Adab - a cultivated, cultured way of life.

The Adab culture thrived at the court.

The court, as we know, was at the head of the Islamic society. The
central strength of the court was not only on account of military
power, but it also drew sustenance from cultural
hopes of the people. The court knew the importance of cultural power,
for this power would enable it to draw support from the people it
ruled in adverse times. So,the Ullama was not so important. The other
stakeholders like bureaucrats, officers, landowners, and merchants
who desired a stable society and good aesthetic and cultured living,
were key figures

the Adab culture patterns also went through many changes overtime.
Older patterns gave way to newer ones and by the beginning of the 9
century these patter weren coalescing into a single classical shape that
was welcomed as the new way throughout the Muslim world .The
adib was a man of many skills. Literary skills- both spoken and
written had the pride of place. Adab wasn't just for scholars and poets;
it was a part of everyday life for people across medieval Arabia. From
the markets to the mosques, people observed certain etiquette and
manners in their interactions with others. Adab was a way of a
particular class of men of court. Adab was also embraced
enthusiastically by the merchant class and other

cultured people.

In the marketplace, traders greeted customers with a smile and treated

them with respect. Haggling was common, but it was done with
courtesy and fairness. Even in times of disagreement, people strove to
maintain their composure and uphold the principles of Adab

In the mosques, worshippers practiced humility and reverence during

prayer. They listened attentively to the teachings of the imam and
treated each other with kindness and respect. The mosque was not just
a place of worship but also a community center where people came
together to discuss matters of importance and seek guidance from
religious scholars
Main component of adab was Arabic l literature, especially poetry.
Control over the Mudari Arabic language, facility with speaking and
writing were essential for an adib to master. He should also know
about history, geography in fact anything and everything of interest,
in
short, he must be a well-informed man. A pious adib should also
know Shariah very well as well as country rules and etiquettes.
Historical and anecdotal writing, essays on natural history and other
subjects were all topics
an adib could write on and speak.

Al Baladhuri (d. 892) wrote a seminal work on how history

should be studied. Ali Al-Masudi (d. 956) wrote in a more anecdotal

style giving information
in interesting tid bids. In geography Al Istakhri (d. 951) wrote
extensively on description
the Muslim world- this he based on his travels. Different writing
styles emerged in different
places in the Muslim world.
So, we see literature as the most important part ofadab. But in adab
the pride of place was given to poetry or Shairy. Poetry was recited in
melodious tunes in front of an audience.In
Arabic there were specific rules relating to how it was to be written.
Poetry had been handed
down orally for generations. It is linked to even pre- Islamic Arabia.
In fact, it is accepted that
Imru-al Qais the pagan poet is the greatest of Arab poets, this was
admitted by the Prophet
himself. His diwan was put together and verified by the court
grammarian Al- Asmai (d 831)
There were other literary traditions like the Shu’ubiyyah (the
encouragement of the non
people). But it was short lived.
Guides for adibs were compiled later. By the time of Al- rashid, the
sun of old Arabian poetry
was setting- it was time for a variety of new idioms. New critics like
Ibn- Qutaybah were
much admired. A certain system of critical standards was also put in
place.
Tammam (d c 845) were good at meeting these critical standards with
executional talent and
skill.
Al Mutanabbi is another example of a greatly talented poet. The
Arabic prose was also
greatly enjoyed. The prose writing adib must include a great deal of
proverbs and tales in his
prose pieces. A great example of simple but interesting prose was the
writings of Amr-al
Jahiz (767-868). His writings were full of anecdotes. He also excelled
in the tradition of Saj
writing of rhymed prose. Verbal arts were accorded a high pedestal in
décor was also a part of adab. The court had great monetary resources
for building exquisite
structures of great-scale, pottery, cloth weaving and jewellery making.
In fact, all these arts
came together along with verbal arts to weave a cohesive, elaborate,
and elegant way of life
called adab.

o Sufism, an ascetic and mystical Islamic tradition, began in the 7th

century CE that focuses on the spiritual search for God and shuns
materialism.
It was an answer to the growing need for finding individual salvation.
Sufis wore coarse woollen robes (‘suf’) in Arabic, advocated a way of
life markedly different from the way shown by Islamic theory or
philosophy . Sufis’ way of Muslim religious life was based on
companionship and recitation of the Quran collectively, sitting in the
presence of Saints. Their preferred way to live was to live in
communities at places known as Khanqahs’. By the early 10th
century,
Sufi tradition transform into a well-defined religious movement.
Sufism moulded the concept of God and the power of Saints to work
miracles. The Saints were considered especially close to God,a wali
or an awliya, thus bestowed with special powers and capable of
producing miracles. Thus, Sufism started to appeal more and more to
the public at large and continued to consolidate in the centuries to
come. But this tradition always had a difficult relationship with
followers of the Islamic theory or philosophy of law in the Islamic religious
communities. The ulemas and even the court denounced the Sufis
because of Islamic doctrines as well as because of certain Sufi
practices. Although Sufis themselves believed that their ideas
originated from the early Muslims and the Quran itself.
Influence of the Quran on the Sufi principles like asceticism cannot be
publicly announce . The Sufi tradition can be seen to go back within
the Muslim community (the ummah) in the first two centuries. It is
quite possible that the movement was influenced by the pre -islamic
traditions also. It developed over a period taking ideas and practices
from other eastern religious traditions. The very word ‘Sufi’ is
derived from Arabic ‘suf’ a garment worn by Nestorian monks; a
practice adopted by Sufis.
Buddhist and Hindu influences are also possible especially in the
doctrine of ‘fana’ in Sufi mysticism which talks about obliteration of
self. Followers of Islamic jurisprudence have always had trouble with
the Sufi tradition as they feel it goes against the tenets of the Quran.
But many western scholars have found merit in the Sufi’s stated
position that Islamic mysticism (Sufism) originated from the Quran
itself.

Scholars like Louis Massignon have opined that the recitation of the
Quran and meditations upon the Quran led to the Islamic mysticism.
Thus, the message of the Quran and Sufism are not inconsistent with
each other. The Sufis believe in reciting God's many names-it is a
central practice of Islamic mystesism or Sufism.
Sufis’ way of finding religious fulfilment was different from the way
of theologians. Theologians were concerned with distilling rules
which God had decreed to govern everday life whereas the Sufis
attempted to get an individual and direct experiences of God. They
became interested in finding out ways and means to experience God
which was considered to be unattainable by theologians. They
persevered to bring about a unity with the sublime (extreme)reality.
Their chosen way to find this was piety(deep respect for god ) and
asceticism. enunciation of the material world, vows of poverty and
isolation, avoidance of sin became their favourite instruments to
achieve their goal. Science and contemplation were greatly favoured
too.

Hasan al Basri (d728) is a great example of advocating and following

asceticism and renunciation (zuhr). He also sought to explain the
concept of contentment or rida to his followers, teaching them to
accept the will of God and to live in contentment.

Although Sufis like Qatil ibn Sulayman (d. 767) devised

interpretations of the Quran to understand its deeper spiritual
meaning, later mystics no longer interpreted the Quran for spiritual
meaning but arrived at their own way to find stages of the spiritual
experience.
Shaqiq al Balkhi was one of the earliest Sufis to talk about four
stages: Zuhd(renunciation), fear of God, intense desire for paradise
and yearning for God. Each stage could be achieved
partly by individual effort and partly by allah’s grace . Each stage
was called a maqam.
Later,some Sufis elaborated the stages to seven and even more.
However, a few stages came to be the cornerstone of Sufism -Sabr
(patience), Shukr(gratitude), Tawwakkul (trust in God). Tawwakkul
especially as it meant total surrender to God and to his will. Rida or
contentment was another stage considered to be important. It
meant acceptance of what God decreed for us and finding
contentment in it. Love of God implied complete surrender and a
yearning to be with the divine one.

By the 9th century the Sufi movement was going into two distinct
inclinations. There was
still no cohesive organisation or school yet. The Khurasanian
inclination laid emphasis on
tawwakkul, rida, taking vows of poverty and giving up work. This
inclination was a marked departure from Qur’anic commandments
and also the normal way of Muslim religious activities. Abu Yazid al
Bistami (d. 873) was the main proponent of the Khurasanian
inclination. He stressed upon obliteration of self and merging self
with the divine names.
The other inclination was the Baghdadi inclination which emphasised
on asceticism and giving up of the material things along with
enhancing virtues like patience (sabr),(tawwakkul), gratitude (rida)
and love of
observance of Quranic injunctions and following the Islamic
jurisprudence. The Baghdadi
inclination was for these reasons closer to the ordinary Muslim
religious practices. Al Harith al Muhasibi (d. 857) and Al Junayd (d.
911) were proponents of this inclination and their efforts were mainly
attempted towards integrating Sufism with the ordinary Islamic
religious life.
By the 9th century, despite these differences, Sufis arrived at
articulation of spiritual ascent combining the Qur’anic inscriptions
and the actual lived experience of seekers through ages.
The Sufis’ practical way of spiritual and moral advancement included
intellectual effort. A
well-grounded philosophical concept of the divine reality, the reality
of this material world
and the place of humans in this world created by God thus took shape.
There was also a unique aspect central to Sufism. An individual who
had achieved realization of God by his efforts and God's grace was a
bit more than mere human . There was a manifestation of God in his
being and he was thus an interlocutor between man and God.
This mystic was endowed with magical powers. He could heal, could
work miracles and was
considered a support on which the universe rested. Al Tirmidhi’s
doctrine of sainthood
came to be accepted everywhere in the Muslim world. This was the
pinnacle of the Sufi
movement which had begun in the 7th century as an individual search
for personal salvation.