Etymology of the word Sufi
According to sources the word 'Sufi' is connected
etymologically to ‘purity’ (Assafaa, Safa, yasfou
Arabic) i.e. that which aspires to purify the heart of its
hidden defects, inclinations and hidden attachments (Assiwa). The beauty and cleanliness of the heart (Safaa Albatin) will become apparent through the nobility of character and
goods deeds. According to the traditional methodology of Islamic scholarship all opinions of other authors considered
to be admissible on a question should be quoted.
are characterized by the description of a connection
between traditional Sufism and the Islam in their. The reference work, par excellence on
this issue, is the treatise of the Persian Al- Kalabadhi (died
384 A.H. / 994 A.D.) translated by A.J. Arberry under the title ‘ The
Doctrine of the Sufis’. Certain orientalists
put forward the idea that the word ‘sufi’ or ‘soufi’ could be
derived from the Greek ‘sofov’ ( the wise one). This
appears far from probable as the Arabic word for wisdom is ‘hikma’.Furthermore
the Greek term passed into Arabic in the form of
(philosopher) without having any connection with the word ‘Sufi’.
word ‘Sufism’ has been connected to another French
term ‘ marabout’ which is derived from the
Arabic word ‘murabit’.
Initially this meant a frontier fortress containing a garrison
(Rabat, the capital city of
Morocco is derived from the same word). Muslim of the
first centuries were in the habit of making temporary stays
with soldiers. The term also has the meaning of stages on a
journey that involves staying at hostels along the
way. From the century
ribats were sometimes used
by solitary mystics or groups who sought remote, unused or
Ribat of Abbadan in Susiane was occupied by the mystic Abd
Al-Wahid Bin Zayd (177/793) and his disciples (Massignion,
Essay, 213). The last of these establishments bearing this
name were built in the cities.
Whereas they were initially intended to shelter various
specialists in the religious sciences, as in the
it became the general rule for these establishments to be
associated with the Sufis.
Persian term ‘khanqah/khanagah was used in the
Indo-Iranian world. In the Middle East, as far as Cairo,
the Arabic term ‘Zawiya’
was used. In Turkey and the
Western Islamic world the Ottoman Turkish word, ‘Tekkeh’ is used. Given the multiplicity of these terms, which
offer cover different realities, it is hazardous to translate
them by a single word such as monastery. A case in point is
the term morabout/murabit. Its original military meaning has
lost its original military connotations and is now used in the
western Islamic World to denote a locally venerated character
or a Master of a brotherhood.