Between mullahs and mystics By Aijazz Ahmed

[Guest guest]

Between mullahs and mystics

By Aijazz Ahmed

 

ISLAMABAD - I forget the name of that gentleman I met three years

ago in Islamabad on the evening of a Pakistan-India parliamentary

conference. Nothing important in his personality, except for one

astonishing fact: despite being a Hindu hailing from a traditional

Indian society, he believed strongly in Muslim saints and mystics.

It was this belief, and the concomitant faith in miracles and the

magnanimity of god, that led this busy man to travel to Ajmair

Sharif in India every year to offer food to the visitors of the

shrine of Khuaja Moinuddin Ajmairi.

 

The story of his life, which he related to some Pakistani

journalists, explained his unusual beliefs. According to him, he had

lost his job around 1974 and had not been able to find another until

mid-1975. Some of his Muslim friends advised him to visit the shrine

of Khuaja Moinuddin Ajmairi in Ajmair Sharif, advice which he

accepted out of desperation. When he visited the shrine, he emptied

his pockets with a commitment that if he would get a job he would

visit the shrine every year and offer food for visitors according to

his capacity. That done, he was worrying about getting a ride back

to his home in Bombay, when suddenly a friend appeared and offered

him a lift. By the time he reached his home, he discovered a large

amount of money in his pocket and an appointment letter from the

BBC.

 

Great power to this day Indeed the saints, mystics and spiritual

leaders of Islam today hold great power over a large part of the

human race. It is a power that has existed for almost a millennium,

and it is due largely to the faith's tradition of equal treatment to

all people no matter what their religion, caste or creed.

 

Contrary to the mystics and the Sufis, there were those Islamic

religious leaders - usually called " mullahs " - who behaved in a very

different way. Their treatment of peoples from the other religions

and other the sects of Islam is very harsh and insulting. " Murdering

a Shi'ite is a sacred and virtuous deed " was a common saying of

Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi (murdered in the early 1980s), chief of

the sectarian Muslim group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. And to this day,

the Sipah and its splinter groups Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Akram Lahori

repeat that profanity.

 

This is not the real Islam. " Islam is democratic in spirit. It

advocates the right to vote and educate yourself and pursue a

profession, " says Dr Anees Ahmed, director-general of the Dawah

Academy and an Islamic scholar attached to the International Islamic

University. In fact, hardliners who portray Islam as a religion of

violence and tolerance go against the Koran itself, says Ahmed. The

Koran, on which Islamic law is based, enjoins Muslims to govern

themselves by discussion and consensus and not by the sword and

murder of people from other religions and sects.

 

Historically, the mystics and the Sufis were the religious leaders,

not the mullahs. In early ages of Islam after the Prophet Mohammed,

all four caliphs were scholars and not mullahs. Their attitude

toward religious minorities was very kindhearted and supportive.

They assured full protection and religious independence and autonomy

for keeping religious activities and performing worships, says Dr

Manzoor Ahmed, well-known researcher and scholar. Not only were the

four first caliphs and the following Muslim rulers not mullahs, they

did not allow theocracy in their respective governments.

 

 

Early Indian mystics and monarchs

 

According to historian and researcher Dr Mubarak Ali, it was the

early Indian Muslim monarchs who injected and encouraged theocracy

in the relatively backward societies of the time; before them,

however, it was the mystics who served as the real face of the

Islamic world.

 

Historic events are quite supportive to his arguments. Famous

mystics, poets and teachers such as the Shaikh Ismail Bukhari of

Lahore (11th century AD); Sayed Ali Hajveri, alias Daata Ganj Buksh

Ali Jaheri (11th century); Baba Fareed Ganj Shakar, who wrote the

first recorded Urdu poetry (13th century); Khwaja Fareed of

Pakpattan (13th century); Usman Marwandi, alias Lal Shahbaz

Qalander, one of the great saints of Sindh (13th century); Bahauddin

Zakaria Multani, who represented the Suhrawardi school of Sufism

(13th century); Shaikh Ahmed Sarhandi, alias Hazrat Mujadded Alf

Sani, who revived interest in Islam and the hadiths (sayings and

teachings) of the prophet Mohammed during the reign of the Mughal

emperor Akbar (16th century); and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai of Singh

(18th century).

 

These Sufi saints were only a few of the many icons of early Muslim

Indian mysticism. None of them were reported to have issued decrees

of murder - either of Muslims or non-Muslims - under allegations of

blasphemy or under any other charges.

 

 

A jubilant blessing

 

" I received my first son because of Daata Ganj Buksh, " said a

jubilant Karamat Masih, a local uneducated Christian during a recent

visit to the shrine of Shrine of Sayed Ali Hajveri (alias Daata Ganj

Buksh Ali Jaheri) in Lahore. " He is my benefactor; I will keep

visiting his shrine. "

 

The shrine of Sayed Ali Hajveri is by no means the only one in

Pakistan. Almost all of the mystic shrines - especially those

dedicated to Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Lal Shahbaz Qalander - are

very popular among non-Muslims in Sindh. And not only among

Muslims. " I am a regular visitor of the shrines of Lal Shahbaz and

Shah Bhitai. They are in my heart and soul, and I cannot keep myself

away from them, " said Ram Perkash, a well-educated Hindu.

 

" Not only myself, but most Hindus living in Pakistan think the same

way. They are also regular visitors of these and certain other

shrines and living mystics. " Few mullahs (except the four imams of

Islam) can match the spirit, status and religious character of the

Sufi mystics, said journalist and historian Qazi Javed. From the

Imam Abu Hanifa to the Imam Shaafi, each and every imam resisted the

cruelties and inhuman attitudes of certain Ottoman caliphs, Javed

says. Often the imams stood against the caliphs for the democratic

rights of the masses. By contrast, many present-day mullahs are an

integral part of the military establishment. Today our mullahs stand

behind dictators to grab the basic rights of the people.

 

Theocracy in the Indian subcontinent was a gift of the Mughal

monarchs, beginning with King Aurangzeb Alamgir, who ruled from 1658

to 1707. Alamgir charged his blood brother Dara Shikoh with an

allegation of blasphemy in a stratagem to gain the crown. He not

only hanged Shikoh but also made his father blind to secure his

rule. Even before the Mughals, monarchs had used mullahs to tighten

their grip on the masses. They got decrees against religious

minorities and political opponents to hang them in the name of

Islam.

 

Yet it was not the sword or the role of the theocrats which spread

Islam in South Asia, says Dr Mubarak Ali. Mystics and saints like

Amir Khusroo, a court musician in the early 14th century and a

reported expert in 16 contemporary languages, including Arabic,

Sanskrit (the mother of the Hindi and Urdu languages), English and

Bengali; Maulana Roomi, a great poet and mystic of Iran; Sayed Ali

Hajveri; Bahauddin Zakaria Multani; Khuaja Moinuddin Ajmairi; and

others preached brotherhood and humanity. They influenced millions

of people and converted them to Islam because of their teachings and

preaching of peace.

 

Sayed Ali Hajveri and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai especially were

against any discrimination against Hindus or other religions. They

opposed the Mughal rulers' atrocities against infidels, and efforts

to convert Hindus and other religious communities to Islam under

threat of death.

 

In the 18th century, Shah Wali Ullah wrote a letter to Shaikh Ahmed

Sarhandi, alias Hazrat Mujadded Alf Sani, and the Mughal monarch,

suggesting and advising Hindus to either embrace Islam or be ready

for execution, said Dr Mubarak Ali. Shah Wali Ullah also invited

Nadir Shah of Iran and Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan to invade

India when the Mughal monarchy became weak after Aurangzeb. Shah

Abdul Azizi and Shah Ismail, both sons of Shah Wali Ullah, were

hardliners. Ismail and Shah Ahmed Badhshah started an armed struggle

against the then non-Muslim ruler and refused to join with Hindus

and other religious communities. Maulana Abdul Hai was another

pioneer of jihad in central India. Haji Shariat Ullah also supported

jihadi activities in Bengal and did not include non-Muslims in his

struggle. The mullahs in Pakistan have largely followed the

footsteps of theocracy in history, arming themselves with the

ammunition of violence, hatred and sectarianism, says Momin Khan, a

left-wing political activist.

 

They frequently issued decrees against their enemies and opponents.

They not only spread hatred but portrayed Islam as a religion that

may not bear others and Allah as a force ready to condemn people to

hell for even minor mistakes. This mindset was spread in mosques, as

there is no particular priestly hierarchy among this strain of

mullahs. With Islam, each individual is responsible for the

condition of her or his own soul. Everyone stands equal before God, "

said Dr Anees Ahmed of the Dawah Academy. He adds that the

theocrats, for their own political and other interests, managed to

keep paish imams (those who lead prayers at mosques) and muezzin

employed. On the other hand, anybody who fulfills the religious

requirements of Islam can lead namaz and other religious ceremonies,

Anees says; Islam has no priesthood.

 

Their political activities and their preachings of power to

typically uneducated mindsets has helped them to influence large

sections of Pakistani society, creating sectarian groups and

fomenting intolerance and violence among the youth. This is

seriously damaging Pakistan's image as a pleasant, religiously

tolerant and peaceful society, says Qazi Javed.

 

The real Islam is something different. Its true face is linked with

the mystics and with love. Islam prohibits cruelties, guarantees

human rights, protects other religious communities and encourages

love and humanity. But the increasing influence of the religious

parties my turn Pakistan into another Iraq or Iran, and it was this

fear that was expressed by President General Pervez Musharraf in a

recent speech. This is exactly what he is trying to prevent for

Pakistan.

 

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EC12Df01.html