Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

Sufism for the Religious and the Secular in the Postmodern World It is mainly because of Tasawwuf that Islam became a world religion and nurtured a vivifying culture and enviable civilization. The world has been conquered for good by the Sufi poets and thinkers. Sufi argument for religion and God involves the attractive power of the Truth called beauty that everyone finds irresistible as Plato would note. In fact Arabs were caught in the net of the beauty of form and meaning of the eloquent Quran and the aesthetically oriented Persians found in Sufi metaphysics their heart’s voice.      None of the great world religions finds it difficult to engage with Tasawwuf . In fact they stand for certain variant of it as esoteric dimension is everywhere. No great philosopher or poet or historian or culture critic, Western or Eastern, could afford not to appreciate it. No secular mind and no religious genius could fail to be attracted to some aspect of it. The Sufis have been rulin...

Syed Maududi's attitude towards Sufism was critical but respectful. Our attitude towards Sufism determines the answer to the complex question of our identity in matters personal and political – our view of religious/secular other. Syed Moududi’s views helped determine views of millions towards Sufism and call for attention and clarification.     Syed Moududi’s attitude towards Sufism was critical but respectful. Certain ambivalence in his attitude shows he was not quite clear on key claims of Sufism or didn’t reflect in depth on them.     Let us first note how Syed Moududi concedes, in principle, traditional understanding of Tasawwuf as spirit or interior dimension of Islam. He writes in Towards Understanding Islam that Fiqh and Tasawwuf complement each other and noted that, “What concerns itself with the spirit of conduct is known as Tasawwuf ” and “the true Islamic Tasawwuf is the measure of our spirit of our obedience and sincerity, while Fiqh g over...

Do we ever ask about the contemporary relevance of the use of intellect, sunlight, air and water? Similarly, we shouldn’t ask about the relevance of Tasawwuf today. Let me explain why. Anyone who reflects on what is Tasawwuf or what are its key definitions/characterisations would understand that Tasawwuf or what is said to be its true signified is to be treasured by everyone, every sane human and every Muslim. Just reflect on the standard definitions and characterisations of Tasawwuf here italicised followed by brief comments on our part.       It is the inward/deeper dimension of Islam. A Muslim can never ask about the relevance of the core of Islam. It is worshipping God as if one sees Him or imagining that God is seeing one. Isn’t it perennially the requirement of all true prayer or worship? Isn’t ihsan the perfection of Islam, the ideal end to which faith is oriented? Ihsan has also been linked to husn paida kerden (creating beauty/doing everything in a ...