Which of the following was not a part of the 'special rituals of initiation into Sufism'?

Initiates did three-day fasting.

The correct answer is Option 3 - Initiates did three-day fasting.

Special rituals of initiation were developed in which initiates took an oath of allegiance, wore a patched garment, and shaved their hair. They did not do a 3-day fasting.

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 (Persian) controlled by a teaching master known as shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid (in Persian). He enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed a successor (khalifa). 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 word silsila literally means a chain, signifying a continuous link between master and disciple, stretching as an unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet Muhammad. It was through this channel that spiritual power and blessings were transmitted to devotees.

Special rituals of initiation were developed in which:
- initiates took an oath of allegiance
- wore a patched garment
- shaved their hair.