Journals / Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Veli Araştırma Dergisi / 2026 / Sayı: 119

FROM SUFFERING TO SURRENDER: SUFI PERSPECTIVES ON ADVERSITY AND RESILIENCE

ACIDAN TESLİMİYETE: TASAVVUFÎ PERSPEKTİFTEN ZORLUK VE DAYANIKLILIK

Cemalnur Sargut(ÜSKÜDAR ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0009-0008-3864-7375
Pages
67–88
Publication Date
2026-09-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

By proposing a more nuanced approach to integrating these teachings, this study offers a critical contribution to current humanities discourse, advocating a respectful, contextually accurate adaptation of Sufi principles into contemporary resilience frameworks without diminishing their sacred nature.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This article critically reexamines the concepts of adversity and resilience within the framework of Sufi thought, situating them against the backdrop of contemporary secular mindfulness practices.
📊
Key Findings & Data:While mindfulness-based approaches typically treat adversity as a stressor to be managed, Sufi teachings view trials as essential opportunities for spiritual transformation, rooted in a metaphysical worldview that perceives all existence as a reflection of divine unity (wahdat al-wujud).
💡
Conclusion & Impact:By proposing a more nuanced approach to integrating these teachings, this study offers a critical contribution to current humanities discourse, advocating a respectful, contextually accurate adaptation of Sufi principles into contemporary resilience frameworks without diminishing their sacred nature.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Bilinçli Farkındalık · Zorluk · Dayanıklılık

Abstract

This article critically reexamines the concepts of adversity and resilience within the framework of Sufi thought, situating them against the backdrop of contemporary secular mindfulness practices. While mindfulness-based approaches typically treat adversity as a stressor to be managed, Sufi teachings view trials as essential opportunities for spiritual transformation, rooted in a metaphysical worldview that perceives all existence as a reflection of divine unity (wahdat al-wujud). This study highlights how attempts to bridge Sufi practices with modern therapeutic frameworks often fail to account for the fundamental cosmological and existential differences between these systems. Through a close reading of classical Sufi texts and an analysis of key concepts—such as divine will, sabr (patience), and tawakkul (trust)—this article identifies how Sufi notions of resilience are deeply interwoven with their understanding of existence, the cosmos, and human anthropology. By proposing a more nuanced approach to integrating these teachings, this study offers a critical contribution to current humanities discourse, advocating a respectful, contextually accurate adaptation of Sufi principles into contemporary resilience frameworks without diminishing their sacred nature.

Özet

Bu makale, imtihan ve zorluk kavramlarını tasavvuf düşüncesi içinde yeniden ele almakta ve bunları çağdaş bilinçli farkındalık yaklaşımlarıyla karşılaştırmaktadır. Modern yaklaşımlar zorlukları çoğu zaman yönetilmesi gereken psikolojik stres hâlleri olarak görürken, tasavvuf geleneği imtihanları ruhsal dönüşümün anlamlı imkânları olarak kavramaktadır. Bu yaklaşım, varlığın ilahî birliğin tezahürü olduğu bir metafizik zemine dayanmaktadır. Çalışma, tasavvuf pratiklerini modern terapötik çerçevelerle ilişkilendirme çabalarının, iki düşünce sisteminin kozmolojik ve varoluşsal temelleri arasındaki farkları çoğu kez yeterince gözetmediğini göstermektedir. Klasik tasavvuf metinlerinin yakın okuması ve ilahî irade, sabır ve tevekkül gibi kavramların tahliliyle, tasavvufta dayanıklılık anlayışının varlık, kozmos ve insan tasavvuruyla iç içe olduğu ortaya konmaktadır. Makale, bu öğretileri çağdaş dayanıklılık tartışmalarıyla ilişkilendirirken daha incelikli bir yaklaşım önermekte; tasavvufî ilkelerin kutsal mahiyetini ve bağlamsal bütünlüğünü koruyarak güncel tartışmalara katkı sunmaktadır.

🔖

Cite This Article

Yalçınkaya, A. E., Sargut, C. (2026). FROM SUFFERING TO SURRENDER: SUFI PERSPECTIVES ON ADVERSITY AND RESILIENCE. Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Veli Araştırma Dergisi, Sayı: 119, 67–88. https://doi.org/10.60163/tkhcbva.1767248

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (75)

  1. Akgün, Özge. “Bela ve Musibetler Karşısında Müslümanın Tavrı”, İnsani ve İslami Değerlerimiz, ed. Nevzat Öztürk. 383-390. İstanbul: Platanus Publishing, 2020.
  2. Al-Abdulrazak, R. M. & van Nieuwerburgh, C. “Emotions and Well-being in the Noble-Qur’an: Happiness and Sadness Content Analysis”. Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology 10/1 (2024): 16-33.
  3. Alwi, Azlin. “Understanding the Concept of Resilience in Islam”, Contextualizing Islam in Psychological Research, eds. Mariam Adawiyah Dzulkifli and Nor Diana Mohd Mahudin. Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press, 2021.
  4. al-Qushayrī, ʿAbu’l-Qasim. Al-Qushayri’s Epistle on Sufism (al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya fī ʿilm al-taṣawwuf). Trans. Alexander D. Knysh. Reading: Garnet Publishing, 2007.
  5. Applebaum, Marc. “Dhikr as Mindfulness: Mediative Remembrance in Sufism”. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 65/2 (2025), 409-430.
  6. Ano, G. G. & Vasconcelles, E. B. “Religious Coping and Psychological Adjustment Distress: A Meta-Analysis”. Journal of Clinical Psychology 61 (2005), 461-480.
  7. Ayten, Ali & Göcen, G. & Sevin, K. et. al., “Dinî Başa Çıkma, Şükür ve Hayat Memnuniyeti İlişkisi”. Din Bilimleri Akademik Araştırma Dergisi, 12/2 (2012), 45-79.
  8. Ayten, Ali & Sağır, Z. “Dindarlık, Dinî Başa Çıkma ve Depresyon İlişkisi”. Marmara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 47 (2014), 5-18.
  9. Bano, Shehar. “Healing the Heart and Mind: Modern Relevance of Sufi to Psychological and Mental Health.” Transaction on Islam, Science, and Society 1/1 (2025), 110-132.
  10. Bardakçı, Mehmet Necmettin. “İlk Dönem Sûfîlerin Tevhid Tecrübesi Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme.” Sufiyye 11 (2021), 255-280.
  11. Başoğlu, Tuncay. “Belâ”. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. 1/446-449. İstanbul: TDV Yayınları, 2019.
  12. Berlin, Chris. When Clouds Cover the Sun: Adversity and Supporting Spiritual Resilience. 2013. [Online Book]
  13. Bluglass, Kerry. Hidden from the Holocaust: Stories of Resilient Children Who Survived and Thrived. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003.
  14. Bolat, Ali. “Muhyiddin İbnü’l-Arabî’de Melâmet Tasavvuru”. Tasavvuf: İlmî ve Akademik Araştırma Dergisi 23 (2009), 457-469.
  15. Bozorgzadeh, S., & Grasser, L. R. “The integration of the Heart-centered Paradigm of Sufi Psychology in Contemporary Psychotherapy Practice”. Psychotherapy, 59/3 (2022), 405–414.
  16. Butler, Lisa D. "Positive changes following adversity”. Research Quarterly 21/3 (2010), 1-8.
  17. Cengiz, Muhammer. “Tasavvufta Belâ ve İmtihan Telakkisi”, Sufiyye 10 (2021), 10-48.
  18. Chittick, William C. The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
  19. Çelik, İsa. “Tasavvuf Terminolojisinde Letâif-i Ruhaniyye”. Marife 9/2 (2009), 83-116.
  20. Çetinkaya, Merve & Billings, Jo. “Systematic Review of The Relationship Between Islamic-Sufi Spirituality And Practice and Mental Well-Being”. Mental Health, Religion & Culture 26/10 (2023), 1065-1080.
  21. Davids, Rhys. A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics: Translation of the First Book Abhidhammapitaka Entitled Dhammasangani: Compendium of States or Phenomena. Delhi: Pali Text Society, 2016.
  22. Demirci, Mehmet. “İçe Dönük Cihad: Mücâhede”. Tasavvuf: İlmî ve Akademik Araştırma Dergisi 8 (2007), 9-21.
  23. Drescher, K. D. & Foy, D. W. “Spirituality and Trauma Treatment: Suggestions for Including Spirituality as a Coping Resource”. National Center for PTSD Clinical Quarterly 5 (1995), 4-5.
  24. Eayaz, Fazeel, Thameem Ushama, and Hafiz Muhammad Sharif. “Islamic Spiritual Practices and Mental Health: A Neurotheological Approach to Sufism”. Rooh-e-Tahqeeq 3/ 4 (2025), 29-40.
  25. El-Hakîm, Suad. İbnü’l Arabî Sözlüğü. Trans. Ekrem Demirli. İstanbul: Kabalcı, 2005.
  26. Heck, L. Paul. “The Concept of Emotions in Islam.” The Concept of Emotions in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ed. Catharina Racnik and Georges Tamer. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2026.
  27. Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Iskandarī. The Book of Wisdom (Kitāb al-Ḥikam). Translated by Victor Danner. New York: Paulist Press, 1984.
  28. al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn. Translated by Fazlul Karim. Lahore: Islamic Book Service, 1995.
  29. Gethin, Rupert. “On Some Definitions of Mindfulness”. Contemporary Buddhism 12/1 (2011), 263–279.
  30. Gooch, Alex. “Mindfulness as a Secular Spirituality,” After Mindfulness: New Perspectives on Psychology and Meditation, ed. Manu Bazzano. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
  31. Gumiandari, Septi & Madjid, Abdullah & Ilman, Nafia et. al. “Islamic Resilience as Spiritual and Psychological Coping Strategies,” Afkar Special Issue on COVID-19 (2022), 313-348.
  32. Kara, Necati. “Kur’ân ve Sünnet’te Belâ-Musibet”. EKEV Akademi Dergisi 1/3 (1998), 33-58.
  33. Kara, Elif. “Rıza Kavramının Pozitif Psikoloji Açısından İncelenmesi”. Dini Araştırmalar 24/61 (2021), 571-593.
  34. Kausar, Rukhsana, and Abida Parveen. “Islamic Mysticism and Modern Psychology: A Dialogue”. Al-Awan 1/2 (2024), 12-22.
  35. Khan, Saeed Ahmed. “Islamic Spirituality in Secular Contexts: Bridging Gaps or Creating Them?” Journal of Religion and Health 54/3 (2015), 1041–1054.
  36. Shaw, Sarah. “Has Secularism Become a Religion? Some Observations on Pali Buddhism’s Movement to the International Stage”, Secularizing Buddhism: New Perspectives on a Dynamic Tradition, ed. Richard Payne. 24-41. Boulder: Shambala, 2021.
  37. Smith, B.J., Wardatun. “A. Domestic Violence and Islamic Spirituality in Lombok, Indonesia: Women’s Use of Sufi Approaches to Suffering”. Cont Islam 16 (2022), 427–447.
  38. Sulaiman, Suzana. "Human Emotion in Adversity: A Quranic Discourse Coherence Analysis”. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 10/7 (2020), 330-353.
  39. Herrman, Helen, Donna E. Stewart, Natalia Diaz-Granados, Elena L. Berger, Beth Jackson, and Tracy Yuen. “What is resilience?” The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 56/5 (2011), 258-265.
  40. Howard-Snyder, Daniel & Daniel J. McKaughan. “Faith and Resilience.” International Journal of Philosophy of Religion 91 (2022), 205-241.
  41. al-Hujwīrī, ʿAlī ibn ʿUthmān. Kashf al-Maḥjūb: The Oldest Persian Treatise on Sufism. Translated by Reynold A. Nicholson. Middlesex: Gibb Memorial Trust, 2000.
  42. Thomas, Justin & Steven W. Furber & Ian Grey, “The Rise of Mindfulness and Its Resonance with the Islamic Tradition”, Mental Health, Religion & Culture 20/10 (2017), 973-985.
  43. Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks, 2005.
  44. Kam, Ferit. İbn Arabî’de Varlık Düşüncesi. İstanbul: İnsan Yayınları, 1992.
  45. Kara, Necati. “Kur’ân ve Sünette Belâ ve Musibet”. EKEV Akademi Dergisi 1/3 (1998), 33-58.
  46. Kent, Black Victor & Cowden, Richard G. & Counter, Victor et. al. “Do Religious/Spiritual Resources Moderate the Association Between Suffering and Religious/Spiritual Struggles? A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study of US Adults with Chronic Illness”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 61/3-4 (2022), 642-662.
  47. Knysh, Alexander. Sufism: A New History of Islamic Mysticism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017.
  48. Kuşeyrî, Abdülkerim. Tasavvuf İlmine Dair: Kuşeyrî Risalesi. İstanbul: İlk Harf Yayınevi, 2013.
  49. Lory, Pierre. “Macrocosm and Microcosm in Sufi Thought.” Handbook of Sufi Studies Vol. 2. Eds. Christian Lange and Alexander Knysh. 234-249. Leiden: Brill, 2023.
  50. Muhammad, Allan. “Healing Through the Heart: The Role of Sufism in Overcoming Trauma and Loss of Identity among Young People”. Transaction on Islam, Science, and Society 1/1 (2025), 18-25.
  51. Müftüoğlu, Mehmet. “Kur’ân-ı Kerîm’e Göre Bela ve Musibetler Karşısında İnsanın Durumu ve Manevi Değerlerin Önemi”. Rumeli İslâm Araştırmaları Dergisi 3/5 (2020), 8-27.
  52. Nasrin, Muhammadu Ibrahim. “The Influence of Islamic Spiritual Values on Student’ Mental Health: A Special Focus on Tawakkul (توكُّل), Sabr (صبر) and Shukr(شكر)”. Journal of Islamic and Education Studies 4/2 (2025), 260-272.
  53. Samad, Nik Roskiman Abdul. “The Spiritual Insights of Divine Wisdom in Adversity: A Translation with Introduction and Commentary of al-ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām’s al-Fitan wa al-Balāyā wa al-Miḥan wa al-Razāyā”. TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World 18/2 (2025), 75-98.
  54. Sözer, Selim. “Against the modern world: A different Ontological, Ethical, Epistemological and Esthetical Overview on Sufism and Sects”. Journal of Modern Education Review 5/3 (2015), 321.
  55. es-Sülemî, Ebû Abdurrahman. Tasavvufa Giriş (İstanbul: İlk Harf Yayınevi, 2013).
  56. Şeker, Mehmet Yavuz. “Sûfîlerin Aklî Tevhidden, Zevkî Tevhide Geçiş Sürecindeki Yaklaşımları”. Route: Educational and Social Science Journal 3/2 (2016), 31-44.
  57. Wilcox, Lynn. “Spirituality in Therapy: Using the Traditional Framework in Mindfulness Practices”. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 8/2-3 (2005), 75–92.
  58. Paloutzian, F. Raymon & Park, L. Park. “Recent Progress and Core Issues in the Science of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality”, Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, eds. Raymond F. Paloutzian and Crystal L. Park. 18-38. New York: The Guilford Press, 2013.
  59. Peters, F. E. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. New York: State University of New York Press, 1994.
  60. Purser, Ronald. McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality. London: Repeater Books, 2019.
  61. Reynolds, Gabriel Said & Moghadam, Amir. “Repentance in the Quran, Hadith, and Ibn Qudāma’s Kitāb al-Tawwābīn”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 141 (2021), 381-401.
  62. Ridgeon, Lloyd. “A Sufi Perspective of Evil”. Iran: Journal of the British Institute for Persian Studies 36 (1998), 113-122.
  63. Rifâî, Ken’ân. Sohbetler, İstanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyâtı, 2009.
  64. Rogerson, Barnaby. Prophet Muhammad: A Biography. New Jersey: Hidden Spring, 2003.
  65. Fontana, A. & Rosenheck, R. “Trauma, Change in Strength of Religious Faith, and Mental Health Service Use Among Veterans Treated for PTSD”. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 192 (2004), 579-584.
  66. et-Tirmizî. Kütüb-i Sitte: Câmi‘u’t-Tirmizî Tercümesi. Ed. Bilmen, Ömer Nasuhi, ed. Vol. 9–10. İstanbul: Bahar Yayınları, 2024.
  67. Uludağ, Süleyman. “Afiyet”. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. 1/412. İstanbul: TDV Yayınları, 1992.
  68. Uludağ, Süleyman. “Bela”. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. 5/380. İstanbul: TDV Yayınları, 1992.
  69. Uludağ, Süleyman. “Sülûk.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. 38/127-128. İstanbul: TDV Yayınları, 2010.
  70. Uludağ, Süleyman. “Rızâ.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. 35/56-57. İstanbul: TDV Yayınları, 2008.
  71. Vanistendael, Stefan. “Humour et Résilience: le Sourire Qui Fait Vivre,” La Résilience: le Réalisme de L’espérance. Paris: Fondation pour l'enfance, 2005.
  72. Yıldırım, Ali. “Mevlânâ’nın Vahdet Anlayışı ve Paradoksal Söylemi”. Erdem 50 (2008), 223-232.
  73. Zulki, Ahmad, Rizal Darwis, and Abdillah Abdillah. “Implementation of Sufi Psychology Toward Moral Disorientation In The Era of Disruption From The Quran Perspective”. Farabi 20/1 (2023), 24-44.
  74. Hadiths Tirmidhi, “Zuhd”, 96 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Marḍā, 5641. Muslim, Kitāb al-Birr, 2572. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book of Tawḥīd (Kitāb al-Tawḥīd), ḥadīth no. 7404
  75. Vanistendael, Stefan. “Humour et Résilience: le Sourire Qui Fait Vivre,” La Résilience: le Réalisme de L’espérance. Paris: Fondation pour l'enfance, 2005.