REBIRTH 165Salafism, and this was the efflorescence of Sufism, which was as broad-
minded and undogmatic as Ibn Taymiyah's ideology was literalist and re-
strictive. Indeed, ecstatic Sufism (as opposed to "sober Sufism") disturbed
Ibn Taymiyah almost as much as pagan invaders, because to him infidels
were merely the enemy outside, assaulting Islam, whereas Sufism was the
enemy within, insidiously weakening the Umma by enlarging and blurring
the singleness of the doctrine that defined it.
Sufism was that characteristically Islamic type of mysticism which had
some ideas and impulses in common with Buddhism and Hindu mysti-
cism. Sufis were individuals who, dissatisfied with the bureaucratization of
religion, turned inward and sought methods of achieving mystical union
with God.
All Sufis had pretty much the same idea about where they were going,
but diverse ideas about how to get there, so different Sufis espoused different
spiritual techniques. Every time a Sufi seemed to break through, the word
spread and other seekers flocked to the enlightened soul for guidance, hop-
ing that direct contact with his or her charisma would fuel their own quest
for transcendence. In this way, "Sufi brotherhoods" formed around promi-
nent individual Sufis: groups of seekers who lived, worked, and practiced
their devotions together under the guidance of a master called a sheikh or pir
(both words mean "old man," the one in Arabic, the other in Persian).
Typically, a few of a sheikh's closest disciples earned recognition as Sufi
masters in their own right. When a sheikh died, one of these disciples
would inherit his authority and continue guiding his community. Some
others might go off and form new communities, still expounding their
master's mystical method but attracting disciples of their own. Sufi broth-
erhoods thus evolved into Sufi orders, traditions of mystical methodology
passed down directly from master to initiate, down through the years and
the decades and the centuries.
Successful Sufi orders might boast of many enlightened sheikhs at any
given time, living in different places, often with their mureeds (spiritual ap-
prentices), in lodges called khanqas, where they also offered sustenance to
travelers and comfort to strangers. In a way, then, Sufi brotherhoods be-
came an Islamic equivalent of Christianity's monastic orders which, in me-
dieval times, built monasteries and nunneries throughout Europe, places
where people retired to make spiritual effort their main occupation.