The Relations of Chishti Sufis with Hindus: The Forms to apply these in current Period

مشائخ چشت کے ہندوؤں کے ساتھ تعلقات کا تحقیقی جائزہ: عصر حاضر میں استفادہ کی صورتیں

Abstract

Chishtia Sufi Order is one of the oldest Sufi Orders in Islamic mystic tradition, originating primarily from Chisht (Herat, Afghanistan), and gained popularity in both Afghanistan and the Indian Subcontinent due to its cosmopolitan message of love, tolerance, and openness. Especially in Indian region it attracted the Hindu masses overwhelmingly and resultantly a large segment of lower caste Hindus embraced Islam. This phenomenon was further consolidated with the untiring efforts of Chishti Mashaikh who established a well-organized and systematic Khanqahi System (earliest forms of world’s spiritual universities), which in turn gave way to a new genre of Hindu-Muslim relations, which are required to be re-enlivened in order to establish peace in the South Asian Region. The study in hand revolves around the hypothesis that “if Chishti experience of the past is made relevant to the modern day socio-political and cultural fabric of the region, the peace will be the only outcome of the situation”. Findings of the study suggest that Chishtia Sufi tradition is equivocally relevant even today in order to create good relations with the Hindus of the region.