The history of Sufism in Kashmir is spread over a long period of time starting from Bulbul Shah to the Sufi poets. Sufi saints are still inspiring people of Kashmir by their subtle mystical insights
Sufism, Islamic mysticism that began to develop in the 7th century, the first century of Islam. The term Sufi (Arabic, “man of wool”) was coined in the early 9th century as a name for mystics whose ascetic practices included wearing coarse woolen garments, or sufu; soon the term referred to all mystics, whether or not they followed ascetic practices. Sufism arose out of various influences, among them a mystical overtone in some of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the founder of Islam; a desire to escape the hardships due to the social and political upheavals of the time; and a tendency toward quietism in reaction to the worldliness and extravagance of the early caliphs.
By the 9th century AD the Sufis claimed to have methods of finding mystic knowledge of God, or Allah. The Sufi mystic, described as a pilgrim on a journey, follows a path of seven stages: repentance, abstinence, renunciation, poverty, patience, trust in God, and acquiescence to the will of God. Then, with the grace of God, a higher level of consciousness is attained, in which knowledge, the knower, and the known are realized as one. Some mystics believed that the supreme experience of union with God could not be expressed in words; others who tried to express it scandalized the orthodox by ecstatically proclaiming their identity with God. Eventually, formal pantheistic doctrines merged; statements that the universe and God are actually one further outraged the orthodox, which believed that God, as creator of the world, transcends it. In addition, although most early Sufis conscientiously observed the religious law, some scorned it outright, proclaiming their inner light a sufficient source of religious guidance.
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