Sufi

Orthodoxy on fundamental Islamic tenets.

  • As Carl informs: “In Islamic philosophy, ahadiyyat refers to the ‘Uniqueness’ of Allah, and occurs commonly in very fundamental surahs like Ikhlas. Wahdaniyyat refers to the ‘Oneness’ of reality.” Theologians like Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi used these two concepts in his formulation of an epistemological Wahdat-ash-Shuhood (oneness of creator and created only in the eyes of the witnesser) as opposed to the older ontological formulation of Wahdat-ul-Wujood (oneness of existence; ie creater and created are one). Wahdat-ul-Wujood might have permitted monism, polytheism or pantheism - but it has been opposed vehemently by islamic orthodoxy (Muhammad Salah video). Most ideologues who do openly accept it take great pains to clarify that this does not deviate from the intolerant shariah.

  • “Al Qushairi (A.D.1072) had unambiguously declared that there was no discord between the aims of the Sufi ‘haqiqa’ and the aims of the Sharia. … Al Hujwiri (in ‘Kashaf al Mahjub’ ) laid down the golden rule that the words “there is no god save Allah” are the ultimate Truth and the words “Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah” are the indisputable Laws for all Sufis. …” IF

  • “It is the orthodox strain of Sufism that got acceptance in the Muslim society, thanks to Imam Ghazzali (Al-Ghazali). The deviant beshariyah Sufis often suffered brutal persecution and even death. " (kAmakoTi-maNDali article.)

  • “The great Sufi saints of India—namely Nizamuddin Auliya, Amir Khasrau, Nasiruddin Chiragh, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti and Jalaluddin et al.— held rather orthodox and intolerant views…. they had adopted musical sessions (sama) and dancing (raqs) in their rituals. However, when it came to the real question of Islam, they never took a stand against classical orthodoxy; they always put the Ulema ahead of them in religious matters.” (kAmakoTi-maNDali article.)

  • " Sufi saint Jamal Qiwamu’d-din wrote that though he had been associated with the Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya for years, “but never did he find him missing a single sunnat …… ” . It has been categorically stated on page 161 in the famous treatise, Fawaid al-Fuad, translated by Bruce B. Lawrence (Paulist Press, New York, 1992) that the Auliya confirmed on the authority of the great Islamic jurist, Imam Abu Hanifa, that the perdition of the unbelievers is certain and that Hell is the only abode for them, even if they agreed to confess total loyalty to Allah on the Day of Judgment.” IF

  • The sufi Al Ghazali, considered to be a Mujaddid, a renewer of the faith who, according to the prophetic hadith, appears once every century to restore the faith of the ummah: “[O]ne must go on jihad (i.e., warlike razzias or raids) at least once a year…one may use a catapult against them [non-Muslims] when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire to them and/or drown them…If a person of the Ahl al-Kitab [People of The Book – primarily Jews and Christians] is enslaved, his marriage is [automatically] revoked…One may cut down their trees…One must destroy their useless books. Jihadists may take as booty whatever they decide…they may steal as much food as they need…

    [T]he dhimmi is obliged not to mention Allah or His Apostle…Jews, Christians, and Majians must pay the jizya [poll tax on non-Muslims]…on offering up the jizya, the dhimmi must hang his head while the official takes hold of his beard and hits [the dhimmi] on the protruberant bone beneath his ear [i.e., the mandible]… They are not permitted to ostentatiously display their wine or church bells…their houses may not be higher than the Muslim’s, no matter how low that is. The dhimmi may not ride an elegant horse or mule; he may ride a donkey only if the saddle[-work] is of wood. He may not walk on the good part of the road. They [the dhimmis] have to wear [an identifying] patch [on their clothing], even women, and even in the [public] baths…[dhimmis] must hold their tongue…. [2] (From the Wagjiz, written in 1101 A.D. Emphasis added.)”

Effort at getting anti-pagan shariah enforced

  • “The Shaikhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi silsilā filled with the indignation of Islamic zeal severely condemned these ways of Ulugh Beg. … The Shaikhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi silsilā filled with the indignation of Islamic zeal severely condemned these ways of Ulugh Beg. … However, the opposition from the Sufis and Ulema came to bite him eventually when his own son in a plot to seize power had him sentenced to death by the Sharia court and promptly beheaded. After his death his astronomical observatory was demolished along with his heretical art and his intellectual endeavors based on Greek ideas were condemned severely by the Sufi Khwājah Ahrār [Footnote 2] as being contrary to the right path.”
    [MT]
  • “The Muslim Mushaikh [Sufi spiritual leaders] were as keen on conversions as the Ulama, and contrary to general belief, in place of being kind to the Hindus as saints would, they too wished the Hindus to be accorded a second class citizenship if they were not converted. Only one instance, that of Shaikh Abdul Quddus Gangoh, need be cited because he belonged to the Chishtia Silsila considered to be the most tolerant of all Sufi groups. He wrote letters to the Sultan Sikandar Lodi, Babur, and Humayun to re-invigorate the Shariat [Sharia] and reduce the Hindus to payers of land tax and jizya. To Babur he wrote, “Extend utmost patronage and protection to theologians and mystics… that they should be maintained and subsidized by the state… No non-Muslim should be given any office or employment in the Diwan of Islam… Furthermore, in conformity with the principles of the Shariat they should be subjected to all types of indignities and humiliations. They should be made to pay the jizya…They should be disallowed from donning the dress of the Muslims and should be forced to keep their Kufr [infidelity] concealed and not to perform the ceremonies of their Kufr openly and freely… They should not be allowed to consider themselves the equal to the Muslims. (The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India [1992], p. 237)”
  • Ahmad Sirhindi (Mujadid) of the Naqashbandi order (1564-1634): “Shariat can be fostered through the sword. Kufr and Islam are opposed to each other. The progress of one is possible only at the expense of the other and co-existence between these two contradictory faiths is unthinkable. The honor of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects kafirs, dishonors the Muslims. … The real purpose in levying jizya on them (the non-Muslims) is to humiliate them to such an extent that, on account of fear of jizya , they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. .. Cow-sacrifice in India is the noblest of Islamic practices. The kafirs may probably agree to pay jizya but they shall never concede to cow-sacrifice. … The execution of the accursed kafir of Gobindwal [a Sikh who lead an uprising against the oppressive Muslim rule of his community] is an important achievement and is the cause of great defeat of the accursed Hindus…Whatever might have been the motive behind the execution, the dishonor of the kafirs is an act of highest grace for the Muslims. Before the execution of the kafirs I had seen in a vision that the Emperor had destroyed the crown of the head of Shirk. Verily he was the chief of the Mushriks and the leader of the kafirs.”
  • Shah Wali-Allah Dehlawi (d. 1762): " … We beseech you (Durrani, a Muslim ruler) in the name of the Prophet to fight a jihad against the infidels of this region." More in the constituent subversion page.

Desecration

  • According to al-Maqrīzī, it was sufi Sa’im al-Dahr who destroyed the Sphinx’s nose when he found locals making offerings.
  • “As elaborated by S.S.A. Rizvi in ‘A History of Sufism in India, Vol. 1 (Munshiram Manoharlal, 1978, p. 117), there is a reference in the book, Jawahar-i- Faridi, to the fact that when Moinuddin Chishti reached near the Annasagar Lake at Ajmer where a number of holy shrines of Hindus were located, he slaughtered a cow and cooked a beef kebab at the sacred place surrounded by many temples. It is further claimed in Jawahar-i-Faridi that the Khwaja had dried the two holy lakes of Annasagar and Pansela by the magical heat of Islamic spiritual power. He is even stated to have made the idol of the Hindu temple near Annasagar recite the Kalma. The Khwaja had a burning desire to destroy the rule of the brave Rajput king, Prithiviraj Chauhan, so much so that he ascribed the victory of Muhammad Ghori in the battle of Tarain entirely to his own spiritual prowess and declared that “We have seized Pithaura alive and handed him over to the army of Islam”. [Source: Siyar’l Auliya, cited by Rizvi on page 116 of ‘A History of Sufism in India’].” IF
  • “Similarly Sultan Ahmed Shah of Gujarat (1411-42), though a practitioner of Sufi philosophy, was a die hard iconoclast who took delight in destroying temples, as stated in the same tome, by S.A.A. Rizvi. The Sultan also used to force the Rajput chieftains to marry their daughters to him so that they would become outcastes in their own community.” IF

Successful undermining of hinduism/ paganism.

  • Sufi-s often act as the “good cop” of Islam, when it comes to selling Islam to pagans. As BE writes: “The ulemA, the sultAn and the sUfI, now acted as if three columns of the vanguard of Islam, but like the three generals, while they acted in unison at war, internally they wrestled for supremacy over the other”
  • Incorporation of hindu practices, while remaining inimical to hindu-s.
    • Yoga was incorporated into sufiism - eg: Carl Ernst here, Baḥr al-ḥayāt (Ocean of immortality), an early 17th century Persian Sufi text on yoga here.
  • Examples:
    • Wali sanga of Java (wiki).
    • Several sufi mystics in India - especially kAshmIr. Syed Ali bin Shahab-ud-Din Hamadani Abidi (../more on him here).

References

  • The beauty and beast of sufism argues that sufi-ism has not been a great exception. It is a fine expose of the ‘beast’ (vs the beauty) of sufism - especially its track-record in bhArata.
  • TW1.
  • “One intriguing thing about Eaton is that his own research of the medieval literatures on Indian Sufis for his Ph.D. thesis, published in Sufis of Bijapur 1300–1700, failed to find any trace of peace in the views and actions of Sufis and in their method of conversion” (kAmakoTi-maNDali article.)