Murid
In Sufism, a murīd (Arabic: مُرِيد, literally "one who seeks") is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by sulūk (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title murshid, pir or shaykh. A sālik or Sufi follower only becomes a murīd when he makes a pledge (bayʿah) to a murshid. The equivalent Persian term is shāgird.[1]
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The initiation process of a murīd is known as ʿahd (Arabic: عَهْد) or bai'ath. Before initiation, a murid is instructed by his guide, who must first accept the initiate as his or her disciple. Throughout the instruction period, the murīd typically experiences visions and dreams during personal spiritual exercises. These visions are interpreted by the murshid. A common practice among the early Sufi orders, was to grant a khirqa or a robe to the murīd upon the initiation or after he had progressed through a series of increasingly difficult and significant tasks on the path of mystical development. This practice is not very common now. Murīds often receive books of instruction from murshids and often accompany itinerant murshids on their wanderings.[2]
See also
References
- "Murīd", in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. 7 (Brill, 1993), pp. 608–9.
- John Esposito, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press, 2003