Sufiism

by

Anwar Sheik

   

    The Violent Truth Behind The Sufi Mask

Following is a presentation of excerpts taken from Sita Ram Goel's works.

Many Hindus have been misled, mostly by their own soft-headed scholars, to

cherish the fond belief that the Sufis were spiritual seekers, and that unlike

the Mullahs, they loved Hindu religious lore and liked their Hindu neighbours.

The Chistiyya Sufis in particluar have neem chosen for such fulsome praise. The

orthodox among the Muslims protest that the Sufis are being slandered. But the

Hindus remains convinced that they themselves know better. Professor Aziz Ahmad

is a renowned scholar of Islam in India. He clinches the matter in the following

words : "In Indian sufism anti-Hindu polemics started with Muinal-din Chisti.

Early sufis in Punjab and early Chistis devoted themselves to the task of

conversion on a large scale. Missionary activity slowed down under Nizam al-din

Auliya, not because of any new concept of eclecticism, but because he held that

the Hindus were generally excluded from grace and could not be easily converted

to Islam unless they had the opportunity to be in the company of the Muslim

saints for considerable time."

Of course, the Auliya who lived in a sprawling khanqah and re- ceived rich gifts

out of plunder was convinced that he himself was such a Muslim saint. His temper

and teachings can be known easily from die, writings of Amir Khusru, the poet,

and Ziauddin Barani, the historian. Both of them were leading disciples of the

Auliya. Both of them ex- press a great hatred for Hindus, and regret that the

Hanafl school of Islamic Law had come in the way of wiping out completely the

"curse of infidelism" from the face Hindustan.

A similar Sufi saint who died a mere 79 years before Waliullah's birth, was

Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624). He was always foaming at the mouth against Akbar's

policy of peace with the Hindus. He proclaimed himself the

Mujaddid-i-alf-i-sdni, 'renovator of the second millennium of Islam'. Besides

writing several books, he addressed many letters to several powerful courtiers

in the reign of Akbar and Jahangir. His MaktiibCtt-i-Imdm RabbanT have been

collected and published in three volumes. According to Professor S.A.A. Rizvi,

"Shariat can be fos- tered through the sword' was the slogan he raised for his

contemporar- ies.

A few specimens should suffice to show the quality of this man's mind. In letter

No. 163 he wrote: "The honour of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One

who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims... The real purpose of levying

jiziya on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able

to dress well and to live in gran- deur. They should constantly remain terrified

and trembling. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the

honour and might of Islam." In Letter No. 81 he said: "Cow-sacrifice in India is

the noblest of Islamic practices. The kafirs may probably agree to pay jiziya

but they shall never concede to cow-sacrifice." After Guru Mun Deva had been

tortured and done to death by Jahangir, he wrote in letter No. 193 that "the

execution of the accursed kafir of Gobindwal is an important achievement and is

the cause of the great defeat of the Hindus."

Sirhindi ranks with Shah Waliullah as one of the topmost sufis and theologians

of Islam. Referring to his role, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad has written in his

Tazkirah that "but for these letters Muslim nobles would not have stood by Islam

and but for the efforts of Shaikh Ahmad, Akbar's heterodoxy would have

superseded Islam in India."' Later on, when K.A. Nizami published a collection

of Shah Walilullah's letters addresed to various Muslim notables including Ahmad

Shah Abdaii, he dedicated it to Maulana Azad. The Maulana wrote back, "I am

extremely happy that you have earned the merit of publishing these letters. I

pray from the core of my heart that Allah may bless you with the felicity of

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(Kurukshetra) at Thanesar, as also the tomb of some

    (Muslim) saint, These have been demolished, and a huge gurudwara has been

    con- structed on the same sites. Besides, the kafirs are holding many

    celebra- tions of kuft....

    It is a thousand pities that the reigning king is a Mussalman, and we

    recluses find ourselves helpless. There was a time when Islam stood

    glorified due to the might and prestige of its kings, and the Ulama and the

    Sufis were honoured and held in high regard. It was with their help that the

    kings made the Shariat preva. I have heard that one day Amir Taimur was

    passing through the bazar at Bukhara when, by chance, the inmates of Khwaja

    Naqshbandi's khdnqah were beating the dust out of the mats used in that

    place. Because Islam was intact in Amir Taimur, he stopped at that spot and

    regarded the dust of the khdnqah as musk and sandal. He met a good end."