Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose
objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all
else but God". [ 4 ] Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi
teacher
Ahmad ibn Ajiba , "a science through which one can know how to travel
into the presence of the Divine , purify one's inner self from filth,
and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits". [ 5 ]
Classical Sufis were characterised by their attachment to dhikr (a
practice of repeating the names of God) and asceticism . Sufism gained
adherents among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the
worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE [ 6 ] ). Sufis
have spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, at
first expressed through Arabic, then through Persian, Turkish and a
dozen other languages. [ 7 ] "Orders" ( ṭuruq ), which are either
Sunnī or Shī'ī or mixed [ 8 ] in doctrine, trace many of theiroriginal
precepts from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his cousin 'Alī ,
with thenotable exception of the Naqshbandi who trace their origins
through the first Caliph , Abu Bakr . [ 9 ] Other exclusive schools of
Sufism describe themselves as distinctly Sufi. [ 10 ] Modern Sufis
often perform dhikr
after the conclusion of prayers. [ 11 ]
Some mainstream scholars of Islam define sufism as simply the name for
the inner or esoteric dimension of Islam. [ 1 ] René Guénon in
Insights into Islamic Esoterism and Taoism (Sophia Perennis 2003)
contended that Sufism was the esoteric aspect of Islam supported and
complemented by exoteric practices and Islamic law. However,
accordingto Idries Shah , the Sufi philosophy is universal in nature,
its roots predating the rise of Islam and the other modern-day
religions, save for perhaps
Buddhism and Jainism ; likewise,some Muslims consider Sufism outside
the sphere of Islam. [ 1 ] [ 12 ]