The River in my backyard and the ocean in my mind…
Is Sufism the last faith standing? Yes it is. Emphatically. Egypt, 9/11, Turkey, Lebanon, Libya, AfPak (the fashionable United States coinage), Bahrain… democracy’s stepchildren wanting to assert their identity. As the world meanders to its metaphorical non-end (or shall we say end)… Sufism is a reply or a reply that was always there, because we have missed out, because we have always believed in a veneer. Because we have always extended our contract with utopia, hoping that… dystopia is nothing more than this dark film on our skin. We merely need a fairness cream.
Now that the racist in us is staring at the mirror, the Sufi strikes back.
Which is why as the metaphoric apocalypse inches near: a mind of a Sufi would be the last faith standing…
…And those who have followed out this vow of voluntary poverty to the fullest extent possible-to reach absolute perfection is an impossibility, but the fullest possible for a human being-those who have reached the idea of that state, testify that when you dispossess yourself of everything you have, you really possess all the treasures of the world…
(Extracts from an address delivered by Mahatma Gandhi at the Guild Hall on September 27, 1931)
Why Sufism? Let me attempt to give a south Asian reply…
In India, Sufism has never been about Hinduism or Islam. It has always been a confluence and a rebellion. It is probably the only stream of dissident theological thought that questions organised framework of religion yet it never wishes away the same or dismisses the praxis. The engagement is more practiced and definitely more nuanced.
Let’s look at one of the dissident lives.
Bhakta Kavi Salbeg (17th century-1607-1608 A.D.) was the son of Lalbeg, a Mughal
Officer at Cuttack, and his Oriya Brahmin wife. His memorial lies at Balagandi. The place gets its name from the fallen trunk of Kandarasura, who was killed by Lord Balbhadra.
The history of the rathyatra is also the history of Kalaberiyas. They have been professional cart pullers for generations. They serve the Lord and get free accommodation and food during the days of the rathyatra. Villages near Puri have always had a number of people as Kalaberiyas. But even they failed to move the Nandighosha.
Not even an inch.
Let’s look back at the history. Salbeg was never allowed to enter the temple. He had nothing but Lord Jagannath’s name on his lips throughout his life. The pandas threw him out of the city on the eve of a Rathyatra. Salbega offered a silent prayer:
“O’ Lord Jagabandhu! I have no other place to shelter other than thy feet. I am stranded at a distance of 750 kosas. I am now at my wits’ end. I beseech Thee to stay back on the Nandighosa till I reach you.”
The legend of Lord Jagannath says that the Nandighosha carrying Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra refused to move from Chhata Math on the Grand Road till the frail saint arrived at the spot. A number of yagnas took place. Customs were invoked. About 100 elephants pulled the rath along with all the king’s men and the commoners with their customary ferocity. But the rath never moved.
From then the journey of the Lord stops annually at Balagandi (where Bhakta Salbeg’s tomb is located. As Salbeg said:
Naked you came, naked; you’ll go
why do you build bridges or embankments here?
Don’t you know that all is bare and empty
like this invulnerable sky?
What follows is an incomplete list. And if you turn the clock back the earliest challenge to organised strictures came from a collection of people who changed the way we look at the role of religion in our lives. Forever.
Let’s have a look at this list:
• Shankara (788 – 820 AD): shaped an integrated worldview that integrated elements of Buddhism in Hindu philosophy
• Ramanuja (1017-1137 A.D): wrote his interventions on Brahma Sutras, Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishad; and a treatise on Vishishtadvaita
• Basavanna (12th Century): his followers were called to constitute the Lingayats or the Veerashaivas and he wrote some of the most beautiful incantations to Lord Shiva
• Madhava (1238-1319): He talked about the “Dvaita” or dualism, separating the divinity from the human conscience.
• Ramananda (15th century): A disciple of Ramunuja, his devotion and teaching centred around Lord Rama
• Kabir (1440-1510): An ardent follower of Ramananda, he expounded his not-to-be-shaken belief in formless and looked at the limited discourse which interpretative religion offers as opposed to boundless thoughts about divinity
• Guru Nanak (1469-1538): Founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru was a pioneer of the Nirguna bhakti and steadfastly opposed all rituals, caste divisions, religious stand-offs and structured formalism
• Purandaradasa (15th century): One of the greatest composers of Carnatic classical music, he preached equality by integrating Lord Krishna’s thought in his worldview
• Dadu Dayal (1544-1603) A disciple of Kabir, he was a supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity. His followers were known as Dadu Panthis.
• Chaitanya (1468-1533): A devotee of Lord Krishna, he was the founder of modernity through Vaishnavism in Bengal. From his radhabhaab (the radha trance) to his public singing of kirtan, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as he was later called, shook up the contours of religious dogmatism, vigilant keepers of social mores and with it challenged our notions of gender stereotypes.
• Shankaradeva (1499-1569): Was a pioneer of the bhakti movment in Akhom(modern day Assam) . Sankardeva was an important playwright and composer. He was as much devoted to the divine as he was to spread the message of social justice. Akhom’s composite culture had various vanguards including Madhavadeva and Azaan fakir, but Shankardeva remains the single most important influence knitting a composite socio-religious quilt that had an unwavering commitment to equality.
• Vallabhacharya (1479-1531): Under the umbrella of Srinathji, Vallabhacharya looked at Lord Krishna as a humane fountain of compassion.
• Surdas (1483-1563): A blind disciple of Vallabhacharya, he carried his guru’s legacy and demonstrated the myriad and unifying nature of Radha and Krishna’s love.
• Mirabai (1498-1563): Again, much more than her image of being a life-long devotee of Lord Krishna and a composer of a brilliant array of songs, Mira preceded the conventional definitions of feminism, like Akka Mahadevi or Chokhamela or Pandita Ramabai(much later in a different way), Mira challenged the notions of religious ownership and questioned both the nature and the patterns of a deep-rooted sense of patriarchy inside the Hindu fold
• Haridas (1478-1573): a travelling musician. His songs on Vishnubhagwan also give us sharp insights in to natural limitations and fallacies of love
• Tulsidas (1532-1623): Wrote ‘Ramcharitmanas’, an important text not just of India but of the Indian diasporas and their beliefs anywhere in the world, including the island nation states of Mauritus and Fiji
• Namdeva (1270-1309): A disciple of Vishoba Khechar, Namdev’s devotion for Vithoba (Vithoba or Panduranga is an incarnation of lord Vishnu and worshipped in Maharashtra and Karnataka , often depicted as a young boy standing on a brick ) was not class specific. In fact, this unflinching devotion, included the rank and file of society leaving a deep and a necessary intervention on conventional notions of caste configuration
• Jnaneswar (1275-1296): Wrote the magnificent ‘Jnaneswari’, an incisive commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita. Along with Eknatha-a devotee of Vithoba, he opened up a floodgate of later interventions on the text which includes the commentaries ranging from Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari and Vinoba Bhave
• Tukaram (1608–1650): A disciple of Vithal, (Vithal is another name for Vithoba) he propounded the Varkari way of living (I am consciously not using the word sect) and created some of the finest music and oral texts which were his teachings (the musicality of his conversations/teachings were magical and the repository was/is called Abhangas)
• Ramdas: Like a Chanakya to Chandragupta or a later Srimad Rajchandra to Mahatma Gandhi, Ramdas wrote’ Dashabodha’ and shaped the political vision of Chhatrapati Shivaji (guiding the astute king to establish an independent state)
And of course there were global crosscurrents in the form of Saadi and Hafiz of Shiraz in Iran, and Bedil from the Mughal court of Delhi.
In the backdrop of this incomplete list, we have to understand that the core of Indian Sufi movement has always been performance that fuses a sense of tradition to a new window of modernity: whether it is Kabir or a Lalon Fakir, Gagan Harkara or a forgotten pioneer of modern Bengali journalism- Kangal Harinath, whether it is Rabindranath’s rediscovery of Hason Raja or other threads of Bhakti that encompasses Ramananda in the north or a Sri Ramanuja Acharya in south, the codified ‘Meetei’ traditions in Manipur… or the dalit assertion of the Ramnamis or the bargeets of Shankardeva and Madhabdev… all this and more brought the Kirtan to the streets, the Gurbani from inside the gurdwara to a larger populace or a qawwali that broke free from the confines of structure.
All these strands questioned the religious praxis through an organised anarchy and unleashed their version of an ordered chaos, bringing significant social changes that continue to attack the notions of religious ownership.
So the Ramnamis in Chattisgarh, the followers of the Krishna mind-group that founded the Radha Ballabhi sect under Hari Vamsa in 1585 A.D or a Sur Das writing ‘Sursagar’ in Brajbhasha or even a Tagore writing ‘Bhanusingher Padabali’ and ‘Malini’ shows that Indian approach to Sufism was an independent tributary of a large river that meanders along central Asia and goes all the way to north Africa.
Which now brings us to the question as to what exactly is the concept of Sufism?
Don’t get lost in the jargon. Whatever be the term Sufi, Wali, Baul, Darvesh or a Fakir, these are different ways of looking at the laboratory of the mind. Like Plato’s conclaves, these dervishes designed a set of exercises which included inclusivity of faiths, intuitive faculties through ascetic exercises, contemplation, renunciation and self-denial. In the Islamic world by the 12th century A.D, Sufis gently yet firmly said God is ‘Mashuq’ and Sufis are the ‘Ashiqs.’ In the sufiana kalam, the order of sufis got sub-divided largely into Chistis, Suhrawardis, Qadiriyahs and Naqshbandis.
We have to understand that Sufism is a metaphor, for the mystical nature of Islam that transcends narrow sectarian definitions, of organised belief. But what makes Sufis special is that here was the first organised attack on all kinds of communalism, from the very backrooms of religious thought. Sufis were talking about a sense of moral obligation towards the community without becoming dogmatic, talking against the business of war, that stems from a minority inside the religion, who promote their convenient brand of orthodoxy.
It is important to note that Sufism has never promoted itself as a religion but as an independent thought, geared towards a new world older. And the rebellion was quiet yet specific and ripped open the hypocrisy of interpretation of certain religious thoughts by zealots. This helped in bringing a sense of peace and definitely acted as a bridge between the Hindus and Muslims or the Muslims and Christians ,bringing a sense of shared brotherhood. The goal was that of a larger spiritual peace and not just short term goals. These goals were enshrined with the true meaning of Jihad.
• Jihad of the heart (jihad bil qalb/nafs) is about tackling the devil within and not heed to his provocation. This has been classified into greater jihad (al-jihad al-akbar).
• Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) is about upholding the truth and spread the tidings of Islam
• Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) is about choosing the right path and to fight injustice of all kinds
• Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war)
These words are self-explanatory. As is the word Sufi that derives from three Arabic letters sa, wa and fa. There has been intense debates about the reason for its origin from sa wa fa. One school of thought says that the Arabic word ‘suf’ meaning ‘wool’ and in a way ‘cloak’ or ‘shroud’, is an allusion to the Sufi attire; some others attribute the attire to the dervishes, while another school of thought says that it is a hidden sub-text that talks about being enlightened, yet another derivation comes from the word safa which means purity ,also there is an opinion, that Sufi derives itself from the linguistic dissection of the Arabic verb safwe which means ‘those who are selected’.
The complexity also opens up many pathways. What began as a a Shia movement has almost disappeared from the Shias now. Hanbalis, Shafis, Malikis and Hanafis belong to the Sunni thought of different Sufi tariqas.
Let us look at some important tributaries of Sufism through the individual histories of four nations-Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Syria:
In Iran and Afghanistan: The Safaviya order originates from the Safavid dynasty of around 700AD. There are also Chistis, the Nimhaitullhis of the Sufi order and the Naqshbandi, a Sunni order active mostly in the Kurd regions. Legendary Sufis include al-Farabi, al-Ghazali, Jalāl-ad-Dīn Rūmī and Hafez. Rūmī’s two major works: ‘Diwan-e-Sams ‘and ‘Matnawiye Ma’nawi ‘are inscribed in the cannons of global philosophical thought.
While no official statistics are available of the Sufis, it can be estimated that their population between two and four million. Legendary Afghan Sufi poets include Ansari (11th century), Jami (15th century) of Herat, and Sanayi of Ghazni (12th century)
In Afganistan, a number of spiritual mentors or shaykhs (in Persian, pir) imparted their teaching to students (murids) unravelling their own roadmaps to ecstacy. These centres also gained so much of popularity and wealth in the form of endowments (awaqf; singular, waqf), that a community was formed within the community, which moved away from the earlier stated goals of a Sufi. These both rightfully and wrongfully angered the ulama who thought this to be a challenge to the goal of a unified Islamic community (ummah) and declared Sufism as heretical. A sense of tolerance with changing nature of geo-politics has emerged but it’s always an uneasy peace.
In Tajikistan and Syria:
The most important form of Sufism in Tajikistan is the Naqshbandiyya. A number of brotherhoods have almost disappeared by the turn of 20th century including turuqs of the Qadiriyya, Khalwatiyya and Mawlawiyya.
Currently, in Damascus, the leader of the new-style whirling dervishes is Shaykh Hamza Shakkur, the choirmaster of singers (munshidin) in the Umayyad mosque. He collaborates with the’ Al-Kindi Ensemble’ from Aleppo (founded in 1983), run by Julien Jalaleddin Weiss (Frenchman of Swiss origin who dedicated his life to Arab music).
Why and How much?
What makes organised religious thought-streams so insecure about the Sufis? Why is a Sufi, at times, considered a threat to formalism, regimentation and orthodoxy? Why is this thought markedly absent from many so-called liberal countries of the planet? Why didn’t most Sufi brotherhoods tactically react to government pressure, and not doing so many times caved in and fell silent (unlike reformist brotherhoods of the Naqshbandiyya, Shadhiliyya and the Khalwatiyya).
So where do we go from here?
The question is love; it is a microcosm of many micro-responses finding it in a narcissistic clutter of a social networking site, it is seeking the non-plausible.
So a 21st century Sufi response cannot be just an academic exercise that gets into the dialectic forgetting the dilemmas. Sufis have been misrepresented and sometimes dismissed as mere mystics. But we have to realise in the current socio-economic conflict, the way out is the idea of Sufism. Be it Rabindranath, Lalon or Irabot… it is the Sufi sensibility that will delineate between need and greed.
There are voices in my head that are whispering.
And the existence of all those multiple voices is the sutra of the Sufis. When this material world ends and we grapple with ourselves, in the city of mirrors. Amongst our million splintered selves… the Sufi would neither say resist or desist. But would gently whisper.
Persist.
