MYSTICAL STRATEGIES: SUFISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Arthur Saniotis
University of Adelaide, Australia

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Abstract

Like other traditional Islamic forms of religious and social expres-

sion, Sufism is becoming increasingly challenged by the forces of modern-
ism and by the Islamicist movements. Yet, because of its tolerant view of
other religious disciplines, there is great potential for Sufism to have a
positive impact on the social evolution of Muslim and non-Muslim societ-
ies in the 21st century. This paper will investigate how Sufism can come to
terms with this new social environment and its entourage of modernist and
Islamicist logics. It involves an overview of Sufism’s past to give some
insight as to how it can respond to the 21st century.

Notwithstanding its apparent mystical and quietist import, the role

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Prajna Vihara, Volume 12, Number 1, January-June, 2011, 45-50 45
c 2000 by Assumption University Press
of Sufism may have an influential impact on the social evolution of Muslim
and non-Muslim societies in the 21st century. Like other traditional Is-
lamic forms of religious and social expression, Sufism is becoming in-
creasingly impinged by the forces of modernism and Islamicist movements.
Although Sufism emerged from the political and social backdrop
of the Umayyad dynasty which had in part strayed from the principles of
nascent Islam, Sufism must now reformulate its position for the 21st cen-
tury. Abdul Aziz Said views Sufism as a humanising response to the emer-
gence of modernist models and their ruthless debunking of traditional forms
of religion and value systems. But how will Sufism come to terms with this
new social environment and its entourage of modernist and Islamicist log-
ics? Perhaps, an overview of Sufism’s past may give some insight as to
how it will respond to the 21st century.
As Islam spread into North Africa, Asia and Europe during the
7th century it began to take on a cosmopolitan feel. Islamic scholars and
administrators began to incorporate various knowledges from civilisations
which they had encountered, inevitably leading to an efflorescence of sci-
entific learning and inquiry __ the age of Islamic science had been sparked.
Generally speaking, early Muslims saw their relationship with their non-
Muslim hosts as complementing their particular worldview. The saying of
the Prophet Muhammad to “seek knowledge as far as China” prompted
this spirit of co-existence and conveyed the “genius of authentic Islam” to
coin Abdul Aziz Said.1 Thus, the formation of Muslim societies was in-
formed and contoured by their relationship with older civilisations.
The rationale of tolerance was further conveyed by various Sufi
orders (tariqa) which spread throughout the Islamic world from the ninth
century onwards. One of the hallmarks of traditional Sufism was its ability
to adapt to the socio-cultural environments where it found itself in. This
process of adaptation was often prompted by Sufism’s willingness to in-
corporate beliefs and practices from other cosmologies. The Islamic
scholar Stoddart claims that early Sufi thinkers sometimes borrowed ideas
from Neo-Platonic and other spiritual traditions in order to broaden their
doctrinal positions.2
Arguably, the Indian Sufi orders provide the most outstanding
example of this syncretic attitude. For example, the Chistiyyah order
became renowned for its broad range of humanitarian activities and prac-

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46 Prajna Vihara
tice of religious tolerance, which became an integral ideological bridge
between Islam and Hinduism. There is little doubt that Sufi orders such as
the Chistiyyah adopted a more liberal understanding of Hinduism, and
emphasised communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims. Khizer
even claims that:

The Sufis, unlike the ‘ulama’ did not keep themselves

aloof from Indian mainstream. They adopted local idiom
and preached the message of love and universal brother-
hood.3

On this note, it seems that Sufi orders were often more aware of
the social conditions of the common people and tended to their spiritual
and physical needs than the Islamic clerics.
Evans-Pritchard’s classic study of the Sanusi order of Cyrenaica
(1954) not only aroused a generation of studies of North African Sufi
orders, but emphasised their social and political implications for North
African societies. Evans-Prtichard pointed out that the austere nature of
Islam in North Africa was considered by many lay Muslims as too rigid.4
Consequently, Sufi orders tended to adopt more individualistic and
experientialist approaches which found their social expression in present
day saints’ cults. A similar scenario is observed in many Muslim societies
today, reaffirming Ziauddin Sardar’s view that traditional Muslim commu-
nities are constantly reinventing and innovating tradition.5

Strategies For the Future

What can Sufi interpretations of Islam offer Muslim and non-Muslim

societies in the present day and beyond? My guess is a great deal. How-
ever, initially what needs to be done is to dispel the notion of Sufism as an
outdated and irrelevant form of “dervishism”. The fact remains that in
many Muslim societies such as India, Pakistan, the Central Asian Repub-
lics, and North Africa, Sufism continues to play a significant role in shap-
ing and “sustaining communal identity”.6 In these societies a crucial source
for the maintenance of Islamic cultural knowledge and practice derives

Arthur Saniotis 47
from the belief in Sufi saints. To believe in the collective of God’s saints
(auliya) and to perform pilgrimage at their shrines are personal forms of
piety, which confer spiritual merit to believers. Not only are saints’ shrines
prominent features in the Islamic landscape, but clearly demonstrates the
religious sway of Sufism for millions of Muslims.
It is also important to note how saints’ shrines have for centuries
been centres for genuine inter-religious harmony. When I was conducting
field-work during 1994-5 at the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, I
regularly witnessed Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs performing pilgrimage
there. It was also common practice for Hindus to pray in the mosque
there and for Sufi teachers to have non-Muslim disciples. One Sufi even
compared the saint’s shrine to an open bar where all people were wel-
come. This kind of communal harmony was all the more astonishing in
light of the religious riots between Hindus and Muslims over the destruc-
tion of the Barbri mosque in Ayodha which had taken place a few years
before, as well as the flagrant discrimination of Muslims in Maharashtra
state and elsewhere in India.
What this kind of communal model indicates is not only the possi-
bility for Muslims to live peacefully with people from other religions, but
assists in the development of conflict resolution strategies in those Muslim
societies experiencing civil turmoil. In one interview, Hussein Aidid, son
of the deceased Somali warlord, stated his intention to implement a sys-
tem of law in Somalia based on a Sufi model which is in accordance with
Somalia’s clan based social system. Aidid’s remarks in large reflects the
“popularist and grass roots”7 backing of Sufism by many Muslims. Given
its respect for “native traditions and customs” Sufism is strongly placed as
a relevant social model for Islamic liberalism in the 21st century. As Abdul
Aziz Said says:

In the new international environment, viable conflict

resolution requires an understanding of the beliefs, val-
ues, and behaviour of conflicting parties.8

In this vein, Sufism has provided and continues to offer a viable

political and social rebuff of authoritarian regimes. Afghanistan is a case in
point. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Sufi orders played a

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48 Prajna Vihara
significant role of resistance, “offering solidarity and stability” to Afghans
without consideration to their ethnic backgrounds.9 Although the Sufi
orders went underground during the ensuing civil wars, Sufi followers had
pervaded every section of Afghan society. Sufi followers are also in-
cluded in the present interim government.10 The Sufi orders in the Central
Asian Republics were also highly effective in fostering armed and ideo-
logical resistance against Tsarist and Soviet expansion.11
In the current climate of Islamicist resurgence Sufi inspired para-
digms of inter-ethnic tolerance and liberal humanism (an Islamic develop-
ment) are still a potent social force. Given the profound influence of Sufism
on Muslim polity12 it is unreasonable to suggest that Sufism is a spent
force in the 21st century. It is because Sufism draws much of its social and
moral power from the grassroots level that makes it a positive model for
social change.
Ironically, it is the emerging global system’s symbiotic paradigm
which corresponds with Sufism’s integral approach to social relations.
Here perhaps, Sufism may offer a crucial ideological nexus between Islam
and the West in the 21st century and beyond.

Endnotes
1
Said, A. A. 2001. “Islam and the West: Toward Common Ground”, in
Global Education Association.
2
Stoddart, W. 1994. Sufism: The Mystical Doctrines and Methods of Islam,
New Delhi: Taj Company. p. 43.
3
Khizer, M. M. 1991. “Sufism and Social Integration”, Sufism and Carnival
Harmony, A. A. Engineer. (ed.) Jaipur, India: Printwell. P. 109.
4
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1954. The Sanusi of Cyrenaica, Oxford: Clarendon
Press. p. 1-3.
5
Sardar, Z. 2002. “Islam and the West in a Transmodern World”, in Islam
Online. June 5th. p. 2.
6
Tyson, D. 1997. “Shrine and Pilgrimage in Turkmenistan as a Means to
understand Islam Among the Turkmen”, in Central Asian Monitor - On-Line Supple-
ment. No.1. p. 1.
7
Ferguson, R. J. 1996. “Meeting on the Road: Cosmopolitan Islamic Cul-
ture and the Politics of Sufism”, in The Centre for East-West Cultural and Eco-
nomic Studies, Research Paper no. 4, December. Bond University. School of Hu-
manities and Social Sciences.

Arthur Saniotis 49
 8
Said, A. A. 1994. “A Sufi Response”, in Religion and World Order Sym-
posium. p. 4.
9
Alexe, D. “Afghanistan: Sufi Brotherhoods Reemerge After the Fall of the
Taliban, in Radio Free Europe. February 1st, 2002. p. 1.
10
Alexe, D.” “Afghanistan: Sufi Brotherhoods Reemerge After the Fall of
the Taliban”, in Radio Free Europe. February 1st, 2002. p. 3.
11
Ferguson, R. J. 1996. “Meeting on the Road: Cosmopolitan Islamic Cul-
ture and the Politics of Sufism”, in The Centre for East-West Cultural and Eco-
nomic Studies, Research Paper no. 4, December. Bond University. School of Hu-
manities and Social Sciences.
12
Ferguson, R. J. 1996. “Meeting on the Road: Cosmopolitan Islamic Cul-
ture and the Politics of Sufism”, in The Centre for East-West Cultural and Eco-
nomic Studies, Research Paper no. 4, December. Bond University. School of Hu-
manities and Social Sciences.

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