According to Alberuni, the Sufi theories of the soul are similar to those in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. Like the Yoga Sutra, Sufi works also stated that ‘the bodies are the snares of the souls for the purpose of acquiring recompense’. Alberuni also identifies the Sufi doctrine of divine loves as self-annihilation with parallel passages from the Bhagavad Gita.

By the thirteenth century, the Indian Sufis were confronted with the Kanphata (spl it-earned) yogis or the Nath followers of Gorakhnath. Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s description of his conversation with the yogis shows that he was impressed with their theory of division of the human body into regions of Siva and Sakti.

The area from the head to the navel, associated with Siva, was spiritual; the area below the naval, associated with Sakti, was profane. Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya was also impressed with the yogic theory that a child’s moral character was determined by the day of the month on which he was conceived.

The Hatha yogic treatise Amritakunda, which had been translated into Arabic and Persian in the thriteenth century, had a lasting effect on Sufism. Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehlvi observed that controlled breathing is the essence of Sufism. Con­trolled breathing is initially a deliberate action but later becomes automatic.

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He urged practising articu­lated breathing like the perfect yogis, known as siddhas. Yogic postures and breath control became an integral part of Chistiya Sufic practice, and con­trolled breathing was incorporated finally as a vital aspect in all the Sufi orders except the Indian Naqshbandiyyas.

The Sufi theory of wahadat-ul-wujud and Sufi analogies for it was remarkably similar to those of the yogis. SheikhHamiduddinNagori’sHindi verses reflect that yogic influence. The Nath doctrines had a far-reaching influence on the Chishtiya Sheikh Abdul Quddus Gangohi (d.1537).

His Hindi nom de plume was Alakh (Imperceptible). His Rushadnama contains Hindi verses composed by him and his spiritual guides are designed to support the truth of the wahadat-ul-wujud doctrine.

The Imperceptible Lord (Alakh Niranjana), he says, is invisible, but those who are able to perceive Him, are lost to them. In another verse, the Shaikh identifies Alakh Niranjana with God (Khuda).

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References to the yogi saint Gorakhnath in the Rushadnama equate him with Ultimate Reality of Absolute Truth. Some references to those names imply ‘perfect man’ or ‘pedectsiddha’.

The union of Sakti-the sun-and Siva – the moon – is, according to the Shaikh, symbolized by prayers performed hanging upside down with the legs suspended from a roof or the branch of a tree. Here we find very clear evidence of the practices of Hindus tantrism influencing Sufi beliefs.

The cross-fertilization of Sufi beliefs with those expressed by the Kashmiri Shaivite woman yogi Lalla or Lai Ded (Lall Yogesveri) is reflected in the Rishi movement of Shaikh Nuruddin Rishi (d. 1439) of Kashmir.

The Shaikh’s teachings are embodied in his Kashmiri verses, some of which are almost identical with those composed by Lall. Through them the Shaikh emerges as an ardent devotee of God trying to reach the Unknowable in the heart by lighting the lamp of love.

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Nuruddin and his disciples preferred to call themselves rishis, using the well- known term for the Hindu sages. Their main theme was universal love. They served the people without considering caste and class distinctions, planted trees to shade travellers and tried to turn Kashmir into a heaven for the neglected sections of society.

Shaikh Nuruddin believed that, although eating meat was permitted by the shariat, it entailed cruelty to ani­mals, and he became a vegatarian.

The Nath ideas found great popularity in fif­teenth* century Bengal. The Amritakunda, a text on Hatha yoga, was first translated into Arabic in Bengal in the early thirteenth century. Sayyid Murtaza (d. 1662) later wrote the Yoga-Qulandar, identifying the Qalandriyya discipline of Abu Ali Qalandar with yoga practices.

Sayyid Sultan (d. 1668) of Chittagong also composed a number of Bengali works on Mus­lim themes of union with God, with Hindus and yogic overtones. The Haqaiq-i-Hindi by Abul Wahid (d. 1608) of Bilgram (near Lucknow) was intended to crush orthodox opposition to the use of Vaishnavite themes in Hindi poetry recited by the Chishtiyya Sufis to arouse ecstasy.

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To Gesu Daraz, Hindi poetry was more subtle and elegant and transported the Sufis to higher planes of mystical ecstasy than Persian verses did.

The sixteenth century saw a tremendous increase in the volume of Hindi poetry. Naturally its recita­tion at Sufi gatherings required some defence. Mir Abul Wahid sought to justify this practice by giving Islamic equivalents for features of the Krishna leg­end such as Krishna, Radha, Gopi, Braj, Gokul, Yamuna, Ganga, Mathura, and the flute in his Haqaiq- i-Hindi.

He pleads that this identification renders unobjectionable the transport of Sufis into ecstasy on hearing Hindu Vaishnative poetry. The translation of Sanskrit works into Persian at Akbar’s court had made Muslims aware of the Vedanta School of Hindu philosophy. Jahangir identified the highest form of Sufism with Vedanta.

The Sufi saints preached in the language of the masses and made immense contribution to the devel­opment of Hindi and provinicial languages including Bengali, Punjabi, Kashmiri, etc.

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The Sufis, despite their strict adherence to the laws of the shariat and practices of orthodoxy, instead of criticizing the religion, mythology and folklore of the Hindus, were broad-minded enough to study them in their Hindi verses.

Some went to the extent of quoting verses from Hindi poems while delivering religious ser­mons from the pulpits. Badauni tells us that Makhdum Shaikh Taqiuddin Waiz Rabbani used to read occa­sionally verses from Chandian of Mulla Daud relat­ing to the love of Lorik and Chanda.

Once when a certain person asked the Shaikh the reason of choos­ing to recite Hindi verses in his religious sermons, the saint replied that the whole thing is full of divine and pleasing subject.

Malik Muhammad Jayasi, though an orthodox Muslim, was also a good Sufi and yet has mentioned Hindu gods and goddesses and has shown his familiarity with Vedanta, Yoga and Nath cults.

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The Muslim author of the Mrigavati and Madhumalati, of Manasat, and other Hindi poems had already paved the way for Jayasi. The Sufi poet Qutban not only wrote in the language of the people of the locality, but was also fully conversant with Hindu mythology. He had neither contempt nor prejudice for the Hindu scriptures and mythology.