islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Jihadjahiliyah ways and manners of the pre-Islamic Persian civilization (superseded by Islam), ‘which encouragedlaxity in morality.’ The philosophers, on the contrary, ‘believed in the infallibility of Plato and Aristotle’—notof the prophets. To counter these tendencies, adds Umaruddin, arose the ‘doctrines of Sufism and its rules ofconduct were based on the Quran and the lives of the Prophet and his companions.’According to Umaruddin, in the early ‘stage of development, Sufism was not very different fromIslam (i.e., orthodox Islam). In their doctrine, they emphasized some truths of Islam (more),’ 243 whilst payingless attention to others. Later on, some stream of Sufis became dramatically transformed and opposed to therigid formality of orthodox Islam, which had become a set of outward rituals and ceremonies, hardly fulfillingthe spiritual need of the soul. They deviated from the original orthodox path and considered the outwardritualism of Sharia regulations ‘as the lowest scales of a person’s spiritual evolution. The life and disciplinesof a Sufi are designed to lead one on a mystical journey through progressive stages from law to liberation,from orthodoxy to illumination, from knowledge of self to the extinction (fana) of selfhood in the Godhead.’ 244Slowly there opened floodgate of numerous innovation and compromise in Sufi doctrines, some of whichamounted to heresy, irreverence, and the breach of Islam. In time, some deviant Sufis reached the un-Islamicdoctrine of pantheism, which unifies the Creator with man and all creations into a single entity. In classicalIslamic sense, pantheism is a sacrilegious doctrine—professing self-absorption, self-effacement, selfannihilation—whichallegedly leads to confluence of the individual with God. At this stage of development,they do not require a guide (i.e., a prophet) or law-book (i.e., the Quran). They give up almost all ritualsrequired in orthodox Islam and the Sharia: fasting, prayers, Hajj pilgrimage and so on. In Islamic society, theybecame identified as bisharia—i.e. outside the Sharia or Islam.Imam Ghazzali (d. 1111), who made the Sufism into acceptable in the mainstream Islamic society,wrote of the aim of a Sufi that,‘The Sufis endeavored to emulate each and every aspect of the Prophet’s life. The retirement ofthe Prophet to the cave of Hira for meditation for a certain period of time every year, set anexample to the Sufis to retire from society. The practice of ecstasy and self-annihilation wasfounded on the Prophet’s habit of absorption into prayers. The ascetic aspects of Sufism arebased on the simplicity of the life followed by the Prophet… He washed his clothes, repaired hisshoes, milked his goats, and never on any occasion did he take his fill.’ 245Indian Sufis: Although some Sufis deviated completely from Islam, majority of them remainedlargely orthodox. Ghazzali enabled Sufism triumph in Muslim societies in the twelfth century. He basicallyweaved the Islamic orthodoxy into the body of Sufism, expunging deviant ideas and rituals, which madeSufism more acceptable amongst Muslims. Therefore, it is the orthodox strain of Sufism that got acceptancein the Muslim society, thanks to Imam Ghazzali. The deviant beshariyah Sufis often suffered brutalpersecution and even death. For example, Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq (d. 1388), an austere orthodox believer,records in his memoir that he had put Sufi Shaykh Ruknuddin of Delhi, who called himself a Mahdi (messiah)and ‘led people astray into mystic practices and perverted ideas by maintaining that he was Ruknuddin, theprophet of God.’ People killed Ruknuddin and some of his followers; they ‘tore him into pieces and broke hisbones into fragments,’ records the Sultan. 246When the central Asian Turks established direct Muslim rule in India (1206), Sufism, the Ghazzalianorthodox Sufism to be accurate, had gained wide acceptance in Muslim societies. Following the trail ofMuslim invaders, Sufis poured into India in large number. The great Sufi saints of India—namely243. Ibid, p. 62244. Walker, p. 304245. Umaruddin, p. 59–60246. Elliot & Dawson, Vol. III, p. 378–7989