Reddit mentions: The best books about sufism

> I love how you worded that, masha'Allah.

Alhamdulillah. I wrote completely different at first, and was about to just give up lol cuz I didn't like it, but decided to rewrite to see if I could up with anything better.
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Do you get there by just practicing tawakkal as well as fulfilling your obligations?

To rephrase, I'm assuming you are basically asking, "how I do obtain the mere desire to love God?" Basically, this comes after a lot of self-reflection. For me, it was the profound emptiness I felt after indulging in aspects of life, such as music, food, entertainment, and etc. At the end of each of these activities, there was always a spurt of excitement, which was then always followed by emptiness, dissatisfaction, and side effects (such as headaches, stomach ache). I tried to fill this emptiness by repeating and indulging more, which became cyclic. I realized I was not getting anywhere (and subhanallah it is mentioned in Surah Takwir فَأَيْنَ تَذْهَبُونَ - so where are you going?) and I was left with a vacuum in my heart. I realized I was trying to fill a permanent emptiness with temporary things. Alhamdulillah I have always been a practicing Muslim due to my upbringing and Allah's mercy, and I realized that only through prayer, reciting Quran, and etc. (which was a huge struggle, as it was not really "fun" in the beginning) was I able to not only feel satisfied, but the immediate and lasting effects were marked with felicity without any of the negative side effects that is felt when indulging in worldly desires. And this is what is called "tasting the sweetness of faith." Once you taste it, nothing else can satiate your appetite.
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الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.

Now the path to loving God is a long and arduous journey, but Allah makes it easier for us, as He says in a hadith qudsi, "if my servant comes to me step by step, I come to him running." Based on my experience, the journey first starts with fulfilling your obligations and abstaining from the haram. Then you move on to the next level of difficulty: purging yourself from the love of yourself and desires, which is called the concupiscent desires. The Quran talks about the righteous/pious people are those who spend though they love their wealth, they get up in the night though they love sleep, and etc. Once you overcome love of yourself out of love of God, then you move on to the last stage, which I have yet to experience and therefore is where my explanation comes to a halt. If you want to know more about this path, I recommend you read Al-Ghazzali's Kitab al-mahabba (https://www.amazon.com/Al-Ghazali-Longing-Intimacy-Contentment-Ghazali/dp/1903682274)

I hope I did not tangent too much and hopefully answered your question somewhere in there lol.

19 year old Muslim at a Western University here. I'll be taking a year off for 2017 but I've still experienced two years of the lite university life.

I say lite because in comparison to you I commuted from home and really didn't end up going to any parties.

I've only went to two from what I remember, my Computer Science cohort's end of camp party and a close friend's 18th.

My close friend is Hindu with a lot of Muslim friends, so he kept it alcohol free and I definitely appreciated that.

Can't say the same thing about the end of camp party but I only got a few odd looks and comments, 'you don't drink?'

I know it seems hard right now. I know you might think the only way to make friends is by parties but it's definitely not.

You have to look with effort and genuinely entwine your hobbies, careers and interests with people to spark up a friendship.

I met good friends from classes, at the praying place, doing hackathons as a team and even doing projects together.

Not going to parties hasn't bothered me at all honestly. I advise you that you stop going to them and transition to more productive events. As a warning though, you are risking your faith by continually being in that environment.

I still am surrounded by alcohol during some events. I'm fine with it considering that it's the culture here. I just people I don't drink. I even make a few alcoholic references or jokes! Thanks to The Simpsons!

So it'll be fine. The Muslim event you went to, pleaaase stop thinking of everyone as hardcore religious Muslims - perhaps that's the problem.

The people there are just normal guys like you and me. Some consider themselves as gamers, others are sporty with soccer or cricket, a lot love movies and a little may hate movies.

So my point is to not think of it as a hardcore religious event if it's just a socialising one. Just chill, say Salam and open up a conversation. Perhaps a few friendships will be born that day.

Oh yeah, and of course which 19 year old doesn't think about sex.

A few tips with that would be to start researching on the nikkah and proper Islamic route to a relationship (marriage). This isn't to make you marry but to make you understand what the future can entail. And to realise the wisdom and advantages over conventional dating.

Try fasting, always lower your gaze, keep busy and cut off all masturbation. The latter not because it's Haram but it increases your chances of zina. A sexualised mind will often not lower its gaze.

Also, a recent thing that's been surprisingly helping is studying some Islamic philosophy and history. Al-Ghazali has the perfect book for you.

It's difficult, it really is. Especially in a sexually liberal place like college. However it'll be eventually worth it.

Let's all do dua for NW97.

Here's a list of the key books in the field that I'm familiar with (by name and general contents, I've only actually read a few of them). I'm mainly focusing on what is relevant to the study of Twelver Shi'ism; there aren't many English language books on Zaidism, as far as I'm aware, and for Isma'ilism you can start with the works of Farhad Daftary.

I'll start with important works providing an overview of the area, and then give a rough breakdown by "era" (I may be a bit off regarding the era, and many of these books straddle two or more eras, so be warned). This list does not emphasize geographic studies of Shi'ism in various areas and countries, and rather traces the "core narrative" of the development of Shi'i intellectual history, which is typically thought of as happening in what is now modern day Iran, Iraq, and (especially in the post-Mongol/pre-Safavid era) Lebanon, and to a lesser extent in Bahrain. Once you've read the initial works, you should have a good idea about what's going on in each era, and you can pick and choose what to read based on your interests.

If you have no background in general Islamic history, you should first pick up a book on that subject. Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted is an accessible non-academic book on general Islamic history (with an entertaining audiobook read by the author). If you want something heavier and more academic, Marshall G.S. Hodgson's The Venture of Islam is the classic three-volume reference in the field of Islamic studies, although it's a bit dated, especially in the third volume (covering the so-called "Gunpowder Empires"). Note that the standard introductory text on Shi'ism has long been Moojan Momen's book An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, but this book is now a bit dated. Heinz Halm also has some surveys, but I'm less familiar with these; likewise for the surveys of Farhad Daftary (who is better known for his work on Isma'ilism than general Shi'ism).

Surveys, Background, and Introduction

• Najam Haider's Shi'i Islam: An Introduction. This is a unique take on introducing Shi'ism that starts with what makes Shi'ism theologically distinct; the book also devotes roughly equal attention to the Zaidi, Isma'ili, and Twelver branches of the faith.
  
• Hossein Modaressi's An Introduction to Shi'i Law: A Bibliographical Study. Chapter 4 provides a very concise, yet fairly thorough overview of the history of the development of Shi'i legal theory; Chapters 1-3 can be read as "optional" background, while the rest is a bibliographical overview that is unlikely to be of interest to a non-specialist.
  
• Andrew J. Newman's Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722. A solid history of Twelver Shi'ism from its beginnings to the end of the Safavid period.
  
• Roy Mottahedeh's The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. While ostensibility an intellectual history of Iran spanning centuries, this is a great introductory look at various aspects of Shi'ism, particularly as it concerns learning in the seminaries.
  
  The Succession and the so-called "Rashidun" Era
  
  
• Wilfred Madelung's The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Calpihate
  
• S.M.H. Jafri's The Origins and Early Development of Shi'i Islam
  
  The Imams and Early Shi'is in the Ummayid and `Abbasid Eras
  
  
• Arzina Lalani's Early Shi'i Thought: The Contribution of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir
  
• Najam Haider's The Origins of the Shi'a: Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space in Eighth-Century Kufa
  
• Maria Massi Dakake's The Charismatic Community: Shi'ite Identity in Early Islam
  
• Hossein Modarressi's Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shi'ite Islam: Abu Ja'far Ibn Qiba Al-Razi and His Contribution to Imamite Shi'ite Thought. Considered the standard book on the "rationalist/moderate/shortcoming" view of Imamate.
  
• Mohammad Ali Amir Moezzi's The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam. Considered the standard book on the esoteric / "High Imamology" view of Imamate.
  
• Jasim M. Hussain's The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam (A Historical Background)
  
• Andrew J. Newman's The Formative Period of Twelver Shi'ism: Hadith as Discourse Between Qum and Baghdad
  
• Meir M. Bar-Asher's Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imami Shiism
  
  The Buyid, Seljuq, and Mongol Eras
  
  
• Martin J. McDermott's The Theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufid (d. 413/1022)
  
• Devin J. Stewart's Islamic Legal Orthodoxy. Some people have reservations about this book, so you might want to look at some reviews. It covers the Shi'i school of Shaykh Tusi engaging in juristic legal borrowing from the Shafi'i Sunni school, if I'm not mistaken.
  
• Etan Kohlberg's A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work: Ibn Tawus and His Library. This is perhaps a little different from most other books on this list in scope, style, and focus.
  
  The Safavid Era and the Scholars of Jabal Amil
  
  
• Rula Abisaab's Converting Persia: Religion and Power in the Safavid Empire
  
• Robert Gleave's Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbari Shi'i School
  
  The Iranian Interregnum Era
  
  
• Zachary M. Heern's The Emergence of Modern Shi'ism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran
  
• Robert Gleave's Inevitable Doubt: Two Theories of Shi'i Jurisprudence. This is definitely worth a look if you're interested in details concerning Shi'i legal theory proper.
  
  The Qajar Era
  
  
• Hamid Algar's Religion and State in Iran 1785-1906: The Role of the Ulama in the Qajar Period. This book is about fifty years old now, but I think it's still the standard reference for this topic.
  
• Meir Litvak's Shi'i Scholars of Nineteenth-Century Iraq: The 'Ulama' of Najaf and Karbala'
  
  The Contemporary Era / Miscellaneous
  
  
• Liyakat Nathani Takim's Shi'ism in America. I said I'd stay away from the more geographically focused books, but I think this one in particular might appeal to a lot of people; mainly those living in the West in general, and North America in particular.
  
  
• Linda S. Walbridge's The Thread of Mu'awiya: The Making of a Marja' Taqlid. A book with a strange title about the foremost Shi'i scholars in the contemporary age; while published posthumously in the 2010s, the book is based on research conducted in the 1990s. I think it contains a lot of valuable information and an interesting perspective, but I also find some of it to be informed by lazy misconceptions or generalizations, although I'm quite sure the author would have substantially reworked this project had she lived longer.
  
• Ata Anzali's Mysticism in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept. This should provide information on irfan.
  
• Kamran Scot Aghaie's The Martyrs of Karbala: Shi'i Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran. This covers the evolution of the Karbala narrative in Modern Iran (in the Qajar, Pahlavi, and post-Revolutionary eras, respectively).
  
• Matthew Pierce's Twelve Infallible Men: The Imams and the Making of Shi'ism. This book examines how the genre of the biographies of the Imams was formed (this may be a better fit in one of the above categories, but I'm less familiar with this book, so I'm not sure which era(s) is/are the focus).

Would you become a doctor by just reading books? Would you be able to make a surgery?The answer is clear. It is the same for us. We can read Qur'an. But we need a person to make us understand how to build our lifes on Qur'an. You can try to destroy your ego. But without guidance you would completely lost your path. They are the candles who enlighten and show us the path. You can try to do everything Rumi told. But you would find yourself at lost. Because Rumi didn't become Rumi in a day.Also, Before fana fi rasool, you need to annihilate yourself in your Sheikh and then your Pir(Turkish word). Fana fi rasool comes after these two. First, you need to annihilate yourself in your teacher(who shows you the path). Then you need to annihilate yourself in the people who started that path which your teacher teaches to you. After that you need to annihilate yourself in the Prophet whom all paths lead you to. After that you need to annihilate yourself in Allah.

In İslam, there is a path to Allah as much as the numbers of the people who lived. But why do we have different paths? Because we are different from each other in many ways and we should go from the path that is the easiest and best for every one of us.

How do we decide on who is the teacher? Why is Prophet is much more important from others?In İslam, you can think all of us as cups. Some cups are much bigger than others. Or you can think of as mirrors. As we clean ourselves from ego all of them would show us the sun but the sizes of mirrors and their shapes are different from each other(same for the cups). Some might show only a finger tip and some might be huge. The teacher is the person who fullfilled his/her cup or cleaned his/her mirror no matter how his/her cup or mirror is. Because only the one who fullfilled can overflow to the other cups. Teacher also should know the type of my mirror/cup because if I am not from his/her type than he shouldn't let me go with that teacher's path and he should advise me to find another path.The prophet Muhammed(Peace bu upon him) has the biggest and the most beautiful cup/mirror among all of us. And every water that comes to our cup is the ones being overflowed by his cup because he takes it from the source. Rumi also has really big cup and his cup is fullfilled and overflows. Your teacher's cup also fullfilled and he takes from the ones overflowed from Rumi's and then same water overflows from his cup and comes to you.You might have a huge potential but if your cup isn't fullfilled than you still have a long way to go. Someone else might have a little cup but if his cup overflows he can teach others. My teacher's cup might be smaller than mine but it doesn't matter if mine isn't fullfilled.Let's explain it a little more. In sufism, there are ways like Mevlevi(Rumi's Path), Naqshi(Naqshibendi's Path), Qadiri(Abdulqadir's Path) and many others. These people are who had huge potentials and fullfilled it. They also had teachers so why do they have a new name for their paths? You might think of it as an answer for what happens if someone have a bigger cup than his teacher or the founder of the pathe he followed.

To explain fana fillah, I will use something I read from Rumi. Let's assume I poured a 1 kg honey into the sea. If we were to weight it we would find that sea has 1 more kg than it was. But would that 1 kg honey really make any difference in sea? No, because it is nothing when we compare it with sea. That is how it is. For fana fillah, you need to do as the prophet said "Die before your death". You need to love Allah so much that you wouldn't able to see yourself anymore. You can think of it as a lover who only sings and talks about his loved one and don't aware of about what he wears or how he seems or how he is anymore. Everything would remember his love to him. He would see his love in everywhere he looks so much that he doesn't see anything else anymore. That is how it is. After fana fillah, there is beka billah. That means finding life with Allah. I guess it is probably what happens when that honey's atoms spread everywhere of that sea. But these things are not simple knowledge. These things are in front of us but we would be able to understand them only when we are able to understand and live according to it. And when you are at there and you have questions. To understand really well and find answers you need to read the books of these people like Rumi, Abdul Qadir Al Gaylani or Ahmad Sirhindi or other well known scholars. Because you might not know if what comes to your mind is right or wrong. You might think you understood Rumi but you might end up in a completely wrong understanding with his understanding. Therefore you need to read and understand if what you understand from "fana fillah" is the same thing with them who already show the path os is it just the devil's whispering.

It was a long answer, I hope I didn't try to answer a question that I am not capable of giving a proper answer. I think if you want to understand sufism really well, your best bet would be learning Turkish or Arabic. I am a Turkish person and we have Sharhs of Rumi's Mesnevis and well-known Turkish Sufi scholars wrote them. No one translated these huge explainings to English yet. I have only found this one little one that is translated to the English. Normally, We have Ottoman-Turkish well known Sufis who wrote these. But these huge books definitely won't be translated in the near future because we don't have that much people who can do this. You can think of the difference as a direct translation of Qur'an and interpretation of Qur'an. There is quite big difference between reading direct translations of Mesnevi and Sharh-i Mesnevis.

Wow, talk about a wild assumption and attack.

Firstly, I suggest you read this book to get an idea of the philosophy behind belief in monotheist deity. Now theologically, the book discusses from the perspective of Islam, as the main tenant is the belief in the oneness of God.

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Now as for me, I came to the conclusion that it is more rational to believe that there is a creator/force/deity/god, whatever you want to call it, for existence as we know it. This assumes that we humans are limited in our scope and knowledge. Meaning we can forever expand our knowledge, but we cannot ever understand beyond what we can empirically measure in some form or manner.

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So from what we already know as humans is that infinite regress cannot be a reality. There needs to be an origin to everything (this is the basis to the big bang theory and even to an extent evolution (since creatures cannot spontaneously come into existence)). Personally, it is more rational to believe in a creator that commanded and willed the progression of what we know than it is to believe that a series of multiple random occurrences led to where we are today. Whether God or random occurrences, both are not supported with empirical evidence, so at worst you can say the likeliness of either is equal.

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Now I chose to believe it was God and not random. I base this belief on the validity of the Qur'an. Reading it, reflecting upon it, and making an honest attempt to understand it has brought me to a point where I sincerely believe this is from something that is beyond our knowledge. It is from beyond our knowledge because of the knowledge we do have as humans, that we have obtained whether in the hard sciences and social sciences, it has only strengthened the position of the Qur'an.

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Another worthy read is this book by Imam Ghazali as it really dives into the part of us that we ignore. I believe that to strengthen one's heart, it needs something just as our body needs food/water/exercise and our mind needs activity like reading and writing, our heart needs something too. Whether it's yoga, meditation, prayer, or whatever, it definitely needs something. I choose Islam because I feel it has the most balanced approach for everything I mentioned. It's moderate in it's rituals and it's moderate in it's practice.

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Peace be with you.

>If the ulema does not do his job then the religion of the state loses support,

Then apparently the ulema's job is to advocate sharia'h because the ulema enjoys significant popular support.

I can easily divorce religion from the equation, as you suggest, and call the movement we are talking about "Arab nationalism" but that is not what the movement calls itself. And I fully understand that political grievances can create Islamic radicalism but Wahabism and Salafism precede U.S. hegemony by a century or two. I can even concede your point about US interference in the region and it's effects. But what do you propose as a solution? We have already seen what the Arab street will do when left to it's own devices (i.e. the Taliban, Iran and the election in Algeria). Wherever it came from and whatever one wants to call it, Islamic Radicalism or Arab nationalism, it's not acceptable to US interests. When the clerics and the ummah start calling for freedom of speech, and equality for all people regardless of gender, religion or sexual preference then I will start to support them. But not before. BTW, I am not exactly a Christian in the traditional sense. In fact I am a great admirer of Sufism in some respects. One of the greatest influences upon my world view is a book called The Sufis by Idries Shah.

Do you mean like rational theology?

1. Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology
   
   
2. Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy
   
   
3. Moderation in Belief by Al-Ghazali. This is the famous Ash'arite (orthodox Islamic theology) thinker's defense of the school's doctrine. You will also be interested in his Incoherence of the Philosophers, the famous systematic refutation of avicennan philosophy (again if you're interested in these things).
   
   If, however, you want something of a more basic "introduction" to Islamic thought, which I'm guessing is what you actually want. You need to read the Qur'an. With a good commentary. I recommend nothing (and I mean nothing else- because I've read this one among others and this is the best intro for westerners) other than Muhammad Asad's "Message of the Qur'an". After this, you aught to read "Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy to the Medieval and Modern World". This is a great introduction to our "second scripture".
   
   Also, if you want a good ground-up introduction to Islamic theology you should check out this:
   
   https://islamtheologyscience.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/islamictheologyandsciencedraft.pdf
   
   Its written by one of our mods. Really good. But if rational theology/kalaam was not what you were looking for, then please read Muhammad Asad's quran commentary and Jonathan brown's book on Hadith that I listen above.
   
   

To be clear, there is absolutely no evidence that chakras are literal points of the body. They are imaginary symbols, but that doesn't mean they aren't real.

Since they are symbols, interpretations vary wildly. To quote Henry Corbin, "a symbol is never 'explained' once and for all, but must be deciphered over and over again, just as a musical score is never deciphered once and for all, but calls for ever new execution." (from Alone with the Alone, his dense academic work on Ibn Arabi's Sufism)

So, since there's no central authority defining what these symbols mean, consider everything you read merely as guidelines. Here's a video I uploaded for you of Joseph Campbell's thoughts on the subject. Of course, he conflates Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist ideas to fit his Jungian interpretation, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

In the West, we have the tendency to interpret the "subtle body" as something like the Christian soul, thus making the whole Kundalini system very literal, inevitably leading to woo like new age chakra stones. Another interpretation (which I feel is closer to the Eastern) is that the subtle body is the mind/ego. So, consider chakras from this psychological perspective and ask yourself, "how am I attached to my fear, sexual desire, ambition, personal relationships, etc.?" Using this method, kundalini becomes a practical cognitive tool for self-awareness.

An interesting side-note: neuropsychologists are building fascinating models of the brain's relationship to other parts of the body. Here's a New Scientist article from a couple of years ago that talks about how what we call the "brain" is more than just the cerebrum. It seems like the ancients had an intuitive understanding of this.

In conclusion, I strongly suggest avoiding chakra and Reiki healers who promise to improve your "prana flow" for a nominal fee. None of their claims are based on true science. Relying on such healers for serious medical conditions can be dangerous and even fatal. In the very least, it's expensive. Every bit of wisdom and insight is already within you, so journey through the vast landscape of your own consciousness blissfully.

I had visions of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. And other awesome experiences like when I was driving with someone, I was reading this book. I looked up and saw a peacock walking along the road. My friend and I were astonished (and we drive this road every week to this day and have not seen it since). I turned the page of the book and landed on the page with an illustration of a peacock which is the symbol of Nur Muhammad (Sufis have a vast teaching on the Light of Muhammad, where it originates, how the Prophetic lineage carried it, etc.). So I talked to some Sufis I met online and they helped me find my way to the Path.

And I love Jesus and Mary, upon them be peace, than ever before. And also mystics like Hildegard Von Bingen and Saint Francis are my mentors in many ways. Their writings inspire me.

Hello person! I hope I can help you a bit here.
Just a warning, a lot of the answers you get will be tinted based on our own beliefs.

Overall, most Muslims are Sunni. Hanafi and Hanbali are actually 2 of the 4 main legal schools (fiqh) within Sunni Islam, along with Shafi and Maliki. I wouldn't compare these to Protestant sects because (AFAIK) the scholars from these 4 different schools of fiqh generally accept each other's validity. Although, I don't know if that's always been the case historically.

Sufism is difficult to define. I've heard different roots of the English word "sufi" but the one I hear the most is tasawwuf which is the science of purifying one's heart. Sufism isn't really a sect, like /u/Azeem259 says, Sunnis and Shias can be Sufis. It has to do with pursuing spiritual excellence, becoming close to God.

It's so diverse though and means a lot of different things to different people. There are traditional Sufi schools with teachers who follows chains of scholarship and worship that go back to the Prophet SAW. Some local sufi practices in some places are really iffy for other Muslims, like veneration of saints and their tombs. But again, that's some groups, that's not the heart of sufism. Sorry my thoughts about this are so scattered. There's a cool intro by William Chittick called Sufism: A Beginner's Guide.

Salafism (or Wahhabism if you want) is a school of thought (or rather, methodology) in Sunni Islam in which the practitioner strives to be as close to the Prophet SAW and his Companions in every aspect of his or her life. But even in this group, there's a lot of diversity. I don't want to talk too much about it, because I know very little, but Shaykh Yasir Qadhi wrote a paper on it.

It's not easy but it's part of the test. Remember Allah is aware of Everything you do. I'd recommend reading books such as Controlling your Desires by imam Ghazali.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Al-Ghazali-Disciplining-Soul-Breaking-Desires/dp/0946621438

Or something like this to increase your connection with Allah.
http://www.khanqah.co.za/pdf/connection_with_allah.pdf

Not sure about your personal situation but is marriage an option?

Personally for me it would be a combination of not even letting the thoughts enter my mind (seeking refuge from shaytan) combining with some dhikr.

Also, try to attend congrational prayers and dhikr, as being around others with the same focus can strengthen the heart.

Ultimately pray that Allah gives you the strength to persevere.

Read Fritzhof Schuon's "Understanding Islam" for a look at how normal Muslims experience their religion. It has a much different feeling than the boring bland stuff you are presented with by the usual proseletyzers.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Islam-Translation-Selected-Writings/dp/1935493906/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412524954&sr=8-2&keywords=understanding+islam+schuon

If you want to learn about the deeper, more mystical teachings of Sufism, Annemarie Schimmel's "Mystical Dimensions of Islam" is great. She was a teacher at Ankara University, in the Turkish capitol, and a very respected academic in this field. The book itself is very enjoyable.
Here is a free PDF: http://www.fatuma.net/text/schimmel.pdf
And here is an amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Dimensions-Islam-Annemarie-Schimmel/dp/0807812714

I wish both of you all the best.

Abdul-Haleem's translation of the Quran is very good. He also wrote a good companion book "Understanding the Quran: Themes and styles" which I also recommend. If you prefer something a bit more archaic and poetic, I really like the Arberry "Koran Interpreted". You can get Arberry's (and many other translations) here: http://arthursbookshelf.com/koran/koran.html

As for Sufism, some of the best books, in my opinion, are:

Lings, Martin. What is Sufism?
http://www.amazon.com/What-Sufism-Islamic-Texts-Society/dp/0946621411/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335349461&sr=1-1

Helminski, Camille Adams. Women of Sufism: a Hidden Treasure
http://www.amazon.com/Women-Sufism-A-Hidden-Treasure/dp/1570629676/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335349480&sr=1-1


A practical guide for diseases of the heart:

Yusuf, Hamza (tr). Purification of the Heart
http://www.amazon.com/Purification-Heart-Symptoms-Spiritual-Diseases/dp/1929694156/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335349415&sr=1-1

Something more academic but fascinating. You might consider this if you want to really get into the guts of things:

http://www.amazon.com/Sufism-Theology-Ayman-Shihadeh/dp/0748626050

There was a lot of amazing cooperation between religious orders, especially between Muslims and Daoists. Check out this book, "Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light: Wang Tai-yu's Great Learning of the Pure and Real and Liu Chih's Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm." It contains some of the most amazing works within the realm of spirituality produced by Muslims and Daoists, some of whom became Muslim. During those periods of interfaith dialogue and cooperation, and mutual learning of the deeper realities behind these religions, Muslims and Daoists recognized the figures of each other's traditions as Divinely sent by God.

As someone mentioned the Ihya to you, I thought I would link a place where you can buy it on amazon.

The Marvels of the Heart: Science of the Spirit (Ihya Ulum Al-Din/ The Revival of the Religious Sciences)

I should note, the thing I linked is only a part of the whole book.

There is also the Kimiya-yi Sa'adat, which is " The Alchemy of Happiness" which you can buy here.

someone made a few short youtube videos with lessons from "The Alchemy of Happiness" where you can take a look at here.

A couple of books on the more scholarly side; Sufism and Taoism and Mystical Dimensions of Islam are good, if somewhat deep and dense, and useful, orienting. The works of Henry Corbin, such as Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth and Alone With the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi, are illuminating. Look into the Sufi mystics themselves as much as commentary, there should be a list somewhere online but Ibn Arabi, Suhrawardi, Jabir Ibn Hayan ('Geber'),Avicenna and Hallaj as well as the more well known Rumi come to mind. Your best bet if you really want to learn about Sufism is to take up instruction under a Shaykh in an order. Depending on where you are there is possibly a local order you could attend meditations and classes with?

@Chajz - you appear to be most suited to investigate Universal Sufism that is welcoming of non-Islamic inquiries.

I'd recommend you check out the works of Robert Frager, PhD.
http://www.seekeraftertruth.com/spiritual-guidance-in-the-sufi-tradition-robert-frager/

https://www.amazon.com/Sufi-Talks-Teachings-American-Sheihk-ebook/dp/B00SKF0VB0/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1524833572&sr=1-4&keywords=robert+frager

Robert is an American Sufi Sheikh from a Jewish Background.
Also if anyone replying here cannot identify themselves as a Sufi initiate, Sheikh, or representative of a particular Sufi school of thought, it's best to take their responses to your inquiry with a grain of salt.

All the best to you.

Ghazali had some great work, a book I'd highly recommend to Muslims and nonmuslims would be "Disciplining the Soul and Breaking the Two Desires". The two desires he details are gluttony and sexual desire, before reading the book I'd never thought of the two as intertwined. Here's an amazon link for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/Disciplining-Soul-Breaking-Two-Desires/dp/0946621438/ref=pd_cp_b_0

There is a history of hermetic seclusion in Islam, though it is perhaps a non-normative or even antinomian practice. Look for information on the life of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (450-505 AH/1058-1111 AD). You can read various English translations of his books al-Munqidh min al-ḍalal (Deliverance from Error) as well as Kimiya-ye saʿadah (Alchemy of Happiness) (really a Persian abridgment of the former title). In these books he discusses his reasons for withdrawing from society, giving up his job as a teacher at al-Madrasa al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad, leaving his family and the results thereof.

There is also a Sufi tariqa called the Khalwatiyya (Havetiyye in Turkey) who practice a ritual seclusion. There is one book on them called The Transformation of Muslim Mystical Thought in the Ottoman Empire: The Rise of the Halvetî Order, 1350-1650 by John J. Curry (Edinburgh University Press, 2010). It is really expensive though. You might be able to find it in a nearby university library if they have a Religious Studies, Comparative Religion, Middle-East or Islamic Studies department on campus. J. Spencer Trimingham wrote a book called The Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 1998) that has a relatively extensive discussion of the Khalwatiyya and their sub-branchings as well. That one is a bit less expensive too, and probably easier to find at university libraries. You might even be able to request that your local library acquire it.

Absolutely, Shah is amazing.
My recommendations are Learning How to Learnand Caravan of dreams.

But, The Sufis is probably a better introduction.

Imam Al-Ghazali's Disciplining the Soul and on Breaking the Two Desires: Books XXII and XXIII of the Revival of the Religious Sciences. Translated by Sk. Abdal Hakim Murad (T.J. Winter) is an absolute must read for everyone!

It deals with how one can discipline oneself to become and better muslims and how to break the desires of the stomach and the genitals to overcome oneself and get in control of these two desires. According to Imam Al-Ghazali these two are the strongest desires of the human being and once a person learns to control these two desires, then he can control all other desires as they all stem from these two desires.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Al-Ghazali-Disciplining-Soul-Breaking-Desires/dp/0946621438/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375134618&sr=8-2&keywords=al+ghazali

Mashallah, the author is my really good friend, Allah preserve him. He currently teaches at Zaytuna and has a book on Mullah Sadra

>Well, if you're going to ignore all Christian beliefs besides the "greatest hits" then please call that out.

I do. Often. Do you think I should make it a signature thingie on all of my posts?

> I'm usually much more interested in the deeper thought and reasoning and what kind of religion that tends to create. Universalism, Quakers, Sufis, Kabbalists, Gnostics, the many esoteric/initiatory traditions of Hinduism, etc. These are the sorts of religious beliefs that I think are worthy of deeper debate and discussion.

That's great. One of my favorite books is ["The Sufis" by Idries Shah](
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sufis-Idries-Shah/dp/0385079664). But the topic is Christianity.

>That's not a false dichotomy. At best it's a failure to include larger swaths of mainstream Christians, but the dichotomy is very real.

OK. It's a false dichotomy in that it fails to include larger swaths of mainstream Christians.

"Without demolishing religious schools (madrassahs) and minarets and without abandoning the beliefs and ideas of the medieval age, restriction in thoughts and pains in conscience will not end. Without understanding that unbelief is a kind of religion, and that conservative religious belief a kind of disbelief, and without showing tolerance to opposite ideas, one cannot succeed."

• Rumi
  
  "The truly religious man does not embrace a religion; and he who embraces one has no religion."
  
  
• Kahlil Gibran

Hi Jay. Haven't read either of those books. I am a fan of Martin Lings, having read his biography of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He also wrote a book entitled What is Sufism? that seems to be highly regarded.

I think it depends highly from which perspective you are looking into it:

If you are a conservative muslim and you are searching legitimization/answers to questions and how sufism is related to traditional understandings of Islam, do not look further than: "Realities of Sufism", by Sunnipubs.

If you are not like that, but you are in search of a good introduction, not overwhelming, not too technical, then I'd say go with William C. Chitticks Sufism - A Beginner's Guide.

Imam al-Ghazali's Moderation in Belief, tr. Aladdin M. Yaqub.

The book is essentially about proving Islam (and Sunni orthodoxy) on the basis of reason (as well as revelation), so it goes through an argument for the existence of God, and His attributes, and the relation of His attributes to His essence, it goes through various deviant sects of Islam and refutes their beliefs, it goes through proofs for the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him), and so on.

The translation I think is really good, at times Imam al-Ghazali is a bit unclear but the translator has excellent notes that expands upon the arguments made, and sometimes the translator formalizes some of the arguments al-Ghazali makes, making it much more understandable.

Book of Corbin about creative imaginiaton according to Ibn Arabi

> Sufism is definitely not a Shi'a sect.

Schimmel says otherwise.