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Bhaktism and Sufism in India - Part 2
4.0 THE NIRANKARIS
4.1 Kabir Das
Kabir Das (1440-1518) is said to have been the son of a brahman widow, who abandoned him. He was brought up in the house of a Muslim weaver. Kabir believed that the way to God was through personally experienced bhakti or devotion. He believed that the Creator is One. His God was called by many names - Rama, Hari, Govinda, Allah, Rahim, Khuda, etc. No wonder then that the Muslims claim him as Sufi, the Hindus call him Rama-Bhakta and the Sikhs incorporate his songs in the Adi Granth. The external aspects of religion were meaningless for Kabir. His beliefs and ideas were reflected in the dohas (Sakhi) composed by him. One of his dohas conveyed that if by worshipping a stone (idol) one could attain God, then he was willing to worship a mountain. It was better to worship a stone flour-grinder because that could at least fill stomachs. Kabir emphasised simplicity in religion and said that bhakti was the easiest way to attain God. He refused to accept any prevalent religious belief without prior reasoning. For him, a man could not achieve success without hard work. He advocated performance of action rather than renunciation of duty. Kabir's belief in the unity of God led both Hindus and Muslims to become his disciples.
Kabir's ideas were not restricted to religion. He attempted to change the narrow thinking of society. His poetry was forceful and direct. It was easily understood and much of it has passed into our everyday language.
4.2 Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak was born at a time when the Hindu Bhakti (devotional) movement was in full swing, especially in Northern India. Through Guru Nanak, the Bhakti movement in Punjab became a vehicle of social change and it was the intensity and depth of his message, fortified and consolidated by successor Gurus that served as an edifice on which the super-structure of Sikhism was built. Guru Nanak's genius lay specifically in integrating the contemporary Bhakti-Sufi tradition of spiritual quest with the socio milieu in the totality of the medieval Indian life. Guru Nanak emancipated his followers from all religious and social shackles. He consciously projected new goals, envisaging a socio-religious order based on the concept of universal brotherhood, social justice, and humanitarian cultural vision that would engender peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding through explicit acceptance of cultural pluralism.
Guru Nanak differed considerably from other saints of the Bhakti movement on the concept of God and World. The policy of renunciation of the world or detachment with worldly responsibilities did not find place in his teachings. He denounced the leading of life as an ascetic and put great emphasis on hard work and earning livelihood. For him, taking care of one's family and providing food and shelter for them was one of the prime duties of humans before God. According to him, to find God one does not have to renounce the world, and God could be found while leading an ordinary life as a householder. Nanak saw the world as creation of one supreme power, and since the creator was in the world he created, it could not be treated as unreal
5.0 SUFISM IN INDIA
The advent of Sufism in India is said to be in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. One of the early Sufis of eminence, who settled in India, was Al-Hujwari who died in 1089, popularly known as Data Ganj Baksh (distributor of unlimited treasure). In the beginning, the main centres of the Sufis were Multan and Punjab. By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Sufis had spread to Kashmir, Bihar, Bengal and the Deccan. It may be mentioned that Sufism had already taken on a definite form before coming to India. Its fundamental and moral principles, teachings and orders, system of fasting, prayers and practice of living in khanqahs had already been fixed. The Sufis came to India via Afghanistan on their own free will. Their emphasis upon a pure life, devotional love and service to humanity made them popular and earned them a place of honour in Indian society.
Abul Fazl while writing in the Ain-i-Akbari speaks of fourteen silsilahs of the Sufis. These silsilahs were divided into two types: Ba-shara and Be-shara. Ba-shara were those orders that followed the Islamic Law (Sharia) and its directives such as namaz and roza. Chief amongst these were the Chishti, Suhrawardi, Firdawsi, Qadiri and Naqshbandi silsilahs. The be-shara silsilahs were not bound by the Sharia. The Qalandars belonged to this group.
5.1 The Chishti Silsilah (चिश्ती सिलसिला)
The Chishti order was founded in a village called Khwaja Chishti (near Herat). In India, the Chishti silsilah was founded by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (born c. 1142) who came to India around 1192. He made Ajmer the main centre for his teaching. He believed that serving mankind was the best form of devotion and therefore he worked amongst the downtrodden. He died in Ajmer in 1236. During Mughal times, Ajmer became a leading pilgrim centre because the emperors regularly visited the Sheikh's tomb. The extent of his popularity can be seen by the fact that even today, millions of Muslims and Hindus visit his dargah for fufilment of their wishes. Among his disciples were Sheikh Hamiduddin of Nagaur and Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki. The former lived the life of a poor peasant, cultivated land and refused Iltutmish's offer of a grant of villages.
The khanqah of Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki was also visited by people from all walks of life. Sultan Iltutmish dedicated the Qutub Minar to this Saint. Sheikh Fariduddin of Ajodhan (Pattan in Pakistan) popularised the Chishti silsilah in modern Haryana and Punjab. He opened his door of love and generosity to all. Baba Farid, as he was called, was respected by both Hindus and Muslims. His verses, written in Punjabi, are quoted in the Adi Granth. Baba Farid's most famous disciple Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325) was responsible for making Delhi an important centre of the Chishti silsilah. He came to Delhi in 1259 and during his sixty years in Delhi, he saw the reign of seven sultans. He preferred to shun the company of rulers and nobles and kept aloof from the state. For him renunciation meant distribution of food and clothes to the poor. Amongst his followers was the noted writer Amir Khusrau.
Another famous Chishti saint was Sheikh Nasiruddin Mahmud, popularly known as Nasiruddin Chirag-i-Dilli (the lamp of Delhi). Following his death in 1356 and the lack of a spiritual successor, the disciples of the Chishti silsilah moved out towards eastern and southern India.
5.2 The Suhrawardi Silsilah (सुहरावर्दी सिलसिला)
This silsilah was founded by Sheikh Shihabuddin Suhrawardi. It was established in India by Sheikh Bahauddin Zakariya (1182-1262). He set up a leading khanqah in Multan, which was visited by rulers, high government officials and rich merchants. Sheikh Bahauddin Zakariya openly took Iltutmisht's side in his struggle against Qabacha and received from him the title Shaikhul Islam (Leader of Islam). It must be noted that unlike the Chishti saints, the Suhrawardis maintained close contacts with the state. They accepted gifts, jagirs and even government posts in the ecclersiastical department. The Suhrawardi silsilah was firmly established in Punjab and Sind. Besides these two silsilahs there were others such as the Firdawsi Silsilah, Shattari Silsilah, Qadiri Silsilah, Naqshbandi Silsilah.
5.3 The importance of Sufi movement
The Sufi movement made a valuable contribution to Indian society. Like the Bhakti saints who were engaged in breaking down the barriers within Hinduism, the Sufis too infused a new liberal outlook within Islam. The interaction between early Bhakti and Sufi ideas laid the foundation for more liberal movements of the fifteenth century. Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak had preached a non-sectarian religion based on universal love. The Sufis believed in the concept of Wahdat-ul-Wajud (Unity of Being) which was promoted by Ibn-i-Arabi (1165-1240). He opined that all beings are essentially one. Different religions were identical. This doctrine gained popularity in India. There was also much exchange of ideas between the Sufis and Indian yogis. In fact the hatha-yoga treatise Amrita Kunda was translated into Arabic and Persian.
A notable contribution of the Sufis was their service to the poorer and downtrodden sections of society. While the Sultan and ulema often remained aloof from the day to day problems of the people, the Sufi saints maintained close contact with the common people. Nizamuddin Auliya was famous for distributing gifts amongst the needy irrespective of religion or caste. It is said that he did not rest till he had heard every visitor at the khanqah.
According to the Sufis, the highest form of devotion to God was the service of mankind. They treated Hindus and Muslims alike. Amir Khusrau said "Though the Hindu is not like me in religion, he believes in the same things that I do".
The Sufi movement encouraged equality and brotherhood. It fact, The Islamic emphasis upon equality was respected far more by the Sufis than by the ulema. The doctrines of the Sufis were attacked by the orthodoxy. The Sufis also denounced the ulema. They believed that the ulema had succumbed to world by temptations and were moving away from the original democratic and egalitarian principles of the Quran. This battle between the orthodox and liberal elements continued throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Sufi saints tried to bring about social reforms too. Like the Bhakti saints, the Sufi saints contributed greatly to the growth of a rich regional literature. Most of the Sufi saints were poets who chose to write in local languages. Baba Farid recommended the use of Punjabi for religious writings. Shaikh Hamiduddin, before him, wrote in Hindawi. His verses are the best examples of early Hindawi translation of Persian mystical poetry. Syed Gesu Daraz was the first writer of Deccani Hindi. He found Hindi more expressive than Persian to explain mysticism. A number of Sufi works were also written in Bengali. The most notable writer of this period was Amir Khusrau (1252-1325), the follower of Nizamuddin Auliya. Khusrau took pride in being an Indian and looked at the history and culture of Hindustan as a part of his own tradition. He wrote verses in Hindi (Hindawi) and employed the Persian metre in Hindi. He created a new style called sabaq-i-hindi. By the fifteenth century Hindi had begun to assume a definite shape and Bhakti saints such as Kabir used it extensively.
5.4 Sufi Saints from Punjab
- Fariduddin Masud Ganjshakar (Punjabi (1173-1266) was a 12th-century Sufi preacher and saint of the Chishti Order of South Asia. Fariduddin Ganjshakar is generally recognized as the first major poet of the Punjabi language, and is considered one of the pivotal saints of the Punjab region. Revered by Muslims and Hindus, he is considered one of the fifteen Sikh bhagats, and selections from his work are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred scripture. He is buried in Pakpattan, in present-day Punjab, Pakistan. The city of Faridkot bears his name. According to legend, Far?d stopped by the city, then named Mokhalp?r, and sat in seclusion for forty days near the fort of King Mokhal. The king was said to be so impressed by his presence that he named the city after Baba Farid, which today is known as Tilla Baba Farid.
- Baba Sain Mir Mohammed Sahib (c. 1550 - 11 August 1635), popularly known as Mian Mir, was a famous Sufi saint who resided in Lahore, specifically in the town of Dharampura (in present-day Pakistan). He was a direct descendant of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. He belonged to the Qadiri order of Sufism. He is famous for being a spiritual instructor of Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. He laid the foundation stone of Harminder Sahib.
- Shaykh Ahmad al-Faruqi-Sirhindi: (1564-1624) was an Indian Islamic scholar from Punjab, a Hanafi jurist, and a prominent member of the Naqshband? Sufi order. He is described as Mujaddid Alf Thani, meaning the "reviver of the second millennium", for his work in rejuvenating Islam and opposing the heterodoxies prevalent in the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Most famous of his works are a collection of 536 letters, collectively entitled Collected Letters or Maktubat, to the Mughal rulers and other contemporaries. It consists of three volumes.
- Bulleh Shah: (1680-1757) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, humanist and philosopher. His full name was Abdullah Shah. Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680, in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, in present day Pakistan. His lifespan also overlapped with the Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722-1798), of Heer Ranjha fame, and the Sindhi Sufi poet Abdul Wahab (1739-1829), better known by his pen-name, Sachal Sarmast . The verse form Bulleh Shah primarily employed is called the Kafi, a style of Punjabi, Sindhi poetry used not only by the Sufis of Sindh and Punjab, but also by Sikh gurus. Bulleh Shah died in 1757. His tomb is located in Kasur, present day Pakistan.
- Damodar Das Arora: was a famous Punjabi poet, belonging to the Jhang District. He is famous for his poetic narration of the tale of Heer Ranjha, which is titled Heer Damodar. This was the first Punjabi language poem about this famous love-legend. He was a contemporary of Heer and Ranjha.
- Shah Hussain: (1538-1599) was a Punjabi Sufi poet who is regarded as a Sufi saint. He was the son of Sheikh Usman, a weaver, and belonged to the Dhudha clan of Rajputs. He was born in Lahore (present-day Pakistan). He is considered a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. His tomb and shrine lies in Baghbanpura, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens. Hussain was also the first Sufi poet of Punjabi who adopted the popular measure of Kafi to express his mystic ideas. The credit of introducing the element of the popular love-legends of Punjab (Heer Ranjha and Sohni Mahiwal) to Sufi Verse .
- Sultan Bahu: (ca 1628 - 1691) was a Muslim Sufi and saint who founded the Sarwari Qadiri Sufi order. Sultan Bahu was born in Anga, Soon Valley, in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Like many other Sufi saints of South Asia Sultan Bahu was a prolific writer. More than forty books on Sufism are attributed to him, mostly in Persian. His verses are sung in many genres of Sufi music including qawwali and kafi. Tradition has established a unique style of singing his couplets.Sultan Bahu is a direct descendant of Ali, the cousin of Muhammad. The mausoleum of Sultan Bahu located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab, Pakistan was originally built on his grave but has had to be moved twice when theChenab River changed its course. It is a popular Sufi shrine,
- Waris Shah: (1722-1798) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, renowned for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is best known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature. The story of Heer was also told by several other writers-including notable versions by Damodar Das, Mukbal, and Ahmed Gujjar-but Waris Shah's version is by far the most popular today. Waris Shah is also called Shakespeare of the Punjabi language because of his great poetic love story, Heer Ranjha. Many verses of Waris Shah are widely used in Punjab in a moral context.
The Bhakti movement was a socio-religious movement that opposed religious bigotry and social rigidities. It emphasised good character and pure thinking. At a time when society had become stagnant, the Bhakti saints infused new life and strength.They awakened a new sense of confidence and attempted to redefine social and religious values. Saints like Kabir and Nanak stressed upon the reordering of society along egalitarian lines. Their call to social equality attracted many a downtrodden. Although Kabir and Nanak had no intention of founding new religions but following their deaths, their supporters grouped together as Kabir panthis and Sikhs respectively. The importance of the Bhakti and Sufi saints lies in the new atmosphere created by them, which continued to affect the social, religious and political life of India even in later centuries. Akbar's liberal ideas were a product of this atmosphere in which he was born and brought up. The preaching of Guru Nanak were passed down from generation to generation. This resulted in the growth of a separate religious group, with its separate language and script.
Gurmukhi and religious book, Guru Granth Sahib. Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikhs grew into a formidable political force in the politics of North India. The interaction between the Bhakti and Sufi saints had an impact upon Indian society. The Sufi theory of Wahdat-al-Wujud (Unity of Being) was remarkably similar to that in the Hindu Upanishads. Many Sufi poet-saints preferred to use Hindi terms rather than Persian verses to explain concepts. Thus we find Sufi poets such as Malik Muhamniad Jaisi composing works in Hindi. The use of terms s uch as Krishna, Radha, Gopi, Jamuna, Ganga etc. became so common in such literature that an eminent Sufi, Mir Abdul Wahid wrote a treatise Haqaiq-i-Hïndi to explain their Islamic equivalents. In later years this interaction continued as Akbar and Jahangir followed a liberal religious policy. The popular verses and songs of the Bhakti saints also served as forerunners of a musical renaissance. New musical compositions were written for the purpose of group singing at kirtans. Even today Mira's bhajans and Tulsidas's chaupais are recited at prayer meetings.
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