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Bhakti-Sufi Traditions
Question
Explain the features of Islamic religion which contributed to its spread through the sub-continent.
Solution
The features of Islamic religion which contributed to its spread through the sub-continent:
(i) The developments that followed the coming of Islam were not confined to ruling elites; in fact they permeated far and wide, through the subcontinent, amongst different social strata – peasants, artisans, warriors, merchants, to name a few.
(ii) All those who adopted Islam accepted, in principle, the five “pillars” of the faith: that there is one God, Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada);
(iii) Offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat); giving alms (zakat); fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm); and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
(iv) However, these universal features were often overlaid with diversities in practice derived from sectarian affiliations (Sunni, Shi‘a), and the influence of local customary practices of converts from different social milieus.
(v) Elsewhere, Arab Muslim traders who settled along the Malabar Coast (Kerala) adopted the local language, Malayalam. They also adopted local customs such as matriliny and matrilocalh residence.
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Some More Questions From Bhakti-Sufi Traditions Chapter
Read any five of the sources included in this chapter and discuss the social and religious ideas that are expressed in them.
On an outline map of India, plot three major sufi shrines, and three places associated with temples (one each of a form of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess).
Choose any two of the religious teachers/thinkers/saints mentioned in this chapter, and find out more about their lives and teachings. Prepare a report
about the area and the times in which they lived their major ideas, how we know about them, and why you think they are important.
Find out more about practices of pilgrimage associated with the shrines mentioned in this chapter. Are these pilgrimages still undertaken? When are these shrines visited? Who visits these shrines? Why do they do so? What are the activities associated with these pilgrimages?
Mention the two earliest Bhakti Movements of Tamil Nadu, giving the main difference between them.
Mention two features of the protest movement started by Nayanars and Alvars.
Who led a new religious movement in Karnataka? What were his followers known as?
Give the meaning of Zimina. Who were Zimmis?
Why was Khwaja Muinuddin’s Dargah very popular? Give two reasons.
Why do thousands of devotees visit dargahs of Muslim saints?
Mock Test Series
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