Key Concepts in Aḥmad al-Rifāʿi’s Understanding of Ṣūfism: Humility, Helplessness, Servility, Fragility, Destitute, Poverty

Abstract

Aḥmad al-Rifāʿī (d. 578/1182), who is considered to be one of the “four great poles”, is also a Shāfi‘ī jurist, Ḥadīth scholar, and Qurʾān commentator. It is recorded by researchers that Ahmed er-Rifâî’s understanding of Ṣūfism is in accordance with the principles of the Holy Book Qurʾān and Sunnah. According to Aḥmad al-Rifāʿī, Islam is a whole composed of both the esoteric (bāṭinī) and the exoteric (ẓāhirī). While Ṣūfīsm refers to the esoteric knowledge, ṭarīqa (sūfī order) involves obedience to the exoteric sharīʿa rules thoroughly. According to the Ṣūfī historical and literary sources, Aḥmad al-Rifāʿī was a man of humility. Except a few parables focusing on his miracles, most story collections persistently highlight his virtue of humility. Not only his personal Ṣūfī life is full of anecdotes of humility, but he has also prioritized and elaborated notions such as ‘acz (destitute), faqr (poverty), maskana (helplessness), ẕull (servility) and inkisār (fragility) that underscore different aspects of humility. While most studies on Aḥmad al-Rifāʿī and Rifāʿiyya effectively examined his life, spiritual authority, sociohistorical context, and his legacy on Ṣūfī tradition, they bypassed the details of his humility-centered school of Ṣūfī thought. This article elaborates on his Ṣūfī concepts such as humility (tevāzu), helplessness (maskana), servility (ẕull), fragility (inkisār), destitute (‘acz) and poverty (faqr) which are the key concepts of his understanding of Ṣūfīsm. As such, this article aims to contribute to a better understanding of Aḥmad al-Rifāʿī Ṣūfī thought.

Keywords

• ṣūfism
• ahmad al-rifāʿi
• rifāʿiyya
• humility
• helplessness
• servility
• fragility
• destitute
• poverty