Adab d) in Ṣūfism - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Ohlander, Erik S.
Leiden
Brill
(2,073 words)
Adab in Ṣūfism includes the exposition, delimitation, and interpretation of rules and norms pertaining to individual conduct, social etiquette, and spiritual comportment. It represents a perennial theme in Ṣūfī literature, its significance being well captured in an oft-quoted aphorism attributed to the early Malāmatī master ofNīshāpūr, Abū Ḥafṣ al-Ḥaddād (d. c. 265/878-9), "the whole of Ṣūfīsm is proper manners: for every mystical moment (waqt) there is a manner, and for every mystical stage (maqām) a manner" (al-Sulamī, Ṭabaqāt al-ṣūfiyya , ed. Muṣṭafa ʿAbd al-Qādir