It may seem ironic to many that throughout Islamic history the voices against religious fundamentalism did not come as much from the outside as from within the Muslim society. Indeed, for those attuned to the biased historical version of Islamic history, the discovery of Sufism as a major contributor to the spread of Islam would be insatiable. But the fact is that the expansion of Islamic rule in Indo-Pak was led not as much by Muslim warriors as by the Sufi saints.
As early as the 12th century, many Sufi orders had emerged in the Muslim world. Five of these Sufi orders migrated to the subcontinent in the coming centuries, namely the Chishti, Suhrawardi, Qadri, Naqshbandi and the Firdousi schools. The Chishti order which became the most prominent in the subcontinent, originated in Afghanistan in the middle of the twelfth century. It was Moinuddin Chisti who introduced the Chishti order in Punjab, mainly in the cities of Lahore and Ajmer. The Suhrawardi order originated in Iraq in the late twelfth century and was popularized in the subcontinent by Baha-ud din Zakariya and Jalaluddin Surkhposh Bukhari who made Multan and Uch the center of their activities respectively. Contrary to widely-held beliefs, the Muslim authorities at that time actually supported these Sufis; Shamsuddin Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate even appointed Baha-ud din Zakariya as the ‘Sheikh-ul-Islam’. During the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Sufi poets and saints were patronized by the state for their role in the spread of Islam. The Sufis meshed with the different religious groups in the society together on the grounds of common spirituality. It was hence a time when culture and arts flourished.
While most people know about the strict edicts of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb under the pretext of Islamic law, historiographers conveniently choose to omit the antics of his brother Dara Shikoh who played an equally important role in the subcontinent, if not more. While Aurangzeb’s Fatwa-e-Alamgiri showed little tolerance towards people of other faiths, Dara Shikoh’s doctrine of inclusivity was its direct antithesis much to the enmity of his brother. Almost all Islamic Studies and Pakistan Affairs textbooks glorify the conquerors and warriors who expanded Islamic rule in the subcontinent. But there is hardly any such praise for those who did not get to exercise political authority, but certainly did hold spiritual authority in the hearts of many. Dara Shikoh’s poetic accounts of the events clearly indicate his stand against traditionalism.
With deep devotion to the love of God as the basic tenet of their spirituality, Sufis connected the Muslims with the Hindus. The Sufi saints of the 12th and 13th centuries were not missionaries. Neither were they merchants of faith peddling their religion onto others. They were simply men drunk with the love of God, and aspired only to work for divine pleasure. They served humanity regardless of their faith, caste and nationality. The teachings of the Bhakthi movement in Hinduism closely synchronized with that of the Sufis. The Bhakti movement was a reform from within Sufism that sought to break away from the prevalent caste system whereby the Brahmins were declared as superior to all other castes and the Dalits or the untouchables were discriminated badly against. It sought to create a more inclusive society, and the only criterion of its membership was boundless love for other human beings