Description
Most people believe that Sufism is an exclusively Islamic religious matter, meaning that delving into the state of faith necessarily leads to entering the Sufi state. This common belief, in my view, requires re-examination. Non-Muslims also exhibit what we call “Sufism.” In a monumental study a thousand years ago, Abu Rayhan al-Biruni’s *The Remaining Traces of Past Centuries*, the eminent scholar observed what he perceived as “similarities between the ascetics of India and the Sufis of the Muslims.” Furthermore, in the 7th century AH (13th century CE), the eloquent Sufi poet Abu al-Hasan al-Shushtari (d. 668 AH) composed beautiful poems celebrating the lives of monks in monasteries, strongly suggesting—almost explicitly—that monks and Sufis are one and the same.
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