Sufi philosophy includes the schools of thought unique to
Sufism, a mystical branch within
Islam, also termed as
Tasawwuf or
Faqr according to its adherents. Sufism and its
philosophical traditions may be associated with both
Sunni Islam and
Shia Islam. It has been suggested that Sufi thought emerged from the
Middle East in the eighth century, but adherents are now found around the world. According to
Sufism, it is a part of the Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of inner self and is the way which removes all the veils between divine and man. It was around 1000
CE that early Sufi literature, in the form of manuals, treatises, discourses and poetry, became the source of Sufi thinking and meditations. Sufi philosophy, like all other major philosophical traditions, has several sub-branches including
metaphysics and
cosmology as well as several unique concepts.