Authors

• Mohammad Mashhadi Noosh Abadi ¹
• Hakime Behjat ²

¹ Associate Professor for Religion and Philosophy, University of Kashan (mmn5135@kashanu.ac).

² M.A. in Religions and Mysticism, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University.

Abstract

The reflection of the lessons and the influence of the Sufis’ thought of the eight to tenth centuries, which is the period of the formation of Sufism, is one of the important issues that has been addressed statistically and analytically in this article. As a result of an examination of the Sufi textbooks compiled in the tenth to thirteenth centuries, twenty-five prominent Sufis of the eight to tenth centuries, whose speeches had a higher frequency in these books, have been identified. The main teaching of the great Sufis of the eighth century such as Hasan Basri, Sufyan Thuri, Ibrahim Adham, Abdullah Mubarak, Rabi‘a  ‘Adavieh, Ma‘ruf Karkhi and Abu Sulaymān Darāni, are moral virtues, asceticism and austerity within the framework of religious commands, but the subject of the teachings of the ninth century mystics (i.e. Bayazid Bastāmi , Zu al-Nun Misri, Abu Sa‘id Kharrāz, Sahl Tustari, Abulhusayn Nuri, Husayn Mansur Hallāj, Sirri Saqati, Abu Turab Nakhshabi, Yahya Maa‘āz Rāzi, Abu Uthmān Hiri and Ibrahim Khawās) are knowledge, samā ‘, solitude, astonishment and annihilation, which were generally introduced for the first time in this century and has led Sufism from a moral and ascetic behavior to an epistemological school based on practical behavior and innovative customs; As most of the topics of this century are related to monotheism, knowledge and then love and trust. However the fourth-century Sufism with such Sufis as Abu Bakr Wasiti, Abu Ali Rudbāri, Abu Bakr Shibili and Abu Abdullah Khafif is strongly influenced by the teachings of the Sufism of the previous two centuries and seems to have nothing new. In general, the most important topics of the Sufism of the eight to tenth centuries are asceticism and knowledge. The issues of monotheism, love, morality, trust and poverty are next. Among these Sufis, Junaid Baghdadi has been the most influential and is at the forefront of many issues. After him are Sahl Tustari and Shibili, respectively. The other four prominent figures are Zu al-Nun Misri, Abu al-Hassan Nuri, Abu Sa‘id Kharrāz, and Bayazid Bastāmi.

Keywords

• Keywords: The most Influential Sufis
• Sufism of the Eight to Tenth Centuries A.H
• Sufi textbooks
• the Most Important Mystical Subjects