The
material which follows consists of 71 Commentaries on a book entitled Sufism
- A Short Introduction by William C. Chittick. These 71 sections encompass more than 400 pages of critical and remedial commentary and that number easily could have been extended through hundreds of additional pages.
Many, if not
most, of the paragraphs which comprise the 163 pages (preface, plus text) of Sufism
- A Short Introduction contain problems, errors, misleading statements, and/or
incorrect understandings concerning Islam, in general, and the Sufi Path, in particular. This is both surprising and disturbing since the author is someone who, apparently,
enjoys a considerable reputation in North America - and, perhaps, elsewhere in the
world - as an expert on, and scholar of, the Sufi mystical tradition.
Quite
frankly, in view of the foregoing, I was shocked for much of the book. I kept waiting for
the quality of the work to change - feeling that, perhaps, the early chapters were,
somehow, anomalous. But, the hoped-for change in quality of understanding never came.
Therefore,
on the basis of the evidence provided through the 163 pages of his book, one is
forced to come to the conclusion that the author of that book is, unfortunately, neither
an expert nor a scholar - at least, as far as the esoteric dimension of Islam is
concerned. Indeed, one does not have to read very much of Sufism - A Short
Introduction to realize that either its author has never had an authentic Sufi
teacher and has never had prolonged exposure to actual travelers of the Sufi Path, or,
if he has met any authentic spiritual guides or had the opportunity for prolonged exposure
to either spiritual teachers and/or travelers of the Path, he learned almost nothing from
those encounters and associations.
The title of
his book could easily have been: My Ideas - A Short Introduction. One learns
a great deal about the author’s theory of the Sufi Path, but one learns virtually
nothing of value concerning the actual nature of the mystical dimension of Islam.
Regrettably,
the author in question is all too typical of a great many people who write books about,
are media consultants on, and are hired to introduce students to, both exoteric Islam as
well as its mystical dimension. Irrespective of whatever academic credentials these
people carry, and irrespective of whatever languages such people claim to know, these
individuals are largely responsible for the mis-education of thousands, if not millions,
of people with respect to both Islam and the Sufi Path.
Although, in
the beginning, the following Commentaries were undertaken in order to offer
a corrective to the sort of misinformation, distortions, and errors being dispersed
through Sufism - A Short Introduction, nevertheless, within a short time
after initiating the present project, the Commentaries were seen as an
opportunity to provide the kind of introduction to both Islam and the Sufi Path that,
God willing, might be of benefit to both Muslims and non-Muslim. This is the
primary spirit that has guided the writing of the present book.
The Commentaries
do not have to be read in sequence. All of the Commentaries are largely self-contained
and, as a result, do not, for the most part, presuppose material from previous
Commentaries in order to be understood. Consequently, an individual may read The
Reality Without A Name in whatever sequence seems desirable without being
disadvantaged.
Quoted passages, which are critically explored in The Reality Without A Name, are drawn from a book written by Professor William C. Chittick and published by:
Oneworld
Publications
185 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7AR
England
Copyright
for The Reality Without A Name belongs to:
The
Interrogative Imperative Institute
P.O. Box 831
Bangor, Maine
04402
Published
2001
Printed in the United States
ISBN
0-9680995-6-4
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