History of Sufism Timeline

(7th century–Present)

The history of Sufism traces the development of Islamic mysticism from early ascetic movements to diverse spiritual traditions that spread across the Muslim world and beyond. More Less

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Origins and early development

Sufism linked to Muhammad’s teachings

610 - 632

Some sources describe Sufism as the inner dimension of the teachings of Muhammad, connecting its origins to the formative period of Islam.

Abu Hashem al-Kufi associated with the word Sufi

700

According to accounts cited by Abu Bakr Muhammad Zakaria, Abu Hashem al-Kufi was the first person to use the word Sufi; this attribution places the usage in the second century AH.

Basra becomes an early center of Sufism

700

Ibn Taymiyya wrote in his Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā that Basra was a center of Sufism during the early period associated with Abu Hashem al-Kufi.

Image source: Basra

Emergence of Sufism in the Islamic Golden Age

750 - 1000

Other accounts place the emergence of Sufism during the Islamic Golden Age, broadly between the eighth and tenth centuries.

Renunciation spreads under early Abbasid rule

750 - 800

Ahmet Karamustafa describes renunciation, or zuhd, as a widespread form of piety in Muslim communities during the first century of Abbasid rule.

Introspective piety takes shape in Baghdad

850 - 900

A distinct practice of piety associated with introspection and drawing on diverse practices and ideas took form in Baghdad during the second half of the ninth century.

Mainstream scholarly acceptance of Sufism

1000 - 1800

Acceptance of Sufism became the mainstream position among Islamic scholars for centuries, although this consensus was challenged more recently by arguments associated with Orientalism and Wahhabism.

Image source: Sufism

Theosophical works gain Sufi defenders

1075 - 1150

A group of Sufi masters defending the works of theosophists such as al-Ghazali and al-Qushayri emerged from the late eleventh through the early and middle twelfth centuries.

Image source: Al-Ghazali

Sufism in al-Andalus

Orthodox beliefs dominate al-Andalus

800 - 1000

Beginning in the ninth century and continuing throughout the tenth, al-Andalus was characterized by relatively strict and orthodox beliefs and practices.

Image source: Al-Andalus

Ibn al-ʿArif rises in Spain

1088 - 1141

Abu l-ʿAbbas ibn al-ʿArif, who lived from 1088 to 1141, became one of the most prominent Sufis in Spain and one of the earliest major figures of Sufism’s peak in the peninsula.

Sufism becomes more accepted in al-Andalus

1100 - 1300

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Sufism became more accepted and was somewhat assimilated into Andalusi Islam.

Ibn al-ʿArif’s student teaches in Seville

1100 - 1141

A student and friend of Ibn al-ʿArif, originally from North Africa, lived and taught in Seville and was later called the Ghazali of the West.

Tolerance of philosophy and Sufism grows

1100 - 1200

By the twelfth century, shifts toward accepting or at least tolerating philosophy and Sufism were occurring within settings that had previously maintained strictly orthodox beliefs.

Image source: Islamic philosophy

Ibn Arabi’s influence reappears among later Sufis

1150 - 1300

The effects of Ibn Arabi’s thought and those of his disciples appeared again among later Sufis in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Image source: Ibn Arabi

Ibn Arabi’s influence reappears among later Sufis

Ibn Arabi is born in Murcia

1165

Ibn Arabi, a key figure in the region’s Sufism, was born in Murcia in 1165 at the beginning of the Almohad reign.

Ibn Arabi dies

1240

The death of Ibn Arabi marked the end of the life of one of the central figures whose ideas shaped later Sufism in al-Andalus and beyond.

Ibn Abbad al-Rundi unites mystical and juridical paths

1332 - 1390

Ibn Abbad al-Rundi, a Shadhiliyya member born in Ronda, became an exception to the period’s spiritual decline; his scholarship brought mystical and juridical paths together.

Spiritual aridity affects al-Andalus

1350

Not long after Ibn Arabi’s death, al-Andalus experienced what has been described as a period of spiritual aridity in the mid-fourteenth century.

Orders and institutional expansion

Sufi orders spread institutionally

1000

In the eleventh century, Sufi orders, or tariqas, became instrumental in the institutional spread of Sufism.

Sufi intellectual Golden Age begins

1200 - 1300

Between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, often described as a Golden Age whose physical artifacts remain.

Image source: Islamic Golden Age

Sufism helps Islam endure the Turko-Mongol period

1200 - 1300

The heterodoxy of mysticism, contrasted with formal theology, enabled Islam to survive during the Turko-Mongol period of the thirteenth century.

Naqshbandi order is founded

1318 - 1389

Baha-ud-Din Naqshband of Turkestan, who lived from 1318 to 1389, founded the Naqshbandi Sufi order.

Naqshbandi branches spread into the Ottoman Empire

1500 - 1600

Although Indian subcontinent branches did not survive into modern times, the order later spread into the Ottoman Empire and became influential there after persecution by the rise of the Safavid Shahs during the sixteenth century.

South Asian and later history

Mu'in al-Din Chishti arrives in India

1192

Mu'in al-Din Chishti came to India from Afghanistan with the army of Shihab-ud-Din Ghuri in 1192.

Mu'in al-Din Chishti settles in Ajmer

1195

Beginning in 1195, Mu'in al-Din Chishti lived permanently in Ajmer, where his presence helped establish a major center of Sufi devotion.

Chishti successors shape Indian Sufism

1200 - 1400

The Chishti tradition in India was shaped by figures including Qutbuddin, Nizamuddin, and Fariduddin, whose lives and teachings are associated with Ajmer, Delhi, and Pakpattan.

The Chishti order develops influential institutions

1234

A Chishti figure associated with the year 1234 bequeathed teachings and institutions that influenced other orders emerging in later periods.

Chishti shrine gains Mughal patronage

1500 - 1600

Centuries after Mu'in al-Din Chishti’s settlement, Mughal rulers supported his shrine, which became an important place of pilgrimage.

Naqshbandiyya gains impetus from Babur’s conquest

1526

The conquest of India by Babur in 1526 gave considerable impetus to the Naqshbandiyya order.

Modernist Muslims criticize Sufism

1900 - 2000

In the twentieth century, some modernist Muslims criticized Sufism as a superstitious religion that held back Islamic achievement in science and technology.

Key Facts

Sufism emerged from early Islamic traditions of asceticism, prayer, remembrance of God, and inner purification.
The term Sufi is commonly associated with the Arabic word suf, meaning wool, referring to the simple wool garments worn by some early ascetics.
Important classical figures include Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, Junayd of Baghdad, al-Ghazali, and Ibn Arabi.
Sufi orders, known as tariqas, expanded widely from the 12th century onward, including the Qadiriyya, Chishtiyya, Naqshbandiyya, and Mevleviyya.
Sufism has influenced Islamic philosophy, poetry, music, art, ethics, and devotional practices across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Source

This History of Sufism timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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