Questions and answers about Sufism
Sufism raises recurring questions among those who are discovering it. Here are the answers given by the path, resting on the Qur’an, the sunna and the teaching of the masters. For questions about practice in the West (whether one can be a Sufi without being a Muslim, compatibility with the way of life, the criticisms levelled at Sufism), see the page Sufism in the West.
What is Sufism?
Every person carries a divine light in the depths of their heart: that light is our true nature. Sufism is a spiritual path whose aim is to reconnect us to that luminous reality inscribed within us.
‘Know yourself, and you will know your Lord.’ (Hadith)
‘I did not create men and jinn except that they should worship Me’ (or ‘know Me’, in another translation). (Qur’an, LI, 56)
How does this spiritual journey unfold?
The journey is made under the guidance of a spiritual master who has already travelled the road and knows its every stage. The guide does not teach through books or words: he transmits a spiritual influence (himma). On the practical search for a guide, see Finding a Sufi master in France.
That influence gradually purifies and illuminates the wayfarer’s heart, freeing it from the grip of the ego, until it attains an inner freedom.
‘It is not the eyes that are blind, but the hearts within men’s breasts.’ (Qur’an, XXII, 46)
How long has Sufism existed?
Sufism has existed since the beginning of Islam. All its spiritual practices take their source in the Qur’an and the sunna, the prophetic model. The four ‘rightly guided’ caliphs were the spiritual heirs of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then Hasan and Husayn, his grandsons. Great spiritual masters carried that teaching on to our own day, within an unbroken chain of transmission.
What is a spiritual master?
The Qur’an defines very precisely what a spiritual master is:
- He is a ‘wali’, a ‘friend of God’: a saint, a knower in God.
- But he must also be a ‘murshid’, a ‘guide’, authorised to teach by his own master and heir to a line of educators going back to the Prophet.
‘It is He who chooses the saints.’ (Qur’an, VII, 196)
‘He whom God guides is rightly guided, but he whom He leaves astray will find no wali-murshid to guide him.’ (Qur’an, XVIII, 17)
Who were the great masters of Sufism?
The greatest of them is the Prophet himself, the ‘excellent model’. There have since been very great spiritual masters, as this hadith indicates: ‘God will send, each century, someone to renew your religion.’
One can name Ibn Arabi, Rumi, Tierno Bokar, Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, al-Ghazali, Ahmad Tijani, Ahmadou Bamba, Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili… the list would be too long. Some were renowned experts in the Islamic sciences before becoming Sufis, al-Ghazali for example. For the line proper to the Qadiriya Boutchichiya path, see the biographies of Sidi Hamza, Sidi Jamal and Sidi Mounir.
How can one discover Sufism concretely in France?
The Qadiriya Boutchichiya path offers meditation and dhikr sessions open to all, with no prerequisites, in eight cities: Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Montpellier and others. The calendar lists the forthcoming meetings. Coming to listen to a session is the simplest way of forming one’s own impression.