Mto publications proudly presents some of the best kept secrets in sufi literature, written by the greatest sufi masters of the current era. It has been defined as mystical islamic belief and practice in which muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of god. If you wish to have a book that gives you an introduction to islam then this is an excellent start. The big red book collects all the work that i have done on the shams rumis divani shamsi tabriz, the works of shams tabriz over the last 34 years. Sufism helps to bridge the gap between islam and west 20030116.
By professor nader angha, in this work, the origins of religions and the experience of freedom and unification which is the essence of religion are examined and clarified, and the stages and conditions necessary to reach this state are carefully. But great caution is needed not to infer from this that because sufism avoids the extreme of fundamentalism, it could serve as a bridge between islam and buddhism in the sphere of ethics. Sufism, mystical islamic belief and practice in which muslims seek the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of god. Sufism and the way of blame download pdfepub ebook. Hence arose the distinction between the outward expression of the law and its inward significance, and with it the distinction between the study of jurisprudence on the one hand and sufism on the other. With reference to islam and buddhism, implying tehranian, teachings of sufis as a bridge between the two religious traditions. Indeed this prophecy has come true with the prevalence of sects and deviant beliefs within the religion of islam. As such, it is a comprehensive, pioneering work of potential interest to a wide array of scholars in the field of contemporary religion. The relation between buddhism and sufism study buddhism. The sufi way is contemporary expression of a perennial spiritual path.
Elements of sufism or tasawwuf are present in every religion, be they the religions of abrahamic tradition or others, due to which sufism can help build a bridge between religions to achieve. In this work, the origins of religions and the experience of freedom and unification which is the. Sufism a bridge between religions download pdfepub ebook. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. Sufism a bridge between religions mto shahmagsoudi. Sep 08, 2009 nonmuslims often mistake sufism as a sect of islam. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the sufism a bridge between religions, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. Between the th and 16th centuries, sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the islamic world, a golden age whose physical artifacts survive. Islamic mystics are called sufis and their way of life is sufism also spelled sufiism.
See all 4 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Sufism is less an islamic sect than a mystical way of approaching the islamic faith. Islam is the religion, sufism is a tariqah or path within. Sufism is more accurately described as an aspect or dimension of islam. This short book, written in the 1950s by one of the greatest sufis of all time, is a classical presentation of the timeless wisdom of sufism. Angha has made a point in her work to redefine the social standard for gender roles in the sufi religious context. The arabic term sufi has been used in islamic literature with a wide range of meanings, by both proponents and opponents of sufism.
We have been using this book as a textbook for our tamarkoz sufi concentrationmeditation class at uc berkeley for the past few years, and it has been one of. If we are to examine each and every custom of each and every tariqah, we would b. To them the examination of the esoteric meaning of the law was a more worthy objective than the study of the law in its esoteric sense. Jan 04, 2011 parallels between sufism and christianity during his life, the prophet muhammad pbuh prophesized that islam will be divided into sects just as judaism and christianity did before it. Sufism a bridge between religions mto sufi society. Despite the basic similarities between sufism and irish christian mysticism, few scholars have examined what these two realms of religious belief and practice might further have in common. Sufism a bridge between religions download pdfepub. Parallels between sufism and christianity the path of the. An exploration of the profound sufi practice of itlak yolu examines the three main facets of this practice. Well, the first and foremost difference is that sufis are muslim and part of islam, and hence follow the quran. She says sufism distills the islamic holy book, the koran, in a pure and simple message of love and gratitude for god and all.
Considered as the very kernel of islam, xii sufi tradition in india was deep rooted through the institution of khanqahs, a sort of socioreligious organisations representing a particular strand of sufism. It consists of mystical paths that are designed to learn the nature of humanity and of god and to facilitate the experience of the presence of divine love and wisdom. Jason webster on why the republication of idries shah book about. This emphasis and insistence on the personal experience and knowledge of god and the discipline and method of training which assists students in the path toward this goal is the structure which makes sufism the bridge among the religions, both in our. Abrahamov, binyamin, philosophical mysticism, in muhammad in history, thought, and culture. With muslim mysticism we see the climax of the development of religious life and teaching in islam. In this sense, sufism is a bridge between all religions, for it accepts all the prophets. Sufism can help maintain interfaith harmony, say scholars. Neither the philosophers nor the theologians nor the canon lawyers have contributed so much as the mystics toward deepening the meaning. Sufism, thus, seeks to liberate the people from the clutches of the traditional religions in their pursuit to be in sync with god. Sufism a bridge between religions paperback january 1, 2011 by professor nader angha author 5. In the realm of the divine, only the secret of the heart is relevant.
As a way to observe the spirit of shariah, sufism emphasizes tariqah, the esoteric path of mystic practices leading to haq, the truth. Salaheddin ali nader shah angha 1945 worldcat identities. Sikhism is a syncretic faith of islam and hinduism, a credible attempt to bridge the divide between two great faiths. Sufi beliefs sufi beliefs are based firmly in orthodox islam and the text of the quran, although a few sufi teachers have strayed too close to monism or pantheism to remain within the orthodox fold. Book presentation bibliography of sufism, tariqa, and saint cult studies in japan the bridge of two easts. The complexities of diversity which rely within the islamic fold are magnificent and beautiful in nature. A bridge between religions to anyone who is looking for a way to understand religion from a fresh perspective, anyone who is jaded by the way people practice religion today, and anyone who is looking to find answers to some of lifes deepest questions. A bridge between religions by salaheddin ali nader. That may be an explanation of why so many american or european people accept islam after being introduced to it through sufism or by sufis. A bridge between religions written by hazrat salaheddin ali nader angha.
Interestingly, this same focus on personal spiritual growth is what jesus claimed to come to provide in john 10. Book presentation bibliography of sufism, tariqa, and saint cult. Nonmuslims often mistake sufism as a sect of islam. Having been raised in a christian family, them marrying a moslem man, this book helped me realize that there is really only one true religion, and that there are. For the month of september we will be reading and discussing the book sufism. Using the vast eternal wellspring within, the author offers us the vision to see into the future and to understand our origins. Sufism a bridge between religions posted on 10th december 2015 posted by. Essential sufism download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. According to him, one reason is in islam, sufism represents a response to too great an emphasis on sharia law expressly, as opposed to implied law, tariqah. This contemplative process depends upon the simultaneous nurturing of psychological health, openheartedness, and caring action. The fundamental difference between islam and sufism pivots around the path of attaining union with allah.
In bridges to islam he expands that key chapter into a book. This book is a lecture on the origins of religion and the experience of freedom and unification which is the essence of religion are examined and clarified, and the stages and conditions necessary to reach this state are carefully described by the lecturer. The core principles of sufism are tawakkul absolute trust in god and tawhid the truth that there is no deity but god. Lings claims that just as community of muslims are according to we have made you a middle people quran ii. Sufism a bridge between religions mto shahmaghsoudi. Religions free fulltext the moral dimensions of sufism. Living sufism in north america is the first book of its kind to bridge the gap between sufi studies and the study of north american contemporary religious movements. Even muslims have raised concerns in the apparent overlapping teachings found in some sufi groups. Difference between islam and sufism difference between. From puratan janamsakhi, the biography of guru nanak, the founder of sikhism, which was composed two centuries after his death, w. God is the object of worship not in the sense that he is exclusively the god of the muslims, the christians, or the adherents of any other religion, but in the sense that he is the essence of everything that. In this work, the origins of religions and the experience of freedom and unificatio.
Nov 30, 2001 rumi is part of a tried and tested sufi tradition, and barkss version of him as a bridge between religions appeals to those who see themselves as spiritual but who are also critical of. Classical sufi texts, which stressed certain teachings and practices of the quran and the sunnah. Uncategorised in the realm of the divine, only the secret of the heart is relevant. Dec 08, 2007 sufi beliefs sufi beliefs are based firmly in orthodox islam and the text of the quran, although a few sufi teachers have strayed too close to monism or pantheism to remain within the orthodox fold. Sufism understands itself to be the wisdom realized by the great prophets explicitly including jesus, moses, david, solomon, and abraham, among others, and implicitly including other unnamed. Sufi orders tariqas can be found in sunni, shia and other islamic. From the outset, sufism has been concerned with building bridges, not. As i put this book together, i felt drawn to revise slightly almost every poem, to relineate and reword. The forty rules of love by elif shafak, the conference of the birds by attar of nishapur, the essential rumi by rumi, the sufis. Buy essential sufism new edition by robert frager isbn.
As an inner school it is dedicated to nurturing mystical awakening in individuals. According to him, one reason is in islam, sufism represents a response to too great an emphasis on sharia law expressly, as opposed. Why are there many similarities between sufi islam and. Sufisms claim to universality is founded on the broad recognition that there is only one god, the god of all people and all true religions. Sufism plays, or at least can play, a major role in remedying many of the worlds political, social, economic, and spiritual ills. Parallels between sufism and christianity during his life, the prophet muhammad pbuh prophesized that islam will be divided into sects just as judaism and christianity did before it. While a thorough analysis of the links between them is beyond the scope of this book, we can nevertheless explore the connection through maliq, a thirtyfive. Sufism helps to bridge the gap between islam and west 2003. As a practice bridge between the mundane and the divine, sufism also serves as a theoretical bridge that can link together seemingly disparate forces that struggle and wage war on a daily basis. Sufism, sufis, and sufi orders sufism s many paths extensive photo essay on sufism by a national geographic photographer projectsufism misconceptions, realities and true essence of sufism. Shah devoted his life to collecting, selecting and translating sufi books and key works of sufi classical literature, adapting them to the needs of the west and. The mysticism of islam is known as sufism, a name said to be derived from the arabic word suf which means wool, referring to the woolen mantles worn by the sufis.
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