VOICES OF DISSENT (ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE FRIEND JULY 2006)
(Exploring the parallels between Quakerism and Islamic Sufism)
The parallels do not
end here. The word “Sufi” in reference to Islamic mystics is an outsider word
coined in 1821 by a German scholar. The Sufis call themselves “Wali”, an Arabic
word that coincidently translates as Friends or “Near-ones”. This word is used
in the Quran referring to those inner companions who knew God by experience
rather than doctrine. Friends is the insider word for Quakers too!
This distrust of
doctrine and book learning is strong in Fox and Sufism who both
favoured oral
transmission. As such their received writings often seem raw and
unsophisticated with the animated but idiosyncratic style of the spoken word,
making their message experiential and immediate. Besides both Fox and the early
Sufis were living in historical periods that gave ordinary people access to
learning. The Bible was now in the vernacular and available for individual
interpretation, not dependent on priestly intervention. Medieval Islam was a
flowering of learning and translation (Toledo/Baghdad) where Greek and Eastern
writings, censored in Christian Europe, were openly accessible. All Muslims
were expected to read the Quran themselves even if otherwise illiterate.
So we find Fox
dismissing what he calls “notional religion…for the letter killeth but the
Spirit giveth Life”. Ibn Arabi prefers Direct Vision to “ discursive
reasoning”, and Hafiz says, “the real Satan is the scholastic Sophist-for he is
the opposite of Truth.” This attitude exposed both Fox and Sufis to charges of
Pantheism and Blasphemy. The concept of Indwelling Spirit threatened men of
doctrine who reacted with the Gainsborough blasphemy charge of Fox and the
execution of Hallij in 922AD.
The practice and
organisation of Sufis and Quakers are similar. Sufis meet in ordinary houses on
any day for “sama” which is “the remembrance of God”, much as Quakers attend
Meeting Houses for silence or contemplation. Both Sheiks and Elders are
recognised by the community they serve. They are not part of a priestly
hierarchy. Marriage is a simple civil ceremony not held in a mosque, where all
present are not officiates but witnesses, much like a Quaker marriage. In Islam
the unity of the religious experience, what we might call “the sense of the
meeting”, presides over any organisational structure or majority viewpoint,
which is why voting is regarded with suspicion in both traditions. Rule by
numerical majority has no weight in Islam, sadly something Western Democracies
fail to realise!
Quaker and Sufi
lifestyles aspire to be simple and authentic. Fox’s advice to “be as a stranger
unto all”(1643), and Penn’s assertion that “true godliness doesn’t turn people
out of the world, but enables them to live better in it” (1682), reflect the
Sufi maxim “be in the world but not of it”, and Dhu’l Nun, (860AD), who said
“he is enlightened whose speech and behaviour accord, who repudiates the
ordinary connections of the world.” Both traditions were practical, eschewing
monastic life, valuing the family and work. Fox was a shoemaker, Ghazzali was a
Spinner; manual trades.
The Revealed Theology
of Sufis and Quakers is based on the experience of Inner Light. Quakers were
first called “Children of Light” in 1648 with an emphasis on a “covenant of
light in the hearts of men and women “(1657). Central to Sufis is the Light
Verse in the Quran (24:35),”God is Light; the likeness of his light is neither
of the East nor of the West, would shine even if no fire touched it; Light upon
Light.”
Both traditions see
the Organ of the Heart as the vital organ of the soul through which the Light
shines as Love. “Love reveals a knowledge schools have never known”, says
Rumi.Ibn Arabi says the Heart /Qualb (also meaning “to turn upside down”) is
the seat of Real Knowledge, so Sufism is called the Creed of Love (Idries
Shah). Fox agrees, “the lord dwelt, not in temples made with hands, but in
men’s hearts”(1646).
This Light/Heart
imagery connects to that of Opening and Unveiling. Attar says “the Creator
displays as the Opener.” This sense of Opening may well lead back to the
Ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth found on Egyptian pyramid texts, where the
airways are freed to open up the way to spirit. Whatever,”The Opening of
Unveiling through God” (Futuh al-Mukashafa) is listed as a Sufi technical term
by Qashani (d.1330). Ibn Arabi speaks of “Gods self-disclosure, the unveiling
of the heart”, and Sheikh Mauji of the Azamia Sufis (Persia) unites all this
imagery when he says:
“There is a certain
sensation which is true fervour and associated with Love. This stems from
ancient origins and is necessary to Mankind. It comes from illumination. After
a period of abstinence or detachment this force, which is a form of Opening,
comes about. This is the nutrient which is not food.”(Durud)
Likewise Fox often
refers to his “openings”. “I did discern what it was that did veil me, and what
it was that did open me…. Wonderful depths were opened unto me-wisdom that
opens up all things and I came to know the hidden unity in the Eternal Being.”,
he says. He talks about the “pure openings of Light “in 1646 (Epistles) and,
just before death he says, “ Now I am fully clear. We who regard the inside of
the world, we look at the heart.” These Openings informed his life’s work.
Given this research it
seems appropriate that a Quaker, George Keith, first translated the Sufi tale
that became Robinson Crusoe, Ibn Tufail’s “Story of Haibin Yaqzan” (Alive, son
of Awake) in 1674. This story about a man stranded on a desert island is the
journey of the soul in the world, and clearly Keith perceived this subtext.
There is a commonality
with all Mysticisms (Underhill “Mysticism”), but the links between Sufis and
Quakers also seem quite specific. It is not a question of derivation. We just have a lot in common with these people
who lived so far away in place and time. We appear to have more freedom but we
still live with forces of conditioning and conformity that threaten to restrict
us, “that veiling that begins in the cradle and ends in the grave” (Idries
Shah). Sufis and Quakers have a single voice: the Voice of Dissent. That voice
is valuable. As the religious debate around us narrows and polarises, this time
we are important in our dissent because we recognise that assent!
“Friends, meet together and know one another in that which is eternal,
which
was before the world was. Be Patterns”
(Fox / Red Book)
“There is a principle which is pure, placed in the human Mind, which in
different places and ages hath had different names. It is, however, pure
and proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of
religion, nor excluded from any, where the heart stands in perfect
sincerity. In whomsoever this takes root and grows, of what nation
soever
they become brethren.” (Woolman /
Writings)
“There is a
potentiality in the Mind of man that can become activated.
Without it there is no
development. Everyone has it. It is something
connected with
Eternity. All souls carry the picture of this outline-the
matter of its
description has neither beginning nor end”. (Attar)
Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jew and Sikh
Brothers in a secret sense-yet who knows it?
Oh Companions of the Cave!
All is He, my Friend, is He!
(Chisti Sufi song)
