Sufism is an intrinsic part of Islam

Sufism is an intrinsic part of Islam
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Sufism is but a name given to a part of Islam. It is not something new or alien to Islam. Just because that only a certain set of people really did strive to perfect this part of Islam, they were given a separate name. As days went by, some people started to view these people as a sect. In the years that followed, the very word Sufism meant a deviated path to some and to some it was something very alien to Islam. So, it has become imperative to prove now that Sufism is an intrinsic part of Islam.
It has been proved by the practitioners of Sufism for long and people don’t accept those statements just because their understanding doesn’t allow them to accept the truth. Leaving aside this argument let us look at the aim of this life. Why are we created? What is the aim of this creation ? What does our Lord Allah expect us to do by creating us?
Rather than thinking widely let us look into the Qur’an for the answer to this question. Allah says, "Wa maa Khalakthul jinna wal insa illa li ya’budhoon" i.e., I have not created the jinns and humans except for worshipping (me). (Al Qur’an 51:56). So, the very purpose of Allah creating us is that we should worship him. In other words, Allah demands that we should be worshipping Him all the time. If we are not created for anything else, we should do only the action for which we are created for. So, according to this ayath (verse) we have to worship Allah all the 24 hrs., all through the week, month and years. It seems quite impossible. Some scholars came forward to offer an explanation for this verse by stating that, worshipping doesn’t mean just offering prayers (salath) or fasting or the other actions specified as obligatory. Worshipping includes living this life according to the Qur’an and sunnah, i.e., to live strictly according to the shari’ath. The saints say that it’s true that living according to the shari’ath is in fact a form of worship but we should also see whether Allah is intending anything else to be conveyed through this verse. Since this is a Muhkam verse, it is mandatory on our part to research this verse.
The greatest mufassireen (one who explains) of the Qur’an was none other than the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. And next come the sahabas (May Allah be pleased with them). Of all the sahabas, Hazrath Ibn Abbas RA (short form of Razhiallahu Anhu which means, May Allah be pleased with him)is acclaimed as the greatest mufassireen and he was called as "Sultanul Mufassireen" (the king of explainers) even during his days. It is a known fact that Hazrath Umar RA during his khilafath consulted Ibn Abbas RA with regards to many rulings even though he was very young compared to the other sahabas RA. We find that Ibn Abbas explains that the word, ‘ya’budhoon’ (worshipping) specified in the above specified verse means ‘ya’reefoon’ (knowing). His explanation is substantiated by the famous Hadeethe Khudusi which reads, "Kunthu kanzan makhfiyya. Fa Ahbabthu an u’rafa fa khalaqthul khalqa" (Allah says, " I was a hidden treasure. I wanted to be known and so created the creation"). So, taking this hadeeth in to our consideration and Ibn Abbas’ explanation we learn that Allah created us so that we know Him. The very purpose of our creation is to know Him.
The great saints of Chishti order put it in short as "Maksadhe zindhaghee - Ibadath awr Shanakath" i.e The purpose of our life is worshipping and knowing. My shaikh explains this as worshipping Him with the knowledge about Him. How can we ever worship one without knowing Him?
Now the argument shifts to How to know Allah? Is it possible to know Him? Here starts the important step of a salik (seeker) - searching Allah. My Shaikh uses to say that it’s a five fold path - Search Allah, Reach Allah, Love Allah, Live with Allah and Sacrifice yourself to Allah. Unless we search Him, we can’t reach Him and without reaching Him, we cannot love Him. With Love we start to live with Him and in the end we have to sacrifice ourselves for Him.
This part of Islam which concentrates on the knowledge of Allah was totally neglected by many due to their lack of understanding and it was Allah’s greatest blessing that He safeguarded the set of people who concentrated in this intrinsic part of Islam. As days passed these people were called as Sufis and this part of Islam as Sufism, due to various reasons and it has stuck to them.
Just because a different name was attributed to them one can’t claim that these people are deviant from Islam. It’s true that some people have marred the name of the great saints by 1. Misquoting their statements 2. Misunderstanding their statements and explaining it wrongly 3. Naming their deviant thoughts as Sufism and 4. Reducing the importance of Shariath in the name of Sufism. But, the great saints lived for the pleasure of Allah and died for Him.
Moving to our question whether it is possible to know Allah, we arrive at a bit of controversy. Our Prophet pbuh has prohibited thinking or researching on the essence of Allah. The munkirs of tasawwuf (refuters of sufism) quote this hadeeth to substantiate their claim that Sufis are going beyond the boundary set by Islam in knowing about Allah. They say that as it is not permissible to research in Allah’s essence, the attempt of Sufis is also not permissible. The sufis reply that they are not researching Allah’s essence. How can one ever know about Allah’s essence? Allah is Aleem (Knowing) and all His creations are ma’loom (known). How can a ‘known’ become the ‘knower’ of the ‘knowing’? It is muhaal (impossible). Then what do Sufis attempt to explain? Sufis explain the relation of the creations with the creator. They explain the existence of creation and it’s relation to the essence of Allah. Sufis throw light on the many verses of Qur’an which many never look into. The following are some of them:
1. "Huwa Ma’akum ayna maa kunthum" He is with you, wherever you are (57:4)
2. "Huwal awwalu wal akhir wazhahiru wal bathinu wa huwa bi kulli shay’in aleem" He is the beginning, He is the end, He is the manifest and He is the hidden (57:3)
3. "Nahnu Akrabu Ilaihi Min Hablil Wareedh" We are closer to them (human) than their jugular vein (50:16)
4. "Fa Ayna maa thuwallu fasamma wajhullah" Wherever they see there is Allah’s face(2:115)
5. "idha sa’alaka ibadhee annee fa innee khareeb "(Oh prophet) if my slaves ask you about me I am certainly close (to them) (2:186)
And Allah says in His Qur’an, "Arrahmanu Fas’al bihi Khabeera" - Ar-Rahman ask about Him to those who know" (25:59). This is a verse that commands us to learn about Him from those who know Him. There is also another verse that states, "Fas’alu ahladhikree inn kunthum laa tha’lamoon" (21:8)- ask the people of knowledge if you know not. It is only the Sufis who know them. It is the Sufis who have spent their lives to attain His knowledge. So, it is imperative on us to ask the people of knowledge, the sufis about Allah. It is our aim. Our aim should be to know our Lord and worship Him. We should know Him as He wants us to know Him and not as we think.
From the above discussion we learn that Sufism is an intrinsic part of Islam and our aim should be to know Allah and worship Him. We can attain the knowledge about Allah only by learning it from the sufis. May Allah bless us with the proximity of sufis and make us His beloved servants.