The Origin and Evolution of Sufism

The early Sufis believed that there were two dimensions to the revelations received by the Prophet, words of the Qur’an in their appearance, and the divine inspiration in his heart. This divinely inspired knowledge in the heart, Sufis claim, was gifted to only a chosen few, who contemplated and longedfor nearness with the creator. The early Sufis also laid emphasis on one of the basic tenets of Islam i. e. ihsan. Ihsan is that level of devotion where the devotee is completely absorbed in the worship of God. The ultimate aim of the Sufis is to raise the level of ihsan to experience the presence ofGod. Since the Last Prophet (s. a. w.) was paragon of virtues including ihsan, it was assumed that Sufism or Tasawwuf originatedfrom the Prophet himself. This paper aims to focus on the point of origin of tasawwuf, on the one hand and the need for its revival, on the other.

The Development of a Screening Tool for Differential Diagnosis of Autism and Mental Retardation

Differential diagnosis of autism and intellectual disability (formerly known as mental retardation) is getting more problematic because of the awareness of both autism and MR in recent clinical work. The overlap of symptoms/features of both disorders is one of the major causes of this problem. Using the phenomenological approach, the range of 92 symptoms/features were elicited from parents of 20 children (10 each of autism and ID). They were validated by ten experts (psychiatrists and clinical psychologists) to the degree to which each symptom is diagnostically related to Autism or ID. Sixty-six symptoms were identified as clearly belonging to one category or the other. Using as a base ratings, the scale was administered to 260 children (110 children with ASD and 150 children with ID) through an interview with the mother or the teacher of the child. The factor analysis of 66 symptoms resulted in two distinct factors. In addition, each of those 66 symptoms was tested on Mann Whitney U Test for its significance in differentiating the two disorders. Those symptoms were retained which had high factor loading (0.30 or greater) as well as were found statistically significant in differentiating the two conditions (p< 0.01). This produced two scales i.e. ASD Scale and ID Scale. The sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and concurrent validity were found to be respectable. The results were discussed in terms of cultural implications, improvement in differential diagnosis, and a functional profile of the children that will be useful in developing training programs.