Religious Studies

What is Esoteric Sufism?

Judaism has the Kabbalah. Islam has Sufism.

You must understand that esoteric functions as an adjective. 'Esoteric' means relating to knowledge that is restricted to a small group, or limited to a small circle. So then what is sufism. Sufism is the mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. It consists of a variety of mystical paths that are designed to ascertain the nature of man and God and to facilitate the experience of the presence of divine love and wisdom in the world. (Historically, the Muslim genius has perceived Islam in yet another way, the way of tasawwuf or Sufism. Unlike the sharia, however, Sufism is neither coterminous with Islam nor is there universal consensus about its indispensability to the Islamic enterprise.) So how do the two come together?

Sufism is an esoteric (internal) doctrine transmitted by word of mouth, and sometimes without even a spoken or written word, by an authorized teacher to a disciple, and from disciple to another disciple, in confidence. These secret instructions are acted upon by a disciple with perfect faith in the teacher. The disciple gives a report of his condition and experience in confidence to his teacher and receives another set of instructions most suitable to his state.

It is only the writings of the Sufi teachers, who speak from within the tradition, that allow an outsider a glimpse of the inner beauty of Sufism. One of the greatest scholars of all times was al-Ghazzali. He lived in the later eleventh and early twelfth centuries. He wrote his famous work The Revival of the Sciences of Religion in Arabic, with an abridged form The Alchemy of Happiness in Persian. These works were followed by the other writings and poetry by such Sufi teachers as Abdul-Karim al-Jili, Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi, the famous Chishti saints, Hafiz, Sadi, Rumi and so many other Sufi poets.

At the same time there was an immense upsurge of open Sufi activity under the auspices of different Sufi orders in all parts of the Islamic world. Each Sufi order constituted a focal point of activity, from which Sufi teachings were carried to the mass of the population by the representatives of the head of the order. The Sufi organizations constituted the social cement of the society in which they lived. Because of the strength of this social cement, Islamic civilization was able not only to withstand the many political upheavals of this period, but it also acted as a civilizing influence on the powers that were responsible for these upheavals.

To what extent does the Book of Job call the teachings of Deuteronomy and Proverbs into question?

Background:

- The Book of Job: Author unknown
- Main subject: The problem of Job's affliction
- Suggested Lessons:
1. The malignant power of Satan in human life.
2. The use of suffering in the divine plan as a means of perfecting character.

Job is wisdom literature (also Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the bible). "Wisdom literature" describes works that do not focus on the nation Israel, and on its great formative historical memories (i.e. Exodus and the conquest, on the Temple and Jerusalem, and the covenant as the central theological notion binding together God, the people of Israel, and the promised land). Job is a reflection on universal human concerns, especially the understanding of individual experiences and the maintenance of ordered relationships that lead both to success on the human plane and to divine approval.

In the book of Job, a poet, examines the problem of a just God allowing the innocent to suffer (Job 12:4). The poet challenges, in a very bold manner, the Deuteronomistic theology that goodness is rewarded with material prosperity and wickedness is punished with temporal suffering (see Deut 28:1-68, theme is blessings and curses). In ch. 28 of Deuteronomy we see that blessings will follow obedience (v. 2), the curses will overtake Israel if they disobey (v. 15). This is also seen in Proverbs.

Proverbs, in contrast to Job, suggests that the righteous are rewarded and do not suffer (Prov 12:21). In Proverbs 12:1-28 we have the following breakdown: the contrast between wicked/evil and righteous/upright is developed in vv. 3,5-7,10,12-13,17,20-21,26,28; with the wise/foolish motif as a second major interest (vv.15-16,23,27). Job denies the inevitability of rewards for living an upright life and decisively refutes the idea that human suffering is always deserved. Like other wisdom literature in the OT (of Hebrew Bible), the book of Job does not make reference to specific Israelite legal or historical traditions (remember Deuteronomy is a rehearsal of the laws proclaimed at Sinai, with a call to obedience, interspersed with a review of the experiences of the old generation).

Job's point of view is diametrically opposite to proverbs, in which wise people are righteous and good and fools are wicked and unsuccessful. Job's friends display the attitudes of the wise as seen in Proverbs but Job shows them false and unproductive.

So the question comes up in Job ... Why are the righteous afflicted? It is solved in the last chapter (Ch 42). Brought into the presence of God, Job is revealed to himself. In no sense a hypocrite, but godly and possessing a faith which all his afflictions could not shake, Job was yet self-righteous and lacking in humility (see Ch. 29). Scofeild feels "the godly are afflicated that they may be brought to self-knowledge and self-judgment."

Remember, use your own words and cite references appropriately.