Sheikh ahmad al tuni biography sample

Sufi

• Like many of the important Sufi terms, the word ‘Sufi’ is itself a complex pun on Arabic words of similar sound and meaning.
• ‘suf’, meaning ‘wool’ (a reference to the cloth from which the cloaks worn by Sufis are made), and ‘sufiy’, meaning ‘pious’
• Golden Era
• Abbasid dynasty 750-1258 c.e (based in Baghdad) saw a shift of power to the more ancient Persian culture.

• Greater influence of music, poetry and intellectual pursuits suited the Sufis, many of whom began to make important cultural contributions to Islam.

• Sufis believe they can transcend into a state of altered consciousness and experience closeness to Allah, or God.

  This is usually achieved through a set of rituals that involve whirling the head or the body to intense rhythmic music and repetitive chanting of divine names.

• As the rising sounds of oriental percussion and lutes resonated around him, the frail Sufi chanter struck a glass with prayer bea