 |
| One of Sufi's practice known as the "whirling dervishes" |
I just finished re-reading a wonderful book about Islam by Reza Aslan. In one of the chapter, he explains about Sufism, which is one of religious branch in Islam which is quite popular to non-Muslims. A lot of scholars and encyclopaedias have explained it, or at least tried to, but I really love Aslan's interpretation about it. I will reveal a little bit about it here, but if you'd like to know more about his thoughts on Sufism, you should read his book called "No god but God" and jumped to chapter 8. These are all quoted and summarized from this book (all bold prints are mine).
Sufism - the term given to Islam's immensely complex and infinitely diverse mystical tradition - is ... fundamentally indefinable. As a religious movement, Sufism is characterized by a medley of divergent philosophical and religious trends. In their rituals and practices, the Sufis sought the annihilation of the ego, ...whereas Sufism's goal is to thrust humanity toward God. The Sufi path only originates with the "outer shell" of Islam. As the Sufi passes from one stage to another of the way to "self-annihilation" and unity with the Divine, that shell must be gradually discarded. Sufis believe that reason and theology, creed and ritual, law and its commandments, all must be replaced in the soul of the enlightened person with the supreme virtue: love.
This brief outline of Sufism...in no way explains what Sufism is. Nor could it. That is because Sufism is a religious movement that can only be described; it cannot be defined. What is Sufism? It is the love of Majnun for Layla. It is "numberless waves, lapping and momentarily reflecting the sun - all from the same sea," according to the Sufi master Halki. It is the practice of "adopting every higher quality and leaving every lower quality," in the words of Ibn Junayd. The Sufi is "not Christian or Jew or Muslim," Rumi wrote. He is not of "any religion or cultural system...not from the East of the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all...not an entity of this world or the next." Sufism to Islam is what heart is to the human being: its vital center, the seat of its essence.
Of all principles that the Sufi disciple must integrate into his life, none is more important than the principal of love. Love is the foundation of Sufism. The experience of love represents the most universal station on the Sufi Way, for it is love - not theology and certainly not the law - that engenders knowledge of God.
According to the Sufis, God's very essence - God's substance - is love. Love is the agent of creation. Humanity...is God made manifest; it is God objectified through love.
When Sufis speak of their love for God, they are not referring to...spiritual love; quite the opposite. This is a passionate, all-consuming, humiliating, self-denying love. ...the Sufi love requires the unconditional surrender to the Beloved's will, with no regard for one's own well-being. This is love to the point of utter self-annihilation. Love, ...is the fire that obliterates the ego and purifies the soul, and the lover is he who "flares and burns..."
I recently proclaimed my love for someone. It's my first time. Funnily, against all odds, I felt all right. I wasn't ashamed, and I didn't feel at all degraded. I told my bestie yesterday that I strangely felt grounded, sober, and calm, although I know that my love is unrequited. I probably reached what the book called "ecstatic self-annihilation". I have probably given what the Sufis called "the perfect love - the kind of love that expects nothing in return," although I also told God that I would not mind very much if he loves me back (haha!). But today I know for sure why.
I don't claim myself to be a Sufi. I'm still so very far from that. But having experienced a deep love for someone, I know that I have been closer to God, and get to know Him a little bit more. There is something grand about it. It's indeed a privilege, because not all human beings are allowed to have this kind of experience. It has elevated me into a whole new level of existence. And it has left me an indescribable but incredible sense of peace.
There's one more thing I know for sure now. Almost everything in the world, when they're given, will make you have less. Money, books, clothes, shoes, everything, except love. Love, I believe, is the only thing in the world that always returns to you after you give it back, and many times even more.
