Mystical Islam, Sufism is the alternative way between Philosopher's and Kalam's in Islam. It evolves sometimes to religion of folk as heretic belief but most times has good relations with authority and state.
Probably the word Sufi is came from Suf which means wool in Arabic and Sufi means the ascetic (avoiding physical pleasures and living a simple life) who wears wool in 9th century, Bagdad.
Ibn-Arabi the founder and builder of Unity of Existence (Vahded-i Vücud). Cellaleddin Rumi is the one who still influence people from all over the World with his epic poems or Hallac who was executed because of his claim that “ I am the Allah” are some examples of great Sufis.
One of the earliest Sufi recorded in history is Rabia Kaysiyye who scared from God as could not want anything from GOD but just love him. She is remembered as founder doctrine of pure Love (AŞK). Harraz who claims the only subject could be the GOD “if any sufi says me, then he means GOD”; El-Hasan El-Nuri who is the first judged sufi by authority, says “Yes Sir” when hear the dog barking, circumambulates around the miniature Kaabe in his garden; are the few following and important sufi figures lay the foundation of Sufism.
One of the main difference between Sufis and the other ascetics as dervishs etc. is Sufis relations with society. Sufism has a good relation with merchants and artisans since it never bans the trade. Unlike the other ascetics as Kalenderi, Haydari and Vefais who would shape the Anatolia in near future, it has not any problem with society and its rules, it is not required to be isolated from society. They can be married, have a goods and chattels. Also they have not any problem with authorities if they do not interest in politics as Hallac would.
However, almost every sufi chains put Junayd of Baghdad (Cuneyd'I Bagdadi) on the first row as the first sufi.
Junayd is born in Nehavend, in the middle of Baghdad and Tehran in 822. He was the son of glass merchant. Junayd is well educated on İslamic canon law (Fıkıh), thanks to his education he was not going to be judged alongside Nuri as sufi since he was not going to be called as sufi.
The importance of Junayd is his influence and system. He influence even Ghazali who is the destroyer of philosophy in Islam, and opposite of mystical Islam in the beginning.
His main teachings are;
Unity of God / Tevhid: At the beginning of 9th century unity of God concept was one of the main topic among Islamic clergy. Its definition was controversy however the definition of Cuneydi was brilliant “the isolation of the Eternal from the created”.
Nonetheless, the genius of Cuneydi was in these words “Know that you are veiled from Him through yourself, and that you do not reach him through yourself but that you reach Him through Him.” “Bil ki allaha ulaşmada kendini vasıta kılarsan, Onunla aranda perde olur ve kendi kendine değil ancak onun vasıtasıyla Allaha ulaşabilirsin”
In other words, the realisation of divine unity required the annihilation of human agency and denied the possibility of individuality to all but God Himself
Fena, “the passing way of self-consciousness” “fenafillah”
Junayd thought that when the human individual approached God with his customary sense of being a self-contained, separate entity, it proved impossible for him to affirm God's unity since his own self-consciousness imprisoned him in himself. (Sufism Formative Period – Karamustafa)
The only way to reach Fana (a primordial state that human beings had before the creation on the Day of the Covenant means) is to pass away from his sense of self.
Mithaq, ‘the Primordial Covenant'
‘When your Lord brought forth offspring from the children of Adam, from their loins, and had them testify regarding themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” They said: “Oh yes, we so testify.” Lest you say on Judgment Day “We were unaware of this!”' (Quran). According to Junayd, this primordial covenant recorded in the Qur'Şn marked the true and perfect type of human existence as selfl ess existence in God, presumably as non-individualised spiritual entities in God's mind:
In this verse God tells you that He spoke to them at a time when they did not exist, except so far as they existed in Him. This existence is not the same type of existence as is usually attributed to God's creatures; it is a type of existence which only God knows and only He is aware of. God knows their existence; embracing them he sees them in the beginning when they are non-existent and unaware of their future existence in this world.76
Thus initiated by God as divine ideas, humans are then created as individual spirits wrapped in a body and placed on earth. But the memory of their divine, completely spiritual existence on the Day of the Covenant haunts them and lures them into the experience of fana, which is literally a re-enactment of the primordial covenant. Passing away from consciousness of earthly existence, however, is not total annihilation of the individual since even after fana, the self survives in a transformed fashion. (Sufism Formative Period – Karamustafa)
Sahw – Sobriety - Sahv
It turns out, therefore, that those who transform their earthly selves through the experience of passing away from self-consciousness and reclaim their primordial states as witnesses of God's lordship by re-enacting the Day of the Covenant are not only returned to their earthly existence but are given the special mission of guiding others to God. (Sufism Formative Period – Karamustafa)
The Choosen Ones:
Junayd, then, viewed Sufi s as a select company of companions who were privileged with the God-given ability of truly affi rming God's oneness by blotting out their earthly identities but who also bore the responsibility of acting as guides to humankind in all aspects of life. (Sufism Formative Period – Karamustafa)
