Origins , one of the earliest female Sufi mystics during the
Umayyad Caliphate The current consensus is that Sufism emerged in the
Hejaz, present-day
Saudi Arabia, and that it has existed as a practice of Muslims from the earliest days of Islam, even predating some sectarian divides. Sufi orders are based on the () that was given to Muhammad by his
companions (ṣahabah). By pledging allegiance to Muhammad, the
sahabah had committed themselves to the service of God. Sufis believe that by giving (pledging allegiance) to a legitimate Sufi
shaykh, one is pledging allegiance to Muhammad; therefore, a spiritual connection between the seeker and Muhammad is established. It is through Muhammad that Sufis aim to learn about, understand and connect with God. Ali is regarded as one of the major figures amongst the
sahaba who have directly pledged allegiance to Muhammad, and Sufis maintain that through Ali, knowledge about Muhammad and a connection with Muhammad may be attained. Such a concept may be understood by the
hadith, which Sufis regard as authentic, in which Muhammad said, "I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate." Eminent Sufis such as
Ali Hujwiri refer to Ali as having a very high ranking in
Tasawwuf. Furthermore,
Junayd of Baghdad regarded Ali as
sheikh of the principles and practices of
Tasawwuf. Historian
Jonathan A.C. Brown notes that during the lifetime of Muhammad, some companions were more inclined than others to "intensive devotion, pious abstemiousness and pondering the divine mysteries" more than Islam required, such as
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari.
Hasan al-Basri, a
tabi', is considered a "founding figure" in the "science of purifying the heart". Sufism emerged early on in
Islamic history, 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. Other practitioners have held that Sufism is the strict emulation of the way of Muhammad, through which the heart's connection to the Divine is strengthened. Later developments of Sufism occurred from people like
Dawud Tai and
Bayazid Bastami. According to the late medieval mystic, the Persian poet
Jami,
Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (died c. 716) was the first person to be called a "Sufi".
Jabir ibn Hayyan and Abdak al-Sufi. Later individuals included Hatim al-Attar, from Basra, and
Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi.
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.
Sufi orders Historically, Sufis have often belonged to "orders" known as (pl. ) – congregations formed around a grand master who will trace their teaching through a
chain of successive teachers back to the
Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sufis
regard Muhammad as , the complete human who personifies the
attributes of
Absolute Reality, and view him as their ultimate spiritual guide. Sufi orders trace most of their original precepts from Muhammad through
Ali ibn Abi Talib, with the notable exception of the
Naqshbandi order, which traces its original precepts to Muhammad through
Abu Bakr. However, it was not necessary to formally belong to a tariqa. In the Medieval period, Sufism was almost equal to Islam in general and not limited to specific orders. Sufism had a long history already before the subsequent institutionalization of Sufi teachings into devotional orders (
tariqa, pl.
tarîqât) in the early Middle Ages. The term
tariqa is used for a school or order of Sufism, or especially for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking
ḥaqīqah (ultimate truth). A tariqa has a
murshid (guide) who plays the role of leader or spiritual director. The members or followers of a tariqa are known as
murīdīn (singular
murīd), meaning "desirous", viz. "desiring the knowledge of knowing God and loving God". Over the years, Sufi orders have influenced and been adopted by various Shi'i movements, especially
Isma'ilism, which led to the
Safaviyya order's conversion to Shia Islam from Sunni Islam and the spread of
Twelverism throughout Iran.
Sufism as an Islamic discipline (c. 1480–1490) , a "dancing" monument, built over the grave of the Sufi ascetic Amu Abdullah Suqla in 12th century. A person stands on top and shakes one minaret, causing the second minaret to move with the same oscillation. Existing in both Sunni and Shia Islam, Sufism is not a distinct sect, as is sometimes erroneously assumed, but a method of approaching or a way of understanding the religion, which strives to take the regular practice of the religion to the "supererogatory level" through simultaneously "fulfilling ... [the obligatory] religious duties" As a mystic and ascetic aspect of Islam, it is considered as the part of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of the inner self. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. Contrary to popular perception in the West, however, neither the founders of these orders nor their followers ever considered themselves to be anything other than orthodox Sunni Muslims, Thus, the Qadiriyya order was
Hanbali, with its founder, Abdul-Qadir Gilani, being a renowned jurist; the Chishtiyya was
Hanafi; the Shadiliyya order was
Maliki; and the Naqshbandiyya order was Hanafi. Thus, it is precisely because it is historically proven that "many of the most eminent defenders of Islamic orthodoxy, such as Abdul-Qadir Gilani,
Ghazali, and the Sultan Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn (
Saladin) were connected with Sufism" that the popular studies of writers like
Idries Shah are continuously disregarded by scholars as conveying the fallacious image that "Sufism" is somehow distinct from "Islam". Nile Green has observed that, in the Middle Ages, Sufism more or less was
Islam. when it began to permeate nearly all major aspects of Sunni Islamic life in regions stretching from India and Iraq to the
Balkans and
Senegal. 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 the
Sudan are one of the strongest adherents of Sufism. Sufi poets and philosophers such as
Khoja Akhmet Yassawi,
Rumi, and
Attar of Nishapur (c. 1145 – c. 1221) 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. , built c. 1520 next to the
Buna wellspring cavern beneath a high vertical
karstic cliff, in
Blagaj, Mostar,
Bosnia. The natural and architectural ensemble, proposed for UNESCO inscription, forms a spatially and topographically self-contained ensemble, and is a
National Monument of Bosnia. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, a "Renaissance" whose physical artifacts survive. In many places a person or group would endow a
waqf to maintain a lodge (known variously as a
zawiya,
khanqah, or
tekke) to provide a gathering place for Sufi adepts, as well as lodging for itinerant seekers of knowledge. The same system of endowments could also pay for a complex of buildings, such as that surrounding the
Süleymaniye 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.
Modern era Opposition to Sufi teachers and orders from more literalist and legalist strains of Islam existed in various forms throughout Islamic history. It took on a particularly violent form in the 18th century with the emergence of the
Wahhabi movement. photographed by
Pascal Sébah (
Istanbul, 1870) Around the turn of the 20th century, Sufi rituals and doctrines also came under sustained criticism from
modernist Islamic reformers, liberal nationalists, and, some decades later, socialist movements in the Muslim world. Sufi orders were accused of fostering popular superstitions, resisting modern intellectual attitudes, and standing in the way of progressive reforms. Ideological attacks on Sufism were reinforced by agrarian and educational reforms, as well as new forms of taxation, which were instituted by Westernizing national governments, undermining the economic foundations of Sufi orders. The extent to which Sufi orders declined in the first half of the 20th century varied from country to country, but by the middle of the century the very survival of the orders and traditional Sufi lifestyle appeared doubtful to many observers. ,
Cairo Turkey, Persia and The Indian Subcontinent have all been a centre for many Sufi lineages and orders. The Bektashi were closely affiliated with the Ottoman
Janissaries and are the heart of Turkey's large and mostly liberal
Alevi population. They have spread westwards to
Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Kosovo, and, more recently, to the United States, via
Albania. Sufism is popular in such African countries as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, and
Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam. 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
Abdelkader El Djezairi is instructive in this regard. Notable as well are the lives of
Amadou Bamba and
El Hadj Umar Tall in
West Africa, and
Sheikh Mansur and
Imam Shamil in the
Caucasus. In the twentieth century, some Muslims have called Sufism a superstitious religion which 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
Ivan Aguéli.
René Guénon, 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. Spiritualists, such as
George Gurdjieff, may or may not conform to the tenets of Sufism as understood by orthodox Muslims. ==Sufi orders==