Introduction
Sufism was born out of the growth in Islam towards inner growth. It is the philosophical view of Islam. Sufism is supposed to have grown in and around Basra. It is found that Sufi was more of a saint in Islam than something that existed by itself. Sufism was more of a part of Islam itself influenced by philosophical thinking that was happening in the Persian and Byzantine courts.
Relationship with Islam and Philosophy!
Sufism took its birth in the medieval period and most scholars look at growth in Sufism as a natural requirement. Most of the masters of Sufism were in the Middle East, Iraq, and Pakistan. A number of books were written to highlight the philosophical outlook of Sufi thoughts. Sufi thoughts were primarily aimed at lessening the impact of the Islamic conquerors in places where other thoughts were rampant. This ensured that the practices of Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhist, and Christian thoughts do not go through a major change when the new laws of Islam were introduced. In the course of many years, it was found that the Sufi thoughts even preceded the Islamic laws laid down by Quran in Islamic courts. In the initial run, the milder thoughts ushered in by Sufism ensured that the people were at ease with Islam and it swiftly spread with lots of converts to the new sect; whereas, this also brought out anti-Sufi thoughts among the Muslims.
Conclusion
Sufi, with the growth in simple ways of spreading the Muslim thoughts as stories, ensured that there was a rapid growth in Islamic conversions. However, it also brought about major changes in the way people looked at Islam. Over a period of time, with the growth in Industrialization and modernization, the Sufi thoughts started losing their significance for the Muslims. But still, their thoughts and the way they proposed life and the style of living, ensured that Sufism continued to exist in the world.