Sufism: The Heart of Islam
By Sadia Dehlvi
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Price: Rs 695
Aditi Bhaduri
On my first trip to Cairo I wanted to participate in a mawlid, or a celebration to mark the anniversary of a local Muslim saint. When I expressed this wish to my friend Mehry, a chic Egyptian working with USAID, she seemed surprised, a trifle amused. Better to visit a coffee cup reader, she told me, going on to explain that such rituals were engaged in by illiterate, poor people in Egypt. This was in direct contrast to what I experienced in Turkey a year later, when I visited Konya, where the shrine of Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi is located. Turks were visibly impressed and I was considered virtuous by dint of that journey. In fact Konya for Turks is always ‘Mevlana' or (the city of) Mevlana (Master) Rumi. The two responses are emblematic of the internal contradictions within the Islamic world — is Sufism Islamic or un-Islamic?
The rise of Islamism, the spread of Wahabism fuelled by the petrodollar, the use of violence for political gains by Muslim groups in the name of Islam, have created adverse publicity for the religion. At the same time Sufism, considered by many as a gentler brand of Islam, continues to be respected but is increasingly divorced from Islam, not least because many Muslims disdain numerous Sufi practices as heretical and ‘unIslamic' — an adulteration of pure Islam.
As the demographic centre of the Muslim world has shifted to South Asia, it is perhaps this region that has become a battleground for adherents of both schools of thought. And responses to this dilemma also seem to be articulated in this region. Sadia Dehlvi's book Sufism is one such response.
Sadia traces the roots of Sufism to Prophet Muhammed himself, elaborating that ‘Sufis originated from a group of about 45 companions of the Prophet called the Ashab e Suffa, People of the Bench. “Sufism teaches that man's duty on earth is to know God and fulfil the primordial covenant with Him” and “…consists of a path that teaches how to free oneself from the ego and rise to higher spiritual levels”, by developing rida, resignation to the will of Allah; tawakkul or trust in him; sabr, patience; and mohabba, love.”
Sadia, who describes herself as one following the Sufi path, premises her work on the thesis that Sufism lies at the heart of Islam, and that to divorce it from Islam is a serious flaw for anyone wanting to understand the essence of either. She asserts that “Sufis trace their spiritual enlightenment through a chain of transmissions going back to Prophet Muhammad. The relationship between a Sufi Master and disciple is modelled on the oath of allegiance taken by Muhammad's companions at his hands.”
She traces the conflict inherent in Islam, where “Muslim societies continue opposing the Sufi doctrine using different interpretations of Islamic scriptures”. She laments that Makkah and Madina, the first centres of contemplative ascetic life, were now “constantly patrolled by Saudi religious police”, to ensure that “pilgrims do not sit in gatherings of dhikr, or caress the exteriors of the Prophet's chamber. Women are allowed in the compound but are subjected to severe restrictions of time and space; Singing praises of the Messenger can lead to harassment or even imprisonment by the religious police.”
The book comprises Sadia's personal narrative of her experience of Sufism, interspersed with dry historical facts about the history of Sufism. She traces the history of Sufism, and the different Sufis — such as Imam Ali, martyred in Karbala; Salman Farsi, the first translator of the Quran; Hasan of Basra; Mansur Al Hallaj, who is perhaps best known in India for voicing the Vedantic precept ‘Ana al Haq' (for which he was executed); and others. It is delightful to know that in spite of gender restrictions and sexism so entwined with Islam, there were women Sufis too — Rabiya of Basra, Sayyida Nafisa, Fatima of Nishapur.
Sadia also deftly outlines the formation of Sufi orders, an integral part of Sufi Islam, since “Sufi orders are like spiritual families… A Sufi Master is obligated to protect the disciple in this world and in the Hereafter.”
The book is written from a believer's perspective, hence, there is no critical scrutiny of Sufi ideology or history, where many Sufis have not only engaged in battle but actively participated in Muslim empire-building.
Further, Sufism incorporates within it numerous practices from other non-Islamic and pre-Islamic traditions. It is not a coincidence that Sufism is far more widespread in non-Semitic lands or those known as the lands of ‘outer Islam' — Turkey, Morocco, Iran and, of course, in the subcontinent. In all of them Sufi practices differ, depending on local traditions. Practices witnessed at the dargah of Delhi's patron saint Nizamuddin Auliya, for instance, have the indelible mark of Hindu traditions — whether it is in the offering of flower chaddars or in the tabarruk — practices which are non-existent in Turkey or Iran. And when Sufism encountered other religious traditions it went on to produce great creations in art, like the verses of Amir Khusro in the subcontinent, something the author engagingly captures in the chapter on Mystique Dialogue.
Sufism — The Heart of Islam is a comprehensive history of Sufism for the uninitiated, its pages interspersed with beautiful Arabic calligraphy. For this reviewer, however, the book's greatest merit lies in the constant reminder that ‘God dwells in a broken heart'.
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