Part 2

Religion is a reality.  There is only one Religion, but man has divided the one Religion into many different religions and branches of the same religion.  Sufism teaches that each Prophet symbolizes a particular stage of this Reality and of the way of cognition. The teachings of the Prophet s present the reality of one Religion through the stages of liberation of the soul.

The final stage, unity, is manifested in Islam. The doctrine of unity is the essence of Islam. This is when the drop of water loses its boundaries, its limited identity, and submits to oneness with the ocean.  The word Islam means submission (Taslim) to the absolute reality, to God. It is only in this total surrender to the true knowledge that boundaries are shattered, and with the ecstasy of divine love, the true seeker can reach the Truth and witness God within the sanctuary of his heart. The Holy Prophet of Islam symbolizes the very last stage of religion. He brings the Message that God must be witnessed, and that God must be known. Without witnessing and submitting to the Truth, cognition is not complete.

Abraham signifies the true faith through submission to absolute knowledge and revelation. That is why the Holy Qur’an refers to Abraham as the one who truly submitted to God:

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لله وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ واتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَاتَّخَذَ اللّهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلاً

Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, does good, and follows the way of Abraham the true in Faith?
For Allah did take Abraham for a friend. (4:125)

مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (Which is Islam), and he joined not gods with Allah. (3:67)

The discovery of the reality of religion is the discovery of the innermost dimension of our own being, from which the divine attributes flow.  Such discovery and cognition, requires devotion, discipline, and precise training which Sufism provides. This is the reality that the Prophets cognized. Sufism is the way of the Prophets. It is a method through which the Prophets attained the cognition of God, and their true self.