Editing Sufism (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Sufism}}

===Origins===
The current consensus is that Sufism emerged in the [[Hejaz]], present day Saudi Arabia and that it has existed as a practice of Muslims from the earliest days of Islam, even predating some sectarian divides.<ref name="Nasr-2008">{{Cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |title=The garden of truth: the vision and promise of Sufism, Islam's mystical tradition |date=2008 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0061625992 |pages=45–3736–45-3736}}</ref>

Sufi orders are based on the '{{Transliteration|ar|bayah}} ({{Langx|ar|بَيْعَة|lit=pledge}}) that was given to Muhammad by his [[Companions of the Prophet|companions (''ṣahabah'')]]. By pledging allegiance to Muhammad, the ''sahabah'' had committed themselves to the service of God.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://naqshbandi.org/teachings/topics/taking-initiation-bayah/|title=Taking Initiation (Bay'ah)|date=9 June 2021 |publisher=Naqshbandi Sufi Way}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VswAAAAYAAJ|title=Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi tradition|page=644|publisher=Islamic Supreme Council of America|author=Muhammad Hisham Kabbani|isbn=9781930409231|date=June 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Tasawwuf [Sufism]|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World|year=2003|first=Carl W.|last=Ernst}}</ref>

{{blockquote|
Verily, those who give Bay'âh (pledge) to you (O Muhammad) they are giving Bay'âh (pledge) to [[God in Islam|God]]. The Hand of God is over their hands. Then whosoever breaks his pledge, breaks it only to his own harm, and whosoever fulfils what he has covenanted with God, He will bestow on him a great reward. — [Translation of Quran {{qref |48:10}}]
}}

Sufis believe that by giving {{Transliteration|ar|bayʿah}} (pledging allegiance) to a legitimate Sufi [[shaykh]], one is pledging allegiance to Muhammad; therefore, a spiritual connection between the seeker and Muhammad is established. It is through Muhammad that Sufis aim to learn about, understand and connect with God.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://naqshbandi.org/teachings/topics/taking-initiation-bayah/|title=Taking Initiation (Bay'ah) {{!}} The Naqshbandiyya Nazimiyya Sufi Order of America: Sufism and Spirituality|website=naqshbandi.org|access-date=2017-05-12}}</ref> Ali is regarded as one of the major figures amongst the ''sahaba'' who have directly pledged allegiance to Muhammad, and Sufis maintain that through Ali, knowledge about Muhammad and a connection with Muhammad may be attained. Such a concept may be understood by the ''hadith'', which Sufis regard to be authentic, in which Muhammad said, "I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8HbK6QUhl8C&pg=PA461|title=Journal of a Sufi Odyssey|author=Shaykh Tariq Knecht|publisher=Tauba Press|isbn=9781450554398|date=2018-11-09}}</ref> Eminent Sufis such as [[Ali Hujwiri]] refer to Ali as having a very high ranking in ''Tasawwuf''. Furthermore, [[Junayd of Baghdad]] regarded Ali as [[sheikh]] of the principals and practices of ''Tasawwuf''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alim.org/library/biography/khalifa/content/KAL/79/1|title=Khalifa Ali bin Abu Talib – Ali, The Father of Sufism |work=Alim.org|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref>

Historian [[Jonathan A. C. Brown|Jonathan A.C. Brown]] notes that during the lifetime of Muhammad, some companions were more inclined than others to "intensive devotion, pious abstemiousness and pondering the divine mysteries" more than Islam required, such as [[Abu Dhar al-Ghifari|Abu Dharr al-Ghifari]]. [[Hasan al-Basri]], a [[Tabi‘un|tabi]]', is considered a "founding figure" in the "science of purifying the heart".<ref>{{cite book|last1 = Brown|first1 = Jonathan A.C.|author-link = Jonathan A.C. Brown|title = Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy|date = 2014|publisher = [[Oneworld Publications]]|isbn = 978-1780744209|url = https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/58|access-date = 4 June 2018|ref = JACBMM2014|page = [https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/58 58]}}</ref>

Sufism emerged early on in [[Islamic history]],<ref name="EI2" /> partly as a reaction against the worldliness of the early [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750) and mainly under the tutelage of [[Hasan al-Basri]].<ref name="Nasr-2008" />

Practitioners of Sufism hold that in its early stages of development Sufism effectively referred to nothing more than the internalization of Islam.<ref>{{cite web|title="Sufism": A Tradition of Transcendental Mysticism |first=Nancy|last=Emara|date=2002-08-30|website=IslamOnline.net |url=http://www.islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2002/08/article03.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724160152/http://www.islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2002/08/article03.shtml|archive-date=July 24, 2009}}</ref> According to one perspective, it is directly from the Qur'an, constantly recited, meditated, and experienced, that Sufism proceeded, in its origin and its development.<ref>Massignon, Louis. ''Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane''. Paris: Vrin, 1954. p. 104.</ref> Other practitioners have held that Sufism is the strict emulation of the way of Muhammad, through which the heart's connection to the Divine is strengthened.<ref>[[Imam Birgivi]], ''The Path of Muhammad'', WorldWisdom, {{ISBN|0-941532-68-2}}</ref>

Later developments of Sufism occurred from people like [[Dawud al-Ta'i|Dawud Tai]] and [[Bayazid Bastami]].<ref name="Karamustafa-2007" /> Early on Sufism was known for its strict adherence to the [[sunnah]], for example it was reported Bastami refused to eat a watermelon because he did not find any proof that Muhammad ever ate it.{{sfn|Chittick|2007}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Nasr|first=Hossein|author-link=Hossein Nasr|title=An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgVtq3kNCrYC&pg=PA192 |year=1993|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1515-3}}</ref> According to the late medieval mystic, the Persian poet [[Jami]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jami |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|title=Jāmī &#124; Persian poet and scholar|date=5 November 2023 }}</ref> [[Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah]] (died c. 716) was the first person to be called a "Sufi".<ref name=exeg/> The term also had a strong connection with [[Kufa]], with three of the earliest scholars to be called by the term being Abu Hashim al-Kufi,<ref>{{Citation |last=Knysh |first=Alexander D. |title=Abū Hāshim al-Ṣūfī |date=2011-05-01 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/abu-hashim-al-sufi-COM_23645 |access-date=2024-02-16 |publisher=Brill |language=en}}</ref> [[Jabir ibn Hayyan]] and Abdak al-Sufi.<ref name="Mas15">{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHg2DwAAQBAJ|pages=49–74 |journal=American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences |volume=32 |issue=1 |last=Masterton |first=Rebecca |author-link=Rebecca Masterton |title=A Comparative Exploration of the Spiritual Authority of the ''Awiliyā'' in the Shi'i and Sufi Traditions |publisher=International Institute of Islamic Thought |date=2015|doi=10.35632/ajiss.v32i1.260 |s2cid=166309522 |issn = 0887-7653}}</ref> Later individuals included Hatim al-Attar, from Basra, and [[Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi]].<ref name="Mas15" /> Others, such as [[Al-Harith al-Muhasibi]] and [[Sari al-Saqati]], were not known as Sufis during their lifetimes, but later came to be identified as such due to their focus on [[Tazkiyah|tazkiah]] (purification).<ref name=Mas15/>

Important contributions in writing are attributed to [[Uwais al-Qarani]], [[Hasan of Basra]], [[Harith al-Muhasibi]], [[Abu Nasr as-Sarraj]] and [[Said ibn al-Musayyib]].<ref name="Karamustafa-2007">{{Cite book|title=Sufism The Formative Period|last=Karamustafa|first=Ahmet|publisher=University of California Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0520252691|location=Berkeley}}</ref> [[Ruwaym]], from the second generation of Sufis in Baghdad, was also an influential early figure,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ridgeon|first=Lloyd|title=Morals and Mysticism in Persian Sufism: A History of Sufi-Futuwwat in Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBnHBQAAQBAJ|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-97058-0}}, p. 32</ref><ref>[[Ibn Khallikan]]'s Biographical Dictionary, translated by [[William McGuckin de Slane]]. [[Paris]]: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Sold by [[Institut de France]] and [[Royal Library of Belgium]]. Vol. 3, p. 209.</ref> as was Junayd of Baghdad; a number of early practitioners of Sufism were disciples of one of the two.<ref>Ahmet T. Karamustafa, ''Sufism: The Formative Period'', pg. 58. [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]]: [[University of California Press]], 2007.</ref>

===Sufi orders===
{{main|Tariqa|List of Sufi orders}}
Historically, Sufis have often belonged to "orders" known as {{transliteration|ar|[[tariqa]]}} (pl. {{transliteration|ar|[[tariqa|ṭuruq]]}}) – congregations formed around a grand master {{transliteration|ar|[[wali]]}} who will trace their teaching through a [[Silsilah|chain of successive teachers]] back to the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]].<ref name="Tariqa"/>

{{blockquote|Within the Sufi tradition, the formation of the orders did not immediately produce lineages of master and disciple. There are few examples before the eleventh century of complete lineages going back to the Prophet Muhammad. Yet the symbolic importance of these lineages was immense: they provided a channel to divine authority through master-disciple chains. It was through such chains of masters and disciples that spiritual power and blessings were transmitted to both general and special devotees.<ref>Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence, ''Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, p. 22, {{ISBN|1403960275}}, 9781403960276</ref>}}

These orders meet for spiritual sessions ({{transliteration|ar|[[majalis]]}}) in meeting places known as {{transliteration|ar|[[Zawiya (institution)|zawiyas]]}}, {{transliteration|ar|[[khanqah]]s}} or {{transliteration|ar|tekke}}.{{sfn|Glassé|2008|p= 499}}

They strive for {{transliteration|ar|[[ihsan]]}} (perfection of worship), as detailed in a {{transliteration|ar|[[hadith]]}}: "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him; if you can't see Him, surely He sees you."<ref>{{cite book|last= Bin Jamil Zeno|first= Muhammad|title= The Pillars of Islam & Iman |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=u-bNf9xCULsC&pg=PA19 |year= 1996|publisher= Darussalam|isbn= 978-9960-897-12-7|pages= 19–}}</ref> Sufis [[Muhammad in Islam|regard Muhammad]] as {{transliteration|ar|[[al-Insān al-Kāmil]]}}, the complete human who personifies the [[Names of God in Islam|attributes]] of [[God|Absolute Reality]],{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|Walker|2014|p= 446}} and view him as their ultimate spiritual guide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barelvi|url=http://www.shattariyah.blogspot.com/p/barelvi.html}}</ref>

Sufi orders trace most of their original precepts from Muhammad through [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=ʿAlī – Shiʿism, Sufism, and the chivalric orders|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ali-Muslim-caliph|access-date=2021-06-12|publisher= Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> with the notable exception of the [[Naqshbandi]] order, who trace their original precepts to Muhammad through [[Abu Bakr]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition|last=Kabbani|first=Muhammad Hisham|publisher=Islamic Supreme Council of America|year=2004|isbn=978-1-930409-23-1|page=557|author-link=Hisham Kabbani}}</ref> However, it was not necessary to formally belong to a tariqa.<ref>Dagli,&nbsp;C., Ayduz,&nbsp;S.&nbsp;(2014). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam. Vereinigtes Königreich: Oxford University Press. p. 267</ref> In the Medieval period, Sufism was almost equal to Islam in general and not limited to specific orders.<ref name="Peacock">{{Cite book |first1=A.C.S.|last1=Peacock|title=Islam, Literature and Society in Mongol Anatolia|publisher= Cambridge University Press| date=2019|doi= 10.1017/9781108582124|isbn=9781108582124|s2cid=211657444}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=24}}

Sufism had a long history already before the subsequent institutionalization of Sufi teachings into devotional orders (''tariqa'', pl. ''tarîqât'') in the early Middle Ages.<ref name=Trimingham>{{cite book|first=J. Spencer|last=Trimingham|date= 1998|title=The Sufi Orders in Islam|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-512058-5}}</ref> The term ''tariqa'' is used for a school or order of Sufism, or especially for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking [[haqiqa|ḥaqīqah]] (ultimate truth). A tariqa has a [[murshid]] (guide) who plays the role of leader or spiritual director. The members or followers of a tariqa are known as ''[[Murid|murīdīn]]'' (singular ''murīd''), meaning "desirous", viz. "desiring the knowledge of knowing God and loving God".<ref>{{cite thesis|type=Dissertation (Master of Science in Religion)|author=Mário Alves da Silva Filho|url= http://www.ibeipr.com.br/conteudo/academicos/misticaislamica.pdf|title=A Mística Islâmica em ''Terræ Brasilis'': o Sufismo e as Ordens Sufis em São Paulo|language=pt|trans-title=Islamic Mystique in Terræ Brasilis: Sufism and Sufi Orders in São Paulo|location=São Paulo|publisher=PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DE SÃO PAULO PUC/SP|date=2012|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150414212630/http://www.ibeipr.com.br/conteudo/academicos/misticaislamica.pdf|archive-date=2015-04-14}}</ref>

Over the years, Sufi orders have influenced and been adopted by various Shi'i movements, especially [[Isma'ilism]], which led to the [[Safaviyya]] order's conversion to Shia Islam from Sunni Islam and the spread of [[Twelver]]ism throughout Iran.<ref>Daftary |Farhad |2013 |A History of Shi'i Islam |New York NY |I.B. Tauris and Co ltd. |page 28 |{{ISBN|9780300035315}} |4/8/2015</ref>

===Sufism as an Islamic discipline===
[[File:Dance_of_Sufi_Dervishes.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Dancing dervishes, by [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād]] (c. 1480–1490)]]
[[File:Hoeltzer24.jpg|thumb|[[Monar Jonban]], a "dancing" monument, built over the grave of the Sufi ascetic Amu Abdullah Suqla in 12th century. A person stands on top and shakes one minaret, causing the second minaret to move with the same oscillation.]]

Existing in both Sunni and Shia Islam, Sufism is not a distinct sect, as is sometimes erroneously assumed, but a method of approaching or a way of understanding the religion, which strives to take the regular practice of the religion to the "supererogatory level" through simultaneously "fulfilling ... [the obligatory] religious duties"<ref name=EI2/> and finding a "way and a means of striking a root through the 'narrow gate' in the depth of the [[rūḥ|soul]] out into the domain of the pure arid un-imprisonable [[Holy Spirit (Islam)|Spirit]] which itself opens out on to the Divinity."<ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.15"/> Academic studies of Sufism confirm that Sufism, as a separate tradition from Islam apart from so-called ''pure Islam'', is frequently a product of [[Orientalism|Western orientalism]] and modern [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalists]].<ref>Michael S. Pittman ''Classical Spirituality in Contemporary America: The Confluence and Contribution of G.I. Gurdjieff and Sufism'' Bloomsbury Publishing {{ISBN|978-1-441-13113-3}}</ref>

As a mystic and ascetic aspect of Islam, it is considered as the part of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of the inner self. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.<ref name=Trimingham/> ''Tasawwuf'' is regarded as a science of the soul that has always been an integral part of Orthodox Islam. In his ''Al-Risala al-Safadiyya'', [[ibn Taymiyyah]] describes the Sufis as those who belong to the path of the Sunna and represent it in their teachings and writings.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Ibn Taymiyya's Sufi inclinations and his reverence for Sufis like [[Abdul-Qadir Gilani]] can also be seen in his hundred-page commentary on ''Futuh al-ghayb'', covering only five of the seventy-eight sermons of the book, but showing that he considered ''tasawwuf'' essential within the life of the Islamic community.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Al-Ghazali narrates in ''Al-Munqidh min al-dalal'':
{{blockquote|The vicissitudes of life, family affairs and financial constraints engulfed my life and deprived me of the congenial solitude. The heavy odds confronted me and provided me with few moments for my pursuits. This state of affairs lasted for ten years, but whenever I had some spare and congenial moments I resorted to my intrinsic proclivity. During these turbulent years, numerous astonishing and indescribable secrets of life were unveiled to me. I was convinced that the group of Aulia (holy mystics) is the only truthful group who follow the right path, display best conduct and surpass all sages in their wisdom and insight. They derive all their overt or covert behaviour from the illumining guidance of the holy Prophet, the only guidance worth quest and pursuit.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppiuQgAACAAJ|title=Deliverance from Error: An Annotated Translation of Al-Munqidh Min Al Dal−al and Other Relevant Works of Al-Ghaz−al−i|last1=Ghazzālī|last2=Ghazzali|last3=al-Ghazali|first3=Abu Hamid Muhammad|last4=McCarthy|first4=Richard Joseph|date=1999|publisher=Fons Vitae|isbn=978-1-887752-27-5}}</ref>
}}

===Formalization of doctrine===
[[File:A_Sufi_in_Ecstasy_in_a_Landscape_LACMA_M.73.5.582.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|''A Sufi in Ecstasy in a Landscape''. [[Isfahan]], [[Safavid Persia]] (c. 1650–1660), [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art|LACMA]].]]

In the eleventh-century, Sufism, which had previously been a less "codified" trend in Islamic piety, began to be "ordered and crystallized" into [[tariqa|orders]] which have continued until the present day. All these orders were founded by a major Islamic scholar, and some of the largest and most widespread included the [[Suhrawardiyya]] (after [[Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi]] [d. 1168]), [[Qadiriyya]] (after [[Abdul-Qadir Gilani]] [d. 1166]), the [[Rifa'i]]yya (after [[Ahmed al-Rifa'i]] [d. 1182]), the [[Chishti Order|Chishtiyya]] (after [[Moinuddin Chishti]] [d. 1236]), the [[Shadiliyya]] (after [[Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili]] [d. 1258]), the Hamadaniyyah (after [[Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani|Sayyid Ali Hamadani]] [d. 1384]), the Naqshbandiyya (after [[Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari]] [d. 1389]).<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr'', ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 76</ref> Contrary to popular perception in the West,<ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.16">Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), p.16</ref> however, neither the founders of these orders nor their followers ever considered themselves to be anything other than orthodox Sunni Muslims,<ref name="Martin Lings 1983, p.16"/> and in fact all of these orders were attached to one of the [[maddhab|four orthodox legal schools]] of Sunni Islam.<ref name="themuslim500.com">{{cite web |title=Profile of Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyeb on ''The Muslim 500''|url=http://themuslim500.com/profile/sheikh-al-azhar-ahmad-altayyeb|website=The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims|access-date=2017-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606040251/http://themuslim500.com/profile/sheikh-al-azhar-ahmad-altayyeb|archive-date=2017-06-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> Thus, the [[Qadiriyya]] order was [[Hanbali]], with its founder, [[Abdul-Qadir Gilani]], being a renowned jurist; the [[Chishti Order|Chishtiyya]] was [[Hanafi]]; the [[Shadiliyya]] order was [[Maliki]]; and the Naqshbandiyya order was [[Hanafi]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Massington, L.|author2=Radtke, B.|author3=Chittick, W.C. |author4=Jong, F. de |author5=Lewisohn, L.|author6=Zarcone, Th.|author7=Ernst, C.|author8=Aubin, Françoise |author0=Hunwick, J.O.|date=2012|title=Taṣawwuf |encyclopedia= Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd |publisher=Brill|editor=P. Bearman|editor2=Th. Bianquis|editor3=C.E. Bosworth|editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1188}} ''q.v.'' "Hanafi," "Hanbali," and "Maliki," and under "mysticism in..." for each.</ref> Thus, it is precisely because it is historically proven that "many of the most eminent defenders of Islamic orthodoxy, such as [[Abdul-Qadir Gilani]], [[al-Ghazali|Ghazali]], and the Sultan Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn ([[Saladin]]) were connected with Sufism"<ref name="Titus Burckhardt 2008, p. 4">Titus Burckhardt, ''Introduction to Sufi Doctrine'' (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2008, p. 4, note 2</ref> that the popular studies of writers like [[Idries Shah]] are continuously disregarded by scholars as conveying the fallacious image that "Sufism" is somehow distinct from "Islam".<ref>Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), pp. 16–17</ref><ref name="Titus Burckhardt 2008, p. 4"/><ref>Rozina Ali, "The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi," ''The New Yorker'', Jan. 5 2017</ref> Nile Green has observed that, in the Middle Ages, Sufism more or less was ''Islam''.<ref name="Peacock"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=24}}

===Growth of influence===
[[File:Jahangir with sufi.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8| A [[Mughal miniature]] dated from the early 1620s depicting the [[Mughal emperor]] [[Jahangir]] (d. 1627) preferring an audience with Sufi [[saint]] to his contemporaries, the [[Ottoman sultan]] and the [[king of England]], [[James VI and I|James I]] (d. 1625); the picture is inscribed in [[Persian language|Persian]]: "Though outwardly shahs stand before him, he fixes his gazes on dervishes."]]

Historically, Sufism became "an incredibly important part of Islam" and "one of the most widespread and omnipresent aspects of Muslim life" in [[Islamic Civilization during the European Renaissance|Islamic civilization]] from the early medieval period onwards,<ref>{{cite web|title=Is orthodox Islam possible without Sufism? – Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (Dr. Timothy Winter)|date=13 May 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQWNeGyRu0k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/uQWNeGyRu0k| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|publisher=youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} when it began to permeate nearly all major aspects of Sunni Islamic life in regions stretching from India and Iraq to the [[Balkans]] and [[Senegal]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown – What is Sufism?|date=13 May 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpFatRwdPm0|publisher=youtube.com}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}

The rise of Islamic civilization coincides strongly with the spread of Sufi philosophy in Islam. The spread of Sufism has been considered a definitive factor in the spread of Islam, and in the creation of integrally Islamic cultures, especially in Africa<ref>For the pre-modern era, see [[Vincent J. Cornell]], ''Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism'', {{ISBN|978-0-292-71209-6}}; and for the colonial era, Knut Vikyr, ''Sufi and Scholar on the Desert Edge: Muhammad B. Oali Al-Sanusi and His Brotherhood'', {{ISBN|978-0-8101-1226-1}}.</ref> and Asia. The [[Senussi]] tribes of [[Libya]] and the [[Sudan]] are one of the strongest adherents of Sufism. Sufi poets and philosophers such as [[Khoja Akhmet Yassawi]], [[Rumi]], and [[Attar of Nishapur]] (c. 1145 – c. 1221) greatly enhanced the spread of Islamic culture in [[Anatolia]], [[Central Asia]], and [[South Asia]].<ref>Leonard Lewisohn, ''The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism'', Khaniqahi-Nimatullahi Publications, 1992.</ref><ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization'', HarperSanFrancisco, 2003. (Ch. 1)</ref> Sufism also played a role in creating and propagating the culture of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] world,<ref>Dina Le Gall, ''A Culture of Sufism: Naqshbandis in the Ottoman World, 1450–1700'', {{ISBN|978-0-7914-6245-4}}.</ref> and in resisting European imperialism in North Africa and South Asia.<ref>Arthur F. Buehler, ''Sufi Heirs of the Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh'', {{ISBN|978-1-57003-783-2}}.</ref>
[[File:Blagaj – Vrelo Bune 5.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|[[Blagaj Tekke]], built c. 1520 next to the [[Buna (Neretva)|Buna]] wellspring cavern beneath a high vertical [[karstic]] cliff, in [[Blagaj, Mostar]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]]. The natural and architectural ensemble, proposed for UNESCO inscription,<ref>{{cite web|title=The natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5280/ |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Tentative List of Bosnia and Herzegovina |date=11 December 2007 |access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> forms a spatially and topographically self-contained ensemble, and is a [[List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina|National Monument of Bosnia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tekke in Blagaj on the Buna Spring, the natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj |url=http://old.kons.gov.ba/main.php?id_struct=50&lang=4&action=view&id=2558 |publisher=Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina "Tekke in Blagaj on the Buna Spring, the natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj" |date= 9 May 2005|access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref>]]

Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, a "Renaissance" whose physical artifacts survive.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} In many places a person or group would endow a [[waqf]] to maintain a lodge (known variously as a ''zawiya'', ''khanqah'', or ''tekke'') to provide a gathering place for Sufi adepts, as well as lodging for itinerant seekers of knowledge. The same system of endowments could also pay for a complex of buildings, such as that surrounding the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] in [[Istanbul]], including a lodge for Sufi seekers, a [[hospice]] with kitchens where these seekers could serve the poor and/or complete a period of initiation, a library, and other structures. No important domain in the civilization of Islam remained unaffected by Sufism in this period.<ref>Victor Danner, ''The Islamic Tradition: An introduction''. Amity House. February 1988.</ref>

===Modern era===
Opposition to Sufi teachers and orders from more literalist and legalist strains of Islam existed in various forms throughout Islamic history. It took on a particularly violent form in the 18th century with the emergence of the [[Wahhabism|Wahhabi movement]].<ref name=OEIW-voll>{{cite encyclopedia|first=John O.|last=Voll|title=ṢūfĪ Orders|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic 9.3World|editor=[[John L. Esposito]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0759|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124035305/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0759|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 24, 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Whirling dervishes in Galata Mawlawi House, 1870.png|thumb|Whirling dervishes of the [[Mevlevi Order]] photographed by [[Pascal Sébah]] ([[Istanbul]], 1870)]]

Around the turn of the 20th century, Sufi rituals and doctrines also came under sustained criticism from [[Islamic modernism|modernist Islamic reformers]], liberal nationalists, and, some decades later, socialist movements in the Muslim world. Sufi orders were accused of fostering popular superstitions, resisting modern intellectual attitudes, and standing in the way of progressive reforms. Ideological attacks on Sufism were reinforced by agrarian and educational reforms, as well as new forms of taxation, which were instituted by Westernizing national governments, undermining the economic foundations of Sufi orders. The extent to which Sufi orders declined in the first half of the 20th century varied from country to country, but by the middle of the century the very survival of the orders and traditional Sufi lifestyle appeared doubtful to many observers.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| first=Alexander |last=Knysh| entry=Sufism|title=The New Cambridge History of Islam|series=Volume 4: Islamic Cultures and Societies to the End of the Eighteenth Century |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010 |editor-first=Robert|editor-last=Irwin|pages=60–61}}</ref><ref name=OEIW-voll/>

However, defying these predictions, Sufism and Sufi orders have continued to play a major role in the Muslim world, also expanding into Muslim-minority countries. Its ability to articulate an inclusive Islamic identity with greater emphasis on personal and small-group piety has made Sufism especially well-suited for contexts characterized by religious pluralism and secularist perspectives.<ref name=OEIW-voll/>

In the modern world, the classical interpretation of Sunni orthodoxy, which sees in Sufism an essential dimension of Islam alongside the disciplines of [[fiqh|jurisprudence]] and [[aqidah|theology]], is represented by institutions such as [[Egypt]]'s [[Al-Azhar University]] and [[Zaytuna College]], with Al-Azhar's current [[Grand Imam of al-Azhar|Grand Imam]] [[Ahmed el-Tayeb]] recently defining "Sunni orthodoxy" as being a follower "of any of the four schools of [legal] thought ([[Hanafi]], [[Shafi’i]], [[Maliki]] or [[Hanbali]]) and ... [also] of the Sufism of Imam [[Junayd of Baghdad]] in doctrines, manners and [spiritual] purification."<ref name="themuslim500.com"/>

The relationship of Sufi orders to modern societies is usually defined by their relationship to governments.<ref>Masatoshi Kisaichi, "The Burhami order and Islamic resurgence in modern Egypt." ''Popular Movements and Democratization in the Islamic World'', pg. 57. Part of the New Horizons in Islamic Studies series. Ed. Masatoshi Kisaichi. London: Routledge, 2006. {{ISBN|9781134150618}}</ref>

[[File:تراث مصري 03.jpg|thumb|Sufi Tanoura twirling in [[Muizz Street]], [[Cairo]]]]

Turkey, Persia and The Indian Subcontinent have all been a center for many Sufi lineages and orders. The Bektashi were closely affiliated with the Ottoman [[Janissaries]] and are the heart of Turkey's large and mostly liberal [[Alevism|Alevi]] population. They have spread westwards to [[Cyprus]], Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Kosovo]], and, more recently, to the United States, via [[Albania]]. Sufism is popular in such African countries as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, and [[Senegal]], where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam.{{sfn|Babou|2007|p=184–6}} Mbacke suggests that one reason Sufism has taken hold in Senegal is because it can accommodate local beliefs and customs, which tend toward the [[mysticism|mystical]].{{sfn|Mbacké|Hunwick|2005}}

The life of the Algerian Sufi master [[Abdelkader El Djezairi]] is instructive in this regard.{{sfn|Chodkiewicz|1995|loc=Introduction}} Notable as well are the lives of [[Amadou Bamba]] and [[El Hadj Umar Tall]] in [[West Africa]], and [[Sheikh Mansur]] and [[Imam Shamil]] in the [[Caucasus]]. In the twentieth century, some Muslims have called Sufism a superstitious religion which holds back Islamic achievement in the fields of science and technology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2260?_hi=6&_pos=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119133444/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2260?_hi=6&_pos=2|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 19, 2012|title=Sufism|website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>

A number of Westerners have embarked with varying degrees of success on the path of Sufism. One of the first to return to Europe as an official representative of a Sufi order, and with the specific purpose to spread Sufism in Western Europe, was the [[Sweden|Swedish]]-born wandering Sufi [[Ivan Aguéli]]. [[René Guénon]], the French scholar, became a Sufi in the early twentieth century and was known as Sheikh Abdul Wahid Yahya. His manifold writings defined the practice of Sufism as the essence of Islam, but also pointed to the universality of its message. Spiritualists, such as [[George Gurdjieff]], may or may not conform to the tenets of Sufism as understood by orthodox Muslims.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Googelberg|first=compiled form Wikipedia entries and published by Dr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXACBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA407|title=Islam|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-291-21521-2}}</ref>