Sufism or tasawwuf is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. Another name for a Sufi is Dervish. Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as 'a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God'. Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, 'a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits'. Classical Sufis were characterised by their attachment to dhikr (a practice of repeating the names of God) and asceticism. Sufism gained adherents among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE). Sufis have spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, at first expressed through Arabic, then through Persian, Turkish and a dozen other languages. 'Orders' (á¹­uruq), which are either Sunni or Shia or m