An Outline for the Study of Dervishism 9781617191909, 1617191906

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An Outline for the Study of Dervishism

Analecta Gorgiana

529 Series Editor George Anton Kiraz

Analecta Gorgiana is a collection of long essays and short monographs which are consistently cited by modern scholars but previously difficult to find because of their original appearance in obscure publications. Carefully selected by a team of scholars based on their relevance to modern scholarship, these essays can now be fully utilized by scholars and proudly owned by libraries.

An Outline for the Study of Dervishism

Covering Six Elementary Lectures on the Popular Development of Sufism or Mohammedan Mysticism

George Swan

1 gorgias press 2010

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2010 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in 1925 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC.

ISBN 978-1-61719-190-9

Printed in the United States of America

ISSN 1935-6854

NOTE.

The material which follows comprises the subject matter of six lectures on Dervishism prepared by M r . George S w a n for use in a seminar offered by the School of Oriental Studies of the A m e r i c a n University at Cairo,

ft follows

necessarily that, both in form and content, this material must be regarded as subject to revision and further development.

For the convenience of students,

however, it has been judged an advantage to have in printed form the material that was brought together in connection with the lectures already

given,

Copies of this pamphlet may be secured through the Secretary of the School of Oriental Studies, 113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Price P.T. 10

DERVISHISM Six Elementary Lectures on the Popular Development of Sufism or Mohammedan Mysticism. by

George Swan.

The aim of this course of lectures, as of all the courses contemplated by the School of Oriental Studies for missionary students, is not with a view to making them orientalists or even experts in some phase of Mohammedan beliefs or customs, though expert knowledge of this is not to be deprecated for by specializing upon a topic the student may benefit the whole missionary body and help to the greater efficiency of those who seek to bring the gospel effectively to the Mohammedans. The immediate aim is to give the student a few keys whereby he can open the doors of mystery t h a t will confront him at every t u r n as he seeks to come into sympathetic touch with the mental and actual life of the people among whom he works. No matter how short a time the student may have been in the country he must have seen many tilings t h a t have aroused his interest and to which he has sought an explanation. One of the most useful things a new missionary can do is to s t a r t from the first a special note book for his own personal observations which might be very suitably called a " W h y book". Such a book carefully kept would be of more real educational value than many lectures and t h e perfunctory reading of many books. While the Traditions of Mohammed will answer i u n u u e r a b l e questions as to the religious customs of the people and even many which we would call secular, Dervisliism will be found to be the key to most of w h a t we would term I heir superstitions. In fact there are two chapters in Lane's Modern Egyptians. entitled "Superstitions" t h a t should be read as soon as possible and to which there will be constant reference. These superstition«, many of them very gross, will be found to have their roots in highly philosophical mysticism. The lecturer has by experience found t h a t students are often very much handicapped by lack of a rudimentary knowledge of Mysticism even in their own religion. The very first opportunity should be taken to remedy this. The most concise introduction to Christian Mysticism known to the lecturer is An Introduction to Christian Mysticism, by Eleanor (J. Gregory (Heart and Life Booklets No. 18. H. R. Allenson, Ltd. London ). It is indispensable t h a t the student should study carefully the short passages given at the end of each lecture for reading while it is very advisable to consult the books of reference.

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6

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LECTURE

1.

Introductory. 1.

When

did Moht nn me dan Mysticism

commence

'!

T h e r e p l y t o t h i s q u e s t i o n is t h a t it d e v e l o p e d c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s l y w i t h t h e c o m m e n c e m e n t of M o h a m m e d a n i s m , f o r m y s t i c i s m , a w o r d c o n f e s s e d l y d i f f i c u l t t o d e f i n e , is, a c c o r d i n g t o P f l e i d e r e r

"nothing',

t h e r e f o r e , b u t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l f e e l i n g of r e l i g i o n - t h e r e l i g i o u s

life

a t its very h e a r t and center."

the

U n d o u b t e d l y t h e r e w a s m u c h of

m y s t i c in M o h a m m e d h i m s e l f a n d h i s life, e s p e c i a l l y t h e p a r t c o n n e c t ed w i f h his r e v e l a t i o n s , lias a l w a y s h a d a m o s t p r o f o u n d e f f e c t u p o n all s u b s e q u e n t d e v e l o p m e n t s . B u t to u n d e r s t a n d M o h a m m e d a n m y s t i c i s m o n e n e e d s t o go b a c k t o m y s t i c s y s t e m s p r i o r t o I s l a m , f o r in all m y s t i c i s m s t h e r e h a s b e e n f i r s t t h e " f u n d a m e n t a l feeling",

and this has been followed by

d e s i r e t o e x p r e s s t h i s f e e l i n g in w o r d s or t o j u s t i f y i t .

a

The discovery

t h a t others have trod the same path, and have systematized

their

e x p e r i e n c e s h a s a l w a y s b e e n w e l c o m e a n d led 011 t o e c l e c t i c i s m o r t h e s e l e c t i n g of o p i n i o n s f r o m t h i n k e r s of o t h e r schools of t h o u g h t a n d of o t h e r religions. P r o f e s s o r N i c h o l s o n in h i s Mystics

of Islam

g i v e s as t h e

most

i m p o r t a n t e x t e r n a l i n f l u e n c e s on S u f i s m , t h e f o l l o w i n g : (1) C h r i s t i a n i t y (2) N e o p l a t o n i s m (3) G n o s t i c i s m (4) B u d d h i s m . 2.

How did Christianity

affect

Mohammedan

mysticism

?

F r o m t h e v e i y f i r s t , m e n of t h e m o r e d e e p l y r e l i g i o u s t y p e seeme d d r a w n t o w a r d s t h e C h r i s t i a n m o n k s ; i n f a c t t h e r e is a p e r s i s t e n t t r a d i t i o n t h a t Moh mined h i m s e l f w a s n o t f r e e f r o m m o n k i s h i n f l u e n c e . A11 i n t e r e s t i n g side s t u d y , a b o u t w h i c h v e r y l i t t l e is k n o w n a s y e t is t h e i d e n t i t y of t h e H a n i f s , v a g u e m e n t i o n s of w h o m a r e t o b e f o u n d in t h e K o r a n ; t h e g e n e r a l o p i n i o n is t h a t t h e y w e r e p r e - I s l a m i e ascetics, v e r y m u c h i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e m o n k s of A r a b i a , a n d in t h e o p i n i o n of s o m e t h e i r e f f e c t u p o n t h e m i n d of M o h a m m e d h a s t o b e s e r i o u s l y c o n s i d e r e d w h e n s e e k i n g t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e o r i g i n of I s l a m (See a r t i c l e " H a n i f " in Encyclopedia of Islam.) T h e i n f l u e n c e of C h r i s t i a n i t y is v e r y e v i d e n t in t h e e a r l i e s t S u f i l i t e r a t u r e . I t is a s t o n i s h i n g h o w f r e q u e n t l y o n e c o m e s a c r o s s r e f e r e n c e s t o t h e w o r d s a n d w o r k s of t h e L o r d J e s u s C h r i s t ; m o s t of t h e m a p o c r y p h a l as one m i g h t e x p e c t f r o m w h a t w e k n o w of C h r i s t i a n i t y in A r a b i a in t h o s e d a y s . 8.

How did Keoplatonism T o q u o t e fi 0111 P r o f .

affect

Mohammedan

however, contained a pagan element; it h a d ideas and

adopted

mysticism.

Nicholson, " O r i e n t a l C h r i s t i a n

mysticism,

long a g o a b s o r b e d

t h e l a n g u a g e of P l o t i n u s a n d t h e

the

Neoplatonio

school." T h i s o p e n s u p f o r us h e r e in E g y p t a m o s t i n t e r e s t i n g

f i e l d of

origins and it m u s t not be f o r g o t t e n t h a t E g y p t exercised a p r o f o u n d i n f l u e n c e on t h e S u f i s m of t h e w h o l e M o h a m m e d a n w o r l d .

We

k n o w (1) t h a t E g y p t w a s s t e e p e d in H e l l e n i s m , a t t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e

/

Christian era and the strong influence on Hellenistic thought caused by the writings of Pliilo, himself steeped in the teachings of P l a t o ; (2) t h a t the Neoplatonic school resulted from the teachings of his pupils and (3) t h a t it was accompanied by a fever of monasticism later. This is all well worth some study. Very valuable information 011 this topic will be found in H. A. Vaughn n"s Hourx with the Mystics. One of the most influential of these Xeoplatonists who succeeded Plotinus was a man who wrote under the pseudonym of Dionysius the Areopagite. His principal work was translated into Latin by John Scotua Brigena and was t.he very heart and soul of medieval monastieism as well as of profound influence on he German mystics of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Here then we find one of the chief reasons for the great similarity of terms between Mohammedan mysticism and Christ .¡an. The monastic mystic system of the Xeoplatonists was known as that of the Theraputae. A very ancient, account of these recluses who lived in communities on the shores of Lake Mariut reads to ns extraordinarily like the method- of womhip (Zikrs) of dervish orders such as the Rifaiyya. ( S v H. A. Vaughan'.-s Hours with Ike Mystics.) Later the Nile Valley was full of Christian monks, these monks were saturated with Neoplatonism, a Xeonlatonism t h a t soon degenerated in the hands of extremely ignorant monks recruited from the fields of E g y p t . Then followed the .Moslem invasion and the enforced conversion, in one way or another, of: millions of Copts who carried with them into islam the ideas and traditions which they had learned from the great a rmy of monks that had for so longdominated E g y p t . Is it to be wondered that when the Dervish orders were beginuiug to be formed about the eleventh century, they exactly fitted the tastes of the Mohammedan fellahin whose forbears had helped to people the Nile Valley w ith monks? Interwoven with the Neoplatonic chain was the more ancient chain of the Egyptian mysteries, undoubtedly one of the pagan influences to which Prof. Nicholson points. Prof Maspero has no doubt t h a t much of the religious life of the people of Egypt a t the present time goes right back to the mysteries ; he says of the T a n t a " T h e Mohammedan Egyptians offer the Sheikh Sidi Mill id : Ahmed el Bedawi the same homage of prayer ami disorder as their pagan ancestors gave to Bastit, the cut goddess. '' (fa,,,, ()H Ancient Egypt, Maspero.) 4.

Bow did Gnosticism

if fed

Mohammedan Mysticism ;

Th ere are many traces of Gnosticism in the beliefs of the Dervishes, among them the quest of the ''great name" of God. the discovery of which gives miraculous power,- to the finder, also in the belief in the ever-living person "el Khidr, In this connection it is an interesting fact t h a t the parents of Maaruf el Kharka, one of the

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8

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very earliest writers on Suiism and tlie author of tlie earliest definition of tlio term, were Maudaeans ; a sect of Mesopotamia which sought to synchronize Christianity with various pagan views and had ideas very similar to the Gnostics proper. The traces of dualism, the separation of the godhead into two, the one a power of good, the other of evil; the inherent evil of all matter ; the conception of a number of veils between the soul and God, and the ascending scale in nearness to God of a hierarchy of celestial beings, are all to bo traced to Gnosticism. Prof Ramsay has, by his discoveries in Asia Minor, thrown very much light on the beliefs and customs of the aarly Gnostics and on the relation of the Epistle to the Colossians to them, which ought to make t h a t Epistle more useful to the missionary in combating similar errors held by Moslem Mystics. (The Contemporary Review, Aug., 1913, p. 198). J.

How has Buddhism

affected

Mohammedan mysticism ?

Much Buddhist influence has come to Mohammedan mysticism via Persia and Iraq. Prof Goldziher has called attention to the fact t h a t the story of the great Sufi saint, Ibrahim ibn Adliam, a t o n e time Prince of Balkh and afterwards a wandering ascetic, is just the story of Buddha over again. Added to this there were great Buddhist monasteries in Balkh in the days of the great growth of Sufism and many of the prominent Sufis dwelt there. The Sufi doctrine of elFana, literally destruction, but technically meaning absorption into God, corresponds with the Buddhist "Nirvana". Sufism has, however, its positive side "el Baqa" which means everlasting life in God. The use of the "Siblia" (rosary) is borrowed from Buddhism as are also many of their practices for the inducement of contemplation and ecstasy. But when it comes to matters of principle Prof. Nicholson asserts that Buddhism and Sufism are poles apart, 6.

The Koran and Mohammedan

mysticism.

We have stated that the life of Mohammed has profoundly affected Mohammedan mysticism but it owes very little indeed to t h e Koran or even the traditions excepting insofar as these reveal t h e inner life of Mohammed himself. There are a few verses in the Koran which express a real aspiration a f t e r a full knowledge of God, b u t they are very few indeed. They give, however, to the Sufi sufficient excuse to interpret the Koran in the light of liis systematized mysticism. Some of these interpretations very much recall t h e allegorical method« of interpretation of the early fathers of Alexandria. 7.

Mohammed ¡n mysticism and Orthodoxy. One of the marvels of Islam is the acceptance, by the Orthodox school, of the Sufis with their doctrines, seemingly entirely antagonistic to all the teaching of the Schoolmen. A t one time they were persecuted even to the point of being put to death for their

— Q views. The God of the Scholastics, for example, is more of a transcendental abstraction than t h a t of the Koran, whilst, the God of t h e Sufi is immanent to t h e degree of extreme pantheism. And yet this mysticism has been accepted as an integral part of Islam by " I g m a V t h a t is, the catholic consent of the people of Islam. That brilliant scholar, philosopher and Sufi, el Ghazzali, had much to do in thus reconciling the two. The process by which lie and many other brilliant writers accomplished this seems to ns to have been by categorical denial of the reality of appearances, t h a t the flagrantly unorthodox doings and sayings of the reputed saint were only unorthodox in appearance not in reality, They were a t great pains to explain apparent discrepancies of doctrine and practice; however f a r these acts and sayings were removed from the teaching and example of Mohammed and his followers. An example of this kind of argument is indicated in the Koran. (Sura The Cave (18) vv. 64-81. The commentators telling us t h a t the instructor of Moses was el-Khidr.) For Reading; Lane's Modem Egyptians

Chapters X and XI.

Koran Sura "The Cave" vv. 64 -81. For Reference: Gregory's An Introduction

to Christian

Mysticism.

Lehman's Mysticism in Christendom and Heathendom, by G. M.

Hunt.

Nicholson's The Mystics of Islam. Maspero's New Light on Ancient Vaughan's Hours with the Mystics.

Egypt.

translated

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10

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L E C T U R E II. Beginnings. In the previous lecture wo considered the external sources from which Mohammedan mysticism borrowed. W e are now to consider the growth and development of mystical teaching in Islam itself leading up to that great popular movement that culminated in the foundation of the dervish orders. 1. Th" Development from Fear. Professor Nicholson shows how the predominating feature of the Moslem religion, during the eighth century was fear of God, f e a r of Hell, fear of death and f e a r of sin''. He says the earliest S u f i s were in f a c t , ascetics and quietists rather than mystics. A n overwhelming consciousness of sin, combined with a dread—which it is hard f o r us to realize of J u d g m e n t d a y and of the torments of hell fire, so v i v i d l y painted in the K o r a n , d r o v e them to seek salvation in flight f r o m the world. On the other hand, the Koran warned them that salvation depended entirely 011 the inscrutable will of Allah who guides a r i g h t the good and leads a s t r a y the wicked. Their f a t e w a s inscribed in the eternal tables of His providence, nothing could alter it. Only this w a s sure, t h a t if they were destined to be saved by f a s t i n g and praying and pious work—then they would be saved. Such a belief ends naturally in quietism, complete and unquestioning submission to the divine will, an attitude characteristic of S u f i s m in its oldest form. (Nicholson's Mystics of Islam, p. 4) Professor Nicholson goes on to show how Hie woman saint R a b i ' a introduced the element of ''truly mystical self-abandonment ". In the ninth century he says " t h e y began to regard asceticism as only the f i r s t stage of a long journey—the preliminary training f o r a larger spiritual life than the mere ascetic is able to conceive". (Ibid p. 6). " T h e s e ideas," he says, " l i g h t , knowledge and love form, as it were, the keynotes of the new S u f i s m . . . . : ultimately they rest upon a pantheistic f a i t h which deposed the One Transcendent God of Islam and worshipped in his stead One Real Being who dwells and works everywhere, and whose throne is not less, but more, in the human heart than in the heaven of heavens. (Ibid p N) ,?.

The Development

of the Creed.

Another book that treats of the development of Mohammedan S u f i s m from a somewhat d i f f e r e n t angle though agreeing w i t h the ascetic beginnings, is t h e " Early Development of Mohammedanism" by Margoliouth. The student is especially advised to read Chapters V and VI. His Chapter V is to a considerable extent founded 011 material collected from one of the earliest S u f i books, the "Qut el Qulub" of A b u Talib el-Makki. Professor Margoliouth shows in Chapter V that the early Mohammedan ascetic " w a s occupied with exaggeration of the four performances enjoined b y Islam. W e shall now f i n d him developing unlooked-for consequences f r o m the primary proposition of (lie system there is 110 God but A l l a h w i t h

11 whom nothing must be associated : . . . IP God is to be loved then nothing else may be loved ; no other object of affection would be associated with God, and the person who bestowed the affection would be a pagan. The same argument excludes all desires : if the worshipper's object is paradise, then he is desiring' something besides God, aud so is a polytheist The cultivation of poverty, humilation and resignation belong to the negative aspect of the first proposition of the creed; if the word ''God" signifies an object of a t t a c h m e n t then the ascetic who follows the discipline which has been sketched lias clearly severed bonds which ordinarily attach men to other tilings than God ; but there is al-o the positive side of the proposition to be considered and this is summed up in the phrase "love of God'' . . . . Love of God is nor only incompatible with the bestowal of affection on other rational beings, but even with the most innocent enjoymeuts. In a revelation to Moses, fault was found with a man who wa^ perfect in every oilier respect, but enjoyed the morning air . . . . Ihii besides the mor;tl > om iusions to be drawn from the doctrine of Divine unity, there is also a metaphysical conclusion; and this appears to be the extreme attainment "of the Gnosis '¡'he true unitarian is he who recognizes in the world no existence save God's : who regards both himself and the world outside him as a mirror, yet rather one wherein the Deity shows himself than one where He is reflected, The mirror is the soul inside of irhich is tiie image of G >d. as distinct as the mirror is clear and pure.

3.

Outstanding

names in the History of Mohammedan

Mysticism.

There are certain names to which reference is constantly iu Sufi books of the Dervish orders.

made

A systematic study of these

would probably prove extremely fruitful in arriving at an under standing of the development of

Mohammedan

Mysticism.

The

difficulty is to get authentic information.

The oriental is not a

historian much less a writer of biography.

Sha'arani, one of the

ablest defenders of the dervish orders, and a. voluminous writer, has a famous book called uEt

Tabaqat

el ¡\ntira". which, is supposed

to be au account of all Mohammedan saints from the time

of

Mohammed to about the middle of the tenth century of the Moslem era,

The amount of biography iu these two volumes of 162 and 151

p.iges would probably nos fill ten pages, the bulk of the matter being the supposed sayings of the saints.

A small book in English

by Claud Field entitled "The Saints of Mam"

should lie read

by

The names of those about whom the student should collect, much information as he can are :—

as

tlie student.

Hassan el Basri who was boru in the year 19A.H. in Medina; he lived to a great age, dying in 110 A. II. He was a great fearless teacher and ascetic; the fear of God and humility were his chief characteristics. All Sufi writers quote him freely ami probably a

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very large volume could be compiled of sayings reputed to him in books not long subsequent to his time. Curiously enough he is left out of Sha'araui's Tabaqat el Rubra, probably because he is left out of the Risala of el Qushairi, one of the oldest authorities on Sufism. Rabi'a el Addawiya, the woman saiufc, who died in 134 A.II., is one of the great characters in Mohammedan Mysticism. She had been in touch with Hassan el Basri. The (heme of disinterested love had a large place in her teaching. Sha'araui says she was much given to weeping, the place of her devotions being like a bog from her many tears. One of her sayings quoted by him is "our seeking of forgiveness needs seeking of forgiveness." Ibrahim ibn Adham, who died in the year 261 A. H., was the son of a Prince, Sulaiinan Adham ibn Mausur, who resigned his throne and became a dervish. Passing through Balkh he became enamoured of the daughter of the Sultan. After miraculous experiences they were married and lived as recluses. Ibrahim was born. After his mother's death, his father took him to Balkh for his education. He was recognized by his grandmother and eventually became a prince of Balkh. After many indications of the Divine call lie left his kingdom and became, a wandering Dervish. As stated in the previous lecture, (ioldziher considers the story of Ibn Adham as fictitious and merely an adapation of the life of Buddha, but there seems considerable evidence on the side of his having been a historical character. Ho often prayed : " 0 God, uplift me from the shame of disobedience to the glory of submission to thee", Dhu-el-Nun (Quranic name for Jonah i. e. he of the fish) was a Nubian saint born at Akhmiiu in Upper Egypt. He died at Gizeli in the year 245 A. H. lie is said to have had great influence on Egyptian mysticism, though he seems to have been more quoted by .Jalal-el-Diu Rumi, the great Turkish mystic and poet, thau by Arab Sufi writers. He probably, however, greatly influenced the populace, it being recorded that immense crowds attended his funeral. The learned had him arraigned for heresy, which was the fate of many of the early mystics. We have already stated that he was saturated with Neoplatonic thought. El-June id, who died in 207 A, H. was a scholarly mystical teacher who is constantly quoted in Sufi books. He made the pilgrimage from Mesopotamia to Mecca on foot 50 times. He had a school of mystics in Baghdad which created a big stir and much opposition from Scholastic theologians. One of his most quoted sayings is "Water is the colour of its vessel": Shibti, his pupil, who .died in 334 A. H. was the poet of el Juneid's school. His beautiful sayings constantly quoted must have had a powerful influence in his day. (For Shibli and other writers

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13 —

and poets of the mystics, see Nicholson's Literary History of the Arabs). Nicholson in Mystics of Islam gives an interesting account of his training in the Sufi way by Juneid (pp. 31 & 85). One of Shibli's expressions in prayer was "Men have loved thee for thy good things but I love thee for thine afflictions". Al Hallaj was martyred in 309 A. H . He carried El-Juneid's teaching to its logical conclusion fearlessly and enthusiastically, and suffered martyrdom for saying " I am the truth". His death must have had a consolidating effect upon Sufism, leading on to vigorous apologetics, and the apparent reconciliation ol Sufi doctrines with the orthodox Islam of the schools, by men of the type of el-Qushairi who died in 465 A. H., and t h a t perhaps greatest of Mohammedan learned men, el Ghazzali, who died in 1.05 A. II, 4. To fill in the period t.luit intervened between the great schools of mysticism in Baghdad such us that of el-Juneid and the great popular movement that led to the formation of the Dervish Orders is not difficult, for we have many accounts of the lives of the saints of t h a t period. One t h a t is especially helpful in this respect is El-Muthir el-Shadhaliya, being an account of the order of the Shadhaliya, an order much favoured by the Azhar. W e get a picture of the aspirants after Gnosis travelling from one saint to another. E l Sliadhali travelled from Morocco to Iraq asking for the Qutb, the Pole or Chief of all saints and there was told t h a t the Qutb was near his own home in Morocco and travelled back there. Afterwards as a great saint himself, he traversed the whole of North Africa many times on pilgrimages to Mecca, and a t all the places where he stopped you get pictures of the crowds sitting a t his feet for teaching, wondering a t his mighty powers, and in the case of the most earnest seeking to follow in his footsteps. There must have b e e n very large numbers of these saints in every town of the Moslem world and most of them often tra velling, In fact a vast number of contemporaries are mentioned in the above book and one realizes what a wonderful unity the far extended Moslem world was iu those days, in spite of the lack of trains and steamships. For Reading : Claud Field's "The Saints of Margoliou til's "The Early

Islam".

Development

of

Mohammedanism.

Chapter V & V I Nicholson's " T h e Literary

History

of the Arabs.

Chapter V. pp. 2 2 4 - 3 4 .

The Confessions N. B.

The Risala

of Ghmzali.

Chapter V I I I . pp. 879-104.

of el Qushairi should be noted

with an Arabic teacher a t an early date ; care

for reading being

taken

t h a t the teacher is one who knows something of Sufism, otherwise the technicalities will puzzle him.

If the Library

contains a translation it should be read in the meantime. For Reference La Passion Kashfel

d'al-Hallaj. Mahjub,

by L. Massignon.

translated by Nicholson,

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L E C T U R E III. Dervish Orders:

Organisation.

The use of the word "Orders" is purely western and taken from its use in monasticism because of the great similarity of t h e two organisations. The Arabic word is "el T u r u q " i. e. t h e w a y s ; singular "el Tariqa" meaning the way to mystical union with Cod. W e have already seen how there was never a time in the h i s t o r y of Islam w i t h o u t some men or women standing out notably f r o m t h e great mass of believers 011 account of their more intense devotion. The r e p u t a t i o n of their saintliness was carried to t h e f u r t h e s t confines of the Arabic conquests, and those souls who longed for a more satisfying spiritual experience t h a n traditional Mohammedanism could give them, gathered around these men as pupils to learn f r o m them the secret of their saintly lives. W e h a v e seen how Mesopotamia led the way in these "Schools of the Prophets" b u t it was not long before their pupils, some of whom travelled f r o m t h e ends of t h e Mohammedan world, r e t u r n e d to their own countries and set u p similar schools. As these pupils travelled b a c k w a r d s a n d f o r w a r d s t h e y spread the knowledge of t h e teachings of these saints in all the cities, towns and villages t h r o u g h which t h e y passed. I.

The Four Ai/tab. It will be convenient to t a k e the f o u n d a t i o n of t h e Dervish Orders as stated by themselves, w i t h o u t going critically into their real beginnings. The word " Q u t b " (pi. Aqtab) literally means pole or axis a n d is primarily given to the supreme living s a i n t of a n y time t h o u g h all notable saints are given it as a courtesy title and Abd-el-Qadr el Jilani, Ahmed el Rifai, Ahmed el Bedawi and Ibrahim el Dissuki are given it as recognized founders of the Dervish orders. Of these four, Abd-el-Qadr el-Jilani is more especially considered t h e originator. I t would appear t h a t t h e reason for this s t a t e m e n t is t h a t Abd el-Qadr was so successful as a teacher t h a t t h e movement under him ceased to be merely a school of t h o u g h t and became a great popular movement. Tradition has surrounded Abd el-Qadr w i t h a mass of miracles, but it is not difficult to get a t t h e real man f r o m the almost contemporaneous accounts which still exist, and f r o m his sermons ; these are considered t h e best of their kind in t h e whole range of Mohammedan liomiletic literature. T h e y are rem a r k a b l y saue and we have accounts of a v e r y large school of disciples t h a t gathered round him. This so increased t h a t no place within the walls of Baghdad was large enough for liim awl lie h a d to hold the school in a specially constructed building outside t h e gates. He lived to a great old age. To conduct this school successfully would most certainly entail organization and we know t h a t a f t e r his d e a t h most of his 39 sous became leaders of this m o v e m e n t a n d lived in the light and privileges of their f a t h e r ' s sanctity. We

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can well imagine how this successful movement in Baghdad became a model for other similar movements in all parts of the Mohammedan world. The character of the organization we will see later. Ahmed el-Rifai seems to have been the St. Francis of the Dervish orders. He saw God in the fields around him. He -,vas wonderfully kind to all animals, and would kill none, not even the vermin upon his person, lie was a man of great humility: he kissed the hands and feet of those who abused him. lie was however more of an ecstatic t h a n Abd cl-Qadr. His love of animals would probably lead to a certain power over them and it is not unlikely t h a t he had other powers of an hypnotic order which were the result of his contemplative and ecstatic life. However this may be, miraculous power over animals, especially snakes, is attributed to him, and 1 think that there can be no doubt, making' a. large allowance for trickery, t h a t his followers to-day have a very real p;>\ver over these reptiles. Ahmed el-Bedawi was a man of entirely different calibre. He was a Moroccan brought to Mecca in his boyhood. He was wild and careless, a great horseman, hence his name el-Bedawi. Like most great Sufis he had a spiritual crisis when about 30 years of age. a f t e r which he renounced his former life, visited the tombs of Abd elQadr and Ahmed el-Kifa'i and entirely gave himself over to a life of contemplation. Visions played a leading part in his life, and it was in obedience to a vision t h a t he came to Egypt, found his way to Tantah and made his first appearance there on a roof. Gazing up into the sun and occasionally giving vent, to great screams ; iie continued thus for days, until his eyes swelled and became a flaming red. He soon attracted followers who became his pupils and imitated him in his forms of eostacy and were at first known as Roofists. Ahmed el- Bedawi was neither intellectually nor morally great. He was a man of the Yogi type, yet in his lifetime he seems to have brought all Egypt to his feet, including the great Sultan Baibars, There seems to be little doubt t h a t his coming fitted in with the long latent beliefs of the people t h a t still held much of the old Egyptian mysteries connected with sun worship and the rise and fall of the Nile, his festi vals synchronising with these hitter and not with the Mohammedan calendar, Ibrahim el-Dissuki seems to have exerted an influence in Egypt through his power of speaking in tonguesThere arc still books extant with pages of matter taken down by his pupils from the lips of Dissuki when he was speaking in an unknown tongue. It is a curious fact t h a t much of this old tongues movement was similar to the extravagant tongues movements that have found some vogue in America and England during recent years, and it it. not difficult to prove t h a t the errors in both cases have similar causes.

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2.

The Organization with respect to Order. I t has often been said t h a t in Islam t h e r e is nothing equivalent to an organised Christian clergy. This is certainly t r u e of scholastic Islam ; b u t it is f a r f r o m t r u e w i t h regard to t h e Dervish orders. W e have seen t h a t most of the Dervish orders a t t r i b u t e t h e i r origin to one of t h e four A q t a b :— Abd el-Qadir el-Jilani Ahmed el-Rifa'i Ahmed el-Badawi Ibrahim el-Dissuki Ea.ch of these orders has several b r a n c h orders, b u t w i t h most of t h e m the headship of the order is h e r e d i t a r y , The living h e a d of the order is called Sheikh el-Sigada; the word "Sigada" m e a n i n g ordinarily a prayer-mat, b u t in this case t h e sheepskin, which is t h e Dervish throne, a n d generally supposed to be t h e p a r t i c u l a r one on which the head of the order sat. This Sheikh el-Sigada has a substitue called the Wakil Sheikh el-Sigada. He has also four henchmen, t h e n u q a b a . Gehazi in t h e Old T e s t a m e n t seems typical of tiiese Nuqaba. Then in every village or t o w n or hamlet t h e r e are representatives of t h e Sheikh el-Sigada who are called " Khulafa " ( Singular " Khalifa " ). Those who remember the Malidi rising in the Sudan will remember t h a t a f t e r the d e a t h of the Malidi t h e dervishes were still led by one named Abdullahi who was known as t h e Khalifa, for he represented the Malidi or was liis vicar. In large towns where it is advisable to subdivide, t h e r e are several Khulafa, b u t in such cases t h e r e is one who is recognized as the head and called t h e Khalifat-el Khulafa. Then come the Akliwan or b r e t h r e n of t h e order. It will be readily understood t h e n , how easy it is for a n order f r o m the Sheikh el Sigada to pass to the humblest m e m b e r of t h e t h r o u g h the Sheikh's representatives aad their subordinates. T h a t completes the e a r t h l y h i e r a r c h y . 3. The Organization with respect to Faith. There is a heavenly hierarchy, of t h i s we shall speak later ; b u t in every order t h e r e are some others who play a p r o m i n e n t p a r t though not t h a t of Government. The most p r o m i n e n t of these l a t t e r is the " 'Am ". This word in Arabic means Uncle a n d in t h e Dervish idiom is a title of high respect. Nearly every Khalifa is also a n " s A m " , but one m a y be an ! Am w i t h o u t being a Khalifa. The Sheikh el Sigada, though head of the mystic order, m a y himself be far f r o m mystical. He may, in fact, be, as he o f t e n is, a f a r going infidel holding the office simply because of his family r i g h t ; b u t the 'Am must know how to initiate i n t o t h e o r d e r : i t is he t h a t is responsible for taking hold of the r a w i g n o r a n t y o u t h a n d leading him in the way. The would-be initiate is called "Murid" which word implies his desire to k n o w God. All Dervish books are full of the importance of the office of ! Am. A t t h e

- 17 end of a Bayumi devotional book, I discovered the following directions :— " T h e Prophet of God lias said that he who belittles his Sheikh, his tongue will be enfeebled and he will come to poverty". And in one version of the tradition it says he will die a non-Moslem. Therefore three things are necessary to the Murid. Now the three tilings that are necessary to the 'Am are, firstly, the causing to enter the beginning' (of the Sufi road to God); secondly, the causing to obtain the goal; thirdly, guarding and shepherding the flock. Hut the three things that are essential to the Murid with regard to his Sheikh are, f i r s t l y , obedience to his orders; secondly, the keeping of his secret; thirdly, the magnifying of his estate. One would expect then to find those who hold the office of 'Am, an office equivalent to "le directeur" of Roman Catholic mysticism, men of intelligence, men of some dignity, leaders of men in f a c t ; and such we come across in many accounts of Moslem mysticism and such are still to be met with to-day in E g y p t , but the vast majority are degraded to the last degree. Once when talking to a donkey boy who owned to being a member of a Dervish order, and when I had mentioned some of the simpler teachings of the Dervish orders, of which he confessed his ignorance even of the very terms, I asked liim what his 'Am taught him, if not these things. His reply was "the 'Am teaches me nothing, he cares about nothing but to receive his quarter of a pound of coffee 01 beans or his half a pound of rice". The boy referred to the support of the Am which is given to him by his disciples. These a' e called " a w a i d " (dues) and every member of an order is expected to pay them to the "Am. One naturally wonders how such careless lenders can get anything from their disciples, and as a matter of a, fact, there is great slackness in their payment, but they receive sufficient to live upon, and they mostly do this by playing 011 the superstition of the people. Most of thein have a reputation for magic practices, and it is the fear of this magic on the one hand, and the desire to have it used on their behalf, on the other hand, that gives these men their following. In the previous lecture we called attention to the story of Moses' encounter with el-Khidr.

Here is one of the popular developments

of this story as told by Lane in his chapter on Superstition.«. merely summarize it from his "Modern

tJgyplians".

I

A devout Cairo

merchant was anxious for the post of Sahb el Darak (a kind of supernatural sighted watchman over the interests of the Moslems), being appointed by the Qutb, he took up his duties in the Darb el Ahmar. The first thing he did was to take up a large stone and smash in pieces, a large jar, containing boiled beans, scattering the contents.

The merchant owning them gave the " w a l i " a mighty beat-

ing but a f t e r w a r d s discovered in the bottom of the jar, which remained, a venomous serpent.

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T h e next d a y he broke a large j a r of milk and a g a i n received a tremendous thrashing, but the o w e r of the boiled beans intervened, telling the man t h a t he w a s t h r a s h i n g a wali, and a d v i s i n g him

to

look into w h a t remained of his j a r and he would f i n d something either

poisonous

or

unclean.

He

looked

and f o u n d t h e carcass

of a dog. The following d a y he placed his stick between t h e legs of a s l a v e c a r r y i n g a l a i g e t r a y of eatables on his head f o r a picnic p a r t y the c o u n t r y .

in

T h e slave w r e a k e d his vengeance oil him w i t h a w i l l

until one of the b y s t a n d e r s called his a t t e n t i o n to the f a c t t h a t dog who had p a r t a k e n of some of the f a l l e n food had died a t

a

once.

Then lie was recognized as a wali, but he did not a p p r e c i a t e his t a s k , and asked to be relieved of his recently acquired honour. E l Dabagh in the book "Al

lbrtz"

gives v e r y m a n y instances to

p r o v e t h a t the Murkl (aspirant Gnosis) can n e v e r j u d g e his by the sight of his eyes,

Sheikh

The essentials of a Murid are t h a t he

should submit himself entirely to his Sheikh, t r u s t him and j e a l o u s l y guard his " s e c r e t " .

implicitly,

These points are all supposed

to

be tested. In El Dabagh's stories the various Murids being tested are supposed to see the Sheikhs not o n l y in situations t h a t a r e compromising but a c t u a l l y their f a i t h f u l n e s s to their think they see.

grossly

''in f l a g r a n t e delicto" b u t it is o n l y ' A m t h a t is being tested b y - w h a t

they

T h e stories themselves are vile and show

how

hellish is the s y s t e m and how s u b t l y contrived to enslave the souls of men. The Hearenin

Hierarchy.

In addition to the visible rulers of the orders t h e r e is a v a s t h i e r a r c h y of invisible rulers.

In f a c t it is the unseen rulers of the

Dervish Orders who, in their opinion, also rule the world,

T h e idea

of God's " h i d d e n ones" being the actual rulers of the world is one which one meets again and again in all m y s t i c a l teachings w h e t h e r Christian, P a g a n , or Moslem, and 110 doubt t h e r e is a g r e a t t r u t h in the

belief, but

extreme.

in

Moslem

mysticism,

it is pushed to an a b s u r d

E v e r y Dervish saint f r o m the d a y s of the Prophet himself,

in their opinion, peoples the air around them or m a y be i n v o k e d f r o m the utmost p a r t of the e a r t h or even of the heavens. E v e r y night in the realm above the e a r t h there is a p a r l i a m e n t of these saints (Aulia) in which are present not only the d e p a r t e d saints, b u t also m a n y of the living saints, and all the a f f a i r s of t h e w o r l d are then settled, courts and parliaments on the following

day

merely

c a r r y i n g out, whether they know it or not, the decisions of this h e a v e n l y parliament,

F o u r of these saints are called A u t a d , a w o r d

which signifies " t e n t - p e g s " and to each of them is delegated one of the f o u r corners of the earth, The w o r d " Q u t b " means pole, p r o b a b l y of similar p u r p o r t to the word

"autad",

g o v e r n m e n t of the world revolves,

t h e a x i s round w h i c h the

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A t e v e r y Mulid t h e r e is a pole, in t h e c e n t r e o! t h e Mulid ground called t h e Sari,

In m a n y t o w n s tlna pole is a p e r m a n e n t f i x t u r e and

is erected a n d k e p t in repair b y t h e G o v e r n m e n t . Around this, upon t h e Mulid, t h e local d e p a r t e d s a i n t s congregate, accompanied by this vast hierarchy

of

invisible

saints, and

around it

the principal

exercises of t h e d e r v i s h , t h e zikrs, t a k e place, T h e chief of t h e hierarchy is called " Q u t b " . A s f a r a s 1 can m a k e o u t t h e Q u t b is a l w a y s a living s a i n t b u t with e x t r a o r d i n a r y powers w i t h regard to m o v e m e n t f r o m place to place. In o t h e r words t h e Q u t b m a y be p r e s e n t in bodily f o r m or only spiritually ; n o t only so,

but

m a y a p p e a r to be p r e s e n t in bodily form in two d i s t a n t places a t t h e same time.

This I believe is n o t t h e exclusive privilege o i t h e Q u t b .

In one t o w n a m a n received recognition as a saint,

because pilgrims

f r o m Mecca on t h e i r return to t h e town, testified to t h e Fact t h a t on a c e r t a i n d a t e , w h e n he was k n o w n to have been seen in this Egypt iau t o w n t h e y h a d seen h i m and spoken to him in Mecca.

T h e whole

question of the Q u t b is a difficult one t o u n d e r s t a n d , but it has a v e r y d e f i n i t e place in t h e popular mind, especially in E g y p t , for t\\ o of t h e f a v o u r i t e h a u n t s of the Q u t b are to be found in this c o u n t r y , t h e Bab el Zuweila

in Cairo,

a id

t h e roof of Ahmed el Bedawi's

Mosque a t T a n t a h .

A u y day and any hour of the d a y t h a t you visii

t h e Bab el Zuweila, you will find people m a k i n g their p r a y e r s to the unseen Qutb,

in the hop« t h a t lie is present a t t h e time they offer

these p r a y e r s .

T h e i r o n w o r k of the gate is covered w i t h rags, bits

of hair, human teeth and othei things taken from t h e body of person for w h o m a f a v o u r is sought.

the

W o m e n come t h e r e w i t h t h e i r

sick babies a n d a f t e r praying, will r u b t h e i r h a n d s over t h e g a t e ami t h e n r u b over t h e child w i t h t h e idea of o b t a i n i n g t h e saint's f a v o u r a n d blessing. Childless w o m e n come t h e r e seeking for children. A Dervish is a l w a y s t o be f o u n d s t a n d i n g n e a r t h e door w h o professes to ha ve t h e mind of t h e saint, and these poor people will go to him, p u t a little money in his h a n d , a n d ask him w h a t hope t h e r e is t h a t t h e y m a y have their petitions granted. People w i t h tooth-ache come and, t o remind t h e Sheikh of the t o o t h t h a t is causing t h e trouble,

t h e y pull it o u t and push it i n t o a

crevice of t h e iron-work. The i m m e d i a t e relief, of course b u t e d to t h e saint. come t h e r e .

Men a n d

i.s a t t r i -

women w i t h e v e r y kind of request

I n f a c t f e w t h e r e he of poorer class t h a t pass t h a t gate

w i t h o u t s t o p p i n g w i t h some r e q u e s t , or at least to say a "fataha" (the opening c h a p t e r of t h e Koran) in favour of the saint. There seems to be v e r y little d o u b t t h a t t h e

Moslems

inherited

all this idea of a s a i n t l y h i e r a r c h y f r o m t h e angelic h i e r a r c h y of tinearly

Gnostics w h o

thought

that

they

could

only

reach God,

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"through ranks and ranks of angels," and St. Paul in his epistle to the Colosssians takes pains to show them how they can reach God directly through our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The following extract, slightly abbreviated, is the verbal account of the heavenly parliament of saints before mentioned, as taken down from the lips of a Moroccan saint, named Abd el Aziz Dabagh, by one of his pupils, Ahmed ibn Mubarak and appears in the book known as Al-lbriz. "The Parliament is at the cave of l l i r a where the Prophet used to fly from idolatry and sin before his commission as Prophet. The GHAWTH* sits outside the cave with Mecca behind his right shoulder and Medina in f rout of his left knee, having four Qutbs of the Malaki sect on his right hand, and three Qutbs 011 his left hand, of the other three orthodox sects. Before him sits the P r o s y who is called the Judge of the Parliament. At this present time he is also of the Malaki seel, Sidi Mohammed ben Abd elKarim of Basra. W i t h hini the Ghawth talks and for this reason he is called the Proxy, for he speaks on bshalf of all present in parliament. The executive is in the hands of the seven Qutbs under t h e Command of the Ghawth. Kach of the seven Qutbs has under him a certain number of executive officers. There are six rows behind t h e Proxy in the form of a circle from the fourth Qutb on the right to the third Qutb on the left, the seven Qutbs completing the first circle, the second row is behind and concentric with the first, then the third and fourth until you com« to the sixth. A few women are present in three rows near the three Qutbs on the left of the Ghawth. Some of the perfected dead also attend and are mingled in the ranks of the living but are distinguishable by three things: (1) Unchangeableiiess, in distinction to the living whose beard and hair are sometimes trimmed and their clothes changed. (2) They never counsel in matters concerning the living for they have no authority in them but matters concerning the dead were referred to them. For this reason when one visits the tombs and wants to plead with God through one of His Saints, as intermediary on behalf of one of t h e dead, there will be a greater likehood of success if a dead saint be t h e intermediary. (3) The third distinctive feature of these saints is t h a t they have no shadow, the reason being t h a t he is present in his spiritual self, not his corruptible earthly self, and the spirit is light, not heavy ; transparent, not opaque. Many a time (says Dabagh who describes this Parliament) when I have been present a t the Parliament or one of the meetings of t h e *

T h e distinguishing title of the g r e a t " Q u t b "

saints, and the sun lias arisen, they have seen me from afar aud greeted me and I have seen them with my own eyes distinguishing this one by his shadow, and that one by the absence of shadow. These dead saints, when they attend the Parliament, descend from El-Barzakh (the place of departed saintly spirits), flying with spiritual flight, but when they come near to the place of meeting they descend to the earth aud walk npcm their feet out of respect to the living and from fear of them. So also is it with those men who have the power of passing out of tlieir bodies and of moving in an angelic condition from place to place, for when one of these visits another he descends to the ground and walks in his corporeal body out of respect and from fear. The angels also attend and stand behind the rows, the perfect ones from among the Jinns also attend, they are the spiritual ones and stand behind all; they do not complete a whole row. The reason for the presence of the angels is this. The saints carry out everything that is in their power, but for those things that are beyond their power they call in the help of the angels and Jinns. Sometimes the Prophet attends the gathering and when lie does so, he takes the place of the Gliawth, and the Ghawth takes the place of the Proxy and the Proxy goes back to a row. It' the Prophet attends, there come with him those lights that cannot be described save that they burn and terrify and kill instantly : the lights of awe and majesty and power. If we could conceive of forty men of limitless courage coming suddenly upon these lights they would shriek with terror. God, however, lias grauted His saints power to meet them, but few of these can grasp the orders promulgated in the hour when he is present. When present the Prophet speaks with the Ghawth, when he is absent the Ghawth also has wonderful lights so that none of those present can approach near to liiin but sit at some distance from him. The Prophet comes from the presence of God when the matter in hand is beyond the power of the Ghawth. The hour of the gathering is the liour of the night in which the Prophet was born. It is the hour of answering, the hour when our Lord descends to the heaven of the earth each night there remains but a third of tiie night, the hour, when, according to the traditions, our Lord says, "he who asks shall receive", If anyone wishes to succeed in presenting his petition at this hour, let him repeat when he wishes to sleep the Sura that commences "Verily they that believe and do good works to them are the gardens of paradise" to the end of the Sura. Two believers in the same room have been known to wake up at the same moment \jy this method.

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This parliament was first constituted of angels, tlien when God sent the Prophet it was constituted of the saints of this people (the Moslems) so apparently the angels represented the saints until this glorious people appeared. As the saints received their saintship they took their places one by one in the rows, and as they did so t h e angel who previously occupied the seat rose and flew away, and so until the number of saints was completed. The angels standing a t the back are the special a t t e n d a n t s of the Prophet. In every town there are a number of angels (about seventy, sometimes more, sometimes less) who are there to help the executive saints in the things t h a t are beyond each one's power. These angels are present in each town in human form, sometimes they are met in the form of a Christian merchant, sometimes in t h a t of a beggar, and other times in t h a t of a little child. They are mixed up amongst the people who are unaware of their presence. For Beading .— Macdonald's

Aspects of Is Lam —Lecture V. The Religious

For Reference .— Depont and Coppolani's

Attitude and Life in Islam. Lecture I - p p . 1 to 11 ,, VI—pp.157-165

Confréries Religieuses

Musulmanes".

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LECTURE Dervish Orders :

IV. Worship.

W e coine now to consider the methods of worship of these orders and the f i r s t point to be noted is how a man enters an order. 1. Initiation. (Arabic, talqin). W e need not spend much time on this subject other t h a n refer the s t u d e n t t o several accounts of initiation t h a t have been fully given. There is t h e classical account given b y T a w a k k u l Beg in t h e Journal Asiatic] ue a n d q u o t e d in m a n y works 011 Mohammedanism. I t is to be f o u n d in H u g h e s Dictionary of Islam p. 121 (and in the preceding two columns a more general account of t a l q i n is given) "and Hell's Faith of hi am page 135 et seq. (This account is followed by a n interesting account of Ulnar Khayyam): A local account of the Dimerdashiya Order is given by Lane in liis Modern Egyptians, p. 252. In practice m a n y of the teachers in the .Moslem schools ( k u t t a b , pi, k a t a t i b ) a r e Dervishes who initiate the y o u t h s under t h e m , or if t h e y do not, t h e i r schools a r c f r e q u e n t l y visited b y Dervishes who do. a t

I t remains to be said t h a t a prime necessity of initiation is a n te submission of spirit, soul and body to t h e 'Am or Sheikh itiates. There is very much of this in Dervish books.

Classified capacity of the Muriel, or candidate. The a d a p t a tion of Sufism to the varying'.eapacities of men is illuminatingly s t a t e d in t h e Ma'athirel S had kali ya :— "Sheikh Abd-el-Wathid-Maghrabi-el-Mutatabbib in his essay 011 t h e Way, mentions t h a t the W a y is divided into three divisions and t h a t men according to their d i f f e r e n t conditions may also be divided into three divisions, to each one a W a y peculiar to him: (a) Those who are of a heavy build a n d dull in their understanding, who find it almost impossible to find education, a n d who cannot u n d e r s t a n d t h e greater niceties of speech. Their way is t h a t of W o r s h i p and asceticism through much fasting and p r a y e r and reading of the Q u r a n and pilg rimage and j i h a d : (holy fighting) and other o u t w a r d works. For this class, on accountof their physical s t r e n g t h , their p o w e r f u l limbs, and the s t r e n g t h of their heart, are able to bear a severe worship without weariness b u t r a t h e r they become easily accustomed to it. Those who walk iu t h i s way continue in these methods climbing u p the ladder until their dullness is lightened and they begin to approach u n t o the condition t h a t is capable of receiving knowledge, and then t h e praises of the Beloved One are revealed to them and t h e y see the wonder of the unseen, and their inner man is enlarged to u n d e r s t a n d w h a t their minds cannot grasp. BUT THIS WAY IS IMMENSELY DIFFICULT AND THOSE WHO ATTAIN BY ITS MEANS ARE ONLY INDIVIP TT4TC

(b)

Those

who

are

of

24

quick

understanding

and

of

choice

c h a r a c t e r , whose bodily temples are f u l l of light and whose spirits are exalted like those of high rank, y e t those who a r e confused b y intellectual doubts and who are unable to curb their tempers.

Their

W a y consists in religious e f f o r t s and exercises, in i m p r o v i n g

their

characters,

in

purifying

their

cultivation of the inner lite.

souls,

and

striving

towards the

Those who walk in this w a y continue

to make e f f o r t to erasa those evil characteristics t h a t a r e in their souls until they restore it to its original p u r i t y .

inherent The

way

to accomplish this is b y opposing its lusts and r e f u s i n g its desires until good-will and anger, rest and e f f o r t , or the absence of it, descent to the lowest of ranks, p r o f i t and the loss of him w h o

gives

up e v e r y profession and means of livlihood, become one and the same thing to him ; such a 111:111 has saved his soul f r o m its evils with a perfect salvation, he has become w o r t h y of receiving into his soul the ultimate truths and to a t t e m p t to walk in the w a y of the choice souls.

THIS

WAY

PRECEDKD IS A W A Y OF

AS

COMPARED

TERRORS AND

WITH T H A T THOSE

WHICH

WHO

HAVE

ATTAINED HAVE BEEN THE MOST EMINENT OF MEN BUT WITH REGARD 1 0 NUMBERS T H E R E A R E MORE OF THEM THAN T H O S E WHO HAVE W A L K E D T H E W A Y THEY

T A K E LESS

TIME TO

OF

ACTS OF WORSHIP

ACCOMPLISH T H E

THOSE WHO HAVE ATTAINED A R E V E R Y MURSHIDS (c)

AND

JOURNEY

AND

GREAT AND FAMED

(Leader).

Those w h o possess a soul God s a t i s f i e d ,

an

enlightened

mind, and righteous disposition, whose bodies are p e r f e c t l y

pure,

well balanced and well f a v o u r e d . T h e i r W a y is the w a y of those t h a t hasten to God, n a y those t h a t f l y to him ; they are the people of love who proceed to God by a t t r a c t i o n (tiadhb). The method to accomplish this is by the p u r i f y i n g of the heart, the p e r f e c t i n g of love, and the ascertaining i n w a r d l y and o u t w a r d l y of the obligations of trust in God ; he must then f o r s a k e his o w n m i g h t

and

p o w e r ; his wisdom and intelligence, until, if asked to spill his o w n l i f e blood he would f i n d no d i f f i c u l t y ; then there is i n b r e a t h e d in him the very spirit of vision, and all w h o h a v e perception perceive the t r u t h of his words.

THIS W A Y IS T H E V E R Y PERFECTION

OF

E A S E ON ACCOUNT OF ITS VOTARIES WHO A R E BETROTHED TO ITS GLORIOUS UNION AND IT IS POSSIBLE FOR T H E PILGRIM IN THIS W A Y TO ATTAIN IN A BREATH AND TO OUTSTRIP HIM WHO S E E K S TO PURIFY HIMSELF BY EFFORT AND STUDY. All of these three w a y s and those t h a t a i e derived f r o m them are desirable, but some are h a r d e r and longer and some easier and shorter, and if the Sheikh understands the t r e a t m e n t of the soul's diseases and is p r o f i c i e n t in diagnosing its characteristics and its

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25 -

failings he will cause some of every class to walk in a plain and certain way and will restore tlie ways of righteousness. For human souls are a mirror to the divine light of revelation, and according to its dullness or corrosion he prescribes for its cleansing and polishing ; so forbear to threaten and be harsh, for t r u t h is nearer than t h e jugular vein. I have said and it is self-evident t h a t the Sliadlialiya is the third of these ways. 3. The Classification of the Soul. The Dervish orders almost universally speak of the seven souls, the object (of t h e exercises prescribed to the Murid by his Sheikh) being to lead him on step by step from the lowest kind of soul to the highest. The seven souls a r e : The The The The The The The

Soul Depraved (el Nafsu-l-Ammara b-is-sn) Soul Accusatory (el Nafsu-l-Lawwama) Soul Inspired (el Nafsu-1-Mulhama) Soul Tranquil (el Nafsu-l-Mutma'inna) Soul God-Satisfied (el Nafsu-el-Radija) Soul God Satisfying (el Nafsu-l-Mardija) Soul clarified (el Nafsu-l-Safija) or the Perfect Soul (elNafsu-l-Kamila).

A description of these seven souls and their treatment is to be found in the two articles by Canon Gait'dner in the Moslem World. Vol II., entitled " T h e W a y of a Mohammedan Mystic." These articles were taken down by Canon Gairdner from the mouth of two Mohammedans he met in Germany. The Canon wonders if we have not in this "a doctrine of which t h e lower grades are entirely ignorant". I may say t h a t I possessed at the time of the appearance of these articles a small and very cheap Arabic book t h a t was so close to the Canon's articles t h a t it would seem t h a t his two informants had this book off by heart even to the excellent table given a t the end of the article ; the inference being t h a t the information is available for the rank and file, and my observation goes to show t h a t t h e ignorant classes are the greatest purchasers and readers of such books. 4. The Zikr, or the Treatment of the noted by a perusal of Canon Gairdner's t h e chief instrument in the purifying varied as the states of a man's soul are

Soul. I t will have been article t h a t the Zikr is of the soul and it is as varied.

The word Zikr means remembrance; technically it means the remembrance of God. The Sufi finds bis authority for the use of t h e Zikr in t h e Quran in the chapter called "the Spider" v. 44. "Recite t h a t which has been revealed to thee of the book and perform prayer, for prayer restraineth from the filthy and the bla2i2eworthyand the most important d u t y is the remembrance of God". It need hardly be said t h a t Mohammed had no such

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26

-

t h i n g in mind as the Zikrs of t h e Dervish orders when he gave this t e x t as having been revealed to him b y God, b u t we

may

see in this passage some insight into t h e principle t h a t was so emphasised by Brother Lawrence, God",

"The Practice of the Presence of

and of t h a t which was crystalized b y Dr A. J .

in t h e sentence

" t h e expulsive

power

of

a

new

Gordon

affection".

There is something of this idea in the Zikr of the Dervishes

but

exaggerated t o an absurd degree a n d w i t h the masses becoming a mere orgy of extreme excitement. The Zikrs mentioned in Canon Gairdner's articles are individual for the development of the spiritual life of those who become full members, b u t full members of t h e orders are very few compared to t h e vast numbers of lay members. For these t h e r e are corporate Zikrs, into which t h e y are expected to p u t all their energy, books of instruction practically tell them t h a t the more e f f o r t t h e y exert in expelling t h e sounds and in swaying their bodies t h e g r e a t e r t h e spiritual effect. Descriptions of such Zikrs are m a n y and a t least some of t h e m should be read by t h e s t u d e n t , Vide Lane's Modern Egyptians, Ch. XXIV. pp. 488, 160, 450, 461 (1895 edition) Macdonald's Aspects of Islam, 159 et seq. (For t h e individual use of the Zikr see Macdonald's The Religiius Attitude and Life in Islam, pp. 161, 259, 261, 274, 284-287). Hughes' Dictionary of Islam on "Zikr" pp. 703 to 710. An excellent impression of a Dimirdashija Zikr was w r i t t e n for t h e Egyptian Gazette some After years ago and reprinted in Blessed be Egypt, 1912. describing his e n t e r t a i n m e n t b y t h e Sheikh a n d t h e history of the order, t h e writer says :— " A l r e a d y t h e noise and din of m a n y voices m a y be heard ; we h u r r y out and stand upon chairs in the c o u r t y a r d , Inside t h e mosque are seen t h e white forms of t h e disciples, a b o u t 200 in number, swaying to and f r o in p r a y e r . W e t a k e off our boots a n d mix w i t h t h e praying p e a s a n t crowd outside. The sentiment of a common h u m a n i t y thrills us. B u t u n f o r t u n a t e l y h u m a n i t y does not smell very aromatic, so we h u r r y out again, and t a k e our s t a n d on t h e chairs once more. While t h e men p r a y inside we t a k e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y to obtain t h e following information. T h i r t y days before t h e middle of the Hegira m o n t h , Shaban, disciples f r o m every p a r t of Islam send in their names as candidates for the r e t r e a t .

During this period

n o t h i n g t h a t has life.

a candidate should

bles a n d decides on the list.

There are only 65 cells, and so out

of a list say of 500 applicants only 65 m a y be chosen. and renown for good work are deciding f a c t o r s in nominations.

eat

A College of 12 Sheikhs meanwhile assemAge, piety the final

The Sayyed ed-Demerdachi e n j o y s t h e privilege of

vetoing a n y name.

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27 -

When the list is complete, successful candidates are informed and 011 Monday afternoon they arrive all ready for the retreat. In the evening they are treated to a huge dinner by their chief. A f t e r much prayer they a i e led to their various cells. These are small and bare of all furniture. Ventilation is provided for by a small slit in the door, 110 other arrangement being made for light. During his three days' retreat, the candidate is not supposed to sleep a moment. To guard against human frailty a member of the College of twelve goes round the cells every thirty minutes and calls out " L a ilaha-illalah". If the answer "Wa-Mohammed Rasul allah'' is not given back by the candidate, the door of the cell is thrown open and the anchorite is made to perform an ablution. Coffee is served about eight times a night, with a glass of lemonade in the morning and a plate of rice cooked in oil in the evening. Except for this no food is given. The ascetic is not supposed to talk to anyone or to see anyone during his retreat. If he goes out, it is with head and figure covered up. All muffled up aud ghostlike the candidates glide out of their cells at noontide at the call of prayer. Then the retreat is resumed until the following day. Thursday night ends this voluntary seclusion. All of a sudden the undertone din of the worshippers rose to a shrill cry of "Allah, Allah, Allah,"

It was as if the whole group

had suddenly become possessed with a wild zeal for God.

No other

word but Allah, Allah, was repeated again and again and yet again, There is Sheikh Abd-el-Raheem, tall and towering above the rest. On his head he wears a huge green turban aud the rest of his attire is pure white. His disciples too are all dressed in spotless white. Effective and Ghostlike. In a frenzy the holy name is uttered. It seemed as if the vocabulary had all been blotted out, and nothing but the word Allah was written 011 every page. Is this the secret of the power of Islam ? And now the Sheikh and his disciples go to every cell door and bring out the occupant, and the only charm that is used, the only exhortation that is on every lip is the one great word " A l l a h , Allah, Allah". The weight of the word ; the violence with which it beats upon the ear. It is like the echo of distant voices in the night; sounds from the sepulchral deeps of the everlasting sea. "Allah, Allah, Allah". And now the great white company is complete, and the mosque is crowded again with their ghostlike forms. But they are 110 ghosts, these big aud stalwart men who swing and sway to that magic name of Allah. We are ourselves becoming a part of it all, and are 110 longer oppressed, We have become affected, infected with this burning zeal. We would not have it cease, this soothing chant, retreating in the distance, echoing in the vaults and resounding in a hundred nooks and corners—"Allah, Allah, Allah."

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28

-

The light has changed while \ve prayed. I t is full moon. The Muezzin in the lofty minaret has ceased his song, and the f a i t h f u l are in the secret sanctuary ranged in lines before the saint's tomb a t Demerdache. Two Christians enter and stand near t h e door behind this praying crowd in rows and rows, with their faces to the East where t h e Sunrises. A t first they hear a low murmuring of words t h a t are not intelligible. Presently the murmur grows into a louder swell, t h a t rises and fulls like cadences of deep and distant mnsic. Devotion and utter unconsciousness of our surroundings prevail everywhere. All eyes look to t h a t one point in t h e inner sanctuary, the niche directly to the East. And now the murmur grows louder, and suddenly bursting on the ear one hears the cry of the night "Allah-lm Akbar". Though the sun shines bright outside, though the world is wide awake, the creation sings and laughs in t h e light of day, we close our eyes and listen, as the lulling word "Allah, Allah, Allah", is wafted across the kneeling, rising, bending crowd. Self is lost in soothing contemplation, and the last sounds we hear are the rising and falling cadences of the wonder working name of God. 5. Places of Worship. There was a time when monastic life was very strong amongst the dervishes, aud from the end of the 13th century to almost the close of the Mameluke peiiod we find monasteries built by many of the Sultans ; the Arabic name for a Dervish monastery is "Khanka". Good specimens are to be seen a t the mosque of Sultan Hassan and the tomb mosque of Sultan Barquq. Khanka on the main railway line bears t h a t name because of a monastery built there by Baibars in gratitude for deliverance from a severe colic while out hunting on t h a t spot. Ibn Batuta, who visited E g y p t in 1326, describes many of these and their strict rules, he states t h a t the faqirs who inhabited them were chiefly Persian Sufis. Later it seems t h a t these were vetoed, except for foreign orders such as the Mawlawiya and the Bektashiya, and we have only to deal with the Zawias. Nearly every order has its "Umin Zawiya", where the head of t h e order presides over regular performances of public Zikrs. This m a y be in a mosque or special building. Each order has many branch— Zawiyas, which are often of t h e simplest kind. Dupont and Coppolani say :— "In a word all places of a reunion of initiates in a brotherhood, all places where the derrer (teacher) is installed for teaching the Quran, wherever our Mohammedan brothers meet for prayer and give themselves to their mystical practices, are Zawiyas in contradistinction to mosques and Gawami' (Sing. Garni') consecrated and upheld by t h e temporal power and to which all believers have access". For f u r t h e r information on the Zawiyas read Dupont and Coppolani op the subject, pp. 204-208.

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29

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Another place of worship is the "Khilwa". This is for individua prayers, Zikrs and invocations of angels and saints. Any place where a devotee can be alone will serve this purpose providing it is ritually clean. It most not lie thought that these Khilwas are only used by the more advanced Sufi; almost every dervish who aspires to become a Khalifa uses the Khilwa, and most dervish books give instructions for the ritual cleaning. 6. Manazil. Attention to worship leads the Murid on from stage to stage. These stages are called Manazil. The different orders differently classify the stages of the journey t h a t given by el-Nafasi is quoted in Hughes' Dictionary of Islam. p. 609. El-Ubudiya service, the candidate is exhorted to a very strict observance of the law. Ez-Zuhdt El-Ma'arifa,

seclusion, the expelling of all desire from the heart. knowledge, the gnosis or inuer light.

El- Wagd, ecstacy. El Haqiqa, truth, or the revelation of the very essence of the Godhead. El-Wasl,

union with God.

El Fana, total absorption into God, extinction. Most systems give after El Fana, el Bnqa as the final Manzil or stage, explaining it to be an abiding in (jod in the selfless man or of El Fana. For Reading : Hughes' Dictionary of Islam. Article "Faqh'" p. 115. pp. 703-710 Sell's Faith of Islam, Lane's Modem

pp. 135-138.

Egyptians,

Clip. XXIV pp. 438, 450, 480, 461

(1895 edition) Macdonald's, Aspects

of Mam,

Macdonald's Religious Attitude,

Pp. 159 to end of chapter. pp. 161, 259, 261, 274, 284-28.

Moslem World Vol. I I . Canon Gairduer's Articles entitled "The Way of a Mohammedan Mystic".

- 30 LECTURE V. Saintship. The whole tendency of all mysticisms, whether pagan, Moslem or Christian, is towards Saintship.

When we say this, we do not

shut our eyes to the fact that it is with the reputation for saintship that so many are concerned. Neither do we ignore the fact that the word "Saintship''can convey widely differing meanings and that the content ol' the word in the Christian revelation is totally different to that of all systems and even to the generally accepted ideas of Christian peoples.

We therefore cpiote here at the outset

of this lecture an illuminating interpretation of the Biblical teaching 011 Saintship by Dr. Dale in his comment on the opening words of St Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, for it is most important to keep the true thought in view all the time we are studying the false conception of Sufism.

Dr Dale says :

"They are 'saints'.

It is impossible,

word to its ancient and noble uses.

1 fear, to restore this

It has been tainted

with

superstition, which liar limited its application to these who have exhibited an exceptional holiness, and for many centuries it has been restricted to men whose holiness has been a very technical and artificial type. mockery

of

It has been degraded by unbelief which, in bitter the

contrast

between

lofty

aims

and

ignoble

achievement, has flung it as an epithet of scorn at all who have professed to make the Divine will, and not the laws and customs of the human society, the rule of their conduct. Christians were 'saints'.

In the early days all

The title did not attribute any personal

merit to them ; it simply recalled their prerogatives obligations.

reminded that God had made them His own. b e c a u s e

and

their

When however they were so described they were

they belonged to him.

They were

'holy'

The temple had once been 'holy',

not because of its magnitude, its stateliness,

and

the

costly

materials of which it was built, but because it was the home of God; and the tabernacle which was erected in the wilderness, though a much meaner structure, was just as 'holy' as the temple of Solomon, with its marble courts, and its profusion of cedar and brass and silver and gold.

The altars were 'lioly' because they were erected

for the service of God. The sacrifices were 'holy' because they were offered to Him.

The Priests were 'holy' because they were divinely

chosen to discharge the functions of the temple service.

The

Sabbath was 'holy' because God had placed His hand upon it and s e p a r a t e d

its hours from common uses.

The whole Jewish people

were 'lioly' because they were organized into a nation, and not for common purposes which have been the ends of the national existence of other races, but to receive in trust for all mankind

-

.u

-

exceptional revelations of the character and will of God.

And now,

according to Paul's conception, every Christian man was a temple, a sacrifice, a priest; his whole life was a Sabbath ; he belonged to an elect race ; he was the subject of an invisible and Divine Kingdom : he was a 'saint'. "The

institutions

of Judaism had given only a very rough

and coarse representation of the idea of holiness ; and there are passages in this epistle which will throw what

is really meant

by

far

being a 'Saint'

from the Jewish temple, and the Jewish and

more

light upon

than we can derive priests,

the

sacrifices

the Jewish s a b b a t h ; but the rudimentary conception is to

be found iu the holy places, the holy things, the holy times, and the holy persons of the ancient faith. ''And there

was one essential element in that rudimentary

conception which remains unchanged iu the new and higher form of sanctity which is presented iu the Christian Church.

Speaking

broadly, nothing became 'holy' iu Jewish times by any human act consecrating it to God. a temple.

No man could erect a building and make it

There was one temple only, and this had been erected

by Divine appointment and Divine plan,

When the Jews began to

build synagogues in different parts of the country for religious instruction and worship, it was not supposed that the buildings had any sanctity.

A synagogue was not, like the temple, the home and

place of God ; it was erected for the convenience of a congregation. Nor could any man at the impulse of his own devout zeal, make himself a priest, or obtain

admission

to the priesthood

authority of those who were priests already.

by the

No man took this

honour to himself; it belonged exclusively to the family on which God had conferred it.

Nor could any general consent to set apart a

day for religious uses make the day sacred as the Sabbath was sacred.

No person, no place, no time, could be set apart for God by

any human appointment and so made holy. person, place and time was consecrated,

Every consecrated

not by the fervour of

human devotion, but by the authority of the Divine will.

And a

'Saint', a consecrated man, according to the apostolic conception, is one whom God has sot apart for Himself. ing is God's act not ours.

The act of consecrat-

As I have said already, the title of 'saint'

implies not personal m e r i t ; it is the record of a. great manifestation of God's condescension and love. secondary,

Our

part

is subordinate

and

W e have only to submit to the authority of the Divine

claim, and to receive the dignity conferred by the Divine love.

The

common conception is precisely the rev-ewe of this, and the reverse of the truth. volition, divine act.

It begins with a human volition instead of a Divine

ft makes the act of consecration a human act instead of a God's place becomes subordinate and secondary,

He

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32

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only accepts what we give. As the sanctity is supposed to originate in the voluntary surrender of the heart and life to God, the measure of the sanctity is determined by the extent of surrender ; and a man is more or less a saint in the degree in which lie makes himself over to God. " T h e apostolic idea was f a r more profound. I t was an essential part of Paul's whole theory of man's relation to God. The theology of the Epistle to the Romans, the theology of this Epistle, obliged him to rest the idea of sanctity, not on the shifting sands of human volition, but on the eternal foundations of the Divine love." 1. Miss Gregory in her little book Christian Mysticism to which we have already referred, in grouping mystics, quotes Vaughan's threefold division: the theopathetic; the theosophic, and the thenrgic ; or, as she says " t o put it into more comprehensible language, the saint, the sage, and the spiritualist". We would replace her last word by " t h e wielder of spiritual forces". The dervish Willi or saint nearly a l w a y s combines all three characteristics ; though as a rule one is outstanding. Ill Arabic we read of (a) " Manaqib el-Wali" meaning, that which is known of the excellency of his disposition and character ; this would be the theopathetic sainthood. Then of (b) ' c Karamat el Wall' meaning the honours God has bestowed upon the saint in enabling him to perform w o n d e r s ; this would be thenrgic sainthood. Then of (c) ''Ulum el Willi" meaning the intuitive knowledge bestowed upon h i m ; this would be the theosophic side of sainthood. Abu Yazid el Bastauri said to the learned men of his day. " Y o u have taken your knowledge from the scholastic theologian, the dead from the dead; we have taken our knowledge from the Living One." A f e w examples of these may be taken from Ma'athir el Shadhaliya though it must be understood that Dervish books on sale in every market place in E g y p t teem with instances, and the minds of the masses of the people who cannot read dwell very largely on such things. (a) When Abu Hassan-el-Shadhali arrived a t the stage of death to all desire for six months he remained silent not daring to ask God f o r anything. Then a voice within him cried " A s k f o r a worship that does not vascillate between God's gifts and His withholdings". " S o " he said, " I asked God f o r it obediently, not disallowing that which God had granted, f o r verily he created whatsoever He wills and with him is no preference." (b) When el-Shadhali was travelling eastward to E g y p t an enemy sent letters before him to the Sultan warning him t h a t elShadhali would pollute E g y p t as he had done Tunis. On arrival at Alexandria, strict orders were given that he was to be confined to t h a t city, 110 reason being given. The Sultan had a t this time levied a tax on some Sheikhs of a village called Kabaa. When they heard of the arrival of el Shadhali they came to ask

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tlie benefit of his prayers. He promised to go to Cairo and petition the Saltan on their behalf. The story then goes 011 to relate how they went through the "Bab Sidra Gate" without beingseen, though there was stationed there a Government Post which vigorously searched all who went ill and out. When they arrived a t the citadel of Cairo, aud entered the palace of the Sultan, he refused to hear the petition, saying t h a t the Sheikh had need to petition on behalf of himself and showed him his enemy's (Ibn elBara's) communication, The Sheikh briefly replied t h a t he, the Sultan, and Ibn el-Bara were in God's hands, and lie left his presence. Immediately a f t e r he had left, the judges asked a question of the Sultan but he made 110 sign ; they shook him and lie was as dead. In great haste they went a f t e r the Sheikh and humbly besought his return, O11 returning he shook the Sultan with his blessed hand aud he was restored and he descended from the throne, made his obeisance to the Sheikh, gave him all his requests, and made him come to the Citadel as his guest. This is one of the least strange of the Karamat. (c) 11 is said of him t h a t lie used to speak by intuitive light about hidden tilings ; in addition he was learned about the outward sciences of religion and literature; yet it was the gift of the inward light t h a t brought him disciples from all parts. The book itself is largely given over to this teaching which came from the inner light. 2. We have been thinking so far of saints as they are set forth in the literature of Dervishism. Let us now consider what they are actually. The vileness of these men, who pose as living saints, lias not infrequently been the theme, not of missionaries who are generally considered prejudiced and iconoclastic, but of Orientalists and even of Moslem writers. Nevertheless in the most degenerate days there are always some -who have a better claim to being honoured as saints on account of their abstemious practices, their real life of meditation and their sincere desire to fulfill all righteousness as they understand it. It is a delight to meet such characters and quietly to converse with them, if one can avoid the stereotyped form of controversy as to the respective merits of Christianity and Islam, into which they will constantly t r y to enter. But these men are few aud f a r b e t w e e n ; you may come across them in little shops in the native bazaars, or plaiting baskets from the sharp lance like leaves of the palm trees in the open street of some village (a sincere repentance is named after this particular craft, taubet el-khaws, which was also a mark of the ascetic life amongst the monks of the Nitrian desert). Then there is a very large clnss whose reputation for saintship depends upon tlieir reputation for magical pow r ers; this includes almost all Khalifas of the Dervish Orders. Lastly all form of madness aud idiocy, excepting t h a t attributed to jinnpossession, are attributed to God having so favoured the afflicted one t h a t He has taken his mind a w a y to heaven, there to gaze upon

- 34 the preserved tablet of revelation, whilst his grosser parts remain here in the world of men, hence they are saints. Lane was not far wrong when he said. "Most of the reputed saints of Egypt are either lunatics or idiots or iniposters". The student must recall here the incident previously referred to of the meeting of Moses and El-Khidr. and that passage in Lane's Modem Egyptians built on this Koranic passage, and realize what it must mean that 110 saint can be judged by any moral standard. Think, too, that these men specially appeal to the women of Islam and have access into their houses in a way impossible to other men, and at once you will get something of a picture of the awful possibilities of this system, but your picture will most probably be far from the vile reality. In concluding this paragraph we must quote from Prof. Nicholson's The Mystics of Islam. "Neither deep learning in divinity nor devotion to good works, nor asceticism, nor moral purity makes the Mohammedan a saint; he may have all or none of these things, but the only indispensable qualification is that ecstasy and rapture which is the outward sign of 'passing away' from the phenomenal self. Anyone thus enraptured is a wali, and when such persons are recognized through their power of working miracles they are venerated after death and also during their lives. The Mohammedan's notion of the saint as a person possessed by God allows a very wide application of the term, in popular usage it extends from the greafces Sufi theosophists like Jalaluddiu lliuni and Ibn el-'Arabi down to those who have gained sanctity only by losing sanity ; v i c t i m s of epilepsy and hysteria, half wilted idiots and harmless lunatics". 1 am well aware that in this chapter scant justice has been done to a great subject. The historian of Sufism must acknowledge, however he may deploro, the fundamental influence which it has exerted in its practical results, grovelling submission to the authority of an ecstatic class of men, dependence on their favour, pilgrimages to their shrines, adoration of their relics, devotion of every mental and spiritual faculty to their service. It may be dangerous to worship God by one's own inner light, but it is far more deadly to seek Him by the inner light of another. Vicarious holiness has 110 compensation. 3. References have already been made to the mad saints; something further must be said, A convert from Islam who liad been an Azharite Sheikh and a former pupil of Mohammed Abdu, one of the most advanced teachers, and he himself very antagonistic to superstition, was asked what was his judgement with regard to mad Saints. He said the Azhar carefully distinguished between the "Magnun" (mad because possessed of a Jinn) and the "Magzub (the attracted of God) But with regard to the Magzub tliey cons i d e r e d , that these men as a class held first rank as saints and they based their belief on the following well founded tradition of the piophet. "The ignorant Salik is nearer to God than the learned Salik, and will take precedence over him in the day of judgement" (Saliih el-Bukhari).

- 35 ~ This m a n being an E g y p t i a n would m o s t certainly be r e f e r r i n g , t o a mac! saint, b u t a reference to Hughes' Dictionary of Islam p. 612, will show t h a t Indian Moslem t h o u g h t , which Hughes' Dictionary especially reflects, lias a more exalted conception of t h e Magzub, a n d this more exalted t h o u g h t m a y h a v e been t h e influencing one 011 t h e Azliar t e a c h i n g in early d a y s . 4. H o w does a Moslem become a SaintV S h a k e s p e a r e gives us t h e a n s w e r concisely : ''Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some h a v e greatness t h r u s t u p o n them''. Very literally some a r e b o r n saints ; t a k e f o r e x a m p l e the S a y y i d s of t h e M i r g h a n i y a order. I t would seem t h a t every m e m b e r of t h e leading f a m i l y in direct line of descent f r o m t h e f o u n d e r is considered a saint. O t h e r s seem t o be b o r n w i t h a n a t u r a l a p t i t u d e for religious a t t a i n m e n t . Some o t h e r s b y a s t r i c t observance of all ascetic practices prescribed b y t h e i r Sheikhs and by m u c h meditation, p r a y e r a n d use of t h e Zikr honestly a r r i v e a t a r e p u t a t i o n for saintliness ; by fat t h e g r e a t e r p a r t h a v e t h i s r e p u t a t i o n as their goal a n d a r r i v e t h e r e by m a n y devious courses, generally b y s i m u l a t i n g ecstatic experiences or b y t h e practice of magic. Very occasionally t h e greatness is t h r u s t upon t h e m , such as t h e iustance mentioned in a previous c h a p t e r w h e n r e t u r n e d pilgrims f r o m Mecca swore to h a v i n g m e t and t a l k e d w i t h a local man in t h e H a r a m when i t was known t h a t he had n e v e r l e f t his n a t i v e t o w n . Finally it behoves us as missionaries, t o c o m b a t t h i s idea of s a i n t s h i p which holds t h e people in such grips. W e m u s t f i n d o u t if we ourselves a r e q u i t e clear as to what c o n s t i t u t e s s a i n t s h i p Not only so, b u t we m u s t r e m e m b e r t h a t we too a r e called to be saints. This the missionary is a p t to f o r g e t in the g r e a t pressure of work t h a t s h o r t h a u d e d n e s s and a vast field involve. We are to d e m o n s t r a t e practically t h a t w h a t the law could n o t do in t h a t it was weak through t h e flesh, God, b y sending His - own Son, can do in us, so t h a t our righteousness shall exceed t h e righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. Our s t a n d a r d s of righteousness can only be t h e righteousness of (iod, W h e n we say He is righteous we m e a n t h a t all His acts a r e in c o n f o r m i t y w i t h His n a t u r e . Our s t a n d a r d of holiness will t h e r e f o r e increase w i t h t h e inciease of our knowledge of God's n a t u r e a t which Ave can a r r i v e , n o t b y an u n c e r t a i n inner light b u t by God's great revelation of Hi nisei I: in our Lord J e s u s C h r i s f . W e m u s t ever be on t h e w a t c h a g a i n s t t h e foolishness of t h e Galatians, whilst a t t h e same t i m e we m u s t remember t h a t holiness b y f a i t h comes n o t to him who does n o t h u n g e r and thirst, a f t e r righteousness. Again I would urge t h a t it is in t h e s u b j e c t of s a i n t s h i p we h a v e t h e crux of t h e problem of Islam's hold upon t h e masses, aud mere theorists as to r i g h t views of s a i n t s h i p will n o t successfully c o m b a t their errors. W e a r e called to lie saints. For R e a d i n g :— Maedonald's The Religious Attitude and Life in Lectures VI & VII & IX,

Islam,

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LECTURE VI. Magic. Magic p l a y s a m o s t i m p o r t a n t p a r t in t h e Dervish s y s t e m .

It

lias a l w a y s b e e n a n i n t e g r a l p a r t of Islam b u t lias b e e n h i g h l y developed b y t h e D e r v i s h O r d e r s w h o h a v e b o r r o w e d f r o m e v e r y s y s t e m of m y s t i c i s m k n o w n in t h e O r i e n t . I.

Egypt

Egyptian

as a Source.

In Dr. Budge's Short

History

of

the

People, he h a s a c h a p t e r on " E g y p t i a n Magie a n d R e l i g i o n "

w h i c h is m o s t i n t e r e s t i n g r e a d i n g .

W e would h e r e , h o w e v e r , q u o t e

a very few sentences from t h a t Chapter. " H o w e v e r f a r b a c k w e go w e f i n d m a g i c w i t h religion.

flourishing

side b y side

Be t h i s as it m a y , t h e r e w e r e a t all t i m e s in use in

E g y p t t w o k i n d s of magic, t h e one l a w f u l a n d t h e o t h e r u n l a w f u l , or,

as w e say to d a y

" W h i t e Magic" a n d " B l a c k Magic".

t w o g r e a t e s t m e n in E g y p t w e r e t h e K i n g

and

The

the Magician (the

Medicine m a n or W i t c h Doctor of t h e m o d e r n A f r i c a n p e o p l e s ) . . . " T h e t i t l e of t h i s g r e a t m a g i c i a n w a s " K h e n - h e b " , a n d his p o w e r was very great.

H e k n e w all t h e

w o r d s a n d n a m e s of p o w e r , lie

composed spells, h e c a s t o u t devils, h e s e n t d r e a m s t o s l e e p i n g f o l k a n d i n t e r p r e t e d d r e a m s , he p r o d u c e d a n d stilled s t o r m s , lie f o r e t o l d t h e f u t u r e , lie raised t h e d e a d ,

lie laid g h o s t s , h e possessed t h e

secret

t h e l i t u r g y in such a w a y t h a t

of

reciting the words

of

m a t e r i a l o f f e r i n g b e c a m e c h a n g e d i n t o t h e s p i r i t food of t h e Gods. H e w a s of n e c e s s i t y a l e a r n e d m a n , a n d h e

knew t h e magical

and

religious l i t e r a t u r e t h o r o u g h l y ; a n d of course h e could w r i t e ; t h e s e a b i l i t i e s c o m m a n d e d t h e r e s p e c t a n d f e a r of t h e people to w h o m t h e w r i t t e n w o r d w a s a l w a y s sacred " H a v i n g b y some m e a n s f o u n d o u t t h e s e c i e t or ' h i d d e n '

name

of a p a r t i c u l a r god or f r i e n d , he a d d r e s s e d t h i s b e i n g b y t h a t n a m e , t h e n a d j u r e d him to do his will

In all such spells or a d j u r a -

t i o n s n a m e s of p o w e r play a very p r o m i n e n t p a r t . It w a s i m p o s s i b l e f o r a Magician to live in e v e r y t o m b to p r o t e c t e v e r y m u m n y , b u t lie claimed to p r o t e c t t h e m by w r i t t e n spells Rescensions of t h e Book of the Dead

Theban and Saite

a r e f u l l of spells a c c o m p a n i e d

b y m a g i c d r a w i n g s . T h u s t h e c h a p t e r of t h e L a d d e r a n d t h e d r a w i n g of it would secure f o r t h e deceased t h e use of t h e f a m o u s l a d d e r , w h e r e b y Osiris h a d climbed u p f r o m e a r t h t o h e a v e n .

The chapter

of t h e F e r r y b o a t a n d t h e p i c t u r e of it w o u l d p r o v i d e a b o a t f o r t h e deceased w h e n h e desired t o sail across t h e Nile t o t h e o t h e r w o r l d . Besides m a g i c a l n a m e s a n d m a g i c a l d r a w i n g s , t h e Khen lieb u s e d f r e e l y m a g i c a l f i g u r e s m a d e of v a r i o u s s u b s t a n c e s , b u t especially in w a x , f o r t r a s m i t t i u g good a n d evil, t o

the living

and the

dead.

F r o m E g y p t t h e use of m a g i c a l f i g u r e s passed t o t h e c o n t i n e n t of

37 Europe and thus to England Besides spells, magical drawings and magical figures, the magician was called upon to provide amulets for the living who wished to carry about with them the protection of the gods, spirits and deceased animals, and to benefit by their power, and also for the dead.'' In the midst of a description of these amulets Dr, Budge describes the one so-well known to all dwellers on the Nile: "The scarab or beetle, the symbol of new life and virility and resurrection was associated with god Khepera, Kheperr i.e. the •Roller' who rolled the ball of the sun across the sky. Having prepared a ball of matter to serve as food to its off spring, the female beetle rolled it into a hole iu the ground in which it had laid one egg, and when the young beetle was hatched out it- fed upon it. With this egg was associated the idea of 'only begotten' and the beetle gave to the wearer the protection of the only begotten son of the primeval God...." "The Khen-heb was ill early times also a physician, and as lie administered his medicines to the patient ho assisted their operation by reciting spells, charms and incantations, ami sometimes by performing ceremonies...." A sharp distinction must bo drawn between magicians of this class and the astrologers, soothsayers, fortune tellers, necromfincers, casters of nativities, and sorcerers of all kinds who flourished in Egypt from the reign of llameses II and onwards, "The latter class of physicians were imposters who deceived the people and professed to read the f u t u r e by the help of absurd tricks and ceremonies, to foretell dreams, to transform men into animals and reptiles, to heal the sick, to bring the spirits of the dead back to this earth, to work miracles by means of potions derived from the bodies of the dead, and to be able to make amulets t h a t would protect their owners for ever against every hostile creature or thing in this world or the next. Such men only flourished in Egypt when her people as a whole had lost their belief in Osiris and the other ancient gods, and were seeking to make debased superstition take its place". Every word of this can be paralleled iu the magic practised in E g y p t by the Dervish orders, especially the last paragraph and Maspero tells us in his New Light on Ancient Egypt t h a t in t h e first century A.l). all the systems of magic extant were combined. 2. Judaism as a source. Probably most of the ancient Egyptian magic came to Dervishism through Judaisim, though undoubtedly much would live on in the country down through t h e ages. Nearly all references to magic and magicians in the Old Testament have a connection with Egypt. The Jews borrowed and developed the magic of Egypt. The Talmud is a perfect mine of magical formulae. The "Shems-el-Ma'arif" an Arabic book of magic, very

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38

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widely sold, lias many traces of this Jewish source. Jewish names for God such as El, Jab, Elohim, Ac., and quite a large a number of Jewish names for angels, 3. The Effect of Magic. The student must read in Lane's Modem Egyptians, chapter XII and Mr. Hayes' article in in the Moslem World M 4 , to get an impression of t h e evil effects the practice of magic has upon the common people. Dr. Zwemer's Animism in Islam, will also greatly help to an appreciation of its widespread and sinister hold. The article on magic in Hughes' Dictionary of Islam. should be read and the article Da'wali should be glanced through. Macdonald's Aspects of Mam pp. 330 to 334 should be read. Very interesting reading is also to be found in his The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam, pp. 15, 112, 114-116, 120, 128. 4, The Moroccan Mohammedans. Place as much emphasis on magic and practice it so widely and freely, t h a t in this country the word "Maghraby" is synonymous with Magician. The making of a m u l e t s and divination by sand is almost wholly in the hands of natives of Darfur who also are experts in other forms of magic. If the student desires to get an idea of how prevalent are t h e practices of magic let him go in and out of any village in Egypt and notice, for example, as only one of many methods of avoiding evil the number of houses t h a t have pieces of rag tied somewhere to the bars of their lower windows. It will be easier, however, to count those t h a t are devoid of rags. For.Heading :-• Lane's Modern Egyptians Chap. XII. Macdonald's Aspects of Islam, pp. 536-344. do Religious Life and Attitude, pp. 51, 122,114-125,128. Hayes' Article in The Moslem World, October 1914.