spiritual practices do provide a direct approach to God. Finally, there were
many, especially from the 13-14
th
century onwards, who were influenced
by an existential monism, similar to the mystical philosophy of Ibn ‘Arabi.
These Sufis saw God as being present in each and every one of His creations
and were, in consequence, labelled pantheists by the orthodox.
Thus, the two main lines of Sufi thought were:
a. wahdat al shuhud
b. wahdat al wujud
Wahdat al Shuhud
This concept means the ‘Oneness of Witness’, Al-Hallaj being its
principal exponent.
Union with God is achieved by God bearing witness to Himself and to
His mystery of Unity, in the mystic’s heart.The divine transcendence and its
complete Oneness in relation to all creation is the central object of the act of
faith. But the meeting with God is brought about by love.This love establishes
a dialogue between the heart of a Sufi and God until both, that is the Sufi and
God, become one.
It is well known that the official Islam of the 9
th
century opposed this
union of love, this oneness of Witness (oneness of a Sufi and God) in the
duality of natures.
The most eloquent exponent of the concept of
wahdat al shuhud
as opposed
to
wahdat al wujud
was Ahmad Sirhindi (d.1623), a Naqshbandi Sufi of the
Indian subcontinent. In order to understand his thought, one has to keep in
mind the gulf created between Islam and Sufism by Ibn ‘Arabi’s theories of
wahdat al wujud
. Ibn ‘Arabi saw God’s manifestation in every single thing
Th e Fo rma t i v e P e r i od 62
