Who is a Sufi?

Where the word comes from

The word Sufi has several traditional explanations. The most widely accepted links it to suf, the plain woollen cloth worn by the early ascetics. Others connect it with safa, purity of heart, or with the Ahl al-Suffa, the companions who lived on the bench (suffa) of the Prophet's mosque in Madinah and gave their days to worship and learning. All three point to the same picture: a simple life, a clean heart and closeness to the Prophet ﷺ.

What a Sufi is looking for

In Ahsan o Tasawwuf, Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi describes the Sufi as someone who, after discipline and effort, longs to see the Beloved. Through contemplation and meditation (muraqaba) a certainty takes root that the purpose of life is to know Allah, and Allah alone (p. 35). He points to the verse: "Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do good deeds and associate no one in the worship of his Lord" (Quran 18:110).

A Sufi lives in the world

The book firmly rejects the idea that Sufism means running away from life (p. 53). A student who spends years away from home to become a doctor or an engineer is not called a recluse, and neither is a seeker who spends time in a khanqah to learn the inner sciences. The great saints of the subcontinent, such as Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore and Bahauddin Zakariya in Multan, spent their lives among people; thousands are still fed at Data Sahib's shrine every day.

Practice is the test. In the author's words, there is no true knowing (irfan) without action: someone who does not act is not a Sufi, and might better be called a philosopher or a theologian (p. 66).

The qualities of a Sufi

The book lists twenty-one qualities (pp. 39–40). Among them, a Sufi:

• remembers Allah often, with praise and glorification (dhikr);

• builds a living connection with Allah in prayer, and fasts to come closer to Him;

• turns attention away from everything else to search within (muraqaba);

• controls anger, and grows in forgiveness and pardon;

• serves Allah's creation without self-interest, as Allah provides for His creation without any need of His own;

• is free of fear and grief, the mark of the friends of Allah (Quran 10:62);

• thanks Allah for every blessing and does not complain about what he lacks;

• is fair in his dealings and never takes what is another's right;

• respects every person, whatever their religion or community, and counts helping them his duty;

• does not lie, and does not like lying;

• is the first to greet others with salaam;

• is generous, because hospitality is a Sufi tradition.

Love for all of creation

A Sufi loves every person, near or far, because all of them are Allah's creation, and forces nothing on anyone (p. 66). The author recalls the saying "Creation is the family of Allah": the friend of Allah counts himself one member of that family, and sees Allah's light in the outward and inward of every thing.

In one sentence

A Sufi keeps the outward law, purifies the self, serves people, and through all of it comes to know Allah: not by leaving the world, but by recognising His presence within it.

Based on Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi, Ahsan o Tasawwuf (Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi Research Society), pp. 35–40, 53 and 66.