International Society for Iranian Studies

Freedom from the Self: Sufism, Meditation, and Psychotherapy by Mohammad Shafii Review by: William C. Chittick Iranian Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2/3 (1989), pp. 145-148 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310678 . Accessed: 22/08/2013 20:46
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Reviews 145

These very minor shortcomings in no way diminish the value of this book, which is the rarestof academic accomplishments: eruditescholarshipthatis also a work of art. H.E. Chehabi Harvard University

Freedom from the Self: Sufism, Meditation, and Psychotherapy, Mohammad Shafii, New York: Human Sciences Press,
1985, 261 pp. The author received his M.D. from the University of Tehran and is presently professor of psychiatry at the University of Louisville. The book sets out to compare and contrast "humandevelopment and integrationin Sufism" (defined simply as "Islamic mysticism") with "the concepts of human development and maturity in Western psychologies, particularly psychoanalysis and ego psychology" (p. I1). The first chaptercompares the "Sufi"view of personality structurewith that of ego psychology and the second the role of the spiritual guide (pir) with that of the therapist. The middle three chapters investigate meditation--largelyon the basis of psychophysiological studies of practitioners of TM, Zen, yoga, and "Sufism"--and the Sufi concept of fana', which is translated as "freedom from the self." Chapter Six claims that the first three stages of the Sufi path correspond to the three stages of ego psychology. Having satisfied himself that he has shown "amazing similarities between Sufism and ego psychology," the author turns in the last chapter to describing four furtherstages in Sufism which have no parallelsin modem psychology. He hopes to show that, "If there are so many similarities in the earlier stages of personality integration, perhaps there arc comparable higher stages not yet identifiedin Westernpsychologies"(p. 207). Any contribution this book may make to scholarship lies in the field of psychology, where the author demonstrates that there is much to be learned through the study of Sufi material. The contribution to Iranian and Islamic studies is minimal. Readersof this journal who open the book had best abandon their sensitivity toward such matters as accurate portrayal of the sources, awareness of cultural and religious contexts, precise definitions of terminology, and wild reductionism. Books of this sort (one thinks also of A. Reza Arastch)raise an importantissue: How can Sufism be presented to modern psychology in a mannerthat does not turn it into anotherexuberant,fluffy, love-cures-all, self-realizationmovement? Can one remain faithful to the texts and teachings of Sufism as preserved and taughtin traditionalcircles and at the same time present them in a mannerthat

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146 Reviews will meet the standards of contemporary scholarship? Enough solid and intelligent contemporary studiesof Sufismexist to show thatthereis no reason in principlewhy this cannot be done. Iraniansin particular have a great who have dealt potentialcontribution to makein this area,but those Iranians with Sufism and psychology are for the most part cut off from their own whohavea thorough intellectual roots. Whatis neededis scholars knowledge of of Islamicphilosophy, the still-livingtradition whichis intimately intertwined with theoreticalSufism. They could clarify the intellectualand cultural in relation of Islamic to thoseof Western underpinnings psychology psychology to the investigation of the philosophical andeven contribute presuppositions of in modern psychology (muchas S.H. Nasrhasdonefor scienceandphilosophy general). with rootsin the East,clings to Shafii,like manyothercontemporary authors Sufism'ssupposed"anti-intellectualism", ignoringthe fact thatthis grew up anddirectvision becauseof its stresson supra-rational knowledge, illumination, of the spiritual world(ishraq,kashf,shuhuid, dhawq). It is certainly possiblcto criticize the "rational mind"in the contextof Sufism,but how can one also throwout intelligence? Sufis like Rumiwho downgrade reason('aql) in the nameof love do not criticizeintelligence, butrather the limitations of common sense and rationalprocesses. In all its classical forms Sufism is another manifestation of that Islamicethos which Rosenthalhas called "knowledge is it is no accident thatone of its mostcommonnamesin Persian triumphant";
'irfan.

Partly because of his unfamiliarity withthe visionary andintellectual universe of Sufism,Shafii constantly emphasizesthe emotiveand affectivesides of Sufi experience,which are precisely those sides that are disparaged by the Sufi masters themselves.Anyonewho participates in Sufidhikrin orderto achieve an "intensive emotionalexperience" (p. 68) is hardlyworthyto be a novice. Like otherWestern studiesthatinterpret Sufismlargelyin termsof emotions, Shafiiemploysthe extremely modeof Western rational academics. He is not disturbed--nor is he evenaware--that this modehappens to be aliento traditional Islamic intellectuality, which is on intimateterms with faith and piety. In short,the mindsof authors suchas Shafiihavebeen so thoroughly moldedby the horizontal universe of modemsciencethattheyare totallycut off fromthe verticaldimensionwith which Sufism concernsitself and are barredfrom grasping the existenceof any formof knowledge otherthanthe rational.They can find no way out of the scientificconceptionof knowledgeotherthana rationalistic reaction thatholdup "love" rationalism against as its standard. Misunderstandings of basicIslamic andSuficoncepts abound, butspacepermits no more than a few allusions here. In general the author has no real in Islam. of the hierarchical understanding structure of theuniverse as perceived Evenwherehe triesto come to termswithit, as forexamplein the lastchapter wherehe drawsan interesting correlation betweensevenstagesof the nafs and seven stationsof maqamon the Sufi path, his view is totallyshapedby the of scientism; steam-roller thesevenstagesbecome different slicesof thepancake

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Reviews 147 of the secular mind, all in the mode of id, ego, and superego. In spite of a vague awareness that there is also a dimension of "transcendence",ignorance of cosmology and theology prevents this from having any real significance to the study. Problems in later chaptersare prefiguredin the first, where the authordiscusses "personality structure" in "Sufism", basing himself on a superficial interpretation (made without reference to the numerousstudies on the topic) of the psychology of the philosopher Avicenna. Here we are told that the Sufis referred to the "unconscious"as baiin, with only a minimal attempt to justify this statement. The author is oblivious to the deep resonance of the term batin in Islamic thought or the fact that it can never be understoodin isolation from zdhir. He does not have the slightest idea that the bctin/zdhirdyad corresponds to several other similar dyads (e.g., ghayb/shahddah, ma'ndls,rah, 'aqllhiss), and that each of these dyads tells us something about the extremely complex nature of the so-called 'unconscious' of Muslims. This constantly displayed insensitivity to two profoundly different world views is almost unbelievable. Several other examples could be mentioned where the author employs Sufi terminology with no awareness of the original context (e.g., 'forgetfulness' [ghaflat], pp. 52 ff.). It is as if the technical terms of Sufism are merely cogs in a machine that can be lifted out and placed in the machine of Western psychology to make it function a bit more smoothly. One of the author's favorite expressions is "similarto", but he never tells us why a certain tenuous formal similarity should have any relationship to a similarity in meaning (he would have done well to meditateupon the dyad ma'nia/lsrah). The author often displays his conviction that Sufism has much to offer to modem psychology. Sometimes, however, he comes up with sentences like, "In the past, the Sufi pirs, the Yoga gurus, and the Zen masters did not have the psychological or psychoanalytical sophistication of the present time" (p. 133). If this means that these people did not have the tools of statisticalanalysis, fine, no one can argue. But the clear implication is that the pre-modems were not nearly as well versed in the nature of the human psyche as we are, so their psychotherapywas primitive and inept. Yet these pirs, gurus, and Zen masters were people who shaped civilizations, producedsome of the most beautiful and enduring pieces of world literatureand art, taught hundreds and thousands of disciples how to live in harmonywith their communities and the naturalworld, and will continue to exercise their influence long after all the books of the Freuds and the Pavlovs have been recycled. So if the author means, as he appears to, that these people did not understandthe human soul, nothing could be more absurd. Moreover, for all their "sophistication", the modems have not been able to produce a psychotherapythat produces any results. As the author admits in another context, "A number of studies show that it does not matter what type of therapy one applies, whether psychoanalysis exploratory psychotherapy,behavior therapy,or faith-healing [!]: the outcome is about the same"(p. 77). If it is "unsophisticated" to say, along with the Prophet, "I seek refuge in God from a knowledge which has no use", then all the pirs and gurus

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148 Reviews were certainlyunsophisticated. William C. Chittick, State University of New York at Stony Brook

A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection, GlennD. Lowry,with SusanNemazee. 240 pp., 76 color plates, b&w illus. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever

Collection,GlennD. Lowryand Milo ClevelandBeach with Roya Marefat

M. Thackston. M. Sackler andWheeler 448 pp.,456 b&willus.Arthur Gallery and Universityof Washington Press, Washington, D.C. and Seattle, 1989, 2 volumeset, $125.00 Thecollectionof Islamicworksof arton paper amassed by theParisian jeweler Henri Vever disappearedin 1942 when Vever died. Its recent dramatic reappearance and acquisitionby Washington's SacklerMuseumhave been chronicled by a Smithsonian with Institution televisiondocumentary. Working unprecedented dispatch, Dr. GlennLowry,the Sackler's curator of Islamicart, andhis colleaguesprepared A Jeweler'sEye, in orderto bringa an exhibition, selectionof theVevermaterial beforethepublic. Thecatalogue of immediately the exhibition itself would be a remarkable achievementgiven the time constraints upontheauthors.The simultaneous to publication of whatamounts a preliminary scholarly catalogue of the entirecollection,farmorethana mere checklist, hasprovided scholars witha basicresearch toolof immense value,and atteststo the Sackler's broadsense of its own wide rangeof responsibilities as custodian of this remarkable collection. To be sure,few museums todayhave eitherthecuratorial, logistical, or financial resources to complete sucha massive projectin sucha shortspanof time,butthe achievement of thesetwo volumes to the generalandto the scholarly attestsaboveall to a sense of responsibility publicthatis to be highlycommended. Manyof the Veverobjectswerepublished by variousauthors in the firstfour decades of this century. The eight miniatures from the great Shah-ndmeh completed around 1335at Tabriz havelongbeenknownto scholars, andtogether with the six examplesalreadyin the Freer,they providea concentration of material without parallel anywhere.Otherwell-known worksof artcreatedin IranandIndiahadlongbeenthought lost,andtheirreappearance provides a new impetus for scholars acrossthe worldtoward thestudyof the Islamicartsof the book. The exhibition, beautifully and elegantly mounted in the Sackler, was complemented by the catalogue,with its color reproductions, biographical

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