ملامح السيرة النبوية في التراث الصوفي الهندي: خواجة غلام فريد نموذجًا

Features of the Prophetic Biography in the Indian Sufi Tradition: Khwāja Ghulām Farīd as a Model

Abstract

The Noble Prophetic Biography (al-sīra al-nabawiyya) constitutes the primary foundation for understanding Islam and embodying its values in the lives of Muslims. Within the Islamic intellectual tradition, however, the sīra has not been treated solely as a historical record; rather, it has frequently been rearticulated through spiritual, aesthetic, and literary frameworks, particularly within the context of Sufi experience (al-taṣawwuf). In the Indian subcontinent—marked by profound religious and cultural diversity—Sufi scholars and poets played a decisive role in transmitting the Prophetic Biography and intensifying its emotional and spiritual resonance among diverse communities. Among these figures, Khwāja Ghulām Farīd Sarāʾikī (1831–1901) emerges as a prominent exemplar, combining the authority of Sufi spiritual leadership with the expressive power of vernacular poetry. Through his Sarāʾikī poetic corpus, he articulated profound devotion to the Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ), integrating Prophetic love (maḥabbat al-nabī) with ethical instruction and mystical insight. His contribution positioned the Prophetic Biography not merely as a narrative of the past, but as a living spiritual presence shaping popular piety in the nineteenth-century Indian subcontinent.