Role of Sufi Philosophy in the Formation of the Composite Culture of Kashmir: An Analysis

Kashmir is known throughout world by its unique culture of brotherhood and religious toleration (Kashmiriyat). From centuries people of Kashmir valley are living together peacefully and harmoniously despite having different religious beliefs. In the medieval period the introduction of Islam in the Kashmir valley by Muslim Sufi saints resulted in a large scale conversion of local people to the new religion. This way Islam and Hinduism became two main religions of the valley, which was earlier dominated by Hindus and Buddhists. The encounter of Islamic and Hindu traditions, ideas and culture gave birth to new indigenous culture by assimilating various ethno-religious traditions and beliefs that were shared among different communities. This new cosmopolitan culture was based on the noble principles of universal fraternity, love, peace, equality, religious toleration and humanism. The best feature of this culture was that religion was in no way a hurdle in life as far as communal harmony is concerned. But this culture did not exist itself as natural phenomena rather it was build and strengthened by Muslim Sufi saints and Shavaite Hindu saints by their philosophy of religious humanism. All Sufi saints and silisilas of Kashmir valley especially Shaikh Noordun Noorani [RA] and Hindu Shaviate women Lala Arifa (Laleshware) played an important role in developing such attitude. From the writings and sayings of Lal ded and Shaikh-ul-Alam [RA] the toleration and pluralism is depicted very well. This paper is an endeavour to explore and analyze the pluralistic vision of Sufi philosophy. Furthermore the role and contribution of Sufi philosophy in the formation of this unique culture of Kashmir known as Kashmiriyat in world will also be highlighted