Nafiur Rahman
Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam that emphasizes personal experience rather than the conventional form of knowledge. Sufism supports the concept that the truth is hidden under a veil that is waiting to be discovered. And once one starts the journey of Sufism, based on personal experience, a constant transformation of consciousness starts to initiate. Thus eventually leading to a deeper understanding of reality and towards spiritual growth.
According to Sufism, the emergence of Islam had seen a number of transitions as a number of Prophets were sent on the Earth to guide the mass people towards the righteous path and achieve enlightenment. But after the Prophets, this duty was transmitted to the Sufi saints. Sufism helps to distinguish the four major branches of Islamic beliefs and ideologies, namely Shariyah, Hakikat, Tarikat and Marefat. However, despite the different approaches of people regarding these ideologies, Sufism helps to connect the dots in between them.
The emergence of Sufism gained popularity as a number of sages/saints have traveled throughout the globe to spread the knowledge and importance of the relation between the soul and the divine. Sufi scholars have used a number of techniques to serve the people and help achieve enlightenment through sincere practice and dedication. Techniques that were widely followed include the oral transmission of folks and short stories using characters such as Mulla Nasruddin and poets such as Shams-i Tabrīzī or Shams al-Din Mohammad and Abu Abd Allah Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Hakim ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Adam al-Rudhaki al-Sha’ir al-Samarqandi from Persia. Other approaches to Sufism include Tariqa-e-Kaderia, Tariqa-e-Chishtia, Tariqa-al-e-Naqshbandia and Tariqa-e-Mozaddedia.
In the context of Bangladesh, a number of Sufi saints have contributed to the establishment of Sufi ideologies that has helped the people understand the beauty and the inner truth of Islam. Sufism has always emphasized on the relation between the soul and the divine that exists in the form of nature itself. Singers such as Shah Abdul Karim, a prominent folk singer from Sylhet and Rita Dewan have sung hundreds of verses explaining the beauty and the connection between the human being and nature itself. Zikr has been another form of approach to Sufism for reaching the source of eternal knowledge emphasizing the role of the Qalb. According to such approaches, the Qalb is responsible for the Zikr itself through which the person can pass through various stages of enlightenment such as Fanaah-fi-Shahi, Fanaah-fi-Rasul and Fanaah-fi-Llah.
Over the last few decades, some of the prominent Sufi preachers have supported the Sufi ideologies to attain the truth of life and the reality, such as Hazrat Shah Jalal (R:) and Hazrat Shah Poran (R:) from Sylhet; Younus Ali (R:) from Enayetpur, Pabna; Khwaja Muzammel Hoque (R:) from Dhaka; Syed Abul Fazal Sultan Ahmed (R:) and Hashmatullah Faridpuri (R:) from Faridpur.The mystical path of Sufism and its ideologies has been transmitted towards the Eastern region of the world through a number of Sufi legends such as Ahmad Gazzali (R:) from Iran, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī from Afghanistan, Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī commonly known as Moinuddin Chishti from Ajmer, India and Abdul Qadir Gilani (R:) from Iran.