THE ROLE AND PROSPECTS OF SUFISM IN INTER-CIVILIZATIONS DIALOGUE: ROGER GARAUDY AS MODEL
Sufism, in its essence, delineates the intricate relationship between humanity and the divine, entailing acts of worship, ethical comportment, and adherence to the divine injunctions. It is, at its core, a spiritual introspective voyage, a quest to unravel metaphysical and moral truths. Islamic Sufismunveils profound prospects within the realm of inter-civilizations dialogue. It stands as a multifaceted dimension of Islamic spirituality and belief, plumbing the depths of monotheism while striving to harmonize human volition with the divine decree. Within the tapestry of Sufism, life, in all its multifarious dimensions, finds convergence within the unity of the Divine. Islamic Sufism furnishes solutions to a panoply of universal human quandaries. Simultaneously, it lays the groundwork for understanding the other, transcending the boundaries of ethnicity, gender, or creed. It constitutes the bedrock upon which robust inter-civilization dialogues can be founded. Within its embrace, individuals liberate themselves from the parochialism of isolation, heralding an era of security, and enabling the edifice of individual and collective human stability, thus facilitating the construction of a holistic global order. Roger Garaudyposits that Sufism emerges as a profound ontological framework, liberating individuals from a gamut of determinative and constraining forces that often impede the individual's trajectory towards God. Through the prism of Sufism, one transcends the confines of idolatry, casting off the shackles of unbridled desires, and in the process, attaining an acute recognition of the omnipotence of God. Sufism amalgamates introspection with praxis, striving to attain equilibrium and concord among diverse peoples and civilizations, all while honoring the distinctiveness and fundamental tenets of each. This fusion ultimately furnishes the scaffolding for a common terrain, one that champions coexistence, intellectual and cultural exchange, whilst rejecting all manifestations of parochialism and violence, and thus serving as the crucible for the dissemination of global peace and security. This odyssey commences with the discerning and enlightened self, one that is endowed with the discernment of truths
Keywords: Islamic Sufism, Inter-civilization Dialogue, Liberation, Consciousness, Islamic Faith, Monotheism.