Daily Times

A real Sufi endeavours to tame animalistic instincts, passions and negative ideas; he tries his utmost to cultivate in himself the feelings of goodness, love and sacrifice. After reaching the acme of spiritual elevation, he takes every pain for spreading teachings of love, brotherhood, self-abnegation, peace, patience and equality among the entire people of the world.

He sheds the light of wisdom in the abysmal darkness of ignorance, rejects the class-riddled system, flays exploitation, criticises cruelty, rebels against the prevailing false system, ridicules caste, colour and creed, chides cruel customs and traditions, slams worldly power, slays racism, censors extremism, abhors pride and hates prejudice. He sacrifices all his worldly possessions, including family, wealth, etc, for upholding the flag of truth and serving humanity. This sense of duty becomes his passion of love, ishq. No power on earth can deviate him from his path of preaching and practicing universal love.

No one can deny the sincerity and contributions of Sufis, who faced untold problems and tolerated acute sufferings in spreading the teachings of Islam (peace and love) in the subcontinent. Saints like Hazrat Ali Hajveri, Moinuddin Chishti, Qutab-ud-Din Bakhtyar Kaki, Farîduddîn Mas’ûd, Nizamuddin Auliya, etc, still live in the hearts of the people due to their all-encompassing and humanitarian teachings. To show their devotion, respect and love, many people, including Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and rulers like Mughal Emperor Akbar and present day leaders like President Zardari wish to visit the shrines of these great saints for getting blessings.

However, the tragedy is that with the passage of time, many custodians, if not all, of the shrines of the saints have indulged in worldly pursuits, pleasures and manipulations. They have forgotten spiritualism and learnt materialism.

Noted scholar Dr Ayesha Siddiqa writes, “Sufism in the subcontinent changed when it morphed into an institution which would readily partner with the state. Contrary to the basic principle of Sufism that appreciation in the eyes of God — who is perceived as the ultimate beloved — depends on the hard work of the disciple, the form which evolved in the 19th and 20th centuries, turned the shrine into the nucleus that was dominated by a hereditary system. The pirs’ hard work of spiritualism was marketed through his family, with the son taking over from the father and so on.”

Genealogy became the only criterion for being a pir and the basic qualities like having noble character, honesty, love to serve humanity and hunger for getting knowledge were put aside. Bulleh Shah, a great Sufi saint, challenged and ridiculed this prevailing custom in these words: To admonish Bullah came his sisters and sisters-in-law/ Why have you brought disgrace to the Prophet (Muhammad PBUH) and to the progeny of Ali (RA)? Listen to our advice, O Bullah, and leave the hem of the Arain’s skirt. /Let anyone, who calls me a Sayyad, be punished with the tortures of hell/ And let him revel in the pleasures of heaven, who labels me an Arain/ If you seek the pleasures of the spring season, become a slave of the Arain.

A new class of the ‘pir-lords’ emerged along with the other ruling class of feudal lords in the subcontinent. Like feudal lords, these materialistic and worldly pirs became interested only in getting power and pelf.

Acknowledging the importance of Sufis and their inheritors in the subcontinent, Edward Backhouse Eastwick (1814 -1883), a British orientalist and diplomat, wrote, “Of what use are saints? Dead perhaps they are not of much avail, but the saints in the East are living as well as dead and those who are still incorporate, are of use.” The British followed his advice and used many pirs for sustaining their Raj in the Subcontinent.

Sarah F D Ansari, in her book Sufi Saints and State Power: The Pirs of Sind, 1843-1947, writes, “Muslim rulers in India resolved problems of stability by drawing on the support of local notables. The British, their Indian empire expanding and faced with the dilemma of how to control their newly acquired territories with limited manpower resources, likewise turned to local power holders, including members of Indian Islam’s religious elite. Under these circumstances, those who were prepared to cooperate found their position in society bolstered by the authorities. Consequently, mutually advantageous relationships developed between powerful indigenous groups and the British.”

After sensing that the British would quit India after the Second World War, some pirs joined the All-India Muslim League. The Muslim League also used them to win the 1946 elections. Some important pirs like the Pir of Taunsa Sharif, Pir of Golara Sharif, Pir of Makhad, Pir of Jalalpur, Pir of Alipur, Pir of Pakpattan, the Qureshi and Gillani Pirs of Multan, sajjada nashin of the Chishti Shrine of Mahar Sharif (Bahawalpur), the sajjada nashin of the Dargah of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer) and the sajjada nashin of the Dargah of Nizamuddin Aulia (Delhi) played an important role in those elections. All these pirs were also big landlords.

After Partition, the pirs became a part of the ruling and privileged class. They did not hesitate in supporting General Ayub Khan in his 1964 polls against Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah and took no time to support Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto later. After Bhutto, many pirs, like Sajjad Hussain, felt no remorse about supporting military dictator Ziaul Haq. The examples of Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his father Sajjad Hussain of south Punjab and Syeda Abida Hussain and Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat from north Punjab can be given to prove the veracity of our thesis. All these pirs have served Zia, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Now, many pirs, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, have joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. The late Syed Shah Mardan Shah II, widely known as Pir Pagara, used to talk about his links with GHQ. All these pirs seem oblivious to the teachings of Sufism. They are not ready to kindle the light of modern education in their areas, as that is a threat to their rule. A private TV channel has shown the miserable condition of the followers of Faisal Saleh Hayat and Prime Minister Gilani. Words cannot describe the abject poverty, abysmal ignorance, false traditions, superstitions and poor health and education systems under which the people of these areas live.

Like other pirs, Prime Minister Gilani takes pride in calling himself a pir and son of Ghaus. All the ruling pirs should pay heed to the saying of Hazrat Ali (RA): “If someone’s deeds lower his position, his pedigree cannot elevate it.”

It is ironic that while innocent people of Pakistan are dying due to sectarianism, bomb blasts, stray and targeted bullets, hunger, poverty, fake medicines and malnutrition, our pirs and military establishment are using religion to protect their own partisan interests. In these gloomy times, our media and social networks are rendering meritorious services by unmasking the real faces of the ruling class, including pirs and the establishment. Due to awareness created by the media, a majority of urban people know, Ameer-e-Shahar gharibon ko loot leta hai/ Kabhi ba-heel-a-e-mazhab kabhi banaam-e-watan (A lord robs the poor, sometime in the name of religion, sometimes in the name of patriotism).

The writer is a staff member and he can be reached at faheem.dt@gmail.com