Sufism has a rich history of devotion, literature, and philosophy in the Islamic world. Yet, Islamic scholars and historians alike have long debated whether this mystical tradition arose from within the Islamic faith or evolved as an addition to it. Most scholars agree that Sufism is the devotional fruit of Islam, rooted in the example of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. However, many Muslims find fault with how the Sufi tradition and its practitioners have mirrored the ideas and practices of other religions as Islam expanded across cultures. This article explores the history of this ongoing debate.
The Islamic Origins of Sufism
The term “Sufism” itself is problematic and does not capture the full meaning of its Arabic equivalent: tasawwuf. There are many theories regarding the origin of the term tasawwuf, although none of these theories necessarily contradict what the term implies. Some propose that the term denotes the practice of those who cultivate inner purification (tazkiyah); others believe it refers to the rough woolen (suf) cloaks worn by the Prophet’s most ascetic companions. However, the term most likely stems from the “People of the Bench” (ahl-e suffah), a group of intensely devoted followers of the Prophet Muhammad who left their ordinary lives to live in the central mosque in Medina, where the Prophet lived and established Islam as a religious and political power.
The early Muslim community in Medina was exceptionally poor, and the Ahl-e Suffa typically arrived with nothing and so lived in destitution while they focused on learning from the Prophet. Because of their complete commitment, many of these companions were believed to have imbibed the deepest teachings of the Prophet.
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterIt is important to note, however, that these companions did not operate outside of the larger Muslim community. In fact, many of them were some of its central figures, agreed upon by nearly all Muslim sects. One of the Ahl-e Suffa, Abu Hurayah (d. 678 CE), stands as the foremost narrator of hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet). These sayings have been relied on for centuries by Muslims across the globe, forming the basis for Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), theology (aqidah), and history (tarikh). Yet, Abu Hurayrah himself also suggested that a deeper knowledge was available to those companions who were worthy enough to receive it:
“I have memorized two kinds of knowledge from Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). I have propagated one
of them to you and if I propagated the second, then my pharynx (throat) would be cut (i.e. killed)”
The Sufi tradition requires practitioners to have a direct chain (silsila) leading back to the Prophet himself. Each chain goes through one or two of the Prophet’s direct successors, such as Abu Bakr (d. 634) (the Prophet’s first successor) and Ali ibn Abu Talib (d. 661 CE) (the Prophet’s fourth successor, cousin, and son-in-law). This reflected the methodology of other Islamic sciences taught to subsequent generations, such as the chains of hadith narrations (isnad) or certificates (ijazat) received for studying specific scholarly works. As such, tasawwuf continued for the centuries that followed as a branch of the Islamic sciences.
The Practice of Sufism Among Early Muslims
The knowledge transmitted down the chain of Sufi teachers was not esoteric in itself, and the essential aim of this knowledge was often summarized in the following story (abridged here for clarity).
“A man dressed in exceptionally white clothes once came and sat with the Prophet and asked him three questions: ‘What is submission (Islam)? What is faith (iman)? What is excellence (ihsan)?’
The Prophet answered: ‘Islam is to testify there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish prayer, to give charity, to fast the month of Ramadan, and to perform pilgrimage to the House if a way is possible.’
‘Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in providence, its good and its harm.’
‘Excellence is to worship Allah as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He surely sees you.’ ”
(Sahih al-Muslim, 1)
This direct experience of the Divine stood as the primary goal of the Sufis, achievable through following the Qur’anic teachings and modeling one’s outer actions and inner state after the Prophet’s own. In pursuit of this Divine nearness, the most devoted of the Prophet’s companions and their successors engaged in intense, sometimes excessive practices. These included long periods of seclusion, fasting, and other means of subjugating the lower self, or nafs.
Sufism During the Arab Expansion
By the end of the 8th century, Islam had spread across the Middle East, Asia Minor, North Africa, Persia, and the western Indian Subcontinent. The early Islamic conquests are often likened to those of Alexander the Great in terms of their swiftness, as well as their political and cultural impact.
This process spread the Islamic religion while absorbing and integrating dozens of ethnicities, cultures, and traditions, with each region’s expression of Islam acquiring a unique hue. While the core tenets of the crystallizing Islamic orthodoxy were generally maintained, many of these ideas came from contact with the mystical traditions of Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Muslims who were oriented toward the mystical and the direct experience of the Divine began to mirror some of these traditions’ practices or ideas. However, this does not necessarily mean they were foreign ideas appended to Islam. Rather, they reflected the human being’s deepest efforts to experience Divine nearness, which adherents of all religions had striven to do in often similar ways. Examples include living in pseudo-monastic communities, such as a khanqah or zawiyah, similar to those of Christian monastics.
This lifestyle grew in popularity as the wealth and power gained by the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates ushered in an overflow of materialism that was at odds with the Qur’anic message. A stream of practice also emerged known as malamati, wherein Sufis would intentionally draw criticism to themselves to increase their humility, similar to the Pasupatha Saivite Hindus who seek public criticism to reduce their egos. These commonalities would draw ire from the religious and ruling elite for fear of these “un-Islamic” ideas entering into and corrupting the religion.
The First Clashes With Islamic Orthodoxy
While many Sufis placed themselves squarely within the orthodox Sunni tradition and Ash’ari theology, several instances of the Sufis’ ecstatic utterances drew suspicion and ire from the ulema. Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922 CE) is perhaps the most famous example.
Drawn toward many years of asceticism and learning from various Sufi teachers, al-Hallaj felt compelled to speak out against the hardening legalism he saw taking root in Islamic society. In moments of ecstasy, he began declaring “ana al-Haqq” (“I am the Truth!”) until the authorities of Baghdad decided to execute him for blasphemy.
This event marked the pinnacle of the early flourishing of Sufism in the “School of Baghdad.” Subsequent Sufi scholarship was then tasked to explain al-Hallaj’s utterances. Was he a blasphemer? Was he mad? Or was he speaking truths not meant to be understood by the common people?
Similarly, various schools of thought arose, sometimes within Sunni orthodoxy and sometimes outside of it, many of which were helmed by Sufi mystics. Examples include the Illuminationist school of Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (d. 1191 CE) and the Hurufis in Asia Minor. Thus, al-Hallaj and similar Sufi figures found themselves at the forefront of Islam’s spiritual depths while the religion had yet to clarify itself into orthodoxy.
Al-Ghazali Integrates Sufism Into Sunni Orthodoxy
This time of mass interaction with other traditions also occurred at a time when many theological and philosophical debates were underway. Muslim theologians began to employ elements of Greek philosophy, specifically Aristotle, in their debates with other religious scholars in a theological tradition known as kalam. Additionally, within Islam and particularly during the Abbasid reign, Muslim theologians were contending with clarifying positions on free will, rationality, and faith.
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111 CE) synthesized most of these matters, including the importance and place of tasawwuf, in Islam. While acknowledging the uses of philosophy and rationality in clarifying and defending Islam theologically, al-Ghazali contended that it was the Sufis who truly understood the deepest realities of the faith. These realities were not separate or imported but were rather signs of one who had imbibed the Prophet’s teaching fully.
Later figures such as Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166 CE), Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi (d. 1240 CE), and Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273 CE) founded far-reaching and influential Sufi brotherhoods that emphasized the transformation of the ego, nearness and personal experience to the Divine, and often alluded to a more universally applicable Divine Mercy extending to all of humanity. Though they would have their detractors, their writings and personal statements ground them firmly in the Islamic tradition. As the famed poet Rumi famously pronounced:
“I am the slave of the Quran
as long as I live.
I am the dust on the path of Muhammad,
The Chosen One.
If anyone interprets my words
in any other way,
I deplore that person,
and I deplore his words.”
Sufism Flourishes in Several Islamic Societies
From the 10th century onward, after al-Ghazali solidified the importance of tasawwuf in Sunni orthodoxy, Sufism was often synonymous with Islam itself. The renowned Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt—the longest-running Islamic university in the world—regularly incorporated tasawwuf into its curriculum, with prominent Sufi figures such as Ibn ‘Ata Allah al-Iskanadari (d. 1309) regularly posted as heads of the university.
The Ottoman Sultanate regularly sought consultation from Sufi mystics, with the Sufi shaykh Akshamsaddin (d. 1459 CE) personally advising Sultan Mehmet II (d. 1481 CE) in his conquest of Constantinople in 1453 CE. Mughal emperors, such as Akbar the Great (d. 1605 CE) and Shah Jahan (d. 1666 CE), also regularly hosted Sufi mystics in their court and commissioned translations of their works. Shah Jahan’s crown prince, Dara Shikoh (d. 1659 CE), was himself an initiate of renowned Sufi Mian Mir (d. 1635 CE) in Lahore, Pakistan.
An opposing viewpoint always ran in tandem with the flourishing of Sufi thought. Considering themselves followers of the pious predecessors (salafiyya), these groups upheld a puritanical understanding of Islam, with a strict and literalist interpretation of the Qur’an and a rigid adherence to the Prophet’s sunnah. Anything beyond the exact words or actions of the Prophet was deemed innovations (bi’dah). These included devotion to a living Sufi shaykh, seeking the intercession of deceased Sufis at their tombs (mazarat), and practicing new forms of remembering the Divine (dhikr). Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) was one of Sufism’s biggest critics, and opposing Islamic movements today continue to draw heavily from his perspectives and writings.
Sufism Today and the Ongoing Debate
So, is Sufism a part of Islam? It depends on who you ask. It is clear that Sufism has traditionally comprised a core part of Islamic orthodoxy, both Sunni and Shia, despite various fringe groups “deviating” from the established orthodoxy. In any case, the debate about any religion’s “pure” form never ends.
Yet there is the historical Sufism, the “ideal” Sufism, and the Sufism of reality. And the reality is that today, many who consider themselves “Sufi” practice outside the parameters of Islam. These groups exist largely in Europe and the United States (such as followers of Idries Shah), and have developed from New Age movements that gained traction due to the West’s liberal modernization and its gradual sidelining of traditional religion from the public sphere.
Other culturally influenced forms of “Sufism” can be found across the Islamic world that have little to do with Islam. Examples include Central Asian Shamanic traditions, performing “Sufi dervishes” in Iraqi Kurdistan who swallow swords and enchant snakes and the Sufi shrines of South Asia that often host similar performances along with drug use.
The Sufis have long taught that their tradition eludes common definitions and generalizations, and history has shown that. The tomb of renowned Sufi saint Ali al-Hujwiri remains one of the most visited Sufi tombs in the world. Yet both traditional Muslims and unorthodox Sufis, conservatives, dervishes, and modernists — each are welcome to bring their own personal idea of Sufism or Islam and benefit from the sanctified space.
As al-Hujwiri quotes, in one of the earliest and most iconic sayings on Sufism:
“Tasawwuf used to be a reality without a name; then, it was a name without a reality.”
