Glossary
Abdal:
Literally, ‘the substitutes’. According to Sufi belief there exists
a set of seventy saints.These are called
abdal
because when one dies, another
carries on his function. A certain number of them are the
siddiqun
or The
Truthful Ones. OneTruthful or
Siddiq
is the
qutb
(axis or pole), the center of
the human activity on earth.
Al Hikma al Aliya:
DivineWisdom
Alim:
Sing.
alim
, pl.
ulama
, from
ilm
– knowledge; a learned man, a
religious scholar.
Ahwal
:
pl. of
hal
, spiritual state of the soul
Arif:
Literal meaning: ‘the knower’, ‘the knowing one’, ‘gnostic’. In
the context of Sufism it implies a person possessed of a direct knowledge of
God; a mystic who knows God through personal spiritual experience and
vision; one who has attained gnosis or
‘ma‘arifah’
and thus, reached the
highest stage in the spiritual path.
Ashab-i Suffa:
‘The People of the Bench’, also called ‘The People of
the Porch.’When the Prophet of Islam migrated to Madinah, a number of
his followers did not engage themselves in activities that would earn them
their livelihood but spent their time in worship and memorizing the Qur’an
and the
hadith
. The Prophet and his companions looked after their needs.
They stayed in the porch of the Prophet’s mosque, hence their name.
Barakah:
The actual meaning of the word is ‘to settle’, ‘to flourish’,
and ‘to grow’. In Sufism it means ‘blessings’ and ‘grace’ – in the sense of a
blessing or a spiritual influence sent down by God and inherent in certain
persons or certain objects. Also, certain actions may bring blessings, while
certain other actions may dispel it.
