|
taught and governed there himself, left no order behind him. Apparently in his time the
movement toward continuous corporations had not yet begun. It is true that there are at
present in existence darwish Fraternities which claim to be descended from the celebrated
ascetics and walis, Ibrahim ibn Adham (d. 161), Sari as-Saqati (d. 257) and Abu
Yazid al-Bistami (d. 261), but it may be gravely doubted whether they can show any sound
pedigree. The legend of Shaykh Ilwan, who is said to have founded the first order in 49,
may be safely rejected. It is significant that the Awlad Ilwan, sons of Ilwan, as his
followers are called, form a sect of the Rifa'ites. Further, just as the Sufis have
claimed for themselves all the early pious Muslims, and especially the ten to whom
Muhammad made specific promise of Paradise (al-ashara al-mubashshara), so these
Fraternities are ascribed in their origin to, and put under the guardianship of the first
Khalifas, and, in Egypt; it least, a direct descendant of Abu Bakr holds authority over
all their orders.
In these orders all are darwishes, but only those gifted by God with miraculous powers
are walis. Those of them who are begging friars are faqirs. They stand under
an elaborate hierarchy grading in dignity and holiness from the Qutb, or Axis, who
wanders, often invisible and always unknown to the world, through the lands performing the
duties of his office, and who has a favorite station on the roof of the Ka'ba, through his
waqibs or assistants, down to the lowest faqir. But the members of these
orders are not exclusively faqirs. All classes are
|
|
MYSTICS v. TRADITIONALISTS
|
269 | |
enrolled as, in a sense, lay adherents. Certain trades affect certain fraternities; in
Egypt, for example, the fishermen are almost all Qadirites and walk in procession on their
festival day, carrying colored nets as their banners. Much the same thing held, and holds,
of the monastic orders of Europe, but the Muslim does not wait till he is dying to put on
the weeds of Ahmad al-Badawi or ash-Shadhili. Finally, reference may be made again to the
last and most important of all these orders, the militant Brotherhood of as-Sanusi.
We have now returned to the period of al-Iji and at-Taftazani, when philosophy
definitely descended from the throne and became the servant and defender of theology. From
this time on, the two independent forces at work are the unveiling of the mystic (kashf)
and traditions (naql). The only place for reason (aql) now is to prove the
possibility of a given doctrine. That done, its actual truth is proven by tradition. These
two then, kashf and naql, hold the field, and the history of Muslim theology
from this point to the present day is the history of their conflicts. The mystics are
accused of heresy by the traditionalists. The traditionalists are accused by the mystics
of formalism, hypocrisy, and, above all, of flat inability to argue logically. Both
accusations are certainly true. No fine fence on personality can conceal the fact that
Muslim mysticism is simple pantheism of the Plotinian type, the individuals are emanations
from the One. On the other hand, the formalism of the traditionalists can hardly be
exaggerated. They pass over almost entirely into
|
|