Biography of sufi saints in china wikipedia

Sufism emerged early on in Islamic history , partly as a reaction against the expansion of the early Umayyad Caliphate — and mainly under the tutelage of Hasan al-Basri. Although Sufis were opposed to dry legalism, they strictly observed Islamic law and belonged to various schools of Islamic jurisprudence and theology. Sufis also played an important role in spreading Islam through their missionary and educational activities.

Despite a relative decline of Sufi orders in the modern era and attacks from fundamentalist Islamic movements such as Salafism and Wahhabism , Sufism has continued to play an important role in the Islamic world. The Arabic word tasawwuf lit. Many other terms that described particular spiritual qualities and roles were used instead in more practical contexts.

Some modern scholars have used other definitions of Sufism such as "intensification of Islamic faith and practice" [ 14 ] and "process of realizing ethical and spiritual ideals". The term Sufism was originally introduced into European languages in the 18th century by Orientalist scholars, who viewed it mainly as an intellectual doctrine and literary tradition at variance with what they saw as sterile monotheism of Islam.

Sufism in india

It was often mistaken as a universal mysticism in contrast to legalistic orthodox Islam. Sufism has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism ", [ 19 ] [ 20 ] [ 21 ] "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", [ 22 ] "the inward dimension of Islam", [ 23 ] [ 24 ] "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", [ 2 ] [ 25 ] the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, [ 26 ] [ 27 ] and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".

These two explanations were combined by the Sufi al-Rudhabari d. These men and women who sat at the Prophet's Mosque are considered by some to be the first Sufis. The current consensus is that Sufism emerged in the Hejaz , present day Saudi Arabia and that it has existed as a practice of Muslims from the earliest days of Islam, even predating some sectarian divides.

By pledging allegiance to Muhammad, the Sahabah had committed themselves to the service of God. The Hand of God is over their hands.