In stating “I am the creative truth”, Hallaj summarized the fundamental beliefs of Sufism. As this quote’s significance is the summation of the Sufi’s problems with Islam, Hallaj was executed by Islamic authorities for this statement. It is likely that Islamic followers erred in understanding the context of Hallaj’s declaration, believing that he meant that he was Allah himself. My understanding of this quote is that Allah is the ultimate definition of reality and by spiritually connecting to Him one can interpret reality in the way that He can. If one t

In conclusion, Sufism is both analogous and dissimilar to Islam. Both religions are share the Qu’ran and other Muslim texts as their focal points; however, Sufism uses these texts as a means to attain spiritual enlightenment through self-meditation while Islam draws upon these scriptures to vindicate human existence as the creation of a God that calls to be worshipped. Regardless of what faith one may gravitate to, I found this quote from Hallaj (The Tawasin, The Ta-Sin Of Understanding), to be outstanding insight into the struggle to understand God’s role in a religious person’s life, “The comprehensions of created natures are not attached to reality, and reality is not attached to created natures. Thoughts (which come) are adherences, and the adherences of created natures do not attach themselves to realities. The perception of reality is difficult to acquire, so how much more difficult is the perception of the reality of the Reality. Furthermore, Allah is beyond reality, and reality does not in itself imply Allah.

This central belief of Sufism solves a grievance with Islamic thinking, e.g., how can one worship something without knowing it? A popular Sufi teaching emphasizes an adherence to a five-fold path to actualize a relationship with Allah, 1) Search Allah, 2) Reach Allah, 3) Love Allah, 4) Live with Allah, 5) Sacrifice yourself to Allah. Following this path is closely knit to a traditional Islamic practice, with its difference arising in the first two steps. Sufi teaching states that unless Allah is searched, he can not be reached, and without reaching for Allah it is impossible to love him. Islam does not necessarily perpetuate that Allah is a fearful divine figure, but rather that He should be blindly loved. Sufism is an expansion of Islam’s divine submission, involving an enlightened inner being, though not intellectual proof, revelations, witnessing, and logic. Through mystic and spiritual experience, Sufism stresses transcending earthly means of divine relation to reach a way of being that culminates in the actualization of the attributes of God. By communicating with something, one must

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