We live in the time of global communication with access to plenty of information and still we have so little knowledge on certain subjects or because we have access to plenty information we sometimes are confused by various interpretations and deliberate misinformation. This speech contains material that resulted from more than 20 years of research and in parts has not been talked about in western countries or languages.We publish a speech, which didn’t go viral yet and was not picked up by any mainstream media so far. This speech was held at University of Potsdam in preparation of students who anticipated a travel to one of the world’s most stupendous countries: Iran. The speech includes some paragraphs on Sufism and Sufis, who are under persecution in Iran, and on the Koran and various interpretations.
What this speech is about:
-What is Sufism
-The Sufi method of soul healing
-The Sufi practices
-Initiation
-Koran, Hassan Basri
-Sufi literature
-Shah Nematollah Vali and the Nematollah Order
-Esoteric education of the Koran in contradiction with the tribal traditions
“Souf means the skin of a sheep, camel… A Sufi is a person whose main dress is made of the skin of an animal according to the style of Prophet Yahya- John the Baptist.
Before the birth of Islam, the Manicheans, and the Christian Gnostics, lived as hermits in the dayr/ monasteries of regions such as the south of Syria, Iraq and the south of Iran, where they used to wear the souf/ kherghe, and people called them Sufis.
Etymologically the word of Sufism has two synonyms in Arabic and Farsi languages: Faghr, Darvishi.
In the jargon of the Koran the words of Sufism, Sufi, Tassawuf, are not used at all, but the vocabulary of Faghr is employed.
“O people you are the faghirs (poor) and God is Ghani (rich)”
According to the Koran, in one of his incantations, Prophet Moses mentioned his quality of Faghir.
” Rabbe Enny lema anzalta elayya men khayre faghir”.
“My Lord for what you send to me, I am faghir.”
Faghir means poor. Faghr means poorness.
This is the characteristic of a flute. It is empty of everything.
Rumi says “listen to this flute, how it expresses its complain”.
Faghr/ poorness in Farsi is darvishi. Faghir /poor is darvish.
Hafez, the famous poet of the 8th century of hegira, has a long Ghazal venerating the qualities of the dervishes.
Ghazal 31
The gathering of the Dervishes is a heavenly haunt,
To be in their service, who wouldn’t want?
Their site of worship is a place of wonder
Where day and night miracles they render.
Embark when they perform the mystical way
Heaven is something they see every day.
Close to the Dervish you have Midas’ touch
Gold it becomes whatever you clutch.
The sun and the moon come down to earth
To worship the Dervishes at their birth.
The wealth of the Dervishes is beyond compare
It is not something that you can pare.
And even a king almighty and brave
He bows to them, and becomes their slave.
In the world of ours, all beauty and grace
Reflections they are of a Dervishes’ face.
The high, the mighty, the giants, the kings
They gain their stature under the Dervishes wings.
And if you are looking for the spring of youth
You will find it in a Dervishes booth.
If tyranny and evil spring from the palace
In the shack of a Dervish there is no malice.
O Hafiz, be courteous in the Dervishes abode
Even a king comes there in a beggars mode.
Darvishi or Sufism is the art of connecting the head to the heart – or by using a metaphor we can say -digging an empty channel between head and heart.
Sufism is the esoteric perspective and an exegesis of the holy text or – the hermeneutic interpretation of the Koran.
The method employed by the Sufi-seekers is in concordance with the tradition of all the Prophets written obviously and clearly in different verses of the Koran:
· orienting their attention by a constant manner to a central point inside of the muscle of their heart in the left side of their chest.
· repeating continuously the names of God
· passing a period of retreat and seclusion to purify their soul
· reciting certain incantations of verses of the Koran by a rhythmical manner
· getting control of their breathing
· developing certain spiritual qualities of knighthood and chivalry- Fotowwat
· declaring a sacred battle against their NAFS – Jihad Akbar- fighting day and night against the instinctive pulses of their ego and the carnal desires.
· growing up the qualities of the soul such as Tavakol, sabr, modara patience, tolerance, in place of the qualities of Nafs such as violence, tyranny, despotism, dictatorship…
A Sufi seeker loves the Creator of the universe and venerates the beauty of the creation- Kalia/ Jamal/ Hosn. He or she would like to give service to the society and to people only to achieve the satisfaction of the Creator. A Sufi-seeker looks for peace and altruism.
The practice of the Sufis
For getting control of the Nafs and fighting the instinctive carnal desires, Jihad, the seekers of the substantial evolution path-Sufis/ Dervishes/ Faghirs- sit down in front of their Mehrab, and accomplish certain spiritual exercises. Usually they consecrate 30 minutes up to 1 hour practice before going to bed. Mehrab- the corner of Moharebeh- is the niche of meditation. It is according to the tradition of Prophet Zakary and other Prophets cited in the Koran.
The angels called Zakary when he was standing up and praying in front of Mehrab: “O Zakary we announce you to have within a short time a child whose name is Yahya, and nobody ever before him, got this name.”
In front of the Mehrab the attention of the Sufi is turned to his heart, and the heart is oriented to the Mehrab, and the Mehrab is in direction of the heart of the Sufi-educator. This method is named Morabeteh/ heart connection. The Sufi repeats certain incantations according to a rhythmical refrain to make silent the brain-trouble and to listen quietly to his heartbeat. He practices mentally the repetition of the name of God –Zekr – in concordance with his heartbeat.
In this moment of deep heart connection, he watches the apparition of the inspiration in to the inner space of his heart. This method is named Moraghebeh.
The two methods of Moraghebeh and Morabeteh are completed by the third technique named Mohasebeh. Making a detailed balance of his or her daily life. The Sufi writes down each night a balance in form of two pillars regarding his attentions, intentions and actions during the day that he just came to end up. The two pillars are designed one for positive actions and the other pillar for negative actions. This method of Mohasebeh is like an inner mirror to show the real face of the ego, and to reveal the true balance between Nafs and Soul. By getting knowledge about this balance, the seeker will change his behaviour by emphasising more on the positive actions (amal-e saleh) and decreasing the negative actions (amal-e fased).
Several verses of the Koran remind us of the importance of Mohasebeh.
Do a constant evaluation of your self, before it is done –after death- for you.
Study the book of yourself – it is enough for you.
Know yourself and change your personality.
Become a knight.
Raise your endeavours to make the wealth and distribute it between the orphans, poor, homeless, prisoners, needy people and so on.
Try to reach to the state of Abrar (knights), and know that nobody reaches to the state of Berr (chivalry) if he does not give away by generosity what he likes most.
The rhythms – Sama’- recitation, narration of the verses of the Koran and ecstatic poetries of the Sufi poets – full of the Names and Zekr of God- bring peace and quietness in the heart. The Sufis practice the particular method of breathing to go to their heart, to listen to their heartbeat, and to dive into the ocean of silence across this space.
This silence is not an access to God – it is God.
These are the ensembles of the practice in front of the Mehrab:
1. Mohassebeh
2. Morabeteh
3. Moghrarebeh
Initiation
But, we should know that by applying these techniques, one doesn’t become a Sufi.
The complementary condition to really be a Sufi is to be connected to the divine rope crystallised in the person of the guide.
The individual gives his hand to the master and receives the Barakat through the ceremony of initiation ( Bay’at)according to the text of the Koran.
Once an individual gives his hand to the master he becomes connected to the cloud of the collective consciousness in the astral level, which guides him in his biological life and in his life after death.
The initiation is a second birth for the individual starting his substantial evolution according to the style of the Prophets and Valis mentioned in the verses of the Koran. The ceremony of initiation begins by gosl- immersing the whole body in the water- pool. Doing the request of repentance to God, and taking the vertical divine rope relating him to the divinity.
Orvatol vosgha
Vatasemou be habl ellah.
Koran, Hassan Basri
This ensemble of the esoteric traditions exists in the teachings of the Koran. It is not a part of the Muslim-theology, but a guidance to apply and practice, in order to develop the hidden capacities of the astral body and the soul. Prophet Mohammad was the first teacher and educator and master of the substantial evolution in the Muslim community in continuity of the chain of spiritual divine guides- the Prophets and Valis preceding him- such as Mani, Jesus, Yahia, Zakary, Moses, Isaac, Ismael, Jacob, Abraham, Noah, Seth, Adam and others.
This is the golden chain of esoteric teachings, which was passed to Prophet Mohammad, who passed it to his spiritual successor Ali, son of Abi-Taleb, the Lion of God.
After the death of prophet Mohammad, Ali educated certain companions in the way of Monotheism/tariq towhid during a long period of 23 years, before becoming the fourth Kalif of the Muslim community. He authorized certain advanced disciples of his school of Koranic spirituality to teach the willing persons according to the chronological verses of the Koran.
One of the famous authorized persons by Ali was named Hassan Basri, who is known as the first founder of the school of Sufism. In the eyes of famous authors such as Attar Nayshabouri in his book Tazkeratol Owliya, Hassan Basri is the head of the golden chain of initiation of all of the authentic Sufi-orders in the world.
These teachings were transmitted through his written and verbal teachings to the coming generations in the Muslim community. Those teachings included all of the secrets of the Koranic chronological education. Hassan Basri was born 14 years after the death of prophet Mohammed and passed away when he reached the age of 90 / 96. He was one of the first interpreters of the Koran –besides Ibn Abbas- and a reporter of certain sentences (Hadith) of prophet Mohammed and Imam Ali. He lived in the period of Ali and four successors of Ali including Hasan, Hosein, Zaynel Obad, Mohamad Bagher, and obtained their authorisation to educate the seekers of the Substantial Evolution.
Hassan Basri is known as the founder of the 1st school of Esoterism /Solouk Bateni/ Tarighat- and esoteric wisdom / Hikmat/ in the Muslim community. The Islamic school of initiation, which became known- in the 2nd century of the Hegira – under the title of Tassawof/ Sufism, spread from Africa to Spain, Iran, Afghanistan to India.
Sufi literature
Kwajeh Abdolah Ansari –a Sufi Master of Herat, who lived in fifth century of hegira (11th century) wrote a treaty (Resale) entitled “Sad Maydan”/ “Hundred Fields”, and also a book named “Manazelosaerin” – “The stations of the seekers” out of the teachings of Hassan Basri. These two books are the ensembles of the practical teachings of the Sufi-method used still until today in Iran- and other Persian speaking countries.
Later on during the period of the sixth century Abolmajd Majdoud ibn Adam Sanai a Sufi poet of Ghazne brought the structure of the Persian poetry based on the balance of the rhymes and rhythms in service of Sufism. Since this period, poetry became the carrier of the Sufi-secrets and the most important part of the treasure of the Sufi heritage in the mystical literature. A lot of mysteries due to the contemplation and the ecstatic visions were expressed through a hermeneutical language in the poetries of the Sufi-masters such as Hafez, Sa’di, Rumi, Attar, Araghi, Dehlavi, Hatef, Shah Nematollah Vali, and so on.
The Sufi poetry is composed of four dimensions: rhythm, melody, harmony, inner vibration or Zarbe khafy.
Shah Nematollah Vali
One of the golden chains of initiation related to Hassan Basri is connected to the Nematollahi Order, which is in continuity of the Hispanic order of Cordoba. This authentic order of Nematollahi exists still nowadays in Iran. Shah Nematollah Vali was a Sufi master of the 8th-9th centuries, contemporary to Hafez of Shiraz. He was born in Aleppo in Syria, but travelled in diverse regions of Asia, before staying till the end of his life in Mahan, a little city close to Kerman in the south east of Iran. He was the author of several books and treaties related to Sufism. He was one of the most famous interpreters of the wisdom of Sheikh e Akbar Mohayedin Arabi the grand master of Andalusia, disciple of Sheikh Abu Median Andolosi. Shah Nematollah was a poet and a musician. According to his teachings, one can reach to the perfection by climbing the ladder of the seven hundred and twenty steps of the rhythms. The child and successor of Shah Nematolah Vali and his six generations of successors went to India and stayed in the region of Haydar Abad in Dakan. In the Qajarid period, the masters of the Nematollahi order returned back to Iran. Some years later a man whose name was Mohammad and his Sufi-title was Sultan Alishah became the head of the Nematollahi order. He stayed in his native village in the north east region of Iran named Gonabad. Since that moment, the Nematollahi order is known under the name of Nematollahi Gonabadi order. The successors of Sultan Alishah are all from the same village. Today, the Master of the Nematollahi order is Dr Nur Ali Tabandeh Gonabadi, he is living far from his native city Gonabad, in the capital of Iran- Tehran.
The esoteric method of the Koran-education in contradiction with the tribal traditions
The method used by the Sufis and explained by Hassan Basri was also used by Prophet Mohammed when he was not yet a Prophet, but a spiritual seeker related to a spiritual school in Bosra in the south of Syria. The head of that monastery was named Georgius (Sergius)Bahira, and he was one of the keepers of the treasure of secrets of the teachings of Prophet Mani. Prophet Mohammed went to that monastery in company of his uncle Abu Talib, for the first time, when he was 12 years old.
Later on, Prophet Mohammad kept travelling as a trader working for a gentle lady named Khadijeh who became the first wife of Prophet Mohammad, several times to Syria. In that region the teachings of Prophet Mani and his main books such as “The pure Evangelium” and “Zabour” were widely spread and very popular between the populations. The famous book of Zabour of Mani was an ensemble of the rhythmical ecstatic poetries in old Farsi language venerating Jesus Christ. People of that region called themselves Christians, but differed dicesively from the official Augustinian Church of the Byzantine Empire. They related themselves to the Gospel of St Thomas that was written in Syriac language and the Evangelium of Mani. They did not believe to the principle of Trinity in dis-concordance to the substance of Monotheism, and rejected the idea of the crucifixion of Jesus.
When prophet Mohammed was inspired by the angel Gabriel to accomplish a mission by bringing God’s messages to the people of Mecca and the region around Mecca –Om olgora va man howlaha- to appeal people of the period of Jaheliat/ ignorance to abandon the tribal tradition of idol-worshipping and a quantity of other ancient superstitions, those people resisted in front of him and rejected his appeal in contradiction with their ancestors beliefs. There are certain verses of the Koran which remind this persistence of certain nomads of that region to neglect and reject the Koran. On the contrary, many monotheistic individuals from different angles of the world like Iran, Byzantine Empire, Rome, Ethiopia, and Yemen joined him and testified the validity of his prophecy.
Certain people of his own tribe –such as Nazr Ibn Hareseh- and his own family –such as Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab, the wife of Abu Lahab- rejected his mission and preferred to rest idol worshippers according to the old tribal traditions. This powerful group of Mecca imposed to him and his first companions several difficulties, and made a conspiracy to assassinate him. Prophet Mohammad left his native city and migrated with his companions –Mohajeroun- to the city of Medina, where they were received by the Ansar. The enemies and adversaries from Mecca gathered an army and went to conquer by force Medina and put an end to the mission and life of Prophet Mohammad. The military resistance of the Muslim community under the leadership of the prophet begun and took several years. In the majority of those military confrontations the Prophet designed a victorious strategy and finished the battles as the winner. In consequence, the quantity of converted people to Islam increased. Between the new-converted people to Islam there were certain ones who were interested to the wealth that the victorious army was getting after each battle. Some other ones became Muslims in order to infiltrate the Muslim community. The Koran talks about them in several verses. They are the hypocrite people, who pretended to be Muslim when they were with Muslims, but they did not believe to the Koran and to Mohammad at all.
With the Monafeghin – hypocrites- a new problem appeared in the way of the accomplishment of the prophetic mission. Those people who were fighting the Koran as the non-believers, accepted to convert to Islam by declaring just these two sentences:
La ilaha ella allah, Mohammad rasoul olah.
And once converted to Islam, they started to defend their own interpretation of the verses of the Koran according to their attachment to the ancient ethnic-customs-behaviour – the behaviour and ethic of the period of ignorance/ Jahleiat.
They stopped to idol-worship and built up a mosque and even invited the Prophet to go and inaugurate their mosque. But an inspiration by Gabriel guided Mohammad not to inaugurate a mosque built up out of hypocrisy, but to destroy it.
Later on the Monafeghin had a pretext to criticize the Prophet about the destruction of the mosque. They told we don’t know how to do. You convert us to Islam and teach us how to pray and gather us in the mosque and talk with us about the importance of a mosque and when we are encouraged to build up the mosque you destroy it.
The non-believers of Mecca were fighting openly the Koran. The diverse verses of the Koran talk about these people.
They told “O Mohammad we don’t believe in your mission unless you change the verses of this Koran, or to bring another book”. From the other side the Monafeghin –the non-believers, who were converted superficially to Islam- accepted falsely the Koran, and invented the wrong interpretation for the verses in order to oppose the Prophet. The Arabic language was their own maternal language and by manipulating the sense of the verses, they lead the Muslim community to a wrong deviation and division.
Finally the Prophet went with his companions to Mecca and without any resistance entered into the city and conquered it. He ordered Ali to destroy all of the idols and clean the beytollah /house of God/ Kabah from the dirt of all of those stony-woody idols. The last group of the non-believers and enemies accepted to declare Shahdatayn and convert verbally to Islam. They testified about the oneness of the creator and the prophecy of Mohammad, and pretended to be faithful persons. The Koran says clearly:
“Galatel A’rab: those people say amanna – we got faith. Tell them to say just Aslamna -we converted to Islam, because the faith did not yet penetrate in your heart. “
The names of the people who were living in the time of the Prophet and converted to Islam were mentioned in the books of Revayat (and history) as the Muslim of the first Islamic generation/ sadr e islam. But a quantity of them was not educated by the teachings of the Koran and was deeply attached to the values of the tribal traditions pre-existing Islam.
For Prophet Mohammed it was easier to fight them when they confronted Islam under the flag of idol-worshipping.
After Mohammed’s death the period of Khalifate rashedin started: the reign of Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman, Ali.
In the time of Ali (who was not only Khalif but the spiritual successor of Mohammed) those people who had fought against the Koran during Mohammed’s life time took the Koran in their hands and fought Ali.
After 4 years of the Khalifat of Ali a member of the Khavâregh sect assassinated him, and the period of the khilafat e rashedin ended. Mo’avieh the son of Abu Sofian the founder of the Ommayad dynasty took opportunity of the empty place of the legitimate Khalif, and created a powerful tyrannical religious-despotism under the name of Islam. The Ommayad dynasty was replaced about 90 years later by the Abbassid dynasty, which lasted until the seventh century of hegira (13th century) until the invasion of the Mongols. Both these dynasties conquered a lot of countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia – from Spain to the Chinese borders, and exported and imposed upon the occupied territories several laws/ on behalf of Islam/ but without any relation to the Koran.
These laws deeply rooted in the tribal traditions preceding Islam were signed into law by theologians on base of the Revayats (sayings attributed to the prophet) in place of Ayat (the verses of the Koran). We mention some of these laws such as imposing the religious-authority to the population of the conquered countries by force, violation of women-rights, circumcision of girls, imposed veil to women, stoning.
In that long period of religious domination, a multitude of false sayings full of superstitions took the place of the chronological commentary of Hassan Basri about the content of the holy Koran. The books of Sheikh Hassan Basri were buried in oblivion and the esoteric teachings of the Sufi masters were forbidden, and finally the Sufi-orders in general have been bearing hard pressures. Helas, this situation is going on till nowadays!”
Dr. Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh
Mehriran