After having gained
influence over the whole of the central Islamic world
including Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt during the 7th/13th
and 8th/14th centuries the
brotherhoods (who also played a significant role throughout
the period of the Ottoman Empire) became the focus for the
Islam of the new territories that came under Muslim
domination or influence. This included the Indo-Malay
territories in the East and West Africa and Andalusia in the
West. The brotherhoods made a significant contribution
throughout the centuries in presenting the true face of
Islam – the Islam of beauty and love.
Sufism not only
represented a practical and specific stream of religious
thought but also played an important cultural role in Islam.
Announced initially in the traditional encyclopaedias as a
curiosity, which highlights the aspects of Divine Beauty, it
soon influenced modes of expression in Arabic poetry as is
found in the ‘Zuhdiyyat’
(ascetic poems). It also played an important role in the
development of literature. Sufism then became an important
topic amongst the leading poets, particularly in Persian,
before it passed into other languages such as Ottoman
Turkish and Urdu. Of particular note are the Persian poets;
Farid ad –Din (died 627AH/1230CE and Hafiz of Shiraz (died
792 AH/1390CE).
Sufism also appears in
other art forms such as dance and music and the Indo-Persian
miniatures which decorate the philosopher’s stones in verse
and prose. Sufism became an integral and fundamental element
of religious thought and Islamic sensitivities and became
fully absorbed and moulded into the civilization of the
time.
