Minggu, 24 Agustus 2008

SUFISM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

The word sufi almost certainly comes from the Arabic suf, meaning "wool", and implies that the sufi is a wearer of a woollen garment. The sufi concept of a God who is "all in all" differs radically from the orthodox conviction that the further he is placed from his creation, the more he is glorified.
The sufi who sets out to seek God calls himself a 'traveller' (salik), he advances by slow 'stages' (maqamat) along a path (tariqat) to the goal of union with Reality (fana fi'l-Haqq).
Islam is, at heart, a spiritual religion: "To God belong the East and the West: whithersoever ye turn, there is the Presence of God. For God is All-Pervading, All-Knowing" (Surah 2.115).
The influence of al-Ghazali in Islam is incalculable. He not only reconstituted orthodox Islam, making sufism an integral part of it, but also was a great reformer of sufism, purifying it of un-Islamic elements and putting it at the service of orthodox religion.

Tidak ada komentar: