An Essay for Mysticism Verze 2

8/13/2019 An Essay for Mysticism Verze 2

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Mystical prayer in Islam

Id like to describe in this paper, what is the point of prayer in Muslim mysticism. This means

to present different types of prayers, different attitudes of Muslim mystics to this problem, try

to explain why some ofmystics refuse this practice and why it is important toothers.I will try

to understandexplainwhat they mean by it and what is the goal of this practice. Id like to

write especially about du and dhikr and practice of ahzb, which is typical for sufis

brotherhoods. My main sources will be the article by Annemarie Schimmel her arcticle

should be about mystical prayer in general! and the arcticlebyscholar Mc"regor, who mainly

describes ahzbin concrete sufis brotherhood in Tunis.

I am beginningThis paperbeginswith general information about prayer in Islam. The prayer

is one of the #i$e pillars. All Muslims ha$e a are bound byduty to pray fi$e times a day.%

There are many types of prayers in Islam. This compulsory prayer is called saltand this

name is sometimes also used for prayers of supplication. Another type of prayer is du

which is similar tosaltin the second sense of usage but is more personal. Scholar Mc"regor

also mentionsthe term wird,which means thecentral message of theprayer that was written

by shaykh, hizb which has similar charateristic like wird but it si is connected with longer

prayers or hizr,which means short formula mostly from the&u'ran used in amulets.( Wird,

hizb and hizr are in opinion of )rop*+ek typical for mysticism and their practising is the

matterof sufis brotherhoods.

Annemarie Schimmel says, that a prayer is an intimate con$ersation between man and

"od, which brings consolation in suffering.- hen we look at this definition, it will seem to

us, that Annemarie Schimmel speaks most probably about theconcrete form of prayer, which

is du, although this scholar doesnt state it in the exact words. I think in this way because in

opinion of professor )rop*+ek saltmeans only themanifestation of piety and the personal

character, which Annemarie Schimmel speaks about, is typical for du. This type of

% /. )rop*+ek.Duchovn cesty islmu.p, 01

(2. Mc"regor. 3A Sufi /egacy in Tunis4 5rayer and the Shadhiliyya6. p. (1( 7 (11

/. )rop*+ek, 8uated book. Ibid.

-A. Shimmel. 3Some Aspects of Mystical 5rayer in Islam6. p. %%(

%


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indi$idual prayer is nearer to conceptof prayer in 9hristianity.:hat is the attitude of Sufis to

this; Many scholars claim, that the aim of mysticism in theistic religions is a union or a

cominginto intimate relationship with "od.1If we agree with this statement, we will suppose,

that the prayer will ha$e bigbe of great importance toSufis, because how to come into

relationship with "od better than by the prayer; If it was ordinary attitude of mystics in Islam, we could agree with

?aehners statement, that 3"ufism is so radical a distortion of the orthodo# doctrine as to

constitute almost a searate reli$ion.%0


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suppose that Annemarie Schimmel speaks about prayer in general, because it is really unclear,

what exactly shemeans by it, althought it seems to me, that she writesmoremostprobably

about du. If all ofSufis thought like this that means4 to pray is useless!, we should write

about refusing of prayer in Muslim mysticism not about mystical prayer in Islam. #ortunately

there were many other mystics, who saw prayer as an important part of their practice.

#or example the great mystic &uairB stressed the importance of prayer and said4 (od

blames men who $ive u rayer )du**+.%%C This statement refers to &u'aran, where we can

find this $erse4 35ray and I will answerD6 &uran -CE1(! Although we would think, that this

command meanssalt, in opinion of Sufis like &uairB, as we can see, this signifies theother

type of prayer du. As I ha$e mentioned in the first part of this text, this term is used for

personal prayer of supplication.

Some ofIslamic mystics thought, that "od desires humansprayers and we can often

find an attitude, which seems a little bit strange to us. hen "od doesnt lo$e this praying

person, he will fulfill his wishes 8uickly so that he needsnot to hear his $oice any longer.

Fxtreme Sufis were e$en unhappy and disappointed, when their prayers were fulfilled,

because they thought, that "od wanted to confuse them.%%

And what mystics asked for; According to Schimmel real mystic asked for spiritual

purification, forgi$ing ofsins, contemplation on "ods eternity. In conception of famous Sufis

like Gahy* ibn Mu*da, 2*bia and others prayers are conected with yearning for deep lo$e.

The ideal of pure selfless lo$e is not to ask "od for protection against hell or coming to

paradise but to pray only for "od. "od is in this type of mysticism only anobHect that may be

asked for. This corresponds with ?aehner statement, that sufism is mysticism of lo$e. %(The

role of lo$e between man and "od is thekey characteristic in 9hristian and Islam mysticism.%

And we can also say that it would be in harmony with definition of mysticism as constant

and unvaryin$ henomenon of the universal yearnin$ of the human sirit for ersonal

%CA. Schimmel. &uated article. p. %%

%%A. Schimmel, 8uated article, p. %%-

%(2. 9. ?aehner. &uated book, p. %%

%Ibid, p. %-


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communion with (od.%%-

Sufis speak about different types of recollecting. #or example Ibn afif said, that there

were recollection of fearing, hopefulland trustfull. Some theologian mentiones recollection of

tongue and heart and the like.%02ecollection is primary associated with dhikr. This word has

many meanings. The most common refers to prayer or recitation of &u'ran.(CMany scholars

ha$e concentrated on dhikr but they ha$ent paid attention on toanother type of mystical

%-Ibid, p. :

%:/. )rop*+ek, Ibid, p. %1:

%1Ibid, p. %::

%=A. Schimmel. &uated article, p.%((

%>A. Schimmel, 8uoted article, p. %%1 7 %%>

%0Ibid, p. %%0

(C2. T. A. Mc "regor. &uated article, p. (1- 7 (1=

-


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practice in Islam, which is in opinion of scholar Mc"regor ahzb.hzbis a collection of

stories from life of the saints meaning important mystics! and their prayers. This collections

are thekey in spirituality of Sufis brotherhoods tar-as+.(%

The word dhikrappears in many texts dealing with mystical practice in Islam and

connected topic prayer usedby mystics. SufB Nar*nB uses the word dhikr for description of

climax of mystical prayer. e speaks about dihkr al lisn, which means spoken formula,

dhikr an nafs )this state is only to by felt not tobeheard!, d. al -alb, which is contemplation

of heard about di$ine beauty and maHesty!, d. ar. r/h contemplation of the light of

accidences!, the higher le$el is d.as sirr,which means un$eiling of "ods mysteries before

the praying heart, d. al hafy, which is the name for exact $ision of the beauty of the Fssence

of Onity in trustfullness! and the last stage is called d. hafy al hafy,which means $ision of

2eality of Absolute Truth meaning "od!.


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hzbis also read in specific cycle in %- summer weeks, on #riday e$ening and inon six

festi$e days.(:

Pot therecollection of silence, which was re8uired in case of dhikr, but the recitation

is important for performing ahzb. This recitation should maximaliJe spiritual interaction.

5ractising this leads to feeling of extasy.hzb has status near to rele$ation.

(-2. T. A. Mc "regor, 8uated article, p. (1%

(:Ibid, p. (10

(1Ibid, p. (1= 7 (=%

(=A. Schimmel, 8uated article, p. %(( 7 %(

(>2. 9. ?aehner, 8uated book, p. %(

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Sometimes we can meet with tendencies which we could characteriJe as pantheistic

mysticism. Furopean orientalistic uses this name for teachingsin Sufism, which claims, that

there is no reality except "od and speak about substantional unity all creatures ha$e with

im.(0

It could be the case for example Ibn Arabi, who claimed, that "od was praying in

humans heart and spoke about unity of all beings.C

If we look atthedifferent attitudes of Sufis to prayer, we will see, that the key problem

of this is the relationship of concrete Sufis to "od. Some of them ha$e concentrated on

maHesty and una$ailabitly of "od and because of that they can see praying likeassomething

inappropriate. If we agree with Annemarie Schimmel, that prayer means intimate con$ersation

between man and "od, we will not be suprised, that they were afraid of communication with

such una$ailable deity. ther mystics ha$e concentrated on "ods lo$e to creatures and for

them was con$ersation between lo$ing mystic and lo$ing "od logically natural and e$en

really important part of their practice. hzb seems to me like compromise between these

attitudes. hen we cant communicate with "od directly, we can do this through amediator,

whichwhois in this case shaykh.

(0/. )rop*+ek, 8uated arcticle, p. %1- 7 %1:

CA. Schimmel. &uated article, p. %(:

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An Essay for Mysticism Verze 2