Persecution of Sufis over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution, and violence both by Sunni and Shia Muslims,For further informations, see the articles Islam and violence and Sectarian violence among Muslims. such as destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, murder, and terrorism against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries. The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist" (i. e., that the supreme Shiite jurist should be the nation's political leader).
In most other Muslim-majority countries, attacks on Sufis and especially their shrines have come from adherents of puritanical and revivalist schools of Islamic thought (Deobandi, Salafi movement, Wahhabism, and Islamic Modernism), who believe that practices such as visitation to and veneration of the tombs of Sufi saints, celebration of the birthdays of Sufi saints, and dhikr ("remembrance" of God) ceremonies are bid‘ah (impure "innovation") and shirk ("polytheistic").Salafi intolerance threatens Sufis |Baher Ibrahim |guardian.co.uk |10 May 2010
History Examples of people presumably executed for their Sufi views and practices include: Abbasid mystic Mansur Al-Hallaj in 922, Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani in 1131, Ishraqi philosopher Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi in 1191, Ottoman mystic and mutineer Sheikh Bedreddin in 1420, and the wandering dervish Sarmad Kashani in 1661 in Mughal India. The exact reasons for executions in some of those cases were disputed.
Suppression of Sufism in the Islamic world has a long history and it has been motivated by both religious purposes and in later centuries, also political purposes. Though some Muslims see Sufism as a pious and pure expression of faith, its doctrines and practices have been rejected by others.
Revivalist Ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328) wrote about what he called the metaphysical "deviations" of Sufism, and criticism of Sufism is attested in the writings of Ibn Jawzi. Subsequent Muslim theologians influenced by Ibn Taymiyya's doctrines such as Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shawkani, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab etc. would arise to attack the mystical beliefs and practices of various Sufi Tariqahs. In the 19th century, these ideas became popular and several Islamic reformers began condemning Sufi practices as contrary to Tawhid.
During the Safavid dynasty of Iran, "both the wandering dervishes of 'low' Sufism" and "the philosopher-ulama of 'high' Sufism came under relentless pressure" from powerful cleric Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (d. 1110/1699). Majlesi—"one of the most powerful and influential" Twelver Shiʿi ulama "of all time"—was famous for (among other things), suppression of Sufism, which he and his followers believed paid insufficient attention to Shariah law. Prior to Majlesi's rise, Shia Islam and Sufism had been "closely linked"., pages 115–116
In 1843, the Senussi Sufi were forced to flee Mecca and Medina and head to Sudan and Libya.
After the Sheikh Said rebellion, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, first President of the newly founded Republic of Turkey, banned the Sufi orders in 1925. Iranian reformer Ahmad Kasravi participated in burning Sufi literature. Though Sufism has declined in the past century, it has enjoyed a resurgence in Turkey and artworks on Sufi themes may be found exhibited in the art galleries of Istanbul, such as the work Miracname by artist Erol Akyavas, which depicts time and the cosmos as symbols of the "miraculous journey". In Iran, prominent figures in Iranian intellectual circles continue to be influenced by Sufi traditions including Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Shariati.
Current attacks In recent years, shrines, and sometimes mosques, have been damaged or destroyed in many parts of the Muslim world. Some Sufi adherents have been killed as well. Ali Gomaa, a Sufi scholar and Grand Mufti of al-Azhar University, has criticized the destruction of shrines and public property as unacceptable.
Bangladesh Islam spread in Bangladesh through Sufis but in recent years have been under attack to impose a more stricter interpretation of Islam. Sufi Leaders Muhammad Shahidullah and Farhad Hossain Chowdhury were assassinated in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Shariat Sarkar, a baul singer, was detained in January 2020 was detained following a case filed by an Islamic cleric after Sarker said Islam did not prohibit music.
Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government, radical Islamist were attacking liberals, religious minorities, and Sufis. Since the collapse more than 80 shrines have been vandalized in Bangladesh. According to the Global Sufi Organization, six Sufi practitioners have been killed and dozens were injured in attacks.
Pakistan The persecution of Sufis and the Sufi tradition has encompassed various forms of oppression, including the destruction of Sufi shrines and mosques, the suppression of Sufi orders, acts of violence, and discrimination against Sufi adherents in several Muslim-majority nations, such as Pakistan.
Since March 2005, 209 people have been killed and 560 people have been injured in 29 different terrorist attacks which targeted shrines devoted to Sufi saints in Pakistan, according to data which has been compiled by the Center for Islamic Research Collaboration and Learning (CIRCLe, a think-tank which is based in Rawalpindi). At least as of 2010, the number of attacks has increased each year. Pro-Sufi Barelvi dominate Pakistan's religious landscape, and as a result, they are victims of the anti-Sufi campaigns which are being waged against them by the Deobandi, according to John Schmidt, lawyer and former United States Associate Attorney General (1994–1997). Deobandi and Barelvi are the "two major sub-sects" of Sunni Muslims in South Asia that have clashed—sometimes violently—since the late 1970s in Pakistan. It is not clear whether Sufis are being persecuted by Barelvi or Deobandi state banned militant organizations, since both groups have been accused of anti-Shia terrorism.Researcher Amir Rana (a researcher and editor quarterly research journal Conflict and Peace Studies. What is young Pakistan thinking?) claims than Deobandi themselves are often Sufi, as "Naqshbandi, the major Sufi cult in Pakistan, is mainly the Deobandis" (source: ). Maulana Qasim Nomani, the Rector of Deobandi seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has denied either that his school is anti-Sufi or promotes militancy, stating Deoband scholars like Ashraf Ali Thanwi, and others were Sufi saints as well and they had their Khanqahs (Sufi hospice). Who said we are against Sufism? We very much follow the Sufi traditions and all of our elders were Sufi practitioners of Sufi tradition (source: ) According to the Jamestown Foundation, Deobandi have also been victims of sectarian strife.Scores of Deobandi leaders and members of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamat (ASWJ, formerly the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan) have been assassinated in Karachi in recent years. Police sources say that the Sunni Tehrik, a Barelvi organization, is behind most of these assassinations. (source: )
In 2005, militant organizations began attacking "symbols" of the Barelvi community such as mosques, prominent religious leaders, and shrines.
Timeline 2005 19 March: a suicide bomber kills at least 35 people and injured many more at the shrine of Pir Rakhel Shah in remote village of Fatehpur located in Jhal Magsi District of Balochistan. The dead included Shia and Sunni devotees.Timeline: Persecution of religious minorities |DAWN.COM |4 November 2012 27 May: As many as 20 people are killed and 100 injured when a suicide-bomber attacks a gathering at Bari Imam Shrine during the annual festival. The dead were mainly Shia. According to the police members of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) were involved. Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), were arrested from Thanda Pani and police seized two hand grenades from their custody.Bari Imam blast: Masterminds belong to LJ linked group By Shahzad Malik |14 June 2005 2006 11 April: A suicide-bomber attacked a celebration of the birthday of Muhammad (Mawlid) in Karachi's Nishtar Park organised by the Barelvi Jamaat Ahle Sunnat. 57 died including almost the entire leadership of the Sunni Tehrik; over 100 were injured.Three LJ activists indicted in Nishtar Park blast case, Dawn, 2 September 2009 Three people associated with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were put on trial for the bombing. (see: Nishtar Park bombing) 2007 18 December: The shrine of Abdul Shakoor Malang Baba is demolished by explosives. 2008 March 3: ten villagers killed in a rocket attack on the 400-year-old shrine of Abu Saeed Baba. Lashkar-e-Islam takes credit. 2009 17 February: Agha Jee shot and killed in Peshwar, the fourth faith healer killed over several months in Pakistan. Earlier Pir Samiullah was killed in Swat by the Taliban 16 December 2008. His dead body was later exhumed and desecrated. Pir Rafiullah was kidnapped from Nowshera and his beheaded body was found in Matani area of Peshawar. Pir Juma Khan was kidnapped from Dir Lower and his beheaded body was found near Swat.PESHAWAR: Another faith healer shot dead in Peshawar |By Ali Hazrat Bacha |dawn.com |18 February 2009 Faith healing is associated with Sufi Islam in Pakistan and suppressing it has been a cause of "extremist" Muslims there.Faith Healing and Skepticism in Pakistan: Challenges and Instability |Ryan Shaffer |csicop.org |Volume 36.6, November/December 2012
5 March: The shrine of Rahman Baba, "the most famous Sufi Pashto language poet", razed to the ground by Taliban militants "partly because local women had been visiting the shrine".Terrorism Monitor Brief, March 19, 2009 8 March: Attack on shrine of "famous Sufi poet" Rahman Baba (1653–1711) in Peshawar. "The high intensity device almost destroyed the grave of the Rehman Baba and the gates of a mosque, canteen and conference hall situated in the spacious Rehman Baba Complex. Police said the bombers had tied explosives around the pillars of the tombs, to pull down the mausoleum".And now Sunni vs Sunni Riaz ul Hassan |circa July 2010 8 May: shrine of Shaykh Omar Baba destroyed. 12 June: Mufti Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi killed by suicide bomber in Lahore. A leading Sunni Islamic cleric in Pakistan he was well known for his moderate views and for publicly denouncing the Taliban's beheadings and suicide bombings as "un-Islamic". 2010 22 June: Taliban militants blow up the Mian Umar Baba shrine in Peshawar. No fatalities reported.Express Tribune, June 22, 2010 1 July: Multiple bombings of Data Durbar Complex Sufi shrine, in Lahore, Punjab. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up killing at least 50 people and injuring 200 others. 7 October: 10 people killed, 50 injured in a double suicide bombing attack on Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi 7 October: The tomb of Baba Fariddudin Ganj Shakkar in Pakpattan is attacked. Six people were killed and 15 others injured. 25 October: Six killed and at least twelve wounded in an attack on the shrine of 12th-century saint, Baba Farid Ganj Shakar in Pakpattan. 14 December: Attack on Ghazi Baba shrine in Peshawar; three killed. 2011 3 February: Remote-controlled device is triggered as food is being distributed among the devotees outside the Baba Haider Saieen shrine in Lahore, Punjab. At least three people were killed and 27 others injured. 3 April: Twin suicide attack leaves 42 dead and almost a hundred injured during the annual Urs festival at shrine of 13th century Sufi saint Sakhi Sarwar (a.k.a. Ahmed Sultan) in the Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claims responsibility for the attack. 2012