04_Mystical Strategies.pmd


MYSTICAL STRATEGIES: SUFISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Arthur Saniotis

University of Adelaide, Australia

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Abstract

Like other traditional Islamic forms of religious and social expres-

sion, Sufism is becoming increasingly challenged by the forces of modern-

ism and by the Islamicist movements. Yet, because of its tolerant view of

other religious disciplines, there is great potential for Sufism to have a

positive impact on the social evolution of Muslim and non-Muslim societ-

ies in the 21st century. This paper will investigate how Sufism can come to

terms with this new social environment and its entourage of modernist and

Islamicist logics.  It involves an overview of Sufism’s past to give some

insight as to how it can respond to the 21st century.

Notwithstanding its apparent mystical and quietist import, the role

Prajna Vihara, Volume 12, Number 1, January-June, 2011, 45-50 45

2000 by Assumption University Pressc

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of Sufism may have an influential impact on the social evolution of Muslim

and non-Muslim societies in the 21st century.  Like other traditional Is-

lamic forms of religious and social expression, Sufism is becoming in-

creasingly impinged by the forces of modernism and Islamicist movements.

Although Sufism emerged from the political and social backdrop

of the Umayyad dynasty which had in part strayed from the principles of

nascent Islam, Sufism must now reformulate its position for the 21st cen-

tury.  Abdul Aziz Said views Sufism as a humanising response to the emer-

gence of modernist models and their ruthless debunking of traditional forms

of religion and value systems.  But how will Sufism come to terms with this

new social environment and its entourage of modernist and Islamicist log-

ics?  Perhaps, an overview of Sufism’s past may give some insight as to

how it will respond to the 21st century.

As Islam spread into North Africa, Asia and Europe during the

7th century it began to take on a cosmopolitan feel. Islamic scholars and

administrators began to incorporate various knowledges from civilisations

which they had encountered, inevitably leading to an efflorescence of sci-

entific learning and inquiry __ the age of Islamic science had been sparked.

Generally speaking, early Muslims saw their relationship with their non-

Muslim hosts as complementing their particular worldview.  The saying of

the Prophet Muhammad to “seek knowledge as far as China” prompted

this spirit of co-existence and conveyed the “genius of authentic Islam” to

coin Abdul Aziz Said.1  Thus, the formation of Muslim societies was in-

formed and contoured by their relationship with older civilisations.

The rationale of tolerance was further conveyed by various Sufi

orders (tariqa) which spread throughout the Islamic world from the ninth

century onwards.  One of the hallmarks of traditional Sufism was its ability

to adapt to the socio-cultural environments where it found itself in.   This

process of adaptation was often prompted by Sufism’s willingness to in-

corporate beliefs and practices from other cosmologies.  The Islamic

scholar Stoddart claims that early Sufi thinkers sometimes borrowed ideas

from Neo-Platonic and other spiritual traditions in order to broaden their

doctrinal positions.2

Arguably, the Indian Sufi orders provide the most outstanding

example of this syncretic attitude.  For example, the Chistiyyah order

became renowned for its broad range of humanitarian activities and prac-

46 Prajna Vihara
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tice of religious tolerance, which became an integral ideological bridge

between Islam and Hinduism.  There is little doubt that Sufi orders such as

the Chistiyyah adopted a more liberal understanding of Hinduism, and

emphasised communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims.  Khizer

even claims that:

The Sufis, unlike the ‘ulama’ did not keep themselves

aloof from Indian mainstream.  They adopted local idiom

and preached the message of love and universal brother-

hood.3

On this note, it seems that Sufi orders were often more aware of

the social conditions of the common people and tended to their spiritual

and physical needs than the Islamic clerics.

Evans-Pritchard’s classic study of the Sanusi order of Cyrenaica

(1954) not only aroused a generation of studies of North African Sufi

orders, but emphasised their social and political implications for North

African societies.  Evans-Prtichard pointed out that the austere nature of

Islam in North Africa was considered by many lay Muslims as too rigid.4

Consequently, Sufi orders tended to adopt more individualistic and

experientialist approaches which found their social expression in present

day saints’ cults.  A similar scenario is observed in many Muslim societies

today, reaffirming Ziauddin Sardar’s view that traditional Muslim commu-

nities are constantly reinventing and innovating tradition.5

Strategies For the Future

What can Sufi interpretations of Islam offer Muslim and non-Muslim

societies in the present day and beyond?  My guess is a great deal.  How-

ever, initially what needs to be done is to dispel the notion of Sufism as an

outdated and irrelevant form of “dervishism”.  The fact remains that in

many Muslim societies such as India, Pakistan, the Central Asian Repub-

lics, and North Africa, Sufism continues to play a significant role in shap-

ing and “sustaining communal identity”.6   In these societies a crucial source

for the maintenance of Islamic cultural knowledge and practice derives

Arthur Saniotis 47



from the belief in Sufi saints.  To believe in the collective of God’s saints

(auliya) and to perform pilgrimage at their shrines are personal forms of

piety, which confer spiritual merit to believers.  Not only are saints’ shrines

prominent features in the Islamic landscape, but clearly demonstrates the

religious sway of Sufism for millions of Muslims.

It is also important to note how saints’ shrines have for centuries

been centres for genuine inter-religious harmony.  When I was conducting

field-work during 1994-5 at the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, I

regularly witnessed Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs performing pilgrimage

there.  It was also common practice for Hindus to pray in the mosque

there and for Sufi teachers to have non-Muslim disciples.  One Sufi even

compared the saint’s shrine to an open bar where all people were wel-

come.  This kind of communal harmony was all the more astonishing in

light of the religious riots between Hindus and Muslims over the destruc-

tion of the Barbri mosque in Ayodha which had taken place a few years

before, as well as the flagrant discrimination of Muslims in Maharashtra

state and elsewhere in India.

What this kind of communal model indicates is not only the possi-

bility for Muslims to live peacefully with people from other religions, but

assists in the development of conflict resolution strategies in those Muslim

societies experiencing civil turmoil.  In one interview, Hussein Aidid, son

of the deceased Somali warlord, stated his intention to implement a sys-

tem of law in Somalia based on a Sufi model which is in accordance with

Somalia’s clan based social system.  Aidid’s remarks in large reflects the

“popularist and grass roots”7 backing of Sufism by many Muslims.  Given

its respect for “native traditions and customs” Sufism is strongly placed as

a relevant social model for Islamic liberalism in the 21st century.  As Abdul

Aziz Said says:

In the new international environment, viable conflict

resolution requires an understanding of the beliefs, val-

ues, and behaviour of conflicting parties.8

In this vein, Sufism has provided and continues to offer a viable

political and social rebuff of authoritarian regimes.  Afghanistan is a case in

point.  During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Sufi orders played a

48 Prajna Vihara
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significant role of resistance, “offering solidarity and stability” to Afghans

without consideration to their ethnic backgrounds.9  Although the Sufi

orders went underground during the ensuing civil wars, Sufi followers had

pervaded every section of Afghan society.  Sufi followers are also in-

cluded in the present interim government.10  The Sufi orders in the Central

Asian Republics were also highly effective in fostering armed and ideo-

logical resistance against Tsarist and Soviet expansion.11

In the current climate of Islamicist resurgence Sufi inspired para-

digms of inter-ethnic tolerance and liberal humanism (an Islamic develop-

ment) are still a potent social force.  Given the profound influence of Sufism

on Muslim polity12 it is unreasonable to suggest that Sufism is a spent

force in the 21st century.  It is because Sufism draws much of its social and

moral power from the grassroots level that makes it a positive model for

social change.

Ironically, it is the emerging global system’s symbiotic paradigm

which corresponds with Sufism’s integral approach to social relations.

Here perhaps, Sufism may offer a crucial ideological nexus between Islam

and the West in the 21st century and beyond.

Endnotes

1Said, A. A. 2001. “Islam and the West: Toward Common Ground”, in

Global Education Association.
2Stoddart, W. 1994. Sufism: The Mystical Doctrines and Methods of Islam,

New Delhi: Taj Company. p. 43.
3Khizer, M. M. 1991. “Sufism and Social Integration”, Sufism and Carnival

Harmony, A. A. Engineer. (ed.) Jaipur, India: Printwell. P. 109.
4Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1954. The Sanusi of Cyrenaica, Oxford: Clarendon

Press. p. 1-3.
5Sardar, Z. 2002. “Islam and the West in a Transmodern World”, in Islam

Online. June 5th. p. 2.
6Tyson, D. 1997. “Shrine and Pilgrimage in Turkmenistan as a Means to

understand Islam Among the Turkmen”, in Central Asian Monitor - On-Line Supple-

ment. No.1. p. 1.
7Ferguson, R. J. 1996. “Meeting on the Road: Cosmopolitan Islamic Cul-

ture and the Politics of Sufism”, in The Centre for East-West Cultural and Eco-

nomic Studies, Research Paper no. 4, December. Bond University. School of Hu-

manities and Social Sciences.

Arthur Saniotis 49



8Said, A. A. 1994. “A Sufi Response”, in Religion and World Order Sym-

posium. p. 4.
9Alexe, D. “Afghanistan: Sufi Brotherhoods Reemerge After the Fall of the

Taliban, in Radio Free Europe. February 1st, 2002. p. 1.
10Alexe, D.” “Afghanistan: Sufi Brotherhoods Reemerge After the Fall of

the Taliban”, in Radio Free Europe. February 1st, 2002. p. 3.
11Ferguson, R. J. 1996. “Meeting on the Road: Cosmopolitan Islamic Cul-

ture and the Politics of Sufism”, in The Centre for East-West Cultural and Eco-

nomic Studies, Research Paper no. 4, December. Bond University. School of Hu-

manities and Social Sciences.
12Ferguson, R. J. 1996. “Meeting on the Road: Cosmopolitan Islamic Cul-

ture and the Politics of Sufism”, in The Centre for East-West Cultural and Eco-

nomic Studies, Research Paper no. 4, December. Bond University. School of Hu-

manities and Social Sciences.

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