Sufi

I actually don't know anything about it, I'd just like to know about the sufi doctrine in islamic beliefs.

Good place to start.
en.wikipedia.org...

The following 'snipits' taken from the above link sum it up nicely IMO:

Sufism is a system of esoteric philosophy commonly associated with Islam. In modern language it might also be referred to as "Islamic spirituality" or "Islamic mysticism".

Sufis believe that their teachings are the essence of every religion, and indeed of the evolution of humanity as a whole. The central concept in Sufism is "love". That love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe.

Since they believe that everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices to see the beauty inside the apparently ugly, and to open arms to what they believe as even the most evil one.

Although philosophies vary between different Sufi sects, Sufism as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such is often compared to Zen Buddhism and Gnosticism. The following metaphor, credited to an unknown Sufi scholar, helps describe this line of thought. "There are three ways of knowing a thing. Take for instance a flame. One can be told of the flame, one can see the flame with his own eyes, and finally one can reach out and be burned by it. In this way, we Sufis seek to be burned by God."

A large part of Muslim literature comes from the Sufis, who created great books of poetry (which include for example the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the Conference of the Birds and the Masnavi), all of which contain the profound, and hardly graspable, teachings of the Sufis.

I'm no expert on this, so don't take this as anything more than my own opinion but it does seem interesting that Sufi Spiritualism appears to be somewhat distinct from what is most commonly known today as Islamic Religion. I have noticed how this seems to be a very common occurance in just about every Religious Philiosophy I've researched. Anyone else notice this as well???

Here is some support which adds to what I'm saying:

Sufism is usually seen in relation to Islam. There is a major line of Non-Islamic or offshoot-Islamic Sufi thought that sees Sufism as predating Islam and being in fact universal and, therefore, independent of the Qur'an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. This view of Sufism has understandably been popular in the West and has been always opposed by Traditional Sufis who practice it in the framework of Islam.

I guess that makes the "Traditional Sufis" within the Islamic Framwork alot like the various other "Traditional religious orders" and their specific denomination of choice. It seems kinda strange to me that these so called "Traditional Sufis" would be so opposed, or should I say, Intolerant, toward the idea that God & Divinity could possibly exist outside the rigid confines of Islam and the Qur'an. Wasn't the whole 'Sufi' concept about "Love", "Tolerance" and even "To see the beauty inside the apparently ugly, and to open arms to what they believe as even the most evil one." How quickly they seem to forget thier very own words of wisdom of which they claim to know so well!!

Another Source for you own personal copies of Islamic and/or Sufi Text:
www.sacred-texts.com...

I know that Dr Bob Gibson is a follower and student of the Sufi teachings.
I think he has a website and I am sure it would be interesting.

Originally posted by theRiverGoddess
I know that Dr Bob Gibson is a follower and student of the Sufi teachings.
I think he has a website and I am sure it would be interesting.

Thanks for the tip Goddess. The search I tried on Dr. Bob Gibson came up somewhat lacking at first, I assume because just that alone is somewhat vague. A little more digging and I did come up with:
From: "The Place Of Language In The Teachings" By Rhondell
www.marshasummers.com...

So a tip for others planning on searching this guy out, here are some clues for better results. Try using:
Robert Rhondell Gibson
Dr. Robert "Bob" Gibson
Dr. Robert "Rhondell" Gibson
rhondell.com
...and other variations thereof...

Goddess, have you done much research on the Sufi Teaching???
Along with the above I noticed that Gurdjieff came up quite a bit as well. (Not exactly unexpected either I guess.) Once again a sign post pointing in the direction of that cleverly disguised "Universal Truth/Enlightenment" thing we've all heard so much about and which every now and then some very kind soul dedicates their life to helping the rest of us find it as well. I still find it ironic and humbling each and every time I re-discover another bit of "That Secret Hidden Everywhere" myself.

[edit on 3-5-2005 by mOjOm]