Read the following passage and answer the question:
By the eleventh century, Sufism evolved into a well-developed movement with a body of literature on Quranic studies and Sufi practices. Institutionally, the sufis began to organise communities around the hospice or Khanqah controlled by a teaching master known as shaikh. He enrolled disciples and appointed a successor. He established rules for spiritual conduct and interaction between inmates as well as between laypersons and the master. Sufi silsilas began to crystallise in different parts of the Islamic world around the twelfth century.
The sufis who deliberately defied the Islamic law and ignored rituals were referred to as ______.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Be-shari’a
Option (1) Hadis — Incorrect. The hadis are the traditions of the Prophet, including a record of his remembered words and deeds. With the Qur’an, they are a source of the shari‘a, not a name for any group of sufis.
Option (2) Ba-shari’a — Incorrect. Ba-shari‘a sufis were those who complied with the shari‘a, the very opposite of the sufis the question describes.
Option (3) Qiyas — Incorrect. Qiyas means reasoning by analogy. It was recognised as a source of legislation in the shari‘a when Islamic rule spread outside Arabia; it does not refer to people.
Option (4) Be-shari’a — Correct. Some mystics took up a radical interpretation of sufi ideals: they scorned the khanqah, ignored rituals and observed extreme forms of asceticism. Because of their deliberate defiance of the shari‘a, they were often referred to as be-shari‘a.
NCERT (2026-27): “6.2 Outside the khanqah … Some mystics initiated movements based on a radical interpretation of sufi ideals. Many scorned the khanqah and took to mendicancy and observed celibacy. They ignored rituals and observed extreme forms of asceticism. They were known by different names – Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris, etc. Because of their deliberate defiance of the shari‘a they were often referred to as be-shari‘a, in contrast to the ba-shari‘a sufis who complied with it. Shari‘a … The shari‘a is the law governing the Muslim community. It is based on the Qur’an and the hadis, traditions of the Prophet including a record of his remembered words and deeds. With the expansion of Islamic rule outside Arabia, in areas where customs and traditions were different, qiyas (reasoning by analogy) and ijma (consensus of the community) were recognised as two other sources of legislation. Thus, the shari‘a evolved from the Qur’an, hadis, qiyas and ijma.” |