Some thoughts on Sufis and Sufism

Who would have thought that the promoters of love and peace will get rebuked?

But it happens.

Our rusty friend has coined a term "sufiapa" which Kaal the sufi hater, has picked up. I think Jang and Kaal are entitled to their opinions, and I don’t think they have any malicious intent at heart, merely a misunderstanding of what Sufism is.

Sufi-apa. It is possible. There are female sufis who are old enough to be your apas. nothing wrong with that.

So here are some of my thoughts on sufism, and please keep in mind that I am not a sufi, nor do I play one on chowk, these are just personal observations.

1. A lot of people call themselves sufis, or others call them sufis, where these people often are not Sufis at all. In fact, in pakistan, older men with beards are usually called sufi ji, or sufi saab.

2. A sufi preaches the path of love. Love for God and all creation. Sufism is not a religion in its own, it is a school of thought, a practice.

3. There is a huge difference between sufis, peer, fakir, dervaish, and malang. Sufis do not give up normal life to be closer to God. Sufis may continue to practice a profession and lead a normal life and continue to develop meditational depths. A lot of people confuse malangs, fakirs, or peers as sufis. Most of these people are not sufis.

4. Sufis do not claim to be a religion, or to be the only way.

5. There are many schools of thoughts in sufism. Some allow followers of any religion to become members of the order, others require that only muslims can be members of the order.

6. Merely doing bayt does not make one a sufi. One needs to be trained over the years, until one reaches the higher spiritual planes.

7. Sufi students are advised against discussing sufi matters until they have reached a level of maturity in sufi learning (hint hint naqsh).

8. Sufis do not like to be identified as sufis .

please, discuss with an open mind