Saladdin AhmedCorresponding authorORCID id

What is Sufism?

Article
13/2 - Fall 2008, pages 233-251
Date of online publication: 15 novembre 2008
Date of publication: 01 novembre 2008

Abstract

Most Western scholars define Sufism as the spirituality of Islam or the mystical version of Islam. It is thought to be the inward approach to Islam that emerged and flourished in the non-Arab parts of the Islamic world. Most scholars like William Stoddart think that Sufism is to Islam what Yoga is to Hinduism, Zen to Buddhism, and mysticism to Christianity. In this essay, I will shed light on the major lines and elements in the philosophy of Sufism. I will try to give a concrete account of Sufism by introducing its major features within the relevant Islamic tradition and history.

Keywords

Cite this article

Ahmed, Saladdin. “What is Sufism?” Forum Philosophicum 13, no. 2 (2008): 229–46. doi:10.35765/forphil.2008.1302.19.

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