Sufism or ‘Tasawuf’ is the esoteric school of Islam and it is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. The Sufis believe that this inner dimension has been described as ‘ihsan’ by Prophet Mohammad (SAW) in the famous Hadith-i-Jibril, in which when Jibril (AS) asked the Prophet (SAW) about what ‘ihsan’ is, he replied, “It is to worship God as though you see Him, and if you do not see Him then (knowing that) truly He sees you.” The lexical root of the word Sufi is variously traced to sūf "wool", referring either to the simple cloaks the early Muslim ascetics wore, or possibly to safā "purity". The two were combined by Al-Rudhabari who said, "The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top of purity." Others suggest that the origin of the word ‘Sufi’ is from Ashab -is-Suffa "Companions of the Porch", who were a group of impoverished Muslims during the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who spent much of their time on the veranda of the Prophet's mosque, devoted to prayer and eager to memorize each new increment of the Qur’an as it was revealed.
Yet another etymology, advanced by the 10th century Persian historian Al-Biruni is that the word is linked with Greek word ‘Sophia’, as it appears in the words like philosophy and theosophy etc., which means knowledge and wisdom. Ibn Khaldun, the 14th century Arab historian, described Sufism as: “... dedication to worship, total dedication to Allah most High, disregard for the finery and ornament of the world, abstinence from the pleasure, wealth, and prestige sought by most men, and retiring from others to worship alone.” Ibn Khaldun's words are an accurate description of Sufis today. Sufis are, amongst other things, sagacious, cheerful and disarming. Sufis share these personality traits because they are emphatic that Islamic knowledge should be learned from the spiritual teachers and not exclusively from books.
Tariqas can trace their teachers back through the generations to the Prophet (pbuh) himself. Modeling themselves on their teachers, the disciples hope that they too will glean something of the Prophetic character. Although Sufis are relatively few in number they have shaped Islamic thought and history. Through the centuries Sufis contributed hugely to Islamic literature for example Rumi, Omar Khayyám and Al-Ghazali's influence extended beyond Muslim lands to be quoted by Western philosophers, writers and theologians. Sufis were influential in spreading Islam particularly to the furthest outposts of the Muslim world in Africa, India and the Far East. Today Sufism remains part of Muslim culture and even Muslims critical of Sufism eventually laud it or even join its ranks. Sufism is founded on the personal, spiritual and objective pursuit of the Divine Truth. The seeker (salik) has to involve his material self in the process of self-purification and self-discovery.

While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and will become close to God in Paradise after death and after the "Final Judgment", Sufis also believe that it is possible to draw closer to God and one can realize the Divine Presence in this life. The orthodox religionists consider the relation between God and the individual as master-servant relationship whereas the Sufis are of the view that the relation between the two is beloved-lover relationship. The chief aim of all Sufis is to seek the pleasing of God by working to restore within themselves the primordial state of ‘fitra’, described in the Qur'an and Hadith. According to the Sufi ideology, the human nature consists of two antithetical powers i.e., body (matter) and spirit. The body was created from the clay and water and the soul was breathed into it which dwelt in the spiritual world. The spirit desperately longs for its real home and it desires for the companionship of its beloved creator. Maulana Rumi, who was called by Professor A J Arberry, “surely the greatest mystical poet in the history of mankind”, compares this longing with the reed-flute which laments for its banishment from its home, in the opening lines of his masterpiece, The Masnavi , he says,

“Hearken to the reed-flute, how it complains,
Lamenting its banishment from its home:
“Ever since they tore me from my osier bed
My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears
I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs,
And to express the pangs of my yearnings for my home…”
The leading mystic poetess of Kashmir, Lalla Ded renders this longing for the Eternal Beloved like this,
“With a rope of un-spun thread am I towing my boat upon the sea.
O would God make me reach the shore:
As water leaks out from the unbaked earthen vial,

My soul yearns to reach its home”.

While referring to the creation of Man, The Holy Quran says, “Then (Allah) formed him and breathed His spirit into him and gave you hearing, sight and hearts, what little thanks you show” (32:9).It suggests that human spirit has a close relation with its creator and it is for a short duration that it has been shifted into the human body. According to the Sufis there are two natural pulls persistent in every human being, the material pull and the spiritual pull, the former pulls it towards the matter and the later pulls it towards the spiritual companionship (was) of the Eternal Beloved. Thus, a person feeding his material self and starving his spirit can not attain the higher perception and satisfaction in his life. This concept is mentioned in the Upanishad like this “Man in his ignorance identifies himself with the material sheets which encompass his real self.”
What an individual has to do is that he has to discover his spiritual ego in the rubble of these material sheets. This ambition of unveiling the transcendental and metaphysical mysteries of life motivates the Sufis to strive desperately for the achievement of the spiritual ideal. Rumi says, “You belong to the world of dimensions but you came from the non-dimensional world, close the first shop and open the second one.” According to Imam Al Ghazali, a Sufi at first has to bring about an ethical revolution within his own self and then he can bring about an effective revolution in the society. All this is undertaken by the single motivation of love of God.
Sufism is the way of purifying the lower self of its reprehensible traits, while adorning it instead with what is praiseworthy, whether or not this process of cleansing and purifying the heart is in time rewarded by esoteric knowledge of God. This can be conceived in terms of two basic types of law (fiqh), an outer law concerned with actions, and an inner law concerned with the human heart. The outer law consists of rules pertaining to worship, transactions, marriage, judicial rulings, and criminal law — what is often referred to, a bit too broadly, as shariah. The inner law of Sufism consists of rules about repentance from sin, the purging of contemptible qualities and evil traits of character, and adornment with virtues and good character.
According to Allama Iqbal, “…religious life may be divided into three periods. These may be described as the periods of ‘faith’, ‘thought’, and ‘discovery’. In the first period religious life appears as a form of discipline which the individual or a whole people must accept as an unconditional command without any rational understanding of the ultimate meaning and purpose of that command.” (The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam page no181) a Muslim Sufi passes through all the three stages; he gains the spiritual and metaphysical knowledge by individual perception, not by releasing himself from the fetters of the law, but by discovering the ultimate source of the law within the depths of his own conscience.
Thus, the terms like prophethood, revelation, the angels etc. which previously were understood and imagined in terms of conformation or abstraction, as if reveal their true meaning to the seeker. Similarly, the concept of omnipresence of God is one of the fundamental beliefs of Islam, as the common Muslims accept it by conformation that is why it hardly affects their thinking and practices whereas a Sufi experiences it in the depths of his soul.
According to Allama Iqbal, Sufism is essentially “a system of verification- a spiritual method by which the ego realizes as fact what intellect has understood as theory.” The noted Scottish orientalist A R Gibb writes about the role of Sufism in the propagation of Islamic culture, “There have been many times in the history of Islam when the culture of Islam has been fiercely contested, but these efforts have not succeeded. The main reason behind this is that Sufism and the way of thinking of the Sufis immediately came to its aid and helped it. It gave so much energy and strength to Islam that no force [on the earth] could resist it."

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