Hence, religion, which by its very nature is concerned to...
Hence, religion, which by its very nature is concerned to one degree or another with the transcendent and eternal world, cannot but cause the appearance of certain among its followers, who, this hidden urge having been awakened within them, will sever all attachments with this fleeting world full of pain and hardship, and with the hope of absolute bliss and serenity will concern themselves with the eternal abode.
And in practice also we see that in every one of the world’s religions there exists a group enamoured of the spiritual life and mystical way. By comparing the presentation of spiritual matters in the basic texts of the world’s religions it can be clearly observed that the texts of Islam have concerned themselves with the description of everlasting felicity and the external world more than the texts of other religions.
Therefore, the appearance of the way of the purification of the soul within Islam is perfectly natural, without there being the need for any relationship as to its origins with India or with any other place.
Furthermore, as history is there to prove, a large number of the companions of Ali (the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet and the first Shi’ite Imam) such as Salman, Kumayl, Rashid, Maytham and Uways were under his direct spiritual guidance and instruction -at a time when Islam had not yet reached India and when there could be no question of contact with Indian thought.
The fact that the chains of spiritual initiation (silsilah) of practically all of the Sufi orders in Islam reach back to Ali further corroborates this point. Adapted from the book titled “Muhammad in the Mirror of Islam” by William C. Chittick Continue in the next article: ( http://Islamic Doctrines on Equality, Realism, Wisdom and Mysticism (7) ) Leave a Comment Leave a Comment Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
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