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Sufism |
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longears ![]() Newbie ![]() Female Joined: 11 November 2011 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 17 |
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I have a longstanding love for "The Parliament of the Birds" (Attar) and "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam". I find them profoundly beautiful; they touch my spirit (though I certainly don't claim full understanding of them). How do most Muslims regard not only these two works but Sufism?
Since I'm new to this forum -- this is my first post -- perhaps i should briefly offer a few personal basics: I'm an aged woman (probably old enough to be grandmother to some of you). My faith is Franciscan Christian. However, because I have seen the face of my God in other belief systems, I cannot hold that Christianity is the only true path. My personal approach in spiritual seeking has always been addition, never subtraction. Thank you for any responses on the Sufi questions. rebecca |
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Chrysalis ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Joined: 25 November 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2035 |
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Hi Rebecca! Welcome to the forum. I have not heard of, nor read the above two books. However a hadith popped into my mind when I read your post. (Hadith = sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) "Wisdom is the property of the Believer, wherever he sees it, he takes it". So a Muslim should benefit from wisdom/knowledge wherever he/she sees it. No matter what the source. This is how I would approach the above two books whether or not I was into Sufism. We can still derive benefit from its wisdom. My 2 cents! :) See you around! |
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"O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they showed mercy to me when I was young."
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Hayfa ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Female Joined: 07 June 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2369 |
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Hi Rebecca,
Welcome to the Forum! Hayfa |
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When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. Rumi
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longears ![]() Newbie ![]() Female Joined: 11 November 2011 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 17 |
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Thanks for the kind replies.
I do want to ask this: I've read that some of the Sufi poets were executed as heretics -- is that still the feeling of many Muslims, that they are/were heretics and so should not be read? If so, what is the basis for that opinion? As you well know, we Christians have a sad history of burning people and burning books, but my problem with some books, music and art is how it encourages destructive and dangerous social behavior. I've not thought much about religious censure. I'd be interested in the Muslim view of that. rebecca |
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Ghazzali ![]() Groupie ![]() ![]() Joined: 01 November 2006 Status: Offline Points: 94 |
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May peace be on the guided ones. Welcome to islamicity longears. Q.1. How do muslims regard works of Sufism? Ans. Depends. Obviously, sufis regard these more highly than non-sufis. Scholars are not much bothered about literary works. Quran and hadith is what bothers them. Among the general populace, the cultural heritage plays a big part. Rubayyat e Omar Khayyam will be more widely read in Iran than in Saudi Arabia. Q.2. Were sufi poets executed? Ans. Execution for writing poems --- not sure about that. If you can, check the source of your information. However, sufis have been driven out of some places, branded as infidels, and religious decrees have been issued against their ideologies in the past. Q.3. Do muslims consider them as heretics? Ans. Some do, others don’t. Depends on which side you are. There are many orders of Sufism. One does not necessarily approve the other. There are various interpretations of Sufism. The problem is that because it is surrounded by mysticism, it has always been difficult to define. So there are differences of opinion inside Sufism, and outside of it as well. Q.4. What is the basis for the opinion that Sufis are heretics? Ans. a) Some orders of Sufism believe that through meditation, patience and perseverance, you can reach a state of piety whereby your existence becomes part of God’s existence. You become God and God becomes you. This is clearly in violation of the most fundamental aspect of Islam, tawhid or oneness of God. God is a separate entity from us; unique, absolute, eternal. You can never be part of God, even metaphorically, no matter how pious you are. b) Also, some sufis believe that when you reach this state, you do not need to pray, or perform other religious duties, since you have gone beyond the human existence. But, from hadith we know, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prayed till he breathed his last. So, when the greatest of man could not reach this state of piety, how can a normal human being achieve it? There are many other objections like these. I would suggest you to read the Quran, and insha’allah you will find out yourself whether Sufism is right or wrong. As far as your personal approach to religion of addition and no subtraction, I respect it. But I want to say that your approach, or your objective as a human being should be first to find out the truth. Let truth take its own course. You should not avoid truth for the sake of fraternity among the different religions of the world. Falsehood will never unite humanity. Only truth can do it. Jesus (pbuh) is either son of God, or he is not. Both cannot be the truth. So, in this case, you have to subtract any one. It’s a hard choice, one that may not please your heart as Rubayyat e Omar Khayyam would do. But for the sake of truth, you have to do this sacrifice. After all, life has never been a bed of roses. May Allah guide you to the right path. Edited by Ghazzali - 16 December 2011 at 6:28pm |
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The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the bad people, but because of the good people who does not do anything about it.
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Chrysalis ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Joined: 25 November 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2035 |
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Hi longears! Which sufi poets are you talking about? Perhaps there were some incidents like that in the past... no civilization is perfect. However as a whole, the muslims didn't really suppress poets & scholars. There are many examples of muslim poets & writers from history who were quite controversial yet survived... not only did they survive but attained celebrity status. Mirza Ghalib from the subcontinent for example, wrote openly about certain vices, yet he had sufi tendencies and wrote about God too. Ibn Taymiyyah - a famous scholar of Islam was jailed for some of his views, but his works and teachings survive and he was pretty well known (he was a sufi) - but he wasn't executed or anything, despite accusations of deviant beliefs. There are some muslim writers who wrote poetry or stories with strong sexual content... but weren't harmed by the state. But of course there may be instances when people were executed for holding certain beliefs like you said... Having said that, I don't think that one should stop themselves from reading literature deemed controversial! We should also expose ourselves to the other side... how else do you know you are on the right path? Thats my personal opinion ofcourse. In Islam, a Muslim is encouraged to take good from wherever he/she finds it (within islamic bounds of course). Also we should have faith that if we have a hunger for the truth and have sincere intentions, God shall lead us to the right path (whether or not we are reading literature by controversial scholars). |
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"O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they showed mercy to me when I was young."
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SeekingKnowledge2020 ![]() Starter. ![]() ![]() Female Alhe Hadith Muslim Joined: 30 April 2020 Location: England UK Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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Is this s Sufi forum?
Naqashbandi? Or is is deobandi jamat or hibz ut tarir?
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Muhammad Saad ![]() Newbie ![]() Islam Joined: 06 October 2020 Location: Pakistan Status: Offline Points: 31 |
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Probably it is a salfi forum. Btw I am just a Muslim.
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