The Sufi Orders in Islam

Front Cover
Oxford University Press, Jul 16, 1998 - Religion - 360 pages
Sufism, the name given to Islamic mysticism, has been the subject of many studies, but the orders through which the organizational aspect of the Sufi spirit was expressed has been neglected. The Sufi Orders in Islam is one of the earliest modern examinations of the historical development of Sufism and is considered a classic work in numerous sources of Islamic studies today. Here, author J. Spencer Trimingham offers a clear and detailed account of the formation and development of the Sufi schools and orders (tariqahs) from the second century of Islam until modern times. Trimingham focuses on the practical disciplines behind the mystical aspects of Sufism which initially attracted a Western audience. He shows how Sufism developed and changed, traces its relationship to the unfolding and spread of mystical ideas, and describes in sharp detail its rituals and ceremonial practices. Finally, he assesses the influence of these Sufi orders upon Islamic society in general. John O. Voll has added a new introduction to this classic text and provides readers with an updated list of further reading. The Sufi Orders in Islam will appeal not only to those already familiar with Triminghams groundbreaking research, but also to the growing reading public of Islamic studies and mysticism.

From inside the book

Selected pages

Contents

The Formation of Schools of Mysticism
1
The Chief Tariqa Lines
31
The Formation of Taifas
67
NineteenthCentury Revival Movements
105
The Mysticism and Theosophy of the Orders
133
The Organization of the Orders
166
Ritual and Ceremonial
194
Role of the Orders in the Life of Islamic Society
218
The Orders in the Contemporary Islamic World
245
A Relating to Early Silsilas
261
Suhrawardi Silsilas after
270
E Independent Orders of the Badawiyya and Burhāniyya
274
H Rifāī Taifas in the Arab World
280
INDEXES
300
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 181 - The first year is devoted to service of the people, the second year to service of God, and the third year to watching over his own heart.
Page 195 - The dancing is a reference to the circling of the spirit round the cycle of existing things on account of receiving the effects of the unveilings and revelations ; and this is the state of the gnostic.
Page xv - Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), p. 37. 32. Hamza, Rihlati, p. 25. 33. Russell Jones, "Ibrahim b. Adham," Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.
Page 71 - Any chosen soul who in the mortification of the deceitful spirit and in the worship of God, introduced some new motive of conduct and whose spiritual sons in succession continued to keep alight the lamp of doctrine, was acknowledged as the founder of a new line.
Page x - Sufism was emphasized and some of its technique of dhikr or muraqaba, 'spiritual concentration', adopted. But the object and the content of this concentration were identified with the orthodox doctrine and the goal re-defined as the strengthening of faith in dogmatic tenets and the moral purity of the spirit. This type of neoSufism, as one may call it, tended to regenerate orthodox activism and reinculcate a positive attitude to this world.
Page 39 - Ahmad sitting on the prayer-carpet of his ancestor above-mentioned, then they began the musical recital. They had prepared loads of firewood which they kindled into a flame, and went into the midst of it dancing; some of them rolled in the fire, and others ate it in their mouths, until finally they extinguished 2Shaikh Ahmad b.
Page 196 - Lordship (rububiyya) at which there is absolute quiescence. Then they get up from the place of audition and go to their dwellings and sit watching for the revelation of what appeared to them in the state of their absorption in ecstasy. After audition some of them dispense with food for days on account of the nourishment of their spirits and hearts with unseen mystical experiences...

About the author (1998)

J. Spencer Trimingham was Professor at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon. John O. Voll is Professor of History at Georgetown University.

Bibliographic information