The Encyclopedia of World Religions

suicide and religion S 431

Rabia (d. 801), one of the greatest of the early Sufis, was so filled with love for God that she lost all concern for whether she went to paradise or hell. Jalal al-Din R UMI (1207–73) celebrated the joy of union with God and the anguish of separation from him in renowned Persian poetry. Other Sufis have likened the soul to a moth that is drawn to the flame of a candle, that is, to God—with inevi table consequences. One common Sufi practice is dhikr. This is the continual chanting of a verse containing one of the names of God ( see A LLAH ). The chanting aims to produce an intense awareness of God’s presence. A more controversial practice is the use of music. Overwhelmed by the music, some may break into dance. The Mevlevis, the order founded by Rumi, practice a kind of dance that has won them the name Whirling Dervishes. The disciples stand in a circle around the master. Each twirls around, and as he does so the entire circle of dis ciples revolves around the master. (Think of the planets rotating as they revolve around the sun.) On a more popular level, laypeople may make PILGRIMAGE to the tombs of powerful SAINTS . Many believe that the saints work MIRACLES after death as they did in life. In the 20th century, Sufism was an embattled institution. Muslims who wanted to “modernize” Islam considered Sufism to be outmoded supersti tion. Others saw “modernization” as abandoning Islam for foreign practices and wanted to reassert Islamic tradition. In their eyes, Sufi assertions of a union between God and human beings violated the fundamental principles of Islam. Nevertheless, some Muslims continue to find inspiration and spiritual depth in Sufi teachings. suicide and religion Because most religions have much to do with death and morality, it is not surprising that they also have much to say about suicide. Several dramatic instances of religiously motivated suicide in the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century have espe cially brought the topic to the attention of North Americans.

The stupa is not generally a place for congre gational WORSHIP . Instead, worshippers may cir cumambulate the stupa, leave offerings, reflect on Buddhist truths, and meditate there.

Suf ism M YSTICISM in I SLAM . The word Sufism seems to derive from the Arabic word suf, which means “wool.” The prophet M UHAMMAD died in C . E . 632. By the year 700 the Islamic world stretched from Spain in the west all the way to Persia, where Iran is today, in the east. Many Muslims, including the rulers known as caliphs, enjoyed wealth well beyond anything available to Muhammad and his companions. But this wealth offended some, who thought it led to dissolute living. They adopted an austere life-style that they considered more fitting to servants of God. Among other practices, they wore clothes of wool ( suf ) and perhaps for that reason were called Sufis. Sufis turned very early to the cultivation of mysticism. They were led in this direction by sev eral persons who had intense, personal experiences of G OD ’s reality and presence. These early Sufis often did and said things that offended traditional Muslims. For example, al-Bistami (d. 874) was fond of the phrase, “Glory be to me!” He wanted to emphasize that God dwelled at the very core of a human being. Two hundred years later thinkers such as al-Ghazali (1058–1111) formulated Sufism in a way that the orthodox could accept. Early Sufism was not tightly organized. In general, masters passed down secret teachings to their disciples. But by the 13th century Sufis had organized themselves into brotherhoods. At the head of each brotherhood stood a leader known as a shaykh or pir, whose office was inherited. Some shaykhs were thought to work miracles. At the same time the brotherhoods began to attract “lay” followers—people who were interested in Sufism but did not devote their lives to it. Sufism cultivates the experience of a profound closeness between God and the soul. Some Sufis talk about a union of God and the soul. Others say that personal identity dissolves in God altogether.