Past present: Is Sufism relevant to our time? – by Mubarak Ali
There are some people who, in view of the present religious extremism, believe that if Sufi teachings are revived, religious intolerance and fundamentalism may be controlled. The attempt to revive the past system and old ideas is not a new phenomenon. Those societies which are backward and have no creative and innovative capability to come up with new ideas and thoughts in response to new challenges look around and search for some old and used ideas as tools to solve their problems.
Marx’s comment in this regard, in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, is very relevant. He writes that “And just when they seem engaged in revolutionising themselves and things, in creating something that has never existed, precisely in such periods of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, battle cries and costumes in order to present the new scene of world history in this time-honoured disguise and this borrowed language.”
Thus, those who argue about the usefulness of past, fail to realise that every system is the product of a specific time and space. It plays its role and, after that, becomes redundant. Changing circumstances require new and fresh responses to meet the emerging challenges.
In the subcontinent Sufism flourished in the 13th century almost at the same time as the establishment of Turkish rule in India. It was the period of struggle against the local rulers who were fighting to check the political domination of the invaders. At this critical juncture, the Sultans of Delhi needed the spiritual support of the Sufis to inspire their soldiers to fight against the infidels. That’s why they supported the Sufis and sought their blessing in case of war as well as in any crisis.
Two leading Sufi orders Chishtiya and Surawardiya played an important role during the Sultanate period. Their philosophy of wahdat al wujud created religious tolerance and checked religious conflict between the Hindus and the Muslims. The same policy was followed by the rulers who fully realised that they could not sustain the occupation relying only on military power. The subjugated people need to be assured that they would be treated with tolerance. The khanqahs and shrines of Sufi saints established a parallel system to keep the people satisfied with the political system.
Generally, Sufis do not incite the people to rebellion or encourage them to protest against the rulers. They exhorted the people to endure sufferings and seek spiritual salvation for their worldly problems. Submission and obedience were principles which were observed by their disciples. Realising their spiritual importance, Sultans and the nobility built monasteries for them and financially supported them to maintain their establishment. The Sufis always relied on the donation of the rulers or nobles. This is how the Sufis of the Sultanate period supported the political system and never raised a voice against it.
However, the situation changed during the Mughal period. Once Akbar extended his empire and consolidated the power of the Mughal dynasty, the Mughal Emperors didn’t need the support of Sufi saints and their blessing. Akbar briefly expressed his devotion to Shaikh Salim Chishti and Khawaja Moinuddin, but he did not involve them in his political affairs. He brought the Hindus and Muslims together politically and socially following the policy of sulh-i-kul or peace with all. It created a shared culture and shared history in which both communities equally contributed. It continued throughout the Mughal rule. Thus, tolerance was achieved politically without any assistance of the Sufis, putting the Sufis in the background rather than in the forefront. The emperors were not pursuing them for any blessing. Dara Shikok’s interest in Sufism was more academic than a means to apply it in practical politics. And we can see that his Sufi mentors did not save him from his disaster.
Interestingly, with the decline of the Mughal Empire the institution of Sufism also declined. During the later Mughal period when there was political anarchy and social breakdown, a large number of fake Sufis emerged who were fooling people with their tricks. With the collapse of the political system and social values, both the rich and the poor, in a state of helplessness, began to believe that Sufis, who impressed them by keeping long hair, wearing saffron coloured dress and numerous stone rings on their fingers, would solve their day to day problems through their spiritual power. However, the whole scene changed during the colonial period and establishment of their political system. Political stability relegated Sufism to an insignificant position.
Those in Pakistan, who are interested in fighting against religious extremism, should first understand it in the present context and then encounter it with fresh ideas to change the political and social structure of the society. Society can neither be reformed by reviving old and rusted ideas nor by delivering sermons and reciting Sufi poetry.
Source: Dawn
Mr. Mubarak Ali, might just as well have asked “Is Islam relevant to our time?” (had he dared to), to which Carl Marx, whom he quotes so readily, would have answered, just as he himself does, i.e. ”… every system is the product of a specific time and space. It plays its role and, after that, becomes redundant.” To Marx every religion was such a system that became redundant; to what extent Mr. Mubarak Ali shares the view of his mentor, he doesn’t say openly.
Trying to portray Sufism as such a system, or at best a by-product of Islam, is evidence enough that the author has not the slightest inkling of what he is talking about, as a matter of fact, later on in his article he reveals his perception of the Sufis: “…The Sufis always relied on the donation of the rulers or nobles …Sufis impressed the people by keeping long hair, wearing saffron coloured dress and numerous stone rings on their fingers… delivering sermons and reciting Sufi poetry”. Well if that were, what tasawwuf is all about, one could wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Mubarak Ali – fortunately however it is not – al hamdu li_llah!
Trying to exclude and separate the spiritual dimension of Islam, or for that matter of any revealed religion, from its outward framework of dogma and ritual, amounts to replacing the living heart of a man with a machine that is capable of performing all physiological functions, at the cost of abandoning his raison d’être altogether.
Tasawwuf is, has always been, and will always remain not only an integrated part of the spiritual dimension of Islam, but its very guardian and instrument of realization. The fact that it surfaced with a distinct name, as to define it as a specialized branch of learning along with other theological sciences (like fiqh, tafsir, hadith etc.) only later, does not mean that it was an addition of a new institution. The objective of the true Sufis has, like that of the Sahaba ikram – may Allah be pleased with them – only and always been the purification of the heart of all concerns for other than Allah, along with the cultivation and perfection of such human attributes that Haqq ta’ala loves most in His bondmen, like sincere humility, total reliance on Him alone for all needs, compassion for all of His Creation, which in turn results in self-knowledge and thus Gnosis of the Real, according to the famous hadith ‘man ‘arafa nafsahu, qad ‘arafa rabbah’ – He, who has recognized his own self, has recognized his Lord. In order to achieve this, and subsequently imbibe it into others, the Sufis have devised various methods to suit the various characters and personalities of the seekers.
Any other projection of tasawwuf is mere incompetent conjecture, idle talk and intellectual vanity.
Religious extremism, religious intolerance and fundamentalism, that the author mentions at the start of his deliberations as ills of our present times, which could not be controlled by a revival of the Sufi teachings as he contends, are the very fall-out of the modernist ideology that denies the spiritual core of Islam, and that the author makes himself the protagonist of.
This ideology was begotten on one hand by the influence of a materialistic philosophy of science that thousands of young Muslims have been subjecting themselves to, in the quest for secular knowledge in the groves of academia worldwide, and on the other hand by the Wahabite ideology that was spread with the substantial support of Saudi petrol dollars in the Muslim world and beyond, which ironically shows that it is not the Sufis that rely on financial support from rulers but their antagonists.
The emergence of the above mentioned ills could only occur due to a lack of comprehensive Islamic learning and active application of it, including the spiritual dimension of the din, and if it were possible to effectively revive it on a large scale, as to reconnect the Muslims to their moral and spiritual birthright, it would surely be a comprehensive remedy for all the ills that have befallen the ummah in our time. This however can only happen by divine intervention, not by human endeavor, divine intervention on the other hand is something the Muslims should never lose hope of, and always pray for.
Assalaamualaikum. Alhamdulillah! Apt response, Sheikh Muhammad Harun! Beautifully said.