Islam in India is the spiritual legacy of the mystics and Sufis, much in the same way as Sanatan Dharma was preached by the rishi-munis. Islamic mysticism or spirituality stood for the unity of existence, universal brotherhood, complete submission to and higher personal relationship with God. Sufism has a foundation in Quran, the Hadith (prophetic traditions) and discourses of early Muslim saints.
Mysticism is referred to as ihsan (moral excellence) and rabbaniat (godliness) in the holy Quran. Rabbaniat or the Islamic mysticism is the impact of godliness on man’s life, which transforms the inner self and is expressed through the outer self.
Therefore, Sufism gives greater importance to purification of our hearts and souls than the performance of our daily religious rituals. Islamic mystics believe heart is the deciding entity of man’s righteousness or wrongdoings, as the Prophet said: “In the body, there is a piece of flesh (mudghah), if it is good, the whole body is good, and if it is bad, the whole body is bad; truly it is the heart.”
Obviously, man is a combination of body and spirit. Since the human body is brought to life on this planet, it is inclined towards the earthly beastly tendencies such as hatred, revenge, anger, violence and selfishness. But spirit comes from heaven and therefore it imbibes in man heavenly-inclinations: love, peace, harmony, forgiveness, tolerance, sacrifice and all other angelic beauties.
In view of the present tribulations of the time, Sufism’s emphasis on wasatiyyah (moderation in life) should also be refreshed. It exhorts man not to transgress the limits determined by God. Therefore, it often lays stress on the Quranic verse: “O Lord, guide us to the Middlemost Path (Sirat al Mustaqeem).” This verse requires from us to live in conformity with the sirat-e-mustaqeem i.e. the middlemost and moderate way of life.
If this spiritual Islamic principle is practised in its entirety, we will find an effective solution for all evils of extremism (tatarruf), harshness (tanattu), violence (tashaddud) and exaggeration (ghuloow) not only in matters of faith, but in whole life.
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an English-Arabic-Urdu writer. He is associated with the New Age Islam Foundation and can be contacted at: grdehlavi@gmail.com
