Sufism

Sufism is the mystical tradition within Islam, emphasizing the inner, spiritual dimensions of the faith over its external, legal requirements. Sufis seek a direct, personal experience of the divine — often described as annihilation of the self (fana) in God — through practices including meditation, chanting, music, dance, and ascetic discipline.

The word "Sufi" likely derives from suf (wool), referring to the simple wool garments worn by early Muslim ascetics who rejected worldly luxury. Sufism emerged in the 8th and 9th centuries as a spiritual counterweight to the increasingly legalistic and political Islam of the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. Figures like Rabia al-Adawiyya introduced the concept of divine love, while al-Hallaj was famously executed for declaring "I am the Truth" — interpreted as a blasphemous claim to divinity.

Sufism's greatest historical impact may be as Islam's most effective missionary force. While armies and merchants spread Islam to politically connected urban centers, Sufi saints and brotherhoods carried the faith to rural villages, adapting Islamic practice to local cultures in ways that made conversion feel less like cultural submission. This flexibility was crucial in the Islamization of Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Sufi poetry — from Rumi, Hafiz, and Ibn Arabi — remains among the most beloved literature in the Islamic world.