چکیده:
The present essay challenges the probable notion that 'Sufism is a product of poverty and the result of the deprivation of the lower classes of society.' Evidence indicating the shortcomings and, in some cases, the falsehood of such a notion is abundant. According to many historical sources and biographical accounts, elites such as Ibrahim Adham, Shibli, Ala al-Dawla Simnani, Dara Shikoh, Ghazali, Shams Tabrizi, Rumi, and others turned to Sufism while they themselves enjoyed financial wealth, scientific status, or high government positions. If this reality is accepted and taken as a given, the next challenge will relate to the motivations of the elites for adhering to Sufism. The present research has been conducted by referring to Sufi literature and also by utilizing the famous psychological views of thinkers such as Jung, Adler, and Maslow and adapting them to the states of spirituality-oriented elites; its findings indicate that the inefficiency of rational sciences in discovering truth, the attempt to find peace of heart, the quest for meaning, self-actualization, soothing the sorrow of alienation, self-control, servitude, frustration with material factors in human happiness, true dreams, and insights have played a very effective role in the pursuit of spirituality and the adherence of elites to Sufism.
خلاصه ماشینی:
According to many historical and biographical sources, elites such as Ibrahim Adham, Shibli, Ala al-Dawla al-Samnani, Dara Shikoh, Ghazali, Shams Tabrizi, Rumi, and others turned to Sufism while they themselves enjoyed financial wealth, scientific status, or high government positions.
Its findings suggest that the inadequacy of rational sciences in discovering truth, the effort to find peace of heart, spiritual ascension, self-actualization, soothing the sorrow of estrangement, self-control, servitude, disappointment with material factors in human happiness, true dreams, and insights have played very effective roles in the pursuit of spirituality and the elite's conversion to Sufism.
Also, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (450-505 AH), Sheikh Ala al-Dawla Samanani (659-736 AH), Sa'd al-Din Hamuyeh (587-650 AH), Ibn Khafif Shirazi (died 331 AH), and many other so-called "elites," despite enjoying worldly, material, and scientific prestige in their era and habitat, turned to Sufism as a representative of Islamic spirituality.
2. Examination and Analysis If we accept that Sufism, as a religious, cultural, and social movement, does not exclusively root in individual and social deprivations, it is necessary to ask: "Then what were the main motivations for the attention of the wealthy and the elite to Sufism?" We know that a group of factors are entirely personal, and these individuals, the so-called elite, fall from a personality standpoint into the category of individuals "having a sick soul"2, according to William James, who have many concerns and are predisposed to changing their way of life (James, 2002: 103).
(
, 
, 
)
