THOUGHTS ON ISLAM (5): SUFISM AND ISLAMIC MYSTICISM
By Babatunde Jose
Sufism also known as Tasawwuf, is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ritualism, asceticism, and esotericism.
Sufism originated after the death of Mohammed in 632, but it did not develop into orders until the 12th Century. The orders were formed around spiritual founders, who gained saint status. There are over 300 Sufi orders.
It has been variously defined as “Islamic mysticism”, “the mystical expression of Islamic faith”, “the inward dimension of Islam”, the “main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization” of mystical practice in Islam, and “the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice”.
According to the late medieval mystic, the Persian poet Jami, Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (died c. 716) was the first person to be called a “Sufi”.
Sufis believe in intercession of saints which can provide solace from the travails of life. Away from the desires of the material world, Sufis believe a connection with a saint can build a connection with Allah.
Practitioners of Sufism typically belonged to “orders” known as tariqa – congregations formed around a grand wali (Wali is an Arabic word with a number of meanings, including, protector, helper, a man close to God, or holy man).
Among the Sufi tariqa, the two most prominent in West Africa are the Qadiriyyah and Tijaniyya.
The Qadiriyyah order is one of the oldest Sufi Orders. The tariqa got its name from Abd-al-Qadir al-Jilani, who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order relies strongly upon adherence to the fundamentals of Sunni Islamic law. The order is one of the most widespread of the Sufi orders in the Islamic world, and can be found in Central Asia, Turkey, Balkans and much of East and West Africa.
Qadiriyyah are adherents of the doctrine of free will (from qadar, “power”). The name was also applied to the Mu’tazila, the Muslim theological school that believed that humankind, through its free will, can choose between good and evil.
The Tijaniyya order attaches a large importance to culture. Ahmad al-Tijani (1737–1815) was born in Aïn Madhi in Algeria and died in Fes, Morocco. He founded the Tijani order in the 1780s.
Tijanis established Centers in Medina Munawwarah, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Mauritania, and Algeria. It also expanded into West Africa and grew to become the largest Sufi order in that region.
The two dominant Sufi orders in Nigeria are also Qadiriyyah and Tijaniyya. In the late ’70s there emerged a group popularly known as _Izalatul-Bid’a wa-iqamatus Sunnah_ (Movement for the removal of innovation and establishment of the tradition), inspired by late Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, the former grand Qadi of the defunct northern region.
The Izala group differed in a number of fundamental aspects. They primarily attacked Sufi groups, accusing them of innovations, apostasy, intercession, celebrating maulud, and Salat al-fatih. This critique resulted in fostering unity between the two prominent Sufi orders who joined forces to defend Sufism against the criticisms of Izala
One contentious issue is the view with regard to the death of Jesus which the Izalas firmly believe that he will not return to earth. But the Sufi orders argue contrary to this view.
Sufis believe that Jesus did not die and will one day return as clearly stated by the prophet. For example, they said that God had raised prophet Idris to heaven in the same way he raised Jesus. The Sufi followers also argue that God also made it possible for Jonah to supplicate in the womb of a whale without any harm, and later continued with his life in this world.
In the Qur’an, Surah al-Kahf, God also made it possible for the “People of the Cave” to remain in their cave for 309 years without eating or drinking anything and they later continued with their normal life in this world (Quran 18:10-25).
Another point of departure is the issue of Tawassul (intercession). It is translated as “a means that can be used to gain nearness to God”. Therefore, the typical meaning of tawassul or tawassulanis is use of wasilat to obtain nearness to God. Requesting assistance from a spiritual intermediary when seeking divine help has also become a central issue in the Middle East and beyond. Scholars disagree on the validity or otherwise of intercession; some argued that it is valid in Islam, while others disagree.
Tawassul means a fervent plea. There are the permitted and the prohibited. The permitted is by means of faith and righteous deeds, and use of the glorious names of God, and his attributes.
The prohibited one is entreaty using the name of the messenger, pious people and the awliya. The Izala assert that it is shirk (idolatry) to perform such worship as it breaks the belief in the oneness of God. They support their argument with the following verse: *“O you who believe, be mindful of your duty towards God and seek the means of approach and strive in His cause as much as you can, so that you may be successful” (Quran 5:35)*. But incidentally, the same Ayat in Surah al-Ma’idah is used by the Sufis to counter this claim.
Sufis argued that intercession through the prophet Muhammad and the saints is permissible in Islam. *“O you who believe! Fear Allah and seek a ‘wasila’ to him” (5:35)*. In Arabic ‘wasila’ stands for a link, a means to an end or an intermediary.
The major conflicting areas as far as Salat al-fatih is concerned includes the authenticity of its origin, its form of revelation, the reward ascribed to it, its content and when it was discovered. The Izala group, stressed that God only reveals himself to his prophets and messengers, and prophet Muhammad is the last of them and therefore the seal of revelation. The following verse of the Qur’an was often used to substantiate such a position: *This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (Quran 5:3)*
Specifically on this issue, the adherents of tariqah (Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyyah) argued that the above verse did not mark the end of revelation. They maintained that prophet Muhammad lived for 81 days after the revelation of the above verse. Between the times when the above verse in Ma’idah was revealed and his death the following verses were revealed:
Ayat 176 of Surah al-Nisa’. The prophet lived 50 days after its revelation.
Ayat 128 of Surah al-Tawbah. Muhammad lived 35 days after its revelation.
Ayat 281 of Surah al-Baqarah. Prophet Muhammad lived 21 days after its revelation.
The above explanation clearly shows that, many verses were revealed after the verse of Ma’ida, and according to many scholars several hadith qudsiyyah were recorded few days before he died.
Prominent Sufi leaders in history were Emir Abdelkader al-Qadir al-Jazairi (1808-1883) a venerated Algerian Islamic scholar and a military leader who led a collective resistance against the mid-nineteenth century French colonial invasion of Algeria.
Omar al-Mukhtar Muḥammad bin Farhat al-Manifī, called The Lion of the Desert, known among the colonial Italians as Matari of the Mnifa, was the leader of native resistance in Cyrenaica under the Senussids, against the Italian colonization of Libya.
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadhi, commonly known by the epithet Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria.
The branch, known as the Tijāniyyah Ibrahimiyya or the Faydah (“Flood”), is mostly concentrated in Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, and Mauritania, and has a growing presence in the United States and Europe.
Ibrahim Niasse (1900–1975) was a Senegalese Sufi leader, a Wolof, of the Tijānī Sufi order. His followers in the Senegambia region affectionately refer to him in Wolof as Baay, or “father.”
Niasse was the first West African to have led al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt, after which he was styled “Sheikh al-Islam”. He was friends with and an adviser to Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, and friends with Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Sheikh served as the Vice President of the Muslim World League with Faisal as President.
Born in 1900 in the village of Tayba Naseen, between the Senegalese city of Kaolack and the border of Gambia, he was the son of Allaaji Abdulaay Nas (1840–1922), the main representative of the Tijānī Sufi Order, often referred to as Tareeqat al-Tijaniyya. Ibrahim relocated with his father to the city of Kaolack, where they established the zawiya (religious center) of Lewna Naseen.
After his father’s death in 1922, Shaykh Ibrahim’s elder brother, Muhammad al-Khalifa, became his father’s successor or Khalifa.
In 1929, the youthful Shaykh Ibrahim announced that he had been given the Key to Secrets of Divine Knowledge, and thus became the Khalifa of Sheikh Tijani in the Tijaniyya Order.
Tareeqa al-Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya, as the Shaykh’s disciples came to be known, flourished, and gained large numbers of followers during the 1930s and 1940s throughout North and West Africa.
In 1937 upon meeting Shaykh Ibrahim during a pilgrimage to Makkah, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji ‘Abdullahi Bayero gave his oath of allegiance to the Shaykh and declared himself a disciple of Shaykh Ibrahim. That incident made Shaykh Ibrahim gain the allegiance of many of the prominent Tijānī leaders of Northern Nigeria and also many others who were not Tijani prior to this time.
Alhaji Abdulmalik Atta – a prince from Okene and the first High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom – was one of Shaykh Ibrahim’s closest disciples as well as the his father-in-law through his daughter Sayyida Bilkisu.
Shaykh Ibrahim became a renowned Shaykh al-Tareeqa (Master of the Sufi Order) throughout the Hausa areas of West Africa. In the end, he had more disciples outside of Senegal than within it. At the time of his death in 1975, Shaykh Ibrahim Niass had millions of followers throughout West Africa. His branch of the Tijaniyya, Tareeqa al-Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya has become the largest branch in the world.
*Sanusi Lamido Sanusi*, known by the religious title Khalifa Sanusi II, is a spiritual leader in the Tijaniyya Sufi order of Nigeria. He was emir of the ancient city-state of Kano. He was born in Kano in 1961 into the royal family as the grandson of Muhammadu Sanusi I. As the Khalifa of the Tijaniyya Sufi order of Nigeria, he arguably has a politico-spiritual authority over the second largest Sufi order, with over 30 million adherents.
*Barka Juma’at and happy weekend*.
*Babatunde Jose*
*DO NOT GRIEVE – THERE IS ANOTHER LIFE TO COME:* These are indeed trying times in our clime, but Allah, the Exalted, said: *Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without reckoning. (Qur’an 39: 10)*
Do not grieve — There is another life to come.
The day will come when Allah will gather together the first of the creation and the last of it. The knowledge of this occurrence alone should reassure you of Allah’s justice. So, whoever’s money is usurped here shall find it there; whoever is oppressed here shall find justice carried out there; and whoever oppresses here shall find his punishment there.
*Immanuel Kant*, the German philosopher, said: _’The drama of this life is not complete; there must be a second scene to it, for we see the tyrant and his victims without seeing justice being executed. We see the conqueror and the subjugated, without the latter finding any revenge. Therefore, there must be another world, where justice will be carried out”_
*Ash-Shaykh ‘Ali at-Tantawi*, commenting on this, said:’ This statement suggests a confession from this foreigner (to Islam), of the existence of a Hereafter where judgment will take place.”
An Arab poet said: *_”If the minister and his delegates rule despotically, And the judge on earth is unjust in his judgments, then woe, followed by woe after woe Upon the judge of the earth from the judge Who is above.”
*“This Day shall every person be recompensed for what he earned. No injustice (shall be done to anybody)’. Truly, Allah is Swift in reckoning.” (Quran 40: 17)*
Therefore, Do not grieve — There is another life to come. In Sha Allah, There is another life to come!
