Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Sufi Movement
The Sufis consider God to be the most beautiful and it is believed that one should admire it, feel happy in the memory of him and focus only on him. They believed that God is "Mashook" and Sufis are "Aashiq".
Part of Sufism?
Sufism divided itself into various 'silsils' or sequences. The four most popular classes are the Chishti, Suharawardis, Qadiriyah and Naqshbandi.
What is Sufism?
Sufism represents the inner or esoteric side of Islam or the mysterious dimension of Muslim religion. Whereas, the Sufi saints transcended all religious and community distinctions and worked to promote the cause of humanity on the vast. The Sufi saints were a class of philosophers who remained notable for their religious ideology.
Contribution of Sufism
The most important contribution of Sufism is that it helped in eradicating the distinction of Hindu-Muslim prejudices by developing its sense of love and created a sense of brotherhood between these two religious communities.
Facts of Sufi Movement
- Sufism began in Khorasan (Central Asia) between the 2nd and 8th centuries of the Hijri era.
- Sufism entered India in the 11th century with the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni.
- Under Sufism, the Chishti and Suhrawardi lines took root in India.
- The Chishti tradition was started by Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, who came to India with Muhammad Ghori in 1192 AD.
- Ajmer was the main center of the Chishti tradition and Nizamuddin Auliya, Baba Farid, Bakhtiyar Kaki and Sheikh Burhanuddin Garib were other prominent saints of this tradition.
- The compositions of Baba Farid have been included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
- Shaikh Burhanuddin Garib started the Chishti sect in South India and made Daulatabad his main centre.
- Sheikh Shihabuddin Umar Suhrawardy propounded the Suhrawardi Silsila.
- However, from 1265 AD, the credit for the conduct of Suhrawardi Silsila is largely attributed to Shaikh Bahauddin Zakaria. They made their main centers in Sindh and Multan.
- Other saints of Suhrawardy Silsila are Jalaluddin Tabriji, Syed Rukh Josh and Burhan etc.
- State patronage was acceptable to Suhrawardy Silsila.
- The Sattari Silsila was founded by Sheikh Abdullah Sattari. Its main center was Bihar.
- The Qadiri Silsila in India was founded by Muhammad Ghaus, while its original originator was Sayyid Abul Qadir al-Jilani.
- Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi (a contemporary of Akbar), a disciple of Khwaja Baqi Billah, propagated the Naqshbandi silsila in India while its original founder was Khwaja Obaidullah.
- The Firdausi branch of Suhrawardy Silsila flourished in Bihar, whose greatest saint was Sarfaddin Maneri.
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