Origin of the word ‘Sufi’

In medieval India, Sufism was an important aspect of Islam. Various authorities have offered different explanations regarding the origin of the word “Sufi”. According to one school of thought, the term Sufi has been derived from ‘suf’ or garments of coarse wool that were worn by the Sufi saints as a badge of poverty. Abu Nasral Sarraj, the author of an Arabic treatise on Sufism, traces the origin of term by the word suf (wool).

Generally, authorizes are of the opinion that virtuous people were called safa. Hence the nomenclature Sufi. According to another school of though, the term has been derived from the Greek word Sophia meaning wisdom or knowledge.

Jahiz of Basra was the first writer to use the word Sufi in 869 A.D. Jami mentions that sufi was first applied to Abu Hashim of Kufa in the 8th century while Aul-Kusheri opines that this term was introduced in A.D.811.