Editing Sufism (section)

===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>
}}