The Safavid Sufi Order

A thirteen century Orthodox Sunni Sufi Order. Named after Sheikh Safi ud-Din (he was the ancestor of the Safavid Kings, Shah Ismail, Shah Abbas).

The order was based in the Iranian city of Ardabil. The Sufi order had a large following among the Turkoman (Qizilbash) who were the military wing of the Sufi order.

The Sufi Shaykhs fabricated their genealogy to descent from Ali and Fatima (Prophet daughter).

Shah Ismail, crowned himself as the Persian King of the Safavid Empire at 14 years of age. Although he was/used to be a follower of the extremist Qizilbash sect, he made a tactical decision to establish Shia Imamiyah as the state religion.

Reference

Alevi vs Alawite

They are not the same.

Alevi is a Turkish Sufi order/sect. The name Alevi is Turkish for the Arabic word Alawi. It should not be confused with the Alawite of Syria. The Alawite of Syria is also known as the Nusayris.

Due to some similarity in the name (Alevi vs Alawi), most people think they are the same but in fact they are not.

Here's a mistake a journalist made in his report.

As Syria’s civil war degenerates into a bloody sectarian showdown between the government’s Alawite-dominated troops and the Sunni Muslim majority, tensions are increasing across the border between Turkey’s Alawite minority and the Sunni Muslim majority here.

Many Turkish Alawites, estimated at 15 million to 20 million strong and one of the biggest minorities in this country, seem to be solidly behind Syria’s embattled strongman, Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey’s government, and many Sunnis, supports the Syrian rebels [1] (The New York Times).

As you can see, the author used Alawite in Syria interchangeably with the Alevi in Turkey. That is incorrect. They are not the same.

Reference
[1] Article name: As Syria War Roils, Unrest Among Sects Hits Turkey
Author: JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published date: August 4, 2012
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/world/middleeast/turkish-alawites-fear-spillover-of-violence-from-syria.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Chapter Seven - Sufism and the Dervish Orders

Chapter five and six are not that interesting. Chapter seven is about Sufism and the Dervish orders.

According to the book 'The Sufis are a secret society of Persian Mystic Philosophers and Ascetics, whose original religion may have been that of the Chaldeans or Sabeans, who believed in the unity of God and the adoration of heavens/planets.

This is a direct quote from the book

The Sufees, says Sir John Malcolm, represent themselves as devoted to the search after truth, and incessantly occupied in adoring the Almighty, a union with whom they desire with all fervour of divine love. The Creator, according to their belief, is diffused over all creation. He exists everywhere, and in everything. They compare the emanations of his essence or spirit to the rays of the sun, which they conceive are continually darted forth and reabsorbed. It is for this reabsorption into the divine essence, to which their immortal part belongs, that they continually sigh. They believe that the soul of man, and the principle of life which exists through Nature, are not from GOD, but of GOD.

The rest of the chapter is full with Sufi empty meaningless crazy talk.

Ibn Arabi - part 4

This is part 4 on the Ibn Arabi series. You may read the other parts here #1, #2 and #3

Recently, while reading the book [1], I came across the following paragraphs (I am reproducing the passage in its entirety)

At this point, we bring forth the following simple example and leave the detailed examples and illustrations for another time.
There are a series of verses (19-22) in Surah al-Rahman (55) which read:

“He has made the two seas to flow freely (so that) they meet together. Between them is a barrier that they cannot pass. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? There comes forth from them pearls, and coral.”

In the next few paragraphs, the author of the book discussed the meaning of the above Quranic verse. Then the author quoted a passage from Ibn Arabi's work. He started by saying

However, when Muhyad Din al- ̃Arab| (d. 1240 AD), who was absorbed in the teachings of mysticism (Irfan) and philosophy, went forth to comment on these verses, he did so with a mind so engrossed in philosophy and mysticism that he wrote:

“The meaning of the ‘bitter body of water’ are the corporeal and physical issues (related to the human being) whereas the meaning of the ‘sweet and pleasant body of water’ is the human spirit; both of these meet in the existence of the human being, and the barrier and separator between them is the ‘animal soul’, which although does not reach to the level of the human spirit in terms of purity and refinement, is higher and better than the physical body in terms of darkness and murkiness. At the same time neither of the two dimensions transcend their boundary: neither does the spirit bestow immateriality to the body, nor does the body make the spirit descend and place it among the material entities.” [text in the footnote: Tafsir of Ibne ̃Arabi, vol. 2 pg. 280. This is just one example of exegesis of the Qur`an according to one’s own personal opinion and the book of Tafsir of Ibne ̃Arabi, just as his work Fususul Hikm is full of such examples of Tafsir of the Qur`an according to his own personal whims and opinions which is both – from the viewpoint of the intellect and also the Islamic jurisprudence – not permissible.]

This is the final part of my reading on Ibn Arabi. Here is another interesting source for further reading.


Reference
[1] Subhani, A. Jafar (2006). Introduction to the Science of Tafseer of the Qur'an. United Kingdom: World Federation of KSIMC. ISBN 978-1-8984-4977-5.

Ibn Arabi --part 3

This is part 3 of the Ibn Arabi series. You may see post #1 and post #2.

In the last post, we looked into Henry Corbin's book Alone with Alone. I'm seeing mostly positive reviews from people who find the in-depth depiction of the character exciting. The negative reviews are from reviewers who think Ibn Arabi has a serious ego problem and is prone to self glorification. Another reviewer who believe Sufism is nothing more than a philosophy based on hallucination, either self-induced or drug induced, warned us to stay away from the book. This random person on Internet also claim to know that Ibn Arabi is really a secret Shia operating under the garb of Sufism to draw away the crowd from Sunnism. He also claim that the Sunni scholars have written many books against Ibn Arabi evil teaching.

Ibn Arabi is not a secret Shia. He is a Sufi. Not just an average Sufi but one of the Sufi grand masters. Some people mistakenly think Sufism is Shi'ism in disguise. Paying lip service to the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt doesn't make one a Shia. You need to practice what you preach.

Moving on.

One of my readers found an interesting document refuting Sufism and Ibn Arabi. You can find the English translation of the book Twelver Treatise in Refutation against Sufism online at the Tashayyu website. The book is written by Shaykh al-Hurr al-Amuli.

I am briefly summarising his work here.

Shaykh al-Amuli mention the purpose of his treaty in the introduction. After seeing many of his fellow Shias adopting the routes of their enemies (he is referring to the path of Sufism), he was compelled to write this book. He equate Sufis as those and I quote him; "whose demonstration of piety and cladding themselves with asceticism in the world in excess of the teaching of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt".

The following are 12 abominable things found by the author after reading Ibn Arabi's book

- Ibn Arabi claimed to have ascended the heaven himself
- Ibn Arabi claimed to have seen Abu Bakr sitting on Arash (The Throne of Allah swt)
- Ibn Arabi claimed to have been authorised by the Holy Prophet to write and dictate thoughts
- Ibn Arabi proclaimed himself as the seal of wilayah based on his dream
- Ibn Arabi was prone to lying and fabrications
- Ibn Arabi considered the Shias to have be deceived by the Shaytan to hate and insult the companions
- Ibn Arabi considered the Shias to have been lead astray
- Ibn Arabi saw those who converted to Shiasm in the form of pig. He claimed that Allah is able to make him see rafidi (Shia) in the pig form.
- Ibn Arabi claimed that after a prolong period of asceticism, he saw himself being selected as the seal of prophet-hood
- Ibn Arabi exaggerated in the matter of caliphate
- The author claimed that Ibn Arabi's path and books are completely outside the path
- The author said that the Sufis have the tendency to follow their masters by emulating them

to be continued..

Reference
The Tashayyu website

Ibn Arabi -- part 2

This is the second instalment of three part series on Ibn Arabi. To be honest, I don't have that much interest in him as a person or to any of his ideas. Like I said before, Ibn Arabi is a controversial personality and has interesting links to the Zahiri school of thought and Sufism. I haven't written much about Zahiris and almost nothing about Sufism. So why not write about a person whom depending on who you ask, is either thought of very highly as a spiritual master or as a charlatan, who deserve to be condemned.

In part 1 of this topic, the origin and religious background of Ibn Arabi was presented. We also saw a character review done by Ignaz Goldziher, the Hungarian Orientalist.

Ibn Arabi is not an obscure personality. We have a lot of information about him from his writing and from his students. He has written/transcribed between 100-200 books (we don't know the exact number of books, numbers higher than 200 are also sometimes quoted), many which survived until today. Among his famous works are Fusus al-Hikma and Al-Futuhat al-Makkiya.

The following Sufi doctrines/ideas are attributed to ibn Arabi
Unity of Being (Wahdat al-Wujud)
Perfect Man (al-Insan al-Kamil)

Henry Corbin had written extensively on Ibn Arabi. His book, Alone with the Alone, is described as and I quote; bringing a penetrating analysis of Ibn 'Arabi's life and doctrines. I did not read every single pages in this book but just enough to satisfy my curiosity. Perhaps a lot of people have benefited from Ibn Arabi's teaching but I personally find a lot of his ideas imaginary and unbelievable.

After reading some part of Henry Corbin's book, I learned a whole lot about Ibn Arabi spiritual journey; scholarship, his teachers and his insight into Allah swt and Islamic teaching.

Yesterday, we came across Ibn Arabi's dream where he saw Ibn Hazm being flanked by the Prophet of Islam. In Henry Corbin's book, you are again presented with a narration from another dream he had, where he (Ibn Arabi) saw himself being given a valuable treasure by another Prophet (either the staff by Moses or something by Jesus). His interpretation of this dream strike me as someone who is suffering from delusion of grandeur.

to be continued.....

Reference
Henry Corbin (1998). Alone with the Alone. Princeton University Press 978-0691058344

Ibn Arabi -- part 1

Based on my reading, Ibn Arabi is perhaps one of the most influential Sufi Thinkers, if not the most controversial.

He was born in Spain, under the Muslim rule, in the late 11 century. His religious education seems to be conservative; studying the Quran, hadith, grammar and fiqh. In his youth, he traveled seeking spiritual insights from a number of Sufi masters.[1]

The author of the Zahiris, Ignaz Goldziher, had written the following [2]

Among the Muslim theologians who joined the fiqh of the Zahirite school, which during the rule of the Almohades had achieved official recognition, the famous mystic Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi is also mentioned. Ibn Arabi was a Zahiri with respect to the ritual part of religion, but a Batini with respect to the article of faith (footnote is pointing to the book al-Maqqari, I, p. 567; Waraqat., p. 569).

Ignaz quoted a passage from ibn Arabi's book (futuhat) about the Mahdi. He added that Ibn Arabi went to great length to emphasize the Mahdi as someone who will frown the qiyas and ra'y, pretty much a follower of his sect, a Zahari.

Now, things are starting to get a little bit interesting. According to Ignaz, in one of Ibn Arabi's dreams, he (Ibn Arabi) saw the Holy Prophet (pbuh) embracing/hugging Ibn Hazam, the founder of Zahirite school. Ignaz concluded by saying

Thus the ardent champion of the Zahirite school (Ibn Hazm), branded and frowned upon by his contemporaries, was clothed with the halo of legend by the greatest mystic of a later era (Ibn Arabi) who himself was a Zahirite. All these incidents sufficiently illuminate the fact that the great theosopher (Ibn Arabi) followed the Zahirite in matters of jurisprudence. In this connection it is not surprising to learn that Ibn Arabi transmits with direct isnad statements which support this doctrine and in which ra'y, even from Abu Hanifah, is condemned.

Please continue reading part 2

Reference
[1] Campo, Juan E. (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam (Encyclopedia of World Religions). USA: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-81-605454-1
[2] Ignaz Goldziher (2008). The Zahiris: Their Doctrine and their History. Brill. USA

Shaykhi Sect - Mostly Users contribution

I'm reading the Shaykhi sect. This will be an informal reading based on users contribution.

It is a common knowledge that the sect is a hybrid, based on teaching of Shi'ism and Sufi'sm. According to a SC user, the follower of Shaykh Ahsai completely rejects Sufism.

Especially when it comes to the idea of man becooming one with god, and the concept of wahdat- wajood. They also reject the sufi practice of blindly following a morshed.

The user also added that one of the followers of the Shaykh Ahsai started the Bahai religion.

A student or follower of Shaykh Al-Ahsai deviates and claims to be the gate to Imam Zaman (ajtf) or the Imam himself (naoothobellah) does not mean that the sheikh himself endorsed it. On the contrary, he would be totally against bab and the bahais and the shaykh's true followers consider bahais outside of Islam. Some have even written books to answer and refute the ridiculous claims of Mirza Ali Mohammad(??) the founder of Bahai cult.

(Note: Don't really know much about the Bahai).

To be continued...

What is the origin of the ritual of Ashura? (part 10)

Some elements from the Qizilbash group was discussed (footnote is pointing to this book)

The Qizilbash observed ecstatic rituals of dhikr and maintained a spirit and an organizational form similar to that of a fraternity. While Shi'i elements were predominant, Christian elements also played an important role in the Qizilbash doctrine. This was probably the result of the conversion of Armenians to Shi'i Islam by the Safavid shaykhs, as well as the presence of other Christian sects in eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus where the Qizilbash had originated.

Author quoted another lengthy narration of the Muharram rituals among the poorest segments of the Azerbaijan population (footnote is to the work by Ivar Lassy)

During Muharram they would gather in special halls, takkas (derived from takiya, a monastery of a sufi order). Using chain-scourges, and chanting scourge-elegies that emphasized the shedding of Husayn's blood, they scourged themselves rhythmically at a pace and vigor that accelerated like a dhikr. The self-scourging would cease only after the participants had collapsed.

The procession of the tenth of Muharram included another, more violent, form of flagellation. A group of self-mutilators dressed in white robes would stroke their clean-shaven heads with swords and daggers. The gashing of the heads took place amidst loud exclamations and the stimulating shouts of their leader. The extreme excitement of the self-mutilators was assisted by drummers and cymbalists who ran up and down between the rows of the self-mutilators, creating a deafening din with their instruments.

Please continue reading part 11.

What is the origin of the ritual of Ashura? (part 9)

There is a footnote from Werner Ende ("The Flagellations of Muharram and the Shi'ite 'Ulama") citing the work of Muhammad Mahdi al-Qazwin which was published in 1927

the use of iron (in tatbir) was initiated "about a century ago" by people not well versed in the rules of the Shari'a

The author also quoted two work about the beginning of tatbir in Iraq (one in 1913 another is 1978)

It is related that the practice was imported to these cities by Shi'i Turks, who came to Karbala and Najaf on pilgrimage from the Caucasus or Azerbaijan

The author also believe that this practice is connected to the Ghulats and also the Sufis

It seems that the flagellations were introduced into Imami Shi'ism by extremist Shi'i groups, probably by the Qizilbash, whose doctrine and rituals were regarded by Imami Shi'i orthodoxy as exaggerated in reverence for the imams.

The Armenian highlands, and the Caucasus were converted by Safavid sufi shaykhs to whom the converts owed obedience in their capacity as their supreme spiritual leaders. The shaykhs made Ardabil in northern Iran a center designed to maintain the contacts between them and their new disciples (murids). With the establishment of the Safavid dynasty, the murids were given the nickname Qizilbash (redhead).

Please continue reading part 10

Islamic Sects (madhabs) and branches

Check this out