Islam is a fast-growing monotheistic religion known for its diverse sects, and one of the most mystical branches among this group is Sufism. Sufism is defined more as a mystical dimension of Islam than a sect, where the followers involve in extreme situations to sacrifice themselves in union with god. Commonly, Sufis desire to find the divine truth through direct encounters with Allah. Many Muslims believe they are walking towards the pathway to full enlightenment. Though, Sufis intend to draw themselves closer to God and enhance their divinity.
Religion has been a key part in every society, as Emile Durkheim stated religion involves, “things that surpass the limits of our knowledge.” Religion is defined as a social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred. This definition creates a boundary between sacred and profane. Organized religion gives society something to strive for and practicing religion allows people to celebrate the power of their society. Religion can be divided between western religion and eastern religion; each distinct section has its own beliefs and understandings of what god is and how he is incorporated into their lives. Islamic religion and Hinduism are two religions on each side of the spectrum, Islamic religion is considered
This essay will explain to you the importance of rituals in religious practice, ritual practices in the Islamic tradition, the importance of rituals to the individual believer and the significance of prayer and charity to the Islamic tradition. Rituals are a religious ceremony it's consists with "Entry, Preparation, Climax, Celebration and Return" (Terry Lovat). Rituals are in every religion, Islam has prayer and charity, while Christians have baptism and the sign of the cross before prayer. The effect religious rituals have on the society today is that it works like a community and makes people feel apart of something. Through many years of religions growing rituals have been developed as a way of worshipping their god.
On the other, Islamic practices are highly exhibited by individuals from Middle East countries and parts of West and North Africa. Though these two dominating religions have embraced different techniques and methodologies in presenting their doctrines to their believers, the content and the expectation from the followers are closely similar. As an evaluation, Christianity has used Jesus Christ termed as son of God as the vessel of disse... ... middle of paper ... ...on should undergo similar or equivalent condition under which his or her victim underwent. Conclusion The Moral and social conducts which are exhibited by any given society are determined by various factors such as religion, cultural activities and governmental regulations. The link of a given religion to moral conduct is as a result of supreme authority of powers which are presumed to control the universe.
Yet these faith has many similarities with many other religions and sects of Islam. Sufism though is a purely ascetic faith that also incorporates several aspects of mysticism. The main goal of Sufism is that of many other monotheistic religions, which is, to be in union with God in the after life. The Earliest form of Sufism is estimated to have started sometime during the Umayyad Dynasty less than a century after the founding of Islam (“Sufism” 1). Sufism is estimated to have began in 675 CE, and is a Muslim movement where followers seek enlightenment, love, and connection with God through direct encounters with the Creator (“Sufi Origins” 1).
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 .
Religious authority lies mainly in scripture but can trace their origins back to a key figure who can se... ... middle of paper ... ...sis of your religious life may be a mixture of both of these things. Many religions depend upon the concept that God chooses to reveal himself to humankind, leading this type of revelation or experience to be a type of authority also. However when guidance and understanding is needed, most religious believers nearly always turn to religious scriptures for answers, which may be another reason why scriptures may hold more authority than experience In essence, religious authority and teaching is a TYPE of religious experience and vice versa. As much as we trust the authority of books and testimony of others, personal experience is a primary source in learning about religious life and basing our own lives on it. BIBLIOGRAPHY: A Student’s Guide to AS Religious Studies by Dennis Brown & Stephen Morris.
Sufism uses the quality of unification and the quality of appeal to make it one of the strongest aspects of Islam. Sufism was founded on the belief that Muslims could obtain a 'one-on-one'; relationship with God through mystical practices. Mysticism is defined as 'a particular method of approach to Reality making use of intuitive and emotional spiritual faculties which are generally dormant and latent unless called into play through training under guidance. '; Since mysticism is connected with many other religions also, the Sufis had to be extremely careful to be under 'guidance'; at all times. They prefer the word guidance to the word teaching because they believe that the sought-after relationship with God can be reached only through personal experience.
In the words of an English poet William Cowper "a closer walk with God," became central for S... ... middle of paper ... ...in the remembrance of God in order to achieve higher levels of spirituality and reach an ecstatic state in order to realise the Divine Truth ( Richard, 1982).The Muslim community has condemned certain distinctive practices of Sufism as it is seen as blasphemous and are claimed to have deviated from the mainstream Islamic principles. However it would be wrong to claim that Muslims disapprove of every belief and practice of Sufism. Despite the rejection of some Sufi practices, the Muslim community does agree on some important beliefs such as Sufism places immense emphasis on spiritually awakening the heart and trying to purify the heart which should be the aim of every Muslim as they would all strive to gain the maximum reward from God. The following verse perfectly portrays this, ' truly who purifies the inner-self succeeds, and who corrupts it fails! - The Quran.
There are hundreds of religions that exist throughout the globe. Islam and Hinduism are two of the oldest of these religious practices. Although they are two different religions, they share a similar view on the ideal way of worshipping God. It’s important to discuss Hinduism’s four Yogas as well the five pillars of Islam and how they play a role in defining god’s true nature. In addition, it is to be made clear that Islam takes a more orthodoxy approach by integrating the Quran as well as prayer and mandatory fasting into their religious tradition.