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The Arabic word tasawwuf (lit. ' 'Sufism' '), generally translated as Sufism, is commonly defined by Western authors as Islamic mysticism. [14] [15] [16] The Arabic term Sufi has been used in Islamic literature with a wide range of meanings, by both proponents and opponents of Sufism. [14]
Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam in which Muslims seek divine love and truth through direct personal experience of God. [1] This mystic tradition within Islam developed in several stages of growth, emerging first in the form of early asceticism, based on the teachings of Hasan al-Basri, before entering the second stage of more classical mysticism of divine love, as promoted by al-Ghazali ...
Ottoman Dervish portrayed by Amedeo Preziosi, c. 1860s, Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României. The emergence of Sufi thought is commonly linked to the historical developments of the Middle East in the seventh and eighth centuries CE following the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and its development took place throughout the centuries after that.
Sufi orders trace their origins ultimately to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who is believed to have instructed his successor in mystical teachings and practices in addition to the Qur'an or hidden within the Qur'an. Opinions differ as to this successor. Almost all Sufi orders trace their origins to 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin.
In Sufi teachings, ma'rifa "is an apprehension of the divine unity in such a way that awareness of self is lost in awareness of God". [4] The term 'arif, meaning "gnostic," has been employed to describe accomplished mystics who have reached the elevated spiritual stage of maʿrifa. [5]
The number "seven" appears repeatedly in Islam and in Sufism, to reflect the relationship of entities in various categories. In Islam, for example, "seven" appears in the Quran, in the Hajj pilgrimage, and in the "Seven Heavens", among others. In Sufism, it appears in seven laṭāʾif, seven stages of Nafs development, and seven Maqamat.
Enslaved Africans maintained Sufi traditions in the Americas. [3] It was not until the twentieth century, however, that Sufi organizations were established in Western Europe and North America. Inayat Khan promulgated Sufism in the United States and Europe from 1910 to 1926. In 1911 Ivan Aguéli established a Sufi society in Paris.
Sufi cosmology (Arabic: الكوزمولوجية الصوفية) is a Sufi approach to cosmology which discusses the creation of man and the universe, which according to mystics are the fundamental grounds upon which Islamic religious universe is based.