Haqiqa

Shariat

Shari’a is Islamic law or Islamic jurisprudence as revealed in the Qur'an and Sunna.^[1] The first step in Sufism is following every aspect of the law perfectly. The purpose of this is to prove their love for God, by rigorous self-discipline and constant attention to their conduct. When the Sufi fully lives his or her life according to the Shari’a he or she is ready to progress to the second stage. This conformity to earthly rules is important because it recognizes that the spirit of a man or woman is affected by the actions of the body. In this way, bringing the body under the will of God also purifies the spirit and a pure spirit is essential for the second step.^[2]

Tariqat

Tariqa in Arabic means path and it denotes a Sufi brotherhood or chain or order.^[3] The orders are governed by shaykhs, spiritual leaders that mentor Sufis. Shaykhs are identified by the signs of God's grace that are evident, such as the ability to perform miracles.^[4] They take on people, usually male, that are committed to the Sufi lifestyle and want to progress further in their spiritual education. It is common for the shaykh to test a new disciple by ignoring them, assigning humiliating tasks or being rude to them.^[5] When the disciple has passed these tests, he is introduced to the awrad, a series of prayers particular to that order. These prayers must be studied before they are recited, because mistakes made in the prayer are sins. When the disciple has studied and recited the awrad for an indeterminate amount of time, he is expected to experience visions and revelation from God. Sufis believe that at this point the disciple is able to see spiritual things that are veiled from most people.^[6]

Haqiqat

Haqiqa is a difficult concept to translate. The book Islamic Philosophical Theology defines it as "what is real, genuine, authentic, what is true in and of itself by dint of metaphysical or cosmic status",^[7] which is a valid definition but one that does not explain haqiqa's role in Sufism. Haqiqa may be best defined as the knowledge that comes from communion with God, knowledge gained only after the tariqa is undertaken. For instance, a shaykh that has advanced through tariqa has haqiqa and can see into the lives of his disciples in a spiritual sense. He has knowledge of pregnancies and sicknesses before his disciples tell him. He can see beyond the physical world because of his proximity to God and possession of haqiqa. Haqiqa is less a stage in itself and more the marker of a higher level of consciousness, which precedes the next and final stage, marifa.^[8]

Marifat

Marifat (Arabic: المعرفة), is knowledge acquired through experience. It is a term used by Sufi Muslims to describe knowledge of spiritual truth (Haqiqah) having lived through experiences.

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Sharia

Sharia

Sharia is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's immutable divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its human scholarly interpretations. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim fundamentalists and modernists.

Sunnah

Sunnah

In Islam, sunnah, also spelled sunna, are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed on to the next generations. According to classical Islamic theories, the sunnah are documented by hadith, and along with the Quran, are the divine revelation (Wahy) delivered through Muhammad that make up the primary sources of Islamic law and belief/theology. Differing from Sunni classical Islamic theories are those of Shia Muslims, who hold that the Twelve Imams interpret the sunnah, and Sufi who hold that Muhammad transmitted the values of sunnah "through a series of Sufi teachers."

Sufism

Sufism

Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf, is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ritualism, asceticism and esotericism. It has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".

Like Sufism, Yazidism also makes use of the concepts of sharia, tariqa, haqiqa, and ma'rifa. In Yazidism, the concept of haqiqa ("[esoteric] truth") stands in contrast to the concept of sharia ("law" or "dogmatic legalism"),^[9] the latter which is frowned upon in Yazidi tradition.^[10]

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Yazidism

Yazidism

Yazidism, alternatively Sharfadin is a monotheistic ethnic religion that has roots in a western Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion directly derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition. It is followed by the mainly Kurmanji-speaking Yazidis and is based on belief in one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings, known as Angels. Preeminent among these Angels is Tawûsê Melek, who is the leader of the Angels and who has authority over the world.

Sharia

Sharia

Sharia is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's immutable divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its human scholarly interpretations. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim fundamentalists and modernists.

Tariqa

Tariqa

A tariqa is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking haqiqa, which translates as "ultimate truth".

Ma'rifa

Ma'rifa

Maʿrifa is the mystical knowledge of God or the “higher realities” that is the ultimate goal of followers of Sufism. Sufi mystics came to maʿrifa by following a spiritual path that later Sufi thinkers categorized into a series of “stations” that were followed by another series of steps, the “states,” through which the Sufi would come to union with God. The acquisition of maʿrifa was not the result of learnedness but was a type of gnosis in which the mystic received illumination through the grace of God. The finest expressions of maʿrifa can be found in the poetry of the Sufis Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī (1207–73) and Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165–1240).