Daily Times

Imran Khan is a hero and heroes can do no wrong. He has decided to marry again. Marriage is obviously his personal decision and a private matter but he is a public figure. Public figures in Pakistan have also engaged in multiple marriages without any fuss. Why are we picking on him?

He seems proud that he is achieving something wonderful; she must be glad that she was able to convince him of it. But there are genuine public concerns because he thinks, and we agree that he is different. A lot of us want be like him and live in his Naya Pakistan.

Marriage can be an ordeal but Imran Khan perhaps likes the sound of wedding bells. Like Bollywood films, his imagination only carries him as far as the altar. What he has not learnt is that wedding is an event with a pledge, and marriage is about fulfilling that pledge. Wife is not a new car either, which you buy to drive occasionally while a driver maintains it otherwise.

Imran Khan has proposed to his faith healer. This looks bizarre, but can be interpreted as Transference. It is a common experience among those having psychodynamic therapy. I may be biased but psychiatrists are the modern day successors of Sufis and Saints. This point, even with evidence, goes lost on them as Rafiq Akhtar spent a quarter of his lecture (three published pages) rebutting me to his followers and I still await Sarfraz Shah’s promised wonder. I argued the same to Khan in 2008 that if he wants to know Islam; he should spend time with scholars like Javed Ghamidi.

Despite interesting sermons, Imran Khan is a simple man. I affectionately equate him to Peter Pan — the boy who never grew up. However, it is not his fault this time. Those who know and/or practice the Sufi method are in shock as what Ms Maneka is doing is unethical. She is actually trapped in Counter-Transference. If I decide to marry one of my patients, I would lose accreditation and get struck off the medical register. This would be due to taking advantage of a vulnerable person and having a conflict of interest.

Imran Khan’s reliance on a Pir has frightening consequences for him and the rest of us. Knowing him and the trance-like state he is in, he is not going to back down. The onus is now on Ms Maneka and the Pir-community to come forward and stop something unethical from happening. If we have completely lost it as a nation, we should perhaps petition Jemima Khan to save our soul again

Khan is fascinated by spirituality. I do not want to psychoanalyse him at this stage but its roots lie in his childhood. Different faith healers entered his life following life events, which had made him most vulnerable. He relied on Mian Bashir during his mother’s illness and following career-threatening stress fracture.  He was under the influence of Rafiq Akhtar until after his first marriage collapsed. Following his accident/fall before the 2013 elections, he was fascinated with a Pir from Jhelum until first Dharna came to an end.  His advice apparently helped him recover from the back injury. He has been relying on Ms. Maneka and family since then.

Khan has tried following the spiritual path for some time. For this, you need to pass through seven stages of conquering your nafs (self/ego) under the guidance of a Pir/Murshid. He has apparently done a bayyat (oath of allegiance) and became a Murid (disciple) of Ms Maneka. She is responsible for instructing, supporting, and appraising his spiritual progress. He is seen carrying a rosary to do wird (eg, ‘Allah, Allah’), which is a unit of dhikr containing patterns of spiritual knowledge and self-awakening.

As a Murid, Khan is supposed to utter wird a number of times a day and at a specific times while keeping his Pir/Pirni in tasawwer (view). Awrad become increasingly ‘heavy’ and it depends upon the himma (strength) of the Murid how quickly he can perform those. The Murid gradually understands the reality that the Pir is his key to reaching Allah. The Pir then grows to become the most beautiful and powerful for him. The Murid wants to see him/her everywhere and always. The intensity of feelings grows — jealousy, possessiveness, and ambivalence are experienced. The Murid is not sure about the feelings and tries to approach the Pir for clarifications. He/she sometimes meets but on other occasions avoids.

On meeting, the Pir does not say much, which inflames these feelings more. The Murid ponders, meditates and finds his own meanings. The profound love that the Murid has for his Pir reaches such a level that he perceives the Pir often standing in front of him. The Pir also searches in the visionary dreams whether the Murid has reached where they are bound to each other. This is where perhaps Imran Khan is in his spiritual journey — spiritual union experienced as physical union/visions in dreams. It is Ms. Maneka’s responsibility to interpret these visions as spiritual only and not entertain his advances/‘proposal’ as a reality.

Imran Khan’s reliance on her/Pirs has frightening consequences for him and the rest of us. Knowing him and the trance-like state he is in, he is not going to back down. The onus is on Ms Maneka and the Pir-community now to come forward and rescue something unethical from happening. If we have completely lost it as a nation, we should perhaps petition Jemima Khan to save his/our soul again.

The writer is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Visiting Professor. He tweets @AamerSarfarz

Published in Daily Times, January 14^th 2018.