Sufism and the Transcendent Unity of Religions

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Javad Nurbakhsh, Robert Frager, and Kabir

Helminski
1. Being itself the message of the essence in the form or of the Center at
the periphery, Sufism can guide man from the phenomena to the
noumena, from the form (rah) to the meaning (man) to use the
Sufi technical terminology itself. This fact coupled with the universal
character of Islam, as reflected in the insistence of the Quran upon
mans accepting the authenticity of previous religions, has made of the
Sufis throughout history the great proponents of the transcendent
unity of religions, whose principles they have explicitly formulated.
Some like Ibn Arab and Mawln Jall al-Dn Rm have even applied
this concept to specific teachings of non-Islamic religions. Sufism
provides the metaphysics necessary to carry out the study of
comparative religion in depth so that man can accept the validity of
every detail of the authentic religions of mankind and at the same
time see beyond these details to the transcendent unity of these
religions. (Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Living Sufism [London: Mandala
Books, Unwin Paperbacks, 1980], p. 26).
2. In the Quran faith (mn) implies a higher level of participation in the
religion, ... and even today onl those who take their religion very
seriously and virtuous are called mumin (or possesors of mn). And
yet the Quran does not limit the term mumin only to those who follow
the Islamic religion; it includes the faithful of Islam along with followers
of other religions, as is evidenced by the Quranic assertion, Verily,
those who have faith (in what is revealed to the Prophet) and those
who are Jews and Christians and Sabaeans whoseover has fear in
God and the Last Day and does right surely their reward is with their
Lord, and no fear shall overcome them and neither shall they grieve
(2:62). In this verse as well as verse 69 of Surah 5 (The Table Spread
[al-Midah]), which nearly repeats the same message, recognition of
other religions is extended even beyond Judaism, Christianity, and
Sabaenism to universal. Likewise, the boundary between the Muslim
faithful and the faithful of other religions is lifted. One could therefore
say that in the most universal sense whoever has faith infidel, or a
kfir, whatever the nominal and external ethnic and even religious
identification of that person might be. (Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The
Heart of Islam: Enduring Values of Humanity [New York, NY:
HarperSanfrancisco, HarperCollins, 2002], p. 43).
3. If true Unity is to be attained in this global society, we must come to
accept what Sufi masters have always insisted upon: that there are as
many paths to God as there are people and that all these different

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paths ultimately lead to the same place: the Absolute Truth, which is,
in fact, one and the same for everyone. (Javad Nurbakhsh, Love: The
Path of Unity, Sufi, A Journal of Sufism, Issue 19 [Autumn 1993], p. 6).
It is only through the binding force of love can humanity leave behind
its differences, its condition of multiplicity, and [can] arrive at a state
of Oneness. Only through love can we come to see that all acts of
worship, when performed with sincerity of the heart, lead to the same
end, [and] come from the same source. (Nurbakhsh, Love: The Path of
Unity, p. 6).
Sufism is no different from the mysticism at the heart of all religions.
Just as a river passes through many countries and is claimed by each
of its own, there is only one river. All mysticism has the same goal, the
direct experience of the divine. ([Sheikh] Robert [Ragib] Frager, Heart,
Self, & Soul: The Sufi Psycjology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony
[Wheaton, Illinois: Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing house, 1999],
p. ix
Most Sufis believe that there is a fundamental truth in all religions and
that the great religions are the same in essence. The various prophets
and spiritual teachers are like light bulbs that illuminate a room. The
bulbs are different, but the current comes from one source, which is
God. In a room with many light bulbs, you cannot distinguish the light
of one bulb from the light of another. It is all the same light, and the
indovidual bulbs all receive electricity from a single source, even if
some bulbs provide more light than others. The quality of the light is
the same and so is the source. (Frager, Heart, Self, & Soul, pp. Ix-x).
From a certain point of view one need not even become a Muslim, in
the sociological sense, to live in harmony with or value the Qurans
guidance and message. Since, for instance, Jesus is viewed in Islam as
a prophet of God, just as Muhammad is, there can be no essential
conflict between the way of Jesus and the way of Muhammad. Any
Christian who sincerely follows the message of Jesus is in fact a
Muslim from the point of view of the Qur/an. ([Sheikh] Kabir
Helminski, The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation [Boston &
London: Shambala, 1999], p. 199).
Those who have encountered and lived with the message of the
Quran must acknowledge that Gods Compassion, Generosity, and
Mercy operate through all religions, and in fact through all the
phenomena of existence. Gods qualities rain down upon the faithful of
all faiths and even upon those who deny this reality. (Helminski, The
Knowing Heart, p. 199).

Notes

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is a noted Iranian scholar and Sufi thinker. He is

University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University.
The author of ever thirty books and three hundred articles, he is a former
president of Aryahamehr University in Iran, and the founder and the first
president of the Iranian Academy of Philosophy. His publications include
Ideal and Realities of Islam, Living Sufism, Knowledge and the Sacred, and
The Heart of Islam.
Javad Nurbakhsh is the present Sheikh of the Nimatullah Order, which
was founded in Iran by Sheikh Nur al-Din Muhammad Nimat Allah (d.
1431). For more than 50 years, Nurbakhsh established more than one
hundred khaniqahs and numerous libraries and museums throughout Iran
and the greater world. His publications include The Path: Sufi Practices,
Discourses on the Sufi Path, The Psychology of Sufism, and Sufi
Symbolism: The Nurbakhsh Encyclopedia of Sufi Terminology.
Sheikh Robert Ragib Frager is a Sheikh of the Helveti-Jerahi Order,
which was founded by Sheikh Nur al-Din Muhammad al-Jarrah of Istanbul
(d. 1720). He is the past president of the Association for Transpersonal
Psychology and the founder of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology,
where he is currently Coordinator of the Spiritual Guidance program and
professor of Psychology. He has written three books on Sufism: Essential
Sufism; Love is Wine: Teachings of a Sufi Master in America; and Heart,
Self, & Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony.
Sheikh Kabir Helminski is a Sheikh of Mevlevi Order, which traces back
to Rumi. He is the codirector, with his wife, Camille Helmiski, of the
Threshold Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the
knowledge and practice of sufism, and the author and translator of various
books, including Living Presence and The Knowing Heart. As a producer
and writer of Sufi music, he has gained recognition for numerous
recording, including his own Garden within the Flames.