One of my close friends mentioned the other day, “All of you computer scientists are sufi’s!” Interesting comment, and I understand it was said in jest, but I’d thought I’d ponder over it a bit.

I had a rush of thoughts come to my mind when I heard it, the first was an immediate feeling of embarrassment. That comes about mostly because I hold the title of Sufi pretty high and I am a pretty poor mureed. If I am the example that my friends are taking of the sufi teachings, then all I got to say is that they desperately need more exposure.

The next feeling is that of slight frustration, since I often feel that in discussions with friends the term Sufi is used dismissively. I get the feeling the term is brought up more in-line with “Bah, what’s that crazy Sufi talking about today?” I believe I feel this way because I’m usually not discussing Sufism at the time, as I tend to keep my spiritual practices extremely personal. On the other hand I often am found discussing matters of Islamic history or fiqh, so my first response is “What does Sufism have to do with it?”

The association with Sufi and Sunni fiqh (Madhabs, etc) is an interesting one, and although one is confidently able to say that most of the great fuqaha were Sufi’s of one form or another, the culture of today seems to see a disconnect. A great majority of those unexposed to some form of Sufism associate it with something new-age and without basis in Law, rather than something which is intertwined and inseparable from fiqh. Even if they understand that sufism and the Shariah are inseparable, it seems that many just understand it at the surface level.

This is terribly frustrating for one such as myself trying to get a message across of simple Sunni fiqh and the traditional methodology surrounding fiqh since an instant barrier of cautiousness comes up in the ‘other’ due to the cloud of Sufism.

Although, most probably if I was a better mureed in the first place, I wouldn’t need to indulge myself in conversations such as this in the first place.

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The other topic is one of relationships, since I actually do agree with the initial comment. I find that many people engaged in the technological sciences are attracted to the Sufi sciences. Pondering over that brought me to realize what it is about spirituality that attracts me. Maybe it is the duality present within people.

Spending time solving technological/mind problems daily is one that provides a much needed intellectual satisfaction. So, is this draw to spirituality and cleansing one’s heart of hypocrisy a bipolar-sort of a reaction to a day spent in the tombs of logic?

Yes, I created some exquisite and elegant code (under much stress and fatigue) and the feeling of a job-well-done is quite powerful. But at the end of the day (hour, week, or month) the feeling of achievement leaves and one realizes the meaningless of such things, as it has only succeeded in making one just a slightly bit haughtier, prouder, and more of a show-off. The power of ones mind becomes an expression of his superiority, and this leads one down the dangerous rocky road of a life whose happiness is dependant, in a large part, to the strength of his ego.

So maybe my drive towards spirituality is a reaction/response to that danger. In a way I find it similar to those who absolutely -need- to exercise after a day of sitting in front of a computer or book. No one would consider this exerciser to be an extreme reactionary but simply someone who is trying to -even- his day out or -even- his physical state from the unnatural state he forced it in for most of the day. In fact, when taken as a whole, one might say that the exerciser is simply creating moderation and creating a healthy dynamic.

In exactly the same fashion, I enjoy spending time with mental, physical and even spiritual exercises to even out and create moderation within myself.

And hence we have Mind, Body, and Soul.