Page 22 - Chapter
22: "Like most other Muslims, Sufis had little interest in the
"history" of Islam, per se."
Commentary: Once
again, the author’s apparent predilection for making broad, sweeping generalizations
in the absence of corroborating evidence is front and center. Be this as it may, however
true his contention may, or may not, be with respect to the generality of Muslims, it is
decidedly not true in the case of Sufis.
While Sufis may have
little interest in Muslim history, they have an abiding interest in Islamic history.
Muslim history concerns the events which transpire in relation to what Muslims do and/or
what is done to them, and, unfortunately, this, all too frequently, has very little to do
with Islam. Islamic history, on the other hand, focuses on the descent of Divine
revelation, on the lives and teachings of the Prophets, on the lives and teachings of the
close Companions of the Prophets, and on the lives and teachings of all the other friends
of God.
Islamic history is about
the sacred journey of individuals whose destination is the realization of essential
identity and unique spiritual capacity as expressions of God’s Divine Plan underlying
and permeating the purpose for which Creation was originally brought forth. Islamic
history is about the potential, and realization of, fitra or primordial spiritual capacity
- first of all in the Prophets, Companions and Saints, and, then, in all those who
sincerely pursue Deen toward that same end.
Islamic history is not
about culture, language, race, ethnicity, oil, politics, terrorism, social intrigues,
economics, revolution, art, the destruction of Israel, architecture, fashion, careers,
institutions, empires, ambition, exploitation, natural resources, technology, and the
like. In fact, people who suppose that the foregoing elements are part of Islamic history,
are not only confusing Muslim history with the former, but fail to understand, or
appreciate, why the distinction is, unfortunately, necessary.
Islamic history is about
God and God’s relationship with the purpose of Creation. Muslim history is about
Muslims and their relationship with themselves and others, and, as such, may be quite apart from, if not in conflict with, the spiritual potential which God placed in humankind. Muslim history is not primarily concerned with what God wants
but with what Muslims want - although all too many Muslims conflate and confuse the latter
with the former.
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