Muslim Mysticism-A critical Appreciation

Muslim Mysticism-A critical Appreciation Authors Name and Affiliations Dr. Ali Raza Tahir Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy, University of the Punjab, Lahore-Pakistan Corresponding Author Dr. Ali Raza Tahir Sponsoring Information Department of Philosophy, University of the Punjab Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-Pakistan Abstract The intellectual domain of Muslim thought is consisted of three main disciplines: Theology, Philosophy, and Sufism (All other disciplines are under these three streams). Muslim Mysticism is not only an academic discipline but a pattern of life also. In this, article, the main aspects of mystical teachings, along with origin, objections, nature and scope of mysticism, have been described. It has been pointed out that alongwith other objectives, the development of a perfect being is also an important aim of the Muslim Mysticism. Key words: Muslim, Mysticism, Metaphysics, Religious Experience, Metaphysics, Critical Appreciation. Introduction Religion, philosophy and science are three main systems of knowledge. Revelation, reason and sense perception are their basic sources respectively. Every being has an innate tendency of intuition within him. Intuition is also a source of knowledge by the help of which one can get the knowledge of absolute reality, essence of the things, consciousness of the universals and the perception of the objective world directly with out any visible and material reference. According to the dictionary of philosophy: Mysticism, a doctrine or discipline maintaining that one can gain knowledge of reality that is not accessible to sense perception or to rational, conceptual thought (Audi, 1996:515). Intuition is a source of knowledge for mysticism. Mysticism is a universal approach, which exists in all the human beings with out any discrimination of colour, creed, nation and race. It has different names in different religions. In Islam, it is known as Islamic or Muslim Mysticism or Sufism. Generally associated with a religious tradition, mysticism can take a theistic form, as it has in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, or a non-theistic form, as it is in Buddhism, and some varieties of Hinduism (Audi, 1996:515). Philosophers strive to gain the truth by reasoning, argumentation, and by logical inference. Natural sciences depend upon sense perception, while mystical experience or religious experience is basic, primary, and major source of knowledge in mysticism to which a mystic can gain by some specific religious practices. Mystics claim that the mystical experience, the vehicle of mystical knowledge, is usually the result of spiritual training, involving some combination of prayer, COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 976

meditation, fasting, bodily discipline, and renunciation of worldly concerns. Theistic varieties of mysticism describe the mystical experience as granted by God and thus not subject to the control of mystic (Audi, 1996:515). Now the question arises about the nature of the religious or mystical experience. In religious or mystical experience, a person struggles to create a direct link with Reality, which is beyond and above sense perception and cognition. So, what will be the nature of that experience? According to the Dictionary of Philosophy: The experience-typically characterized by its profound emotional impact on the one who experience it, its transcendence of spatial and temporal distinctions, its transitoriness, and its ineffability-is often but not always associated with some religious tradition (Audi, 1996:515). A historical analysis of the words Sufi and Sufism There are different opinions about the origin of the words; Sufi and Sufism. According to some thinkers, the Sufi s (mystics) were the men of piety. In Arabic, there is a word Safa means purity. So, the word, Sufi (a man of purity and piety) was derived from this Arabic word. Some writers are of opinion that Sufis had always offered their prayers in the first Saff (row) so it was derived from the Arabic word saff (row). According to another approach, its origin is Suffa. In Arbic, Suffa means a terrace or a plate form. In the age of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W.) in the city of Madina, there was a terrace in the Masjad e Nabavi and a group of companions sitting on it was permanently involved in religious endeavours. Because the Sufis keep themselves engage permanently and constantly in religious accomplishments, so, due to this reference, the word Sufi was used for them. Some European scholars viewed that the word Sufi was derived from Arabic word Suf (wool). Because some Muslim Sufis had usually worn the coarse woolen garbs in the imitation of Christian monks and hermits so they were also named as Sufis (wool wearer).while Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr is of opinion: What is the origin of the word mysticism? One should know the meanings of mysticism in Islamic context. One must recall that silence or the closing of one s lips is the root meaning of the Greek verb mue from which the word mysterion and mysticism derive. As such, one might relate it in the Islamic context to such terms as asrar (mysteries) or batin the (inward or esoteric), remembering that the Sufis refer often to themselves as the people who are the Divine Mysteries or asrar (2002:367). Objections on Muslim Mysticism or Sufism Some western scholars have raised some objections about the beginning and origin of Muslim Mysticism or Sufism. Some Orientalists and European scholars have traced its origin in Idian Vedanta, Neo-Platonism, Christianity and some determined it as the Aryan reaction against the religion of Islam. Allama Dr. Iqbal describes it in these words. Von Kremer and Dozy derive Persian Sufism from the Indian Vedanta; Merx and Mr. Nicholson derive it from Neo-Platonism; while Professor Browne regarded it as Aryan reaction against an unemotional Semitic religion (1964:77). Origin of Islamic Sufism These objections are due to the superficial study of the Islamic Sufism or Mysticism. Its careful, and deep study leads us towards the conclusion that it is absolutely an Islamic product. The life of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W.) and the teachings of the Quran have all the roots and seeds of Muslim Mysticism. If some European thinkers traced the roots of Muslim Mysticism other than Islam, at the same time some western thinkers determined it as a product of pure Islamic COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 977

teachings. The basic teachings and metaphysics of Muslim Mysticism are a clear evident of this reality. As Spencer expounds it in these words: The growth of Islamic mysticism (or Sufism) is a significant illustration of the strength of the mystical tendency in religion. On the face of it, the religion of Muhammad can seriously be regarded as of itself providing fruitful soul for the growth of that tendency. Yet with in a comparatively short time after the Prophet s death. A movement arose among his followers which has given birth to some of the greatest of the mystics (1963:299). To know the reasons of the arisen of this movement in the Muslim world, we will have to study the age in which this movement emerged. Political unrest in the Muslim world, skeptical approaches in community due to the abstract Islamic Rationalism, unemotional piety of the different theological schools, the aimless theological disputations and discussions among the representatives of different creeds, the engagement of the majority in the worldly affairs, moral carelessness, lack of concern with religious affairs, lust of wealth, and the monastic life of the Christian hermits, played a key role in the emergence of this movement. Nicholson pointed it as: It must also be allowed that the ascetic movement was inspired by Christian ideals, and contrasted sharply with the active and pleasure loving spirit of Islam. In a famous sentence the Prophet denounced monkish austerities and bade his people devote themselves to the holy wars against unbelievers; and he gave, as is well known, the most convincing testimony in favour of marriage (1963:5). There are a number of verses of the Quran, which illustrate the basic principles of Sufism. Obedience of Allah Almighty, servitude to His commands at any cost, purification of self, abstinence from momentary pleasures, sacrifice of the personal interests for the sake of other fellow beings, respect of all, preference others, betterment of other beings, search of pleasure in the pleasure of others, and love all are the basic principles of Muslim Mysticism, derived by the mystics from the Quran and Sunnah(the life pattern of the Holy Prophet(S.A.W.W.). According to Nicholson: Apart from the fact that Sufism, like every other religious movement in Islam, has its roots in the Koran and the Sunnah and cannot be understood unless we study it from the source upwards, the particular aspect of it which we are now considering takes us back at once (1964:4). The ideal of Sufism According to Islam, Quran is a book of guidance revealed by Allah Almighty to His last Prophet (S.A.W.W) for the betterment of humankind. If we want to know the will of God, the only way for us is the Quran. But, how is it possible? Quran is in the form of words. It is consisted of commands and orders, does and don ts, and advises and instructions. What is the parameter of right and wrong? What is the criterion of good and evil? God is beyond vision. He is transcendent. An anthropomorphic approach is unjustified for him. So what is the way to know the standard of an action? How can we judge our actions? The only way is the Sunnah ( the way of life or the pattern of life) of the Holy Prophet(S.A.W.W). Allah Almighty has declared him(s.a.w.w) as the mirror or spectacle of His will and a standard of His liking and disliking. He is the perfect being. Every breath of his life was in Allah s obedience. Every moment of his life was in servitude of Allah. His personality is a manifestation of Allah s good will. Therefore, the Sunnah and the life of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W) is an ideal for a Muslim Mystic. He COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 978

always tries to follow him(s.a.w.w). A mystic measures his actions by his(s.a.w.w) Sunnah. According to Malik and Hinnells: Mystics claim to be able to interpret the purely literal world of the Quran as well as its spirit. Like other Muslims, they want to emulate the life of Prophet Muhammad, to sunnatize their life-worlds, and perform imitatio Muhammadi. In addition to this more or less literal negotiation with religious truth, salvation or asceticism, latter Sufis strove to establish personal contact with god through the person of the prophet, who is often perceived as still living and present (2006:3). The mystics and the self Human being is a masterpiece among all the creations of Allah Almighty. He is the chosen of God. He selected him as His vicegerent in this universe. He made him on the best make. (Al- Quran, 95: 4) He set the objectives for a human being. He blessed the human being with unlimited potentials. Allah bestowed the humankind with reason, which is the most prominent feature of this creature. Reason has the ability to differentiate right from wrong and good from evil. In all the creations, only humankind has freedom of will. An individual may become better than the angels or may become inferior than the animals. All this depends upon the development of self or on its negation. Self is the center of a personality. Individuality of a person depends upon his self. A developed self means a developed personality. Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal expounds it in this way. In man the centre of life becomes an Ego or Person. Personality is a state of tension and can continue only if that state is maintained. If the state of tension is not maintained, relaxation will ensue. Since personality, or the state of tension, is the most valuable achievement of man, he should see that he does not revert to a state of relaxation. That which tends to maintain the state of tension tends to make us immortal. Thus the idea of personality gives us a standard of value; it settles the problem of good and evil (2003: 196). The experience of the mystic A mystic puts his emphasis on the development of self. He develops his personality by its development. The mystic experience or religious experience plays a key role in the development of self and personality. Every body has a tendency towards religion and religious experience. But a mystical experience or consciousness is absolutely different from the experience of an ordinary being. Men are of different levels. They have the understanding of religion according to their own levels. Most of them require religion to fulfill their needs. They have a utilitarian approach towards religion. The level of their religious understanding is according to their needs. Religion is a source of better survival for them. Other than this lower level, there are some higher levels of consciousness also: aesthetic consciousness and visionary consciousness. The focus of aesthetic consciousness is on beauty while for visionary consciousness the world is unknowable. There is another higher level of consciousness, which is the mystic consciousness. The basic spirit of this consciousness is love; a universal love, which changes the approach and personality of the subject of experience. Ghose endorses to our point view. Like the pre-mystical modes of aesthetic and visionary consciousness is to some extent potentially in all of us. Normal waking consciousness is necessarily utilitarian, and its primary concern is survival and the avoidance of pain. But normal waking consciousness is not the only form of consciousness. There is also the aesthetic consciousness, for which the world is unimaginable beauty. There is also the visionary consciousness, for which the world is fathomlessly enigmatic COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 979

and unpredictable. And there is the mystical consciousness, for which the world is unity the world of the other shore whose other aspect is maha-karuna, universal love (1968: vii). The mystics and religious orthodoxy As we have described above simple religious belief is absolutely different from the mystic consciousness. Some times, we find a contrast or opposition between them. Actually due to the difference in the level of consciousness of both we find an antagonism between them. Measured by a simple personal belief in God, mysticism is always bold. It dares to use expressions, which overstep the relationship of the simple believer to his God, and from his position must appear astounding, reckless and even blasphemous (Bracey and Payne, 1962:117). Because there is a lot of difference between the state of a mystic and the stage of an ordinary being, so, their observations are absolutely different about some truths and realities of the religion. The findings of the experiences which are clear and evident for a mystic may be blasphemous for an ordinary being. However, a mystic narrates what he observes and describes what he feels. In this way, he discloses those hidden truths and mysteries of nature, which are unimaginable and unthinkable for a person of having an ordinary religious belief. This is only possible for a mystic when he develops the attributes of God with in himself. In other words, he becomes the mirror of Gods attributes. We may say that God reflects His attributes by that person. Iqbal illustrates it in this way. In the history of religious experience in Islam which, according to the Prophet, consists in the creation of Divine attributes in man, this experience has found expression in such phrase as I am the creative truth (Hallaj), I am time (Muhammad), I am the speaking Quran(Ali), Glory to me(ba Yazid) (1989:87-88). Islamic Sufism and reshaping of the society Muslim Sufism played a pivotal role in reshaping the Muslim society. Early Sufis were the men of action. They understood religion as a living and vital force. The real understanding of the religion was in the basis of all their actions. They contributed in intellectual evolution. In the state of religious experience they were mystics, in the rationalization of that experience they were philosophers and in utilizing those truths in the welfare of humankind they were scientists. But unluckily their successors are so much unaware of the needs of time and unfamiliar to the spirit of their age that they are physically in modern age but are mentally in the medieval ages. This gulf demaged the entire structure of the society. The more genuine schools of Sufism have, no doubt, done good work in shaping and directing the evolution of religious experience in Islam; but their latter-day representatives, owing to their ignorance of the modern mind, have become incapable of receiving any fresh inspiration from modern thought and experience. They are perpetuating methods, which were created for generations possessing a cultural outlook differing, in important respects, from your own (Iqbal, 1989: xxi). From Religious consciousness to Mysticism However, inspite of all these lack nesses, there is a sound relationship between religious consciousness and mysticism. The first step of excellence is belief in religion and the last is the mystical consciousness or religious experience. Religion is a belief while mysticism is its exposition. In other words, religion is a faith while mysticism is its realization. We may say that COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 980

increase in religious awareness is the doorway to the mystical consciousness. According to Spencer: In the very nature of the religious consciousness, therefore, we have the seed of mysticism. It has been said that mysticism is a heightened noesis (knowledge) of the numinous. The dawning of religion is itself the awakening, however dimly, of that knowledge. It is when men pass from dim awareness to the certainty which comes from immediate contact that mysticism arises (1963:17). Sufism and imposture Sufism means purity, purification of self, contentment, help of others, betterment of the humankind and love for all. However, unluckily it has become an attractive corner for the imposters and charlatans. Ignorance of the ordinary beings is a main weapon while their superstitious temperament is the major instrument for those cheaters. They exploit the psychological weaknesses of the laymen and deceive them by tricks. This misfortune phenomenon has dulled the innovation, creativity, and novelty and made it confused for a man of this age. Sufism like many other institutions became, early in its history, a fertile ground for imitators, impostors and charlatans. The corrupting influence of these charlatans was regarded as a source of great confusion to all those who wanted to either follow the path of Sufism, or wanted honestly to understand it (Sharif (ed), 1983:310). The Spirit of Muslim Mysticism Islam condemns ignorance and illiteracy, negates superstitions, denounces the blind faith, and promotes reason and free will. In Islam, the acquisition of knowledge is as necessary as other religious obligations are compulsory. A faith with out reason, knowledge, argument, logic, and comprehensive understanding is not acceptable in Islam. On the other hand, Mysticism is like a fruit and religion is as the root. In other words, seed of the belief blooms in mysticism. Nasr elaborates: More over, Islamic Mysticism under stood in this sense is primarily a path of knowledge (al-marifah, Irfan) to which the element of love is attached in accordance with the structure of the Islamic revelation.. (2002:367). However, due to a sound and solid foundation and a transparent origin, Muslim Mysticism is still working as a live force in the whole Muslim World. A Muslim Mystic comprehends the real spirit of Islam and puts it in to practice. For an ordinary being, religion means a faith and a belief only, while for a mystic it is a vital force and a live phenomenon, which is directly related to the every moment and each event of life. That is why mysticism has deep roots in society rather than any other discipline. According to Nasr: What is most essential to emphasize is that Islamic esoterism and specially Sufism have remained alive and vibrant over the centuries, providing practical means for the realization of the Real and the activation of the potentialities of the noetic faculty within human beings (2002:368). Metaphysics of Muslim Mysticism The metaphysics of mysticism is very fertile and rich. It encircles all dimensions of life and universe. The first step for the interaction of a being in this universe is knowledge. Knowledge is vague and aimless with out comprehension. The awareness of self leads a person to create a positive link with other fellow beings. This positivism is manifested in the form of love and unity for the whole creatures. Love inspires a being to behave and act in an appropriate way. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 981

Therefore, knowledge, love, and action are basic components of the metaphysics of mysticism. To realize these aspects a comprehensive vision is necessarily required. That vision actualizes the potentials. This vision is of four kinds: Oneness, Timelessness, Self, and Love. In this way, the metaphysics of mysticism becomes the physics, a live phenomenon related to daily aspects and current issues of life. In Happold we find its illustration in a very beautiful way. Mysticism is like a great fugal pattern, each part interwoven with other, sometimes one theme, sometimes another predominating, but together forming one whole. It is seen to have three interconnected aspects, which we have called the mysticism of knowledge and understanding, the mysticism of love and union, and the mysticism of action. In it are found four interrelated visions; the vision of Oneness, the vision of Timelessness, the vision of a Self other than the empirical self, and the vision of a Love enfolding everything that exists (1963:119). Mystical States A real mystic neither involves himself in worldly affairs and nor detaches himself absolutely from visible world. In its mystical journey, he passes from three states. At first state, a mystic studies the universe thoroughly. He observes all the objects of nature comprehensively. He realizes all facts of existents by his complete attachment and involvement. At this stage, he differentiates between factual beliefs and moral beliefs also. (Danto, 1973:3). By realizing the mortality of all affiliations, passions, and objects of this universe, he passes towards the next state, which is the state of detachment from all the mortals. This state gives him the consciousness of a higher Being. Being which is immortal and attachment with that Being becomes blessing for the mystic. This attachment leads him towards a state which is neither of monasticism and nor of worldliness. This is the actual state of a real mystic. The state consisted of both involvement and detachment. Scharfastein presents it in a very fine way. I have made crude, bold, and yet revealing division of mystical states into three different types: the type of passion or involvement; the type of passionless or detachment; and the type of both passion and passion less, which is the union of involvement and detachment (1973:4). Conclusion Muslim Mysticism is not only an academic discipline but it is a way of life also. For a Muslim Mystic this universe has been established on love. God, the absolute beauty is the ultimate cause of all love. Love is of three kinds: The divine love, the spiritual love, and the natural love. (Affifi, 1979:171-172) The love of Absolute Beauty develops a being fermented with all good attributes. That is a perfect being. Perfection of a being expresses itself in good words, good deeds, good principles, and good learning. (Palmer,1969:11). That will be beneficial for the whole humankind with out any discrimination of colour, creed, race, and nation. That would be equipped with all values. A perfect being thinks, learns, speaks, and behaves according to the rational parameters. The perfect man is the future and hope of humankind. The development of a perfect being is also the aim of Muslim Mysticism. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 982

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