These ideas differed fundamentally from those of the Hindus and did not appeal to them. The Muslim teachers considered it their foremost duty to spread their faith in every part of the world. The Muslim conquerors even used force and coercion to convert the non believers. The Brahmanical Hindus were equally intolerant towards the Muslims and considered them impure or Mlechhas. About the antagonism and differences between the two communities, the great muslim scholar Alburini observed,” they ( the Hindus) totally differ from us in religion as we believe in nothing in which they believe and vice-versa. And in manners and usages they differ from us in such a degree as to frighten their children with our dress and ways and customs and so as to declare us to be devil’s breed and our doings as the very opposite of all that is good and proper”. The conflict between the Hindus and Muslims began in India with the invasions of Ghaznavi and Ghori in the 11th century and when Muslim missionaries and traders came and settled in India in large number.
Some efforts were however, made by the saints and social reformers during the Mediaeval period to bring about some understanding between the two communities. The Bhakti reformers and the Sufi saints enjoined upon both the communities to shed their hostile attitude and become tolerant to each other’s religion and appreciate each other’s views.
Some of the philosophical and pantheistic elements entered into it from nonislamic sources. Like the Bhakti school, the union of the human should with god through devotion was the essence of the Sufi faith. Like the Bhakti reformers, the Sufis also did not observe the conventional rituals. Singing and dancing, though forbidden by the orthodox Muslims and Ulema were regarded by the Sufis near to his goal of union with God. The Sufism had also some feature common with Buddhism. The Sufi ideas of annihilation of self, constant awareness of human frailty, the ascetic way of life, the practice of begging alms and living in religious shrines indicate the impact of Buddha’s teachings.
Sufism gained ground in the Punjab even before the establishment of the Muslim rule of Mahmud Ghaznavi. In the 11th and 12 the centuries, Lahore and Multan attracted many famous Sufis from the countries outside India. The Sufis had orders ‘Silsilas’ or sects; such as Chisti, Suhravardi, Qadri and Nakshbandi. All of these had established their centers in India.
The term Sufi is generally used for a Muslim sage or a saint. It is derived from the word Safa (purity) implying that a Sufi is one of god’s elect who has been purified of all worldly evils. Some have connected Sufi with Saff (Rank) suggesting that he is spiritually in the first rank in virtue of his communion with God. Abu Nasar-ul-Sarraj derives the word from Saf (wool) because for the woolen raiment or blanket was the dress and badge of the saints. Still other view is that the word Sufi is derived from the word Sofia (meaning wisdom).
The basic ideas of Sufism are to be found in the Quran and Traditions (Hadis) of the Prophet. The Sufis accept the Quran as the holy word of god. To this, however, they give a mystic interpretation; here they differed from the orthodox Muslims who insisted upon its literal interpretation.
