Ashari:

Ashari theology, is a school of early Muslim speculative theology founded by the

theologian Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324 AH / 936 AD). The disciples of the school
are known as Ash'arites, and the school is also referred to as Ash'arite school.

It was instrumental in drastically changing the direction of Islamic theology,

separating its development radically from that of theology in the Christian world.

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari was originally a Mutazilite, and his school was essentially
the introdution of some Mu'tazilite principles into mainstream Sunni theology. The
school arose mainly as a response to the Mutazila school of thought and some of
their views which to Sunnis seemed strange and against previously held opinions.
For example the Mu'tazila believed the Quran to be created, whereas Sunnis
generally held it be eternal alongside God.

Overview
The Asharite view holds that:

Complete comprehension of the Unique Nature and Attributes of God is

beyond the capacity of human reasoning and sense experience.

Although humans possess free will (or more accurately, freedom of intention),
they have no power to create anything in the material world as this is entirely the
province of God. This doctrine is now known in Western philosophy as
occasionalism.

Knowledge of moral truths must be taught by means of Revelation, and is not

known a priori or by deduction from a priori propositions or by sheer observation of
the world. It is permissible for a Muslim to believe and accept that a proposition is a
moral truth based solely on the authority of a consensus of authorised scholars
(ulama). This is known as taqlid ("imitation" in religion).

The school holds that human reason in and by itself was not capable of establishing
with absolute certainty any truth-claim with respect to morality, the physical world,
or metaphysical ideas.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Asharites were not completely traditionalist and
anti-rationalist, nor were their historical foes, the Mutazilites, completely rationalist
and anti-traditionalist, as the Asharites did depend on rationality and the Mutazilites
did depend on tradition. Their goals were the same, to affirm the transcendence and
unity of God, but their doctrines were different, with the Asharites supporting an
Islamic occasionalist doctrine and the Mutazilites supporting an Islamic metaphysics
influenced by Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism. For Asharites, taqlid only applied to
the Islamic tradition and not to any other, whereas for Mutazilites, taqlid applied
equally to both the Islamic and Aristotelian-Neoplatonic traditions. In his
introduction to Al-Ghazls The Decisive Criterion of Distinction Between Unbelief
and Masked Infidelity, Sherman Jackson writes:

Meanwhile, rationalist writings reflect a clear and sustained recognition of the

authority of the Aristotelian-Neoplatonic tradition, including the propriety of
following it by way of taqld. Traditionalists, on the other hand, use reason even
aspects of Aristotelian reason but they do not recognize the tradition of
Aristotelian reason as an ultimate authority.

Change and development over time:

Ash'arism became the main school of early Islamic philosophy whereby it was
originally based on the foundations laid down by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari who
founded the school in the 10th century based on the methodology taught to him by
his teacher Abdullah ibn Sa'eed ibn Kullaab. However, the school underwent many
changes throughout history resulting in the term Ashari, in modern usage, being
extremely broad. For example, Abul Hasan al-Ashari of al-Luma differs from the
Asharism of the Abul Hasan al-Ashari of al-Ibana, Ibn Fawrak differs from alBayhaqi.

Abd al-Karm ibn Hawzin Qushayri of the Ash'ari school affirmed the 20 essential
Attributes of God that constitute the basis of the Ashari refutation of the Mutazila
and he also affirmed all of the names and attributes of Allah conveyed by valid
texts, the basis for one of the Salafi critiques of the Asharis along with al-Ibana of
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari himself which also affirms the attributes of Allah.

The ash'arism of Qushayri differs from the Asharism of Al-Baqillani, whose

Asharism in turn differs from that of latter day scholars such as Bayjuri. It was
instrumental in drastically changing the direction of Islam and laid the groundwork
to "shut the door of ijtihad". The Asharite view was that comprehension of the
unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability. The
solution proposed by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari to solve the problems of tashbih and
ta'til concedes that the Divine Being possesses in a real sense the attributes and
Names mentioned in the Qur'an. Insofar as these names and attributes have a
positive reality, they are distinct from the essence, but nevertheless they do not
have either existence or reality apart from it. The inspiration of al-Ash'ari in this
matter was on the one hand to distinguish essence and attribute as concepts, and
on the other hand to see that the duality between essence and attribute should be
situated not on the quantitative but on the qualitative level something which
Mu'tazilis thinking had failed to grasp.

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari was noted for his teachings on atomism, among the earliest
Islamic philosophies, and for al-Ash'ari this was the basis for propagating the view
that Allah created every moment in time and every particle of matter. He
nonetheless believed in free will, elaborating the thoughts of Dirar ibn Amr' and Abu
Hanifa into a "dual agent" or "acquisition" (iktisab) account of free will.

While al-Ash'ari was opposed to the views of the Mu'tazili school for its overemphasis on reason, he was also opposed to the views of certain schools such as
the Zahiri (literalist), Mujassimite (anthropomorphist) and Muhaddithin
(traditionalist) schools for their over-emphasis on taqlid (imitation) in his Istihsan al
Khaud:

"A section of the people (i.e., the Zahirites and others) made capital out of their own
ignorance; discussions and rational thinking about matters of faith became a heavy
burden for them, and, therefore, they became inclined to blind faith and blind
following (taqlid). They condemned those who tried to rationalize the principles of
religion as `innovators.' They considered discussion about motion, rest, body,
accident, colour, space, atom, the leaping of atoms, and Attributes of God, to be an
innovation and a sin. They said that had such discussions been the right thing, the
Prophet and his Companions would have definitely done so; they further pointed out
that the Prophet, before his death, discussed and fully explained all those matters
which were necessary from the religious point of view, leaving none of them to be
discussed by his followers; and since he did not discuss the problems mentioned
above, it was evident that to discuss them must be regarded as an innovation."

Al-Ghazali's criticism and aid of the school:

Although Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) was not entirely in agreement with the Ash'ari school,
the most influential work of the Asharite thought became his treatise The
Incoherence of the Philosophers. He was a pioneer of the methods of doubt and
skepticism, and he changed the course of early Islamic philosophy, shifting it away
from an Islamic metaphysics influenced by ancient Greek and Hellenistic
philosophy, and towards an Islamic philosophy based on cause-and-effect that were
determined by God or intermediate angels, a theory now known as occasionalism.

He is famous for defending the theory of occasionalism using logic. Al-Ghazali

famously claimed that when fire and cotton are placed in contact, the cotton is
burned directly by God rather than by the fire, a claim which he defended using
logic. He argued that because God is usually seen as rational, rather than arbitrary,
his behaviour in normally causing events in the same sequence (i.e., what appears
to us to be efficient causation) can be understood as a natural outworking of that
principle of reason, which he then describes as the laws of nature.

Al-Ghazali nevertheless expresses support for a scientific methodology based on

demonstration and mathematics, while discussing astronomy. After describing the
scientific facts of the solar eclipse resulting from the Moon coming between the Sun
and Earth and the lunar eclipse from the Earth coming between the Sun and Moon,
he writes:

Whosoever thinks that to engage in a disputation for refuting such a theory is a

religious duty harms religion and weakens it. For these matters rest on
demonstrations, geometrical and arithmetical, that leave no room for doubt.

Ibn Rushd (Averroes), a philosopher, famously responded that "to say that
philosophers are incoherent is itself to make an incoherent statement." Ibn Rushd's
book, The Incoherence of the Incoherence, attempted to refute Al-Ghazali's views.
Though the work was not well received in the Muslim community, Averroism went
on to have a profound influence in European thought.

Al-Ghazali also wrote The Revival of the Religious Sciences in Islam. It combined
theology, skepticism, mysticism, Islam and other conceptions, discussed in depth in
the article on Islamic philosophy.

Other figures:

Fakhr al-Din Razi (d. 1209) was a Persian mathematician, physicist, physician,
philosopher, and a master of kalam. He wrote an encyclopedia of science, which
was influential, and a later referent for such modern efforts as the Islamization of
knowledge, which have similar intention. He was also a critic of Aristotelian logic
and a pioneer of inductive logic.


Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) was a North African Arab Muslim polymath, historian,
pedagogue and philosopher who was the pioneer of demography, cultural history,
historiography, the philosophy of history, sociology, and the social sciences in
general. His Muqadimmah is still referenced today in these fields.

Said Nursi (d. 1960) was an Islamic scholar who was the author of The Risale-i
Nur Collection.

Other works of universal history from al-Tabari, al-Masudi, Ibn al-Athir, and Ibn
Khaldun himself, were quite influential in what we now call archaeology and
ethnology. They worked in a relatively modern style that historians of the present
would recognize.

Influence and modern assessment:

The influence of the Asharites is still hotly debated today. It was commonly believed
that the Asharites put an end to philosophy as such in the Muslim world, with the
death of Averroes at the end of the 12th century. While philosophy did indeed
decline in the western Islamic world (Al-Andalus and the Maghreb), recent research
has shown that philosophy continued long after in the eastern Islamic world (Persia
and India), where the Avicennian, Illuminationist and Sufi schools predominated,
until Islamic philosophy reached its zenith with Mulla Sadra's existentialist school of
transcendent theosophy in the 17th century.

The 12th to 14th centuries marked the peak of innovation by Muslims and nonMuslims in Islamic conquered lands, and this continued through to the 16th century.
During this period the ulema began to generate a fiqh based on taqlid ("imitation
based on authority") rather than on the old ijtihad. Eventually, however, modern
historians think that lack of improvements in basic processes and confusion with
theology and law degraded methods. The rigorous means by which the Asharites
had reached their conclusions were largely forgotten by Muslims before the

Renaissance, due in large part to the success of their effort to subordinate inquiry to
a prior ethics - and assume ignorance was the norm for humankind.

Modern commentators blame the Asharites for not allowing the Islamic world's
innovation in sciences and technology, then leading the world. The Asharites did not
reject these, amongst the ulema or learned, but they stifled these in the mosque
and discouraged their application by the lay public.

The Asharites may have succeeded in laying the groundwork for a stable empire,
and for subordinating philosophy as a process to fixed notions of ethics derived
directly from Islam - perhaps this even improved the quality of life of average
citizens. But it seems the historical impact was to yield the initiative of Western
civilization to Christians in Europe.

Others, however, argue that the Asharites not only did not reject scientific methods,
but indeed promoted them. Ziauddin Sardar points out that some of the greatest
Muslim scientists, such as Ibn al-Haytham and Ab Rayhn al-Brn who were
pioneers of scientific method, were themselves followers of the Ash'ari school of
Islamic theology. Like other Asharites who believed that faith or taqlid should only
apply to Islam and not to any ancient Hellenistic authorities, Ibn al-Haytham's view
that taqlid should only apply to prophets of Islam and not to any other authorities
formed the basis for much of his scientific skepticism and criticism against Ptolemy
and other ancient authorities in his Doubts Concerning Ptolemy and Book of Optics

In Islam, a Maturidi is one who follows Abu Mansur Al Maturidi's systematic

theology, which is close to the Ash'ari theology (Aqidah). The term also
denominates the School of Kalaam, or systematic theology, of those who follow AlMaturidi's theology. In this article, the term "Maturidis" will refer to the adherents of
this School. The Maturidis and Ash'aris are the two principal schools of Kalaam that
are recognized by Sunni Islam.

Views
Points about which the Maturidis differ from the Ash'aris are, among others, the
nature of belief and the place of human reason. The Maturidis state that iman
(belief) does not increase nor decrease, but remains static; it is rather taqwa (piety)
which increases and decreases. The Ash'aris (as well as the Atharis) say that belief
does in fact increase and decrease.

Regarding the increased emphasis placed on the role of human reason, the
Maturidis say that the unaided human mind is able to find out that the more major
sins such as alcohol or murder are immoral and evil without the aid of revelation.
The Ash'aris rather disagree and conclude that the unaided human mind is unable
to determine if something is good or evil, lawful or unlawful, moral or immoral,
without the direct aid of divine revelation. Another point where Ash'aris and
Maturidis differ regarding the role of human reason is divine amnesty for certain
non-Muslims in the afterlife. The Ash'ari view of Imam al-Ghazali says that a nonMuslim who was unreached by the message of Islam or was reached by it in a
distorted fashion, is not responsible for this in the afterlife. The Maturidi rather state
that the existence of God is so evident and rationally discernible, that every human
being who has intellect and time to think (not mentally disabled, etc.) and was
unreached by the message of Islam and does not believe in God will end up in
hellfire, and divine amnesty is only available to those non-Muslims who believed in
God and were unreached by the message.

Both the Ash'aris and Maturidis follow occasionalism, a philosophy which refutes the
basis for causality, as David Hume did in Europe many centuries later, but also
proves the existence and nature of the Islamic belief of the Oneness of God
(Tawheed) through formal logic.

This theology is popular where the Hanafi school of law is followed, particularly the
lands of the former Ottoman and Mughal empires, viz. in Turkey, Afghanistan,
Central Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

Mutazilah, is an Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought

that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both in present-day Iraq, during
the 8th10th centuries. The adherents of the Mu'tazili school are best known for
their having asserted that, because of the perfect unity and eternal nature of Allah,
the Qur'an must therefore have been created, as it could not be co-eternal with
God. From this premise, the Mu'tazili school of Kalam proceeded to posit that the
injunctions of God are accessible to rational thought and inquiry: because
knowledge is derived from reason, reason is the "final arbiter" in distinguishing right
from wrong. It follows, in Mu'tazili reasoning, that "sacred precedent" is not an
effective means of determining what is just, as what is obligatory in religion is only
obligatory "by virtue of reason."

The movement emerged in the Umayyad Era, and reached its height in the Abassid
period. Scholarship on the movement stagnated for centuries owing to an absence
of sympathetic accounts of the movement (and an abundance of hostile accounts)
until the latter 20th century, when the 11th century texts of Abd al-Jabbar al-Qadi
were unearthed in Yemen.

It is still adopted by some Muslim scholars and intellectuals today.

Etymology:
The name Mu'tazili is thought to originate from the reflexive Stem VIII (stem ifta`ala)
of the Arabic triconsonantal root) dealing with isolation or separation, i.e. the word
(itazala) meaning "to separate (oneself)", "to withdraw" from (as in Quran 18:16,
19:48 and 4:90). The term is rooted in a disagreement over how to classify a person
who has committed a major sin.
As he sat in a circle in a mosque with al-Hasan al-Basri, Wasil ibn 'Ata inquired as to
the place of a sinning Muslim, if he was to be considered a believer or an unbeliever.
Upon the response that the individual was nonetheless a Muslim, Wasil dissented,
suggesting that the sinner was neither a believer nor an unbeliever. With that, Wasil
withdrew from the circle of al-Hasan al-Basri, and was followed by 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd
and others. Al-Hasan's remark, "Wasil has withdrawn from us", is believed to be the
origin of the movement's name.

Origin:
Mu'tazili theology originated in the 8th century in Basra (Iraq) when Wasil ibn Ata (d.
131 AH/748 AD) left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological
dispute regarding the issue of Al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn (described below);
thus he, and his followers, including Amr ibn Ubayd (d. 144 AH/ 761 AD), were
labelled Mu'tazili. Later, Mu'tazilis called themselves Ahl al-Tawhid wa al-'Adl
("People of Divine Unity and Justice") based on the theology they advocated, which
sought to ground Islamic creedal system in reason.

Though Mu'tazilis later relied on logic and different aspects of early Islamic
philosophy, Greek philosophy, and Hellenistic philosophy, the truths of Islam were
their starting point and ultimate reference. The accusations leveled against them by
rival schools of theology that they gave absolute authority to extra-Islamic
paradigms reflect more the fierce polemics between various schools of theology
than any objective reality. For instance, Mu'tazilis adopted unanimously the doctrine
of creation ex nihilo, contrary to certain Muslim philosophers who, with the
exception of al-Kindi, believed in the eternity of the world in some form or another.
It was usually Muslim philosophers, not the Muslim theologians generally speaking,
who took Greek and Hellenistic philosophy as a starting point and master
conceptual framework for analyzing and investigating reality.

From early days of Islamic civilization, and because of both internal factors including
intra-Muslim conflicts and external factors including interfaith debates, several
questions were being debated by Muslim theologians, such as whether the Qur'an
was created or eternal, whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination
versus free will, whether God's attributes in the Qur'an were to be interpreted
allegorically or literally, etc. Mu'tazili thought attempted to address all these issues.

Historical background of the origin of Mu'tazilis:

In order to understand the origin of the Mu'tazili, it is necessary to know the
historical background of the social, religious and political conditions of that time.

Muhammad and his early companions, the Sahabah, always insisted on the concept
of the Sovereignty of Allah, and the freedom of human will, based on the doctrine
that man would be judged by his actions. These teachings were uppermost in the
subsequent early Islamic empire.

However, according to one view, due to public hatred after the tragedy of Battle of
Karbala, the sack of Medina, and many political blunders committed by the
Umayyad Caliphate, they were in need of a theory of Predestination (see
Predestination in Islam ), fatalism (jabr), that "a man is not responsible for his
actions which proceed from God". So with their help a school of thought was
emerged and was called "JABRIA". The founder of this school of thought was Jahm
bin Safwan. He maintained " that man is not responsible for any of his actions which
proceed entirely from God" According to Al-Shahrastani, the Jabarias were divided
into three sects, 1, the Jahmia, 2, the Najjaria, and 3, the Zirdria. The Arabs of pre
Islamic days also believed in this concept, so it was easy for them to accept these
ideas.

This concept was challenged by Ma'bad al-Juhani, Eunas al-Aswari, and Gilan
Dimishki, and there emerged a school of thought known in the history of Muslim
philosophy, as "QADRIA" who believed in "Qader", i.e., Fate - the theory of freedom
of human will , based on the doctrine that man would be judged by his actions.
These persons were put to death by the Umayyad Caliphate for heresy. After them
there were many followers of them. The founder of Mu'tazili, Abu Huzaifa Wasil ibn
Ata al-Ghazzal, are believed to labeled at Mu'tazilites.

It is also said that this school also emerged as a reaction against the Kharijites on
the one hand, and the Shia on the other hand. According to Encyclopdia
Britannica, "The name first appears in early Islmic history in the dispute over Als
leadership of the Muslim community after the murder of the third caliph, Hazrat
Uthmn [ibn 'Affan] (656). Those who would neither condemn nor sanction Hazrat
Al or his opponents (Muawiyah I) but took a middle position were termed the
Mutazilah.".

It is also maintained that Mu'taziltes descend from the followers of some of the
Companions; Hazrat Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Hazrat `Abd Allah ibn `Umar, etc. who
were neutral in the dispute between Hazrat Al and his opponents (Muawiyah I). It is
an explanation of this kind which today, in particular as a result of the studies
undertaken by Nallino (Sull'origine del nome dei Mu'taziliti, in RSO, vii [1916]), is
generally accepted: i'tizal would designate a position of neutrality in the face of
opposing factions. Nallino drew support for this argument from the fact that at the
time of the first civil war, some of the Companions('Abd Allah b. 'Umar, Sa'd b. Abi
Waqqas, etc.), who had chosen to side neither with 'Ali nor with his adversaries,
were for this reason called mu'tazila. He even drew the conclusion that the

theological Mu'tazilism of Wasil and his successors was merely a continuation of this
initial political Mu'tazilism; in reality, there does not seem to have been the least
connection between one and the other. But, in its principle, this explanation is
probably valid."

According to Sarah Slroumsa "The verb i'tazala means "to withdraw", and in its most
common use, as given in the dictionaries and attested in Hadith literature, it
denotes some sort of abstinence from sexual activity, from worldly pleasures, or,
more generally, from sin. 'Amr taught his followers to be "the party which abstains"
(i.e., from evil: al-firqa al-mu'tazila), asceticism was their most striking
characteristic. They were given the name "Mu'tazila" in reference to their pious
asceticism, and they were content with this name,"

This school of thought emerged as a reaction to political tyranny; it brought answers

to political questions, or questions raised by current political circumstances. The
philosophical and metaphysical elements, and influence of the Greek philosophy
were added afterward during the Abbasid Caliphate. The founders of the Abbasid
dynasty strategically supported this school to bring political revolution against
Umayyad Caliphate. Once their authority established, they also turned against this
school of thought.

1.

Al-Milal wa al-Nihal, by Al-Shahrastani

2.

The Spirit of Islam by Justice Syed Ameer Ali

3.

Iqbal ka Ilm-ul-Kalam, Ali Abbas Jallalpuri.

Historical development:
Like all other schools, Mu'tazilism developed over an extensive period of time. Abu
al-Hudhayl al-'Allaf (d. 235 AH/849 AD), who came a couple of generations after
Wasil ibn 'Ata' and 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd, is considered the theologian who systematized
and formalized Mu'tazilism in Basra (Martin et al., 1997). Another branch of the
school found a home in Baghdad under the direction of Bishr ibn al-Mu'tamir (d. 210
AH/825 AD).

As the number of Muslims increased throughout the Muslim empire, and in reaction
to the excesses of so-called rationalism, theologians began to lose ground. The
problem was exacerbated by the Mihna, the inquisition launched under the Abbasid
Caliph al-Ma'mun (d. 218 AH/833 AD). Mu'tazilis have been accused of being the
instigators though it was the Caliph's own scheme (Nawas, 1994; Nawas, 1996;
Cooperson 2005; Ess, 2006). The persecution campaign, regardless, cost them and
theology in general the sympathy of the Muslim masses. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a
Muslim jurist and founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence was a
victim of Ma'mun's Minha. Due to his rejection of Ma'mun's demand to accept and
propagate the Mu'tazila creed, ibn Hanbal was imprisoned and tortured by the
Abbasid rulers.

By the end of the fifteenth century, Mu'tazilis were subjected to vehement attacks
from the traditionalists on one hand, and from the atheists, deists, philosophers,
non-Muslim thinkers, etc. on the other. It is important to note that the traditionalists,
as opposed to Mu'tazili rationalists, were not irrationalists. Both groups operated on
the basis of some synthesis between reason and revelation. (See below for Mu'tazili
view of the role and interaction of reason and revelation.) Jackson (2002) argued
against the "fiction" of a strict traditionalist/rationalist dichotomy, and asserted
instead that traditionalism and rationalism, in the Islamic context, should be
regarded as "different traditions of reason."

In response to the attacks, Mu'tazili theologians refined and made more coherent
and systematic their idea system. In Basra, this task was accomplished by the
father and son team, Abu 'Ali al-Jubba'i (d. 303 AH/915 AD) and Abu Hashim alJubba'i (d. 321 AH/933 AD). The two differed on several issues and it was Abu
Hashim who was to have the greatest influence on later scholars in Basra, including
the prominent Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmed who became the most celebrated
proponent of Mu'tazilism in the late tenth and early eleventh century (Martin et al.,
1997). Mu'tazilism did not disappear from the Islamic intellectual life after the
demise of 'Abd al-Jabbar, but it declined steadily and significantly. Many of the
Mu'tazili doctrines and methodologies, nonetheless, survived in the other Islamic
schools.

Tenets:
Mu'tazili tenets focus on the five principles:

(1) Al-Tawhid divine unity:

Mu'tazilis believed in the absolute unity and oneness of God. In this regard, they are
no different from the overwhelming majority of Muslims. Nevertheless, the different
Muslim schools of theology have differed as to how to uphold Divine unity in a way
that is consistent with the dictates of both scripture and sound reasoning a task
that is extremely sophisticated given that God is ontologically different and
categorically distinct from nature, humans, and material causality. All attempts to
talk about the Divine face the severe, perhaps utterly insurmountable, barrier of
using limited human language to conceptualize the Transcendent.

One example: All Muslim schools of theology faced the dilemma of affirming Divine
transcendence and Divine attributes, without falling into anthropomorphism on the
one hand, or emptying Divine attributes, mentioned in scripture, of any concrete
meaning on the other. The Mu'tazili way of doing this was to deny the existence of
attributes distinct from Divine essence. In other words, God is, for instance,
omniscient, but He knows through His essence rather than by having separate
knowledge apart from Him. This assertion was to avoid the multiplicity of coeternals something that may impugn the absolute unity and oneness of God,
according to Mu'tazilis. In addition, they resorted to metaphorical interpretations of
Qur'anic verses or Prophetic reports with seemingly anthropomorphic content. Many
other Muslim theologians did likewise. Others opted for either abstaining from
making judgments concerning these texts, or to affirm them "without knowing how."

The doctrine of Tawhid in the words of the Mutazili prominent scholar, chief justice
Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmed (d. 415 AH/1025 AD), in an original Mutazili work
translated in Martin et al. (1997): It is the knowledge that God, being unique, has
attributes that no creature shares with Him. This is explained by the fact that you
know that the world has a creator (sani`) who created it and that: He existed
eternally in the past and He cannot perish (fana'), while we exist after being nonexistent, and we can perish. And you know that He was and is eternally all-powerful
(qadir) and that impotence (al-`ajz) is not possible for Him. And you know that He is
omniscient of the past and present and that ignorance (jahl) is not possible for Him.
And you know that He knows everything that was, everything that is, and how
things that are not would be if they were. And you know that He is eternally in the
past and future living (hayy), and that calamities and pain are not possible for Him.
And you know that He sees visible things (mar'iyat), and perceives perceptibles, and
that He does not have need of sense organs. And you know that He is eternally past
and in future sufficient (ghani) and it is not possible for Him to be in need. And you
know that He is not like physical bodies, and that it is not possible for Him to get up
or down, move about, change, be composite, have a form, limbs and body

members. And you know that He is not like the accidents of motion, rest, color, food
or smells. And you know that He is One throughout eternity and there is no second
beside Him, and that everything other than He is contingent, made, dependent
(muhtaj), structured (mudabbar), and governed by someone/thing else. Thus, if you
know all of that you know God's oneness.

(2) Al-'Adl divine justice:

Facing the problem of existence of evil in the world, the Mu'tazilis pointed at the
free will of human beings, so that evil was defined as something that stems from
the errors in human acts. God does nothing ultimately evil, and He demands not
from any human to perform any evil act. If man's evil acts had been from the will of
God, then punishment would have been meaningless, as man performed God's will
no matter what he did. Mu'tazilis did not deny the existence of suffering that goes
beyond human abuse and misuse of their free will granted to them by God. In order
to explain this type of "apparent" evil, Mu'tazilis relied on the Islamic doctrine of
taklif "God does not order/give the soul of any of his creation, that which is
beyond it's capacity." [Qur'an 2:286] This entailed the existence of an "act of god"
to serve a greater good, or the existence of evil acts to prevent a far greater evil. In
conclusion, it comprised life is an ultimate "fair test" of coherent and rational
choices, having a supremely just accountability in one's current state, as well as the
hereafter.

Humans are required to have belief, iman, secure faith and conviction in and about
God, and do good works, amal saleh, to have iman reflected in their moral choices,
deeds, and relationship with God, fellow humans, and all of the creation in this
world. If everyone is healthy and wealthy, then there will be no meaning for the
obligations imposed on humans to, for example, be generous, help the needy, and
have compassion for the deprived and trivialized. The inequalities in human
fortunes and the calamities that befell them are, thus, an integral part of the test of
life. Everyone is being tested. The powerful, the rich, and the healthy are required
to use all their powers and privileges to help those who suffer and to alleviate their
suffering. In the Qiyamah (Judgment Day), they will be questioned about their
response to Divine blessings and bounties they enjoyed in their lives. The less
fortunate are required to patiently persevere and are promised a compensation for
their suffering that, as the Qur'an puts it in 39:10, and as translated by Muhammad
Asad, is "beyond all reckoning".

The test of life is specifically for adults in full possession of their mental faculties.
Children may suffer, and are observed to suffer, given the nature of life but they are

believed to be completely free from sin and liability. Divine justice is affirmed
through the theory of compensation. All sufferers will be compensated. This includes
non-believers and, more importantly, children, who are destined to go to Paradise.

The doctrine of 'Adl in the words of 'Abd al-Jabbar: It is the knowledge that God is
removed from all that is morally wrong (qabih) and that all His acts are morally good
(hasana). This is explained by the fact that you know that all human acts of injustice
(zulm), transgression (jawr), and the like cannot be of His creation (min khalqihi).
Whoever attributes that to Him has ascribed to Him injustice and insolence (safah)
and thus strays from the doctrine of justice. And you know that God does not
impose faith upon the unbeliever without giving him the power (al-qudra) for it, nor
does He impose upon a human what he is unable to do, but He only gives to the
unbeliever to choose unbelief on his own part, not on the part of God. And you know
that God does not will, desire or want disobedience. Rather, He loathes and
despises it and only wills obedience, which He wants and chooses and loves. And
you know that He does not punish the children of polytheists (al-mushrikin) in
Hellfire because of their fathers' sin, for He has said: Each soul earns but its own
due (Qur'an 6:164); and He does not punish anyone for someone else's sin
because that would be morally wrong (qabih), and God is far removed from such.
And you know that He does not transgress His rule (hukm) and that He only causes
sickness and illness in order to turn them to advantage. Whoever says otherwise
has allowed that God is iniquitous and has imputed insolence to Him. And you know
that, for their sakes, He does the best for all of His creatures, upon whom He
imposes moral and religious obligations (yukallifuhum), and that He has indicated to
them what He has imposed upon them and clarified the path of truth so that we
could pursue it, and He has clarified the path of falsehood (tariq l-batil) so that we
could avoid it. So, whoever perishes does so only after all this has been made clear.
And you know that every benefit we have is from God; as He has said: And you
have no good thing that is not from Allah (Qur'an 16:53); it either comes to us from
Him or from elsewhere. Thus, when you know all of this you become knowledgeable
about God's justice.

(3) Al-Wa'd wa al-Wa'id the promise and the warning:

This comprised questions of the Last day, or in Arabic, the Qiyamah Day of
Judgment). According to 'Abd al-Jabbar (Martin et al., 1997): The doctrine of
irreversible Divine promises and warnings, is fashioned out the Islamic philosophy of
human existence. Humans, or "insan" in Arabic (literally meaning 'those who forget')
are created with an innate need in their essence to submit themselves to
something. Also, it is seen as an innate need of all humans to pursue an inner peace
and contentment within the struggles of an imperfect world. Knowledge of God,

truth, and choices, in relation to one's innate need of submission is seen in Islam as
God's promise and recompense (al-thawab) to those who follow. His warning is
looked at as a conscious decision by a human submitting themselves, and choosing
a varying principle which He had given a clear warning to. He will not go back on His
word, nor can He act contrary to His promise and warning, nor lie in what He
reports, in contrast to what the Postponers (Murjites) hold.

(4) Al-Manzilah Bayna al-Manzilatayn the intermediate position:

That is, Muslims who commit grave sins and die without repentance are not
considered as mu'mins (believers), nor are they considered kafirs (non-believers),
but in an intermediate position between the two. The reason behind this is that a
mu'min is, by definition, a person who has faith and conviction in and about God,
and who has his/her faith reflected in his/her deeds and moral choices. Any
shortcoming on any of these two fronts makes one, by definition, not a mu'min. On
the other hand, one does not become a kafir (i.e. rejecter; non-believer), for this
entails, inter alia, denying the Creator something not necessarily done by a
committer of a grave sin. The fate of those who commit grave sins and die without
repentance is Hell. Hell is not considered a monolithic state of affairs but as
encompassing many degrees to accommodate the wide spectrum of human works
and choices, and the lack of comprehension associated to The Ultimate Judge (one
of God's other names in Islam.) Consequently, those in the intermediate position,
though in Hell, would have a lesser punishment because of their belief and other
good deeds. Mu'tazilites adopted this position as a middle ground between
Kharijites and Murjites. In the words of 'Abd al-Jabbar, the doctrine of the
intermediate position is (Martin et al., 1997): the knowledge that whoever murders,
or fornicates (zana), or commits serious sins is a grave sinner (fasiq) and not a
believer, nor is his case the same that of believers with respect to praise and
attributing greatness, since he is to be cursed and disregarded. Nonetheless, he is
not an unbeliever who cannot be buried in our Muslim cemetery, or be prayed for,
or marry a Muslim. Rather, he has an intermediate position, in contrast to the
Seceders (Kharijites) who say that he is an unbeliever, or the Murjites who say that
he is a believer.

(5) Al-amr bil ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al munkar advocating the good and forbidding
the evil:

Commanding the good is of two types. One of them is obligatory, which is

commanding religious duties (al-fara'id) when someone neglects them (dayya`aha),
and the other is supererogatory (al-nafila), which is commanding supererogatory
acts of devotion when someone omits to do them (tarakaha). As for prohibiting evil,
all of it is obligatory because all evil is ethically wrong (qabih). It is necessary, if
possible, to reach a point where evil (al-munkar) does not occur in the easiest of
circumstances or lead to something worse, for the goal is for evil simply not to
happen. And, if it is possible to reach the point where good (al-ma`ruf) occurs in the
easiest of circumstances, then preferring the difficult circumstances would be
impermissible. Similarly, God has said: If two parties among the believers fall into a
quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds
against the other, then fight against the one who transgresses until he complies
with the command of Allah; then, if he complies, make peace between them with
justice, and be fair: for Allah loves those who act fairly (Qur'an 49:9). Thus,
prohibiting evil is obligatory only if the view does not prevail that prohibiting a
particular evil would lead to an increase in disobedience, and if a preference for
what was harmful were not predominant. If such a view does prevail, prohibiting evil
would not be obligatory, and avoiding it would be more appropriate.

Theory of interpretation:
Mu'tazilah relied on a synthesis between reason and revelation. That is, their
rationalism operated in the service of scripture and Islamic theological framework.
They, as the majority of Muslim jurist-theologians, validated allegorical readings of
scripture whenever necessary. Justice 'Abd al-Jabbar (1965) said in his Sharh al-Usul
al-Khamsa (The Explication of the Five Principles):

(When a text cannot be interpreted according to its truth and apparent meaning,
and when (in this case) two metaphoric interpretations are possible, one being
proximal and the other being distal; then, in this case, we are obligated to interpret
the text according to the proximal metaphoric interpretation and not the distal, for
(the relationship between) the distal to the proximal is like unto (the relationship
between) the metaphor to the truth, and in the same way that it is not permissible,
when dealing with God's word, to prefer a metaphoric interpretation when a
discernment of the truth is possible, it is also not permissible to prefer the distal
interpretation over the proximal interpretation)

The hermeneutic methodology proceeds as follows: if the literal meaning of an ayah

(verse) is consistent with the rest of scripture, the main themes of the Qur'an, the
basic tenets of the Islamic creed, and the well-known facts, then interpretation, in
the sense of moving away from the literal meaning, is not justified. If a contradiction
results from adopting the literal meaning, such as a literal understanding of the
"hand" of God that contravenes His transcendence and the Qur'anic mention of His
categorical difference from all other things, then an interpretation is warranted. In
the above quote, Justice 'Abd al-Jabbar emphatically mentioned that if there are two
possible interpretations, both capable of resolving the apparent contradiction
created by literal understanding of a verse, then the interpretation closer to the
literal meaning should take precedence, for the relationship between the
interpretations, close and distant, becomes the same as the literal understanding
and the interpretation.
Note: Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsah may be a paraphrase or supercommentary made by
Abd al-Jabbar's student Mankdim (Gimaret, 1979).

First obligation:
Mu'tazilis believed that the first obligation on humans, specifically adults in full
possession of their mental faculties, is to use their intellectual power to ascertain
the existence of God, and to become knowledgeable of His attributes. One must
wonder about the whole existence, that is, about why something exists rather than
nothing. If one comes to know that there is a being who caused this universe to
exist, not reliant on anything else and absolutely free from any type of need, then
one realizes that this being is all-wise and morally perfect. If this being is all-wise,
then his very act of creation cannot be haphazard or in vain. One must then be
motivated to ascertain what this being wants from humans, for one may harm
oneself by simply ignoring the whole mystery of existence and, consequently, the
plan of the Creator. This paradigm is known in Islamic theology as wujub al-nazar,
i.e., the obligation to use one's speculative reasoning to attain ontological truths.
About the "first duty," 'Abd al-Jabbar said (Martin et al., 1997): It is speculative
reasoning (al-nazar) which leads to knowledge of God, because He is not known by
the way of necessity (daruratan) nor by the senses (bi l-mushahada). Thus, He must
be known by reflection and speculation.

The difference between Mu'tazilis and other Muslim theologians is that Mu'tazilis
consider al-nazar an obligation even if one does not encounter a fellow human
being claiming to be a messenger from the Creator, and even if one does not have
access to any alleged God-inspired or God-revealed scripture. On the other hand,
the obligation of nazar to other Muslim theologians materializes upon encountering
prophets or scripture.

Reason and revelation:

The Mu'tazilis had a nuanced theory regarding reason, Divine revelation, and the
relationship between them. They celebrated power of reason and human intellectual
power. To them, it is the human intellect that guides a human to know God, His
attributes, and the very basics of morality. Once this foundational knowledge is
attained and one ascertains the truth of Islam and the Divine origins of the Qur'an,
the intellect then interacts with scripture such that both reason and revelation come
together to be the main source of guidance and knowledge for Muslims. Harun
Nasution in the Mu'tazila and Rational Philosophy, translated in Martin (1997),
commented on Mu'tazili extensive use of rationality in the development of their
religious views saying: "It is not surprising that opponents of the Mu'tazila often
charge the Mu'tazila with the view that humanity does not need revelation, that
everything can be known through reason, that there is a conflict between reason
and revelation, that they cling to reason and put revelation aside, and even that the
Mu'tazila do not believe in revelation. But is it true that the Mu'tazila are of the
opinion that everything can be known through reason and therefore that revelation
is unnecessary? The writings of the Mu`tazila give exactly the opposite portrait. In
their opinion, human reason is not sufficiently powerful to know everything and for
this reason humans need revelation in order to reach conclusions concerning what
is good and what is bad for them."

The Mu'tazili position on the roles of reason and revelation is well captured by what
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324 AH/935 AD), the eponym of the Ash'ari school of
theology, attributed to the Mu'tazili scholar Ibrahim an-Nazzam (d. 231 AH/845 AD)
(1969):

No sin may be ordered by God as it is wrong and forbidden, and no sin shall be
permitted by God, as they are wrong by themselves. To know about it and believe
otherwise, and all that God commands is good for the ordered and all that it is not
permissible except to order it is good for himself

That is, there are three classes of acts. The first is what the intellect is competent
on its own to discover its morality. For instance, the intellect, according to Mu'tazilis,
can know, independently of revelation, that justice and telling the truth (sidq) are
morally good. God is under an ethical obligation to order humanity to abide by
these. The second class of deeds is what the intellect can discover their inherent
evil and ugliness (qubh), such as injustice, mendacity, or, according to al-Nazzam as

reported in the above quote, being in a state of ignorance of the Creator. God
cannot but prohibit these. The third class comprises the acts that the human
intellect is incapable of assigning moral values to them. These are only known
through revelation and they become known to be morally good if God orders them,
or morally wrong if God forbids them. In short, the human intellect is capable of
knowing what is right and what is wrong in a very general sense. Revelation comes
from God to detail what the intellect summarizes, and to elaborate on the broad
essentials. Revelation and reason complement each other and cannot dispense with
one another.

In the above formulation, a problem emerged, which is rendering something

obligatory on the Divine being something that seems to directly conflict with
Divine omnipotence. The Mu'tazili argument is predicated on absolute Divine power
and self-sufficiency, however. Replying to a hypothetical question as to why God
does not do that which is ethically wrong (la yaf`alu al-qabih), 'Abd al-Jabbar replied
(as translated in Martin et al., 1997): Because He knows the immorality of all
unethical acts and that He is self-sufficient without themFor one of us who knows
the immorality of injustice and lying, if he knows that he is self-sufficient without
them and has no need of them, it would be impossible for him to choose them,
insofar as he knows of their immorality and his sufficiency without them. Therefore,
if God is sufficient without need of any unethical thing it necessarily follows that He
would not choose the unethical based on His knowledge of its immorality. Thus
every immoral thing that happens in the world must be a human act, for God
transcends doing immoral acts. Indeed, God has distanced Himself from that with
His saying: But Allah wills no injustice to His servants (Qur'an 40:31), and His
saying: Verily Allah will not deal unjustly with humankind in anything (Qur'an
10:44).

The thrust of `Abd al-Jabbar's argument is that acting immorally or unwisely stems
from need and deficiency. One acts in a repugnant way when one does not know the
ugliness of one's deeds, i.e., because of lack of knowledge, or when one knows but
one has some need, material, psychological, or otherwise. Since God is absolutely
self-sufficient (a result from the cosmological "proof" of His existence), all-knowing,
and all-powerful, He is categorically free from any type of need and, consequently,
He never does anything that is ridiculous, unwise, ugly, or evil.

The conflict between Mu'tazilis and Ash'aris concerning this point was a matter of
the focus of obsession. Mu'tazilis were obsessed with Divine justice, whereas the
Ash'aris were obsessed with Divine omnipotence. Nevertheless, Divine self-restraint
in Mu'tazili discourse is because of, not a negation of, Divine omnipotence.

Validity of hadith:
In the Islamic sciences, hadith are classified into two types regarding their
authenticity. The first type is diffusely recurrent (mutawatir) reports those that
have come down to later generations through a large number of chains of narration,
involving diverse transmitters such that it is virtually impossible that all these
people, living in different localities and espousing different views, would come
together, fabricate exactly the same lie and attribute it to the Prophet of Islam or
any other authority. A large number of narrators is not a sufficient criterion for
authenticating a report because people belonging to some sect or party may have
an interest in fabricating reports that promote their agendas. The power of this
mode of transmission, tawatur, rests on both the number and diversity of narrators
at each stage of transmission. On the other hand, the authority of the second type
of reports, ahaad, those which do not meet the criteria for tawatur, is considered
speculative.
'Abd al-Jabbar commented on the issue of reports saying (Martin et al., 1997):
Mu'tazilis declare as true all that is established by mutawatir reports, by which we
know what the Messenger of God has said. And that which was narrated by one or
two transmitters only, or by one for whom error was possible, such reports are
unacceptable in religions (al-diyanat) but they are acceptable in the proceedings of
positive law (furu` l-fiqh), as long as the narrator is trustworthy, competent, just,
and he has not contradicted what is narrated in the Qur'an.

Thus, the non-mutawatir reports are accepted by Mu'tazilis, according to 'Abd alJabbar, when it comes to the details or branches of law. When it comes to basic
tenets, these reports are not considered authentic enough to establish a belief
central to the Islamic faith. That is, the Mu'tazilis main issue is with reports of
speculative authenticity that have a theological, rather than legal, content, when
these seem to contravene the definitives of the Qur'an and rational proof. Since the
doctrines that Mu'tazilis hated most were anthropomorphism and unqualified
predestination (Ess, 2006), it were reports supporting these and resisting all
hermeneutical attempts at harmonizing and reconciliation that were criticized and
rejected by Mu'tazilis

Sufism or tasawwuf is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is
generally known as a Sf. They belong to different Turuq or "orders"congregations formed around a masterwhich meet for
spiritual sessions (majalis), in meeting places known as zawiyahs, Khanqahs, or tekke. Sufi turuq/orders may be either Sunn,
Sh', or mixed in doctrine, and may trace many of their original precepts from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his
cousin and son-in-law 'Al, with the notable exception of the Naqshbandi who trace their origins through the first Caliph, Abu
Bakr. Prominent orders include Ba 'Alawiyya, Chishti, Khalwati, Naqshbandi, Nimatullahi, Oveyssi, Qadiria Boutshishia,
Qadiriyyah, Qalandariyya, Sarwari Qadiri, Shadhiliyya and Suhrawardiyya.
Sufis believe they are practicing ihsan (perfection of worship) as revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad: "Worship and serve Allah as
you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you." Sufis consider themselves as the original true proponents
of this pure original form of Islam. They are strong adherents to the principles of tolerance, peace and pacifism. Sufism is
opposed by Wahhabi and Salafist Muslims.
Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from
all else but God". Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, "a science through which one can
know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of
praiseworthy traits".
Muslims and mainstream scholars of Islam (such as Ren Gunon and Cyril Glass) define Sufism as simply the name for the
inner or "esoteric" dimension of Islam which is supported and complemented by outward or "exoteric" practices of Islam, such as
Islamic law. In this view, "it is absolutely necessary to be a Muslim" to be a true Sufi, because Sufism's "methods are inoperative
without" Muslim "affiliation". In contrast, author Idries Shah states Sufi philosophy is universal in nature, its roots predating the
rise of Islam and Christianity. Some schools of Sufism in Western countries allow non-Muslims to receive "instructions on
following the Sufi path". Some Muslim opponents of Sufism also consider it outside the sphere of Islam.
Classical Sufis were characterised by their attachment to dhikr, (a practice of repeating the names of God, often performed after
prayers) and asceticism. Sufism gained adherents among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the worldliness of the early
Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE). Sufis have spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, originally expressing
their beliefs in Arabic, before spreading into Persian, Turkish and a dozen other languages.

Etymology
Two origins of the word sufi have been suggested. Commonly, the lexical root of the word is traced to Saf, which in Arabic
means "purity". Another origin is Sf, "wool", referring to the simple cloaks the early Muslim ascetics wore.
The two were combined by the Sufi al-Rudhabari who said, "The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top of purity." The wool
cloaks were sometimes a designation of their initiation into the Sufi order. Others have suggested that the word comes from the
term ahl as-Suffah ("the people of the bench"), who were a group of impoverished companions of Muhammad who held regular
gatherings of dhikr.
According to the medieval scholar Ab Rayhn al-Brn, the word sufi is derived from the Greek word sofia, meaning wisdom

Beliefs
While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and hope to become close to God in Paradiseafter death and
after the "Final Judgment"Sufis also believe that it is possible to draw closer to God and to more fully embrace the Divine
Presence in this life. The chief aim of all Sufis is to seek the pleasing of God by working to restore within themselves the
primordial state of fitra, described in the Qur'an. In this state nothing one does defies God, and all is undertaken with the single
motivation of love of God. A secondary consequence of this is that the seeker may be led to abandon all notions of dualism or
multiplicity, including a conception of an individual self, and to realize the Divine Unity.

Thus, Sufism has been characterized as the science of the states of the lower self (the ego), and the way of purifying this lower
self of its reprehensible traits, while adorning it instead with what is praiseworthy, whether or not this process of cleansing and
purifying the heart is in time rewarded by esoteric knowledge of God. This can be conceived in terms of two basic types of law
(fiqh), an outer law concerned with actions, and an inner law concerned with the human heart. The outer law consists of rules
pertaining to worship, transactions, marriage, judicial rulings, and criminal lawwhat is often referred to, a bit too broadly, as
qanun. The inner law of Sufism consists of rules about repentance from sin, the purging of contemptible qualities and evil traits
of character, and adornment with virtues and good character.
Sufism, which is a general term for Muslim mysticism, was originally a response to the increasing worldly power of Islamic
leaders as the religion spread during the 8th Century and their corresponding shift in focus towards materialistic and political
concerns. In particular, Harun al-Rashid, the fifth Abbasid Caliph, attracted negative attention for his lavish lifestyle, including
gold and silver tableware, an extensive harem and numerous slaves and retainers, that stood in contrast to the relative simplicity
of Muhammad's life.
The typical early Sufi lived in a cell of a mosque and taught a small band of disciples. The extent to which Sufism was influenced
by Buddhist and Hindu mysticism, and by the example of Christian hermits and monks, is disputed, but self-discipline and
concentration on God quickly led to the belief that by quelling the self and through loving ardour for God it is possible to
maintain a union with the divine in which the human self melts away

Teaching
To enter the way of Sufism, the seeker begins by finding a teacher, as the connection to the teacher is considered necessary for
the growth of the pupil. The teacher, to be considered genuine, must have received the authorization to teach (ijazah) from
another Master of the Way, in an unbroken succession (silsilah) leading back to Muhammad. It is the transmission of the divine
light from the teacher's heart to the heart of the student, rather than of worldly knowledge transmitted from mouth to ear, that
allows the adept to progress. In addition, the genuine teacher will be utterly strict in his adherence to the Divine Law.
According to Moojan Momen "one of the most important doctrines of Sufism is the concept of the "Perfect Man" (al-Insan alKamil). This doctrine states that there will always exist upon the earth a "Qutb" (Pole or Axis, of the Universe) -- a man who is
the perfect channel of grace from God to man and in a state of wilaya (sanctity, being under the protection of God). The concept
of the Sufi Qutb is similar to that of the Shi'i Imam.[28] However, this belief puts Sufism in "direct conflict" with Shi'ism, since
both the Qutb (who for most Sufi orders is the head of the order) and the Imam fulfill the role of "the purveyor of spiritual
guidance and of God's grace to mankind". The vow of obedience to the Shaykh or Qutb which is taken by Sufis is considered
incompatible with devotion to the Imam."
As a further example, the prospective adherent of the Mevlevi Order would have been ordered to serve in the kitchens of a
hospice for the poor for 1,001 days prior to being accepted for spiritual instruction, and a further 1,001 days in solitary retreat as a
precondition of completing that instruction.
Some teachers, especially when addressing more general audiences, or mixed groups of Muslims and non-Muslims, make
extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor.[30] Although approaches to teaching vary among different Sufi orders, Sufism
as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such has sometimes been compared to other, nonIslamic forms of mysticism (e.g., as in the books of Hossein Nasr).
Scholars and adherents of Sufism are unanimous in agreeing that Sufism cannot be learned through books. To reach the highest
levels of success in Sufism typically requires that the disciple live with and serve the teacher for many, many years. For instance,
Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, who gave his name to the Naqshbandi Order, served his first teacher, Sayyid Muhammad Baba
As-Samasi, for 20 years, until as-Samasi died. He subsequently served several other teachers for lengthy periods of time. The
extreme arduousness of his spiritual preparation is illustrated by his service, as directed by his teacher, to the weak and needy
members of his community in a state of complete humility and tolerance for many years. When he believed this mission to be
concluded, his teacher next directed him to care for animals, curing their sicknesses, cleaning their wounds, and assisting them in
finding provision. After many years of this he was next instructed to spend many years in the care of dogs in a state of humility,
and to ask them for support.

History of Sufism
Origins
In its early stages of development Sufism effectively referred to nothing more than the internalization of Islam. According to one
perspective, it is directly from the Qur'an, constantly recited, meditated, and experienced, that Sufism proceeded, in its origin and
its development. Others have held that Sufism is the strict emulation of the way of Muhammad, through which the heart's
connection to the Divine is strengthened. More prosaically, the Muslim Conquests had brought large numbers of Christian monks
and hermits, especially in Syria and Egypt, under the rule of Muslims. They retained a vigorous spiritual life for centuries after
the conquests, and many of the especially pious Muslims who founded Sufism were influenced by their techniques and methods.
From the traditional Sufi point of view, the esoteric teachings of Sufism were transmitted from Muhammad to those who had the
capacity to acquire the direct experience gnosis of God[citation needed], which was passed on from teacher to student through the
centuries. Some of this transmission is summarized in texts, but most is not. Important contributions in writing are attributed to
Uwais al-Qarni, Harrm bin Hian, Hasan Basri and Sayid ibn al-Mussib, who are regarded as the first Sufis in the earliest
generations of Islam. Ruwaym, from the second generation of Sufis in Baghdad, was also an influential early figure, as was
Junayd of Baghdad; a number of early practitioners of Sufism were disciples of one of the two.Harith al-Muhasibi was the first
one to write about moral psychology. Rabia Basri was a Sufi known for her love and passion for God, expressed through her
poetry. Bayazid Bastami was among the first theorists of Sufism; he concerned himself with fan and baq, the state of
annihilating the self in the presence of the divine, accompanied by clarity concerning worldly phenomena derived from that
perspective.
Sufism had a long history already before the subsequent institutionalization of Sufi teachings into devotional orders (tarqt) in
the early Middle Ages. Almost all extant Sufi orders trace their chains of transmission (silsila) back to Muhammad via his cousin
and son-in-law Ali. The Naqshbandi order is a notable exception to this rule, as it traces the origin of its teachings from
Muhammad to the first Islamic Caliph, Abu Bakr.
Different devotional styles and traditions developed over time, reflecting the perspectives of different masters and the
accumulated cultural wisdom of the orders. Typically all of these concerned themselves with the understanding of subtle
knowledge (gnosis), education of the heart to purify it of baser instincts, the love of God, and approaching God through a welldescribed hierarchy of enduring spiritual stations (maqmt) and more transient spiritual states (ahwl).
Formalization of doctrine
Towards the end of the first millennium CE, a number of manuals began to be written summarizing the doctrines of Sufism and
describing some typical Sufi practices. Two of the most famous of these are now available in English translation: the Kashf alMahjb of Hujwiri, and the Risla of Qushayri.
Two of Imam Al Ghazali's greatest treatises, the "Revival of Religious Sciences" and the "Alchemy of Happiness", argued that
Sufism originated from the Qur'an and was thus compatible with mainstream Islamic thought, and did not in any way contradict
Islamic Lawbeing instead necessary to its complete fulfillment. This became the mainstream position among Islamic scholars
for centuries, challenged only recently on the basis of selective use of a limited body of texts. Ongoing efforts by both
traditionally trained Muslim scholars and Western academics are making Imam Al-Ghazali's works available in English
translation for the first time, allowing English-speaking readers to judge for themselves the compatibility of Islamic Law and Sufi
doctrine.
Growth of influence
The rise of Islamic civilization coincides strongly with the spread of Sufi philosophy in Islam. The spread of Sufism has been
considered a definitive factor in the spread of Islam, and in the creation of integrally Islamic cultures, especially in Africa and
Asia. The Senussi tribes of Libya and Sudan are one of the strongest adherents of Sufism. Sufi poets and philosophers such as
Rumi and Attar of Nishapur greatly enhanced the spread of Islamic culture in Anatolia, Central Asia, and South Asia. Sufism also
played a role in creating and propagating the culture of the Ottoman world, and in resisting European imperialism in North Africa
and South Asia.
Between the 13th and 16th centuries CE, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, a
"Golden Age" whose physical artifacts are still present. In many places, a lodge (known variously as a zaouia, khanqah, or tekke)
would be endowed through a pious foundation in perpetuity (waqf) to provide a gathering place for Sufi adepts, as well as

lodging for itinerant seekers of knowledge. The same system of endowments could also be used to pay for a complex of
buildings, such as that surrounding the Sleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, including a lodge for Sufi seekers, a hospice with
kitchens where these seekers could serve the poor and/or complete a period of initiation, a library, and other structures. No
important domain in the civilization of Islam remained unaffected by Sufism in this period.
Contemporary Sufism
Current Sufi orders include Ba 'Alawiyya, Chishti, Jerrahi, Naqshbandi, Nimatullahi, Qadiriyyah, Qalandariyya, Sarwari Qadiri,
Shadhiliyya, Suhrawardiyya and Uwaisi (Oveyssi).
Sufism is popular in such African countries as Morocco and Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam. Sufism is
traditional in Morocco but has seen a growing revival with the renewal of sufism around contemporary spiritual teachers such as
Sidi Hamza al Qadiri al Boutshishi. Mbacke suggests that one reason Sufism has taken hold in Senegal is because it can
accommodate local beliefs and customs, which tend toward the mystical.
The life of the Algerian Sufi master Emir Abd al-Qadir is instructive in this regard. Notable as well are the lives of Amadou
Bamba and Hajj Umar Tall in sub-Saharan Africa, and Sheikh Mansur Ushurma and Imam Shamil in the Caucasus region. In the
twentieth century some more modernist Muslims have called Sufism a superstitious religion that holds back Islamic achievement
in the fields of science and technology.
A number of Westerners have embarked with varying degrees of success on the path of Sufism. One of the first to return to
Europe as an official representative of a Sufi order, and with the specific purpose to spread Sufism in Western Europe, was the
Swedish-born wandering Sufi Abd al-Hadi Aqhili (also known as Ivan Aguli). Ren Gunon, the French scholar, became a sufi
in the early twentieth century and was known as Sheikh Abdul Wahid Yahya. His manifold writings defined the practice of sufism
as the essence of Islam but also pointed to the universality of its message. Other spiritualists, such as G. I. Gurdjieff, may or may
not conform to the tenets of Sufism as understood by orthodox Muslims.
Other noteworthy Sufi teachers who have been active in the West in recent years include Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Inayat Khan,
Nazim Al-Haqqani, Javad Nurbakhsh, Bulent Rauf, Irina Tweedie, Idries Shah and Muzaffer Ozak.
Currently active Sufi academics and publishers include Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Abdullah Nooruddeen
Durkee and Abdal Hakim Murad.
Theoretical perspectives in Sufism
Traditional Islamic scholars have recognized two major branches within the practice of Sufism, and use this as one key to
differentiating among the approaches of different masters and devotional lineages.
On the one hand there is the order from the signs to the Signifier (or from the arts to the Artisan). In this branch, the seeker begins
by purifying the lower self of every corrupting influence that stands in the way of recognizing all of creation as the work of God,
as God's active Self-disclosure or theophany. This is the way of Imam Al-Ghazali and of the majority of the Sufi orders.
On the other hand there is the order from the Signifier to His signs, from the Artisan to His works. In this branch the seeker
experiences divine attraction (jadhba), and is able to enter the order with a glimpse of its endpoint, of direct apprehension of the
Divine Presence towards which all spiritual striving is directed. This does not replace the striving to purify the heart, as in the
other branch; it simply stems from a different point of entry into the path. This is the way primarily of the masters of the
Naqshbandi and Shadhili orders.
Contemporary scholars may also recognize a third branch, attributed to the late Ottoman scholar Said Nursi and explicated in his
vast Qur'an commentary called the Risale-i Nur. This approach entails strict adherence to the way of Muhammad, in the
understanding that this wont, or sunnah, proposes a complete devotional spirituality adequate to those without access to a master
of the Sufi way.
Contributions to other domains of scholarship
Sufism has contributed significantly to the elaboration of theoretical perspectives in many domains of intellectual endeavor. For
instance, the doctrine of "subtle centers" or centers of subtle cognition (known as Lataif-e-sitta) addresses the matter of the

awakening of spiritual intuition in ways that some consider similar to certain models of chakra in Hinduism. In general, these
subtle centers or lat'if are thought of as faculties that are to be purified sequentially in order to bring the seeker's wayfaring to
completion. A concise and useful summary of this system from a living exponent of this tradition has been published by
Muhammad Emin Er.
Sufi psychology has influenced many areas of thinking both within and outside of Islam, drawing primarily upon three concepts.
Ja'far al-Sadiq (both an imam in the Shia tradition and a respected scholar and link in chains of Sufi transmission in all Islamic
sects) held that human beings are dominated by a lower self called the nafs, a faculty of spiritual intuition called the qalb or
spiritual heart, and a spirit or soul called ruh. These interact in various ways, producing the spiritual types of the tyrant
(dominated by nafs), the person of faith and moderation (dominated by the spiritual heart), and the person lost in love for God
(dominated by the ruh).
Of note with regard to the spread of Sufi psychology in the West is Robert Frager, a Sufi teacher authorized in the Khalwati
Jerrahi order. Frager was a trained psychologist, born in the United States, who converted to Islam in the course of his practice of
Sufism and wrote extensively on Sufism and psychology.
Sufi cosmology and Sufi metaphysics are also noteworthy areas of intellectual accomplishment
Sufi practices
The devotional practices of Sufis vary widely. This is because an acknowledged and authorized master of the Sufi path is in effect
a physician of the heart, able to diagnose the seeker's impediments to knowledge and pure intention in serving God, and to
prescribe to the seeker a course of treatment appropriate to his or her maladies. The consensus among Sufi scholars is that the
seeker cannot self-diagnose, and that it can be extremely harmful to undertake any of these practices alone and without formal
authorization.
Prerequisites to practice include rigorous adherence to Islamic norms (ritual prayer in its five prescribed times each day, the fast
of Ramadan, and so forth). Additionally, the seeker ought to be firmly grounded in supererogatory practices known from the life
of Muhammad (such as the "sunna prayers"). This is in accordance with the words, attributed to God, of the following, a famous
Hadith Qudsi:
My servant draws near to Me through nothing I love more than that which I have made obligatory for him. My servant never
ceases drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love him. Then, when I love him, I am his hearing through which
he hears, his sight through which he sees, his hand through which he grasps, and his foot through which he walks.
It is also necessary for the seeker to have a correct creed (Aqidah), and to embrace with certainty its tenets. The seeker must also,
of necessity, turn away from sins, love of this world, the love of company and renown, obedience to satanic impulse, and the
promptings of the lower self. (The way in which this purification of the heart is achieved is outlined in certain books, but must be
prescribed in detail by a Sufi master.) The seeker must also be trained to prevent the corruption of those good deeds which have
accrued to his or her credit by overcoming the traps of ostentation, pride, arrogance, envy, and long hopes (meaning the hope for
a long life allowing us to mend our ways later, rather than immediately, here and now).
Sufi practices, while attractive to some, are not a means for gaining knowledge. The traditional scholars of Sufism hold it as
absolutely axiomatic that knowledge of God is not a psychological state generated through breath control. Thus, practice of
"techniques" is not the cause, but instead the occasion for such knowledge to be obtained (if at all), given proper prerequisites and
proper guidance by a master of the way. Furthermore, the emphasis on practices may obscure a far more important fact: The
seeker is, in a sense, to become a broken person, stripped of all habits through the practice of (in the words of Imam Al-Ghazali)
solitude, silence, sleeplessness, and hunger.
Magic has also been a part of Sufi practice, notably in India. This practice intensified during the declining years of Sufism in
India when the Sufi orders grew steadily in wealth and in political influence while their spirituality gradually declined as they
concentrated on Saint worship, miracle working, magic and superstition. The external religious practices were neglected, morals
declined and learning was despised. The element of magic in Sufism in India possibly drew from the occult practices in the
Atharvaveda. The most famous of all Sufis, Mansur Al-Hallaj (d. 922), visited Sindh in order to study "Indian Magic". He not
only accepted Hindu ideas of cosmogony and of divine descent but he also seems to have believed in the Transmigration of the
soul.
Dhikr

Dhikr is the remembrance of God commanded in the Qur'an for all Muslims through a specific devotional act, such as the
repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from hadith literature and the Qur'an. More generally, dhikr takes a wide
range and various layers of meaning.[66] This includes dhikr as any activity in which the Muslim maintains awareness of God.
To engage in dhikr is to practice consciousness of the Divine Presence and love, or "to seek a state of godwariness". The Qur'an
refers to Muhammad as the very embodiment of dhikr of God (65:10-11). Some types of dhikr are prescribed for all Muslims and
do not require Sufi initiation or the prescription of a Sufi master because they are deemed to be good for every seeker under every
circumstance.
Some Sufi orders engage in ritualized dhikr ceremonies, or sema. Sema includes various forms of worship such as: recitation,
singing (the most well known being the Qawwali music of the Indian subcontinent), instrumental music, dance (most famously
the Sufi whirling of the Mevlevi order), incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance.
Some Sufi orders stress and place extensive reliance upon Dhikr. This practice of Dhikr is called Dhikr-e-Qulb (remembrance of
Allah by Heartbeats). The basic idea in this practice is to visualize the Arabic name of God, Allah, as having been written on the
disciple's heart.
Muraqaba
The practice of muraqaba can be likened to the practices of meditation attested in many faith communities. The word muraqaba is
derived from the same root (r-q-b) occurring as one of the 99 Names of God in the Qur'an, al-Raqb, meaning "the Vigilant" and
attested in verse 4: 1 of the Qur'an. Through muraqaba, a person watches over or takes care of the spiritual heart, acquires
knowledge about it, and becomes attuned to the Divine Presence, which is ever vigilant.
While variation exists, one description of the practice within a Naqshbandi lineage reads as follows:
He is to collect all of his bodily senses in concentration, and to cut himself off from all preoccupation and notions that inflict
themselves upon the heart. And thus he is to turn his full consciousness towards God Most High while saying three times: "Ilah
anta maqsd wa-ridka matlbmy God, you are my Goal and Your good pleasure is what I seek." Then he brings to his heart
the Name of the EssenceAllhand as it courses through his heart he remains attentive to its meaning, which is "Essence
without likeness". The seeker remains aware that He is Present, Watchful, Encompassing of all, thereby exemplifying the
meaning of his saying (may God bless him and grant him peace): "Worship God as though you see Him, for if you do not see
Him, He sees you." And likewise the prophetic tradition: "The most favored level of faith is to know that God is witness over
you, wherever you may be."
Visitation
In popular Sufism (i.e., devotional practices that have achieved currency in world cultures through Sufi influence), one common
practice is to visit or make pilgrimages to the tombs of saints, great scholars, and righteous people. This is a particularly common
practice in South Asia, where famous tombs include those of Khoja Afq, near Kashgar, in China; Lal Shahbaz Qalander, in
Sindh, Pakistan; Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India; Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, India, and Shah Jalal in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Likewise, in Fez, Morocco, a popular destination for such pious visitation is the Zaouia Moulay Idriss II and the yearly visitation
to see the current Sheikh of the Qadiri Boutchichi Tariqah, Sheikh Sidi Hamza al Qadiri al Boutchichi to celebrate the Mawlid
(which is usually televised on Moroccan National television).
Sufism and Islamic law
Scholars and adherents of Sufism sometimes describe Sufism in terms of a threefold approach to God as explained by a tradition
(hadth) attributed to Muhammad,"The Canon is my word, the order is my deed, and the truth is my interior state". Sufis believe
the sharia (exoteric "canon"), tariqa (esoteric "order") and haqiqa ("truth") are mutually interdependent.
The tariqa, the 'path' on which the mystics walk, has been defined as[weasel words] 'the path which comes out of the sharia, for
the main road is called branch, the path, tariq.'[clarification needed] No mystical experience can be realized if the binding
injunctions of the sharia are not followed faithfully first. The tariqa however, is narrower and more difficult to walk.
It leads the adept, called salik or "wayfarer", in his sulk or "road" through different stations (maqmt) until he reaches his goal,
the perfect tawhd, the existential confession that God is One.[128] Shaykh al-Akbar Muhiuddeen Ibn Arabi mentions, "When we
see someone in this Community who claims to be able to guide others to God, but is remiss in but one rule of the Sacred Law even if he manifests miracles that stagger the mind - asserting that his shortcoming is a special dispensation for him, we do not

even turn to look at him, for such a person is not a sheikh, nor is he speaking the truth, for no one is entrusted with the secrets of
God Most High save one in whom the ordinances of the Sacred Law are preserved. (Jami' karamat al-awliya')".
The Amman Message, a detailed statement issued by 200 leading Islamic scholars in 2005 in Amman, and adopted by the Islamic
world's political and temporal leaderships at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit at Mecca in December 2005, and
by six other international Islamic scholarly assemblies including the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of Jeddah, in July 2006,
specifically recognized the validity of Sufism as a part of Islam - however the definition of sufism can vary drastically between
different traditions (what may be intended is simple tazkiah as opposed to the various manifestations of sufism around the Islamic
world).
Traditional Islamic thought and Sufism
The literature of Sufism emphasizes highly subjective matters that resist outside observation, such as the subtle states of the heart.
Often these resist direct reference or description, with the consequence that the authors of various Sufi treatises took recourse to
allegorical language. For instance, much Sufi poetry refers to intoxication, which Islam expressly forbids. This usage of indirect
language and the existence of interpretations by people who had no training in Islam or Sufism led to doubts being cast over the
validity of Sufism as a part of Islam. Also, some groups emerged that considered themselves above the Sharia and discussed
Sufism as a method of bypassing the rules of Islam in order to attain salvation directly. This was disapproved of by traditional
scholars.
For these and other reasons, the relationship between traditional Islamic scholars and Sufism is complex and a range of scholarly
opinion on Sufism in Islam has been the norm. Some scholars, such as Al-Ghazali, helped its propagation while other scholars
opposed it. W. Chittick explains the position of Sufism and Sufis this way:
In short, Muslim scholars who focused their energies on understanding the normative guidelines for the body came to be known
as jurists, and those who held that the most important task was to train the mind in achieving correct understanding came to be
divided into three main schools of thought: theology, philosophy, and Sufism. This leaves us with the third domain of human
existence, the spirit. Most Muslims who devoted their major efforts to developing the spiritual dimensions of the human person
came to be known as Sufis.
Traditional and Neo-Sufi groups
The traditional Sufi orders, which are in majority, emphasize the role of Sufism as a spiritual discipline within Islam. Therefore,
the Sharia (traditional Islamic law) and the Sunnah are seen as crucial for any Sufi aspirant. One proof traditional orders assert is
that almost all the famous Sufi masters of the past Caliphates were experts in Sharia and were renowned as people with great
Iman (faith) and excellent practice. Many were also Qadis (Sharia law judges) in courts. They held that Sufism was never distinct
from Islam and to fully comprehend and practice Sufism one must be an observant Muslim.
"Neo-Sufism" and "universal Sufism" are terms used to denote forms of Sufism that do not require adherence to Shariah, or a
Muslim faith. The terms are not always accepted by those it is applied to. The Universal Sufism movement was founded by
Hazrat Inayat Khan, teaches the essential unity of all faiths, and accepts members of all creeds. Sufism Reoriented is an offshoot
of Khan's Western Sufism influenced by the syncretistic teacher Meher Baba. The Golden Sufi Center exists in England,
Switzerland and the United States. It was founded by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee to continue the work of his teacher Irina Tweedie,
herself a disciple of the Hindu Naqshbandi Sufi Bhai Sahib. The Afghan-Scottish teacher Idries Shah has been described as a neoSufi by the Gurdjieffian James Moore. Other Western Sufi organisations include the Sufi Foundation of America and the
International Association of Sufism.
Western Sufi practice may differ from traditional forms, for instance having mixed-gender meetings and less emphasis on the
Qur'an.
Islamic positions on non-Islamic Sufi groups
The use of the title Sufi by non-traditional groups to refer to themselves, and their appropriation of traditional Sufi masters (most
notably Jalaluddin Rumi) as sources of authority or inspiration, is not accepted by some Muslims who are Sufi adherents.
Many of the great Sufi masters of the present and the past instruct that: one needs the form of the religious practices and the outer
dimension of the religion to fulfill the goals of the inner dimension of Sufism (Proximity to God). The exoteric practices
prescribed by God contain inner meanings and provide the means for transformation with the proper spiritual guidance of a

master. It is thought that through the forms of the ritual and prescribed Islamic practices (prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, charity and
affirmation of Divine Unity) the soul may be purified and one may then begin to embark on the mystical quest. In fact it is
considered psychologically dangerous by some Sufi masters to participate in Sufi practices, such as "dhikr", without adhering to
the outer aspects of Islam, which add spiritual balance and grounding to the practice.
Some traditional Sufis also object to interpretations of classical Sufis texts by writers who have no grounding in the traditional
Islamic sciences and therefore no prerequisites for understanding such texts. These are considered by certain conventional Islamic
scholars as beyond the pale of the religion. However, there are Islamic Sufi groups that are open to non-Muslim participation.

Akbar | Alev | Alians | Ashrafia | Azeemia | Ba 'Alaw | Bayram | Bektash | Chisht | Galib | Gulshan | H
Sufi
Jelvet | Jerrah | Khalid | Khalwat | Kubrw | Madar | Malmat | Mawlw | Mourd | Noorbakshia | Na
Orde
Uwais | Nasuh | Ni'matullh | Nuqtaw | Qadir | Qalndr
rs:
Rifa' | Safv | Shadhil | Shattr | Suhraward | Sunbul | Tijan | Ussak | Uwais | Zahed

Nota
ble
Sufi
saint
s and
Myst
ics:

Abdl-Khliq Ghujdawan | Zarruq | Abdullah Ansari | Abdl-Qdir Gilan | Abl-Khyr | ad-Dahestn |

Ghazl | Ahmed Yasav | al-Badawi | Al-Ghazl | Al-Hallaj | Amr Kulal | Ali-Shir Nava'i | Fozail | al-Kh
Qaysar | al-Qunaw | Ardabil | Ata Allah | Attar | Balm Sultan | Baba Fakruddin | Baha d-Dn Naqshban
Billah | Bayazid Bastam | Bhita' | Bulleh Shah | Dehlv | El-Desouk | Erbili | Erzurum | Fard d-Dn |Fu
Nawz | Ghulam Fard | Gl Baba | Hajji Bayram | Hajji Bektash | Hfez-e Shrz | Halid Badd |
Haddad | Hamadn | Hansv | Harabat Baba | Harooni | Hujwir | ibn Adham | ibn-e-Arab | Iraqi | Jbir ibn
Sadiq| Jahangasht | Jam | Jan-e-Jnn | Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani | Mir Sham ud-Din Iraqi | Karkh | Mag
Jazoul | Jil | Junayd Badd | Kk | Kaliyar | Omar Khayyam | Khusrow | Kubr | Mahmud Hday | N
Suhraward | Nasm | Nasreddin Hoca | Nathar Vali | Ni'matullh Wali | Nizm d-Dn | Nur | Nurs | Otm
Sultan | Qutb d-Dn Haydr | Qutb d-Dn Shrz | Rabbn | Rabia Basri | Raz | Rifa' | Rukn-e-Alam | R
Faris | Sanai | Noorbaksh | Sar Saltuk | Sheik Edebali | Semnan | Silistrev | Shadhil | Shah Waliullah | Sh
Suhraward | Shams Tabriz | Shibl | Sultan Walad | Surkh Bukhar | Taj al-Dn Gilan | Umar al-Suhraward
Tustari | Yunus Emre | Zakariya | Z'l-Nn al-Misr | Baba Rexheb | Abdal Hakm Murad | Abdalqadir as-S
Dede | Abdullah Naqshbandi | Ahmad al-Alawi | al-Shaghouri | Ashfaq Ahmed | Qalandar Baba Auliya | K
Azeemi | Bawa Muhaiyaddeen | Feisal Abdul Rauf | Fethullah Glen | Gohar Shahi | Galip Hassan Kuscuo
Mustafa | Hafiz Qamaruddin | Hisham Kabbani | Mai Safoora | Meher Ali | Muhammad Madani Miya Ashr
Jilani | Muhammad Malik | Nazm Al-Haqqan | Peer-e-Noorbakshia | Syed Waheed Ashraf | Nuh Keller |
Durkee | Omar Shah | Osman Nuri Topba | Pir Zulfiqar | Qadeer Piya | Raza Khan | Reshad Feild | Saheb Q
Afandi al-Chirkawi | Shahab | Sufi Barkat Ali | Syed Shujaat | Tahir Allauddin | Tajuddin Baba | Waris Ali

Sufi Abdal | Baqaa | Dervish | Dhawq | Fakir | Fanaa | Haal | Keramat | Haqiqa | Ihsan | Irfan | Kashf | Lataif | M
Ideas | Marifa | Nafs | Noor | Qalandar | Qutb | Silsila | Sufi cosmology |Sufi metaphysics | Sufi philosophy | Sufi
:
psychology | Sulook | Tazkiah | Wali | Yaqeen

Jurisprudence