tasawwuf
should necessarily be linked with real events and its objectives
expressed in a scientific manner. Its attraction will thus reach far beyond the
poor, the distressed, the under-educated and the downtrodden who at present
make up the bulk of its following. Even in a modern country like Egypt, the
adherents of Sufism largely fall into the category of the underprivileged.
One constituent of present-day Sufism which may appeal to the modern
mind is the practice of meditation. But it should be borne in mind that
meditation, which began to be favoured by the Sufis under the influence of
local yogic practices, should be discounted, for the simple reason that it fails
to awaken the human mind. In any case, meditation is practiced more to
relieve stress and promote relaxation than to attain great spiritual heights.
Likewise, the practice of inducing a state of ecstasy by means of special
exercises is not a part of authentic Sufism, because it has nothing to do with
that spiritual development which is the actual aim of Sufism.
Formerly, people used to go to Sufis in order to learn the spiritual aspects
of their religion and to be trained in spirituality. But now the situation has
changed. One reason for this is that at present there are very few genuine
Sufis in the Khanqahs.This has led to
tasawwuf
existing today in a degenerated
form. For example, nowadays people do visit
dargahs
, supposedly to satisfy
their spiritual feelings. But, in actuality, all that they accomplish is to meet
Sufi
pirs
in order to ask for their blessings and then go and prostrate
themselves at Sufi graves. All this represents Sufism in a diluted if not
distorted form. In ancient times a Sufi was revered on account of his great
spiritual achievements. But, now Gaddis (seats) have been formed in the
name of past Sufis and anyone who acquires such a seat, mostly as a matter
of heredity, is acknowledged as a Sufi.These Sufis who have acquired gaddis
in this way carry out no new research and produce no new books, for no
