The Sufis are high rank spiritual teachers
within Islam, and one of their responsibilities is to maintain and transmit
the hidden, deeper knowledge contained in the Holy Qur'an. For Sufis the
supreme object of life is to serve and obey God and to emulate His
divine attributes, thereby earning His good pleasure. Among the various
services to humanity, the one Sufis consider superior to all others is
the healing of the sick. Their methods are called The Sufi Healing.
God sends three kind of illnesses: illness to help spiritual development, illness caused by one's sins in the past, and illness which will cause one's death.
Humans can only cure the first and second. While for the third one, humans can do nothing to stop it.
The four known categories of healing:
Sufi Healing is an Islamic therapy using Divine spiritual power. It has been practiced exclusively by Sufis for centuries. The basic principle in Sufi Healing is that the True Healer is God Himself, the Sufis acting only as mediators.
Witch or voodoo doctors are also preferred by some people to cure their illness. Many of them are using help from jinns or evil spirits. This method is different from Sufi Healing which does not seek help from jinns or evil spirits.
The physical healing methods of the Sufis derive first from the Holy Qur'an and second from the traditions describing the acts of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Sufis use four things in their treatment of diseases: prayer, traditional medicine or therapy, fasting and zikr, and specific objects.
Obligatory prayer in Islam, which must be performed five times a day, is known as salat and is a specific set of actions combining bodily movements and the recitation of supplications and Qur'anic verses. While the true purpose of salat and fasting are to reach God's proximity, salat, performed properly, can also give spiritual nourishment and harmonize the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life.
Traditional medicine or therapy (water therapy, aromatherapy, etc.) are sometimes also used by the Sufis depending on the condition of the patient.
The obligatory fast for Moslems is in the month of
Ramadan, but optional fasts can also be performed at other months. If done
properly fasting raises one's spiritual state and also improves one's health.
Zikr, simply translated as "Divine remembrance,"
is also practiced as a cure for mental or physical illness. It is performed
either individually or in a group by repeated recitation of sacred formulas
or God's attributes, usually under the supervision of a Sufi teacher.
The Sufis also combine the recitation of God's attributes
and holy verses with prayer in a specific and complex method. The formulations
may be written on paper, bone, or leather as amulets called wifq.
These objects may be placed in a glass of water to be drunk by the patient
or they may be buried in the ground, or carried around on the patient's
person. The formulations can also be recited aloud or silently, or used
in many other ways not only to cure mental or physical illness, but also
to solve family, financial, or social problems.
This method uses power from God's angels for constructive purposes only, and it is not to be confused with voodoo, black magic, or witchcraft, which use the power from jinn or evil spirits and can be exploited for destructive purposes.
This homepage only give a short introduction to Sufi Healing. It is suggested that those who are interested in learning more about Sufi Healing or Sufism read this book:
Shaykh Hakim Moinuddin Chishti. The Book of Sufi
Healing. New York: Inner Traditions International, Ltd., 1985.
Idries Shah. The Way of The Sufi. London:
The Penguin Books, 1974.
R.A. Nicholson. Revelation of The Veiled.
London: Luzak & Co., 1970
Martin Lings. What is Sufism? Allen and Unwin,
1975.
TITLE - INTRODUCTION - SUFISM STUDIES - SOCIAL SERVICES -
AIDS TREATMENT - SUFI HEALING - MUHAMMAD ZUHRI
SUFI HOMEPAGE - AIDS HOMEPAGE - BAHASA INDONESIA