Sufism is generally accepted to be the mystical dimension of Islam. In fact, Sufism is the very core of Islam. Sufis are distinctive in nurturing their spiritual dimension as well as being devout Muslims - they pray five times a day, give to charity, observe fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and adhere to the outward observance of Islam.
Throughout history, a Sufi was most often known as a person of religious learning who aspires to be close to God. The aim was to reach a state of purity, through which they would be in direct relationship with God, unite with God, be annihilated in God, subsist in God, and then attest to the Oneness of God --- as the Holy Prophet had declared, la-ilaha-illa-Allah. Reaching this state means that no other but God is in one's heart --- safa.
This method of purification through submission to God and annihilation in God was termed ma'rifa, meaning acquaintance and cognition. The one who teaches this method of cognition is known as the Arif, or he who has attained the most exalted state of existence through annihilation and permanence in God.
Hazrat Salaheddin Ali Nader Angha, the Arif of our time, in his book entitled Theory "I", states:
The word Irfan captures the essence of Sufism. Irfan is derived from the word ma’rifa, which means cognition. In this context, it means self-knowledge that leads to knowing the reality of Existence and being replete with divine knowledge or mysteries. It is the way of the prophets. This is why I have defined Sufism as the reality of religion. Sufism teaches that all knowledge is humanity’s legacy, but that one does not receive it until one truly seeks it. And until it is fully experienced in one’s own lifetime the reality of the message of each prophet will never be known." [1]
The origin of Sufism dates back more than 1400 years ago, to the time of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). In general, social, cultural, ethnic and tribal influences which shape and form religion by the hands of people are mistaken for the genuine message of religion. However, well-known scholars attest to the true origin of Sufism. Ann Marie Schimmel, in The Mystical Dimension of Islam, states that Sufism traces its origin back to the Prophet himself, as the Prophet Mohammad is the first link in the spiritual chain of Sufism. His ascension through the heavens becomes the prototype of the mystic's spiritual ascension into the intimate presence of God.
She further describes that according to tradition, esoteric wisdom was transmitted from Mohammad to his cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib. Schimmel notices that "the discoveries about the earliest Sufis show that some of the definitions attributed to mystics of the ninth century can probably be dated much earlier. They also show how Shiite and Sufi ideas were, at that early stage, inter-dependent."[2]
Reynold A. Nicholson, also understood that the early ascetic movement could be explained without difficulties from its Islamic roots and that, therefore, the original form of Sufism is " a native product of Islam itself." [3] German professor of Divinity, F.A.D Tholuck, produced the first comprehensive Western book on Sufism in 1821, and four years later he wrote an anthology called Bluthensammlung aus der Morgenlandischen Mystik. In his work, Tholuck quickly came to understand that "the Sufi doctrine was both generated and must be illustrated out of Prophet Mohammad’s own mysticism."[4]
[1] Molana Salaheddin Ali Nader Angha, Theory "I" (M.T.O. Publication, Riverside CA, 2002) p. 122.
[2] Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam,(University of North Carolina Press,1975)p.42
[3] Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam, ( 1914: reprint ed., Chester Springs, Pa.,1962)p.10
[4] Friedrich august Deofidus Tholuck, Ssufissmus sive theorsophia persarum pantheistica (Berlin, 1821). Quoted in The Mystical Dimensions of Islam.
