Sufi Political Activism
This is an excellent piece by Dr. Edward Moad on the history of Sufism, how virtually every orthodox Sunni scholar was involved with Sufi orders, and the political activism of the great Sufi saints, many of whom were scholars and warriors.
From the likes of Imam Hasan al Basri and his contempt for the Umayyads, to Imam Junayd al Baghdadi and Imam Al Ghazali, to the reforms of Imam Ahmad ibn Idris and his student Muhammad ibn Ali al Senussi’s jihad in Libya, Imam Uthman dan Fodio’s Islamic state in West Africa, and Emir Abdul Qadir al Jaza’iri’s fight against French colonization in Algeria, and Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi and Shah Ismail Dehlawi’s jihad in India.
Islamic scholars traditionally distrusted governments. And while rebellion against rulers has generally always been discouraged, Sufi orders played a vital role in making sure that Muslim societies didn’t need to rely on the government.
Many projects from the funding of schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, guilds for workers, were done entirely without government support. This was in addition to the official Waqf system which kept things running smoothly. And many times Sufi orders like the Qadiris and Naqshbandis and Chishtis and others would be involved in advising rulers and having people in key positions of influence.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who accuses orthodox Sunnis/Sufis of political quietism, and to the imbecilic Wahhabis who claim Sufis never did armed jihad. Many of the key fighters in the Crusades were Sufis. All the anti colonial efforts against the British/French and others were led by Sufis.
It is also food for thought for the goofy pseudo Sufi cults (and some authentic Sufi groups) who collect large donations for their own manhaj/Pir/Shaykh but refuse to discuss political issues.
https://open.substack.com/pub/coherenceoftheincoherence/p/a-political-history-of-sufism?