Transnational Sufism and Charismatic Vernacular Based Teachings in Medieval Sub-Continent

Abstract

The word vernacular refers to everyday language, the customized expressions that used by the people of a particular region. The vernacular is different from official or literary language. It is the way people really talk with each other, i.e. families talk at home. Vernacular in Sufism belongs to a mechanism through which the religious teachings and communications adapted in local regional environments despite Arabic language (a literary language).

The doctrines of Tasawwuf and its practices were influenced into sub-continent have a long history. The first Sufi saint arrived in sub-continent at the closing of the 11^th century. The Sufi saints accompanied with them the religious loyalty, devotion, enthusiasm and piety. They became the Ambassadors of social harmony and cultural integrity in sub-continent. They have contributed immensely in favor of the philosophy, Literature as well as theological ideas. In Sub-continent, the credit of “vernacularization” of Islam and Sufism for the most part goes to these Sufi saints. They challenged the Arabo-Persian linguistic dominance by providing literature concerning belief in divinity in vernacular dialects and languages, as a main stream of these Sufi saints depended less on Persian and Arabic in favor of making accessible to the general public by presenting the Sufi message in an understandable form. Sufi saints kept occupied the medium of vernacular poetry for disseminating the message of Tasawwuf towards the inhabitants. The prime objective of this article is to distinguish and analyze the impact of Tasawwuf campaign in sub-continent in the perspective of vernacularism. I have used in this research article two research methodologies one is the descriptive and the other is analytical. The secondary source materials have been consulted as main sources for writing this research article.