Baba Guru Nanak was deeply impressed by the Muslim Mystics,
Historically, Sufis have often belonged to different ṭuruq, or "orders" – congregations formed around a grand master referred to as a wali who traces a direct chain of successive teachers back to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.[9] These orders meet for spiritual sessions (majalis) in meeting places known as zawiyas, khanqahs or tekke.[10] They strive for ihsan (perfection of worship), as detailed in a hadith: "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him; if you can't see Him, surely He sees you."[11] Sufis regard Muhammad as al-Insān al-Kāmil, the primary perfect man who exemplifies the morality of God,[12] and see him as their leader and prime spiritual guide.
All Sufi orders trace most of their original precepts from Muhammad through his cousin and son-in-law Ali, with the notable exception of one.
Although the overwhelming majority of Sufis, both pre-modern and modern, were and are adherents of Sunni Islam, there also developed certain strands of Sufi practice within the ambit of Shia Islam during the late medieval period.[5] Although Sufis were opposed to dry legalism, they strictly observed Islamic law and belonged to various schools of Islamic jurisprudence and theology.[13]
Sufis have been characterized by their asceticism, especially by their attachment to dhikr, the practice of remembrance of God, often performed after prayers.[14] They gained adherents among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)[15] and have spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, initially expressing their beliefs in Arabic and later expanding into Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, among others.[16] Sufis played an important role in the formation of Muslim societies through their missionary and educational activities.[17] According to William Chittick, "In a broad sense, Sufism can be described as the interiorization, and intensification of Islamic faith and practice
The term Sufism came into being not by Islamic texts or Sufis themselves but by British Orientalists who wanted to create an artificial divide between what they found attractive in Islamic civilisation (i.e. Islamic spirituality) and the negative stereotypes that were present in Britain about Islam. These British orientalists, therefore, fabricated a divide that was previously non-existent.[19][better source needed]
Historically, Muslims have used the originally Arabic word taṣawwuf to identify the practice of Sufis.[1] Mainstream scholars of Islam define Tasawwuf or Sufism as the name for the inner or esoteric dimension of Islam[20] which is supported and complemented by outward or exoteric practices of Islam, such as sharia.[21] In this view, "it is absolutely necessary to be a Muslim" to be a true Sufi, because Sufism's "methods are inoperative without" Muslim "affiliation".[ However, Islamic scholars themselves are not by any means in agreement about the meaning of the word "sufi".
Sufis themselves claim that Tasawwuf is an aspect of Islam similar to sharia,[1] inseparable from Islam and an integral part of Islamic belief and practice.[25] Classical Sufi scholars have defined Tasawwuf as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God".[26] Traditional Sufis such as Bayazid Bastami, Rumi, Haji Bektash Veli, Junayd of Baghdad, Al-Ghazali, and Sayyid Ali Hamadani, define Sufism as purely based upon the tenets of Islam and the teachings of Muhammad