Name: Arosoaie Aida – Mihaela

Couse: BA HINDI and POLITICS

Year: 1

Student reference number: 294563

Assignment:

What role did Sufis play in dispersing Islam in South Asia?

Sufism first arrived in India from the Middle East during the 11 th and the 12th centuries A.D. Sufis mostly

preached Love among all classes and this, together with their overwhelming grace and personality,

spiritual powers and admirable characters that they managed to attract millions of Hindus. By

interpreting the Islamic teachings in a liberal way, either voluntarily or not, they achieved the conversion

of many people to Islam. Pleading for “universal love and brotherhood” and addressing to both lower

castes and upper-castes made them succeeded in bringing masses together, filling the spiritual gap

between them (Encyclopaedia of Sufism, 2003: 14). In order to understand what role did the Sufis play

in spreading the Islam in the Medieval India, a thoroughly comprehension of the significance and

teachings are needed. Over the time the Sufis sought to find and teach the mysticism hidden in the most

occults depths of the meanings of Qur’an, though adding elements gained through the influences of

other cultures or religions, such as Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew, Zoroastrian, Christian and Buddhist

(Encyclopaedia of Sufism, 2003: viii). Along the history there were many Sufis Orders that brought Islam

closer to people, but only four of them, the Chishtiyya, the Qadiriyya, Suhawardiyya and the

Naqshabandiyya, exist in India as Orders of sufficient importance in the context of the spread of Islam.

In Richard Eaton’s book, The Sufis of Bijapur 1300-1700, he states that there were at least three major

agents through the development of the Sufism which the Sufis used to disperse Islam in South Asia. In

this essay I will try to identify the how these agents influenced people and what made them become
adepts of Sufism. Even though many historians assert that the Sufis’ ideology did not aim at converting

as non-Muslim to Islam, there are various arguments that prove in favour of this idea.

Firstly, one of the earlier and most relevant means through which the Sufis gained adepts was the

initiation ceremonies of the Sufis themselves, “known as the bai’at ceremony, by which lay persons

were inducted into a Sufi’s spiritual following” (Eaton 1978: 165). I mentioned earlier that Sufis gave all

individuals the opportunity of adhering to their society regardless of the social class they represented

and this is proven by the diversity of the circles which surrounded the cloisters ( khanaqahs). The

Khalifas, the Murdis and the outer classes were instituted so that people could receive both the learning

and the blessings of the Sufis, by general lessons or individual guidance. These circles were clearly

defined and gravitated around the pir, who had the role of guiding disciples on the path to Sufism.

Concerning the Sufis of Bijapur, which possessed large khanaqahs, they got to have around two or three

circles of devotees around them. The Kaliphas was the smaller circle whose members were given the

opportunity of becoming a pir and the Murdis were disciples directed by the pir to engage themselves in

the study of certain spirituality and other disciplines. The question that arises is why outer circles were

open to individuals of any religious background and the other two closer to the pir confined only to

Muslims, since Sufis preached universal understanding and unity? Thought many historians challenged

the idea of the Sufis being Muslim “missionaries”, it is obvious that despite their acceptance of

“whatever religion” within their outer circles, those that were interested in following the Chisthi path

and becoming “purified” had to become Muslims. There are several poems which certify this assertion,

such as Shajarat al-Atqiya , that of Burhan al-Din Janam or the literature on Shah Hashim Pir ‘Alawi.

Regarding the later, even if it proves that the initiation ceremonies were used for making Muslims, the

Shattari Sufi’s khanaqah was perhaps the only Sufi centre that would allow non-Muslims to enter the

inner circles and integrated women as well, who could eventually become Murdis. This might be
perceived as an explanation for the “female orientated folk Islam” which grew around the dargahs of

Sufis.

Secondly, the institution of the dargahs was another key point in the Islam spreading. The tombs of

canonized saints built by the government, the elites or the Murdis are said to be carrying the blessing of

the Sufi that rests in it. This barakat (blessing) substantially became the greatest attraction of people

towards this sanctified place to such an extent that pirzadas, (the descendants of the buried saint who

were) who were said to have been transmitted the blessing, paid much more attention to this practice

than to the mystical teachings. Just as I mentioned before, women were welcomed to join the circles of

Sufi which made them play a very important role to the development of the Indian Islam. But why did

women become so devoted to dargahs? The answer to this question is deeply related to the

circumstances of that time. For instance, within the Hindu organization, the widows especially were

treated with disdain and were imposed a lot of restriction. Due to the preaching of Sufism on love and

common acceptance and loyalty towards themselves, they found in Sufism the refuge from the

oppression they were dealing with. The barakat was perceived as their only hope of curing all kinds of

grieves related to the social problems and not only. Another important aspect of the barakat is that it

was thought to increase fertility in women, managing to gather even more female adepts also from the

other castes.

Thirdly, the Folk literature had a great impact on the individuals, especially those belonging to rural

areas. The themes approached in this kind of literature were “indigenous and imagery for the

propagation not of complex mystical doctrines, but of a simpler level of Sufi and also of Islamic

precepts” (Eaton 1974: 118). It is fairly believed that these poems were written expressly for women,

since most of the lyrics talked about female love and its expression and made reference to the

important stages in their lives. Another reason why it is believed that women were the prime target of
such literature is the fact that most poems used to be sung by females while performing certain

household duties, such as “grinding the food grain, spinning the thread at the spinning wheel, ground

the juwar into meal and rocked children to sleep” (Eaton 1974: 119). The fact that these poems were

not composed for an intellectual audience, that they were written in the vernacular languages and that

they were suitable for routine works made them easy to remember and repeated on a daily basis. How

did this help the spread of Islam? Since the lyrics were generally speaking about the mighty God (“You

are the maid-servant in your dervish’s house. / Say Allah and the Prophet’s name on every breath ” –

typical closing line of a charkha-nama) and emphasized the spirituality and the importance of the

relationship between the women and the pirs, explaining the arduous devotion of females to the

dargahs. In addition to this, Richard Eaton also remembers the importance of the mother-tongue for

children and links this to the further gradual but efficient spread of the Islamic practices and attitudes all

over the rural areas (Eaton 1974: 172).

In conclusion, although many of the historians regarded Sufism as some kind of religion on its own, I

sincerely believe that they preached Islamic teachings in a more mystical and simplistic manner which

might create the aforementioned confusion. Considering the long history that Sufis made in Medieval

India, I tried to emphasize some of the most crucial agents of their help in spreading the Islam. As a last

remark I would like to draw a parallel between Sufism and Ashoka’s Dhamma. Even though the contexts

are completely different, I think they share a common feature in regards to the means that used to fulfil

their “aims”. They both strategically made use of the soft power principle, either deliberately or not.

Ashoka implemented his dhamma in order to secure all individuals’ welfare and enhance equality

among his subjects, successfully managing to gain people’s trust and to create a governing policy based

on peace. Similarly, the Sufis, through their folk literature and rituals gave every individual the chance to

integrate in their society, preaching Love and common acceptance and understanding achieved the

conversion of many non-Muslim to Islam. All in all, Sufism did play a major role in the dispersing of
Islam in Medieval India by presenting a mystical, esoteric inner and spiritual dimension of Islam, thus

bringing all their teachings closer to the all people regardless of their social status.

Bibliography:

1. Eaton, Richard Maxwell (1978), Princeton University Press, The Sufis of Bijapur 1300-1700;

2. Ernst, W. Carl, Lawrence B. Bruce (2002), Palgrave Macmillan, Sufi Martyrs of Love ;

3. T.W. Arnold (1896), Archibald Constable & Co. , The Preaching of Islam – A History of the

Propagation of Muslim Faith;

4. Eaton, Richard M. "Sufi Folk Literature and the Expansion of Indian Islam." History of

Religions 14, no. 2 (1974): 117-27. Reprinted in Richard M. Eaton. Essays on Islam and Indian

History. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 189-202.

5. Masood Ali Khan, Ram S (2003), Anmol Publications PVT. LTD, Encyclopaedia of SUFISM, Vol. 1