So, you think you know: the Sufi connection

Maheen Sabeeh
July 6, 2025

The spiritual path we know as Sufism has stretched across centuries in the form of poetry, devotional song, dance and knowledge. It has left a deep imprint on cultural practices from the Indian subcontinent to Persia and beyond. Test your knowledge of some of the most treasured figures, compositions, and poets in Sufi history.

So, you think you know: the Sufi connection

1. Who is responsible for the original composition of the devotional qawwali, ‘Man Kunto Maula’, which has been performed by qawwals as well as pop artists across decades?

a) Amir Khusro

b) Nizamuddin Auliya

c) Shams-i-Tabrizi

d) Rumi

So, you think you know: the Sufi connection

3. Hafiz, often called a spiritual poet, guide, and friend to any and all of humankind, was born with which birth name?

a) Fariduddin Tabrizi Hafiz

b) Wajiddun Mutawakil Hafiz

c) Jamaluddin Najeebuddin Hafiz

d) Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz

So, you think you know: the Sufi connection

2. In which country was Rumi born?

a) Pakistan

b) Iran

c) Afghanistan

d) Palestine

So, you think you know: the Sufi connection

4. Which practices, if any, were criticised during the early days of Sufi doctrines?

a) Sama

b) Raqs

c) Both of the above

d) None

Answers

1. The correct answer is a.

Amir Khusro (1253-1325) was widely acclaimed as the greatest poet and musician of the thirteenth century. He was a disciple of the celebrated Chisht master Nizamuddin Auliya. Khusro has traditionally been credited with composing the devotional qawwali ‘Man Kunto Maula’, which translates as ‘Whoever accepts me as a master’.

It was originally conceived as a Persian piece as part of Khusro’s attempts to reform the practice of sama—spiritual listening and music—into a more controlled form of musical devotion. Research shows that over time, ‘Man Kunto Maula’ has become almost anthemic for the Chisht Sufi order. Khusro’s innovations in rhythm, melody, and the inclusion of vernacular languages laid the foundation of the qawwali genre. Even contemporary pop artists have sung this qawwali, keeping Khusro’s melody while experimenting with modern instrumentation.

2. The correct answer is c.

Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was born in the city of Balkh (in Afghanistan), and is still considered one of history’s great poets and mystics. At the time of his birth, the city of Balkh was part of the Khwarezmian Empire—a region which, according to today’s political boundaries, is on Afghan territory. During the Mongol invasions, Rumi’s family left Afghanistan for the west. They finally settled in Konya ( modern-day Turkey) in the region of the Anatolian peninsula. It was there that he wrote the Mathnawi in Persian.

Although he spent most of his life in Anatolia, owing to his brilliance, his Afghan origins are still celebrated. Rumi was a poet who transcended locality, and communicated directly to seekers of every faith. He is lovingly known in Turkey as ‘Mevlana’ (our master) and in the greater Persianate world as ‘Mawl n ’. He was a follower of Shams-i-Tabrizi.

3. The correct answer is d.

Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz of Shiraz (commonly referred to as Hafiz) based his pen name on the Arabic word fi —“one who has memorised,”—in this case the Qur’an. Hafiz was born around 1315 in Shiraz, Persia (modern-day Iran), and was given the birth name Shams-ud-din Muhammad. It was through his ghazals—short, lyrical poems—that he secured eternal fame, through which his intertwining of the mystical quest, beautiful eulogy of the Divine, and sharp social commentary flourished. His profound associations with spiritual longing earned him the honorific ‘Tongue of the Unseen’. While the exact dates of Hafiz’s birth and death are unknown, most scholars believe that he died between 1389 and 1390.

None of the other names—Fariduddin Tabrizi Hafiz, Wajiddun Mutawakil Hafiz, or Jamaluddin Najeebuddin Hafiz—are those of any recorded historical person; they are imaginative but fictional names based on typical honorifics and titles of medieval Persianate culture.

4. The correct answer is c.

The use of sama (the practice of devotional and/or sacred music and recitation) and raqs (the ecstatic dance) did meet with suspicion and disapproval from some orthodox factions. This occurred in the early centuries of Sufism. The earliest Sufis, like Hasan al-Basri, and even later traditional clerics, were adamant about music and dance. They believed both would provoke excessive emotions and would take practitioners away from the sober intention of remembering God (dhikr). However, prominent mystics, particularly the Chisht order of Sufism established by Mu n al-D n Chisht in the Indian subcontinent, encouraged these forms of expression.

They viewed them as valid means for achieving spiritual ecstasy (wajd) and divine love. In due course, sama was formally established in the vast majority of Sufi orders. It developed into formal music traditions, such as qawwali in South Asia and the mevlevi sema (whirling dervish) ceremony in Turkey. Raqs became formalised through whirling rites in authorised assemblies. The debate between the ‘intellectual’ and ‘experiential’ approaches within an Islamic framework, created the dynamics that gave Sufism its varied forms. Ultimately its heritage was enriched rather than diminished by this diversity.

So, you think you know: the Sufi connection