Lataif-e-Sitta

Descriptions and interpretations of the lataif differ depending on the specific Sufi tradition and exponent representing it. In addition, individual Sufi teachers (see Sheikh (Sufism)) sometimes interpret aspects of lataif theory and practice according to how the lataif have been uniquely revealed to them.^[2]

In general, there are at least three major historical interpretations of the lataif:

1. that derived from the Kubrāwī order, described in the writings of Najm al-Din Razi (1177-1256) and Ala ud-Daula Simnani (Semnani) (1261-1336), which views the Lataif as potential psychospiritual organs/capacities that can be realized as progressive stages in those undergoing spiritual development;
2. that derived from the Mujaddidiyya branch of the Naqshbandi order, described in the writings of Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), which views the Lataif as psychospiritual organs/capacities that are potential receptors of Divine energy^[2] when activated in those undergoing spiritual development;
3. that derived from the "Punjab Tradition"^[3] within the Naqshbandi order, described in the writings of Ikbal Ali Shah (1894-1969) and Idries Shah (1924-1996), which views the Lataif as actual human psychospiritual organs/capacities that are implicit in everyday life and made explicit in those undergoing spiritual development.

Kubrāwī lataif

According to the view of the Kubrawi order there are seven lataif. They are understood cosmologically as "descending" levels through which reality is created and structured.^[4] In the process of spiritual development, the individual Sufi is understood to "ascend" to and through these levels progressively (see ontological Arcs of Descent and Ascent in Sufism). The attainment of each level is a stage associated with the activation/realization of a corresponding spiritual organ/capacity, interpreted symbolically through Islamic cosmology and the prophets and messengers in Islam.^[5]

In ascending order they are:

• Latifa Qalabiya ("Mold"), associated with an experience of the color black, represents the acquisition of a new organ, an embryonic subtle body. It is interpreted symbolically as "the Adam of one's being", since Adam was the first human being.
• Latifa Nafsiya ("Soul"), color blue, is an organ that corresponds to the animal soul and is a testing ground for struggle with desires and passions. It is interpreted symbolically as "the Noah of one's being", since Noah faced the same situation in dealing with the hostility of his people.
• Latifa Qalbiya ("Heart"), color red, is the organ that will develop to become the True Ego, the real personal individuality. It is interpreted symbolically as "the Abraham of one's being", since the prophet Abraham historically represents the establishment of real religion.
• Latifa Sirriya ("Secret"), color white, is an organ of superconsciousness. It is interpreted symbolically as "the Moses of one's being", since the prophet Moses participated in spiritual communication with God through this consciousness.
• Latifa Ruhiya ("Spirit"), color yellow, is an organ through which an individual becomes capable of acting as vice-regent of God. It is interpreted symbolically as "the David of one's being", since the prophet David fulfilled that role.
• Latifa Khafiya ("Inspiration"), color black, is the subtle organ that receives spiritual inspiration. It is interpreted symbolically as "the Jesus of one's being", since the prophet Jesus was characteristic of such inspiration.
• Latifa Haqqiya ("Seal"), color green, is the subtle organ that is the final achievement of spiritual development: the True Ego. It is interpreted symbolically as "the Mohammed of one's being", since Mohammed was the final prophet.

Kubrawi Sufi Ala ud-Daula Simnani (1261-1336) describes a dhikr practice that appears to include these lataif. The practice involves the rotation of attention and breath to different parts of the physical body, combined with recitation of a Quranic credal formula.^[6]

Naqshbandi lataif (Mujaddidiyya)

According to the view of the Mujaddidiyya branch of the Naqshbandi order there are five lataif.^[7] The reception of each latifa's spiritual energy from its corresponding cosmic realm is interpreted symbolically through the prophets and messengers in Islam, similar to the interpretation of the Kubrawi order:

• Qalb (color yellow; located below left breast) (Adam)
• Ruh (color red; located below right breast) (Abraham/Noah)
• Sirr (color white; located above left breast) (Moses)
• Khafi (color black; located above right breast) (Jesus)
• Ikhfa (color green; located at sternum) (Mohammed)

Since, in this interpretation, the lataif all have their physical location in the chest, they are said to be "of the Heart" (Qalb, used in a different sense than the latifa named Qalb).

The lataif are opened through spiritual practice one-by-one in the foregoing order. Viewed as a progressive activation, each latifa (or progressive combination of Lataif) is considered to be a level of spiritual realization.

The method of opening each latifa typically begins with a direct transmission by Sufi teacher to student, which can include physical touch (except for women) and the disclosure of the specific one of the Names of God in Islam that is associated with the latifa. The student then continues the practice by silent dhikr of the Divine Name, focusing attention on the latifa's location; sometimes a visualization of the Name, the corresponding prophet, or the teacher is also added.

Naqshbandi lataif (Punjab tradition)

According to the Punjab tradition within the Naqshbandi order there are five lataif'":^[8]

• Qalb (color yellow; experienced in left side of the body)
• Ruh (color red; experienced in right side of the body)
• Sirr (color white; experienced below the navel)
• Khafi (color black; experienced in forehead)
• Ikhfa (color green; experienced in center of chest)

In the view of Naqshbandi author Idries Shah^[9] they are understood to be spiritual organs/capacities that also underlie ordinary forms of human consciousness. As such, they are ordinarily only known indirectly through the equivalents (or their distortions) that they pattern on the conventional mental/emotional/somatic level of human experience.

Sufi inspired spiritual teacher Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) (1944-) interprets some of these equivalents (and conditioned distortions) as follows:^[10]

• Qalb (Joy/Wanting)
• Ruh (Strength/Anger)
• Sirr (Will/Anxiety)
• Khafi (Peace/Agitation)
• Ikhfa (Compassion/Hurt)

With rare exceptions, lataif are only experienced directly (and unconditionedly) in human beings who have undergone a spiritual evolution. The spiritual process of their activation/awakening/illumination consists of various methods, singly or in combination.

One such method, a special form of tajalli ("disclosure" or "illumination"), involves joint receptivity of a latifa by Sufi teacher and student together.^[11] Another method is the direct activation, called tawajjuh ("transmission"), of the latifa by an intentional interaction between teacher and student. Yet another method, a special kind of muraqabah (meditation), includes having the student concentrate awareness on the part of the body that is related to a latifa.^[12]

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Sheikh (Sufism)

Sheikh (Sufism)

A Sheikh or shaykh, of Sufism is a Sufi who is authorized to teach, initiate and guide aspiring dervishes in the Islamic faith. He has laid all his worldly desires to rest thru the one intense desire for knowing the love of God his beloved. The sheik is vital to the path of the novice Sufi, for the sheik has himself travelled the path of mysticism. Viewed as the spiritual master, the sheik forms a formal allegiance (bay'a) to the disciple of Sufism and authorizes the disciple's travels and helps the disciple along the mystical path. Islamic tradition focuses on the importance of chains and legitimization. In Sufism, sheiks are connected by a continuous spiritual chain. This chain links every previous Sufi sheik, and eventually can be traced back to the Successors, and in later times to the Prophet himself. As Sufism grew, influential shayks began to acquire spiritual centers and waypoints known as khanqah, ribat, and zaouia. Sheikhs duplicate the Prophetic realities, and are also expected to perform and act as an intermediary between the Creator and the created, since the sheikh has arrived close to God through his meditations and spiritual travels. There are several types of such sheikh.

Najm al-Din Razi

Najm al-Din Razi

Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh b. Moḥammad b. Šahāvar b. Anūšervān al-Rāzī commonly known by the laqab, or sobriquet, of Najm al-Dīn Dāya, meaning "wetnurse" was a 13th-century Persian Sufi. Hamid Algar, translator of the Persian Merṣād to English, states the application of "wetnurse" to the author of the Merṣād derives from the idea of the initiate on the Path being a newborn infant who needs suckling to survive. Dāya followed the Sufi order, Kubrawiyya, established by one of his greatest influences, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Dāya traveled to Kārazm and soon became a morīd of Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Kubrā then appointed Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Bagdādī as the spiritual trainer who also became Dāya's biggest influence. Dāya constantly refers to al-Dīn Bagdādī as "our shaikh."

Naqshbandi

Naqshbandi

The Naqshbandi is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their lineage to the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Sunni Islam and Ali, the fourth Caliph of Sunni Islam. It is because of this dual lineage through Ali and Abu Bakr through the 6th Imam Jafar al Sadiq that the order is also known as the "convergence of the two oceans" or "Sufi Order of Jafar al Sadiq".

Ahmad Sirhindi

Ahmad Sirhindi

Aḥmad al-Fārūqī al-Sirhindī (1564-1624), also known as Imam Rabbani, was a Punjabi Indian Islamic scholar, Hanafi jurist, and member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He has been described by some followers as a Mujaddid, meaning a “reviver", for his work in rejuvenating Islam and opposing the newly made religion of Din-i Ilahi and other problematic opinions of Mughal emperor Akbar. While early South Asian scholarship credited him for contributing to conservative trends in Indian Islam, more recent works, notably by ter Haar, Friedman, and Buehler, have pointed to Sirhindi's significant contributions to Sufi epistemology and practices.

Ikbal Ali Shah

Ikbal Ali Shah

Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah was an Indian-Afghan author and diplomat descended from the Sadaat of Paghman. Born and educated in India, he came to Britain as a young man to continue his education in Edinburgh, where he married a young Scotswoman.

Idries Shah

Idries Shah

Idries Shah, also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an Afghan author, thinker and teacher in the Sufi tradition. Shah wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.

Arcs of Descent and Ascent

Arcs of Descent and Ascent

The Arcs of Descent and Ascent, an ontological circle, are described in Neoplatonism, as well as in Islamic and Sufi cosmology, mainly inspired by the works of Ibn al-Arabi. In the Arc of Descent, from unity to diversity, God creates successively the Intellect, the Universal Soul, Prime Matter, Nature, the Universal Body and the Earth. The Arc of Ascent is the way back to the Presence of God, the process of spiritual perfection.

Prophets and messengers in Islam

Prophets and messengers in Islam

Prophets in Islam are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers, those who transmit divine revelation, most of them through the interaction of an angel. Muslims believe that many prophets existed, including many not mentioned in the Quran. The Quran states: "And for every community there is a messenger." Belief in the Islamic prophets is one of the six articles of the Islamic faith.

Dhikr

Dhikr

Dhikr is a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remember God. It plays a central role in Sufi Islam, and each Sufi order has usually adopted a specific dhikr, typically accompanied by specific posture, breathing, and movement. In Sufi Islam, dhikr refers to both the act of this remembrance as well as the prayers used in these acts of remembrance. Dhikr can be performed in solitude or as a collective group. It can be counted on a set of prayer beads or through the fingers of the hand. A person who recites the Dhikr is called a Dhakir , literally "he who remembers." The content of the prayers includes the names of God, or a dua taken from the hadiths or the Quran.

Qalb

Qalb

In Islamic philosophy, the qalb, or heart, is the origin of intentional activities, the cause behind all humans' intuitive deeds. While the brain handles the physical impressions, qalb is responsible for deep understanding. Heart and brain work together, but it is the heart where true knowledge can be received.

Names of God in Islam

Names of God in Islam

Names of God in Islam are names attributed to God in Islam by Muslims. Some names are known from either the Quran or the hadith, while others can be found in both sources.

A. H. Almaas

A. H. Almaas

A. H. Almaas is the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, a Kuwaiti American author and spiritual teacher who writes about and teaches an approach to spiritual development informed by modern psychology and therapy which he calls the Diamond Approach. "Almaas" is the Arabic word for "diamond". Almaas is originally from Kuwait. He is the spiritual head of the Ridhwan School.

The spiritual experiences identified by Sufism as the lataif have their immediate historical antecedents in the Emanationism of Neoplatonism,^[14] which is known to have influenced the development of Sufism (see: Platonism in Islamic philosophy). The Emanations of Neoplatonism, in turn, arose from the Theory of forms of Plato.

The general concept of spiritual "subtle centers" (usually three) originated within Persian Sufism: Junayd of Baghdad (835-910), Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), and Shahab al-Din Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi (1145-1234).^[15]

Among the earliest systematic formulations of the lataif specifically is thought to be that of Persian and Kubrawi Sufi Najm al-Din Razi (1177-1256). He proposed five lataif (at least Qalb, Ruh, Sirr, and Khafi), possibly to parallel the five inner and outer senses of the Islamic version of ancient Greek medical theory,^[16] and sought to establish a basis for them in the Quran.

The seven lataif model then followed with Persian and Kubrawi Sufi Ala ud-Daula Simnani,^[17] who added two lataif to the five of Razi – one below (Qalabiya) and one above (Haqqiya),^[16] possibly to parallel the seven ontological levels of Sufi cosmology.

From the 17th to 19th centuries, the Indian Mujaddidis, beginning with Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), returned to a standardized interpretation of five experiential lataif and associated their locations with parts of the physical body.^[18]

The Punjab tradition within the Naqshbandi in the late 19th and 20th centuries continued with five lataif but identified the experience of their physical locations differently and viewed them not just as higher centers of consciousness but also as centers of ordinary consciousness not properly awakened.^[9]

Since the Divine Attributes that underlie the lataif are in principle unlimited (just as with the nominal 99 names of God in Islam), it is thought by some^[19] that the actual number of lataif and their potential realization by humanity might likewise be unlimited.

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Emanationism

Emanationism

Emanationism is an idea in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems. Emanation, from the Latin emanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all things are derived from the first reality, or principle. All things are derived from the first reality or perfect God by steps of degradation to lesser degrees of the first reality or God, and at every step the emanating beings are less pure, less perfect, less divine. Emanationism is a transcendent principle from which everything is derived, and is opposed to both creationism and materialism.

Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common ideas it does maintain is that of monism, the doctrine that all of reality can be derived from a single principle, "the One".

Platonism in Islamic philosophy

Platonism in Islamic philosophy

Medieval Islamic philosophy was steeped in both Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism from its ninth-century beginnings with al-Kindi, but the influence of Neoplatonism becomes more clearly visible in the tenth and eleventh centuries with Al-Farabi and Avicenna. Al-Farabi expanded on Plato's concept of an ideal city ruled by philosopher-kings to develop a political philosophy that could accommodate the religious and cultural diversity central to Islamic nations. On the other hand, both al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd vigorously opposed Neoplatonic views.

Theory of forms

Theory of forms

The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas is a philosophical theory attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. According to this theory, ideas in this sense, often capitalized and translated as "Ideas" or "Forms", are the non-physical essences of all things, of which objects and matter in the physical world are merely imitations. Plato speaks of these entities only through the characters of his dialogues who sometimes suggests that these Forms are the only objects of study that can provide knowledge. The theory itself is contested from within Plato's dialogues, and it is a general point of controversy in philosophy. Nonetheless, the theory is considered to be a classical solution to the problem of universals.

Plato

Plato

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. In Athens, Plato founded the Academy, a philosophical school where he taught the philosophical doctrines that would later became known as Platonism. Plato was a pen name derived from his nickname given to him by his wrestling coach – allegedly a reference to his physical broadness. According to Alexander of Miletus quoted by Diogenes of Sinope his actual name was Aristocles, son of Ariston, of the deme Collytus.

Junayd of Baghdad

Junayd of Baghdad

Junayd of Baghdad was a Persian mystic and one of the most famous of the early Islamic saints. He is a central figure in the spiritual lineage of many Sufi orders.

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali, full name Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭūsiyy al-Ġazzālīy, and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Sunni Muslim Persian polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theorists, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics of the Islamic Golden Age.

Najm al-Din Razi

Najm al-Din Razi

Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh b. Moḥammad b. Šahāvar b. Anūšervān al-Rāzī commonly known by the laqab, or sobriquet, of Najm al-Dīn Dāya, meaning "wetnurse" was a 13th-century Persian Sufi. Hamid Algar, translator of the Persian Merṣād to English, states the application of "wetnurse" to the author of the Merṣād derives from the idea of the initiate on the Path being a newborn infant who needs suckling to survive. Dāya followed the Sufi order, Kubrawiyya, established by one of his greatest influences, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Dāya traveled to Kārazm and soon became a morīd of Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Kubrā then appointed Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Bagdādī as the spiritual trainer who also became Dāya's biggest influence. Dāya constantly refers to al-Dīn Bagdādī as "our shaikh."

Quran

Quran

The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

Ahmad Sirhindi

Ahmad Sirhindi

Aḥmad al-Fārūqī al-Sirhindī (1564-1624), also known as Imam Rabbani, was a Punjabi Indian Islamic scholar, Hanafi jurist, and member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He has been described by some followers as a Mujaddid, meaning a “reviver", for his work in rejuvenating Islam and opposing the newly made religion of Din-i Ilahi and other problematic opinions of Mughal emperor Akbar. While early South Asian scholarship credited him for contributing to conservative trends in Indian Islam, more recent works, notably by ter Haar, Friedman, and Buehler, have pointed to Sirhindi's significant contributions to Sufi epistemology and practices.

Names of God in Islam

Names of God in Islam

Names of God in Islam are names attributed to God in Islam by Muslims. Some names are known from either the Quran or the hadith, while others can be found in both sources.