This week, let’s explore the essence of Sufism—what it is, and what it isn’t. The heart of Sufism is devotion. It is not dogma, doctrine, nor religion. It does not belong to one race or faith, nor can it be owned by one group. It’s the underlying truth that transcends all labels. It’s the shared heartbeat of all that is.
The following words are taken from talks given by Sufi Master Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan. As usual, his words provide a simple yet powerful message. I hope it stirs you as it does us.
…
The Sufi’s were called Sufis by others; they did not give themselves any name. They were free from name, from label, from distinction of personality, and for this the world called them “Sufis”, derived from “Sáf”, which in Arabic means “pure”. Their aim in life is to purify the soul from all foreign attributes, to discover the real nature of the soul, and in this discovery lies the secret of the whole life.
Modern writers have often made mistakes by writing of Sufism as a Persian philosophy or the esoteric side of Islam. Some have erroneously believed it to be a borrowed influence of Vedanta or Buddhism upon Islam. Some Oriental writers have patriotically called it an outcome of Islam in order to secure the credit for their own religion, while some Occidental writers have attempted to win it for Christianity.
In fact, according to the sacred history which the Sufis have inherited from one another, it is clear that Sufism has never been owned by any race or religion, for differences and distinctions are the very delusions from which Sufis purify themselves. The idea that Sufism sprang from Islam or from any other religion is not necessarily true; yet it may rightly be called the spirit of Islam, as well as the pure essence of all religions and philosophies. But according to the traditions of Sufism, its origin is traced back to the far distant past, back to the time of Abraham and even beyond. Every age of the world has seen awakened souls. As it is impossible to limit wisdom to any one period or place, so it is impossible to date the origin of Sufism.
Sufism is not a religion nor a philosophy, it is neither deism nor atheism, nor is it a moral, nor a special kind of mysticism, being free from the usual religious sectarianism. If ever it could be called a religion, it would only be as a religion of love, harmony, and beauty. The Sufi prays to Allah every moment in one’s life, invoking God’s Name and realizing at the same time that the self is no other than God. For to a Sufi, God is not a personal being but a mighty healer to awaken the soul from its delusion of earthly individuality, and a guide to lead it to self-realization, the only aim in life.
The Sufi, by learning the greatest of all morals, which is love, arrives at the stage of self-denial, wherein one liberates oneself from all earthly morals. Mysticism has several aspects but the Sufi strives towards the path of truth, its ultimate goal. The truth of the Sufi is the one TRUTH which is common to all religions and philosophies, and in the realization of which one finds one’s salvation.