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| 786 The Zahuri Sufi Web Site: Articles |
These notes were made in response to a request by an American Research Scholar
for a video interview about Sufism that could be used for students in America who
would have little or no background to the topic. I have subsequently amplified the
original. They are introductory notes only. For a full introduction to the Sufi way the
reader is referred to The Culture of the Sufis by Hazrat Zahurul Hasan Sharib. (see
forthcoming publications)
for a video interview about Sufism that could be used for students in America who
would have little or no background to the topic. I have subsequently amplified the
original. They are introductory notes only. For a full introduction to the Sufi way the
reader is referred to The Culture of the Sufis by Hazrat Zahurul Hasan Sharib. (see
forthcoming publications)
Some brief notes introducing the subject of 'The Sufi Way' to American college
students.
by Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri
If you ask 'what is Sufism? ' you may be meaning how do you fit 'Sufism' as a piece of knowledge
into the overall curriculum consisting of many different branches of knowledge about the universe
and how it works. Then you must understand that it is a way, quite a direct way, into what might be
described as the wholeness underlying that curriculum.
Let me explain. Your curriculum contains many subjects, art, music, poetry, psychology, social
sciences, pure and applied science, biology, medicine, history, geography, engineering, agriculture
etc. The list is enormous. None of these is in themselves the whole of the curriculum. Even all of them
added together would not be the same as the whole of which they are a part. Each relies on an
underlying wholeness, a universality of which each is a particular manifestation. You may be familiar
with the expression that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Sufism concerns itself with the
underlying whole - you can say with the underlying nature of reality or truth, in a quite direct way.
This may sound at first as if we are talking about philosophy, but it is not philosophy since Sufism
relies on an extra faculty rather than on logical deductive reasoning. The extra faculty is called taste
or a particular type of direct experiencing. No amount of talking or writing about it will be sufficient.
For example, it will be very clear to you that you could not explain the sense of sight, adequately to
someone who is blind from birth. The way in which this is usually illustrated in Sufism is this. The
Sufis point out that if you try to explain to someone who has never had it, how sugar tastes, then,
however you try, the person cannot understand you, but when they taste the sugar all confusion or
doubt is cleared away without need of explanation. So in certain respects Sufism utilises this special
faculty of taste to apprehend the nature of the reality on which all knowledge in the curriculum, so to
speak, is based.
Of course taste is only a metaphor. Sensory experience is but a part of the whole and tasting here
refers to a faculty which is quite distinct from, but in a way contains, all the sensory faculties such as
hearing, taste, touch sight and smell. Sufism has been called the science of Reality. In many
respects it is quite distinct from the natural sciences but it shares their concern for Truth.
The fruits of Sufism, in other words the benefits it brings if followed and practiced assiduously, have
been described by Hzt* Zahurul Hasan Sharib as 'better living' 1. footnotes
The explanation I have given above can hardly be entirely satisfactory to you and in any event applies
broadly to mysticism of many types. We will therefore restrict ourselves to talking about Sufism
largely as if it were a single subject in the curriculum. But you should bear in mind during this
discussion that it is really a way or a path to the Universal Real and perhaps beyond that since at a
certain point word/concepts fail us. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, a great Sufi saint, said somewhere
that whatever stage is reached on this path always ask if there is more.
Taking Sufism for now as if it is a subject in the curriculum, what are its characteristics? Firstly we
may say that its historical origins are believed to lie in the revelations to the holy Prophet
Muhammed. Of course these days some of the various ways in which Islam is practiced and also the
ways in which it is represented in the western media, may produce a negative response in you, if you
are not a Muslim - and perhaps even if you are. I must leave you to deal with those feelings in your
own way, and to use your own intelligence to ascertain the truth behind the fiction or to suspend your
judgment whilst you learn.
To get to know something about Sufism may require a willingness to, temporarily at least, suspend
judgment and preconception. One great medieval scholar called Al-Ghazzali2 was known as the
most learned man in all the major sciences of his day yet he set aside his knowledge in order to
ascertain the truth about Sufism from within. He became a great Sufi himself and gave recognition
of, and scholarly validity to, the Sufi approach. footnotes
The meaning of the word Islam is often described as submission to Divine Will. Muslims believe that
Almighty God (usually through the medium of the angel Gabriel) revealed His message for mankind
to the holy Prophet Muhammed. Sufis consider that those revelations consisted not only of the things
openly spoken about but of a deeper hidden truth. They believe that this hidden part of the
revelations to the Holy Prophet were passed by him to his son-in-law, Hazrat Ali. The explicit part of
that revelation they called The Holy Law and this was enshrined in Islamic beliefs and practices, such
as ritual prayers, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, the organizing of society and the establishment of a
moral and legal code. The implicit part of the revelation was passed by Hazrat Ali to others found
worthy to bear it, who in turn passed it on to worthy successors, who in their turn similarly passed it
on. One of the earliest mystics to establish a recognisable sufi code was Hzt Junaid of Baghdad
who is sometimes called the Lord of the Tribe of Sufis.
You must understand that the 'passing on' of the hidden or implicit aspect of revelation was not done
in the way in which ordinary knowledge is passed on, by a process of instruction, practice and
learning. Nor did it consist of secret verbal formulae which could be learned. Where such exist they
are a manifestation and not the reality behind it. It was transmitted in a way that cannot usefully be
described, but, once known, it is as clear as the tasting of sugar to which we earlier referred. If we
say it is passed from heart to heart that only partly describes it.
Often the transmission was accompanied by the passing on of holy relics such as a cap, or coat, or
prayer carpet, used by the spiritual predecessors.
What you must bear in mind is that the historical perspective is limited. In reality the message, as it
is called, that was given to the Holy Prophet, was in essence, if not in specifics, the same as that
revealed from time to time throughout history. The holy Qur'an, which is the sacred book of Muslims,
makes this clear - referring to other great Prophets such as Hzt Jesus, Hzt Moses, Hzt Abraham, Hzt
Noah and Hzt Adam and many more as people who have submitted themselves to the Divine Will
(i.e. Islam). In reality, in their true nature, these revelations are not limited by conventional
understandings of time or space or thought. They are universal and stand outside of our normal
bounded human perspective or perception.
Perhaps therefore the easiest way to think of Sufism is as an Islamic form of universal mysticism or
as a mystical form of universal Islam. Both ways of thinking have some truth. If you come to think of it
only as a specific sect or cult attached to a specific religion then to some extent you have missed the
point. To describe it as a tradition of spirituality or spiritual development might be a little closer.
The Sufis believe that Almighty God has been so Gracious as to pour His Mercy into particular souls
in such a way that they acquired a level of development that enabled them to influence and train other
souls to be able to receive His Benevolence and thus reach perfection. These souls also act as a
vehicle for dispensing Almighty God's Benevolence and Mercy to society in general, consciously or
not. Indeed Sufis believe that this is one of the ways Almighty God has chosen to develop His plan
for mankind. Without such beneficial, if hidden, influences, it is thought mankind would deteriorate to
living an animal like existence, trapped within its own lower nature. Religion, the Sufis believe, has a
social purpose and functions so as to ensure that the persons who follow it can make the best of this
life and avoid the serious consequences in the life after death or on the Day of Judgment. It limits the
negative effects of man's lower self. Mysticism the Sufis believe goes beyond that and can take man
to a higher level of existence. If someone says to you that life is about 'the survival of the fittest' then
they are actually describing our lower nature, for in the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms this
is the law. To the sufis humans also have a higher, you can say angelic, potential and this, they
affirm, is governed by the law of Love.
Under Almighty God's inspiration some of the perfected souls developed methods for increasing the
effectiveness of their influence. One such method was the developing of Sufi orders. At any given
point in time an order would seem to consist of a spiritual master, sometimes called a Shaykh or Pir,
his disciples and a spiritual genealogy or line of predecessors which trace their authority back to
Hazrat Ali and thus to the Holy Prophet. Frequently there were associated buildings or Khanqas
(sometimes misleadingly translated as monasteries). These orders developed a style of living which
usually included techniques and rituals to aid the process of perfecting individuals and establishing
communities that lived according to both the hidden and known Laws of God. Often these
techniques or rituals were secret things themselves but this was because they could be harmful if the
novice was not properly prepared and trained or guided. This was a wise precaution, but nowadays
so many techniques have leaked into the public domain - often only partially understood - that some
Sufis at least have spoken more openly in order to set straight the many resulting confusions 3. Sufi
teachings were essentially based on the Holy Law as mentioned above, but developed beyond the
limited application which the Holy Law recommends for everyone. It is true to say that Sufism is not
for everyone - indeed at certain levels it may only be suitable for a very few. Nevertheless at certain
points in history membership of some Sufi orders in some places would be counted in hundreds of
thousands at least. It is the heads of the Sufi orders or their caliphs (deputies) who received and, it
appears, passed on the spiritual message and authority given to them. When we refer to Sufism as
a historic thing we generally, though not entirely, mean these orders and their associated features.
footnotes
Islam, as a religion, prides itself on crossing national, racial, social, gender, class or ethnic
boundaries and thus in creating a single universal brotherhood. Within that Islamic brotherhood the
Sufis, it seems, saw themselves as a more specific brotherhood dedicated to maintaining the
spiritual vitality of the religion, rather than just its more formal aspect. They also saw the idea of
universal brotherhood as referring to the brotherhood of mankind in a wider sense - in the sense that
we are all children of Hzt Adam, i.e. all human. Further than that many saw themselves as belonging
to a brotherhood of mystics or developed souls, irrespective of religious affiliation. Indeed Sufis
often came into conflict with religious bigotry and narrow mindedness and were not infrequently
outlawed, persecuted and reviled by some fellow Muslims and still are.
The orders themselves branched out and formed new orders based on the teaching or spiritual
influence of some particular perfected soul or saint**. This tended to happen when more than one
disciple was found worthy of guiding their own disciples. Of course as Sufism became overtly
politically influential, as it did at times, it also suffered corruption and deterioration not to mention
acquiring a charlatan element, and many of the great sufis are at least as scathing of 'so called Sufis'
as they are of the false piety of many of the clergy. You will get a sense of this if you read the sublime
poetry of the Persian mystic Hafiz 4 footnotes. Despite these corrupting factors some element of
spiritual vitality continued and at times flourished, albeit changing in form, though not in essence,
according to the needs of the time.
We should not be too distracted by the historical view for it must be realized that, to sufis, the
masters who passed on from this life are not in fact dead, but live and continue to influence the
development of individuals and the ordering of society from the unseen world, even centuries after
the death of their corporeal selves. They should not really be thought of as a kind of continuing
'ghostly' presence though, for it is this world, i.e. our 'normal' perception, that is unreal or at least
transitory and shadowy. It is the unseen world that is the real substance - this world and the events in
it are but a shadow of that. Indeed it is the view of Sufis that there is an inner or hidden government
which by divine dispensation rules the fates of nations and individuals to the benefit of mankind. Do
not imagine this means a secret cabal of persons meeting in some hidden room utilizing magical
powers. No! This refers to those perfected souls who continue to live in the unseen beyond their
corporeal death and they can function only within and according to the Will of Almighty God. However
some living saints or highly developed persons are able to access their discussions if and when they
permit it.
You may want to know what do Sufis do. Well of course this is no more easily answered in a few
words than asking what it is American or European people do. However I will not entirely duck the
question but try very briefly to give a hint of the flavour of some practices of which I am aware.
Firstly it should be said that authentic Sufi orders tend to encourage the conventional practices also
carried out by Muslims in general. Affirming the unity of God, ritual and private prayer, fasting,
pilgrimage (though this is sometimes to the shines of saints as well as the more usual pilgrimage to
the Kaaba in Mecca), charitable acts, reading or reciting of the Qur'an, ritual purity etc. However the
extent to which this is overtly insisted upon varies. My own spiritual guide used to say that Islam is
very simple - its essential requirement is that you believe that there is only one God.
In general I think it would be fair to say that the true Sufi guides are not formulaic in their attitude.
They see deep into the state of their disciple and instruct them accordingly. In many cases it may be
that their spiritual influence is more potent in awakening a desire to follow Islamic law than anything
said to the disciple. Some disciples are, consciously at least, ambivalent about their religious
affiliations. However even the least orthodox true Sufi guide will not overtly contradict the spirit of
their own understanding of Islamic law in instructing disciples. They may or may not tell the disciple
to pray five times a day according to the Islamic law, but they will never say do not do so. In any event
the outward following of Islamic law is not the goal but is at its best a means of getting nearer to the
goal - which is spiritual development or nearness to God.
It can be said that the observation of morality in conduct is an essential prerequisite of progress, as
is self-examination and repentance. In this respect the difference between the Sufi and the orthodox
religious believer is often in their commitment to the spirit of the basic Islamic tenets. To give an
example. A Muslim is expected to pay 2.5 % of his income to charity. The Sufi who is a little
advanced however, it is said, retains only 2.5% for his own use and gives the rest to charity. The Sufi
who is really advanced is said to give 100% and depends entirely on God. Khawaja Muinuddin
Hasan Chishti distinguishes between real fasting - which is giving up of worldly desires or even the
desire for reward in the next world, and unreal fasting which is merely giving up of food and drink etc.
for a short period footnotes 8. The same distinction is made in regard to love. The ordinary love of one
person for another, as for instance between parent and child or between man and woman is
regarded as unreal love. It may be good but at best it is only a stepping stone to real love which is
the love of God.
All of this may appear not very exotic and interesting to you, as you may still feel concerned to find
out what the Sufis actually do, in the sense of what esoteric and exotic customs do they follow. But
one note of caution before I indicate one or two of these. I once witnessed a very enthusiastic and
nice lady from the west who was visiting the house of a Sufi. Cornering a disciple she asked with
great earnestness when and where the secret practices of the Order were carried out. It appeared
she had tried in vain to discover when the disciples met to carry out their secret rituals which she had
not been able to witness. The disciple told her with great politeness and patience that there were no
such secret rituals and that what she had seen was what happened. Yes it was true that sometimes
the disciples sat late into the night talking but there was nothing secret about this. The more such
secret rituals were denied the more she appeared convinced that they existed. In fact the patience
that the disciple attempted to demonstrate in responding was as much a 'secret practice' as
anything she was looking for. By all means seek to understand mysticism but don't seek
mystification.
One well known tradition is a custom of spiritual retreats for various periods, usually forty days and
nights, often with fasting. Sometimes this is carried out near the tomb of some venerated saint.
Another is the remembrance of God by repeating the name of His essence, Allah, or of one of his
attributes such as Mercy. This may be done, out loud or silently, privately or collectively in a circle
and is called Zhikr (remembrance). There is verse in the holy Qur'an which talks of :-
'men who are not distracted from the remembrance of God either by trade or commerce or buying
and selling'. (Qur'an 24:37)
Some orders, such as the Mevlevi associated with Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, use a whirling dance
which can bring about states of spiritual ecstasy, others such as the Chishtis, of which the Gudri
Shahi Order is a branch, listen attentively to music in praise of God, His Prophets or His saints or
telling stories of Divine Love (Ishq) with the same effect. To do this however they follow strict rules of
etiquette which make it quite different from just going to an ordinary concert or partaking in dance in
an ordinary way. Usually quite strict conditions have to be met. You will probably be able to find
descriptions of these gatherings in the literature on Sufism.
For some advanced Sufis spiritual elevation can exist without such props. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
was said to go into ecstatic transport on hearing some phrase in the street or the sound of the
hammering of the goldsmith. In general it can be said that very advanced mystics do not have to be
bound by all the rules that apply to the novice. That they appear to do so at times may be for the
benefit of the disciples.
Sitting in the company of saintly or good people with or without conversation is another custom which
is given great emphasis.
However the performance of all or any techniques or rituals are not what constitutes the essence of
sufi practice and the mere carrying out of them can have little benefit without the spiritual power and
blessings of the guide. Service to the spiritual guide is the cornerstone of Sufism.
Performing social service, acts of kindness, neighbourliness, bearing suffering with patience, honest
hard work, marriage and the raising of a family are all usually thought of as part of the Sufi way. In
short all the good manners and social graces, honesty, cleanliness of body and heart and mind,
moral courage, love of justice, humility, generosity etc., which most 'civilized' societies proclaim
more loudly than they practice, are expected to be observed assiduously by one following the Sufi
path, and to be practiced quietly and without making claims to piety or having feelings of superiority.
The two great commandments given by Lord Jesus - to love the Lord thy God and to love thy
neighbour - sum this up very well indeed. It may be said that learning to give and receive pure love is
a quintessential practice in sufism. In truth this may have more importance than specific rituals or
practices but in fact both have their place and are not contradictory.
Sufis, whilst being advised to live in the world rather than withdraw from it to a monastery, are
exhorted not to be part of this world. As my spiritual guide said, they should float like a leaf lightly on
the surface of a stream - following its currents but not being dragged into its depths. One great saint
has said (loosely paraphrased) that worldliness is not beautiful women, big mansions, fast cars and
jewels or good food, but the forgetting of God.
A common practice amongst Sufis is the telling of stories. These convey lofty ideas through a simple
medium and when told by a spiritual guide they have a great, if sometimes hidden, effect on the
mind and the heart. The parables of Lord Jesus are of course a wonderful model for this. It is hoped
that some of these stories will be featured on this website in the future but of course their effect can
be quite different according to the circumstance of their telling. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi used to say
that these stories are like bread - better when they are fresh.
I have mentioned the idea of sitting in good company, but you may imagine this means only sitting
physically with good and like minded persons. It is this, but it is more. In fact when students of Sufism
talk together they often discuss the lives or sayings of Prophets or great saints. This is another form
of good company, since if we talk respectably of such persons Sufis believe a beneficial influence
from them occurs and elevates the spirit of those talking, and in effect they gain the spiritual
company of saints. Nor is this practice restricted to discussing religious figures. Sufis tend to
recognize an affinity with great minds so discussion of great thinkers, poets or mystics from other
traditions may also figure. The reading of good books can also be a way of getting good company -
though Sufism cannot be learned just from books. Bringing to mind the mental image of the spiritual
guide is another common practice. In Sufism concentration is important - whether it is reading the
newspaper, watching the news etc. on TV or focusing on a mental image or an external object.
Much can also be conveyed through a look (of grace) or through presence. When I sat with my own
spiritual guide, Hzt Zahurul Hasan Sharib (usually referred to affectionately and respectfully as
Zahurmian), who was the head of the Gudri Shahi Order of Sufis, we often sat in silence or talked
only of incidental things and yet, through this, he conveyed more than could have been learned from
sermons. Also when he did talk to me he would sometimes slip into a language he knew I could not
follow and yet I still felt he was communicating to me most effectively. I also met a great Shaykh in
Konya, Turkey, called Nuri Baba who had a similair effect on me. However I do not want to go into
personal experiences, they might interest you but may not help you much. As a matter of fact it is
said that when a true Sufi Shaykh or guide speaks to a disciple, or a group of disciples, he is not
speaking from self interest, for it is believed that he has died to his own desires and he is acting, so
to speak, as a mirror, reflecting in his words and actions the disciples' needs. Another way of
describing this is to see the words as waves on an ocean. The Shaykh has become the ocean and
his words and actions are like waves that rise and disappear back into the ocean. They arise not
from the ocean but from the effect of the wind blowing on the surface of the ocean. When the
disciples' thoughts have become stilled the ocean is calm.
One of the customs of Zahurmian was to visit daily the tomb of the towering saint Khawaja Muinuddin
Hasan Chishti who is the focus of attention for Sufis belonging to the Chishti Order, which is
widespread in India and Pakistan. Zahurmian would circle the tomb and then sit nearby for some
time. He would sit in the same spot everyday at the same time. The visiting of tombs has a long
tradition in Sufism and, provided it is accompanied by appropriate respect, can be said to be of
great spiritual and sometimes material benefit. His disciples would sit attentively and respectfully
near by. The Sufis see themselves as sitting in a great spiritual court at which great matters are
discussed and benefits bestowed, unseen to most and unheard by most but seen and heard by the
Shaykhs. The tombs of saints such as this are open to all who seek their help sincerely, irrespective
of religion etc. There is a great verse by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (here loosely translated) which
expresses this spirit:-
'Come, come, whatever you are, it doesn't matter,
Whether you are an infidel, an idolater or a fire worshiper,
Come, our court is not a place of disappointment, come,
Even if you have broken your vows a hundred times, come again. '
Another practice amongst some Sufis is to show deep respect at the tomb of a saint by kneeling
and kissing the ground near where the saint's feet would be. This is a point of some controversy with
orthodox Muslims (and some Sufis) as from outside it can look like worship and Islam specifically
rejects the worship of anything but God. Others see it as a deep form of respect and devotion and
point out that it was not uncommon for Muslims in the past to show this sort of respect even to mere
worldly rulers. There are numerous other arguments in support of or opposition to this practice.
Another option is to make a short recitation of some Qur'anic verses with the hands uplifted followed
sometimes by a personal request for intercession by the saint.
You may be expecting me to talk about how the Sufis do things like meditation or practices with
holding the breath, etc. Of course there are many such techniques and they have been written about -
some safer ones, which are of great practical value, you can find in the series of lectures which Hzt
Zahurul Hasan Sharib has written footnotes 5. His spiritual guide Hzt Nawob Khadim Hasan Sahib has
also written a short book with some descriptions of Sufi practices 6. Techniques have their place but
in my view we westerners are frequently a little more interested in exotic techniques than is always
entirely good for us. A practice often recommended is simply to eat less, sleep less and talk less.
Many of the safer practices are already well known to you. Have you ever sat and literally 'counted
your blessings'? The rule of moderation is valuable. To undertake practices without proper guidance
is not wise.
The most basic lesson of Sufism is sometimes said to be to learn to sit properly. Some think that
perhaps it is also one of the most advanced lessons.
A not uncommon experience when maintaining the company of the guide with faithfulness is that
such techniques as are needed may be gifted to the person. That is to say, they gain the 'technique'
apparently from within themselves, without overt teaching and, though the technique may or may not
require effort, the ability to make any effort needed is also gifted. There are ways between soul and
soul which cannot be described with advantage but which it is not beyond the power of man to
apprehend. It is also said that Love is a gift.
But people are different and some people require external technical help and where a real need
arises the guide supplies that. He may give some formula to recite a fixed number of times each
day. He may advise specific periods or types of meditation. He may interpret a dream for you. He
may give a straightforward piece of practical advice. He may tell you to fast or he may tell you to eat.
He may give you some task to complete, suggest some book to read or some place to visit. Or he
may just smile! Sometimes the disciple stands in legitimate need of material help. In this case the
master's prayers are believed to be of great help in obtaining that, and, whilst the logically oriented
mind will reach quickly for words like coincidence in order to explain away the ensuing events, the
sheer plethora of these 'coincidences' will leave any reasonable person in little doubt that the normal
course of events has been altered.
Another practice is called fatiha, this is a sort of communal (or sometimes private) 'prayer' consisting
of recitation of Qur'anic verses over food and in one form or another is common amongst Muslims
generally. In the Gudri Shahi Order, based in Ajmer, India, this incorporates both Qur'anic recitation
and respectful invocation of God's blessing on the souls of the holy Prophets and the saints of the
spiritual genealogy of the order. Sometimes this takes the form of a kind of chanting. It may be done
for the benefit of some person who has died or to commemorate the anniversary of the passing of
some saint. At the end everyone present partakes of some of the food.
One custom that may interest you is the ritual of initiation as a disciple. This usually consists of a
short recitation of some Qur'anic verses, some form of words indicating the acceptance by the
disciple of the unity of God and the authority of the holy Prophet, Hazrat Ali and the Shaykhs of the
order. There is usually the taking of the hands of the disciple between the hands of the guide who
may offer some prayer for the disciple's acceptance. A nominal offering from the disciple of perhaps
a handkerchief, sweets and some flowers may be accepted. The ritual varies between orders and
the form of words may differ from occasion to occasion. The disciple is usually presented with a
written copy of the list of spiritual successors with verses from the Holy Qur'an and respectful
salaams (greetings) or invocations of God's blessings on the holy Prophet and the saints. This is
signed by the guide. The ritual usually lasts just a few minutes.
Sometimes when the guide deems it appropriate he may give some article such as a coat or hat to
the disciple - the most valued of these are the ones that have been worn or used by the guide. They
are generally taken to indicate that the guide is pleased with that person's progress.
Leaving customs and rituals I will touch briefly upon some other areas. Firstly, you will no doubt come
across the term wine used in Sufi literature. In general it is thought that this does not refer literally to
alcohol, which is neither permitted in Islam nor generally approved in Sufism, but to a kind of feeling
of spiritual elation which may come as the reward of some endeavor or from close association with
the spiritual guide or by some other means. One of the great advantages of spiritual intoxication is
that it tends to drown out and silence harmful negative thoughts and if it creates a sense of
dependency, it is dependency on God or spiritual effort rather than on material means to alter
consciousness. Some Sufis give great emphasis to this kind of intoxication. Others however
maintain that there is a stage of sobriety which is even better than that.
Something may also be said of specifically intoxicating drugs. In the course of spiritual development
most, though not all, followers of the Sufi way find themselves enveloped in transitory states which
appear to arise from within themselves. However these states are not the purpose of Sufism. If the
person undergoing these states is properly trained and guided they may be of benefit by giving
encouragement and internal evidence of progress, if not they can have a harmful effect on long term,
real progress. It need hardly be pointed out that to pursue 'altered states of consciousness' by the
aid of artificial intoxicants may have much more harmful effects on spiritual development. It has been
said that the behaviour of the truly well established Sufis appears exactly as the behaviour of anyone
else and that they appear quite indistinguishable from their neighbours, exhibiting no outward signs
of altered states of awareness. The difference lying in the presence of spiritual power residing in the
saint which makes the ordinary, extraordinary. However circumstances vary.
Mysticism is sometimes associated with secrecy. Do Sufis keep secrets - or tell lies? My
understanding of this is that in one sense they may appear to do so, but the sense is this. Suppose a
very young and innocent child comes to you and questions you about the sensations associated with
physical intimacy in connubial bliss? What will you say (assuming you have experience of this)? If
you deny knowledge of it you will be lying and you are certainly keeping a secret. If you try to explain
it openly the child will not be able to grasp what you are saying and will think you are talking
nonsense or form a very distorted view of it. If you make a comparison suited to the child's
understanding and say it is something which adults find as enjoyable as the child does sweets then
you may also feel that you are telling a kind of lie since you know very well that it is not comparable to
tasting sweets. If you refuse to answer you may only stimulate the child's curiosity. Another problem
is that this may be an intensely personal thing shared with a beloved and you do not wish to trivialize
or betray it by verbal description to another. You may also be aware that it cannot satisfactorily be
described anyway. Yet another problem is that even if you do manage some sort of communication
will the child then be inclined to misrepresent this to other children who will become confused? Most
adults will use every means to avoid this situation until they judge the child has become mature and
adult enough to benefit from some explanation.
In this sense, and in this sense only, the real developed Sufis may appear to belong to a conspiracy
of either silence or 'implicit lies', as they are effectively adults mostly surrounded by innocent
children, quite irrespective of apparent chronological age. But this is of course very different from the
lie that is used for personal advantage or the secret that is kept from feelings of guilt or to mislead. In
every other respect the real Sufis seem to value truthfulness, integrity and sincerity as indispensable
virtues and even candor has its place. There is a tradition that the holy Prophet advised people not
to ask him questions that, if answered would be a great difficulty to them. Perhaps we can express
all of this simply by saying that what God hides from most people, he hides for His good purpose
(which is to say for their benefit). What He reveals to some he reveals for His own good purpose.
I will add one caveat here, in case you think that any of this supposes a sense of superiority in sufis.
Contradictory as this may appear, Sufis do not think of themselves as superior. In fact they have a
well established mode of perception which regards everyone else as superior to themselves. If
anything they perceive themselves as child-like in an adult world - but to go further into this apparent
paradox is not the purpose of these notes.
Perhaps you would like a little glimpse into the thinking of the Sufis on the important points of
spiritual purity and human choice.
From what I have been able to discover Sufis tend to think along these lines. One of God's
requirements is faith and belief, in the absence of concrete proof. Without the existence of doubt and
disbelief there would be no such thing as faith or belief - thus He allows doubt and disbelief.
However He condemns doubt and disbelief and approves faith and belief. Thus he leaves us with
some degree of apparent choice, either to seek His pleasure or His displeasure, to have faith or to
doubt, to have belief or disbelief. If successful the struggle that this produces within us can help to
lead towards what is termed in Sufism as purification. Some Sufis have described it thus. There is a
'place' where each of us is represented in the form of a pure spirit-body7. The image of the
spirit-body appears either to consist of a shining white light substance or as black and 'dirty', or as
some mixture of the two. Each good effort we make, such as acts of faith, or belief, or pure love
which are acceptable to God, causes that spirit-body to acquire a spot of light. Worldly or sinful acts
which draws us away from God produce a black or dirty spot. The removal of all black spots, leaving
that spirit-body represented as pure white light, is a matter of great moment to the sufis. Indeed the
term 'sufi' is often thought to derive from the same root as the word for purity. For them one of the
best aids to this spiritual purity of thought and action, to faith, belief , love etc., is the company of
those who are pure, for without doubt we are affected by that with which we surround ourselves. For
them the true and pure spiritual guide is the best of company.
What I have said in these notes is hardly a hint of a hint of the aroma of the wine of Sufism - let alone
its flavour. I have spoken to some extent as if Sufism could be considered as just another subject in
the curriculum, but I have tried to make clear that it is more than that. If you merely wish to add it to
your trophy belt of subjects studied then what is written here will not be enough for you, but there is
quite a lot of scholarly literature that will help you to feel you have done just that. If your deep and
sincere interest is to find out what Sufism is really about then you are actually seeking God and it
may be that your search has yet to begin. It may take you a lifetime of commitment and striving and,
if in His Grace He wills it, provide you with benefits which will surprise you not a little.
Words and thoughts have a great power. Sufis take what they think, say and do seriously, since they
expect to be judged by God on this. Therefore they often include a prayer at the end of their writing. I
will follow their practice to the extent of offering my earnest hope and prayer that if I have said
anything misleading, that Almighty God will forgive it, cover my fault, and remove any ill effect my
words might cause and change that bad effect into good as only He has the power to do. Amen.
Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri 4, Polygon Court , The Polygon, Southampton.
September 16th 1998
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Footnotes
* It is the custom in eastern literature to make plentiful use of honorific titles out of respect. I have abbreviated here the word
Hazrat which is just such a term, in order to attempt to make it easier for the western reader who will probably be struggling
with the unfamiliar names anyway. However I cannot bring myself to drop these entirely as the reasons behind their use I find
quite valid.
** The term saint is not awarded by formal process as happens in some Christian traditions, but is used to refers to a person
generally thought to be saintly. In truth however it is really a term which can only be conferred by the grace of God.
1. The Psalm of Light: The Psalm of Love: The Psalm of Life: all published by Sharib Press. 1990
2. The Confessions of Al-Ghazzali: Translated by C. Field. Kitab Bhavan. India. 1992.
3. The Sacred Knowledge: Shah Wali Ullah: Translated by G. N. Jalbani. Octagon Press. 1982.
4. The Hafez Poems of Gertrude Bell: Iranbooks. 1995.
5. Lectures of the Society of Mystics: The Society of Mystics. Sharib House, Jhalra, Ajmer.1975-1996.
6. The Path of Tasaawuf: Hzt. Khadim Hasan. East West Publications.
7. The Sacred Knowledge: Shah Wali Ullah: Translated by G. N. Jalbani. Octagon Press. 1982.
8. The Meditations of Khawaja Muinuddin Hasan Chishti: Z. H. Sharib. Sharib Press. 1994.
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Copyright Sharib Press. 1998.
This article should not be reproduced for publication, in whole or part, except for review, by any means without permission of
the publisher.
Published by The Zahuri Sufi Web Site: September 1998
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students.
by Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri
If you ask 'what is Sufism? ' you may be meaning how do you fit 'Sufism' as a piece of knowledge
into the overall curriculum consisting of many different branches of knowledge about the universe
and how it works. Then you must understand that it is a way, quite a direct way, into what might be
described as the wholeness underlying that curriculum.
Let me explain. Your curriculum contains many subjects, art, music, poetry, psychology, social
sciences, pure and applied science, biology, medicine, history, geography, engineering, agriculture
etc. The list is enormous. None of these is in themselves the whole of the curriculum. Even all of them
added together would not be the same as the whole of which they are a part. Each relies on an
underlying wholeness, a universality of which each is a particular manifestation. You may be familiar
with the expression that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Sufism concerns itself with the
underlying whole - you can say with the underlying nature of reality or truth, in a quite direct way.
This may sound at first as if we are talking about philosophy, but it is not philosophy since Sufism
relies on an extra faculty rather than on logical deductive reasoning. The extra faculty is called taste
or a particular type of direct experiencing. No amount of talking or writing about it will be sufficient.
For example, it will be very clear to you that you could not explain the sense of sight, adequately to
someone who is blind from birth. The way in which this is usually illustrated in Sufism is this. The
Sufis point out that if you try to explain to someone who has never had it, how sugar tastes, then,
however you try, the person cannot understand you, but when they taste the sugar all confusion or
doubt is cleared away without need of explanation. So in certain respects Sufism utilises this special
faculty of taste to apprehend the nature of the reality on which all knowledge in the curriculum, so to
speak, is based.
Of course taste is only a metaphor. Sensory experience is but a part of the whole and tasting here
refers to a faculty which is quite distinct from, but in a way contains, all the sensory faculties such as
hearing, taste, touch sight and smell. Sufism has been called the science of Reality. In many
respects it is quite distinct from the natural sciences but it shares their concern for Truth.
The fruits of Sufism, in other words the benefits it brings if followed and practiced assiduously, have
been described by Hzt* Zahurul Hasan Sharib as 'better living' 1. footnotes
The explanation I have given above can hardly be entirely satisfactory to you and in any event applies
broadly to mysticism of many types. We will therefore restrict ourselves to talking about Sufism
largely as if it were a single subject in the curriculum. But you should bear in mind during this
discussion that it is really a way or a path to the Universal Real and perhaps beyond that since at a
certain point word/concepts fail us. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, a great Sufi saint, said somewhere
that whatever stage is reached on this path always ask if there is more.
Taking Sufism for now as if it is a subject in the curriculum, what are its characteristics? Firstly we
may say that its historical origins are believed to lie in the revelations to the holy Prophet
Muhammed. Of course these days some of the various ways in which Islam is practiced and also the
ways in which it is represented in the western media, may produce a negative response in you, if you
are not a Muslim - and perhaps even if you are. I must leave you to deal with those feelings in your
own way, and to use your own intelligence to ascertain the truth behind the fiction or to suspend your
judgment whilst you learn.
To get to know something about Sufism may require a willingness to, temporarily at least, suspend
judgment and preconception. One great medieval scholar called Al-Ghazzali2 was known as the
most learned man in all the major sciences of his day yet he set aside his knowledge in order to
ascertain the truth about Sufism from within. He became a great Sufi himself and gave recognition
of, and scholarly validity to, the Sufi approach. footnotes
The meaning of the word Islam is often described as submission to Divine Will. Muslims believe that
Almighty God (usually through the medium of the angel Gabriel) revealed His message for mankind
to the holy Prophet Muhammed. Sufis consider that those revelations consisted not only of the things
openly spoken about but of a deeper hidden truth. They believe that this hidden part of the
revelations to the Holy Prophet were passed by him to his son-in-law, Hazrat Ali. The explicit part of
that revelation they called The Holy Law and this was enshrined in Islamic beliefs and practices, such
as ritual prayers, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, the organizing of society and the establishment of a
moral and legal code. The implicit part of the revelation was passed by Hazrat Ali to others found
worthy to bear it, who in turn passed it on to worthy successors, who in their turn similarly passed it
on. One of the earliest mystics to establish a recognisable sufi code was Hzt Junaid of Baghdad
who is sometimes called the Lord of the Tribe of Sufis.
You must understand that the 'passing on' of the hidden or implicit aspect of revelation was not done
in the way in which ordinary knowledge is passed on, by a process of instruction, practice and
learning. Nor did it consist of secret verbal formulae which could be learned. Where such exist they
are a manifestation and not the reality behind it. It was transmitted in a way that cannot usefully be
described, but, once known, it is as clear as the tasting of sugar to which we earlier referred. If we
say it is passed from heart to heart that only partly describes it.
Often the transmission was accompanied by the passing on of holy relics such as a cap, or coat, or
prayer carpet, used by the spiritual predecessors.
What you must bear in mind is that the historical perspective is limited. In reality the message, as it
is called, that was given to the Holy Prophet, was in essence, if not in specifics, the same as that
revealed from time to time throughout history. The holy Qur'an, which is the sacred book of Muslims,
makes this clear - referring to other great Prophets such as Hzt Jesus, Hzt Moses, Hzt Abraham, Hzt
Noah and Hzt Adam and many more as people who have submitted themselves to the Divine Will
(i.e. Islam). In reality, in their true nature, these revelations are not limited by conventional
understandings of time or space or thought. They are universal and stand outside of our normal
bounded human perspective or perception.
Perhaps therefore the easiest way to think of Sufism is as an Islamic form of universal mysticism or
as a mystical form of universal Islam. Both ways of thinking have some truth. If you come to think of it
only as a specific sect or cult attached to a specific religion then to some extent you have missed the
point. To describe it as a tradition of spirituality or spiritual development might be a little closer.
The Sufis believe that Almighty God has been so Gracious as to pour His Mercy into particular souls
in such a way that they acquired a level of development that enabled them to influence and train other
souls to be able to receive His Benevolence and thus reach perfection. These souls also act as a
vehicle for dispensing Almighty God's Benevolence and Mercy to society in general, consciously or
not. Indeed Sufis believe that this is one of the ways Almighty God has chosen to develop His plan
for mankind. Without such beneficial, if hidden, influences, it is thought mankind would deteriorate to
living an animal like existence, trapped within its own lower nature. Religion, the Sufis believe, has a
social purpose and functions so as to ensure that the persons who follow it can make the best of this
life and avoid the serious consequences in the life after death or on the Day of Judgment. It limits the
negative effects of man's lower self. Mysticism the Sufis believe goes beyond that and can take man
to a higher level of existence. If someone says to you that life is about 'the survival of the fittest' then
they are actually describing our lower nature, for in the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms this
is the law. To the sufis humans also have a higher, you can say angelic, potential and this, they
affirm, is governed by the law of Love.
Under Almighty God's inspiration some of the perfected souls developed methods for increasing the
effectiveness of their influence. One such method was the developing of Sufi orders. At any given
point in time an order would seem to consist of a spiritual master, sometimes called a Shaykh or Pir,
his disciples and a spiritual genealogy or line of predecessors which trace their authority back to
Hazrat Ali and thus to the Holy Prophet. Frequently there were associated buildings or Khanqas
(sometimes misleadingly translated as monasteries). These orders developed a style of living which
usually included techniques and rituals to aid the process of perfecting individuals and establishing
communities that lived according to both the hidden and known Laws of God. Often these
techniques or rituals were secret things themselves but this was because they could be harmful if the
novice was not properly prepared and trained or guided. This was a wise precaution, but nowadays
so many techniques have leaked into the public domain - often only partially understood - that some
Sufis at least have spoken more openly in order to set straight the many resulting confusions 3. Sufi
teachings were essentially based on the Holy Law as mentioned above, but developed beyond the
limited application which the Holy Law recommends for everyone. It is true to say that Sufism is not
for everyone - indeed at certain levels it may only be suitable for a very few. Nevertheless at certain
points in history membership of some Sufi orders in some places would be counted in hundreds of
thousands at least. It is the heads of the Sufi orders or their caliphs (deputies) who received and, it
appears, passed on the spiritual message and authority given to them. When we refer to Sufism as
a historic thing we generally, though not entirely, mean these orders and their associated features.
footnotes
Islam, as a religion, prides itself on crossing national, racial, social, gender, class or ethnic
boundaries and thus in creating a single universal brotherhood. Within that Islamic brotherhood the
Sufis, it seems, saw themselves as a more specific brotherhood dedicated to maintaining the
spiritual vitality of the religion, rather than just its more formal aspect. They also saw the idea of
universal brotherhood as referring to the brotherhood of mankind in a wider sense - in the sense that
we are all children of Hzt Adam, i.e. all human. Further than that many saw themselves as belonging
to a brotherhood of mystics or developed souls, irrespective of religious affiliation. Indeed Sufis
often came into conflict with religious bigotry and narrow mindedness and were not infrequently
outlawed, persecuted and reviled by some fellow Muslims and still are.
The orders themselves branched out and formed new orders based on the teaching or spiritual
influence of some particular perfected soul or saint**. This tended to happen when more than one
disciple was found worthy of guiding their own disciples. Of course as Sufism became overtly
politically influential, as it did at times, it also suffered corruption and deterioration not to mention
acquiring a charlatan element, and many of the great sufis are at least as scathing of 'so called Sufis'
as they are of the false piety of many of the clergy. You will get a sense of this if you read the sublime
poetry of the Persian mystic Hafiz 4 footnotes. Despite these corrupting factors some element of
spiritual vitality continued and at times flourished, albeit changing in form, though not in essence,
according to the needs of the time.
We should not be too distracted by the historical view for it must be realized that, to sufis, the
masters who passed on from this life are not in fact dead, but live and continue to influence the
development of individuals and the ordering of society from the unseen world, even centuries after
the death of their corporeal selves. They should not really be thought of as a kind of continuing
'ghostly' presence though, for it is this world, i.e. our 'normal' perception, that is unreal or at least
transitory and shadowy. It is the unseen world that is the real substance - this world and the events in
it are but a shadow of that. Indeed it is the view of Sufis that there is an inner or hidden government
which by divine dispensation rules the fates of nations and individuals to the benefit of mankind. Do
not imagine this means a secret cabal of persons meeting in some hidden room utilizing magical
powers. No! This refers to those perfected souls who continue to live in the unseen beyond their
corporeal death and they can function only within and according to the Will of Almighty God. However
some living saints or highly developed persons are able to access their discussions if and when they
permit it.
You may want to know what do Sufis do. Well of course this is no more easily answered in a few
words than asking what it is American or European people do. However I will not entirely duck the
question but try very briefly to give a hint of the flavour of some practices of which I am aware.
Firstly it should be said that authentic Sufi orders tend to encourage the conventional practices also
carried out by Muslims in general. Affirming the unity of God, ritual and private prayer, fasting,
pilgrimage (though this is sometimes to the shines of saints as well as the more usual pilgrimage to
the Kaaba in Mecca), charitable acts, reading or reciting of the Qur'an, ritual purity etc. However the
extent to which this is overtly insisted upon varies. My own spiritual guide used to say that Islam is
very simple - its essential requirement is that you believe that there is only one God.
In general I think it would be fair to say that the true Sufi guides are not formulaic in their attitude.
They see deep into the state of their disciple and instruct them accordingly. In many cases it may be
that their spiritual influence is more potent in awakening a desire to follow Islamic law than anything
said to the disciple. Some disciples are, consciously at least, ambivalent about their religious
affiliations. However even the least orthodox true Sufi guide will not overtly contradict the spirit of
their own understanding of Islamic law in instructing disciples. They may or may not tell the disciple
to pray five times a day according to the Islamic law, but they will never say do not do so. In any event
the outward following of Islamic law is not the goal but is at its best a means of getting nearer to the
goal - which is spiritual development or nearness to God.
It can be said that the observation of morality in conduct is an essential prerequisite of progress, as
is self-examination and repentance. In this respect the difference between the Sufi and the orthodox
religious believer is often in their commitment to the spirit of the basic Islamic tenets. To give an
example. A Muslim is expected to pay 2.5 % of his income to charity. The Sufi who is a little
advanced however, it is said, retains only 2.5% for his own use and gives the rest to charity. The Sufi
who is really advanced is said to give 100% and depends entirely on God. Khawaja Muinuddin
Hasan Chishti distinguishes between real fasting - which is giving up of worldly desires or even the
desire for reward in the next world, and unreal fasting which is merely giving up of food and drink etc.
for a short period footnotes 8. The same distinction is made in regard to love. The ordinary love of one
person for another, as for instance between parent and child or between man and woman is
regarded as unreal love. It may be good but at best it is only a stepping stone to real love which is
the love of God.
All of this may appear not very exotic and interesting to you, as you may still feel concerned to find
out what the Sufis actually do, in the sense of what esoteric and exotic customs do they follow. But
one note of caution before I indicate one or two of these. I once witnessed a very enthusiastic and
nice lady from the west who was visiting the house of a Sufi. Cornering a disciple she asked with
great earnestness when and where the secret practices of the Order were carried out. It appeared
she had tried in vain to discover when the disciples met to carry out their secret rituals which she had
not been able to witness. The disciple told her with great politeness and patience that there were no
such secret rituals and that what she had seen was what happened. Yes it was true that sometimes
the disciples sat late into the night talking but there was nothing secret about this. The more such
secret rituals were denied the more she appeared convinced that they existed. In fact the patience
that the disciple attempted to demonstrate in responding was as much a 'secret practice' as
anything she was looking for. By all means seek to understand mysticism but don't seek
mystification.
One well known tradition is a custom of spiritual retreats for various periods, usually forty days and
nights, often with fasting. Sometimes this is carried out near the tomb of some venerated saint.
Another is the remembrance of God by repeating the name of His essence, Allah, or of one of his
attributes such as Mercy. This may be done, out loud or silently, privately or collectively in a circle
and is called Zhikr (remembrance). There is verse in the holy Qur'an which talks of :-
'men who are not distracted from the remembrance of God either by trade or commerce or buying
and selling'. (Qur'an 24:37)
Some orders, such as the Mevlevi associated with Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, use a whirling dance
which can bring about states of spiritual ecstasy, others such as the Chishtis, of which the Gudri
Shahi Order is a branch, listen attentively to music in praise of God, His Prophets or His saints or
telling stories of Divine Love (Ishq) with the same effect. To do this however they follow strict rules of
etiquette which make it quite different from just going to an ordinary concert or partaking in dance in
an ordinary way. Usually quite strict conditions have to be met. You will probably be able to find
descriptions of these gatherings in the literature on Sufism.
For some advanced Sufis spiritual elevation can exist without such props. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
was said to go into ecstatic transport on hearing some phrase in the street or the sound of the
hammering of the goldsmith. In general it can be said that very advanced mystics do not have to be
bound by all the rules that apply to the novice. That they appear to do so at times may be for the
benefit of the disciples.
Sitting in the company of saintly or good people with or without conversation is another custom which
is given great emphasis.
However the performance of all or any techniques or rituals are not what constitutes the essence of
sufi practice and the mere carrying out of them can have little benefit without the spiritual power and
blessings of the guide. Service to the spiritual guide is the cornerstone of Sufism.
Performing social service, acts of kindness, neighbourliness, bearing suffering with patience, honest
hard work, marriage and the raising of a family are all usually thought of as part of the Sufi way. In
short all the good manners and social graces, honesty, cleanliness of body and heart and mind,
moral courage, love of justice, humility, generosity etc., which most 'civilized' societies proclaim
more loudly than they practice, are expected to be observed assiduously by one following the Sufi
path, and to be practiced quietly and without making claims to piety or having feelings of superiority.
The two great commandments given by Lord Jesus - to love the Lord thy God and to love thy
neighbour - sum this up very well indeed. It may be said that learning to give and receive pure love is
a quintessential practice in sufism. In truth this may have more importance than specific rituals or
practices but in fact both have their place and are not contradictory.
Sufis, whilst being advised to live in the world rather than withdraw from it to a monastery, are
exhorted not to be part of this world. As my spiritual guide said, they should float like a leaf lightly on
the surface of a stream - following its currents but not being dragged into its depths. One great saint
has said (loosely paraphrased) that worldliness is not beautiful women, big mansions, fast cars and
jewels or good food, but the forgetting of God.
A common practice amongst Sufis is the telling of stories. These convey lofty ideas through a simple
medium and when told by a spiritual guide they have a great, if sometimes hidden, effect on the
mind and the heart. The parables of Lord Jesus are of course a wonderful model for this. It is hoped
that some of these stories will be featured on this website in the future but of course their effect can
be quite different according to the circumstance of their telling. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi used to say
that these stories are like bread - better when they are fresh.
I have mentioned the idea of sitting in good company, but you may imagine this means only sitting
physically with good and like minded persons. It is this, but it is more. In fact when students of Sufism
talk together they often discuss the lives or sayings of Prophets or great saints. This is another form
of good company, since if we talk respectably of such persons Sufis believe a beneficial influence
from them occurs and elevates the spirit of those talking, and in effect they gain the spiritual
company of saints. Nor is this practice restricted to discussing religious figures. Sufis tend to
recognize an affinity with great minds so discussion of great thinkers, poets or mystics from other
traditions may also figure. The reading of good books can also be a way of getting good company -
though Sufism cannot be learned just from books. Bringing to mind the mental image of the spiritual
guide is another common practice. In Sufism concentration is important - whether it is reading the
newspaper, watching the news etc. on TV or focusing on a mental image or an external object.
Much can also be conveyed through a look (of grace) or through presence. When I sat with my own
spiritual guide, Hzt Zahurul Hasan Sharib (usually referred to affectionately and respectfully as
Zahurmian), who was the head of the Gudri Shahi Order of Sufis, we often sat in silence or talked
only of incidental things and yet, through this, he conveyed more than could have been learned from
sermons. Also when he did talk to me he would sometimes slip into a language he knew I could not
follow and yet I still felt he was communicating to me most effectively. I also met a great Shaykh in
Konya, Turkey, called Nuri Baba who had a similair effect on me. However I do not want to go into
personal experiences, they might interest you but may not help you much. As a matter of fact it is
said that when a true Sufi Shaykh or guide speaks to a disciple, or a group of disciples, he is not
speaking from self interest, for it is believed that he has died to his own desires and he is acting, so
to speak, as a mirror, reflecting in his words and actions the disciples' needs. Another way of
describing this is to see the words as waves on an ocean. The Shaykh has become the ocean and
his words and actions are like waves that rise and disappear back into the ocean. They arise not
from the ocean but from the effect of the wind blowing on the surface of the ocean. When the
disciples' thoughts have become stilled the ocean is calm.
One of the customs of Zahurmian was to visit daily the tomb of the towering saint Khawaja Muinuddin
Hasan Chishti who is the focus of attention for Sufis belonging to the Chishti Order, which is
widespread in India and Pakistan. Zahurmian would circle the tomb and then sit nearby for some
time. He would sit in the same spot everyday at the same time. The visiting of tombs has a long
tradition in Sufism and, provided it is accompanied by appropriate respect, can be said to be of
great spiritual and sometimes material benefit. His disciples would sit attentively and respectfully
near by. The Sufis see themselves as sitting in a great spiritual court at which great matters are
discussed and benefits bestowed, unseen to most and unheard by most but seen and heard by the
Shaykhs. The tombs of saints such as this are open to all who seek their help sincerely, irrespective
of religion etc. There is a great verse by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (here loosely translated) which
expresses this spirit:-
'Come, come, whatever you are, it doesn't matter,
Whether you are an infidel, an idolater or a fire worshiper,
Come, our court is not a place of disappointment, come,
Even if you have broken your vows a hundred times, come again. '
Another practice amongst some Sufis is to show deep respect at the tomb of a saint by kneeling
and kissing the ground near where the saint's feet would be. This is a point of some controversy with
orthodox Muslims (and some Sufis) as from outside it can look like worship and Islam specifically
rejects the worship of anything but God. Others see it as a deep form of respect and devotion and
point out that it was not uncommon for Muslims in the past to show this sort of respect even to mere
worldly rulers. There are numerous other arguments in support of or opposition to this practice.
Another option is to make a short recitation of some Qur'anic verses with the hands uplifted followed
sometimes by a personal request for intercession by the saint.
You may be expecting me to talk about how the Sufis do things like meditation or practices with
holding the breath, etc. Of course there are many such techniques and they have been written about -
some safer ones, which are of great practical value, you can find in the series of lectures which Hzt
Zahurul Hasan Sharib has written footnotes 5. His spiritual guide Hzt Nawob Khadim Hasan Sahib has
also written a short book with some descriptions of Sufi practices 6. Techniques have their place but
in my view we westerners are frequently a little more interested in exotic techniques than is always
entirely good for us. A practice often recommended is simply to eat less, sleep less and talk less.
Many of the safer practices are already well known to you. Have you ever sat and literally 'counted
your blessings'? The rule of moderation is valuable. To undertake practices without proper guidance
is not wise.
The most basic lesson of Sufism is sometimes said to be to learn to sit properly. Some think that
perhaps it is also one of the most advanced lessons.
A not uncommon experience when maintaining the company of the guide with faithfulness is that
such techniques as are needed may be gifted to the person. That is to say, they gain the 'technique'
apparently from within themselves, without overt teaching and, though the technique may or may not
require effort, the ability to make any effort needed is also gifted. There are ways between soul and
soul which cannot be described with advantage but which it is not beyond the power of man to
apprehend. It is also said that Love is a gift.
But people are different and some people require external technical help and where a real need
arises the guide supplies that. He may give some formula to recite a fixed number of times each
day. He may advise specific periods or types of meditation. He may interpret a dream for you. He
may give a straightforward piece of practical advice. He may tell you to fast or he may tell you to eat.
He may give you some task to complete, suggest some book to read or some place to visit. Or he
may just smile! Sometimes the disciple stands in legitimate need of material help. In this case the
master's prayers are believed to be of great help in obtaining that, and, whilst the logically oriented
mind will reach quickly for words like coincidence in order to explain away the ensuing events, the
sheer plethora of these 'coincidences' will leave any reasonable person in little doubt that the normal
course of events has been altered.
Another practice is called fatiha, this is a sort of communal (or sometimes private) 'prayer' consisting
of recitation of Qur'anic verses over food and in one form or another is common amongst Muslims
generally. In the Gudri Shahi Order, based in Ajmer, India, this incorporates both Qur'anic recitation
and respectful invocation of God's blessing on the souls of the holy Prophets and the saints of the
spiritual genealogy of the order. Sometimes this takes the form of a kind of chanting. It may be done
for the benefit of some person who has died or to commemorate the anniversary of the passing of
some saint. At the end everyone present partakes of some of the food.
One custom that may interest you is the ritual of initiation as a disciple. This usually consists of a
short recitation of some Qur'anic verses, some form of words indicating the acceptance by the
disciple of the unity of God and the authority of the holy Prophet, Hazrat Ali and the Shaykhs of the
order. There is usually the taking of the hands of the disciple between the hands of the guide who
may offer some prayer for the disciple's acceptance. A nominal offering from the disciple of perhaps
a handkerchief, sweets and some flowers may be accepted. The ritual varies between orders and
the form of words may differ from occasion to occasion. The disciple is usually presented with a
written copy of the list of spiritual successors with verses from the Holy Qur'an and respectful
salaams (greetings) or invocations of God's blessings on the holy Prophet and the saints. This is
signed by the guide. The ritual usually lasts just a few minutes.
Sometimes when the guide deems it appropriate he may give some article such as a coat or hat to
the disciple - the most valued of these are the ones that have been worn or used by the guide. They
are generally taken to indicate that the guide is pleased with that person's progress.
Leaving customs and rituals I will touch briefly upon some other areas. Firstly, you will no doubt come
across the term wine used in Sufi literature. In general it is thought that this does not refer literally to
alcohol, which is neither permitted in Islam nor generally approved in Sufism, but to a kind of feeling
of spiritual elation which may come as the reward of some endeavor or from close association with
the spiritual guide or by some other means. One of the great advantages of spiritual intoxication is
that it tends to drown out and silence harmful negative thoughts and if it creates a sense of
dependency, it is dependency on God or spiritual effort rather than on material means to alter
consciousness. Some Sufis give great emphasis to this kind of intoxication. Others however
maintain that there is a stage of sobriety which is even better than that.
Something may also be said of specifically intoxicating drugs. In the course of spiritual development
most, though not all, followers of the Sufi way find themselves enveloped in transitory states which
appear to arise from within themselves. However these states are not the purpose of Sufism. If the
person undergoing these states is properly trained and guided they may be of benefit by giving
encouragement and internal evidence of progress, if not they can have a harmful effect on long term,
real progress. It need hardly be pointed out that to pursue 'altered states of consciousness' by the
aid of artificial intoxicants may have much more harmful effects on spiritual development. It has been
said that the behaviour of the truly well established Sufis appears exactly as the behaviour of anyone
else and that they appear quite indistinguishable from their neighbours, exhibiting no outward signs
of altered states of awareness. The difference lying in the presence of spiritual power residing in the
saint which makes the ordinary, extraordinary. However circumstances vary.
Mysticism is sometimes associated with secrecy. Do Sufis keep secrets - or tell lies? My
understanding of this is that in one sense they may appear to do so, but the sense is this. Suppose a
very young and innocent child comes to you and questions you about the sensations associated with
physical intimacy in connubial bliss? What will you say (assuming you have experience of this)? If
you deny knowledge of it you will be lying and you are certainly keeping a secret. If you try to explain
it openly the child will not be able to grasp what you are saying and will think you are talking
nonsense or form a very distorted view of it. If you make a comparison suited to the child's
understanding and say it is something which adults find as enjoyable as the child does sweets then
you may also feel that you are telling a kind of lie since you know very well that it is not comparable to
tasting sweets. If you refuse to answer you may only stimulate the child's curiosity. Another problem
is that this may be an intensely personal thing shared with a beloved and you do not wish to trivialize
or betray it by verbal description to another. You may also be aware that it cannot satisfactorily be
described anyway. Yet another problem is that even if you do manage some sort of communication
will the child then be inclined to misrepresent this to other children who will become confused? Most
adults will use every means to avoid this situation until they judge the child has become mature and
adult enough to benefit from some explanation.
In this sense, and in this sense only, the real developed Sufis may appear to belong to a conspiracy
of either silence or 'implicit lies', as they are effectively adults mostly surrounded by innocent
children, quite irrespective of apparent chronological age. But this is of course very different from the
lie that is used for personal advantage or the secret that is kept from feelings of guilt or to mislead. In
every other respect the real Sufis seem to value truthfulness, integrity and sincerity as indispensable
virtues and even candor has its place. There is a tradition that the holy Prophet advised people not
to ask him questions that, if answered would be a great difficulty to them. Perhaps we can express
all of this simply by saying that what God hides from most people, he hides for His good purpose
(which is to say for their benefit). What He reveals to some he reveals for His own good purpose.
I will add one caveat here, in case you think that any of this supposes a sense of superiority in sufis.
Contradictory as this may appear, Sufis do not think of themselves as superior. In fact they have a
well established mode of perception which regards everyone else as superior to themselves. If
anything they perceive themselves as child-like in an adult world - but to go further into this apparent
paradox is not the purpose of these notes.
Perhaps you would like a little glimpse into the thinking of the Sufis on the important points of
spiritual purity and human choice.
From what I have been able to discover Sufis tend to think along these lines. One of God's
requirements is faith and belief, in the absence of concrete proof. Without the existence of doubt and
disbelief there would be no such thing as faith or belief - thus He allows doubt and disbelief.
However He condemns doubt and disbelief and approves faith and belief. Thus he leaves us with
some degree of apparent choice, either to seek His pleasure or His displeasure, to have faith or to
doubt, to have belief or disbelief. If successful the struggle that this produces within us can help to
lead towards what is termed in Sufism as purification. Some Sufis have described it thus. There is a
'place' where each of us is represented in the form of a pure spirit-body7. The image of the
spirit-body appears either to consist of a shining white light substance or as black and 'dirty', or as
some mixture of the two. Each good effort we make, such as acts of faith, or belief, or pure love
which are acceptable to God, causes that spirit-body to acquire a spot of light. Worldly or sinful acts
which draws us away from God produce a black or dirty spot. The removal of all black spots, leaving
that spirit-body represented as pure white light, is a matter of great moment to the sufis. Indeed the
term 'sufi' is often thought to derive from the same root as the word for purity. For them one of the
best aids to this spiritual purity of thought and action, to faith, belief , love etc., is the company of
those who are pure, for without doubt we are affected by that with which we surround ourselves. For
them the true and pure spiritual guide is the best of company.
What I have said in these notes is hardly a hint of a hint of the aroma of the wine of Sufism - let alone
its flavour. I have spoken to some extent as if Sufism could be considered as just another subject in
the curriculum, but I have tried to make clear that it is more than that. If you merely wish to add it to
your trophy belt of subjects studied then what is written here will not be enough for you, but there is
quite a lot of scholarly literature that will help you to feel you have done just that. If your deep and
sincere interest is to find out what Sufism is really about then you are actually seeking God and it
may be that your search has yet to begin. It may take you a lifetime of commitment and striving and,
if in His Grace He wills it, provide you with benefits which will surprise you not a little.
Words and thoughts have a great power. Sufis take what they think, say and do seriously, since they
expect to be judged by God on this. Therefore they often include a prayer at the end of their writing. I
will follow their practice to the extent of offering my earnest hope and prayer that if I have said
anything misleading, that Almighty God will forgive it, cover my fault, and remove any ill effect my
words might cause and change that bad effect into good as only He has the power to do. Amen.
Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri 4, Polygon Court , The Polygon, Southampton.
September 16th 1998
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Footnotes
* It is the custom in eastern literature to make plentiful use of honorific titles out of respect. I have abbreviated here the word
Hazrat which is just such a term, in order to attempt to make it easier for the western reader who will probably be struggling
with the unfamiliar names anyway. However I cannot bring myself to drop these entirely as the reasons behind their use I find
quite valid.
** The term saint is not awarded by formal process as happens in some Christian traditions, but is used to refers to a person
generally thought to be saintly. In truth however it is really a term which can only be conferred by the grace of God.
1. The Psalm of Light: The Psalm of Love: The Psalm of Life: all published by Sharib Press. 1990
2. The Confessions of Al-Ghazzali: Translated by C. Field. Kitab Bhavan. India. 1992.
3. The Sacred Knowledge: Shah Wali Ullah: Translated by G. N. Jalbani. Octagon Press. 1982.
4. The Hafez Poems of Gertrude Bell: Iranbooks. 1995.
5. Lectures of the Society of Mystics: The Society of Mystics. Sharib House, Jhalra, Ajmer.1975-1996.
6. The Path of Tasaawuf: Hzt. Khadim Hasan. East West Publications.
7. The Sacred Knowledge: Shah Wali Ullah: Translated by G. N. Jalbani. Octagon Press. 1982.
8. The Meditations of Khawaja Muinuddin Hasan Chishti: Z. H. Sharib. Sharib Press. 1994.
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