Lehal Library

24 The Punjab and the Birth of Sikhism more than allowing men of lower castes to become their followers and an occasional symbolic acceptance of food from their hands. What was wanted was a man who would gather the teachings of the Bhak.tas into one comprehensible system and set an example by putting his precepts into practice. Islam's Compromise with Hinduism: The Sufi Mystics It has been noted how the peaceful spread ofIslam was arrested by the conquest of northern India by Mussalman armies. The Hindus were defeated and many of their temples were razed to the ground. This could not, nor did it, succeed in bringing them around to the faith of their conquerors. But following in the train of the invaders were men of peace who came with the specific purpose of spreading the gospel of Mohammed. In order to equip themselves for the task, they studied other languages, cultures, religions, and ways of life. They learned about Christianity and Buddhism, about Greek and Hindu philosophy. They tested the religion of the Prophet in the light of their new knowledge and emphasized those aspects which suited their mission and temperamems. These men were known as Sufis. The Sufis did not form a definite sect nor did they have a uniform doctrine. But many of them gained renown as scholars <;>r godly men, and communities of admirers grew about them and came to be known after the leaders. The Koran and the Hadith (traditions based on the life of Mohammed) gave the Sufis all they wanted. As orthodox Muslims they believed in the One God whose presence was, as the Koran said, aU-embracing-'Whichever way you turn, there is the face of Allah.· Like Mohammed, they set store on poverty. And like him they fasted and meditated to achieve the sort of mystical experience which had first illumined the Prophet's mind with the vision of God. They came to the conclusion that an easier way of inducing a mystic experience ( hiil) was through dhikr-repeating the name of Allah or a short litany with so much concentration that the worshipper's own personality was