4 Sufism: an alternative perspective for British Muslims
4.1 The Wahhabi–Sufi rivalry
The second objective of this dissertation is to establish how Sufism as an alternative paradigm addresses the issues of Britain’s youth. There are underlying issues within Islamic theology whose contention goes back to the formative period within the early centuries of Islam. Geaves (2000:56) alludes to this point wherein questions about the nature of Allah, his non-corporeality, his anthropomorphism, his attributes and an understanding of what he desires, often become a bone of contention. This has been at the heart of the Sufi−non-Sufi divide: how far is Islam willing to accommodate hermeneutical interpretations of Quranic verses and Prophetic traditions? What exactly constitutesshirk ? How much freedom is allowed within religion to express one’s love for Allah? How literal is literal: does every verse within the Quran have an inner meaning and outer meaning or is there such thing as an outer meaning at all? Throughout these debates and attacks, Sufism has remained the one approach that has clearly stood the test of time and survived everywhere in the Muslim world working with all kinds of cultures. Ibn Arabi, a past Sufi master, even addressed the issue of equality between the sexes where traditional scholars often struggled to clear Islam’s name.[36] Sufism is greatly responsible for the spread of Islam in the Indian sub-continent and saw the flow of Sufism from the Khwajagan of Afghanistan[37] to India and back again in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has survived purist movements and political turmoil in Arab countries and even the theological turmoil of the early centuries of Islam. The scholars of Islamicfiqh and Sufism claim that it goes back to the Adam himself (Geaves, 2000).
The focus on the oppression of Sufism by Muslim purists has recently come to the fore, accelerated by the search of the British Government for a solution to the rise in Islamic extremism in Britain recently manifesting in suicide bomb attacks. This has also brought to the public eye the tireless efforts of the Haqqani Sufi Shaykh Hisham Kabbani who campaigned in the pre−9/11 days to raise awareness of the pending attacks. This has provided the backdrop to allow the Shaykh to bring out the Sufi voice and ‘officially’ enter Sufism into mainstream Islam in Britain. His celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in number 10 Downing Street has done a great deal to raise the profile of Sufism within Britain. His flourishing relationship with royalty[38] seen in his hosting of a Sufi event in Manchester on 4th February 2010 is another indication of harmonious relationships that Sufism can bring to the table. Despite the seeming division in the Muslim community caused by the polarisation into either non-Sufi and Sufi, there appears to be a benefit in that the moderate Muslim has a potential representative in the form of Sufism. This is also indicated by Geaves (2000:59) who has written about the potential of Sufism to counter the extremist tendencies as he analyses the writings of Sufi Shaykhs such as Kabbani (1998).
The immanent danger that needs addressing is the possibility of hard-line or extremist rhetoric that has already infiltrated Britain’s mosques remaining there. The Friday sermons of anger aimed at perceived enemies of Islam are indications that there are some remnants of the reaction to the colonialism of Muslim lands imported into Britain. This voice is increasingly becoming dated as British Muslims struggle to form an identity for themselves.
Geaves (interview conducted by this author, 2010) explains that there has been a fair amount of opportunism exhibited by Sufi groups in the wake of the issues of recent years especially after the 9/11 and 7/7 incidents. Sufis capitalised on the opportunity saying that Sufism would never support the violent actions of such radical groups. Furthermore, given that Sufis have also historically been involved in military conflicts, it cannot be simply said that Sufism is an apolitical, non-militant group of mystics.
4.2 Sufism: conclusion
The question as to whether or not Sufism is an alternative paradigm is a complex one on many levels. There is a plethora of writings on Sufism stretching back centuries: the scholarly writings on this subject have, as previously mentioned, traversed centuries, cultures, peoples, eras, languages and an array of other variable factors in society. The extant writings of the likes of Idries Shah (d. 1996) have been a companion to the British people from the mid-twentieth century until today. Book stores proliferate with both original writings in Arabic and Persian as well as interpretations in English by Orientalists, Westerners, Sufis and non-Sufis. Many writers such as Annemarie Schimmel (d. 2003) have given the best parts of their lives to the study of Sufism, taking up residency in centres of Sufi culture[39] and Islamic scholars to this day search to define the inner kernel of Islam through the Sufi way. Sufism’s roots are seen by some to emerge from the Hadith of Jibril narrated in theForty Ahadith [40] of Abu Zakaria Muhi al-Din Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 1278) in which Jibril (the Angel Gabriel) comes to the Prophet Muhammad and asks him an array of questions, one of which is aboutIhsan to which the Prophet replies that it is to worship Allah as though one sees him and if one cannot see him then one should realise that Allah sees him. The clear message of this hadith is that Sufism is greatly experiential and it aims to bring one closer to Allah.
This section of the dissertation could not possibly hope to cover the vast amount of books on Sufism or the wide range of its topics. Given the lack of in-depth literature available on the possibility of Sufism being the alternative paradigm to extremism, it leads one to the following conclusions.
Some prominent Sufis in Britain such as Shaykh al-Kabbani have a good relationship with the British ruling administration and this will be viewed by politically-oriented Islamists as a political tool which politicians can use according to their whims and non-Islamic objectives if required. This will always be a point of contention and sticking point for supporting Sufism as an alternative perspective given that some such groups are receiving funding from the British government.[41]
Sufism promotes certain non-Orthodox activities such as the veneration of saints, which even non-extremist groups such as Deobandis can critically argue against using Islamic sources. Sufism would need to be able to accommodate such differences of opinion otherwise Sufis will fail to engage with other Islamic elements within British society.
Many Sufi Muslims uphold the British monarchy as divinely ordained rulers whereas there are anti-royalists even in Britain, given the monarchy’s German descent. This notion had its origin in the Banu Umayyad caliphate where the oppressive rulers espoused the view that Allah had supported their rule through predestination. This again is a contentious point which goes back to the heart of Islamic theology and the days of the Qadarite-Jabbarite debates.[42] The issue is where one draws the line between accepting a ruling establishment on the grounds that they are divinely ordained and opposing them on their oppressive policies. It has further ramifications for British citizens because of the pledge to the British monarchy and the British state which is expected from each citizen.[43] Despite the passing of centuries this point is still contentious and not likely to be resolved by simply promoting Sufi values.
Sufism is not necessarily averse to political involvement even by military means. Even a Sufi could interpret a political situation to justify the taking up of arms and possibly fighting for a bad cause. The Janissary Turkish troops were closely linked to Haji Bektashi Veli (d. 1270) and often called ‘Sons of Haji Bektash’[44] a well-known Sufi of the thirteenth century who came to Anatolia from Khorasan settling in the small village of Suluca Karahoyuk (Nasr, 1997:359). The Bektashi way became central to the Janissary corps because every man who joined them had to take an oath of loyalty to Haji Bektash Wali, thus this would in effect make them hismurid (follower).
Othman Dan Fodio (d. 1817) of the Qadiriyyah Order in West Africa launched ajihad to reform his followers and formed the Sokoto Caliphate in Nigeria[45] . Thisjihad was also instrumental in inspiring later Sufi leaders to form new states in Fouta Jallon in 1725, Fouta Toro in 1776 and Masina in 1810.
Is the relationship between prominent Sufis like Shaykh al-Kabbani and the ruling administration reciprocated in the same way by his counterparts? The whole-hearted backing by the British government of Sufis in the early twenty-first century does not appear to be as forthcoming now with some reports that the government is not considering Sufism as the only strand of the Muslim community with which it is willing to engage. This gives the impression that Sufis of Britain have not managed to maintain their once flourishing ties with the British ruling establishment. Furthermore, the recent function arranged by Shaykh al-Kabbani to which he invited Prince Charles has only been noted as a musical festival on his ‘official website’ as opposed to being promoted as an effort to spread Islam through love.[46] It would be too late for a personality such as Haqqani to preach an apolitical perspective because of the support he has already given to the likes of Prince Charles and solidarity shown to the British Government. To a typically non-Sufi group such as the Salafis Haqqani probably is regarded as a sell-out. Furthermore, even within Sufis, there are some such as al-Ghazali (d. 1111) who have espoused a general divide between rulers andwalis .[47] The implication is that there are some Sufis who would not regard Haqqani’s affiliation with royalty and ruling powers as legitimate and this could result in realignment with more extreme groups.
Sufism cannot therefore necessarily be deemed as an apolitical strand of Islam. Nasr (1997:163) writes that one of the prominent characteristics of the Naqshbanditariqa was the way in which it never hesitated in being critical of or confrontational towards political powers. He goes on to quote Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi as saying that ‘[t]he King is the soul and the people the body. If the King goes astray, the people will follow suit.’ Given that this strand of Sufism is traced back to either Abu Bakr or to Imam Ali, it is inevitable that there are political ties with the Naqshbandis and that they would even be willing to engage in combat for the right cause. The other Sufitariqas on the other hand may have had a slightly different approach in that their policy was ‘As you are, so shall be your rulers.’ (Nasr, 1997:163) which implies a focus on oneself rather than others, nevertheless, armed conflict cannot be ruled out of the Sufi theology.
The inference is that whereas a so-called Wahhabist Muslim was willing to fight against the British Government and its citizens in favour of the Afghan Taliban, the Naqshbandi Sufi might be willing to take the side of the British Government against the Afghan Taliban and this is a problematic situation for any Muslim if they were required to fight against a fellow Muslim even if given approval by their government. The well-known Prophetichadith is often quoted in this regard which states that if two Muslims fight amongst each other both of them are destined to hell-fire (Sunan Abi Dawud).[48]
Given the Naqshbandiyya principle of opposing one’s rulers if need be, there is no guarantee that even British Sufis can be stopped from joining forces with militant andjihadi groups in Afghanistan and other such places. The result is that militancy could possibly begin to occur even within the Sufi community of Britain. The Muslim world may well see the formation of ‘pro-War on Terror’ Naqshbandis and ‘anti-War on Terror’ Naqshbandis splitting the Muslim community even further.
It can be seen that the answer to the increase in radical Islam within Britain is therefore not necessarily Sufism; on the contrary, the over-promotion of Sufism to British Muslims could result in a total split within the Muslim community on more levels than simply a religious one: there would now be a theological and a political split.
The answer must therefore be sought from identifying the underlying reasons why the British youth are finding that they need to express themselves in such devastating ways. This is achieved in the next section through case studies and field research.