HistoryMedieval India: Bhakti Sufi Traditions

Match List-I (Term) with List-II (Meaning).List-IList-II(A) tasawwuf(…

Match List-I (Term) with List-II (Meaning).

List-I	List-II
(A) tasawwuf	(I) Purity
(B) suf	(II) The platform outside the Prophet's mosque
(C) safa	(III) The word used for Sufism in Islamic texts
(D) suffa	(IV) Wool

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II

List-I	List-II	Reason
(A) tasawwuf	(III) The word used for Sufism in Islamic texts	Tasawwuf is the term Islamic texts use for Sufism; the English word Sufism came only in the nineteenth century.
(B) suf	(IV) Wool	Suf means wool, recalling the coarse woollen clothes the sufis wore.
(C) safa	(I) Purity	Safa means purity, another root some scholars give for the name.
(D) suffa	(II) The platform outside the Prophet's mosque	Suffa was the platform outside the Prophet's mosque where close followers gathered to learn the faith.

NCERT (2026-27): “6.1 Khanqahs and silsilas …
Sufism is an English word coined in the nineteenth century. The word used for Sufism in Islamic texts is tasawwuf. Historians have understood this term in several ways. According to some scholars, it is derived from suf, meaning wool, referring to the coarse woollen clothes worn by sufis. Others derive it from safa, meaning purity. It may also have been derived from suffa, the platform outside the Prophet’s mosque, where a group of close followers assembled to learn about the faith.”