Sufism (
tasawwuf
) ought to be just as important today as it has ever been
throughout its long history. Being a way of purifying the soul – a necessity
for each new generation – its role should never diminish with changing
times and circumstances.Yet, paradoxically, although it still has millions of
adherents, as a form of religion, it is definitely in a state of decline.
This is because the traditional form of
tasawwuf
, which has been shaped
by many historical accretions, has no great appeal for the modern educated
mind. For instance,
tasawwuf,
as we now know it, is embroidered by tales of
miracles and mysticism, and to find support for its ideology, it relies upon
doubtful analogies. But the scientific mind is skeptical of analogies and is
impatient with mysticism.
There is also the question of Sufism being heart-based, the heart in
ancient times being regarded as the seat of thought and emotion. But now
modern science has shown the heart to be nothing but an organ which
controls the circulation of the blood and it has been conceded that it is the
mind which is the centre of both thought and emotion.This being so,
tasawwuf
should now be developed as a mind-based philosophy. It will thus have a
much stronger attraction for educated minds.
The need of the hour, therefore, is to modernize Sufism, couching it in
the contemporary idiom, and explaining its ideology in a way that should
address the present-day individual, whose major concern is as much with
intellectual development as it is with purification of the soul. That is why
11
Tasawwuf Today
