It is said that the word Sufi is derived from tasawwuf, or the wearing of wool. This is probably a reference to the ascetic nature of Sufis. Prior to the emergence of Sufism as we know it, Muslims had in their early years known some ascetics, such as Abu Dharr Al Ghafari who was one of Muhammad’s companions; those had probably been influenced by the lifestyle of some Christian monks who had chosen to be cloistered in their monasteries, and perhaps also by that of Hindu ascetics.
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