Sufis and their services in spreading Islam

1. SUFIS IN SUB-CONTINENT

2. Tasawwuf
• It is a knowledge through which purity of
souls/behaviour is done.
• 1- Derived from word “soof” a cloth.
• 2- Derived from word “suffa” which means to
purify.
• Hazrat Abu Zar, Tamim Dari are those
companions of Prophet Muhammad SAWW
who were inclined towards TASAWWUF.
• Abu Hashim was first sufi in Muslim history.

3. Orders
• Chishtiyyah
(Abu Ishaque Shami)
• Suhrwardiyyah
(Zia-ud-din Najib Suharwardi)
• Naqshbandiyyah
(Khuwaja al-Baqi Billah)
• Qadiriyyah
(Abdul Qadir Jilani)

4. Chishtiyyah
• The Chishtiyya order emerged from Central Asia and Persia.
• The first saint was Abu Ishaq Shami establishing the Chishti
order in Chisht-i-Sharif within Afghanistan.
• Khwaja Moiuddin Chishti was originally from Sistan (eastern
Iran, southwest Afghanistan) and grew up as a well traveled
scholar to Central Asia, Middle East, and South Asia.
• The Chishti order formed khanqah to reach the local
communities, thus helping Islam spread with charity work.
Islam in India grew with the efforts of dervishes, not with
violent bloodshed or forced conversion.
• Until this day, both Muslims and non-Muslims visit the
famous tomb of Moinuddin Chishti; it has become even a
popular tourist and pilgrimage destination.

5. Suhrwardiyyah
• The founder of this order was Abdul-Wahir Abu Najib as-
Suhrawardi (d. 1168). He was actually a disciple of Ahmad
Ghazali, who is also the younger brother of Abu Hamid
Ghazali.
• The teachings of Ahmad Ghazali led to the formation of this
order.
• This order was prominent in medieval Iran prior to Persian
migrations into India during the Mongol Invasion.
Consequently, it was Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi’s nephew that
helped bring the Suhrawardiyyah to mainstream awareness.
• This helped spread the Sufi teachings of the Suhrawardiyya.
• From teaching in Baghdad to diplomacy between the Ayyubid
rulers in Egypt and Syria, Abu Hafs was a politically involved
Sufi leader.

6. Naqshbandiyyah
• The origin of this order can be traced back to Khwaja Ya‘qub
Yusuf al-Hamadani (d. 1390), who lived in Central Asia.
• It was later organized by Baha’uddin Naqshband (b. 1318–
1389) of Tajik and Turkic background.
• Khwaja Muhammad al-Baqi Billah (d. 1603) introduced the
Naqshbandiyyah to India.
• This order was particularly popular Mughal elites due to
ancestral links to the founder, Khawja al-Hamadani Babur,
the founder of the Mughal dynasty in 1526, was already
initiated in the Naqshbandi order prior to conquering India.
• This royal affiliation gave considerable impetus to the order.

7. Qadiriyyah
• The Qadiriyyah order was founded by Abdul-Qadir Gilani who was originally from
Iran (d. 1166).
• It is popular among the Muslims of South India.
• The Qadiriyya flourished, surviving the Mongolian conquest of Baghdad in 1258,
and remained an influential Sunni institution. After the fall of the 'Abbasid
caliphate the legend of Jilani was further spread by a text entitled The Joy of the
Secrets in Abdul-Qadir's Mysterious Deeds (Bahjat al-asrar fi ba'd manaqib 'Abd al-
Qadir) attributed to Nur al-Din 'Ali al-Shattanufi, who depicted Jilani is the ultimate
channel of divine grace and helped the Qadiri order to spread far beyond the
region of Baghdad.
• Khwaja Abdul Alla, a shaikh of the Qadiriyya and a descendant of Muhammed, is
reported to have entered China in 1674 and traveled the country preaching until
his death in 1689.One of Abdul Alla's students, Qi Jingyi Hilal al-Din, is said to have
permanently rooted Qadiri Sufism in China.