphysics, seeM. Abdul Hye, "Asli'arism^ inM.M.Sharif, d.AHistory of uslim Philosophy,1:220-43.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 237Mu'tazilites and the Sufiswere "more political rather than religious oracademic in nature."67 Though the assertion seems reductive as Sufism wasmore thana political responseto the thenprevailingconditions, itcannotbedenied that there were political reasons, in addition to other morefundamentalreasons,behind the rise and growthof Sufism. Since both theMu'tazilites and the Sufis had attemptedto redefine the basic concepts ofMuslim theology, theywere branded as "heterodox," in order to curb theirfreedomof speech and freedomof action. In the sameway, the zindlqs orfreethinkersere persecutedby the state n the laterhalf of the second/eighthcentury.Itwas, in fact,thepolitical and economic dissatisfaction nder theguise of religionwhich led to the rebellions ofmany Persian leaders inKhurasan like Sunbadh [Sunb?dh], theMagian (137/755),68 ndUst?dhs?s[Ust?dhs?s] 150-1/767-8),69ndmany more. The movement of aMazdakitenamed B?bak (201-223/816-838) in the days of the 'Abbasid Caliph alMa'm?n (r. 198-218/813-833)was also a political expressionof thegrowingeconomic discontent. B?bak's heresy acquired the dimensions of a peasantrevolt since the followers of theMazdak? sect belonged to the peasantcommunitiesofnorthernPersia. B?bak stood for thebreak-upof largefeudalestates nddistribution f landamong landlesspeasants.70 imilarly, uringthe'Abbasid rule, the grievancesof the subject races,particularly thePersians,found a literary xpression in the form of the Shu'?biyyahmovement. Itclaimed superiority for non-Arabs in poetry and literature.71

Itwas against thebackdropof thesereligio-theologicalnd intellectual swell as political and socio-economic conditions that theriseand popularityofSufismcan best be understood. In short,Sufismsignified ot only a protestagainst the growing materialism among theMuslims, an excessive insistence ontheexotericaspectof Islam and the intensifyingormalism f the 'ulama' andMu'tazilism, but also a subtle and guisedprotest against thehigh-handednessof the rulers ndotherpolitical abuses of theage.

67See Manzoor Ahmad, "Introduction" inMohammad Kamal, Heterodoxy in Islam (Karachi:Royal Book Company, 1993),vi.68See, fora briefdiscussion,W. Madelung, "Sunb?dh" inTheEncyclopaedia of slam,

new edn.(Leiden:Brill, 1997),9: 874-75.69See, fora briefdiscussion,W. Madelung, "Ust?dhsis" in ibid., 10: 926-27.70For the doctrines ofMazdakism, seeM. Guidi [M.Morony], "Mazd?k" in ibid.,6: 949-52,esp. 950.71Spuler, TheMuslim World: A Historical Survey,The Age of theCaliphs, 1: 55. For a briefanalysis of the social significance f the Shu'?biyyahmovement, seeHamilton A. R. Gibb,Studieson the ivilization of slam, eds. StanfordJ. Shaw andWilliam R. Polk (Princeton, J:PrincetonUniversity Press, 1962),62-73.



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238 TANVIR ANJUM

Development and Institutionalization of SufiPracticesThe doctrines and practices associatedwith Sufismgrew and developed instages.The gradual institutionalization f Sufi practices took place threecenturies fterthe 'AbbasidRevolution in 129/749.Having passed through tsformativephase in the second/eighth, hird/ninthnd fourth/tenthenturies,Sufismacquired thecontoursof a vibrantmovementwith relatively ystematicdoctrines and institutionsduring the fifth/eleventh nd sixth/twelfthcenturies.Scholars of Sufismhave attemptedto theorize about the historicalevolution of Sufism by dividing it into differentstages or phases. Suchattempts ave been made by scholarsof Sufism such

asNizami, Trimingham,FritzMeier andArthur Buehler.According toNizami, therecan be discerned threedistinctstages in the

development and growthof the Sufimovement in Islam. These are: (i) theperiod of thequietists; (ii) theperiod of themystic philosophers; and (iii) theperiod of the silsilahs.72he designationof the firstphase has been borrowedbyNizami fromNicholson.73According to them,the Sufisof the early erarepresented reactionagainstthepolitical conditionsof theUmayyad Empire.Therewas a silent nd subtleprotestagainstthematerialistic tendencies mongthe rulersby theprofoundlyGod-conscious persons or the early Sufis.Theprominent Sufisof the era includeHasan al-Basr?, brahim ibnAdham, Ab?H?shim 'Uthm?nand R?bi'ah al-'Adawiyyahal-Basr?. he Sufisof thisphasefocused on their self-purification. Literature on Sufi thought began to appearin the third/ninth and fourth/tenth enturies, and it is only in thefifh/eleventh enturythat the Sufisbegan to be organized in groups.Hereone may argue that the designation of this era seems somewhat inappropriate,as itdoes not adequately convey the characteristic eatures f Sufism in thesaid period.Moreover, itmakes one assume that these early Sufis, beingquietists,had cut themselves ff fromtheworld and retired ntoseclusion. nthe contrary, some of the Sufis of this era even participated inmilitarycampaigns against the Byzantine Empire. These included, among others,celebratedSufis like Ibrahim ibnAdham, 4Abd llah ibn al-Mub?rak,Shaq?qal-Balkh? and Ahmad ibnHarb. So the epithet "quietists" seems somewhatinapt.The secondphasewas characterizedby thedevelopmentof awell-knitsystem fSufi thought y such SufiphilosophersasAb? -Q?simal-Qushayri,Ab? Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazz?l?,Shih?b al-D?n 'Umar b.Muhammad al72Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, "Mysticism"in slam,Guru Nanak Quincentenary Celebration Series(Patiala: PunjabiUniversity, 1969),55-66.73Nicholson, TheMystics of Islam,4. For an entirelydifferentmeaning of quietism, seeTrimingham,The SufiOrders in slam,266.



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SUFISM INHISTORYAND ITSRELATIONSHIPITHPOWER 239Suhrawardi,Muhy? -D?nMuhammad b. 'Ali Ibn al-4Arabi (560-638/11651240),popularlyknown as al-Shaykhl-Akbar (TheGreatestMaster), andJal?lal-D?nMuhammad b.Muhammad al-R?m? (d.672/1273). The last and themost importantstagewas characterizedby the riseof Sufi silsilahs (chainsoftransmission f spiritual uthority) n the sixth/twelfthentury.

Trimingham's three-phaseheory f thehistorical evolution of Sufismhasbeen summarizedbelow.74 he firstphase, i.e. thekh?nq?h stage,was markedby tremendous creativityof thought and simplicityof the Sufis' socialorganization. Initially,there ere no formal onds between themaster andhispupils, but later,kh?nq?hs or Sufi dwellingswere established all over theMuslim world. The second stage taftqah saw the doctrinal evolution andsocial organization of Sufism in the formof Sufi schools, alongwith theformation f spiritual ineages r silsilahs. he practiceof formal nitiation asalso introduced, nd in thisstageSufismbecame institutionalized.n the thirdand final stage, called ta'ifah, it acquired the form of Sufi cultswithexaggerated eneration and even excessiveadoration of Sufis,who thencameto be designatedaspirs. These Sufi cultswere centredon the spiritual oweror blessingtyarakah) of a single individual.The headship of ta'ifahsbecamehereditary.Tombs of great Sufis,called dargahs, generally o a largeextentreplacedkh?nq?hs.This phase alsowitnessed the introduction f astrology ndmagic amongSufi circles.Trimingham's theoryis,however,no longerbeingused in recentworkson Sufism.One even discernscertain inconsistencies n it.First, it isdifficultto demarcate the first nd the second stageschronologically. Secondly, thenomenclature of the third phase may cause some confusion, as t?'ifahs came torepresentthemultiple branches of themain tariqahs, in the senseused byTrimingham for the last phase, which he dates from the ninth/fifteenthcentury. The word, in fact, acquired this new meaning later on, as from thethird/ninthentury,the Sufigroupswere referred o as t?'ifahs, eaning thegroups ofmen of God. The famous third/ninth entury Sufi, Junayd alBaghd?dl,was known as Sayyidal-T?'ifah (theMaster of themen ofGod).Moreover, theSufis continuedtoview themselves s a t?'ifah, hat s,a distinctgroupofmen ofGod, andbe referred o as t?'ifah ater n aswell.75Thus, thedesignation of the third and the last phase, which corresponds to adevelopment that took place much earlier,may create confusion for thereaders.Lastly,Trimingham's categoriesdo not highlightthe striking hangein the role of the Sufi shaykhsn the entire system f spiritualguidance anddevelopment inparticular, nd in thesociety ngeneral.74See details inTrimingham,The SufiOrders in slam,chaps. 1-3:1-104.75E. Geoffroy, "Ta'ifa" inTheEncyclopaediaof slam,new edn., 10:116-17.



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240 TANVIR ANJUMCarl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence observe that Trimingham's work ismarred by a theory f classicism nddecline, as theabove-mentionedfirst wo

phases of Sufism, according to Trimingham,were marked by the rise andgrowthof Sufism,while the third, nd finalphasewas marked by decline inSufism.76Meier periodizes Sufism in four historical phases: pre-classical Sufism,classical Sufism, post-classical Sufism, and neo-classical Sufism. According tohim, the second/eighth enturyconstitutedthepre-classicalphase of Sufismwhen thewoollen garmentwas widely adoptedby theSufis,and thepracticesof sama' (devotionalmusic concert) and dhikr (remembranceof God, orrecollection of God's presence)were developed. During the third/ninth,fourth/tenth nd the early part of the fifth/eleventh enturies,whichconstitutedthe classical eraof Sufism, ufi ideas founda perceptibledegreeof

public approval, and Sufismemergedas a religiousmovement. The greatSufimasters lived in thisera,which also witnessed the composition of Sufi textsand the establishment fpurpose-specific esidential choolsof theSufis. n thepost-classical age of Sufism,correspondingto the end of the fifth/eleventhcentury, nd the sixth/twelfthnd seventh/thirteenthenturies, highervaluewas placed upon visionary and occult experiences. The era was alsocharacterizedby the veneration of the Sufi shaykhs, he emergenceof Sufiorders, and the 'formularization', i.e. composition of Sufi prayers and litanies.The neo-classical stage of Sufism, stretching from the seventh/thirteenth to theeighth/fourteenth enturies,was distinguishedby a revival of themorerestrained practices of the classical era of Sufism, and a return to thefundamentalprinciples of Islam. In this era, the reformers f Sufism,whoincluded theSufis aswell as the theologianscriticalof Sufipractices,triedtocurtail theexcessesof Sufism. nlike the earlierphases of Sufism,membershipinmore thanone Sufi order becameprevalentinthisera.77The scheme of periodization suggested yMeier covers only theperiodstretchingfrom the second/eighthto the eighth/fourteenthenturies,anddoes not include the subsequent centuries.Like the periodization schemesuggested by Trimingham,Meier's scheme also presumes a theory ofclassicism,privileging ne stageofSufism, .e. the classical age,over therestofthe ages, i.e. the pre- and post-classical eras. Moreover, it also implies76Carl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence, SufiMartyrs ofLove: The Chishti Order inSouthAsiaand Beyond (New York: PalgraveMacmillan, 2002), 11. Ernst and Lawrence alsomaintain that

Trimingham's observations "contain a modern and strongly Protestant attitude." Ibid, 10.Moreover, he seesdecline inSufismas inevitable. bid.77FritzMeier, "TheMystic Path" inBernardLewis, ed. TheWorld of slam (London: ThamesandHudson, 1980 rpt, firstpublished 1976), 117-25.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 241borrowingof terms ndvision fromEuropean history.Buehler has also attempted tomark some stages in the evolution ofSufism.These are characterizedby (i) the teaching shaykhs, ii) thedirectingshaykhsy nd (iii) the mediating shaykhs.7*uehler's periodization, beingovertly cshaykh


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242 TANVIR ANJUMhad nevermet theProphet (peacebe on him), is also counted among theearlySufis.84

The Sufis of the first/seventhnd second/eighth enturieseitherlivedasisolated individuals or formed loose groups. Later, from the third/ninthcentury nwards theSufigroupscame tobe called ta'ifah. ufisof theearlyeraincluded thewanderingmendicants, travelling romone place to another ingroups or individually,and those leading sedentarylives.The threemajorcentres of Sufism which emerged in the second/eighthand third/ninthcenturieswere Iraq, especially themetropolitan cities of Basrah,K?fah andBaghdad, thepolitically turbulentprovince ofKhurasan, especially thecityofBalkh, andEgypt.Other earlycentresof Sufism includedDamascus, and thedesertwastes ofArabia and Sinai.What follows is a briefdescriptionof thedevelopment and growth of Sufism in its various phases. However, it isimportant to note that the evolution of these phases of Sufism followeddifferent imetables ndifferentregions f theMuslim lands.Appearanceof SufiDwellingsorKh?nqahsThe second/eighth nd third/ninth enturies

were the timeswhen the Sufipractices began to be crystallised. hile discussing the evolution of Sufism,Gibb statesthat thecollectiveorganizationof the Sufisbegan to appear in thesecond/eighth enturyin the formof small groups, and then appeared theirdwellings.85 These Sufi dwellings were variously known as rib?ts, z?wiyahs,jam?atkh?nahs and kh?nq?hs in differentgeographical regions, but thevariation in theirnomenclature also depended on theirspecificfunctions ndrole. In contemporary literature, these Sufi dwellings are often mistakenlyreferred to as hospices, convents or monasteries, but these latter terms carrytheir own distinctive meaning in the context of Christianity. Moreover, theseterms o not capturethecomplexity f theSufi institutions.

Regarding thedistinctivemeaning attached to each type of the abovementioned Sufidwelling,Trimingham isof theopinion that:the rib?twas an Arab type of hostel or training-centre; the kh?naq?h was thePersian non-training hostel type introduced into the cities of theArab world;z?wiya was the term applied to smaller establishments where one shaikh dweltwith his pupils; whilst a khalwa designated the 'retreat' of a single dervish,

84Ibid., 83-84.85Gibb,Mohammedanism, 132.According to amore recentwork, the firstkh?nq?hsor theSufidwellingswere built around thebeginningof the third/ninth entury.For a detailed discussionon the development of kh?nq?hs, seeMuhsin Kiy?ni, Tar?kh-iKh?nq?h dar ir?n (Tehran:Kit?bkh?nah-,iTah?ri, 1990), 137-84, andBuehler,Sufi eirs oftheProphet,44-54.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 243frequently a cell situated around amosque square. A more isolated 'hermitage'was sometimes called a r?bita.*6

According toJ.Chabbi, thetermrib?thas a host ofmeanings attachedtoit, such as a look-out post, small fort, fortified city, caravanserai, staging-postand an urban establishment f theSufis.87Many of itsmeanings are associatedwith warfare. In fact,therewere ribatsor Sufidwellingson themarcheswithByzantium, and inNorth Africa. The termz?wiyahwas used forsmallerSufidwellingswhere the Sufis lived and prayed, but unlike the kh?nq?hs,thesedwellings were not meant to serve as places where their resident Sufis couldreceiveothers,and thusmake contactwith theworld outside. Such dwellingswere generallyprevalent in theWest or al-Maghrib. owever, the termwassystematically mployed in this sense from the seventh/thirteenthenturyonwards.88 n addition, thereemergedsmall Sufi retreats r small cellsknownas khalwahs associated with a singleSufimaster. Sometimes the small cellsconstructed nsidea large ufidwellingfor ndividualSufiswere also known askhalwahs}9The termjam?'atkh?nah (literallymeaning a place of communalliving)isgenerallyemployed forSufidwellingsconstructedby theChishtis inIndia,which consistedof a largehall,where all the inmatesof thekhanqabused to live together under one roof.90As fortheprovenance of the Sufidwellingscalledkh?nqahs,theyseem tohave been adopted fromtheKarr?mis. In the third/ninth nd fourth/tenthcentury eastern Persia, the adherents of theKarr?miyyah sect inKhurasan andthe easternprovinceshad established theircentres fworship and instructionall over Khurasan, known as kh?nq?hs.These centreswere modelled onsimilar institutions run by Manicheans in Khurasan and Transoxiana.91 IbnKarr?m (d. 283/896), the founder f thesect, as an asceticofSijist?nwho hadconstructed his kh?nq?h in Jerusalem.92 The sect, known after its founder, wasconsidered heretical by the Sunn?s. However, the sect disappeared later, but its86Trimingham,The SufiOrders in slam, 17-18.87For details seeJ.Chabbi, "Rib?t" inTheEncyclopaedia of slam,new edn., 8: 493-506.88Ibid., 504.89Trimingham,The SufiOrders in slam, 169.90In addition, the Sufidwellings, also referred o as d?'irah (literallymeaning circle),came intoexistence later in theeleventh/seventeenthnd twelfth/eighteenthenturies.Their primaryaimwas to provide place for spiritualmeditation to people. For a brief discussion on thevarioustypesof Sufidwellings, see,Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, SomeAspects of theReligion and Politics inIndia during the hirteenthCentury (Aligarh: epartment ofHistory,Muslim University, 1961),175, n. 1.91J.Chabbi, "Kh?nk?h" inTheEncyclopaediaof slam,new edn.,4: 1025-26.92W. Montgomery Watt, The Formative Period of Islamic Thought (Edinburgh: EdinburghUniversity Press, 1973),289.



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244 TANVIR NJUM

legacystillcontinues in theform f Sufidwellings.Etymologically,kh?nq?hisa compositeword: kh?n isderived from thePersian word khanahmeaning ahouse, while the Arabic word q?hmeans a practice or an act ofworship.Therefore,a kh?nq?h literally eans a place ofworship.93 n studies n Sufism,the termis used for all typesof Sufidwellings ina generic sense,without anydistinction;and hence, ithas been used in thatsense in theensuingdiscussionaswell.The foundations of the Sufi dwellings or kh?nq?hswere laid in thethird/ninth, ourth/tenth nd early fifth/eleventh enturies, though thesedeveloped fully lateron. There aredifferentssertions s towhere andwhenthe firstkh?nq?hwas built. According to some, the firstkh?nq?hwasconstructedinRamalah in the thenSyria,94 hereas according to others,anearly rib?twas founded on Abad?n Island on the Persian Gulf by ansecond/eighth enturySufi, cAbdal-W?hid ibnZayd (d. 177/793).95ater on,theseSufidwellingsmushroomed in largenumbers inurban centres swell asinruralsettings ll over theMuslim lands.The kh?nq?hsmark the collectiveorganizationof the Sufis.With theiremergence,the collectiveand communal aspectof the Sufi lifestyle ecame arequirementfor thedisciples and all thosewho aspired to tread thepath ofSufism.At thebeginningof the fifth/eleventhentury, b? Ish?q al-Kazar?ni(d. 424/1033) required that his disciples Uve a communal life in kh?nq?hswhich he had founded.96Similarly,aKhur?s?nian Sufi,Ab? Sa'?d ibnAb? -Khayr (d. 441/1049) maintained a personal kh?nq?h in his native townMayhana, near Sarakhs.He outlined the rules and regulations guiding thebehaviourof thedisciples living ollectively, nd requiredfrom them thattheyperform theirprayers in common and also carryout other acts ofworshiptogether.97hus, by the fifth/eleventhentury, these Sufi dwellings hadbecome an essential feature of Sufism.

These kh?nq?hsor Sufidwellingswere constructed itherby a sultan,anoble, somewealthy individual,or by some prominent Sufi. They were93Nith?r Ahmad F?r?ql, ChishtiT?timat aur lAsr-i?dir m?n un klMa'nawiyyat (NewDelhi:Islam and theModern Age Society, 1981), 80.94Dar, "Early Sufis (Continued)" inM. M. Sharif, d.AHistory of uslim Philosophy,1: 336.95Trimingham,The SufiOrders in slam, 5, and Schimmel,MysticalDimensions oflsUm, 31. Fora brief life sketch of 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd, see P. Nwyia, "'Abd al-Vahed ibnZayd" inEncyclopedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarsharter (London:Routledge andKegan Paul, 1983), 1: 16768; and Id?rah-'iTasn?f-oT?l?f,Anw?r-iAsfiy?* Lahore: ShaikhGhulam Ali and Sons,n.d.), 3840.96Wilfred Madelung, Religious Trends inEarly Islamic Iran (Albany,NY: Bibliotheca Persica,1988),48-49.97R. A. Nicholson, Studies in slamicMysticism (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1980rpt.,firstpublished 1921),46.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 245supportedby endowments (awq?f)which theirfounders(kings, obles, or theSufis themselves)had set aside for the purpose of theirmaintenance andupkeep. But despite thefinancial upportfromm&^funds, ^ey enjoyedmuchautonomy and independence. Hodgson contends:

The worship at themosque never ceased to be associated in some degree withpolitical authority; itwas a state function. The kh?niq?hs were eminently privatefrom thevery beginning. Even when endowed by an amir, they retained this air.When the kh?niq?hs became the foci of themore private, personal side ofworship, they reinforced the fragmentation of Muslim societies in apoliticalsocial forms (and at the same time...gave these forms legitimacy and spiritualsupport).98In fact, the fifth/eleventh enturymarked the triumph of Sunn?traditionalism, nd the overthrowof political Shfism in the wake of the

Selj?qs' wresting control of the 'Abbasid heartlands from the ShriteBuwayhids. It gave rise to a new institution n theMuslim societythemadrasah (college of learning),particularlyfounded and patronized by theSelj?q rulers,who were staunchSunn?s.They triedto reasserttheirpoliticalauthority as well as that of Sunn? Islam. These political developmentsconsiderably contributedto the stabilizationof Sufi institutional tructures.Historians have pointed out the parallel institutionaldevelopment ofmadrasahs and kh?nq?hs in thatperiod.As many Sufisbecame associatedwiththesemadrasahs for teachingand lecturing, here remained littledistinctionbetween amosque or amadrasah and a Sufikh?nq?h."Like themadrasahs, theSelj?qs andAyy?bids also encouragedthefoundation fkh?nq?hswhich, likethe madrasahs, were managed, endowed and supervised by the state.Nonetheless, an adverse impact of the state's support to the kh?nq?hs was thatthey became state-run institutions controlled by the state, as their directorscame to be officially ppointed.These appointmentswere oftenpolitical innature, as the directors appointed there were often not necessarily Sufis. Bythe sixth/twelfth entury, the kh?nq?hshad become rich and flourishingestablishments.

Introduction of Silsilahs or TariqahsAnother importantdevelopment in Sufismwas the emergenceof the silsilah(pi. sal?sit)or the tartqah pi. turuq).100artqah literallymeans a path orway,98Hodgson, TheVentureof slam: TheExpansion of slam in the iddle Periods,2: 213-14.99Berkey,TheTransmissionof nowledge, 44-94.100For a briefsurvey, eeE. Geoffroy, "Tarika" inTheEncyclopaediaof slam,new edn., 10: 243



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246 TANVIR ANJUMand a practicalmethod,whereas silsilahliterally eans a connection,a linkora chain. They can be defined as spiritual lineage or pedigree, or initiaticgenealogy. Every silsilah traced its spiritual lineage or genealogy to somerevered Sufi shaykh, onsidered to be the founder f the silsilah, nd throughhim itwas linkedtohis spiritual receptor, nd thisverticalchainof authoritywas invariablytracedback to theProphetMuhammad (peacebe on him). Inthisway, the succeeding ufis, ncluding he founder f the silsilah, ecognizedthemselvesas the spiritualheirs of theProphet (peace be on him). The firstpedigree of Sufi teacherswas prepared by Ab? Muhammad Ja'far b.Muhammad al-Khuld? (d. 348/959), after which this practice becamecustomaryamong the Sufis of the latergenerations.101 silsilahas a chain ofgenealogical authority servesas a source of identity nd legitimacyfor thesucceedinggenerations f Sufis.The Sufi groupsor ta'ifahs f the earlyera laterdeveloped into silsilahs.They have been incorrectlytranslatedas Sufi orders, Sufi fraternities rbrotherhoods.Having theirorigin inChristianity,thesetermshave distinctivemeanings and connotations of theirown, and do not adequately explain thetrue nature and characteristics,r convey the complexityof Sufi silsilahs. twas the sixth/twelfthnd seventh/thirteenthenturieswhich witnessed themushroom growth of these silsilahsall over theMuslim lands, though alHujw?r?, writing in the fifth/eleventhentury,mentions twelve schools ofSufis, condemning the practices and beliefs of two, while approving the rest ofthe ten schools.102 Trimingham, however, contends that these schools had notdeveloped into silsilah-tar?qaht that time.103ome of the important ilsilahsthat emerged lateron are outlinedhereunder alongwith thenames of theirfounders:

SilsilahQ?diriyyahwas named afterShaykh 'Abd al-Qadiral-Jilani,ho isburied nBaghdad.Silsilah hishtiyyah as foundedbyKhw?jahAb? Ish?qSh?m?(d.238/940). toriginated fromChisht, a small village nearHerat inKhur?s?n in the thenPersia.Nowadays it is situated inAfghanistan. The silsiUhwas popularized in India byShaykh u'?n al-D?n hisht? fAjm?r (d.633/1236).SilsihhRif?'iyyah as derived romShaykh hmad ibn l-Rif?'i(d.578/1182).

46.101Meier, "TheMystic Path" inLewis, ed. TheWorld of slam, 119.102The formerten schools include theMuh?sib?s, theQass?r?s, theTayf?ris, theJunaydis,theNuris, theSahlis, theH?kim?s, theKharr?z?s, theKhafifis,and theSayy?ris,whereas the rest fthe two are theHul?l?s and theHall?j?s (including the Ib?hat?s aswell as the F?risls). AlHujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub,130-31; fortheir etails, see chap. 14: 176-266.103Trimingham,The SufiOrders in slam, 12.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 247SilsilahYasaviyyahwas associated ithShaykh hmad al-Yasav?(d. 561/1166).SikilahSh?dhiliyyahriginatedromShaykh buMayd?n Sh?'ayb (d. 593/1197)but attributed o ShaykhAbu 'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Sh?dhil?(d.656/1258),whopopularized it.SikilahBadawiyyah f Shaykh hmad al-Badaw?(d. 675/1276)was centred nEgypt.Sikilah Suhrawardiyyahas foundedby Shaykh aj?b al-Din 'Abd al-Q?hir(d. 563/circa 1167), also known as Diya' al-Din Ab? Naj?b al-Suhraward?.Suhraward was a town situated in north-eastern Persia. The real founder of thesilsilah s considered obe hisnephewnamedShaykh hih?b al-DinAbuHafs'Umar b. Muhammad al-Suhrawardi (d. 632/1234), the author of a famous Sufitext 'Aw?rifal-Ma'drif.Sikilah Kubrawiyyahwas originatedfrom ShaykhNajm al-Din Kubr?(d.618/1221).SilsilahNaqshbandiyyah is initially ttributedo ShaykhYusuf al-Hamad?ni(d. 534/1140) nd Shaykh Abdal-Kh?liq l-Ghujdaw?n?d. 575/1179). ater, itcame to be identified with Shaykh Muhammad Baha' al-Din Naqshbandi(d. 791/1389). The town ofNaqshband was situated near Bukhara in CentralAsia. The silsilahwas introducedn India by Khw?jah B?qi Bi'llah in theninth/fifteenth century. The Silsilah is also referred to as Silsilah-i Khw?jag?n aswell.SilsilahMevleviyyahwas foundedbyMawl?n? Jal?l l-DinRumiwhowas buriedinKonya (Turkey). He was the author of famousMathnawi Ma'naw?, a classicalPersian work of Sufi poetry. The silsilah is confined toAnatolia, and thewhirlingdarv?shes are identifiedwith it.From the beginning of the seventh/thirteenthentury, the silsilahsassumed the role of schools of Sufism,with one centreattached to one Sufi

Shaykh,which perpetuatedhis name, his particular teaching,method, andspiritual practices. These silsilahswere quite diverse in their nature andcharacteristics.They betrayed the diversification f religious and spiritualexperienceas themethods adopted for the spiritual raining nd growthof theaspirantsor discipleswere quite different nd diverse, such as themodes ofdhikr or remembrance of God, sam?( or Sufimusic concert, and raqs(devotionalecstaticdance). In fact, hegoal of all the Sufisand Sufisilsilahs asone, but theypursued differentpaths to reach theirgoal. It is importanttoclarifythat the crystallization f silsilahs id not imply that the adherents fonewere separatedor isolated fromall other silsilahs. he Sufi initiates ouldget initiated nmultiple silsilahs norderto receivespiritual enefitfromthem.However, the practice ofmultiple initiationwas developed fullyat a laterstage,and it is reported that theEgyptian Sufi of Sh?dhil?Silsilah, Shaykh



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248 TANVIR ANJUMSha'ran? (d.973/1565)was formally nitiated n twenty-fiveilsilahs ther thanhis own.104Centralityf the ufi asterorShaykhnSufismAnother simultaneousdevelopmentwas thatwith therise of the silsilahs, heSufi masters or shaykhs emerged as a centre of gravity of the Sufiestablishment. ere it seems appropriate to brieflydiscuss the categoriesofSufis and the alternativeexpressionsused for them.Al-Hujw?r? distinguishesbetween a complete Sufi,a genuine seekerof the Sufipath, and the imposteror charlatan.A Sufi isonewho has reached thegoal,who has annihilatedhisself ntotheAbsolute Truth,whereasmutasawwifmeans "hewho strives obea Sufi" or the Sufi aspirant.As for themustaswif,he is an imposteror acharlatanpretendingtobe a Sufiforsomepersonalgain.105There is a nomenclaturalvariety in theepithets sed for the Sufis.A hostofArabic and Persian terms likemarabut, darv?sh, aqlr, plr,wall, murshid,shaykh, ajdh?h and qalandar are found in commonusage.Nonetheless, theyhave distinctivemeanings attached to them,though some of themare oftenused interchangeably.hese termshaving slightly ifferentmeanings need tobe clarified ere, as someof themdenote thevaried categories f Sufisaswell.The Arabic termwall isunderstood in Sufi literature s someonewho isclose toGod or is considered to be a friend r prot?g? ofGod, whereas thePersian epithetplr generally refers to a healer or problem solver. Somescholars have employed the term plr in a general sense as well. For instance,Desiderio Pinto definesplr in a generic sense as a guide,helper, teacherwhotakespeople toGod, he is closely associatedwith theProphetMuhammad(peacebe on him),has a close and intimaterelationship ithGod, and acts as amediator between God and man.106The Arabic word shaykh as a variety ofmeanings, but it is a moregeneral termemployed forbothplr and theArabic word murshid,meaning aspiritualmentor or guide.The termfaqlr literally eans a p?or, derived fromtheArabic word faqr ([voluntary] overty),which is one of the celebratedvirtuesofMuslim Sufis and non-Muslimasceticsalike. ItsPersian equivalent isdarv?sh,derived fromdar (door) and v?sh (to beg) meaning poor or beggar104Michael Winter, Society ndReligion inEarlyOttoman Egypt:Studies in theWritings of'Abdal-Wahhab al-ShaWani (New Brunswick,NJ: Transaction Books, 1982), 90, as cited inBerkey,TheFormation of slam, 239.105Al-Hujw?ri,Kashfal-Mahj?b, 34-35.106See details inDesiderio Pinto, Piri-MuridiRelationship:A Study of the izamuddin Dargah(Delhi:Manohar, 1995), 125-40; see characteristics fp?rs, 141-47, duties ofplrs, 147-52, adab(etiquettesforveneration) ofp?rs, 152-59, and their owers, 159-77.



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SUFISM INHISTORY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH POWER 249who goes from door to door. Darv?sh is the one who has given up all hisworldly possessions, and either Uves in a kh?nq?h or is a wanderingmendicant.107n addition, there reother categories swell which includethefollowing: the Persian epithetmajdh?b refersto the one absorbed in, orenraptured ith, the loveofGod, generallyhaving lostsanity nd self-control;while qalandar is generallyunderstood to be a libertinemendicant havingantin?mi?n and non-conformist tendencies.108 However, it must beremembered that some of these terms were not current in the early days ofSufism, and became popular later on.Let us now return to theoriginalpoint, centrality f theposition of theSufi shaykh. ith thedevelopmentof the silsilahs, he Sufi shaykhsssumed acentralposition not only ina silsilah r a kh?nq?h,but in the entireprocessofspiritual development and trainingof a disciple.109 he Sufi doctrine andconcept of suhbah (literallymeaning companionship) explains it well.According to it, thecompanyof a Sufi shaykh s consideredto be a sourceofspiritualdevelopment of a disciple, and ispreferred o seclusion.110 ith thepassage of time elaborate rules of suhbahwere developed, and there alsoappeared texts and literature n the subject as well. 'Abd al-Rahm?n alSulam?'s (d. 412/1021)Kit?b ?d?b al-Suhbah is one such example in point.Thus, the institution f a directing shaykh r preceptor,being indispensableforthe spiritualdevelopment and training f amurld, emergedas a centreofgravity in the entire systemof spiritualguidance.The termmurld literallymeant an aspirant,or hewho has made up hiswill, i.e. to enter thepath. Itwas used as a designation for the disciples or initiates.The disciples canbroadly be classified into two typesdepending on theirmotives in gettinginitiated: those getting initiated or becoming murld for the purpose of seekingtheblessingsof a Sufi shaykh,nd thoseperforming ay'at forembarkingonthe spiritualtrajectory.nly a fewdisciples could become thekhulafa' (pi.of107Brown, The Darvishes orOriental Spiritualism, 9. Also seeDuncan BlackMacdonald, The

ReligiousAttitude and Life in slam (Beirut: hayats, 1965 rpt, firstpublished 1909), 162.108For a detailed discussion, see P. M. Currie, The Sbrine and Cult ofMu'tn al-dlnChishti ofAjmer (Delhi:Oxford University Press, 1989), 1-8;A. C. Mayer, "Pir andMurshid: An AspectofReligious Leadership inW. Pakistan,"Middle EasternStudies (1966-67), 3: 161-64, and J?rgenWasim Frembgen, "TheMajzub Mama Ji Sarkar:A Friend of God moves fromone house toanother" in PninaWerbner andHelena Basu, eds.EmbodyingCharisma:Modernity,LocalityandPerformance f motion inSufiCults (London:Routledge, 1998), 144-46.109For a critical a

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