The Sufi Ring
Touring the Cosmos (Barefooted)
Mark A. Foster, Ph.D.
Sociologist of Religion
              Ṣūfiyy Information Menu
  1. ١.  The Ṣūfiyy Ring (WebRing)
  2. ٢.  How to become a Ṣūfiyy

Welcome to the most comprehensive online resource of its kind. Its subject matter is Ṣūfism (Taṣawwuf), in the broadest sense of that term, with information on Ṣūfiyy, neo-Ṣūfiyy, quasi-Ṣūfiyy, Ṣūfiyy-influenced, and Ṣūfiyyesque groups, movements, and activities. So pour yourself a cup of tea or java, and begin browsing. This work is an ongoing project. Note that all translations on Ṣūfiyy Information Central™ are, unless otherwise stated, from the Arabic (al-ʿArabīyah), and, further, that any errors in scholarship are entirely my own. Please also visit my main web portal.

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The Bhakti-Ṣūfiyy Ring welcomes personal and commercial websites which have a Bhakti or Ṣūfiyy theme, contain significant Bhakti or Ṣūfiyy content, or feature information of specific interest to many devotees or practitioners. Sites belonging to Bhakti groups (Sanskrit, satsaṅgāḥ, truth assemblies) and Ṣūfiyy paths (al-ṭuruq al-Ṣūfiyyyah) are especially encouraged to apply. Follow this link to enter your site into the queue.

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If you would like to become a Ṣūfiyy, often entirely online, consult the alphabetized pages in this section. A few of them even provide the means for committing oneself to a ṭarīqa (path) or its head, i.e., taking bayʿah (selling one’s allegiance through a handclasp) or wird (drinking the life-giving water/approaching a wellspring), receiving baraka (blessing) or iǧāza (permission), entering into nisba (relation), making ʿahd (covenant), and a devotee (murīd) facing (tawaǧǧuh) in the direction (qibla, as during ṣalāt) of the  guide (muršid) to receive  a spiritual transmission (fayḍ, outpouring or emanation):

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With apologies for any major omissions, this section contains an alphabetized listing of eighteen Ṣūfiyy-related ideal types, rubrics (categories), or spectra and a generous sampling of relevant links. Personal discretion was sometimes a major factor in assigning groups and activities to these types. For instance, while Universal Ṣūfism might well have been placed under Perennialism-Universalism, the decision was made to include it with the Bhakti-Ṣūfiyy Movement instead. (In this case, the intent was, in part, to demonstrate consistency with a related organization, Sufism Reoriented.) Here they are:

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  1. Bahāʾī-Related Mystical Thought (not Ṣūfiyy per se but some Ṣūfiyy terminology in the Bahāʾī texts): Bahāʾ Allāh, al-Bāb, and ʿAbd al-Bahāʾ ʿAbbās, e.g.,

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  2. Bhakti-Ṣūfiyy Movement and its religiously syncretic legacies, including Sikhism, Sant Mat, and additional products of conciliation between Taṣawwuf and other faith systems, e.g.,

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  3. The Fourth Way: George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, e.g.,

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  4. Health and Healing Modalities: e.g.,

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  5. Idealist Metaphysics: e.g.,
    • Ahmsta Kebzeh – Kebzeh Foundation (This group was started by Murat Yagan, author of, The Essence of Sufism in the Light of Kebzeh. According to their Essentialist Church of Christ, "I know that the meaning of the Second Coming of Christ is the elevation of the consciousness of people on the planet to the level of Christhood, so that our world becomes a loving and harmonious Garden of Eden ...." The foundation appears to be objective idealist.)
    • The Diamond Approach (First, there is The Ridhwan School. It was started by Kuwaytī-born A.H. Almaas/Hameed Ali. He wrote, "All cultural and historical influences are content of this mind, of the nature of thought, and hence will dissolve under the scrutinizing eye of inquiry." See this school’s A New Home Campaign. Second, there is Diamond Logos of Kuwaytī-born Faisal Muqaddam. As explained, "Faisal Muqaddam is the co-originator and co-developer of the 'Diamond Approach' to Liberation." The Diamond Approach appears to be objective idealist or nondualist.)
    • The Esoteric Science (Joseph B. Majdalani) They write, "For freedom is a sacred right for every human being, however the extent of that freedom ever depends on his level of consciousness. Because freedom and consciousness are coupled, inseparable, and both unachievable without responsibility. As much as the consciousness expands, the circle of freedom follows."
    • The Dynamic Model of Consciousness (Sufi George wrote, "... we are fundamentally nothing more than our awareness, and ... all of our experience comes to us as frequency wave patterns that travel through us." His approach might be regarded as a type of subjective idealism.)
    • The Holographic Reality (Turkish-born Ahmed Hulusi lives in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. His Ṣūfiyy-influenced monism/objective idealism is similar to New Thought.)

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  6. The Hiḍmat (Service) Movement: Turkish-born Fethullah Gülen lives in the United States (North Carolina), e.g.,

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  7. Hirqa Akbarīyah: mantle or cloak of the Great Šayh, Abū ʾAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn ʾAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArabī al-Hāṭimī al-Ṭāʾī (Ibn ʿArabī), e.g.,

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  8. Mawlawīyah (“Mevlevi”): Mawlānā (Our Master) Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, e.g.,

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  9. Moorish Science and Successor Groups: According to the Moorish Science Academy, "After the manner of the Sufis and mystics of Islam, Noble Drew Ali emphasised that Islam is pre-eminently the religion of peace requiring man only to recognize his duties toward Allah, his Creator and his fellow creatures." See, e.g.,

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  10. Neo-Naqšbandīyah Taṣawwuf: revisions of this school, e.g.,
    • Alef Institute (Alejandro Calleja?) From meta tag: “School of spiritual development heir of esoteric teachings from Egyptian and Hindu Kush monasteries, of the Naqshbandi and Shattari orders, and of all Sufi orders adjusted to the present time”
    • The Neo-Naqšbandīyah of Rām Čandra a.k.a. Lālaji (The appointment of this first Hindū and non-Muslim head of a Naqšbandīyah order has resulted in a variety of non-Islāmic, including Hindū and Christian, and syncretistic expressions of the Naqšbandīyah order.)
    • Rose Sufi Crescent of Andrew Carter? (It is claimed to have been founded by al-Hiḍr in Ancient Egypt. They write: “There are Rose Crescent Sufis in all of the world’s major religions. And there are Rose Crescent Sufis who practice outside of any spiritual community. It all depends on your interests and personality.”)
    • Sekhem/Seichim (Seichem), a synthesis of Ṣūfism and Reiki, was developed by Patrick Zeigler in 1980. (YouTube video 1 and YouTube video 2)
    • Sufi Studies Today (Idries Shah)
    • The Tradition (Arif Ali-Shah, the son of Idries Shah’s brother, Omar Ali-Shah)

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  11. Perennialism-Universalism: including both traditionalist esotericism (René Guénon, Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, Tage Lindbom, et al.) and non-traditionalist perennialism and universalism, e.g.,

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  12. Šaṭṭārīyah: the Rapid Method, e.g.,

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  13. Silat Melayu (Seni Silat Haqq Melayu): a Malaysian Ṣūfiyy martial art, e.g.,

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  14. SUBUD: Bapak Subuh (from Indonesia), e.g.,

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  15. al-Taṣawwuf al-Islāmī (Islāmic Taṣawwuf) – Šīʿah or “Shiah” (party, i.e., of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the first Šīʿah imām and fourth Sunnī halīfah): e.g.,

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  16. al-Taṣawwuf al-Islāmī – Sunnīyah or Sunnī (from sunna, customary practice): e.g.,

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  17. al-Taṣawwuf al-Islāmī – Unaffiliated: e.g.,

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  18. Traditional Islām: Sunnī, often pro-Ṣūfiyy (as opposed to the generally anti-Ṣūfiyy Salafīyah movement), and not to be confused with traditionalist esotericism, e.g.,

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  19. Yazdānī Religions or Yazdānism (term coined by Mihrdad Īzadī for indigenous Kurdish religions)

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    Here is an alphabetized list of relevant societies and periodicals (scholarly, quasi-scholarly, and lay-oriented):

    1. The Foundation for Traditional Studies (membership page and subscription information for Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies)
    2. Heartbeat Magazine (from Sufi Ruhaniat International)
    3. Ibn Arabi Foundation (membership page)
    4. International Association of Sufism (membership page and Sufism Journal subscription page)
    5. The Islamic Studies and Research Association (support page) According to the ISRA, "In 1998 ISRA was revived in a meeting of several community leaders to begin working as an umbrella organization and a popular movement to promote a dynamic vision of Islam based on Islaam, Imaan and Ihsaan (tasawwuf)."
    6. Journal of the History of Sufism (subscription page)
    7. A Journal of Our Time (from Traditional Studies Press)
    8. MTO Sufi Association Newsletter from Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi (MTO) Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufism®
    9. The Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society (membership page and Journals of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society)
    10. Mulla Sadra Philosophy Research Institute (membership page), i.e., Mulla Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Šīrāzī
    11. The Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education (Sufi Illuminations Journal page)
    12. Nuradeen Magazine (free and online)
    13. Regnabit: The One-and-Only Tradition (a free, online traditionalist journal)
    14. Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition and Modernity (subscription page)
    15. The Sound Journal: A Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty (online from Golden Gate Sufi Circle of Sufi Ruhaniat International)
    16. Society for Understanding Mevlana (membership page)
    17. Studies in Comparative Religion (a free, online traditionalist journal)
    18. Sufi – a Journal of Sufism (from The Nimatullahi Sufi Order)
    19. Sufi Psychology Association of the Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi (MTO) Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufism® (membership page and journal, Sufism: The Science of the Soul)
    20. The Treasure: Australia’s Sufi Magazine (from The Almiraj Sufi & Islamic Study Centre)

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    The following alphabetized glossary combines various titles for Ṣūfiyy leaders and followers (and related designations) with some of their social statuses. I have done my best to translate them properly. All terms are, unless otherwise stated, from the Arabic (al-ʿArabīyah). Please note that, in practice, many of the ranks actually have minimal significance. There has been a triumphalistic tendency to attribute the highest positions to one's own leader and to her or his predecessors.

    1. abdāl (singular, bādal): substitutes (the pool of leaders, directly below the quṭb, from whom the next living quṭb is selected)
    2. afandī (plural, afandīlar or, in Arabic, afandīyah): lord or master (frequently anglicized as "effendi"), from Turkish (Türkçe) and, originally, Greek (Ellinká), e.g., used in reference to Šayh Nūr, founder of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi order
    3. ʿālim (plural, ʿūlamā): scholar
    4. amīr (plural, umarā): commander (or prince)
    5. awtād (singular, witd): pegs or pillars (directly under the quṭb)
    6. čalā (plural, čalāān): Persian (Fārsī), Hindī, and Urdū for disciple or, literally, slave/servant (frequently anglicized as "chela")
    7. čirāġ (plural, čirāġān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for guide, director, or, literally, lamp/light (as in the Sufi Order International’s Cherag Library)
    8. darvīš (plural, darvīšān in Persian, Hindī and Urdū and darvīšlar in Turkish) or, in Arabic, darwīš (plural, darāwīš): Persian, Hindī, Urdū, and Turkish for mendicant (frequently anglicized as "dervish")
    9. faqīr (plural, fuqarā): a darwīš often believed to possess miraculous powers (literally, poor one)
    10. ġawt (plural, aġwāt) al-zamān: intercessor of the time (sometimes regarded as a synonym for quṭb and at other times as the higher station occupied by an unknown person operating "behind the scenes")
    11. gurū (plural, guravaḥ) and satgurū (plural, satguravaḥ): Sanskrit (Saṃskṛtam) for, respectively, enlightener and true enlightener (used by the Indian Ṣūfiyy order, Naqshbandiya Mujaddadia Mazahariya)
    12. hādī (plural, hādūn or hudāt): guide
    13. ḥaḍrat (plural, ḥaḍratāt): (in) her or his (divine or honored) presence are my preferred translations of this Arabic word. It is frequently translated as his eminence (see glossary entry) or his holiness (see that glossary entry).
    14. his eminence: an English-language title of respect used for Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim Khushtar
    15. his holiness: an English-language title of respect (a common translation of ḥaḍrat) given, typically, to the head of a religious organization, e.g., Haq Badshah Sarkar, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, and Lasani Sarkar
    16. ḥujjat al-Islām (plural, ḥujjatūn al-Islām): proof of Islām (a designation given to high-ranking individuals, such as al-Ġazālī)
    17. imām (plural, ayimma): pathfinder (the matriarch/patriarch or founder of a ṭarīqa or silsilah/chain of governance)
    18. ʿirfānī (plural, ʿirfānīyah): someone on the path of ʿarif/maʿrifa (mystical knowledge or gnōsis)
    19. halīfah (plural, hulafāʾ): successor (often anglicized as "caliph")
    20. mast (plural mastān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for a God-intoxicated Ṣūfiyy (literally, "intoxicated one" or "drunk"), a term popularized by Meher Baba
    21. mahdūm (plural, mahdūmīn): master (literally, served one)
    22. mawlā (plural, mawālī): interceder, protector, or master (as in Mawlānā Rūmī and Mawlānā Faizani)
    23. muḥib (plural, muḥibīn): lover
    24. muǧaddid (plural, muǧaddidūn): reformer or renewer (the person who appears at the beginning or ending of each century, according to the hijra/emigration or Islāmic calendar, to regenerate Islām)
    25. mullā (plural, mullāān in Persian, Hindī, and Urdū and mullālar in Turkish): Persian, Hindī, Urdū, and Turkish for religious scholar (from the Arabic, mawlā)
    26. muqaddam (plural, muqaddamūn): in some Ṣūfiyy orders, a senior disciple who functions as an under secretary, a provost, or an assistant to the šayh. Muqaddamūn are sometimes given the permission (al-iǧāza) to assist other disciples and to induct new ones into the order.
    27. murīd (plural, murīdūn): devotee
    28. muršid (plural, muršidīn): guide or director (muršida for a female guide)
    29. patriarch: English, from the Greek, patriarchēs, for arch, or most exalted, father (used by The Azeemia Sufi Order)
    30. pīr (plural, pīrān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for elder or, literally, old or aged (of either gender)
    31. qalandar (plural, qalandarān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for a wandering, a mendicant, a disheveled, an independent (i.e., not attached to a particular ṭarīqa and šayh), or an antinomian darwīš and teacher (possible etymology, an uncouth individual)
    32. quṭb (plural, quṭūb or aqṭāb): pole or pivot (globally, the one chief šayh of the time)
    33. rabb al-qalb (plural, arbāb al-qalb): master of the heart
    34. sālik (plural, sālikūn): wayfarer
    35. sant (plural, santān): Sanskrit for realized one (related to sat for truth) or, roughly, gnōstic (as in sant mat, i.e., realized or gnōstic thought)
    36. sarkār (plural, sarkārān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for chief agent
    37. šāgird (plural: Šāgirdān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for pupil, disciple, or apprentice (frequently juxtaposed with ustād)
    38. šayh (plural, šuyūh): elder or, literally, old man (šayha for a female elder or the wife of a šayh)
    39. šayh al-šuyūh: elder of elders
    40. šiṣya (plural, šiṣyaān): Sanskrit for a learner, pupil, disciple, or, literally, one who is taught, i.e., according to Makhanlal Roychoudury’s The Din-i-Ilahi, "In course of a century, the Sufis adopted the Hindu doctrine of ʿGuru-Shishyaʾ (Master and Disciple) with all their technique of worship."
    41. sīdī (plural, asyādī): my lord (used by, for instance, Sīdī Muḥammad al-Jamāl and Sīdī Aḥmad Tidjānī)
    42. ṭālib (plural, ṭālibūn, or, in Persian, Hindī, and Urdū, ṭālibān): student
    43. ustād (plural, ustādān): Persian, Hindī, and Urdū for teacher or expert (frequently juxtaposed with šāgird)
    44. ʿUwaysī (plural, ʿUwaysīyān): a person who receives authorization or authority, within al-ʿālam al-arwāḥ (the world of spirits), from an outwardly unrelated, whether living or deceased, individual, e.g., the Prophet Muḥammad, a šayh, and the legendary al-hiḍr (the green one). These transmissions, also termed ʿUwaysī, are believed to be revealed, typically, through manāmāt (inspired dreams) and ruʾan (visions). The term comes from the reported case of Muḥammad's contemporary, ʿUways al-Qaranī, a man who, though never having physically met the Prophet, took bayʿah (hand of allegiance) from Him in a dream.
    45. walī (plural, awlīyā): friend (i.e., walī Allāh) or, loosely, saint

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    A different type of resource from this one, Sufism’s Many Paths, is maintained by Dr. Alan Godlas, a scholar-practitioner of Taṣawwuf (and of Islām in general) and an Associate Professor in the University of Georgia’s Department of Religion. Godlas, whose Muslim name is ʿAbd al-Haqq (servant/slave of the Truth or the True One), embraced Islām in 1974. He is also listowner of Sufis Without Borders (a Yahoo! Group), editor-in-chief of Sufi News and Sufism World Report, cartoonist for Frogs Without Borders, and an original signatory to A Common Word Between Us and You. (As a side note, although UGA is one of my alma maters, the two of us have never met.)

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    I have an extensive library of Ṣūfiyy related and other resources.

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    The following are additional alphabetized links pages from my ReligionsNet.com website:

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    Copyright © 2010- Mark A. Foster, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

    Allah on Heart