- 'Suf' means garment of coarse wool
- Emerged in Persia as a liberal approach to attain salvation within orthodox in 11th century
- Orders
- Ba-Shara: Followed Islamic Law
- Chisti
- Surhawardi
- Be-Shara: not followed
- Qadiri
- Naqshbandi Silsila
- Features
- Self-discipline or asceticism
- Inner purity
- Service to humanity
- Austerity and distance from worldly power
- Spirit of tolerance
- Mysticism
- Pir-Murid
- Impact
- Architecture
- Kahnqah
- Music
- Sama : musical recitation
- Qawalli :
- Festivals
- Urs : the practice of visiting tomb
- Languages
- Local, Hindi, Persian
- Politics
- Influenced rulers
- Legitimacy of the Islamic empire
- Religion
- Sulah-kul of Akbar
- Helped spread of Islam
- Yoga and meditation
- Personality
- Munidddin Chisti
- Rabia
- Amir Khusro
17.2 Sufism
1. Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind in 711 - first invasion by Muslim in Indian subcontinent, which eventually led to Sultanate and Mughal empire. Muslim rulers were to be guided by ulama who were to ensure shari'a. Shari'a is based on Quran, hadis, qiyas (reasoning by analogy) and ijma (consensus by community). Non muslims paid jizya to be in the category of zimmi (protected). All those who adopted Islam accepted its 5 pillars - there is one god Allah and Muhammad is his messenger (shahada), offering prayers 5 times a day (namaz/salat), giving alms (zakat), fasting during month of Ramzan (sawm/roza) and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
2. Growth of Sufism - group of religious minded people turned to asceticism and mysticism in protest against growing materialism of Caliphate. Regarded Muhammad as a perfect human being. Sufism = tasawwuf. By 11th century, Sufism evolved into a well developed movement. Sufis began to organize communities around khanqas controlled by teaching master - shaikh, pir, mushird - who enrolled disciples murid and appointed successor khalifa.
3. Sufis accepted unsolicited grants and donations from political elites. Charitable trusts (auqafs) and tax free lands (inam).
4. Sufism - liberal movement within Islam. First Sufi saint Shaikh Ismail of Lahore. Most famous was Moinuddin Chisti whose disciples were called Sufis of the Chisti order. Another branch was of Shihabuddin Suhrawadi (and his order, famous Bahauddin Zakariya).
5. Sufism - The sants had much in common with the Sufis, so much so that it is believed that they adopted many ideas of each other. Sufis were Muslim mystics. They rejected outward religiosity and emphasized love and devotion to God and compassion towards all fellow human beings. The Sufis often rejected the elaborate rituals and codes of behavior demanded by Muslim religious scholars. Among the great Sufis of Central Asia were Ghazzali, Rumi and Sadi. Like the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis, the Sufis too believed that the heart can be trained to look at the world in a different way.
6. They developed elaborate methods of training using zikr (chanting of a name or sacred formula), contemplation, sama (singing), raqs (dancing), discussion of parables, breath control, etc. under the guidance of a master or pir. Thus emerged the silsilas, a spiritual genealogy of Sufi teachers, each following a slightly different method (tariqa) of instruction and ritual practice.
7. Silsila literally means a chain, signifying continuous link between master and disciple. When shaikh died, his tomb dargah became center of devotion. Practice of pilgrimage ziyarat to his grave, on his death anniversary or urs. People sought their blessings to attain material and spiritual benefits, evolving the cult of wali (plural auliya). Qawwali is part of ziyarat. Sufis remember god by reciting divine names zikr or sama (literally audition).
8. The Chishti silsila was among the most influential orders. It had a long line of teachers like Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki of Delhi, Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi and Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga.
9.
10. Khojas, a Shia sect, wrote Ginans (devotional hymns) in Khojaki script which was derived from local landa script.
11. Mlechchha - migrant communities which didn't observe norms of caste society.
12. Those mystics who ignored rituals - Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris - were referred to as be-sharia as they defied sharia.
13. Open kitchen run on futuh (unasked for charity). Shaikh Nizamuddin appointed several successors and deputed them to set up hospice in various parts leading to rapid spread of the order. Most famous was Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti (aka Garib Nawaz). Amir Khusrau, disciple and friend of Auliya, introduced qual.
14. Masnavis is long poem written by Rumi
15. Padmavat was composed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, romance of Padmini and Ratansen
16. Poems written in Dakhani (Deccani urdu) sung by women doing household work, lurinama (lullabies) and shadinama (wedding songs).
17. Medieval Bhakti movement was due to influence of Islam and sufi saints, whose ideas such as monotheism, equality and brotherhood of man, rejection of rituals and class divisions shaped the thinking of Bhakti reformers.
18. Love of god meant love of humanity. Lay stress on inner purity rather than external conduct. Self discipline essential to gain knowledge of god by sense of perception. Guidance of pir or guru for spiritual development.
19. These liberal and unorthodox features of Sufism had a profound influence on medieval Bhakti saints. Akbar appreciated Sufi doctrines which shaped his religious outlook and religious policies. When the Sufi movement was becoming popular in India, about the same time the Bhakti cult was gaining strength among the Hindus. The two parallel movements based on the doctrines of love and selfless devotion contributed a great deal to bringing the two communities closer together.
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