Difference Between Bhakti Movement And Sufi Movement: These two movements are well recognized around India to have shaped traditional singing into what it is now. Singers and Songwriters have been recognized the world over for their work and their contribution. These songs written and sung by them usually depict the times they live in and it’s either about how cruel the times were to them or the writers find the beauty in the times they lived in. The Bhakti movement and Sufi movements had immensely influenced the Muslims and Hindus of the country at the time and they are still sung to keep a reminder of how different things were in the olden days.
In this article, we will look into how the Bhakti movement began its history and also how the Sufi movement began and how it influenced various people around the world. We will also look into the difference between the Bhakti Movement and the Sufi movement.
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What is the Difference Between Bhakti and Sufi Movements?
Bhakti Movement
The Bhakti movement probably began in Tamil Nadu around the 6th and 7th century AD and it had created a huge deal of popularity through the poems of the Vaishnavite, Shaiviteand Alvars and Nayanars poets. In the state of Karnataka, the bhakti movement began by Basavanna) in the 12th century for a time that was threatened by the different caste hierarchy and it had stretched over the fabric of local society. While the orthodox society had managed to resist the Bhakti movement in this state began to produce a literature that was known as Vachana Sahitya composed by Basava as well as his disciples who are, Devara Dasimayya, Allama Prabhu, Akkamahadevi and others.
Sufi Movement
Sufism is a Muslim belief where people try to create a personal experience with God through an interpersonal relation they create. It creates various ways to attain wisdom and get closer to god to get inner peace within the person. It aimed at providing a service to mankind through a spiritual movement. The movement was divided into two bases and this is the people who followed the Islamic law (Ba-Shara) and those who aren’t bound by Islamic laws (Be-Shara). The movement was eager for Hindu-Muslim Unity.
Difference Between Sufi and Bhakti Movement
The main difference between the two was that the Bhakti movement was influenced mainly by Hindus and the Sufi Movement by the Muslims. The Saints of the Bhakti Movement were Kabir Das, Nanak, Meerabhai, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who sang Bhajans to worship Gods and Goddesses. The saints of the Sufi Movement included Amir Khusrau, Hasan of Basra and Moinuddin Chishti who would sing Qawwalis which was a type of music that would influence people to religious devotion.
The Bhakti Movement began sometime around the eighth century whereas the Sufi movement started in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century. The Sufi movement is a religious order for any Islamic denomination and has been misunderstood as another form of Islam whereas scholars regard the Bhakti movement as a social movement and a type of reformation. The Sufi movement has influenced all over the world in different parts of the Asian continent and other countries but the Bhakti movement had influence in India only.