Editing Sufism (section)

===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>