伊斯蘭復興的意義與對蘇非(Sufi)的評價
Islamic
societies are bereft of serenity, coherence and peace. The time has come for a
religious emancipation
· By Tariq Ramadan, Special to Gulf News
· Published: 00:00 February 21, 2012
· As far as Islam is concerned, it must be noted that Arab
and Muslim majority societies are seriously lacking in spirituality. There is not a deficit of “religion” but of spiritual life. It can be
encountered among Islamists, as well as among secularists and ordinary
citizens. Religion refers to the framework, to the structure of ritual, to the
rights and obligations of believers and, as such, lies at the heart of social
and political debate. In the classical Islamic tradition, framework, reference
and practices can — like all religions and spiritual traditions — be best seen
in the light of their relation to meaning (here, to the Divine), to a
conception of life and death, to the life of the heart and mind. Contemporary
Islamic discourse has, however, too often lost its substance, which is that of
meaning, of understanding ultimate goals and the state of the heart. Increasingly, it has been reduced to reactivity, preoccupied with the
moral protection of the faithful, based on the reiteration of norms, rituals
and, above all, prohibitions. But spirituality is not faith without religion;
it is the quest for meaning and peace of heart as the essence of religion.
Viewed in this light, Muslim majority societies are
profoundly bereft of serenity, coherence and peace. The time has come for a
spiritual and religious emancipation.
· The
decline of Islamic civilisation, followed by colonialism, has left its mark, as
has the experience of political and cultural resistance. The way in which religion, and the Islamic reference, are understood
was gradually adapted to the requirements of resistance: for both traditional
Muslim scholars (ulama) and Islamist movements (which often began with mystical
aspirations) moral norms, rules pertaining to food, dress and strict observance
of ritual have come increasingly to the fore as means of self-assertion, in
direct proportion to the danger of cultural colonialism and alienation
perceived and experienced in Arab societies. Caught up
in political resistance, Islamist movements have gradually focused their attention
on questions of a formal nature, setting aside the spiritual core of religious
practice. Between the rhetoric of traditional religious
authorities and institutions, and that of the Islamists, whether narrowly
rigorous in outlook or hypnotized by political liberation, ordinary citizens
are offered few answers to their spiritual pursuit of meaning, faith, the heart
and peace.
· A yawning void has opened up; mystical (Sufi) movements have re-emerged, some of them respectful of norms, some fraudulent, in
what is often an approximate answer to popular aspirations. The
Sufi movements or circles are diverse, and often provide a kind of exile from
worldly affairs, in contrast to ritualistic traditionalism or to Islamist
activism. Focus upon yourself, they urge; upon your
heart and inner peace; stay far away from pointless social and political
controversy. A specific feature of mystical circles is that they bring together
— though in physically separate groups — educated elites in quest of meaning as
well as ordinary citizens, including the poorest, who feel a need for
reassurance that verges on superstition. Their teachings are, more often than
not, general and idealistic, far removed from the complexities of reality;
politically, they sometimes voice passive or explicit support for ruling
regimes, even dictatorships.
· Furthermore, a substantial number of Sufi circles yield to the double
temptation of the cult of the personality of the shaikh or guide (murshid) and
the infantilisation of the initiates (murîd): the latter may be highly
educated, hold high rank in the social hierarchy, yet at the same time place
their hearts, minds and even their lives in the hands of a guide who, it is
claimed, represents the ultimate path to fulfillment. This culture of
disempowerment strangely echoes the fashions of the day: a combination of
withdrawal from the world and living in a kind of existential confusion between
emotional outpouring (the spectacle of effusiveness towards and reverence for
Sufi elders can be disturbing, disquieting and dangerous) and a demanding
spiritual initiation. Such initiation should be liberating, open the door to
autonomy through mastery of the ego and lead to coherence between the private
and public life. But what emerge instead are parallel lives:
a so-called Sufi spirituality allied to egocentric, greedy, self-interested and
occasionally immoral social and political behavior. Arab elites and middle
classes find such behavior to their advantage, as do socially fragile sectors
of the population.
· Between the overbearing ritualism of official religious institutions and
the obsessive politicisation of Islamist leaders the thirst for meaning, which
finds its expression in cultural and religious references, seeks for ways to
express itself. Mysticism sometimes provides the solution. But careful thought
should be given to the real-life impact of such phenomena as they relate to the
crisis of spirituality and therefore of religion. In every case, the teachings
propounded do not encourage the autonomy, well-being and confidence of human
beings in their everyday individual and social lives. In their formalism and
concentration upon norms, the traditional institutions that represent or teach
Islam reproduce a double culture of prohibition and guilt. The religious reference
is transformed into a mirror in which the believers are called upon to judge
themselves for their own deficiencies: such rhetoric can generate nothing more
than unease. The Islamist approach, which seeks to free society
from foreign influence, has in the long run brought forth a culture of reaction, differentiation and frequently of judgment: who is a Muslim, what is
Islamic legitimacy, etc. It sometimes casts itself as victim; even in the way
it asserts itself against the opposition. Social
and political activism prevails over spiritual considerations; the struggle for
power has sometimes eclipsed the quest for meaning.
· By way of response to this void, the majority of mystical movements and
circles have called upon their initiates to direct their attention inwards,
towards themselves, their hearts, their worship and their inner peace. Around
them has arisen a culture of isolation, social and political passivity and loss
of responsibility, as though spirituality were somehow necessarily opposed to
action. Still, it must be noted that a
large number of Sufi circles do speak out on social and political issues, and
actually encourage their followers to speak out on social and political
matters, and to become actively involved in society.
Between the culture of prohibition and guilt and that of reaction and
victimisation, between abandonment of responsibility and isolationism, what
options remain for the Arab world to reconcile itself to its cultural,
religious and spiritual heritage? What must be done to propound a culture of
well-being, autonomy and responsibility?
· There is a need to rediscover and reclaim the spirituality that
permeates Eastern cultures, and that lies at the heart of the Jewish, Christian
and Islamic traditions, a consideration that today’s social and political
uprisings can ill afford to neglect. For there can be no viable democracy, no
pluralism in any society without the well-being of individuals, the citizens
and the religious communities.
Tariq Ramadan is professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the
Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University and a visiting professor at
the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Qatar. He is the author of Islam and the Arab
Awakening.
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