Martin Lings, himself a practicing Sufi, in his work What is Sufism?, states that
"Prince Dara Shikoh (d.1619), the Sufi son of the Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan, was able to affirm that Sufism and Advaita Vedantism [Hinduism] are essentially the same, with a surface difference of terminology."34 Prince
Dara Shikoh was also responsible for the translation of the Bhagavad-Gita, the Yoga Vasishtha, and the Upanishads into Persian.35 Seyyed Hossein Nasr acknowledges that "many Sufis in India called Hinduism the religion of Adam," and, "[the] orthodox Naqshbandi saint Mirza Mazhar Jan Janan considered the Vedas as divinely inspired."36
While Sufi teachings have been influenced by various religions,
their practices also bear close similarities to those of Hinduism and other mystical religions of the East. T
he Sufi orders are led by shaikhs, who play the same role as Hindu gurus. Some of the shaikhs were described as having "pronounced psychic powers."37 The master-disciple relationship was seen as an essential facet of Sufism by the reformer al-Ghazali who stated,
the murid [disciple] must of necessity have recourse to a shaikh [master] to guide him aright. For the way of faith is obscure, but the Devil's ways are many and patent, and he who has no shaikh to guide him will be led by the Devil into his ways. Wherefore the murid must cling to his shaikh as a blind man on the edge of a river clings to his leader, confiding himself to him entirely, opposing him in no matter whatsoever, and binding himself to follow him absolutely. Let him know that the advantage he gains from the error of his shaikh, if he should err, is greater than the advantage of his own rightness, if he should be right.38
Most Sufi orders still consider the five pillars of Islam to be essential, and practice them piously. However, under the leadership of the shaikh they go far beyond this, aiming "to break the conditioned patterns of behaviour which inhibit the desired spiritual awakening."39
The mystical quest is pursued through a number of mental and physical exercises. These include whirling dances "intended above all to plunge the dancer into a state of concentration upon Allah."40 Martin Lings states that "the body stands for the Axis of the Universe which is none other than the Tree of Life. The dance is thus a rite of centralization, a foretaste of the lost Centre..."41 A Morrocan Sufi order reduces the dance to a rigorous "rhythmic up and down movement of the body," combined with "a rhythmic rise and fall of the breast as the lungs are filled and emptied."42 As a result the Sufi may "see visions, hear the voices of angels and prophets, and gain from them guidance... it is a condition of joy and longing, and when the condition seizes the seeker he falls into ecstasy."43 Breathing exercises are also combined with meditation in order to induce altered states of consciousness.44
Central to all of these practices are ritual "invocations of the Divine Name," also known as dhikr, which can be done either silently or in a chant.45 Here similarities with Hindu mantras are unmistakable. One author declares, "the Sufi doctrine of the dhikr coincides with that taught by the nineteenth-century Hindu saint Rama-krishna, who succinctly summed it up in the phrase: 'God and His Name are one.'"46
The Rifa'iyya, a major Sufi order which spawned numerous sub-groups and associated branches, was named after Ahmad b. 'Ali al-Rifa'i (d. 1182). The practices of this order reveal the extremes to which some Sufi rituals went as the Rifa'i dervishes "became famous for their extreme practices like eating live snakes and performing various feats with fire."47
This preoccupation with snakes and fire is clearly paralleled in the practices and rituals of Hinduism.
In response to Sufi rituals, John Alden Williams states that "the observer may encounter things which seem to belong in a case book of abnormal psychology; or witness what looks remarkably like demonic possession."48 Elliot Miller says, "the natural (and, from the Christian perspective, God-given) mental barriers to psychic intrusion are broken down, and a link is established to the spirit world."49
The evidence of Sufi borrowings from other religions such as Hinduism and Zoroastrianism is certain. The similarities in teachings and ritual are overwhelming. It is no surprise then that the goals of Sufism reflect the pantheism and monism of Hinduism and other Eastern religions.
Idries Shah, a famed twentieth-century Sufi thinker, states that Sufi practice in the mystic quest culminates when "by divine illumination man sees the world to be illusion."50 Numerous other Sufi saints also clearly reflect monistic and pantheistic beliefs in their sayings:
Mansur al-Hallaj (d.922): "I saw my Lord with the eye of the heart. I said: Who art Thou? He answered: Thou."
Abu Maydan (d. 1197): "Everything outside of God is unreal, everything taken individually or collectively, when you truly know it... Whatever does not have root in his Being, can in no wise be real."
Muhammad al-Harraq (d. 1845): "Seekest thou Laila [Divine Reality], when she is manifest within thee? Thou deemest her to be other, but she is not other than thou."51
Jalal al-Din Rumi (d.1273): "Though the many ways [diverse religions] are various, the goal is one. Do you not see there are many roads to the Kaaba?"52
In some Sufi orders the goal of the mystical quest is "personified as a woman, usually named Laila which means 'night'... this is the holiest and most secret inwardness of Allah... in this symbolism Laila and haqiqa (Divine Reality) are one."53 This, and the above statements appear to be distinctly contrary to Muslim orthodoxy in their blatant echoes of Eastern mystic religions. Yet, for Sufis this is not a problem. As Ibn 'Arabi stated,
My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christians, and a temple for idols and the pilgrims Ka'ba and the tables of the Torah, and the book of the Koran. I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and faith..54
Another Sufi saint, Mahmud Shabistari, in his work Gulshan-i Raz (The Mystic Rose Garden) concurs, declaring, "..what is mosque, what is synagogue, what is fire temple? ... 'I' and 'You' are the Hades veil between them.. When this veil is lifted up from before you, there remains not the bond of sects and creeds."55
Thus, not only has Sufism been influenced by other religions, but its mystic quest for spirituality has led it to embrace all sorts of religion, as abundantly shown in the writings of the great Sufi saints. To try to deny this as a scholar is incomprehensible. Yet, those scholars who are sympathetic towards Islam, as previously shown, have a marked tendency to minimize or altogether ignore these facts.
How then, in conclusion, does the evidence presented, reflect not only on the nature of Sufism, but on the very nature of Islam itself?
Sufism is clearly a reaction or response to what was lacking in early Islam. The argument for Muslim materialism lends support to the concept of a spiritual void in Islam - keenly felt by many Muslims as their civilization began to expand and come into contact with other religions. There was a hunger for more spirituality, along with the realization that despite all of the shari'a Islam did not effectively deal with the problems of materialism.
The very strength of Islam, in its reliance on a simple creed and the five pillars of practice, proved to be the very weakness of Islam. While the Islamic system had allowed for rapid expansion, and the five practices were a uniting force, it soon became evident that one could accept this framework and step right through it into whatever they pleased. In the early days this meant earthly success, as Islam spread rapidly through the desire for wealth and gain. Yet, just as those caught up in materialism had accepted and stepped through the framework of the shari'a, all the while continuing in their materialistic lives, so also the Sufis in reaction to the materialism of the Islamic civilization, stepped through the framework of legality into a world of mysticism. However, in their reaction, the Sufis created a more serious problem for Islam, as due to their religiosity, they introduced new teachings, reinterpreting the Quran and sunna.
Another area of weakness in Islam, which helped lead to the problem of Sufism, is found in the teachings of Muhammad. Here the vagueness of character caused by the doctrine of the indescribability of Allah allowed for the influence and development of pantheistic and monistic ideas, in essence creating a contradictory belief system.
The orthodox ulama developed their theology in line with what they viewed as their 'Judeo-Christian' roots, while the Sufis were largely influenced by Eastern mystics. Consequently, the influences of Hinduism, and other forms of mystical religions on the development of Sufism, can be seen, in part, as a result of the doctrine of the indescribability of Allah.
Sufism does contribute a lacking spirituality to the religion of Islam. Growing out of the weakness of the Islamic system of belief and practice, it, however, added a dimension which has diversified and further weakened the structure of Islamic belief and practice.
Reflecting on the evidence presented, and conclusions given, we see that to assume Sufism, with its radical concepts, is a legitimate part of Islam introduces definite problems for anyone who then attempts to try to defend Islam as a logically coherent set of beliefs. For
Sufism not only points to a lack of spirituality in Islam, but also contradicts orthodox Muslim teachings - in the process clearly opening the door to all the world's religions.
Sufism
