Editing Tariqa (section)

==History==
The tariqas were particularly influential in the [[Islamization of Sudan|spread of Islam in the sub-Sahara]] during the 9th to 14th centuries, where they spread south along trade routes between North Africa and the sub-Saharan kingdoms of [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]] and [[Mali Empire|Mali]]. On the West African coast they set up Zawiyas on the shores of the river Niger and even established independent kingdoms such as ''al-Murabitun'' or [[Almoravids]]. The Al Hakika Mizaan Mizaani Sufi order deals with heavy internalization and meditations, their spiritual practice is called Al Qudra Mizaan. The [[Senussi|Sanusi]] order was also highly involved in missionary work in Africa during the 19th century, spreading both Islam and a high level of literacy into Africa as far south as Lake Chad and beyond by setting up a network of ''[[Zawiya (institution)|zawiya]]s'' where Islam was taught.

Much of [[Central Asia]] and southern Russia was won over to Islam through the missionary work of the Tarīqahs, and the majority of [[Indonesia]]'s population, where a Muslim army never set foot, was converted to Islam by the perseverance of both Muslim traders and Sufi missionaries. [[Sufism in India]] played a similarly crucial role in the diffusion of Islam at the élite and popular levels; its [[Sufi music|music]], [[Islamic art|art]], and [[Sufi poetry|poetry]] flourished in a highly sophisticated [[Persianate society]].

Tariqas were brought to China in the 17th century by [[Ma Laichi]] and other Chinese Sufis who had studied in [[Mecca]] and [[Yemen]], and had also been influenced by spiritual descendants of the [[Kashgar]]ian Sufi master [[Afaq Khoja]]. On the Chinese soil the institutions became known as ''[[menhuan]]'', and are typically headquartered near the tombs (''[[gongbei (Islamic architecture)|gongbei]]'') of their founders.<ref name=dillon113>{{cite book |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=0-7007-1026-4 |title=China's Muslim Hui community: migration, settlement and sects |author= Michael Dillon |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hUEswLE4SWUC |pages=113–114}} One of Dillon's main sources is: {{cite book |
script-title=zh:中国伊斯兰教派与门宦制度史略 |title=Zhongguo Yisilan jiaopai yu menhuan zhidu shilue |trans-title=A sketch of the history of Chinese Islamic sects and the ''menhuan'' system |language=zh |author= 馬通 (Ma Tong) |place=Yinchuan |publisher= 宁夏人民出版社 (Ningxia Renmin Chubanshe) |year=1983 }}</ref>