PHILOSOPHY OF ISLAMIC SUFISM

The history of the Islamic spiritual life at its beginning by the ascetics, worshippers and early hermits was noticeable by fear and intimidation. The asceticism accompanied by fear, sadness and crying on one hand and intimidation and threats (warning) on the other hand, all of these are the way for man to curb the reins of the soul until it becomes pure and sublime and becomes reassured, returns to its Lord satisfied and pleasing, enters among His servants and enters His Paradise. The spiritual life gradually ascends and heads in another direction not driven by fear of punishment or greed for reward, but rather what drives it is the pure love of Allah. Since “Sufism is the true religious spiritual manifestation among Muslims, because it is the mirror on its page the Islamic spiritual life is reflected in its most special manifestations, asceticism is the practical aspect of Sufism, it is a way of life that the believer lives, a special position towards the world and its adornments, desires and pleasures, and towards the self and its greediness. The Sufi tendency, or Sufi philosophy, if we could say that, is based on the absolute love and absolute beauty that are spread in the universe. The idea of love and beauty has developed among Sufis to form the theory of divine love until it became one of the concerns of the people of Sufism. Sufism believes that the divine love is the secret of Allah’s creation of the world, because Allah wanted to reveal the secret of His eternal beauty to show it on the face of existence. Sufis believe that the verses of love that are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and in the hadiths of the Messenger Mohammed (peace be upon him), support their theory of divine love, the echoes of which we find are strong in the entire Sufi heritage. "Divine love for the Sufis means that Allah is the beloved with an eternal love, not out of fear of His Hellfire nor out of greed for His Paradise. They can be counted as those who developed the state of fear of Allah into pure love. The ascetics tried to get rid of their worries and sorrows driven by the fear of Allah’s punishment and wrath, by looking forward to His mercy and forgiveness, hoping for His reward and forgiveness. While the life of Al-Hasan Al-Basri was an asceticism based on fear of the torment of Hellfire and longing for the reward of Paradise, the spiritual life gradually ascended and headed to another direction, not driven by fear of punishment or greed for reward, but rather what drove it was the love of Allah that aimed only at contemplating His noble face and enjoying His eternal beauty