With the advent of the mission of Muhammad (SAW), Islam from the onset, as the final and ultimate revealed world faith proved itself to cater for man’s everyday needs in all it’s physical, social, emotional, political, temporal and spiritual spheres and applications. It is significant that first revelation came to the Holy Prophets in one of his nocturnal retreats in the cave of Hira, on the Jabal Nur (Mount of light) Although, in these meditative (tahannuth) exercises he was given towards contemplation, introspection where he was emerged in admiring the creation and the wonder of the natural sciences, he soon realised that his mission to his idolatrous people, was first to introduce them to the tauhid (oneness) and true worship of Allah and the knowledge of the laws of Islam (the Shariah). Because Sufism, Islamic Mysticism leans heavily on man’s personal, private relationship with his creator through continuous contemplation, remembrance and conscientiousness (thikr and fikr) it is generally ignored, neglected and sometimes totally misunderstood by the greater majority of both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Because of their dedication and commitment to the cause of Muhammad, the successes they achieved in spreading the young the new-found faith immensely enhanced and reinforced the quality of the life of the Companions in the time of the Prophet and their immediate followers (tabi’oon). It is acknowledged by many scholars of Islam in support of the institution of Sufism then, that at the time of the Prophet and his companions, Sufism was a reality, a way of life, as against our latter times where it has merely become an Islamic ideal, much discussed and referred to in the many in literary works of both Muslim writers and orientalists alike.

The famous (mash- hur) hadith of the Holy prophet as related by Umar ibn Khattab, whence Gabriel came to question the Prophet about matters concerning the fundamental principles of Islam and Imaan, (Rituals and beliefs) and which at the same time touched on the question of Ihsaan as the final dimension of man’s ultimate spiritual relationship with Allah his creator. As in a way to teach those around him, the Prophet appropriately answered that Ihsaan is to worship Allah and be conscious of all permeating presence of Allah, and to acknowledge that, should one be incapable of experiencing His presence, that to at least know that He watches over us at all times. The spiritual and temporal life are therefore not separate aspects of Islam. It reconciles body and soul, mind and matter and whilst engaged in purifying the soul, it does not neglect the (physical) body.

Sufism, as we have noted, have not, from it’s inception taken any form or organisation, as it was not formally taken as a discipline within Islamic circles. The Quran as well as the Prophetic tradition both implicitly and explicitly espouses the Sufi ideal. Sufism in Islam though, differs from the mysticism in other religions. Pure monasticism and renunciation are both frowned upon and those companions who qualified to the sufistic principles and way of life were those who spent much time in the company and service of the Holy Prophet,observing hs practices and tradition and his everyday life. The foremost ascetics thus, in the time of the Prophet were the Ahlus-suffah (the people of the bench) and those who sacrificed the energies and the time of the lives simply ‘to be with the Prophet’. Anas ibn Malik, Abu Hurairah and Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari (RA) were but some of these dedicated disciples who were always seen at his side, in his service, observing his actions and deeds. Their illus- trious lives were to lay the foundations for the more formal Tariqah (Islamic-Sufism) that grew and flourished in the !st and 2^nd H (7^th and 8^th centuries). Later in the Ummayyad period whence the political and geographical borders of the Islamic empire extended towards Persian in the East and Spain in the west, through North Africa, Sufism and sufi orders gained more formal recognition due to the unislamic lives and attitudes of non-religious and corrupt rulers caliphs and governors.

With the opulent life-styles of rich sultans and corrupt kings and governors the more pious and god-fearing populace rigorously protested in favour of the strict application of the divine (shariah) law often at their own peril and sacrificing their lives, whilst others retreated from public life in went into seclusion. It was amidst these fertile conditions that true Islamic Sufism gained more ground and popularity with the serious minded adepts and god-fearing people. In the 2ndH / 8^th Century we see Hassan –al Basri who had in his life-time met and learnt from 70 of the Companions that had fought at Badr excelling in the spirtual Sufistic field and had such a profound influence over his contemporaries that his legacy lived on for many years after his demise.

Much later in the 3-4^th centuries H, when the pious Imams, Muhaddithun ( traditionalists and religious scholars) excelled in the fields of Arabic –gram-mar, philosophy, logic and other ideological spheres related to the sciences emanating from the Holy Quran, they were often persecuted for their rigid adherence the Divine law and the prophetic tradition. Abu Hanifa, . Ahmad bin Hanbal, Mansur al Haaj (RA) and many others suffered at the hand of corrupt sultans and rulers of their times, often sacrificing their lives and property. These were not only learned scholars in their own right , but also deeply committed sufi’s, believers who for most of their lives shunned the lucrative offers made by corrupt rulers to ‘silence them’.

The ORDERS

In Sufism the concept of trust in Allah, (tawakkul) was further entrenched the simple often plain lives led by the leaders of groups and their followers, often bordering on lifestyles of fasting and abstention as was the Sunnah of the Prophet and his immediate successors the Caliphs. Though celibacy and monasticism were never the accepted ideals in Islam, Sufis nevertheless balanced their daily familial life as the Prophet did, by observing rigorous realism with an intense spiritual life. This often took the form of close observation of the daily devotional prayers, solitary confinement and voluntary vigils in thikrs, mantras and near night-long recitation of the Holy Quran whilst standing in optional prayers (nawafil). With the expansion of Sufism in a time of the categorisation of and specialisation in various fields of Islamic sciences, Sufism, through the growing influences of colossal giants like Hassan-al-Basri , Imam Ghazzali,and much later Sayed Abdul-Qadir Gilani and others, evolved it’s own methodology, within the framework of the Islamic shariah, as a means to lead disciples to the inner way, and iternary to Allah, (often referred to in Sufi terms as As-sir-minallah, was-sir- illallah). As to formalise, categorise and label hitherto unknown or rather undefined principles, strategies and methodologies, learned scholars, mentors or spiritual leaders found new ways to identify certain states, conditions and sought after ideals of the higher Islamic Sufi-ideals.

Imitating and emulating the tradition of the Prophet’s taking his companions’ allegiance under the tree (Surah Fath) - murieds (students) would swear a fealty/oath on the hand of a master/sheigh/murabbi/ mentor, to engage in regular, organised and strict recitation of thikrs and also adhere to a prescribed lifestyle of observance and strict discipline to the best of their ability.

It is generally agreed that as in Sunnism, Sufism has also in Shi’ism struck a relationship that has manifested itself in the annals of Islamic history. As with the Companions and the Tabi’un, there was in the subsequent centuries intimate contact between the Imams and some of the greatest of the early Sufis. Hasanal-Basri and Uways al Qarani were disciples of Ali, whilst Ibrahim al-Adham, Bishr al_Hafi and Bayazid al Bastami were associated with the circle of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq: and Ma’ruf alKharghi was a close companion of Imam Rida. (Nasr, H N, 1980) Other than the companions of the bench (Ashabus-Suffa), Shi’tes are quick to note, were Salman, Abu Dharr and Ammar al- Yasir, poles of early Sufism and the early members of the ‘Shi’ite’ community. It was in the 3^RD (9^Th) century that Sufi reform aimed at integrating of the mystical and ascetic Sufism ideals with the strict code of the Shariah of Islam. Of it’s exponents in that century was Junayd al – Baghdadi and later Al-Ghazzali who did much more after having excelled in the Shariah sciences of Quran and Hadith and the subjects of Tafsir Exegesis and in philosophy in particular, challenging the exponents of Roman, Greek and other thinkers and logicians of his time. Al-Ghazzali restored Islamic thought to it’s former glory and entrenched for it a place amongst the great universal faiths and world philosophies. Known as the living proof of Islam (hujjatul-Islam), his monumental literary work is the Ihya ‘Ulumud-Din ( The Revival of the Islamic Sciences) helped in making Sufism an integral part of orthodox Islam. The new vigour of Sufism was thus later established in the wide expanse of the Islamic Empire at the time which spread from beyond Persia in the East through the Middle East , North Africa to Europe through Spain. Here, from the glorious universities of Granada, Cordova, and Alhambra, many great Muslim astrologers, scientists, and philophers and physicians in the latter centuries built on the achievements and research of their predecessors. It was no mere co-incidence of history that many great theologians like Abu Hanifa, As-Shafiye, Ahmad bin Hambal, Abdul-Qadi Jilani, and many others were also eminent Sufis. As the potent, universally understood Tradition (Sunnah) and the ideology of Islam came to be interpreted by the scholars (Imams) within their own speculative perspectives, likewise diverse schools (turuq-tariqahs) also evolved within the realm of Sufism. The most famous of the early branches is the Al-Qadiriyya tariqa, popular in the middle-east, Indo-Pak continent, the Balkans and North Africa. Other most notable and wide spread movements are the Chistiyya, Naghshabnadiyya, Suhrawardiyya and Shadiliyya orders, each with their own accepted rites and methodologies.

True Sufism, misunderstood, misconstrued and overlooked as it was in the early evolution of Islam, found it’s niche within the realm of Orthodox Islam in the later centuries (6-7 H) when zealous Muslims in the extended territories of the strong Islamic empire from Spain (Andalusia) to Baghdad, further energised by the dictates of the Quran reached peaks of intellectual and academic excellence. These were centuries when the Islamic sciences as perceived in the Revelation evolved to near perfection, crystallised and were catergorised and formalised by dedicated scholars into it’s diverse branches and faculties. A closer look at the philosophies of rationalism, determinism / fatalism, Mu’tazilitism, Pan-socialism, political and other neo-ideological thoughts both within and outside the Islamic realm, bears testimony of opposition to Sufism and pure ‘Islamic-monasticism’ through the ages. Despite all this, true Sufism has held it’s own and flourishes in Muslim majority countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Africa and where the Muslim masses lead a more mundane and simple life.

Where observant Muslims have migrated to countries like the United Kingdom, United States (Pakistani’s, Indians Arabs and and reverts), Islam Continues to grow especially through Sufism. Sufism then, acts as Islam’s built-in foolproof system, a buffer as it is, against foreign modern secular ideas and perspectives often espoused in the modern complex world seeking answers and solutions to modern day problems.