"A critical comprehensive overview of a book named "The way of the sufi by IDRIES SHAH"
Sidratul Muntaha Jatoi
The way of the Sufi is penned by Idries Shah. It constitutes on nine
parts. I would critically analysis each of chapter separately, so we can have, not
only clear understanding of thoughts that has been expressed in each of chapter
but in this way we would be able to cast
our critique on each of chapter in a quite lucid way. But before, writing my
thoughts and critique on the thoughts of Sufi tradition I would like to offer
you a brief snapshot of a author. Idries Shah was born in a British Indian, on
6 June 1924 and brought in a England, his father was Afgan and his mother was
Scottish. He died on,23 of November, in 1996.He was a author, thinker, and
teacher in the Sufi tradition. Shah penned dozen of books on different topics
such as, on psychology, spirituality, travelogues and culture studies.
Part I: The Study of Sufism in the West
In this part Shah discussed the difficulty
that one can face while reading Sufism. He argued that when a new student
starts to read Sufism "One of the first things that he could discover is that
the very word.
‘Sufism’ is a
new one, a German coinage of 1821."®1. But this is not the truth we found
roots of Sufism in western societies and have a very established Schools of Sufism
such as the Qaidris, the chishti, The Suhrawardi and the Naqshbandi school of
thought. Furthermore, he discussed the origin of word Sufi and included
different descriptions about word Sufi by agreed upon most famous and accepted
one. which has been accepted by most of
scholars. He says, "according to some authors, and they are in the
majority, Sufi is traceable to the Arabic word, pronounced soofi which
literally means ‘wool’, referring to the material from which the simple robes
of the
early Muslim mystics were made."®2. In
this part author lamented that we don't have any authentic source to read
Sufism therefore, students face thousand of confusions while going through the
subject. Therefore, he suggested readings by naming the authors such As
Nicolson and in addition he can be sensed of complaining from western thinkers
that they have always paid a lip service to the subject. In his own words, "The
redoubtable English philosopher Bertrand Russell, too, is found to have written
a huge book, Wisdom of the West, in which Western thinkers whose connection
with Sufi thought is clear are named, but where no mention of Sufis or Sufism
may be found"®3.Further more, he has aslo discussed different opinions
about Sufism by not taking any of side, views such as sufism as reaction
against Islam, some says historically it develops from the Islam and few says
no its totally associated with Christianity.
In
this very first part author tried to generalized the concept of Sufism. He
wrote, on page number twenty-two that" Sufi literature contains material
which is ahead of its time. "And further more he tried to overvalued the
sufism by saying that psychological conditions that has been experienced and
talked by Sufi saints such as by, Afghan Jalaludin Rumi (died 1273), Hakim
Sanai of Khorasan ,(fourteenth century), El-Ghazali of Persia, and Ibn el-Arabi
of Spain (died 1240),has later been verified by,"‘Freudian’ and ‘Jungian’.
Here
he had forgot to recall that concept of Sigmund Freud ,which is popularly known
as Freudian, and method of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung were purely psychological.
And whatever we found in the teachings of these Sufi saints is purely poetical
and spiritual therefore, mixing spirituality with psychology is totally unjustice
and unfair approach to justify sufism and depicting its relevancy in 21st
century. However he did not end here, further in a quest to justify or using
sufism which is totally spiritual discipline ,as a substitute of psychology and
science, he writes "Sufi claims that ‘man rose from the sea’, and that he
is in a state of evolution, covering an enormous period of time, appeared to be
fanciful nonsense until the nineteenth-century Darwinists seized upon this
material with delight."®4. For me and many of students of 'philosophy of
science' and its sub-branch 'philosophy of biology', this thought is hilarious.
Everybody knows that Darwin's concept of evolution was a scientific one and
there is no match between Sufi's poetical phrases with the Darwin's theory of
evolution. Therefore, we can sense this effort is nothing but to snatch the
credit of, one's scientific labour for the sake of filling belly of the silly
argument.
In
addition, the author tried to protect sufism from the attack of rationalism by
saying that the experience of sufi saints is totally impossible to share. On
page number twenty six he writes,""The Sufis state that there is a
form of knowledge which can be attained by man, which is of such an order that
it is to scholastic learning as adulthood is to infancy. Compare,for
instance,El-Ghazali: ‘A child has no real knowledge of the attainments of an
adult. An ordinary adult cannot understand the attainments of a learned man. In
the same way a learned man cannot understand the experiences of enlightened
saints or Sufis."
Now if you examine these words critically it is obviously nothing
but a defence mechanism to save sufi thoughts from constructive criticism. Therefore,
this first part is quite basic & introductory one. And no doubt he has
eloquently showcased the basics of sufism in this part.
Part II; Classical
Authors
In part two author has penned biography & teachings of eight
sufi thinkers namely,El-Ghazali,Omar Khayyam,Attar of Nishapur, Ibn
El-Arabi,Saadi of Shiraz,Hakim Jami, Hakim Sanai,& Jalaludin Rumi.
El-Ghazali
El-Ghazali,as
we know, he was a twelfth century sufi thinker.His books were burnt by
Mediterranean extremists & bigots
from Spain to Syria.®5,
In
this part author complaints that scientific and psychological discoveries of El
Ghazali are yet not acknowledged because of his sufi outlook. Author
writes"‘Mysticism’ having been given a bad name like the dog in the proverb, if it cannot be hanged, can at least
be ignored. This is a measure of
scholastic psychology: accept the man's discoveries if you cannot deny them,
but ignore his method if it does not follow your beliefs about method."®6
But my concern here is, what kind of scientific discoveries he had
made? His teachings may be carried for the ethical purpose but naming them as a
scientific discoveries and blaming that they are not recognizing by scientific
western societies is totally absurd thought. There is no doubt in it that these
sufi saints have challenged the religious extremism and therefore were
victimized by them. But exaggerating their contributions which they have made
for humanity is nothing but bullshit.
Omar Khayyam
As I have said earlier that
teachings of sufis can be regarded as ethical but titling them as a scientific
or philosophical discoveries is hilarious idea. In my view they can be taught
in the Ethics as a well wisher of society. we can add their teachings in the
Ethics, but we can't consider them as a final by not apply criticism upon them.
Now have a look on the following poetic verses of Omar khayyam;
"I drink
wine, and opponents from right and left say:
‘Drink no drink
for it is against faith.’
Since I know
that wine is against faith,
By God let me
drink, the blood of the enemy is lawful to me"®7
In addition in
this part author has limited himself only to the teachings of Omar Khayyam.
I AM
"Every clique has a theory about me.
I am mine; what I am, I
am.®8
Khayyam
Attar of
Nishapur
Attar of Nishapur has wrote hundred and fourteen books. Author of
this book in this part has presented
some of Attar's teachings.
THE MOON
The Moon was asked:
‘What is your strongest desire?’
It
answered:
‘That the Sun should vanish, and should
remain veiled for ever in clouds.’®9
I am of view that their
poetical teachings must be decoded because we have enormous pearls of ethical
teachings in it.
Ibn El-Arabi
Mohiudin ibn
el-Arabi is one of the great Sufi thinkers.He has been titled as Sheikh
el-Akbar,means ‘the Greatest Sheikh’in Arabs.
Shah in this part followed the same pattern he has given his little biographic introduction and presented some of his teachings.
A HIGHER LOVE
"The ordinary lover
adores a secondary phenomenon.
I love the Real.
"®10
Saadi of Shiraz
Saadi
of Shiraz was the thirteenth century classical Sufi author.In this part there
is brief introduction and teachings of Saadi.
THE AlCHEMIST AND THE FOOL
"The alchemist dies in pain and frustration,
while
the fool finds
treasure
in a ruin."®11
Hakim Jami
(1414-92)
In this part there is some commentary of jami's writings and than
author quotes his teachings.
INTELLECT
"Stop boasting o f intellect and learning; for here intellect
is hampering,
and learning is stupidity."®12
Hakim Sami
Sanai is of eleventh and twelfth centuries Sufi thinker.The writer
has penned his brief introduction and teachings in this part.
LEVELS OF TRUTH
"What
appears to be truth is a wordly distortion of objective truth."®13
Jalaludin Rumi
Lastly
in this chepter he talks about teachings of Jalaludin Rumi and penned his
teachings. Those who know,cannot tell
"Whenever the Secrets of Perception are
taught to anyone ,
His lips are sewn against
speaking o f the Consciousness."®14.
Part;III Four Major Orders.
In this chepter or part
author discussed about origin and teachings of four major Sufi orders namely, The
Chishti Order,The Qadiri Order,The Suhrawardi Order,The Naqshbandi Order.In
this part author described the teachings of each order and ita evolution in a
quiet lucid manner.But as we have discussed the personal inclination of author
towards the subject, averted him from casting his criticism on the Sufi orders.
Part IV: AMONG
THE MASTERS
In
this part he has explained meaning of" Khidr".As
he(author)writes,"Khidr is the ‘unseen guide’ of the Sufis,and it is he
who is believed to be the
anonymous
Guide to Moses in the Koran."®15
In addition,he has also included quotes of
several Sufis on life,death,sin,evil,fortune, knowledge,money and generosity.
SIN
"Sin against God is one thing; but sinning against man is
worse."®16
Sufian
Thauri
Part V: TEACHING-STORIES
Part
five is mostly comprises on the teaching stories of different Sufi thinkers
about man, magic, cradle and there are several stories that has been
incorporated in this chapter so one can have a clear understanding of the
teachings of Sufi thinkers.
On the concluding note, author has eloquently described the origin
and evolution of Sufi thoughts and provided little biographic notes of Sufi
thinkers. Along with this you one can reach by the reference of this book to
the many Sufi texts. But my criticism on this book is nothing but the dogmatic
way to look at the subject. Therefore,one can't found criticism in the entire
text on Sufi thoughts.For me this approach has dimed beauty of the text. So
obviously element of criticism is missing otherwise this text could be an
amazing reference book on Sufism.
Reference:
- ®1,The way of Sufi page 13.
- ®2,Same Book,page 14.
- ®3 same book ,page,19.
- ®4,same book,page 22.
- ®5 same book page 51.
- ®6 same book page 52.
- ®7 same book page 59.
- ®8 same book page,61.
- ®9,same book page 65.
- ®10 same book page 79.
- ®11 same book page 83.
- ®12 same book page 97.
- ®13,same book page 100.
- ®14,same book page 105.
- ®15,same book page 161.
- ®16,same book page,163.