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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.
(©2003 Asia Times Online
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