Kutb (Sufism)

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This article is about a Sufi term. For other uses, see Qutb, a disambiguation page.

Kutb or Qutub (Arabic قطب) is a Muslim Sufi word for a Perfect Master or true teacher, sometimes saint. In Arabic it literally means "pivot, hub, or axis." The Qutub is the shaykh who provides a focus for spiritual teachings. ^[1] Other terms include Pir and Sarkar.

According to the Institute of Ismaili Studies (Ismaili is a branch of the Shīˤa sect of Islam), "In mystical literature, such as the writings of al–Tirmidhi, Abd al–Razzaq and Ibn al–‘Arabi (d. 1240), (Qutub or Qutb) refers to the most perfect human being (al–insan al–kamil) who is thought to be the universal leader of all saints, to mediate between the divine and the human and whose presence is deemed necessary for the existence of the world." ^[2]

The term "Qutub" was used by Meher Baba in reference to the five Perfect Masters: Sai Baba of Shirdi, Upasni Maharaj, Hazrat Babajan, Hazrat Tajuddin Baba and Gajanan Maharaj.

The sate of a Qutub is called qutubiyat. ^[3]

In Sufism the kutb (or qutb) is seen as the chief center of spiritual influence and the most pre-eminent of Allah's saints on earth. Every 200 years the kutb changes, and there may only be one kutb at a time. Each kutb influences knowledge according to the times and is the pillar of the faith upon earth, the axis of the faith.

According to other beliefs; "no one knows whether the Kutb are one man, or two men, or four men; they have the supervision of all the saints alive on earth, and are more powerful than kings, though they look like ordinary men. They are often seen yet almost never recognized, and they travel over the earth, mildly reproving the impious and hypocritical."

Each kutb is said to have three assistants who are called kutb ul-aktab, or scribes.

Kutb is also the term used in the ceremony of the dancing dervish. At the end of their ceremony a reciter, the shaikh moves to the centre of the dancers' cirkle, also the centre of the hall, which is called the kutb.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ahmed, Nazeer. Islam in Global History: From the Death of Prophet Muhammed to the First World War, Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 0-7388-5966-4
2. ^ A glossary of terms, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
3. ^ God Speaks, Meher Baba, Dodd Meade, 1955, 2nd Ed. p.315