The political future of Sufi movements

Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar

Sufism is one of the most prominent and oldest of Islamic organizations and is widely spread throughout many countries around the world. It is known that “whoever is oriented toward truth has a share of Sufism, while the Sufism of each one means the truthfulness of his orientation.” Sufism is a natural result of people’s attempt to escape from the sedition of the worldly life, the disappearance of the spiritual life, and the general excessiveness in their daily affairs. Some of these people fled to asceticism to escape temptations, and hence Sufism emerged.

The historian Ibn Khaldun affirmed this by saying that when concern for the worldly life spread among the public in the second century AH and the following period and people turned to commit themselves to the worldly life, those devoted to God and His worship became distinguished by the name of “Sufism”.

Sufism and the negative image of Islamic groups

Islamic groups and movements are currently viewed with suspicion and misgiving due to the terrorist operations of some groups affiliated with the Islamist trend. States around the world are seeking to identify the opinion of any religious group regarding two controversial issues – Islamic jihad and caliphate – in order to determine the state’s position on the organization.

These issues commonly affect the future of any Islamic religious group and how the West deals with it and its activities. Therefore, the political future of Sufi movements around the world cannot be known without identifying the opinions of the Sufi authorities regarding these two issues.

Jihad: Are Sufi views in agreement with the views of terrorism?

Jihad is one of the thorniest issues, raising the fears and suspicions of the West, and the world in general, because of what terrorist groups do under the name of Islamic jihad. But are Sufi views regarding the cause of jihad in agreement with the terrorist view?

Sufis views jihad as an action with two forms. The first is in the “smaller jihad” and the second is the “greater jihad”. The smaller jihad is to confront the enemies of the nation in times of war.

Sufis typically had an active role in confronting enemies in accordance with the principle of “smaller jihad”. Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi and Nureddin Zengi sought to establish good relations with the Sufis during their wars against the Crusaders in the Levant, where Nureddin Zengi relied on them to gain the trust of the people and add the kingdoms’ princes to his army’s ranks.

The Sufi’s smaller jihad continued among the followers of the path until the modern era, as is the case with Muhammad al-Sanussi in Libya against the Italian occupation, Ahmed Orabi in Egypt, whose father had been a senior Sufi sheikh, and Sheikh Farhan al-Saadi in Palestine.

However, Sufi organizations believe that the greater jihad is more important than the smaller jihad. Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi had described it in his “Testament”, saying, “You must struggle against your desires; this is your greater jihad, because it is the greatest and most important of your enemies and the closest of them to you since it lies within you. There is none more ungrateful than your ego because it is ungrateful for God’s blessings in every breath. So you must struggle against your own self in order to be able to fight the enemies. Perseverance in jihad of the self is an obligation.”

Here, it is clear that there is a difference between the Sufi view of jihad, which primarily focuses on the jihad of the self, and the Salafist view of jihad relied upon by terrorist organizations, which allows them to kill transgressors and shed blood for what they consider “enabling God’s law on earth” in accordance with the concept of governance, which Sayyid Qutb considered and explained extensively, surpassing others engaged with matters of jurisprudence.

Caliphate: Do Sufis agree with ISIS?

Meanwhile, the issue of caliphate evokes international public opinion, especially after a number of terrorist organizations adopted this issue, such as ISIS, which aims to form an Islamic caliphate allegedly following the approach of the righteous predecessors (Salaf), shedding blood and destroying countries on account of it. But do Sufis agree with ISIS vision of the caliphate?

Sufi groups have not taken a specific position on the idea of ​​caliphate. This is due to the diversity of the nature of Sufi organizations, for example the traditional methods prevalent in the Arab countries or Turkish Sufism. Their views can be presented according to the following:

– Traditional Sufi orders: These are the orders known to the general Arab people, where the sheikh is at the top of the hierarchical system and the disciple (murid) is at the bottom. These orders rely on individual salvation or spiritual reform as a basis for community reform, which is contrary to the views of other Islamic groups for community reform.

– Turkish Sufism: Turkish Sufis have penetrated political positions more than others, as there was a long historical relationship between the Turkish Sufi movement and the Ottoman caliphate, where Mehmed the Conqueror, the seventh sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Selim I, the ninth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, were followers of Turkish Sufi orders.

Sufi movements’ relationship with the regime after the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate was good, and the Turkish constitution of 1924 stipulated the freedom of Sufi orders to perform their roles. Sufi forces even succeeded in obtaining several parliamentary seats. For example, Gamaluddin Effendi, the sheikh of the Bakhtashi tekyeh (lodge), obtained a parliamentary seat at the time, and the Turkish Naqshbandi order contributed to drafting the 1982 constitution.

Nevertheless, while there is a long-standing nostalgia for the Ottoman caliphate among supporters of the Turkish Sufi orders, they disagree with the current vision of restoring the Islamic caliphate because they act in accordance with a social and political policy that gives them hope for the restoration of the caliphate.

However, Sufi groups generally do not care about the return of the Islamic caliphate, because the Sufi experience of Turkey, where their influence and presence does not exceed Turkish borders, cannot be generalized to Sufi movements in general around the world.

It is clear that Sufi orders, whether those that advocate the return of the Islamic caliphate or not, differ with the terrorist organizations affiliated with political Islamist movements regarding the mechanisms of bringing back the Islamic caliphate. They do not rely on violence and murder in carrying out their plan, but mainly focus only on individual reform.

The views of Sufi orders regarding jihad and the return of the Islamic caliphate pave the way for them to become the future foremost political Islamic group, contrary to the Islamist movement organizations.

The future of African Sufism

Thanks to Sufi orders having spread Islam in Africa, they were able to influence many of the people of the continent and succeeded in embracing them into the religion of Islam. They made alliances with the people in the areas they entered and they emancipated slaves. These and other factors helped spread Islam in the region, contributing to the establishment of mosques and Islamic dawah (missionary) organizations in a systematic manner.

There are several Sufi orders that are famous and widespread in Africa, such as the Ahmadi-Badawi-Marazqi and Ahmadi-Idrisidi orders in Morocco, the Tijani order in Algeria, the Khatmi and Ismaili orders in Sudan, the Badawi-Satuhi and Azmiya orders in Egypt.

It is noted that the African Sufi orders differ from those around the world, other than Turkey, regarding their active participation in political, economic and military work, which is evident in the Nigerian and Somali Sufi orders. Somali Sufis have contributed to fighting the Mujahideen Youth Movement, while Nigerian Sufis took part in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist organization.

Sufism also played a prominent role in the life of the Senegalese state, where the Sufi movements in Senegal actively contributed to countering the French occupation, even when the sheikh and founder of the Mouride order, Ahmadou Bamba, was arrested and exiled to Gabon.

The Mouride order eventually came to power in Senegal through the election of President Abdoulaye Wade in 2000, a Mouride disciple, when he defeated former Senegalese President Abdou Diouf because of what they called “the march towards secularism, which is predatory to spiritual aspects.”

The future of the Senegalese Sufi movement lies in its ability to mobilize many disciples and followers for a particular cause. Political forces therefore seek to win over the sheikhs of the Mouride order, and the Sufi movement is expected to play a prominent role in the upcoming presidential elections.

It is expected that the Sufi order will continue to play the same political role in the future, so the Sufi sheikhs announced their support for presidential candidate Karim Wade, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, against incumbent President Macky Sall in Senegal’s presidential elections scheduled for 2019.

Senegalese Sufis are also expected to continue to play an important diplomatic role through their connection to the Sufi groups spread throughout Africa. This activity is being pursued by politicians due to the benefits, such as with the Senegalese Sufis’ relationship with the Tijani order in Morocco, which contributed to strengthening Senegal’s relationship with Morocco, as well as with Guinea, Mali and Mauritania.

Senegalese Sufi orders seek full economic control in the future through a group of businessmen who control vital economic sectors such as agriculture and trade. This is an evolution for the Sufi order that had previously only controlled the cultivation of peanuts.

The order also seeks to exploit the Grand Magal of Touba celebration, which is considered a “second pilgrimage” for its followers. It is a special occasion to commemorate Ahmadou Bamba’s return from exile in Gabon during the resistance to the French occupation. The organization received huge sums reaching $70 million for the festival’s 117th anniversary in 2012.

It appears here that the Senegalese Sufi order has given up its spiritual path, becoming significantly involved and intervening in political, diplomatic and economic life. This is due to the generation of the descendents of the order’s sheikh taking control by way of succession.

The second is the desire of these leaders to effectively and permanently control the reins of political and economic power within Senegal, thus departing from the individualism of Sufism and instead steeped in aspects of modernity and materialism. This makes them a group with an outward appearance of religion while its internal reality is political, which has happened to many Islamic organizations around the world.

Sufism in the Arab world

Sufi orders in the Arab countries do not play a clearly defined political role. They rely on the predisposition of individual salvation, completely leaving and abandoning political matters, while supporting the existing political regimes.

However, the Arab Sufi orders have been the focus of many individuals and researchers, as they are open to different ideas and opinions, unlike other political Islamist organizations in the region, making them appear as a possible alternative in the political arena.

It is unimaginable that political future of the Arab Sufi groups becomes greater than they have now, which goes back to two reasons. The first is that the Sufi organizations do not want to play a greater political role but just want to indulge in their individual salvation and focus on the spiritual aspects without the material aspects. This is due to the legendary intellectual aspects upon which members of the organization have grown up, which are difficult to change because they are key aspects of building their religious thought.

The second is the inability of these organizations to exploit the important opportunity that was available to them after the so-called revolutions of the Arab Spring, where they could have presented themselves as a suitable alternative to the political Islamist movements but failed to do so.

The fogginess of the Arab Sufi organizations’ political future is also accompanied by the fogginess of their economic and social future. Sufi movements do not seem to have a clear future vision, depending instead on the role prescribed for them by the governments. This is the role that Arab Sufism has played throughout history, and without wanting a greater role, regardless of the different economic and political conditions.

Egyptian Sufism and the political experience after 25 January

The Egyptian Sufi movements tried to establish political parties after the January 25 revolution. Alaa Abu al-Azayem, the sheikh of the Azmiya order in Egypt, considered that the goal of entering Egyptian political life was to confront the efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist groups to control Egyptian political activity, which threatens religious tolerance in the country and threatens the existence of the institution of sheikhs of Sufi orders.

Egyptian Sufi movements established several parties, such as the Egyptian Liberation Party in and the Social Tolerance Party. The head of the Sufi sheikhs succeeded in reaching the post of chairman of the Social Solidarity Committee after his success in the 2016 parliamentary elections. Likewise, Dr. Mahmoud al-Sharif, head of the Ashraf (prophetic descendents), in entering the parliament and actively participated in the revolution of 30 June.

However, this success does not mean that the Sufi movements have the ability to act politically, because they have not succeeded in clearly spreading their political thought. Sufi political participation has taken an elitist image, relying only on participation through one or two seats in an electoral list with political weight, without resorting to political action at the grassroots level.

This is due to the sluggishness of the Sufi movements in moving towards effective and careful pursuit of political action, as they have not tried to establish any meaningful parties as the Islamist movements did, but they continued to practice politics with timidity, because they are not used to practicing political work except in the interest of the ruling regimes.

The Egyptian Sufi experience can be considered a mini-model of other Sufi movements in the Arab world, where more than 50 percent of the Sufi orders spread throughout the Arab region are associated with the origins of one sheikh. This link makes them converge in all aspects of their movements, including the political movements, both in times of strife, like the period of the Arab uprisings, or in the subsequent period.

Arab Sufism

Therefore, it is possible to predict that the future of Arab Sufi movements will be one. This future lies in supporting the existing Arab regimes and trying to find popular backing for them, especially in countries experiencing major disturbances or economic and political crises, such as in Sudan, where the Sufi order there announced its support for President Omar al-Bashir in the upcoming election in 2020.

The same situation is expected from other officials in the region, given that the Sufi forces provide important services to them. This is reflected in the absolute support, both financially and morally, of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for the Algerian Sufi movement, and he also visits the Sufi lodges during his travels within the country.

These lodges play an important role in mobilizing their supporters and followers in various electoral forums. The Algerian system is interested in them because their influence exceeds the influence of the parties, especially in the poor areas, where the disciples spread to for the areas’ Sufi orders and sheikhs.

It is difficult to imagine a future tension in the relationship between the two parties. On the one hand, there is no such thing as the ideological authority of the Sufi organizations. The Sufi organizations refuse to go out against the ruler or engage in armed confrontations with him.

The ruling regimes also receive excellent political benefits from these organizations and their ability to influence the public, so there is no reason to confront them or to confront their sheikhs and disciples; however, it is possible to expect more moral and material support in order to counter the spread of radical Salafi and Islamist rhetoric that has occurred over the past years.

Sufi organizations in Europe

Sufi thought began to exist in Europe in the fourth century AH, where the presence of Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula led to Spain becoming an incubator of Sufi thought because of the presence of Muslims in Andalusia. Europe even contributed to the emergence of a number of senior Sufi sheikhs, such as Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Sanhaji al-Andalusi, Abdul Haqq bin Saba’een and Sheikh Mohyiddin ibn Arabi, who were among the most prominent Sufi sheikhs in history.

The North African immigrants to Europe also played a role in supporting the spread of Sufi movements, especially with the control of Sufi thought upon the religious aspects of the country. This can be seen in the similarities between the Sufi movements in Spain and Morocco, for example, where the Naqshbandi, Tijani and Mouride orders dominate the Sufi movements in both countries.

The political future of European Sufism

European governments seek to present the Sufi movement as an alternative to the Islamist movement that is widespread throughout the continent. This allows them to offer an Islamic-Islamic alternative, thus ensuring that no sectarian strife is created due to the calming nature of the Sufis.

Moreover, this proposal is closer to the reality than the scenario of excluding Islamic currents, because the principle of exclusion has proven to be a failure in almost all experiments around the world, supporting the position of Sufism with respect to its ability to communicate with others.

Options for a solution to Sufi movements

It is therefore possible to say that Sufi movements around the world have many options to choose from so as to clearly define their future. These options are:

1. The situation remaining as it is: Sufi forces continue to follow the principle of individual salvation to deal with matters of life, including the political situation, where they continue to support the ruling regimes, so that their participation in political life is zero and limited to the crowd during election time, instead continuing their religious and advisory role.

2 – Difficult transformation: Sufi forces must have the necessary courage and ability to alter a fundamental and radical principle in Sufi thought and turn to political and community participation in times of crisis, so as to ensure a clear political presence and abandon the idea of ​​isolation.

3 – The middle way: This path lies in the ability of the members and thinkers of Sufi organizations to find a middle path between continuing Sufis’ negative political participation and changing the radical points in their thinking, so as to ensure their effective participation in the political system and the preservation of their rights, which could be violated with the political participation of political Islamist parties, as well as to ensure that they do not change clear principles in their intellectual structure.