The Sufi way (Tariqa)

In Sufism, therefore, there is the road (sing. tariqa, pl. turuq; this term went on to refer a Sufi order) and mystic travel, or suluk. One who undertakes a journey along this road is called a salik, or traveller. The mystical path is, in principle, open to every one. According to the Sufis anybody can

attain the higher forms of religious knowledge, but if one is to do it the Sufi way, it must be done under the guidance of a shaykh, also called a murshid or pir. The salik receives the rite of initiation from his shaykh or murshid, who in turn has received it from his shaykh and so on, with the chain of

transmission of spiritual influence (barakah) going back to the Prophet himself. The Sufis believe that the Prophet conferred this right on only some of his companions, in particular the caliphs Abu Bakr and Ali, who in turn passed it on to their followers. In this way, this right has been passed

on in unbroken succession up to the present day. This chain of succession is known in Arabic as silsila5 , and it is a living tradition transmitted personally from master to disciple. A disciple is thus above all a seeker, or talib6 , then a traveller, or salik, and finally, if God so pleases, a gnostic, or arif. But the spiritual realization cannot be achieved without the initiation, counsel, and guidance of the shaykh, or spiritual master. Those aspiring to follow the Sufi path approach a shaykh to be initiated into a spiritual lineage or, silsila. As every lineage goes back to the Prophet, all the orders (silsilas) are necessarily traced to one or the other of the companions whom the Prophet initiated himself. In the early phase of Sufism there were many great Sufi masters and they had their followers,

 but the movement was not institutionalized. The regular orders began to be established only in the 11th and 12th century AD and the first great Sufi order was the Qadri order, or tariqa, founded by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (1071- 1166). This was followed by the Suhrawardi order of Abu’l Najib Suhrawardi (1098-1168) and the Naqshbandi order of Khwaja Baha’ ud din Naqshbandi (1318-1389). Another great order, the Chishti order, traces its origin to Chisht near Herat, where the spiritual founder of the order, Khwaja Abu Ishaq Shami (d. 940) dwelled. However it was Muinuddin Chishti (d.1236) who brought the silsila to India and laid its foundations by establishing a flourishing centre in Ajmer. Both the physical and the spiritual life of a Sufi revolves around his shaykh and the shaykh dispenses any guidance his disciple might require, starting from the exigencies of everyday life and ending with the spiritual guidance that aims at losing oneself in God. Such guidance is personalized and tailored to the individual capacities and needs of the disciple, gradually
introducing him to techniques that would effectively enable him to attain the spiritual goal. Of these techniques the most numerous are pertaining to dhikr – remembrance of God.