Sufi, Sufism – The mystical school within Islam, which focuses on the spirit while the Sharia, Islamic law, focuses on the law. This is similar to the contrast between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. In 1900, the vast majority of Muslims understood Islam as mediated to them, directly or indirectly, by Sufi sheikhs and traditional Islamic scholars who accepted Sufism as the inner, spiritual dimension at the heart of Islam. Subsequent reformist movements within Sunni Islam often contended that Sufi practices are not inherently Islamic and are reprehensible innovations in the tradition. The Arabic term for Sufism is Tasawwuf, but the term Sufism can be used as it is widely known and used in English.
