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Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, January 10, 2007
This review is from: Sufism: Veil and Quintessence A New Translation with Selected Letters (The Writings of Frithjof Schuon) (Paperback)
"There is a "contingent" Islam just as there is an "absolute" Islam. In order to separate the second from certain debatable elements pertaining only to the human clothing of the Message and not to the Message in itself, we are obliged also to give an account of the first, especially since esoterism is at stake, but it is obviously "absolute" Islam that matters to us..."
This ambitious and sublime treatise on the nature of Sufism is, according to my knowledge, unprecedented; and no wonder, since it was penned by the enigmatic spiritual genius Frithjof Schuon. What Schuon seeks to convey to his reader is that Sufism is comprised of an essential doctrine and practice which must be intuited and distinguished from its historical character, or its Semitic vestment. He begins by saying: ""Veil" (hijab) and "quintessence" (lubab): two words which are opposite in meaning, both as symbols and as doctrinal expressions, and which refer respectively to the outward and the inward, or to contingency and necessity. When we discern in Sufism a "veil," this must here be understood, not in the completely general sense that applies to every expression of the transcendent, but in a particular sense that pertains to historical Sufism by reason of its being bound up with a denominational psychology and an ardent temperament."
Throughout the work Schuon draws up the implications of a Sufism that remains imprisoned in certain unnecessary encumbrances which are related to its historical form on the one hand, and what might be called Sufism as such, or quintessential Sufism on the other - obviously siding with Sufism in its quintessence. As for the former Schuon dedicates a remarkable essay on what could be called the problematics of Arab rhetoric, and goes to great length to show the inferior character of dogmatic theology (kalam) in relation to essential Sufism, while maintaining that dogmatic theology is necessary for the ordinary believer. Schuon finds his support in various Qur'anic and traditional sources, but because he is starting with a certainty of the Absolute rather than the skepticism of the ancient Arabs that the Qur'an originally addressed he finds his starting point in pure metaphysics. From this starting point Schuon examines Sufism, discarding those accruements which complicate and offset its raison d`etre and highlighting whatever constitutes its integral orthodoxy.
"The intrinsic orthodoxy of Islam results from its Message: God (Allah), the Prophet (Muhammad), Prayer (Salat), Almsgiving (Zakat), the Fast (Siyam), the Pilgrimage (Hajj); to which the Holy War (Jihad) may be added on occasion. God: the Absolute, is Real; that is to say, He is Reality (Haqq), Necessary Being (al- Wujud al-Mutlaq), therefore That which cannot not be, whereas things can either be or not be; being unique, He excludes all that is not He; being total, He includes all that is possible or existent; there is nothing "alongside" Him and nothing "outside" Him. -- The Prophet: this thesis states the very principle of Revelation, its modes and its rhythms; if there is a God and if there are men, there must necessarily also be Messengers of God. --Prayer: likewise, if there is a God and if there are men, there is necessarily a dialogue; it is given by this very confrontation. --Almsgiving: this principle results from the fact that man in not alone, that he lives in society and that he must know, and feel, that "the other" is also "I"; whence the necessity for charity at all levels. -- The Fast: this principle is founded on the necessity for sacrifice; whoever receives must also give, and further, the body is not everything, any more than is the world; the spirit can ennoble matter but matter is nonetheless fallen. --The Pilgrimage: this is the principle of the return to the source, to the primordial sanctuary, and thus also to the heart. --Holy War: this results from the right, and in certain cases the duty, to defend the Truth; esoterically or even morally, it becomes the struggle against passional and mental darkness; one must overcome the inborn worship of the world and the ego so as to be integrated into the reign of Peace (dar as-Salam)... The Islamic religion is divided into three constituent parts: Iman, Faith, which contains everything that one must believe; Islam, the Law, which contains everything that one must do; Ihsan...Ihsan is right-believing and right-acting, and at the same time it is their quintessence: the quintessence of right-believing is metaphysical truth, the Haqiqah, and that of right-acting is the practice of invocation, the Dhikr. Ihsan comprises so to speak two modes, depending on its application: the speculative and the operative, namely intellectual discernment and unitive concentration; in Sufi language this is expressed exactly by the terms Haqiqah and Dhikr, or by Tawhid, "Unification," and Ittihad, "Union." For the Sufis, the "hypocrite" (munafiq) is not only the one who gives himself airs of piety in order to impress people, but in a general way, one who is profane, who does not draw all the consequences that are implied in the Dogma and the Law, hence the man who is not sincere, since he is neither consequential nor whole; now Sufism (tasawwuf) is nothing other than sincerity (sidq) and the "sincere" (siddiqan) are none other than the Sufis."
In addition to essential formulations such as these Schuon has delivered a metaphysical commentary on the two Testaments of Faith (Shahadahtan) which serve as the foundation for the entire religion of Islam that are equally unprecedented in terms of their succinctness and directness.
"The first Testimony of Faith (Shahadah) comprises two parts, each of which is composed of two words: la ilaha and illa `Llah, "no divinity--except the (sole) Divinity." The first part, the "negation" (nafy), corresponds to Universal Manifestation, which in regard to the Principle is illusory, whereas the second part, the "confirmation" (ithbat), corresponds to the Principle, which is Reality and which in relation to Manifestation is alone real.
And yet, Manifestation possesses a relative reality, lacking which it would be pure nothingness; complementarily, there must be within the principial order an element of relativity, lacking which this order could not be the cause of Manifestation, and therefore of what is relative by definition; this is what is expressed graphically by the Taoist symbol of the Yin- Yang, which is an image of compensatory reciprocity. That is to say, the Principle comprises at a lower degree than its Essence a prefiguration of Manifestation, which makes the latter possible; and Manifestation for its part comprises in its center a reflection of the Principle, lacking which it would be independent of the latter, which is inconceivable, relativity having no consistency of its own.
The prefiguration of Manifestation in the Principle --the principial Logos -- is represented in the Shahadah by the word illa (except" or "if not"), whereas the name Allah expresses the Principle in itself; and the reflection of the Principle -- the manifested Logos -- is represented in its turn by the word ilaha ("divinity"), while the word la ("there is no" or "no"), refers to Manifestation as such, which is illusory in relation to the Principle and consequently cannot be envisaged outside or separately from it.
This is the metaphysical and cosmological doctrine of the first Testimony, that of God (la ilaha illa `Llah). The doctrine of the second Testimony, that of the Prophet (Muhammadun Rasulu `Llah), refers to Unity, not exclusive this time, but inclusive; it enunciates, not distinction, but identity; not discernment, but union; not transcendence, but immanence; not the objective and macrocosmic discontinuity of the degrees of Reality, but the subjective and microcosmic continuity of the one Consciousness. The second Testimony is not static and separative like the first, but dynamic and unitive.
Strictly speaking, the second Testimony -- according to the quintessential interpretation -- envisages the Principle only in terms of three hypostatic aspects, namely: the manifested Principle (Muhammad), the manifesting Principle (Rasul) and the Principle in itself (Allah). The entire accent is put on the intermediate element, Rasul, "Messenger"; it is this element, the Logos, that links the manifested Principle to the Principle in itself. The Logos is the "Spirit" (Ruh) of which it has been said that it is neither created nor uncreated or again, that it is manifested in relation to the Principle and non-manifested or principial in relation to Manifestation.
The word Rasul, "Messenger," indicates a "descent" of God towards the world; it equally implies an "ascent" of man toward God. In the case of the Mohammedan phenomenon, the descent is that of the Koranic Revelation (laylat al-qadr), and the ascent is that of the Prophet during the "Night Journey" (laylat al-mi'raj); in the human microcosm, the descent is inspiration, and the ascent is aspiration; the descent is divine grace, while the ascent is human effort, the content of which is the "remembrance of God" (dhikru `Llah); whence the name Dhikru `Llah given to the Prophet.
The three words dhakir, dhikr, madhkur-- a classical ternary in Sufism -- correspond exactly to the ternary Muhammad, Rasul, Allah: Muhammad is the invoker, Rasul the invocation, Allah the invoked. In the invocation, the invoker and the invoked meet, just as Muhammad and Allah meet in the Rasul, or in the Risalah, the Message."
We believe the full weight of these dazzling insights into the essential nature of Sufism are still yet to affect the general opinions held about Sufism. One doubts the academies will neglect churning out their redundant historical and sociological analysis of Sufism, or that Islamists who've found a niche in something that looks like Sufism will care too much about the insights of a foreigner, but Schuon does pose a challenge to our conventional attitudes which, for those called, must be answered to.
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