There has been a lot of historic debate about the religious affiliations of Shams-i Tabrizi and Mowlana Jallallud’in Rumi. Much of the conjecture about whether or not Shams-i Tabrizi or Rumi were Shi’a, Sunni, Shafe’i, Hannafi or Ismaili is just that, pure speculation. Shams-i Tabrizi did not belong to any specific denomination or sect, and if he did, nobody really knows; all scholars agree that history is not clear about the life and works of Shams-Tabrizi. The only text ascribed to him, “Maqalaat-e Shams” was compiled by others who attributed certain words to him, and they are not written in stone by Shams-i Tabrizi himself.
I believe Shams-i Tabrizi was a wandering dervish with a very high degree of Gnostic spirituality. Though he had read both Islamic books and Sufi texts, Shams-i Tabrizi never affiliated himself with any particular religion, denomination, creed or sect. All that remains for us, therefore, is the general spirit of his teachings which argued against taking sides or following a certain “fegh” (religious tradition) or “faghih” (religious ruler). Shams-i Tabrizi and Rumi were in a different station in life and a different state of being than those restricted to following a certain religious tradition or “Faghih”, Ayatollah or rule setter, be they Hanafi, Shafe’i, Ghalandari, Ismailii or otherwise. They were unique individuals, masters and saints who had reached such an elevated state of consciousness, and being in non-existence, that they had themselves *become* Love and Truth and could only manifest their essence in loving and serving their One and only Beloved God.
It is inconceivable that none of Shams’s contemporaries who wrote about his life, including Sepah Salar, Sultan Valad and Rumi himself would omit mention of Shams’s religious belief if he had shared one with them. To the contrary, it seems that Shams-i Tabrizi avoided this question whenever asked. He even went as far as belittling the ‘aima’ of the Sunnis :
“Mara ba aiamah cheh kar? Ma khod aimaha-am) Maqalaate Shamsi Tabrizi, 2-22.
“Who are Aimah ? What are we to do with the aimah? We are ourselves aimah “.
Elsewhere, Shams says:
“shaykh chî-st? hastî. murîd chî-st? nêstî. tâ murîd nêst na-shaw-ad, murîd na-bâsh-ad.”
“What’s a shaykh? Being. What’s a disciple? Non-existence. Until a disciple ceases to exist, he is not a disciple. (Maqalaat, p. 739)”
According to most scholars, at the very outset of their relationship, Shams-i Tabrizi asked Mowlana Rumi to burn all religious (Feqhi) books and get rid of all religious and fundamental principles, before setting foot on the “Path of Love”. Let us read Rumi’s verses in Divan-e Shams:
“My hand always used to hold the Koran, but now it holds love’s flagon.
My mouth was filled with glorification, but now it recites only poetry and songs.”
[Divan-e Shams, Furouzanfar, verses 24875-6
Translated by William Chittick, The Sufi path of love.]
Hence, to get involved in such polemics is to fall into the trap of “Gheshriyoun,” undesirable sectarianism, and division, which is at complete cross purposes with the basic teachings and essence of either of these enlightened masters whom, in my opinion, were beyond the “olama” and “a’ime” or masters of “sonnat.” In fact, both Shams-i Tabrizi and Mowlana constantly warned against falling into the snares of religious facade or “zaher” and taught the way of “Ma’na” (meaning) through the medium of Love, by *becoming* such that Love, the Lover and the Beloved become One.
I disagree with any attempt to assign any particular religious affiliations to these great saints who were truly beyond such divisions and stand strongly opposed to it, especially if presented to bolster one’s own religious affiliations, “sonnat” or traditions. To do so would divert us from the true essence of Mowlana or Shams-i Tabrizi and trap us into the same snares and ruses against which Mowlana warned us again and again throughout his Masnavi, and especially demonstrated through the Ghazals. After all, Mowlana admitted that his only religion is the religion of Love and anyone who denies that is, in my view, promoting sectarianism, which diverts attention from Truth, which is only One, in whatever shape, form, denomination, sect or creed it manifests.
Remember God’s reproach to Moses in the story of “Moses and the Shephard”: ‘You have parted my servant from me. Did you come to unite or separate the people from me?’ Therefore, the only worthwhile discussions are those which help unite the people with the Beloved by increasing us in love. Anything else results in severing us from God, and will prove damaging and distracting. So I would hold on to my essential beliefs and refrain from fueling a fire that doesn’t serve “Haq.”
