A selection of Sufi stories are listed below. Click on each of the titles to read the full story.
Education: background
WHAT IS SUFISM?
The name 'Sufi' comes from Sáf which means pure in Arabic. It is a name that was given to them by others not one that they gave themselves. Sufism, rightly understood, is truly a spiritual doctrine of freedom and light.
Sufism is practiced around the world by millions of Muslims in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China.
Simply, Sufism is the mystical path of Islam perhaps best transmitted through presence and practice. Its purpose is to convey direct knowledge of the eternal. Sufism is a way of life in which a deeper identity is discovered and lived. It is less a doctrine or a belief system than an experience and way of life.
It is often described as the heart of the body of Islam. A Sufi mystic can be a member of either one of the two major sects of Islam: Sunni or Shia.
Historians usually say Sufism is the “mystical core of Islam” and date its origin at about the ninth century AD.
According to many Sufis, the essential Truths of Sufism exist in all religions.
What makes the Sufi? Purity of heart;
Not the patched mantle and the lust perverse
Of those vile earth-bound men who steal his name.
He in all dregs discerns the essence pure:
In hardship ease, in tribulation joy.
The phantom sentries, who with batons drawn
Guard Beauty's palace-gate and curtained bower,
Give way before him, unafraid he passes,
And showing the King's arrow, enters in.
From a Persian Poem
Worksheets
4 PDF resources which work across P6 to p7 and S1 to S2. These are related to the Curriculum for Excellence and contain practical exercises which help develop emotional intelligence in children.
Concepts
What Sufis offer is learning, through experience. Within our resources for education we have identified four key concepts from Sufidom; Story Telling; Knowledge and Enlightenment; Interfaith Tolerance; and, Culture and Art.
Background
The name 'Sufi' comes from Sáf which means pure in Arabic. It is a name that was given to them by others not one that they gave themselves. Sufism, rightly understood, is truly a spiritual doctrine of freedom and light.
Sufism is practiced around the world by millions of Muslims in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China.
