Sufis emphasize a personal and direct experience of God, which they believe is possible through disciplined renunciation, humility and love toward God, and a yearning for paradise. Scholars claim that the Qura'an's call for ihsan, or "doing what is beautiful,"" is ritually translated for Sufis into dhikr, honoring God through the methodical repetition of phrases from the Qura'an and through various ways of saying God's name. Ibn al-Arabi, the great theoretician of Sufism, asserted that the ultimate goal of these rituals is "assuming the character traits of God."" By imagining the face of God, a Sufi attempts to "unveil- this image and perceive God's unifying presence in the world and within the self. In this state, a Sufi can mediate between the divine and material worlds, allowing Sufi Sheikhs (masters) to perform magic and miracles.
Sufism's aim is to gain a closer connection to God and higher knowledge. This is gained through communal ceremonies, where trance is widely used. Techniques vary, but they have three things in common: rhythm, repetition and endurance. The actual technique can be utterance of words or phrases, singing and dancing.
Sufism got its content and its rituals inside Islam, but it also picked up elements from older religious practices. Sufism as a tradition has had many theoreticians, but has still been a practice mainly used among ordinary people, and often performed without much consent from the religious elite.
The core of Sufism is to leave the ordinary life, in order to close down the distance to God. And by reducing the distance between man and God, man also gets closer to truth and knowledge. The soul is seen upon as an element that can stretch out from the carnal body, and pass through the divine spheres. Even if few Sufis will claim that they can reach all they way to God, knowledge and insight increases the closer one manages to get. .
• The Sufi Music, an Introduction:.
