Sufism And Religion

Islam can be defined as the religion of the Muslims. It is a monotheistic, the belief that there is

only one God, faith that was revealed through Muhammad, the prophet, by

the Allah. Within Islam, as

other religions, there are different sects. While each sect takes on their own way of processing their

faith, they all have the same beliefs. In this paper, I will discuss two sects of Islam, Sufism and Salafism.

Sufism can

be described as “Islamic Mysticism”. It is not so much a system of beliefs, as it a

more personal experience. Muslims seek to find truth, love, and knowledge through a more direct and

personal relationship with God.

The word “Sufi” itself comes from

the Arabic word for a mystic, Sufi,

which is then derived

The Sufi’s

interpreted

their individual relationship with God through each of these names. His

teachings on the Qur’an also rev

ealed that every verse or word in the scriptures revealed something

different to the individual reader. Sufi poets also started to become popular in this time. Jalal al

-

Din

Rumi was known to be one of the greatest mystical poets.

His poetry is said to b

e second in importance

to the Qur’an by Persian

-

reading mystics. This is because it is said to be a collection of mystical thought

in which anyone can find their own interpretation on religious ideals. These two men, amongst others,

inspired may of the f

raternal orders to explore Islam in a more personal and meaningful way, thus the

idea of Sufism began to spread through all of Islam.

While Sufism does acknowledge some of the traditional rituals of traditional Islam, such as the

five daily prayers, Ram

adan and the Feast of the Sacrifice, the do participate in other rituals or actions to

expand their religious experience. One of these rituals is called

Dhikr

. This is the act of reciting phrases

or prayers repeatedly either aloud or to

one’s

self. A ce

remony within

Dhikr

is called Sama.

Experience was very important, and each illumination that

God granted could not go against the Qur’an and tradition. Truths could be revealed through dreams,

visions and other spiritual revelations. This is partly

why orthodox Muslims disagree with Sufism. They

feel that Sufis have taken on aspects of Western religions and this is something that Muhammad had

warned against. Sufism is also being blamed for the backsliding of the religion since it has adopted

aspect

s of other cultures and religions.

Salafism can be described as

the Muslims who follow the early traditional teachings of Islam and

Muhammad. To the prophet Muhammed, his followers were the best of his community and his

generations an

d

the ones to follo

w them. The word Salafi comes from the Arabic word “salaf” which

means predecessor or forefather. This word is associated with the first three generations of Muslims.

These Muslims consider the earliest practices of Islam to be the most pure and real fo

rm of the religion.

They take a more literal approach to the sacred writings of Islam scripture such as the Qur’an and the

hadith. Unlike the Sufi’s, they are against the worship and visitation of