Aamir, a college student from Lucknow, visits Srinagar for the first time. On the banks of the Jhelum he sees an old mosque built of wood, with a tall spire and carved eaves. It looks very different from the domed stone mosques of his own city, though its prayer niche faces Mecca like theirs. A local teacher tells him that the place is linked with a revered sufi, and that the early sufis followed a path of devotion that differed from the way theologians of their time read the faith. Aamir decides to read more about the building and about those early sufis.
The teacher mentions the sufis of the early centuries of Islam. Why did they turn to asceticism and mysticism?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → In protest against the growing materialism of the Caliphate
Option (1) In protest against the rule of the Turkish Sultans of Delhi — Incorrect. The Delhi Sultans ruled much later; Sufism had already grown into a movement by the eleventh century.
Option (2) In protest against the rigid rules of caste society — Incorrect. Protest against caste rules belongs to bhakti groups such as the Lingayats in India. The first sufis arose much earlier, in the wider Islamic world.
Option (3) In protest against the growing materialism of the Caliphate — Correct. The early sufis protested against the growing materialism of the Caliphate as a religious and political institution, and sought salvation through intense devotion and love for God.
Option (4) In protest against the worship of saints at tomb-shrines — Incorrect. Pilgrimage to a shaikh's dargah grew out of Sufism itself after a shaikh died; the early sufis were not reacting against it.
NCERT (2026-27): “6. The Growth of Sufism |