Fakir, faqeer, or faqīr (/fəˈkɪər/; Arabic: فقیر (noun of faqr)), derived from faqr (Arabic: فقر, 'poverty'),[1] is an Islamic term traditionally used for SufiMuslimascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce all relationships, or take vows of poverty, but the adornments of the temporal worldly life are kept in perspective. The connotations of poverty associated with the term relate to their spiritual neediness, not necessarily their physical neediness.[2][3]
The term fakir has taken on a more recent and colloquial usage for an ascetic who renounces worldly possessions, and has even been applied to non-Muslims.[9][10]Fakirs are prevalent in the Middle East and South Asia; they are thought to be self-sufficient and possess only the spiritual need for God.[11] The term is also frequently applied to Hindu ascetics (e.g., sadhus, gurus, swamis, and yogis).[12] These usages developed primarily in the Mughal era in the Indian subcontinent. There is also a distinct clan of faqeers found in North India, descended from communities of fakirs who took up residence at Sufi shrines.
Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, who was the son of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and grandson of Muhammad, is believed to have written a book, Mirat ul-Arfeen, on the topic of tasawwuf, which is said to be the first book on Sufism. However, under Umayyad rule, this book was not allowed to be published and openly discussing tasawwuf, Sufism, or faqr was not allowed. For a long time after Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, information and teachings about faqr, tasawwuf, and Sufism was transferred from person to person.[13]
The attributes of a fakir have been defined by many Muslim scholars.
The early Muslim scholar, Abdul-Qadir Gilani, defined Sufism, tasawwuf and faqr in a conclusive manner. Explaining the attributes of a fakir, he says, "faqir is not who can not do anything and is nothing in his self-being. But faqir has all the commanding powers (gifted from Allah) and his orders can not be revoked."[19][20]
Ibn Arabi explained Sufism, including faqr, in more details. He wrote more than 500 books on the topic. He was the first Muslim scholar to openly introduce (first time openly) the idea of Wahdat al-wujud. His writings are considered a solid source, that defied time.[21][22][23][24]
Another dignified Muslim saint, Sultan Bahoo, describes a fakir as one "who has been entrusted with full authority from Allah (God)". In the same book, Sultan Bahoo says, "Faqir attains eternity by dissolving himself in oneness of Allah. He, when, eliminates himself from other than Allah, his soul reaches to divinity."[25] He says in another book, "faqir has three steps (stages). First step he takes from eternity (without beginning) to this mortal world, second step from this finite world to hereafter and last step he takes from hereafter to manifestation of Allah."[26]
In the Fourth Way teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff, the word fakir is used to denote the specifically physical path of development, as opposed to the words yogi (which Gurdjieff used for a path of mental development) and monk (which he used for the path of emotional development).[27]
^Ebrahim, Alireza (2018). "Faqr". In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). Encyclopaedia Islamica. Translated by Gholami, Rahim. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_036099. ISSN1875-9823. Faqr (literally, 'poverty') is a term denoting different modalities and stages of material, psychological and spiritual want and neediness which a wayfarer on the Sufi path may adopt as a means to progress in earning God's love and compassion and of acquiring purity and mystical knowledge. The term faqr is derived from the Arabic root f-q-r, literally meaning 'to hollow out', 'to perforate', 'to make/become poor', 'to be in need' or 'to be/become needy'. Hence faqr carries a general sense of being in a state of penury or destitution.
^"Faqīr". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^Colby, Frank Moore; Williams, Talcott (1918). The New International Encyclopaedia. Dodd, Mead. p. 343. Retrieved 9 December 2016. Fakir: In general a religious mendicant; more specifically a Hindu marvel worker or priestly juggler, usually peripatetic and indigent.
^A brief history of Islam by Tamara Sonn, 2004, p60
^Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, 2002
^The Sultan of the saints: mystical life and teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī, 2000, p24
^Fusus al-hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom), ed. A. Affifi, Cairo, 1946;trans. R.W.J. Austin, The Bezels of Wisdom, New York: Paulist Press,1980
^al-Futuhat al-makkiyya (The Meccan Illuminations), Cairo, 1911; partial trans. Michel Chodkiewicz et al., Les Illuminations de la Mecque: The Meccan Illuminations, Textes choisis/Selected Texts, Paris: Sindbad,1988.
^The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.1981
^Sufis of Andalusia, London, George Allen & Unwin.1971
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