The Philosophy of Locality Choice of Major Ayyubid and Mamluk Khanqahs in Cairo

Abstract

Al Imam Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfi'i, famous Muslim jurist, said once that "three things in this world have been made lovely to me; avoiding affectation, treating people kindly, and following the way of tasawwuf." This valuable statement illustrates the significance of Sufism as one of the major aspects of Islam as it basically represents the living heart of Islam, the aspect of eternal wisdom, the inner dimension of the revelation given to Muhammad, and not an arbitrary form of occultism. Accordingly, the Sufi could be generally defined as the Muslim who cleared and purified his soul in terms of devoting himself to a life of asceticism and austerity, aiming in the first place to gain Allah's gratification and mercy Equally, Sufi could be defined as the Muslim who freed himself from living a restricted life with carnal or bodily concems and bounds, and turning to God on the horizon of heart. In fact, the origin of the term "Sufi" has been a debatable issue between different scholars, for some believe that it was originally derived from the Arabic word "Safā" which stands for clarity as one of the main characteristics of the Sufi's soul.sAlso, there is another stream which rooted the term" Sufi " to the Arabic word "Tasfiya" which translates as "refinement" or "filtration to illustrate the filtration of the Sufi's heart from evil deeds and intentions. However, the most popular theory states that it was primitively derived from the Arabic word " Şüf" which translates as "wool" for it was the main material used by the Sufis in their clothing to be matching with the nature of their ascetic life.' In the light of Sufism history, it is broadly accepted between scholars that Sufism didn't exist till the second century of Hijra, as the Muslims of the first century were relatively close to the era of the Prophet Muhammad so they were strictly practicing Islam according to his direct instructions without bearing any titles, but the situation was slightly different by approaching the second half of the second century as the Muslims started to interact widely with other cultures and civilizations, so many of them began to be attracted the different aspects of their mundane life, in tum, a moderate Sufi stream sprang as a counter action to that newly bom phenomenon in terms of preserving the fundamental Islamic rites and traditions. Meanwhile, the third and fourth centuries witnessed a new concept for Sufism which became itself a very special spiritual and mental institution through which the Sufis' concepts, principals and beliefs were divided between modest and extreme steams to the extent that some jurists accused them of being a threat to the society. Consequently, those two centuries witnessed the division of the Sufis into sects and religious orders "Tariqas", and each order had its Shaykh, rules, principals and followers. 10 Thus,