Quora Answer: How Would You Describe Sufism?
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ How would you describe Sufism? ” Sufism, known as taswawwuf or ‘irfan , is the science of Islamic spirituality. Just as an accredited scholar of fiqh , jurisprudence, is known as a faqih , jurist; the master of this science is known as a Sufi. The schools of practice are known as thuruq , the singular being thariqa’ . According to the Mufti of Baghdad, and one of the great scholars of Islam, Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ), the Sufis have four interpretations for their names. These names are given on account of what they represented to those who knew of them and their ways. He said that when some had looked at the exterior and seen the woolen garb of which they became famous for wearing, they were called after the Arabic word for wool, “ swuf ”. Others looked at their way of life, free from the an...