Quran and Sufism
By Aftab Ahmad, New Age Islam
30 April, 2014
There are groups among
Muslims who are of the firm opinion that Sufism is not compatible with
Islam. They believe that Sufism is akin to monasticism as practiced by
the Christians. But the study of the various verses of the Quran leads
us to the conclusion that Sufism based on the basic principles of the
Quran is a part of Islam.
There are many
explanations to the origin of the word Sufi. But the most acceptable
origin seems to be the term “As’haab-e-Suffa” (People of Suffa). Suffa
in Arabic means a shaded place. Suffa was a shaded place in the
Masjid-e-Nabwi (The mosque of the Prophet in Medina) where homeless and
destitute people stayed and gave company to the holy Prophet round the
clock. They were poor and led a very ascetic life. They were 70 or 80
and their numbered increased and decreased with time. They led a content
and simple life.
With the passage of
time such a simple life became a way of Muslims who engaged in the
remembrance of God, worship and meditation throughout the day. They
discarded the worldly pleasures and luxuries of life. In the 8th century
this way of Islamic life assumed the status of a school with certain
rules and principles like meditation, remembrances of God, namaz and
scant eating. This way of life developed mainly in Kufa and got the name
of Sufism. The first person who was called a Sufi was a pious man
called Abu Hashim Kufi. People called him Sufi Abu Hashim Kufi. Another
person who was also called a Sufi was a Shia chemist Jabir bin Hayan.
Thus Sufism as a school of Islamic spiritualism originated and
flourished in Kufa. Later Sufis like Owais Qarnin, Hasan Basri and Abdul
Qadir Jilani emerged.
