Islam College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islam College - Essay Example In Islam, there are two dominant schools of thoughts. One school of thought agrees upon the concept of spiritual excellence through meditation and struggle for nearness of Allah; the other school of thoughts is strict about the worldly affairs and have narrowed the domain to worldly affairs and five pillars of Islam. The Sufi Islam has strong concept of Sacred Law - this law is between God and the follower. As per law, the Sufi has to maintain secrecy in his spiritual affairs, and matters compounding to identity and matters of God are kept private. It is also claimed that it is difficult to comprehend the power and spirituality of God, and therefore it remains beyond the scope of human understanding and intellect. The relationship between God and his follower is of affection and love, and is beyond any justification based upon intellectual topology. The human being with average spiritual status will probably fail to understand the expression and revelation of the Sufi. The Sufis have therefore gain unique status and repute in their society, and have been popular because of their uncommon and strange expressions towards divine authority. In Sufi Islam, there exists concept of mentor or guide also called Mursid. The Mursid is person who has achieved spiritual success, and has developed contact and affiliation with God. The followers of Mursid are called Mureed - the followers do not consider their Mursid as equivalent to God but for them the Mursid is passage towards spiritual divinity. The Mursid is respected and followed because of his spiritual affiliation and accomplishments by Mureed. Mursid shall never be confused with Prophets - rather the entity of Mursid is based upon his spiritual accomplishments and love for God. Nawawi is considered among the great Sufi scholar in Islamic world. According to Nawawi concept of Sufism is about maintaining close affiliation with God. The Sufis are individuals who have submitted their life towards God, and have spent their time, money, intellect and life for maintaining spiritual bond with the Supreme Lord. The five important actions contribute towards the spiritual marvels of the follower, and have been identified by Nawawi as 1. maintaining close spiritual affiliation with God with meditation and Zikr privately and publicly; 2. abide by the injunctions of Quran and Sunnah; 3. shun assistance from public and develop liaison with God for assistance and support, and believe that God will itself manifest source for help; 4. contentment is essential - and follower shall be satisfied with all bestowed upon by God; 5. seek assistance and guidance from God directly (Rafik12-34) The affection and love for God has been restricted to the observance of the fundamentals of Islam. The interpretation of Nawawi about Sufism is itself different - the intensity of love and affection has not been discussed. The Shiite concept talks about the intensity and seriousness of love, there bond between the God and follower is so deep rather the follower is above the entity of human being and is strongly concentrated with the qualities and characteristics of God - the purity, the spirituality and kindness. Dr. Chittick has discussed this expression of love and spirituality which was possessed by Rumi. It is claimed that Rumi was probably among the few who reached the climax of their spiritual journey. Sufism has been regarded