IN the western media, Islam is almost exclusively identified with its official, scriptural, normative manifestation — orthodox, legalistic Islam. The significance of folk Islam in local contexts as well as other facets, dimensions and sub-regimes of this world religion which exist in parallel, especially the popular face of the Sufi tradition and the closely related veneration of saints, is either underestimated or ignored.

Sufism — the Islamic tradition of mysticism known in Arabic as tasawwuf (literally `the process of becoming a Sufi`) — is a religious movement of intense devotion and divine rapture.

It centres on the inner aspects of Islam, the spiritual dimensions (`Iilm al-batin the esoteric knowledge) for which religious experience is essentially significant. In its different forms, the Sufi tradition is an integral part of Islam, belonging both to its official normative version as well as to the folk belief of Muslim societies.

The term `Sufi` which has been generally accepted since the 10th century is usually thought to have been derived from the word suf for wool, since early Islamic ascetics, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), wore a frock of rough white wool.

The foundation of mysticism is the life-determining belief in God. Mystics are touched and moved by Him, pervaded by the awareness of God. Their lives are centred entirely on God. They have unlimited faith (tawakkul) in Him who cares for everyone. However, practicing asceticism alone does not lead the Sufi to the desired proximity into God`s presence.

Far more important is the love to the One, which itself is a gift of mercy from Allah. The Sufi aims to experience the Beloved directly as a friend. He recognizes everything in reference to the Divine; outside the Almighty, there is nothing. The recognition of the absolute unity and uniqueness of God (tawhid) forms the philosophical core of the Sufi tradition.

Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), the most eminent representative of cognitive Sufism, developed this declaration of unity into his theosophical oriented mystical conception of the essential `Unity of Being` (Wahdat al-Wajud) which has been a complex and important strand of Sufi thinking from 1300 CE on, particularly on the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. The mystic sees and recognises God in all things — God manifests Himself in the infinitesimal parts of His creation. In vernacular Islam this weltanschauung, bordering on pantheism has been simplified in the short formula hama ust — `Everything is He`.

The mystical path (tariqa) to the experience of unity leads to ones own heart where one finds God. `In the heart of the lovers, that is your place, says the Persian mystic Farid-ud-Din Attar (d.c. 1220) in his Ilahi. The heart is frequently symbolised as a mirror in which the believer may see God but only after the metal mirror has been polished.

The purity of heart forms the prerequisite for prayer and mystical union with God. For Sufis, it is even more important than external ritual purity, for example in the form of prescribed religious ablutions. God reveals Himself only to those who are internally pure. External dirt or the parched clothes of the mystic do not detract from inner purity.

On the contrary, they bear witness to the state of being enraptured by God and signal the renunciation of this world, which is perceived as evil, loathsome, and unreal, and seemingly heavenly only to non-believers. The `seeker of God` who follows the mystical path strives for perfection. Mystical exercises on the gradual spiritual path determine the life of loving devotion to God.

Ideal characteristics for Sufis and dervishes are simplicity, modesty, contentment, honesty and hospitality. They pay no heed to outward appearances and treat all people as equals. Finally, a moral ideal to which Islamic mystics fully subscribe is obedience to God, a pivot of Sufism.

If the mystic — usually only after struggling hard against his ego, suspended between awe and hope and suffering from longing and separation — is finally touched by God who now resides in his heart, he is overwhelmed by His greatness and bounty. These mystical experiences can be so overpowering that they send him into ecstasy.

Often the mystic who is enraptured by God`s love is also bewildered and dismayed in view of the ultimate divine reality. He has reached the destination of his mystical path — the union with the Divine Beloved (fana). The mystic now lives only in Allah, having relinquished and destroyed his lower self, his own will and his personal desires and needs.

Frequent attempts have been made to convey the coalescence of man and God (annihilation) in poetic metaphors, for example that of the moth who seeks and finds love through dying in the flame, or the disappearance of the soul in the sea of divine light.

The true gate to life in God is then the death of the mystic, meaning both the voluntary, mystical death and the actual physical death, which is understood as the `mystical nuptial` (urs) with God, as spiritual union of lovers, which continues and signifies true life.

The Sufi tradition originated in Khorasan in what is now North-eastern Iran and in parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia. These regions produced many important mystics who exerted a strong, influence on religious life in other areas of the Muslim world.

Since its formation in the eighth and ninth centuries, Sufism with its emphasis on charismatic authority has constituted an alternative to scriptural, normative Islam. It embodies the ideals of tolerance, love, peace and humanism in Islam in a special manner. Love of God and man as well as respect for mystic experiences of other religions have led the Sufis to adopt a liberal, tolerant attitude toward non-Muslims.

A noteworthy example is the harmony and close ties between Islamic mystics and Hindu devotees in Indo-Pakistan.