Orthodox Islam Has An Aversion To Sufism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 31 December 2022 One 'ocean of knowledge' is of the view that Sufis exaggerate. Therefore, their path is not right. Only the path propounded and propagated by him will lead all Muslims to Allah. Obviously, these are tall claims. Muslims, esp. Sunnis, still suffer from Hallaj Syndrome, named after Mansur-al- Hallaj, who was excoriated for his ecstatic proclamation of An-al-Haq ('m the truth). This gentleman is unaware that the real Sufism is unstructured. Annihilation in Allah is not through any fixed process and procedure but through love and devotion. Shams-e-Tabriz writes, " I've gone beyond Namaz, Roza and rosary. All these are secondary. I'm merged into Him. " To a conventional Muslim who has been rubbing his Peshani (forehead) by offering regular dose of Namaz, this is blasphemous. But to a Sufi, this is bhakti or devotion. Let them be wrong. Sublime Sufis like Rumi, Sanai, Attar, Khaqani among others stopped caring for Allah's much bandied about wrath for being 'wayward' (Qahez in Persian) and irregular (Lawaaz in Farsi) in their approach to Allah. But theirs was the way, may not be cent percent right, that dispensed with the ritualistic Islam and the orthodoxy of it. Moreover, Sufis preached and proclaimed Universal love ( comparable to Agape of Christianity) and didn't limit themselves to Islamic Allah. " Mainstream Islam, esp the Islam of neo-Muslims, has a perpetual issue with the Sufism because the former will never understand that the Islam of Sufis is so diametrically and definitely different from its brand of unchangeably hardcore Islam, " opined Professor Hamilton Gibb, a scholar of Islamic and Arab Studies. Sunnis, therefore, have no right to brand Sufis as heretics or even exaggerators. Do true Sufis cast aspersions on Sunni or any other way or denomination of Islam? Let them ( Sufi) get burnt in eternal hellfire. That's their spiritual lookout. Stop being pejorative. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/orthodox-aversion-sufism/d/128760 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism