Some Features of the Mysterious Invisible World of Sufism

The article is devoted to the reflection of the theme of dreams in Sufi writings, mainly manakibs (Lives of Saints), relating to the Middle-Age Transoxiana. Sufism is the earliest form of the spread of the Islamic faith in the world. Sufism has absorbed both some elements of the Qur'anic teachings, and many popular beliefs associated with the belief in supernatural forces. Sufis are people who dedicated their lives to the knowledge of God through various spiritual practices, one of which is, for example, the interpretation of dreams. In these dreams there are various images that are interpreted as flukes of providence, for example, appearing Saint Khidr (or Khoja Khizr) in a dream, who is considered as absolute authority and patron of the Sufis, and who is the bearer of the moral principle; he supports and guides people on the path of virtue. On the opposite side there is the genies community, which is “hostile” towards the Sufi community. Moreover, many Sufi authorities interpreted their presence in dreams or in reality as “good” or “bad” omens. Constant presence of such theme in Muslim hagiographic writings reflects the complex and specific worldview of Sufism. Some historical and Muslim hagiographic works (manakibs) of the late Medieval Transoxiana became the source base of our work. They contain numerous hagiographic episodes that tell us of such unusual phenomena in the life of Sufis. The subject of this article is the study of the dreaming spiritual practice of the Sufis. The purpose of the research is to study the phenomenon of dreams and its significance in Sufism, to consider the place and meaning of such an important hagiographic character as Khoja Khizra and such creatures as jinn in the Sufi’s worldview. The novelty of this work lies in the introduction of new information contained in the Lives of Muslim Saints of Transoxiana in the 16th century.