What is "eroticism" in sufism?
Suryansh Sahota
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Amateur Sufi Poet and follower of Sufism9y
"Rabb nu te manauna mushkil nahi, do nafal padho rabb mann jaanda,
Mehboob je raazi na hove, nach nach ke manauna penda"
Above lines were written by some famous Sufi poet(Bulle Shah, I guess) which means that pleasing God is a matter of two hymns but to please your lover you gotta dance all night.
- In Sufism, your lover is God and God is your lover.
- You, as a devotee, are obliged to please your God(lover) by any means.
- To be one with your lover is not looked as a vulgar act in Sufism so long as your feelings are true.
- True love is considered greater than Godliness in Sufism.
- Although there is no explicit mention of eroticism/sex in the Sufi poetry but the subtle hints, perceived by a poetic mind, tell you the whole story.
- So, eroticism is only limited to your lover and the sole purpose is to make your lover happy irrespective of the tactics used. :P
"Eh ishq nahi darda maut kolon, bhaavein sooli charhna pey jaavey,
Nach nach ke yaar manaa lenda bhaavein kanjri ban-na pey jaavey."
True love is not scared of death even if crucification is the call,
It will convince its lover by dancing whole night like a harlot.
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Mohammad Montazeri
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Ph.D. in Comparative Religious Studies, Iran5y
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Is Sufism pantheistic?
Well, with all respect, among the answerers, no one understands what pantheism means at all! I suppose they take it as polytheism because they answered like: "No! Sufis are monotheist"
Lets clear the terms first:
1- Polytheism: There are two Gods or more. (early Hinduism)
2- Monotheism: There is just one God. (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
3- Panentheism: There is a world which it's existence depends on God.
4- Pantheism: There is just God, no universe existed at all.
The last 2 terms are part of monotheism. I'll explain why everybody confused about it and why they consider pantheism as worshiping multiple Gods.
Let's start with panentheism, I'll make it simple using an example or two:
There is a Log as firewood which all burning in fire like this:
Where is the fire? Can you separate the log and the fire? No! Fire and fire-preserver (log) emerged as one. Now, can you say the fire and the log are the same? No! The burning and the burned are not the same. Panentheism says that God's presence in the world is like the presence of fire in the log, world and God are not the same and also the world is nothing rather than God. Like soul and body. Human and his/her soul are not the same, but if you separate the soul, you can't call someone human anymore, it's just a corps which is not the subject of the human rights. The attachment of the God and universe doesn't mean that God and universe are the same so we could say this part or that part of the universe is part of God. If you cut a hand off the body it won't be the body anymore, it doesn't contain soul so it is a piece of flesh.
This panentheism (Holul = Incarnation) in few cut of the Muslims history turned to the subject of Takfir (Declare someone as pagan). However, panentheism is not the most popular notion among Sufi Muslims but in the late Hinduism and Biblical theology (both Judaism and Christianity) is the dominant concept. Descartes and his successors Geulincx and Malebranche attempted to formulate panentheism in logical terms based on the Old Testament.
Pantheism, (Wahdat al Wujud = Unity of the existence) on the other hand is the most popular notion in Sufis works. But what does that mean? I borrow a metaphor from Chandogya Upanishad to bring it to light:
If you threw a lump of salt into the water it will disappear but water still is water and salt is salt (Panentheism). Now imagine a lump of salt itself, which has no distinguishable inner or outer but throughout consists entirely of taste. (Pantheism)
If you understand by now, pantheism believes that there is nothing exist at all but God. Everything we know as the universe is merely God (At this moment God writing as me and God reading as you on the surface of God as the laptop screen!).
Pantheism has two level:
1- Realism: There is a universe which is God!
2- Idealism: There is no universe and the universe is a total illusion (Maya) and a distraction and just there is an unknown God.
The realistic pantheism is closer to Sufism understanding of the universe and the Idealistic pantheism is more match with Hindu philosophy of Upanishads. The most famous theorist of Pantheism among Sufi Muslims is Ibn al Arabi.
Based on what we said above, both pantheism or panentheism have not anything with worshiping multiple Gods, Its about one God and its relationship with the universe. Maybe you deny your existence through that way, but the unity of the God is beyond doubt in a Sufistic sense.
Q: Is Sufism Pantheistic?
A: Yes
PS1: I used this book for some metaphors:
The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Paul Deussen.
PS2: I don't affirm or deny any of those theses.
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