Tuesday, November 02, 2004
MORE ON SUFISM
A blog reader in India has added more information on Traditionalism and the Sufis here.
Sufi Islam at the global security website has this to say about Sufism:
While Sufi Islam has broad acceptance in Iraqi society, Sufism has frequently been viewed by orthodox Sunni Muslim theologians with some degree of suspicion because of its strong mystical components. Shia Muslims tend to be hostile towards Sufism because they believe it is heretical. Sufi orders serve to both strengthen and divide Kurdish society. Kurds of the same order feel a common bond, regardless of tribe. There is, however, tension between rival orders. Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), follows the Qadiri order. The Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), and the influential Barzani family are Naqshbandi Sufis.
The Tijaniyah (Tijaniyya) Order, founded in Morocco by Ahmad at-Tijani in 1781, extended the borders of Islam toward Senegal and Nigeria, and their representatives founded large kingdoms in West Africa. The Tijaniyah Order is strongly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which began in Egypt in the late 1920s and later spread throughout the Arab world. Hasan al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 in Egypt, called for radical measures to bring about a return of Islamic government. The goal of the Muslim Brotherhood was the establishment of an Islamic state based on Shariah. It transcended the narrower sectarianism of the more traditional political parties. Moreover, the Brotherhood's superior organization made it a political force far stronger than its numbers might suggest. Many of the methods which made Sufism a succesfull occult underground helped the Muslim Brotherhood function effectively. (emphasis mine)
That second paragraph has Masonic overtones.
Metareligion associates Sufism with Nazi:
Thule group was Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff (Rudolf Glauer) who
had direct contact with the Dervish Orders and knew a great deal
about Islamic mysticism, particularly Sufism in all its aspects. He
also had contact with Herman Pohl, leader of the German Order
Walvater of the Holy Grail.
Nazi occultism was a mixture of influences and a host of
interrelated secret societies, including the Bavarian Illuminati,
the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights, the Holy Vehm, the Golden
Dawn, the Rosy-Cross, the Vril Society, the German Order and its
offshoot, the Thule Society.
A note of caution...this source uses material from Nevada Ariel Research Newsletter, a publication I know nothing about. This material would need further research before it could be considered reliable. Nevertheless, the occult background of Guenon would prevent me from writing it off as not believable.
Sufism and Tantra - take it for what it's worth since this, too, may be an unreliable source. I've linked it just because it shows that Sufism can find itself keeping company with some really questionable material.
Tantra and its relative yoga are associated with Indian spiritual traditions but tantra’s origins are in ancient universal experiences predating all forms of organised religion. It comes from prehistoric people’s concern over fertility and creation and their connections with the creative energies of the universe. In England, monuments like Stonehenge are all that remain of this era. Around the Mediterranean there are discoveries of small Goddess figurines (see Roots of Tantra in Prehistory). Within religions such as paganism there are clearly connections and in other religions, often hidden connections such as for example in Sufism (Islamic mysticism) and Kabalah (Jewish mysticism) Tantra appears within the Hindu tradition, in yoga; particularly Kundalini yoga’s techniques for using energy, in Buddhism; particularly its Tibetan forms and in Taoism. (emphasis mine)
