Naqshbandi

"Throughout the South Asian Subcontinent, the Sufi order of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya was closely associated with Muslim revivalism and conquest. Simon Digby’s translation of the Malfuzat-i Naqshbandiyya, aptly titled Sufis and Soldiers in Awrangzeb’s Deccan, illustrates this trend. The major figure of the work, Baba Palangposh, is a local holy man who joins the army of the Moghul ruler Awrangzeb (1657–1707) and participates in the campaign to subdue the region of southern India. He witnesses a vision of the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle Hamza (slain at the Battle of Uhud in 627, and usually called “the Prince of Martyrs”) in which Hamza gives Baba Palangposh a sword and says: “Take this sword . . . and go to the army of Mir Shihab al-Din in the land of the Deccan [southern India].”"

"Although the Naqshbandi order, which arose in Central Asia, arrived in the subcontinent considerably later than the other orders, it would play a significant role in Indian religious and political matters during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As we have mentioned, Sufi orders often differed from one another with regard to doctrine and practice, as well as in their willingness—or unwillingness, as the case might be—to have dealings with temporal rulers, and this was also true in India. Sufis of the Naqshbandi order, for example, were often involved in the affairs of temporal rulers and carried on a tradition of taking an active role in political and military matters in order to uphold orthodox Sunni Islamic practice and secure the well-being of the Muslim polity. The life of Baba Palang Pūsh, with which this chapter closes, exemplifies the willingness of the Naqshbandis to take part in religiously sanctioned military campaigns."