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the Message Continues ... 5/114

 

 

Newsletter for February 2011

 

Article 1 - Article 2 - Article 3 - Article 4 - Article 5 - Article 6 - Article 7 - Article 8 - Article 9 - Article 10 - Article 11 - Article 12

 

 

 

Sufi Islam and its Popularity in the West


What is the reason for the great popularity of Sufi Islam? Well, the religion, and for that matter any religion , primarily fulfills two human needs – moral and spiritual. Take a close look at the great religions of the world ; most of them originated in the times of great moral degradation. When greed, crass materialism, war, pillage, loot, plunder and ruthless exploitation begins to rule, a reformer, a prophet and great moral thinker appears on the scene and either through divine revelation or his own thoughts, tries to restore morality in the society.

Such a person does not normally rely on rational thought alone but also anchors his teachings deep into his inner spiritual resources. All great religious founders resorted to what one can call deep encounter with one's own self and searched for truth deep inside. It is this encounter with one's own self or solitude which provides the resource for abiding truth and that appeals to the people. Mere rational thought, however philosophical or exalted it may be, will not have a deeper emotional impact on people.

Rational thought, it may be noted, has its own significance and performs great social functions and ensures human development and progress and so there is no question of lessening its importance. But it appeals to the intellectuals and engineers and architects of society and scientific thought. However, either they are averse to or simply not interested in what is human deeper emotional self and its potential.

The Sufi are explorers of macrocosm, not microcosm. Their interest is in what is out there, not what is in here. The Sufis, mystics and bhaktas explore their inner self and for them self is more important than the whole universe as the universe is much more important to intellectuals and philosopher and scientists than the inner self. The Sufis and mystics maintain that one who has deeper knowledge of oneself (self) can have knowledge of God (Rabb). God can be understood , not rationally, but through deeper spiritual resources.

 

 

 

 

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