Sufism – An Islamic Philosophy of Spiritual Journey

The Islamic way of esoteric journey divides into two paths –first is practical and the second is philosophical. The people who gave more emphasis on the philosophical and speculative side of religion and engaged themselves for the quest of truth and knowledge, which lead them to a separate school of Islamic philosophy which later became known as „Sufism‟ or Pantheistic mysticism (Tasawwuf’) in Islam. So the main aim of Sufism is to search for the Truth and Ultimate reality in a mystic way. Thus Sufism is defined by Seyyed Hossein as “… the pursuit of spiritual path, union with Ultimate Reality (al-Haqq), and gnosis according to the path and tradition of “Muhammadan Poverty (fakr)” (spirit humility).” In this way various schools of mystic philosophy have been flourished within the Islamic periphery which may lead the world to the esoteric life and may help to solve the worldly problems of contemporary period and give a way out where the present unrest world can get rest on peace.

Objective of the study:

1. Relevance of the teaching of Sufism in present world situations.

2. Highlight the relevance of right way of Sufism from the wrong one to reduce the misunderstanding about Sufism.