Main Teachings of the Sufis
Sufism was based on the monistic philosophy which is the first fundamental principle of Islam. Nevertheless, the sufis, adopted their own line of thought and philosophic speculations in visualizing, the Absolute reality or the supreme Creator and the relationship between Him and his creation. In this respect, they, sometime showed considerable difference of opinion with the fundamentalists among the Muslim
theologians. The sufis also differed with one another in many respects as regards
their methods of teaching. That is why, in the final phase ot its development, Sufism came to be organized into a number of silsilahs or orders, the founder of each of which was said to have made some special contribution or given an individualistic touch of the mystic philosophy or the organizational set up of his disciples. Of course it may be worthwhile to enumerate the salient principles of sufism with special reference to the main teachings of the Indian sufis.
The monistic philosophy of Sufism was based on the theory of wahdat-ul-wujud or wahdat-i-wujudi-the Unity of Being, according to which the Creator (Haq) and the Created (Khalq) were identical; in other words, God was the Unity behind all plurality and the Reality behind all phenomenal appearance. Shaikh Muhiuddin lbn al-Arabi (1165-1240), the author of the theory, explains it in these words.
"There is nothing but God, nothing in existence other than He; What ever exist
objectively as well as subjectively, outside the mind of man as well as inside, it is one-The God, there is not even a 'there'; where the essence of all things is one".
The sufis stood for the establishment of harmonious relationships between God and the soul. They felt that the desire for 'direct communion with God' could be attained in this very mortal life (khaki jama) through intense love for and total surrender and dedication to the Supreme Power. The sufi saints, in their capacity as pirs the living teachers or spiritual guides showed the path and suggested the means to their
followers, called murids, for the attainment of that eternal bliss which was called marifat (recognition) or wasl (union) by them. The orthodox Muslim theologians were opposed to the doctrines of wahdat-ul-wujud and marifat; according to them God as
the Absolute Power was indivisible and unrivalled in His eternal existence, and that the relationship between God and man was the one between the Creator and the Creature or Master and the Slave. The sufis on the other hand, compared this relationship with the one that existed between the Lover and tne beloved Husband and Wife. According to them, the presence of God could be feit by any one who attended to His call with a loving hear The sufis held that God was an invisible Absolute Reality and an Eternal Beauty which they named as Jamal, and this universe was not a mere illusion either; it was the visible or outward manifestation of God and it was named as Husn (lovable beauty). They argued that 'self-manifestation and desire to loved' was and essential attribute of the Eternal Beauty. Hence the sufi philosophy was based on the principle of 'Love' which was the essence of all religions and 'the cause of all creation.'
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