Maqaam

Maqaam (also known as maqām) or maqaamat (plural), translating to "stations" in Arabic, is the various stages a Sufi's soul must attain in its search for God. The stations are derived from the most routine considerations a Sufi must deal with on a day-to-day basis and is essentially an embodiment of both mystical knowledge and Islamic law (Sharia). Although the number and order of maqaamat are not universal the majority agree on the following seven: Tawba, Wara', Zuhd, Faqr, Ṣabr, Tawakkul, and Riḍā. Sufis believe that these stations are the grounds of the spiritual life, and they are viewed as a mode through which the most elemental aspects of daily life begin to play a vital role in the overall attainment of oneness with God.

It is within the power of a Sufi to fulfill the obligations pertaining to the specific station, and keeping it until its full precision is comprehended. That is to say, it is only when one stage has been reached that the next stage may be attained. In order to reach a higher maqaam, one must continue to possess the maqaam below it and not become deprived of it. Each of the stations stand related to each other in a hierarchical order, so that even when they are transcended they remain a permanent possession of the one who attained them. Possession of a certain station means not only to experience it outworldly, but to be internally transformed by it and, in a sense, to embody the stage itself.

The first of the maqaamat is Tawba. Al-Ghazali, a prolific Sufi theologian, wrote that Tawba is the repentance of a sin with the promise that it will not be repeated and that the sinner will return to God.Junayd Baghdadi emphasized the return to God by saying this station "is forgetting your fault". This is thought to mean that after realization occurs God will be in constant remembrance and overwhelm the mind.Ibn Arabi, a Sufi mystic and philosopher who had tremendous influence on post 13th century Islamic thought, spent a great deal of time exploring what religious as well as spiritual authorities identified as being the three conditions of human tawba. The first condition is that of remorse for the violations that have been committed. The second is an immediate abandonment of the sin. The final condition is a firm resolve on the part of the sinner to never return to similar acts of disobedience. All of these conditions essentially convey the message that tawba, in its purest form, consists of forgetting one’s sin. Al-Arabi concluded that brooding over ones faults, after the fact, is not only a hindrance in the remembrance of God but also a subtle form of narcissism.

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