I found Sufism to be very interesting! I have heard the term before, but since I have limited knowledge on Islam, I always just thought it was a different type of Islam, similar to Sunni and Shia. Upon reading further, I learned that it is not necessarily a type of Islam, but a different “take” or “dimension” of the religion. I particularly liked the fact that they believe that texts are important, but teachers make all the difference when it comes to learning. I think this can be applied to just about any form of learning, such as in a class. I can read the assigned readings all I want, but I feel that I gain a better understanding of the material if I supplement what I read with what a teacher tells me. I like that Sufism focuses on this, because it can provide them a better understanding of the religion and why it is important.
I also thought that it was interesting that they have a particular verse from the Qur’an (Qur’an 51:56) that they use to ground their beliefs. This particular verse reads: “I created the Jinns and humankind only that they may worship me.” I like to think of the relevance of this verse to Sufism and compare it to John 3:16 in Christianity. While there are many verses that are repeatedly quoted in Christianity, I often feel that I could have my entire memory wiped and still know this particular verse. It is so common and almost seems as a sounding point for Christianity as the verse above is for Sufism. I found this interesting, because I never really thought about grounding points for religions, so it is interesting to not only see one that is in a religion that is not my own, but to realize there is one in my own religion as well.