De Soefiboodschap wordt vandaag de dag, in haar vorm van weldadigheid, heel vaak opgevat als pacifisme en degenen die het idee van pacifisme geen warm hart toedragen verklaren die boodschap als zijnde ‘Vrede tot elke prijs’. Soefisme onderricht dat niet. Soefisme betekent niet goedheid, vriendelijkheid of vroomheid; soefisme betekent wijsheid. Alles in het leven is materiaal voor wijsheid om mee te werken en wijsheid kan niet tot enig principe worden beperkt.
Onder soefi’s hebben zich grote zielen bevonden die koning waren of die zich in de positie bevonden van bedelaar, heilige, werkman, bevelhebber, generaal, zakenman, staatsman of profeet; in alle verschillende beroepen hebben de soefi’s van verschillende leeftijd soefisme beoefend. Dit toont aan dat niemand met de vinger kan wijzen, ‘Dit specifieke geloof of dogma is een soefi-principe’. Er zijn twee dingen, geluid en noten. Noten verwijzen naar de hoogte van het geluid, maar geluid bevindt zich in alle noten, niet in één noot in het bijzonder. Zo is soefisme: het is elk geloof en niet één geloof in het bijzonder.
Er is geen handeling die de soefi goed of fout noemt, want elke handeling kan goed of fout worden; dat hangt af van het gebruik of misbruik van de handeling, van de geschiktheid of ongeschiktheid ervan. Goed of fout hangt af van de houding en de situatie, niet van de handeling. Dit verleent de soefi van nature tolerantie jegens iemand anders en zorgt ervoor dat hij gemakkelijk iemand anders vergeeft en zich met tegenzin een mening vormt over de handeling van iemand. Deze houding maakt dat de soefi zich verre houdt van de uitspraak dat vrede goed is of dat oorlog goed is. De soefi zal zeggen: ‘Oorlog is goed ten tijde van oorlog, vrede is goed ten tijde van vrede’.
*But then you will say that if all things are right in their proper place then Sufism has nothing to do in life. In answer to this I will say that there is one principle mission of Sufism, that is, to dig the ground under which the light of the soul becomes buried. The same is the teaching of Christ, who has said, that no one shall cover his light under a bushel, also, "Raise your light on high." The condition of the world to day is such that humanity has become abnormal in these days. Man is not only frightened at badness, but also at goodness; man does not dread only war, but also peace, man is not only tired of enmity, but also friendship; man does not only suspect his adversary today but even his own brother. It seems as if the mind of the world were not only tired but ill: it seems as if humanity had a nervous breakdown.
Man, individually or collectively, does not know his life's purpose or goal. The Sufi Message warns humanity to know life better and to achieve freedom in life, it warms man to accomplish what he considers good, just and desirable, and before every action, to note its consequences, by studying the situation, by judging his own attitude, by studying beforehand the method which one adopts to act in life. It is true that Sufism does not only guide those who are religious, mystical or visionary, but the Sufi message gives to the world the religion of the day, and that is to make one's life a religion, to turn one's occupation, one's profession into religion, to make one's ideal a religious ideal. Sufism has as its object the uniting of life and religion, which so far seem to have been kept apart.
Think, when, once a week, a person will go to church and all the other days of the week he will devote to his business, how can he benefit by religion? Therefore the teaching of Sufis is to make everyday life into a religion, that every action in life may have some spiritual fruit. The method for world reform which different institutions have adopted today is not the method of the Sufi movement. We think that if ill is contagious, good must be more so. The depth of every soul is good; every soul is searching for good, and by the effort of individuals who wish to do good in the world much can be done, even more than what a materialistic institution can do. No doubt for the general good there are political and commercial problems to be solved and little can be done in that direction before several difficult problems have been solved. But that must not debar individuals from progress, for it is the individualistic progress through the spiritual path which alone can bring about the desired condition in the world.
