Rumi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Rumi - Essay Example Rumi’s influence is to be counted on religion in general as Rumi’s mysticism can be applied to the notion of God and human soul in most of the religions of the world. The mystic tradition itself does not adhere to any particular institutional and formal features of a religious system. Though mystic traditions differs from each other based on various features of the notion of God and the relationship of human beings with God, these traditions are stitched together with the thread of spirituality of human being. In the same manner, Rumi also defies the materialistic and the traditional institutional approach of Islam and stresses on the fact that the ascendance to God is only possible through spirituality and devotion to God. In this regard Rumi’s Sufism often resembles to Dante and Whitman. In the mystic tradition of Islam Rumi’s concept of love is the most influential aspect that tends to validate Sufism as an essential part of Islamic theology, in Chittick’s view the Sufi concept of love is to be characterized as ‘gnosis’ in other words, â€Å"wisdom made up of knowledge and sanctity† (Chittick 18). Rumi asserts that man is essentially a theomorphic being, â€Å"a being created in the image of God and therefore as possessing the three basic qualities of intelligence, free-will and speech† (Chittick 7). Here the intelligence of a human being reveals the existence of God before him and free-will enables to take the initiatives to be united with God. Finally Speech provides a man with the means to bridge the illusory gap between man and God. In Rumi’s Sufi doctrine, human speech that serves as the means towards the intimacy of God appears in the form of prayer or invocation. A man can transcend himself to a state -where he feels the presence of God as a real being- though spiritual realization. â€Å"Therefore attainment of metaphysical knowledge† as Chittick says in