Every year, The Economist magazine prints a delightful ‘special holiday double issue†around Christmas. It is filled with unfailingly interesting essays on an amazingly wide array of subjects. This year’s piece de resistance is the essay on South Asian Sufi Islam titled “Of Saints and Sinnersâ€.
The essay is a wonderfully reported depiction of popular Islam as practiced by the millions of devotees of Sufi saints whose tombs and shrines are dotted all across India and Pakistan. These adherents range from the more serious-minded who seek self knowledge as a path to knowing God through contemplation, meditation and Quranic recitations to the far more numerous who flock to these shrines to beseech the saints to answer their prayers, leave offerings of gratitude and to celebrate the popular festivals centered around the urs (death anniversary) of their respective saint. An urs is a festive celebration because the word literally means wedding night to signify the saint’s union with God after death.
The Economist essay is focused in large part on the celebration of the urs of the sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif in Sindh, Pakistan where almost a million people congregate for this 3-day event. (2008 was the 734th anniversary of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s death.) The descriptions of the throngs of devotees, their diversity and tolerance, the ubiquitous scenes of dancing and celebration with non-stop performances of beautiful music and sufi poetry are joyous and heart-warming.
The Economist does not acknowledge it but it would be unfair not to give credit here to Declan Walsh of “The Guardian” who first reported in the Western press on this great gathering in Sehwan Sharif last year and where I first learnt of this incredible festival in rich detail. His two pieces in 2007 called “Devotees go for a whirl at the country’s biggest party” and “The greatest party on earth?” are well worth reading. In particular there is a fantastic audio slideshow that I highly recommend. It has several wonderful photographs from the festival and a very traditional qawwali performance at the shrine in the background.
We cannot move on without sampling some music deeply associated with Sehwan and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The signature performance honoring Qalandar (also affectionately known as Jhuley Lal because devotees believe that he fulfils the fertility wishes of childless mothers) is “Lal Meri Pat Rakhio Bhala Jhule Lalan”. Every major Sufi musician or Qawwal performs this regularly and it is not unusual to end the program with this as a finale as it tends to bring the house down. Here are distinctly different versions of this piece from two of the greatest sufi singers of the last half century. Here is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who is in superb form here:
and here is the inimitable Abida Parveen:
There has been a relentless onslaught in Pakistan against this popular and syncretic form of religion for the last 30 years. Since the beginning of the Russo-Afghan war in 1979, the Pakistani military state, Saudi Wahhabi zeal fueled with petrodollars and American cold war myopia all conspired to promote an intolerant and jihadi Islam that has done tremendous damage to the fabric of mostly tolerant South Asian Islam practiced in much of Punjab and Sindh for centuries. Mercifully, it has still survived in very large pockets because it has roots in the people. Yes, it is superstitious but it is also remarkably generous, tolerant and joyful.
Lahore, where I grew up, is a city full of shrines and mausoleums of saints with each of these hundreds of sites tended to by dedicated keepers and visited in large numbers by devotees, particularly for the annual urs celebration. Each saint has their own legend and mythology and locals keep these traditions alive primarily through oral story-telling. Even when you move beyond the large and well known destinations, like the tomb (‘mazar’) of Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hajveri (the 11th century sufi who is virtually the patron saint of Lahore) or that of Hazrat Mian Mir (the 16th century saint deeply venerated by Jahangir and Shahjehan and whose tomb was constructed by Shahjehan’s son, the poet-prince Dara Shikoh), there is an endless stream of people who visit lesser known but no less fascinating shrines of saints whose stories read like something out of Arabian nights.
There is the shrine of Madho Lal Hussain (which is actually two separate people, the Hindu boy Madho and the saint Lal Hussain, who legend has it were inseparable), the site of the annual Mela ChiraghaN (Festival of Lamps) and a place revered by both Hindus and Muslims. There is the remarkable 16th century mazar of the child saint Ghoray Shah (who died when he was 5) and who, it is believed, loved toy horses so a gift of a toy horse from his followers would result in their prayers being answered. This mazar is crowded with people and you can see the many toy horses that devotees continue to bring for Ghoray Shah. There is also Bibi Pak Daman (Chaste Lady), one of the most popular shrines in the city (not far from Queen Mary’s College) which is reputed to be the sepulchre of Ruqqaiya or Bibi Haj and her five virgin sisters. Again, according to local legend Bibi Haj was from Hazrat Ali’s family and came to the sub-continent in the early 8th century several years after the battle of Karbala. However, the earth opened up and buried her alive after she had been asked to appear in front of the local ruler which the chaste lady did not wish to do. (Historians date this grave instead to the 12th century and surmise that the daughters buried here were those of Syed Ahmed Tokhta Tirmizi). And hundreds of these Shehrzad-like stories go on and on in a muddled but tolerant, rich and captivating mix of religion and superstition.
Photo Credits: Title photo is courtesy of Raja Islam
Credits: Information about Lahore’s shrines are sourced from Yasmeen Lari’s excellent Heritage Guidebook on Lahore.
Originally published at Fawad’s blog Moments of Tranquility.
As per my very simple belief system, Islam is Islam is Islam. Period. There is neither Sufi Islam, nor Jihadi Islam or whatever. Islam may be the only religion with very clear and unambiguous fundamental teachings and instruction sets.
I have seen various URS, Mailas and Thailas, where people perform Chadar Charhai (really expensive and fancy Chadars btw), beg to the tenant of the grave to fulfill their needs, people under influence dancing and enchanting stuff, and I wonder if our beloved Quran or Prophet gave us any instruction anywhere to perform these acts, or if people around Rasul-ul-Allah performed these acts in the lifetime or afterwards of Rasul-ul-Allah. I have not found any such example.
Personally I am tolerant of anyone’s belief system, and but I would rather call it sufism with muslim “turka” instead of Sufi form Islam since I don’t think there is any such thing.
BTW, Sufism is and is not syncretic! This is a very subtle confusion.
“Syncretic” – as many understand Sufism (or spirituality) to be without even knowing the word “syncretic” – implies that Sufism collects the best/ interesting/ relevant/ fanciful/ etc. of various traditions and strings them together in one anthology of belief & practice. I have seen quite a few people making a potpourri of their spiritual practice because this is how they perceived Sufism to be – from the OUTSIDE. This is WRONG!
Sufism is an inner tradition. It is about “substance,” which is common to all people and everything. It is inside-out. Like breath, spirit exists in every person and thing – and therefore it takes many “forms.” Only when it is seen from the inside does it make sense on how substance assumes so many forms. It is not the forms put together – as implied by the word syncretic here – that make up the collective Sufism. It is rather the substance that lends a life to the form.
Now each culture and people have varying degrees of – what shall I call it? – practicing or manifesting the substance.
Sufism is like Vanilla Essence. You use it in many varieties of cakes and curries (forms/ outer traditions). The cakes and curries put together do not make the essence. They’d make quite a terrible mess indeed, which some seekers make their belief to be. It is the essence that is present to a great or diluted degree in each form. There are some cakes so overwhelmed with other flavors, you cannot smell the vanilla. Likewise there are many practitioners of Sufism who have a bit of essence but so much of other stuff, that they are really not a good representative of the essence they (somewhat rightly) claim to contain – the story of the superstition-laden South Asian Sufism!
Now I take my leave but not before sharing the delightful story of my visit to the shrine of Sachal Sarmast – another revered great Sufi of Sindh, Pakistan. You can download a live recording of the performance of his kalaam at the link:
http://alustforlife.blogspot.com/2006/05/sachal-sa rmasts-sufi-kalaam-live.html
In-joy!
Contd from previous….
I want to make a comment on this paragraph (excerpted below):
“There has been a relentless onslaught in Pakistan against this popular and syncretic form of religion for the last 30 years…. an intolerant and jihadi Islam that has done tremendous damage….”
A few points:
Tassawwuf (henceforth referred to as “Sufism”) is not a form of religion – more importantly, it is not a branch or sect or form of Islam as is often misunderstood by those who have little hands-on or scholarly knowledge. It is a way to acquire knowledge of the Self – period. Now because there are 6.5 billion people on this Earth – of all variety – the knowledge of their self, of who they are, takes as many paths as there are people. This is what is referred to as the “tolerance” of the inner tradition, but it is not to be confused with a encouragement of superstition. That latter part is the fallacy of Sufism as practiced in South Asia.
… So the point of this little note is to point out that the happy, joyful, yet superstitious hippie Sufism was not leading the society anywhere either. I sometimes wonder if the terribly painful literalist tradition – that is popularly referred to as “jihadi” (“jihadist” in inverted commas is a better way to put it to identify it distinctly from what jihad REALLY means) – is a sort of wake-up call life has imposed on us because we took the romance too far.
Jihad is struggle, and it is the part of the creed of such loving Sufi masters as Rumi. See this:
http://www.philosophersnotes.com/ideas/show/a-jiha d-warrior
I appreciate this blog for it is opening up the subject. But for the very importance of this subtle knowledge that can deliver us from the hell of distorted beliefs that we are living, I will urge any writer Western, Eastern, Northern, Southern to gain experiential knowledge of Sufism – which, by the way, teaches that experiential knowledge (3rd, highest degree) is above intellectual (1st degree) or observational (2nd degree) knowledge.
I look forward to see further comments on the subject. Kudos, ATP!
Dear Fawad:
There really is a time for everything, and that time “arrives.” Just when I had been wondering if the inner tradition (Sufism/ Tassawwuf) would finally openly start helping the society out of the mire that is this maddening literalist reductionist religion which has brought Pakistan and the larger humanity on the brink of suicidal disaster – there start appearing these notes on Tassawwuf.
The Economist article, however, paints only the version that fascinates the mind of a Western tourist. That hippie version that resonated with The Beatles and enchanted a generation or so since.
But this little pocket of Tassawwuf as practiced in South Asia is not the entirety of Tassawwuf. Often, it is downright misleading to those not initiated into the inner tradition.
Contd….
thanks for a lovely article .. mystic traditions always have trouble, in all cultures and times … they just go underground, and continue on …
only a small percentage of people in the earth school are ready for such teachings anyway …
china, still has saints … christians, still have mystics … hinduism is good because it is still cool to be a yogi, but they are everywhere .. just underground
start meditating, it is amazing how many one starts to meet ..
enjoy, gregory lent