The argument goes on as follows: God has made this world a testing
ground. The divine test can be carried out only in interaction with others,
when man has regular dealings with other men and acts with the thought
of God in his mind. It is in the discharge of his worldly duties that he is
tested as to whether or not he has really imbibed the true Islamic spirit.
God has not told man to worship Him formally twenty-four hours a day.
Therefore, if a man follows this path, the path of constant formal worship,
it amounts to a willful shift in emphasis. According to the Qur’an, God
desires man to remember Him continuously, but while taking part in all
the lawful activities of the world. That is why the great importance given
to the chanting of certain words and phrases for long hours at a time, as
advocated by the Sufis, amounts to a shift in emphasis. In the Indian context,
the Sufis definitely came under the influence of the spiritual exercises of
the yogis and the practices of the
bhagats
. Hinduism believed that words
had special effect and that, by chanting them a certain number of times,
even gods could be controlled and their favours received. This practice is
attested to in the present day in the singing of
bhajans
by the Hindus and
kirtan
by the Sikhs.
The early Sufis, first and foremost, laid stress on the renunciation of
worldly pleasures. They also emphasized the fear of God and Judgement
Day, and the need to centre one’s thoughts on the fact that on the Day of
Judgement one would be judged according to his good and bad deeds.Thus
there are the famous early Sufis likeAbu Darda (a companion of the Prophet),
Hasan al-Basri (642-728) and others, who used to remember God most of
the time, pray to Him and cry to seek His pardon. When asked why they
did so, they would reply that even if they had not made any intentional
mistake that required repentance, they might have made an unintentional
mistake. For this they sought God’s forgiveness by resorting to
nafl
prayer,
Th e Or i g i n a n d E v o l u t i on o f Su f i s m 20
