By the 13th century, Orders or Brotherhoods of Sufis existed, each with its own form of prayer and patterns of spiritual exercises, often with its own distinctive dress, lodges, and methods of initiation. Modern Muslim publications in the last four countries mentioned attest to the resurgence of interest in Sufism, but it is in Turkey where Rumi came from that Sufism is thriving at its best.
Sufism has its branches depending on the method or tariqah used. The first is the path for the good, which focuses on the deeds of worship and piety; the second is the path for the virtuous, which concentrates on purifying the human soul through spiritual exercises and services; and the third is the path for lovers, which aims at attaining the same goal through love.
The Sufi way is about purifying the heart and the soul. Being a Sufi is acquaintance with the ways of the Lord; And hence to reach out a helping hand and cure to the needy. Being a Sufi is to become joyous and bewildered in Divine presence, To be in amazement before the secrets of the Divine. Being a Sufi is to reach East and West in the blink of an eye; Hence to care for all people and offer them shelter.
Being a Sufi is to surrender the soul to the beloved and become free; To remain with the beloved forever more. The verses above are only a few of the eloquent, sublime verses written by Ibrahim Effendi as quoted by Osman Nuri Topbas in his book on Sufism. With such sublime aspirations of a Sufi on the path to holiness and considering that Sufism is the spirit of Islam, the Taliban, Abu Sayyaf Group, and ISIS cannot be properly called Muslims but are rather deviants and aberrations of Islam and humanity.
There are reasons why Muslims feel anger and antipathy towards the West, particularly towards America. In earlier times, the anger was due to the imperialist expansions of the British Empire in Muslim lands. In contemporary times, Noor and Moten explained that Muslims are angry at seeing their co-religionists killed in Afghanistan by the U. Both Christians and Muslims need to critique, expose, and denounce the neo-imperialist actions of U.
Muslims stand antithetical to the West in their theocentric way of life whereas the West is marked by the separation of church and state, causing widespread secularism and humanism. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi as cited in Michel, was able to identify clearly the five negative principles on which modern civilization was founded:.
Nursi rightly saw that if people build civilization on the principles of conflict, competition, and enmity, the result will inevitably be war and mutual destruction. This was proven by the onslaught of two World Wars which ravaged many nations in the world, and the continuing wars or threat of wars among nations at present. Said Nursi also saw that the enemy of human happiness and ethical uprightness is unbelief, irreligion, which implies that people decide to find their own path through life without seeking divine guidance.
Western civilization has brought much good and progress to many people but various currents of thought in Western history have enabled negative qualities of modern civilization to emerge and sometimes predominate over the good. Nursi identified two negative developments in Western civilization, which has spread its influence throughout the world as cited in Michel, The first is that Western civilization became distant and estranged from true Christianity and based its personal and societal views on the principles of an anthropocentric Greco-Roman philosophy which placed the human person at the centre of the universe and pushed God to its margins.
The second is the appalling inequality in the means of livelihood of people due to its unchecked market policies. These negative currents, according to Nursi, seek to destroy both Muslims and Christians by alienating them from the source of spiritual and moral values and by creating enmity between Christians and Muslims. Nursi rejects capitalist culture and decadent civilization which he calls the Second Europe, that which is founded not on Christian ethics but on philosophy rather than religion.
The predominantly negative media portrayal of Islam and Muslims needs to be balanced by widespread knowledge of peace-loving Muslims who pursue the path towards union of love and will with God. Such is the phenomenon of Sufism which has existed since the earliest centuries and is still active and thriving in many parts of the Islamic world particularly in Turkey.
Said Nursi rightly saw that Christians and Muslims need to unite in a common mission to bear witness to the divine values in the midst of modern civilization. The author agrees with Nursi because there are really deep commonalities in Islamic spirituality and Christian spirituality, and it is on the level of spirituality that these two major religions can find unity and convergence.
In truth, while some Muslim women choose to observe traditional patriarchal hierarchies, many others selectively apply these teachings and live completely independently. The stereotype that assumes the marginalization of Muslim women neglects to consider the diversity of female Muslim experiences and places Western ideals of gender and power upon a non-Western religion.
Balanced representations of Islam do exist. Another positive representation of Islam can be seen in the X-Men character Dust, a strong Muslim woman who practices Islam while fighting alongside her fellow X-Men. Finally, since media representation of Islam has changed drastically within the past decade, it is necessary to see how these representations have shaped public opinion of Islam. Christian Research Institute. Terrorism and Anonymous Sources: the Toronto 18 Case. Canadian Journal of Media Studies , 8, Power and migrant Muslim women.
International Sociological Association. Gothenburg, Sweden. Keeping the faith: An exploratory analysis of faith-based arbitration in Ontario. Masters Abstracts International , 48 1 , Reset Doc: Dialogues on Civilizations. Muslim Stereotypes in Hollywood: Are they really fading? Educational Studies , 36 2 , The Diversity and Media Toolbox is a comprehensive suite of resources that explores issues relating to stereotyping, bias and hate in mainstream media and on the Internet.
The program includes professional development tutorials, lesson plans, interactive student modules and background articles. Skip to main content. Diversity in Media , Religion , Stereotyping. Resources for Parents. Talking to kids about racial stereotypes. Tip Sheet. Blog entry. That's Not Me.
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