Glossary of sufism

"Sufism" (tasawwuf) is the science through which we can attain the modalities for our journey toward the King of kings; it is also the inner purification (tasfiya) from the vices (radhaa' il) and the inner beauty by the means of all virtues (fadhaa'il); or the erasing (ghayba) of the creature, be it lost in the vision (shuhuud) of Truth (God; al-Haqq), or going back to the manifested world (al-athar).

Its beginning is "science" ('ilm), its medium "action" ('amal) and its aim "gift" (mawhiba) [from God].

Regarding the word itself, it derives:

-possibly from safaa', purity, as its aim is purification (tasfiya) ;
-possibly from sifa, quality, because it is the qualification (ittisaaf) derived from perfections ;
-possibly from suffa, the "bench" at the Prophet's Mosque, as the sufis look very much like the People of the Bench from their orientation [towards God] (tawajjuh) and from their renouncing to the world (inqitaa') ;
-and possibly from suuf, the wool, because most of them used to wear garments made with wool as a sign of detachment of the things from this world, and also imitating those Prophets that were dressed with clothes made in wool.

This last etymology seems the most convincing from a linguistic point of view, it also corresponds in a better way to the literal sense. Effectively, the garment made in wool is what has a connection with the external judgment (hukmzaahir), based on the appearances, while the other derivations imply an inner interpretation (baatin) ; but the external interpretation is more direct. It is said: "he has taken the suuf" (tasawwafa) from someone who is dressed with wool, as well as it is also said: "taqammasa" from someone who has dressed himself with a shirt (qamiis) , and this person is qualified as "suufii".

Sahl [al-Tustari] said: "The sufi is someone who is pure (safaa) from trouble (kadar), he is filled with thinking (fikr) and has renounced to the human for the Divine ; someone for whom gold and mud have the same value", that is to say, someone who doesn't desire or wish anything but his Lord and Master.

Al-Junayd said: "The sufi is like the earth: the rubbish is thrown over it, and only good things come up". He also said: "The sufi is like the earth, a place where both an innocent and a guilty walk on in, like the sky that shadows everything, like the rain that waters everything".

(Translated from
Glossaire du Soufisme. Ibn 'Agibah. A. Saleh Hamdan)

sindhi cap

chabba

ajrak

Historical period

Because of its location at the western edge of South Asia, Sindh was one of the earliest regions to be influenced by Islam. It was part of the Islamic empires of the Abbasids and Umayyids. Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting millions of native Sindhis to Islam. At the same time, Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to the Islamic Sultanate in Sindh. Settled by Turks, Pashtuns, and Mughals. Habbari, Soomra, Samma, Arghun dynasties ruled Sindh. The Baloch tribes migrated and settled in Sindh. These Baloch assimilated with Sindhis and now they constitute a significant population of Sindh. Sindh continued to evolve as a frontier state; by the time of British colonial occupation it was ruled by Baloch kings.

history of sindh

Prehistoric period

 

The original inhabitants of ancient Sindh were believed to be aboriginal tribes speaking languages of the Indus Valley civilization around 3000 BC.

Location of the Indus Valley civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization went into decline around the year 1700 BC for reasons that are not entirely known, though its downfall was probably precipitated by a massive earthquake that dried up the Ghaggar River. The Indo-Aryans are believed to have founded the Vedic civilization that existed between the Sarasvati River and Ganges river around 1500 BC. This civilization helped shape subsequent cultures in South Asia.
In his book Kitab-ul-Hind, the Persian scholar Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī (Al-Beruni) declared that even before the advent of Islam into Sindh (711 A.D.), the Sindhi language was prevalent in Sindh.

sindhi peoples

This article is about the socio-ethnic group of South Asia. For other uses, see Sindhi.

Sindhis
سنڌي

1st row: Ubaidullah Sindhi 2nd row: Benazir Bhutto, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, J. B. Kripalani 3rd row: Jhulelal, Abida Parveen, Shaikh Ayaz
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan 53,410,910 (August 2011) [1]  India 2,810,000 (August 2001) [2]  Hong Kong 7,500 [3]
Languages
Sindhi
Religion
• Islam • Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
• Balochi people • Kashmiri people

This article contains Sindhi text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Sindhi script.

Sindhis (Sindhi: سنڌي) are a Sindhi-speaking ethnic group of people native to the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Some of the places in Sindh have been inhabited as early as the 3rd millennium BC. A large number of Indus valley sites have been found in Sindh. Sindh was ruled by Hindu, Buddhist and Zoroastrian kingdoms till 712, when it became a part of the Umayyad Caliphate. While Sindhis were originally Hindus or Buddhists.
Sindhi culture is highly influenced by Sufi doctrines and principles. Some of the popular cultural icons are Raja Dahir, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Jhulelal and Sachal Sarmast.
Following the partition of India in 1947, most Hindus, Sikhs and Jains migrated to India and other parts of the world, though as of 1998, Hindus still constituted about 6% of the total Sindhi population in Pakistan.^[4] Sindhis in different parts of the world formed their own social gatherings or sammelans and associations.