Sufism
Diverse Islamic traditions of spiritual practice, ethics, devotion, and interior understanding.
Foundation editorial draft · Updated 2026-10-18
A question to carry
How is the human relationship with God cultivated within Islamic life, learning, and practice?
Sufism includes many orders, authors, devotional practices, and theological positions. Ibn Arabi is one demanding intellectual doorway, not a stand-in for the tradition as a whole.
Words you will meet
- Dhikr
- Remembrance of God; forms and permissions vary among communities.
- Tajalli
- Divine self-disclosure, an important term in Ibn Arabi’s vocabulary.
- Wahdat al-wujud
- Unity of being, a contested label associated with interpretations of Ibn Arabi; it should not be reduced to pantheism.
A distinction worth keeping
Treat Sufism as part of Islamic traditions, not as a generic technique detached from Qur’an, prophetic practice, and communities.