About | Reflections

SUFISM

Professor Said was a man of deep faith. He embraced aspects of many faiths and believed there are numerous paths that lead to the top of the same mountain. In his early 40s, he adopted the practice of Sufism which strongly influenced his personal and professional conduct and activities for the rest of his life. Dr. Said’s faith was a source of the many exceptional qualities ascribed to him by colleagues and students, friends and acquaintances, and spiritual seekers. While Sufism is formally defined as the mystical expression of the Islamic faith, Said had his own interpretation: Sufism is not a religion or a specific doctrine; it simply underscores the purification of one’s inner self as the path to peace. Said believed all people possess the qualities of the Divine and can access and actualize them through prayer and meditation:

Once we change our conscious beliefs and the unconscious symbols, ideas, and abstractions that hold our world in place, our inner experience and outer engagement are transformed. This process of transformation shifts our perception and experience of the universe and ourselves. We see reality as a whole. We start learning again, because we’re seeing each moment with fresh eyes, responding to new situations in new ways. We integrate reason, feeling, sensing, and intuition. We experience ourselves as spiritual beings. Our consciousness expands in a fundamental sense. We grow in sensitivity to self, others, nature, and the Divine.

There is no question that Sufism not only guided Said’s personal life, but also shaped the direction and focus of his academic work. As he embarked on his own spiritual journey, Said’s scholarship moved increasingly towards human rights, cooperative global politics, and nonviolent conflict resolution. This shift was ultimately a driving force of the introduction of the role of spirituality into the international relations field.

Selected Writings

Meditation: Trees and Connectedness | Abdul Aziz Said | December 2012

Inspirations from Sufism | Abdul Aziz Said | 1970s – 2000s

Sufi Models of Spirituality | Abdul Aziz Said | American University, October 2009

Sufi Prescriptions for World Politics: A Way to Global Community | Abdul Aziz Said and Nathan C. Funk | “The Shakir World Encounters”, September 2004

Tawhid: The Sufi Tradition of Unity | Abdul Aziz Said | Creation, Vol. 4, No. 4, September/October 1988

Toward Global Community: Sufism and World Order | Abdul Aziz Said and Nathan C. Funk | Religious Studies and Theology, London: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2010