{"id":10539,"date":"2017-11-24T21:07:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T21:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10539"},"modified":"2017-11-25T21:10:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-25T21:10:03","slug":"who-are-the-sufis-and-why-does-is-see-them-as-threatening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/who-are-the-sufis-and-why-does-is-see-them-as-threatening\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are the Sufis and why does IS see them as threatening?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Gottschalk<\/a>, Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Over 200 people were killed<\/a> and many more injured in an attack on a Sufi mosque in Egypt\u2019s North Sinai region on Friday. The assault began with a bomb exploding as people were finishing their Friday prayers. As people fled and ambulances arrived, militants opened gunfire on them. It is the deadliest ever attack on civilians in Egypt\u2019s modern history. <\/p>\n

This is not the first time a cherished Sufi site and Sufi worshipers have been the target of extremists<\/a>. Earlier this year, in February, a bomb exploded<\/a> at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar<\/a>, in southeastern Pakistan. In 2016, combatants of the so-called Islamic State distributed images of the supposed execution of a Sufi teacher<\/a>. The same year, the Pakistani Taliban murdered a popular Sufi singer of Pakistan, Amjad Sabri<\/a>. In 2010 the tomb of another Sufi saint Data Ganj Bakhsh<\/a> was bombed in Pakistan. <\/p>\n

In the past, IS has claimed responsibility<\/a> for some attacks against Sufis and their institutions, although no one so far has claimed responsibility for Friday\u2019s murderous assault. <\/p>\n

As a scholar of Muslim and Hindu traditions, I\u2019ve long appreciated the various and influential roles that Sufis and their tombs play in South Asian communities and many communities elsewhere in the world. From my perspective, the repercussions of the deplorable violence in Egypt and elsewhere go far beyond the scores of bodies strewn around the damaged shrine and the devastated families. <\/p>\n

Many Muslims and non-Muslims around the globe celebrate Sufi saints and gather together for worship in their shrines. Such practices, however, do not conform to the Islamic ideologies<\/a> of intolerant revivalist groups such as Islamic State. On the contrary, IS finds these practices threatening. Here\u2019s why. <\/p>\n

Who are the Sufis?<\/h2>\n

The origins of the word \u201cSufi\u201d come from an Arabic term for wool (suf)<\/a>. It references the unrefined wool clothes long worn by ancient west Asian ascetics and points to a common quality ascribed to Sufis \u2013 austerity. <\/p>\n

Commonly Muslims viewed this austerity as stemming from a sincere religious devotion that compelled the Sufi into a close, personal relationship with God, modeled on aspects of the Prophet Muhammad\u2019s life. This often involved a more inward, contemplative focus<\/a> than many other forms of Islamic practice. <\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Tomb of Data Ganj Bakhsh in Pakistan.<\/span>
\n Guilhem Vellut<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In some instances, Sufis challenged contemporary norms in order to shock their Muslim neighbors into more religiously intentional lives. For example, an eighth-century female Sufi saint, known popularly as Rabia al-Adawiyya<\/a>, is said to have walked through her hometown of Basra, in modern-day Iraq, with a lit torch in one hand and a bucket of water in another. When asked why, she replied that she hoped to burn down heaven and douse hell\u2019s fire so people would \u2013 without concern for reward or punishment \u2013 love God.<\/p>\n

Others used poetry in order to express their devotion. For example, the famous 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi leader Jal\u0101l ad-D\u012bn Muhammad R\u016bm\u012b<\/a> relied upon themes of love and desire to communicate the yearning for a heartfelt relationship with God. Yet others, such as such as Data Ganj Bakhsh, an 11th-century Sufi, wrote dense philosophical tracts<\/a> that used complicated theological arguments to explain Sufi concepts to Islamic scholars. <\/p>\n

Sufi veneration<\/h2>\n

Many Sufis are trained in \u201ctariqas\u201d (brotherhoods)<\/a> in which teachers carefully shape students.<\/p>\n

Rumi, for example, founded the famous \u201cMevlevi\u201d order best known as \u201cwhirling dervishes\u201d for their signature performance.<\/p>\n

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