Religions in India - Islam and Sufi Movement

Origing of Islam
10 Apr 2022

The word islam means “submission to god”.
It originated in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7^th century AD.
Prophet Muhammad was the last messenger sent by God on earth to reveal the message to his followers. This message was provided to him by an angel.
He left him home in Mecca and migrated to Madina. After a coup, he managed to come back to Mecca and this travel from Madina to Mecca became a holy route and was called Hajj.
After the death of Muhammad, caliphates were created and the imams used to spread the teachings of the Islam.

Sunni: They believe that the successor of to Prophet Muhammad should be someone who was close to Prophet and who was his intial follower like Abu Bakr.
In India, majority of Muslims are Sunni.
Shia: They believe that the successor of Prophet Muhammad should be from his own flesh and blood i.e. his son-in-law Ali.

There is only one Allah.
Day of judgement: The day of reckoning when the merits and bad deeds will be judged and one would be sent to the hell or heaven.
Juma Namaz: The prayers on Friday thar are suppose to be in the community mosque.
Ramzam: Holy month of Muslims when they keep fast from sunrise to sunset. It ends with Eid celebrations.

Hadith: Saying or teachings of Prophet Muhammad. It is the holy book of Muslims.
Sharia: Book of Islamic laws.

It was mainly popular in Persia during 12 AD and considered as Islamic mysticism. In Arabic, word sufi means purity.
It believes in humanity, tolerance, union with God, discouraged materialism, unity of Hindu and Muslim, rejected dogmas, rejected rituals.
There are three stages in the history of sufism:

Kanqah (10^th AD): It is called the age of Golden Mysticism.
Tariqa (11-14^th AD): Sufism was institutionalised and traditions and symbols were attached to it.
Tarifa (15^th AD): When Sufism became a popular movement.

Some of the features of Sufism are:

It focuses on self-realisation, tolerance, righteousness and universal love for all.
The ultimate goal of Sufism is Union with the God.
It followed Pir-Murid tradition i.e. Guru-Shishya tradition.
Basic terms associated with sufism are:
Fana: spiritual merger of the devotee with Allah.
Sama: spiritual dance and music to promote their concepts.
Zikr-tauba: remembrance of God all the time.
Insan-e-kamil: Perfect human with all good virtues.
The Sufi saints are Fakirs (poor man).

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