Sufism: The Spiritual Revolution in Islam

Author's name: Abu al-Ala Afifi

Since Sufism, in my view, is the most wonderful manifestation of the spirituality of Islam and a profound interpretation of this religion, satisfying the emotions and nourishing the heart, in contrast to the dry rational interpretations developed by theologians and philosophers, and the limited, formal interpretations developed by jurists, I wrote these pages to highlight some of the features of the image that summarizes the Sufi position on religion, God, and the world—a position that the Sufis accepted, were reassured by, and demanded of themselves, not of others. I called this position "The Spiritual Revolution in Islam" because Sufism was a revolution in Islamic concepts and situations as defined by the jurists, theologians, and philosophers. It breathed a new spirit into the teachings of Islam, whose significance was grasped by those who understood it, and misunderstood by those who misunderstood it. This is an attempt to understand Sufism and the life of the Sufis in Islam, as I have been able to glean from their statements. It also presents a general picture of how they differ from other groups of seekers of truth—as al-Ghazali calls them—in their understanding of this truth and their approach to attaining it. Some researchers may adopt a different interpretation of some Sufi statements than I have, or may offer explanations for them, commentaries on them, or derive a theory from them. I have stated that the door to independent reasoning in this type of research remains open.