Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Awakening: A 

Sufi Experience (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 

1999); ———, The Message in Our Time: The Life and 

Teaching of the Sufi Master, Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan (San 

Francisco: Harper and Row, 1978); ———, Toward the 

One (1974. Reprint, New York: Harper and Row, 1995).

Sufism

The mystical traditions of Islam are known by the 

general term Sufism. This term, which was first 

coined at the end of the 19th century by British 

scholars in India, refers to the Islam of inward 

vision and individual religious experience, but 

it also encompasses an assortment of outwardly 

oriented doctrines, practices, social organizations, 

and literary works that spans many centuries, 

regions, and cultures.

The Arabic term on which the word Sufism is 

based is tasawwuf, and the individual who follows 

this brand of Islam is called a Sufi. Both terms 

have been derived from the Arabic word for wool 

(suf), unrefined material from which the gar-

ments worn by ascetics in the Middle East were 

made. Sufis, however, proposed other etymologies 

for the term, including the word safa “to be or 

become pure” and suffa, in reference to the bench 

on which poor, pious members of Muhammad’s 

community in Medina were accustomed to sit 

when they gathered in his mosque. Sufis referred 

to themselves in other terms as well, such as abid

(slave, devotee), zahid (ascetic), 

dervish

 or faqir

(impoverished ascetic); arif (knower of spiritual 

truth), salik (spiritual traveler), and ashiq (lover). 

They also made differentiations between spiritual 

masters, called shaykhs, pirs, or murshids (guides), 

and their disciples, known as murids (seekers). A 

Sufi saint was known as a 

wali

 or friend of God.

Although European scholars once claimed that 

Sufism had been mostly borrowed from Eastern 

Christian mysticism or Buddhism, the Sufis them-

selves considered Muhammad as their forerunner 

and the exemplar for spiritual and moral excel-

lence. They also looked to the most pious members 

of the early Muslim community. Such men were 

known not only for piety, but also for their ability 

to achieve closeness to God through renunciation 

of worldly attachments. Historically, Sufism began 

with individual ascetics living in Iraq and Iran 

during the eighth and ninth centuries. During the 

10th and 11th centuries, Sufi adepts began to orga-

nize into groups of masters and their disciples that 

developed into mystical orders known as tariqas

or “paths,” each with its own distinct doctrines, 

practices, and spiritual genealogy (silsila), which 

all members had to study and memorize. Sufis met 

in mosques, homes, and madrasas, but their chief 

centers were hospices and retreat centers known as 

khanqahs, ribats, tekkes, and zawiyas. These usually 

contained tombs of former shaykhs and members 

of the order, and often became popular shrines that 

would attract devotees from near and far seeking 

blessings (

baraka

) from the saint. Conservative 

ulama would intermittently attack Sufis for such 

practices, considering saint veneration in particular 

to be a form of 

idolatry

 (shirk) or at best a corrupt 

innovation (

bidaa

). They also condemned the Sufi 

dhikr

, an ecstatic form of ritual chanting and rhyth-

mic movement that Sufis practiced during their 

assemblies, as well as the samaa, a musical form of 

dhikr, such as that performed by members of the 

m

evlevi

  s

UFi

  o

rder

, also known as the Whirling 

Dervishes. Sufis for their part criticized jurists for