Sufism in Medieval India: Doctrine, Practice, and Syncretism

Sufism may be best described as Islamic mysticism or asceticism, which through belief and practice helps Muslims attain nearness to Allah by way of direct personal experience of God.¹ While there are other suggested origins of the term Sufi, the word is largely believed to stem from the Arabic word suf, which refers to the wool that was traditionally worn by mystics and ascetics.² Belief in pursuing a path that leads to closeness with God, ultimately through encountering the divine in the hereafter, is a fundamental component of Islamic belief. However, in Sufi thought this proximity can be realised in this life. This paper examines the core doctrines and practices of Sufism, its metaphysical foundations, and its particular development in medieval India, where it produced a unique synthesis of Islamic mysticism with local religious traditions.

The Structure of Sufi Orders

Sufi orders, known as Tariqas, are found throughout the Muslim world, with each order taking on its own distinct identity based on its practices and structure, and often reflecting the cultural and linguistic context in which it is set.³ While structures vary greatly between different Sufi orders, the basic components are that of the murshid, the spiritual guide, and the murid, a follower who pledges allegiance (bayah) to the murshid.⁴ These spiritual guides derive their authority and legitimacy from a chain of successive tutelage and instruction, the silsilah, which through continuous generations may reach back to a prominent saint or mystic and eventually to the Prophet Muhammad himself.⁵ The role of the murshid is to act as a facilitator to the murid, instructing them on how to experience the divine.

Several key terms define the Sufi spiritual path. Sharia (Islamic law) represents the external path, while tariqa (the Sufi path) is the intermediate spiritual journey. Beyond these lie haqiqa (truth), the inner reality, and marifa (gnosis), which is direct experiential knowledge of God.⁶ The ultimate goals of the Sufi journey include fana (annihilation of the ego) and baqa (subsistence in God).⁷ Sufis further believe in a hidden hierarchy of saints, headed by the Qutb (pole or axis), who is understood to spiritually sustain the world.⁸

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Sufi Practices: Dhikr, Sama, and Ritual

A central component of Sufi worship is the rite of dhikr, which involves constant, meditative remembrance of God, done both communally and individually, geared towards cultivating greater connection with the divine.⁹ The concept of dhikr is rooted in the Quran as an instruction to all Muslims to devote time towards specific acts of remembrance and repetition of the names of Allah, praying supplementary prayers, and can be extended to other activities that contribute towards achieving an experiential connection with the divine.¹⁰ Other practices or rituals that Sufis engage in, which vary from order to order, include prayers and fasting, the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (Mawlid), the visitation of, and performance of rituals at shrines and graves, meditation, and abstinence.¹¹

Some Sufi orders use devotional music (sama) and ritual movements, akin to dance, to further enhance the experiential nearness to God they are seeking.¹² This practice is most commonly associated today with the Mevlevi Sufi order’s Dervishes of Turkey, often referred to as the ‘Whirling Dervishes.’¹³ In South Asia, sama evolved into qawwali, a devotional music form popularized by the Chishti order and its celebrated disciple, the poet-musician Amir Khusrau (d. 1325).¹⁴

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Sufi Metaphysics: Wahdat al-Wujud and Wahdat ash-Shuhud

Sufi metaphysics is centred on the concept of waḥdah (unity) or tawhid (oneness of God). Two main Sufi philosophies prevail on this topic. Waḥdat al-wujūd literally means “the Unity of Existence” or “the Unity of Being.” Wujūd (existence, presence) here refers to God.¹⁵ This doctrine posits a non-dual state where the illusion of separation between observer and observed is resolved, and it coincides in certain respects with the Indian philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.¹⁶ On the other hand, waḥdat ash-shuhūd, meaning “Apparentism” or “Monotheism of Witness,” holds that God and his creation are entirely separate, with any experience of unity being purely subjective.¹⁷

The Sufi saint most characterized in discussing the ideology of Sufi metaphysics in deepest details is Ibn Arabi (d. 1240). He employs the term wujud to refer to God as the Necessary Being. He also attributes the term to everything other than God, but insists that wujud does not belong to the things found in the cosmos in any real sense. Rather, the things borrow wujud from God, much as the earth borrows light from the sun.¹⁸ From the perspective of tanzih (transcendence), Ibn Arabi declares that wujud belongs to God alone, and in his famous phrase, the things “have never smelt a whiff of wujud.”¹⁹ From the point of view of tashbih (similarity), he affirms that all things are wujud‘s self-disclosure (tajalli) or self-manifestation (zohur). In sum, all things are “He/not He” (huwa/la huwa), which is to say that they are both God and not God, both wujud and not wujud.²⁰ In his book Fusus al-Hikam, Ibn Arabi states that “wujūd is the unknowable and inaccessible ground of everything that exists. God alone is true wujūd, while all things dwell in nonexistence; so also wujūd alone is nondelimited (mutlaq), while everything else is constrained, confined, and constricted.”²¹

Ibn Arabi’s doctrine of wahdat al-wujud focuses on the esoteric (batin) reality of creatures instead of the exoteric (zahir) dimension of reality. Therefore he interprets that wujud is one unique reality from which all reality derives. The external world of sensible objects is but a fleeting shadow of the Real (al-Haqq), God. God alone is the all embracing and eternal reality. Whatever exists is the shadow (tajalli) of the Real and is not independent of God. This is summed up in Ibn Arabi’s own words: “Glory to Him who created all things, being Himself their very essence (ainuha).”²²

In opposition to this doctrine, Waḥdat ash-Shuhūd was formulated by the Persian Sufi ‘Alā’ al-Dawlah Simnānī (d. 1336) and later attracted many followers in India, including Ahmed Sirhindi (d. 1624), who provided some of the most widely accepted formulations of this doctrine in the Indian subcontinent.²³ According to Ahmed Sirhindi’s doctrine, any experience of unity between God and the created world is purely subjective and occurs only in the mind of the believer; it has no objective counterpart in the real world. The former position, Shaykh Ahmad felt, led to pantheism, which he considered contrary to the tenets of Sunni Islam. He held that God and creation are not identical; rather, the latter is a shadow or reflection of the Divine Names and Attributes when they are reflected in the mirrors of their opposite non-beings.²⁴ Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi and Abd al-Karim al-Jili were also proponents of apparentism. Some reformers have claimed that the difference between the two philosophies differs only in semantics and that the entire debate is merely a collection of “verbal controversies” which have come about because of ambiguous language.²⁵ However, the concept of the relationship between God and the universe is still actively debated both among Sufis and between Sufis and non-Sufi Muslims.

Sufism in Medieval India: Arrival and Expansion

Sufism arrived in South Asia alongside Turkic invasions and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526). However, it flourished not primarily through state patronage but through the immense spiritual and social influence of Sufi saints, who adapted Islamic mysticism to the Indian context.²⁶ Two major Sufi orders dominated medieval India. The first was the Chishti Order, founded in India by Khwaja Mu‘in al-Din Chishti (d. 1236) in Ajmer (now Rajasthan).²⁷ This became the most popular and indigenized order. The Chishtis emphasized sama (devotional music) to induce ecstatic states despite orthodox criticism, social service and feeding the poor (langar), and accommodation with local traditions.²⁸ They adopted yogic practices including breathing control (habs-i dam), chanting (zikr-i jahri), and inverted seclusion (chilla-i ma‘kus), and they wrote poetry in local languages like Hindavi, Punjabi, and later Urdu.²⁹ Key Chishti figures include Baba Farid (d. 1265), Nizam al-Din Auliya (d. 1325), Nasir al-Din Chiragh-i Dilli (d. 1356), and the poet Amir Khusrau.³⁰ The Chishtis generally stayed aloof from the Sultanate court.

The second major order was the Suhrawardi Order, founded in India by Baha al-Din Zakariyya (d. 1267) in Multan (now Pakistan).³¹ Unlike the Chishtis, this order was more aligned with the state. Suhrawardis accepted royal grants, engaged in political counsel, and emphasized outward piety and knowledge of Islamic law alongside mysticism.³²

Impact on Medieval Indian Society

The impact of Sufism on medieval Indian society was profound and multifaceted. A significant development was the Bhakti-Sufi synthesis, whereby Sufi concepts of divine love (ishq), annihilation (fana), and Wahdat al-Wujud deeply influenced the Bhakti movement. This is especially evident in the poetry of Kabir (d. 1518), Guru Nanak (d. 1539), and Mirabai (d. c. 1550).³³ Furthermore, while Sufism was not the primary method of mass conversion, Sufi shrines (dargahs) became centers of intercommunal devotion. Hindus and Muslims alike visited Sufi tombs to seek intercession (wasila), offer flowers, and tie threads, creating a shared religious space.³⁴ Annual death anniversary festivals (urs) remain major events in South Asia to this day.

Sufis also produced vast mystical poetry (masnavi), biographical dictionaries (tazkiras), recorded discourses (malfuzat), and letters (maktubat), thereby shaping north Indian literary culture.³⁵ The interaction between Sufism and local traditions extended to yoga as well: the eleventh-century Persian text Amritakunda (Pool of Nectar) was translated into Arabic and Persian, and Sufis like Muhammad Ghawth (sixteenth century) integrated yogic postures (asanas) and breath control into Chishti practices.³⁶

The dargah (tomb-shrine) became the focal point of popular Sufism. Devotees offer nazar (votive offerings), recite fatiha (the Quranic opening chapter), and seek blessings. The most famous medieval Indian shrines include Ajmer (Mu‘in al-Din Chishti), Delhi (Nizam al-Din Auliya), and Pakpattan (Baba Farid).³⁷ However, not all Muslims accepted these practices. The Naqshbandi order, especially Ahmad Sirhindi (already discussed as a proponent of Wahdat ash-Shuhud), criticized shrine worship, sama, and the monistic tendencies of Wahdat al–Wujud.³⁸ Later, modern reformist movements such as Deoband and Ahl-i Hadith (nineteenth to twentieth centuries) condemned popular Sufi practices as bid‘a (innovation).³⁹

Women in Sufism

No discussion of Sufism would be complete without acknowledging the role of women. Early mystics like Rabia al-Adawiyya (d. 801, Iraq) introduced the concept of divine love (ishq) as selfless devotion, moving away from fear-based piety.⁴⁰ In medieval India, figures such as Bibi Jamal Khatun (sister of a Chishti saint) and Bibi Fatima Sam served as spiritual guides, though Sufi orders were predominantly male-led and women’s participation was often limited to devotional attendance at shrines rather than formal initiation into tariqas.⁴¹

Conclusion

Sufism in medieval India created a rich, pluralistic spiritual landscape that blurred boundaries between Hindu and Muslim traditions. By the Mughal period (sixteenth to seventeenth centuries), emperors like Akbar patronized Sufis, while Dara Shukoh translated the Upanishads through a Sufi lens.⁴² Though orthodox critiques persisted, the Sufi emphasis on direct love of God, music, poetry, and saint veneration remains deeply embedded in South Asian Islam to this day. The doctrines of Wahdat al-Wujud and Wahdat ash-Shuhud continue to be debated, and the practices of dhikr, sama, and pilgrimage to dargahs remain vibrant, attesting to the enduring legacy of Sufism in the subcontinent.

Footnotes

1. Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), 3–4.
2. Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam (London: Routledge, 1914), 1–2.
3. J. Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), 1–5.
4. Carl W. Ernst, The Shambhala Guide to Sufism (Boston: Shambhala, 1997), 106–108.
5. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 99–100.
6. William C. Chittick, Sufism: A Short Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld, 2000), 10–12.
7. Chittick, Sufism, 45–47.
8. Trimingham, Sufi Orders, 132–133
9. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 167–169.
10. Quran 33:41–42; see also Ernst, Shambhala Guide, 85–86.
11. Trimingham, Sufi Orders, 194–196.
12. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 178–182.
13. Shems Friedlander, The Whirling Dervishes (Albany: SUNY Press, 1992), 15–17.
14. Regula Burckhardt Qureshi, Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context and Meaning in Qawwali (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 38–41.
15. Chittick, Sufism, 78–80.
16. S. H. Nasr, Sufi Essays (Albany: SUNY Press, 1972), 96–98.
17. Ahmad Sirhindi, Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani, trans. Fazlur Rahman (Karachi: Hamdard Academy, 1978), vol. 1, letter 38.
18. Ibn Arabi, Fusus al-Hikam, ed. A. Affifi (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1946), 48–49.
19. Ibn Arabi, Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (Cairo: Bulaq, 1911), vol. 2, 312.
20. Chittick, Sufism, 81–82.
21. Ibn Arabi, Fusus, 50.
22. Ibn Arabi, Fusus, 52.
23. J. G. J. ter Haar, Follower and Heir of the Prophet: Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (1564–1624) as Mystic (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 84–87.
24. Sirhindi, Maktubat, vol. 1, letter 52.
25. Fazlur Rahman, Islam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 137–138.
26. Richard M. Eaton, The Sufis of Bijapur, 1300–1700: Social Roles of Sufis in Medieval India (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), 15–18.
27. K. A. Nizami, The Life and Times of Shaikh Nizam-u’d-din Auliya (Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 1991), 12–14.
28. Nizami, Shaikh Nizam-u’d-din, 45–47.
29. Carl W. Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center (Albany: SUNY Press, 1992), 118–121.
30. Muhammad Habib, Hazrat Amir Khusrau of Delhi (Bombay: Times of India Press, 1927), 56–58.
31. Trimingham, Sufi Orders, 45–46.
32. Eaton, Sufis of Bijapur, 23–25.
33. John Stratton Hawley and Mark Juergensmeyer, Songs of the Saints of India (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), 37–40.
34. Eaton, Sufis of Bijapur, 55–57.
35. Nizami, Shaikh Nizam-u’d-din, 89–92.
36. Ernst, Eternal Garden, 130–133.
37. Eaton, Sufis of Bijapur, 112–114.
38. Yohanan Friedmann, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: An Outline of His Thought and a Study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity (Montreal: McGill University Press, 1971), 63–65.
39. Barbara D. Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982), 109–111.
40. Margaret Smith, Rabia the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), 4–6.
41. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 426–428.
42. Dara Shikoh, Majma-ul-Bahrain (The Mingling of Two Oceans), trans. M. Mahfuz-ul-Haq (Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1929), 2–4.

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Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi