Religious ecstasy in classical Sufism

In classical Sufism (roughly 850–1100 A.D.), religious ecstasy was described through a differentiated terminology, but no single generic term existed for these states. Sufis often used the plural "mawagid" (from "wagd") to refer to ecstasies, a construction unique to Sufi vocabulary. The primary external method for inducing ecstasy was psalmody based on Koranic vocabulary, sometimes combined with listening to psalmody. The darwish-dance only became a deliberate technique for inducing ecstasy in the thirteenth century with Rumi; before that, it was a controversial expression of ecstasy rather than a means to achieve it.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to shed some light on the phenomenon of religious ecstasy as met within Islamic mysticism and there particularly during its classical period. In this case, the expression "classical Sufism" refers to the period of Sufi history from about 850 A.D. until circa 1100 A.D. In the Sufi vocabulary there is even a rather differentiated terminology concerning these ecstatic experiences or states; whether different descriptions of one and the same experience are involved or whether the terms actually describe different experiences is a question that we must set aside for the present. There are, however, Sufis expressing the opinion that these different states of mind are based on one single experience in spite of the difference in terms. A generic term for these experiences or states is not to be found in the Sufi terminology however, so the problem of which of these phenomena must be present in order for ecstasy to be evidenced—or which of them would be sufficient— does not therefore arise for the Sufis. So instead of speaking of religious ecstasy in general, they either refer to the single specific terms in question or else use the plural of one of the words employed to designate one of the terms we include in "religious ecstasy". They thus speak of "ecstasies", mawagid from the singular form wagd—if one should at all attempt a translation of this plural. This plural is a genuine Sufi construction and does not otherwise seem to occur in the Arabic language, except as a later borrowing. Psalmody based on the Koranic vocabulary remains the main procedure for putting oneself in ecstasy. If we add 'and listening to psalmody', we then obtain a fairly satisfactory picture of the external conditions for the Sufis' ecstasy until the eleventh century, when various innovations begin to appear. As far as the darwiš-dance is concerned, it is not until the thirteenth century with Rumi that it becomes transformed from an expression of ecstasy—and as such, quite a controversial one—into an expedient for ecstasy.