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Mian Mir's love for God-loving people made him stand head and shoulders above the pirs of his time, and even in death he became a beacon of hope and inspiration for the future generations
Mian Mir once said: “When a faqir becomes perfect and his heart is cleared of doubt, then nothing can give him (her) harm or cause him (her) injury. He himself becomes a king then. He does not pay any regard to a king. The kings, on the contrary, are overpowered by him.” Like all true saints, Mian Mir believed in what he preached and followed it himself.
This was never truer then when the great Mughal emperor Jahangir came to pay homage to the pious Sufi saint at his shrine. Mian Mir unlike most other saints had his mureeds standing guard outside his shrine to stop people from entering the shrine without the permission of the saint. Emperor Jahangir came with his whole bandwagon, as was the protocol of a king at that time; however he was stopped by the mureeds from entering. Jahangir was angry and ashamed that he being the king was required to ask for permission to enter a premises within his own kingdom. Being a wise king, Jahangir controlled his emotions and waited. After a little while he was given permission and he went in to meet Mian Mir.
Unable to control his earlier indignation he said to Mian Mir: “On the doorstep of a faqir, there should be no sentry,” to which Mian Mir replied, “They are there so that the dogs of the selfish men may not enter.” The emperor felt ashamed, but however asked for the blessing of the pir for his upcoming military campaign in the Deccan.
As if this were not enough humiliation, a man came to pay homage to Mian Mir. The man was poor and hence could only offer one rupee in homage to the great saint. Mian Mir asked the devotee to take the one rupee and give it to the poorest man he could find in the shrine. The man returned after a while with the one rupee in his hand stating that no one is poor enough or willing enough to take it. Pointing towards Emperor Jahangir the saint said, “Go and give this rupee to him, he is the poorest and most needy of the lot. Not content with a big kingdom, he covets the kingdom of the Deccan. For that, he has come all the way from Delhi to beg. His hunger is like a fire that burns all the more furiously with more wood. It has made him needy, greedy and grim. Go and give the rupee to him.”
This begs one to ask the question why would an emperor or anyone else need to go and get insulted by a pir in order to get his blessings. There are very different views or opinions about why people go to Sufi saints. A few people usually only go because it is what they have been practicing since they were little children accompanying their parents, thus making it a ritual of sorts that come every Thursday one must go and pay homage to a saint.
The masses flock to such shrines not for spiritual closeness to God but rather for the free food being distributed to all those who come to pay their respects to Mian Mir. The irony is that the people who come to distribute food at the shrine are usually the ones who want to give out food so that they can have the blessings of the saint for their personal endeavours, much like the example of when Emperor Jahangir went to Mian Mir for his personal gains. As for the poor, they are usually there for the free meal, but one is put off by mobs vying for food at such chaste places.
There are very few who actually know why they are devotees of Mian Mir. In Islam there is the concept of asking God for whatever you want and need, but since we as human beings have become so corrupted and impure, we need to ask someone who is purer than us to help us out with taking our requests to God. The perception behind this being that those who are closer to God will not have their requests turned down, even if they are carrying someone else’s request.
For this reason these people flock to the shrines of pirs. Yet most often than not these pirs turn out to be nothing more than conmen trying to fleece a quick buck out of needy people. In retrospect, Mian Mir’s saying, “A Sufi is one who does not exist, i.e. he is united with God,” speaks volumes about him. His love for God-loving people made him stand head and shoulders above the pirs of his time, and even in death he became a beacon of hope and inspiration for the future generations and truly lived up to his own saying that, “The hold of the friends of God is the same after their death as it was during their lifetime.”
Aun Zaidi is a freelance journalist. He can be reached at z_aun@hotmail.com
In loving memory of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah (peace be upon him and his progeny) Introduction: Ya Adhemeen by Ahmed Bukhatir The Music/Ode: Mawlay by Muhammad al-Husyan Video by: Hamza Mehmood
Madhu Lal Hussain said, "Be never engaged at all in arguments so long but ponder over your end so says Hussain Faqir."
Mela Chiraghan or Mela Shalamar ("Festival of Lights") is a three day annual festival to mark the urs (death anniversary) of the Punjabi Sufi poet and saint Shah Hussain. It takes place at the shrine of Shah Hussain in Baghbanpura, on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens. The festival used to take place in the Shalimar Gardens also, until President Ayub Khan ordered against it in 1958. The festival used to be the largest festival in the Punjab, but now comes second to Basant.
Poetry / Kafis of Shah Hussain
Hussain’s poetry consists entirely of short poems known as "Kafis", usually 4 to ten lines, designed for musical compositions, to be interpreted by the singing voices. The rhythm and the refrain are so balanced as to bring about a varying, evolving musical pattern... folk songs that draw on the emotional experience of the community.... record the reactions to the cycle of birth and the play of desire against the rhythms of hope , despair, exultation and nostalgia.
Today most of these Kafis are sung, by well know singers and some have even been used as songs in the Indian Film Industry.
All translations are from Najam Hosain’s book quoted below.
Life’s Journey - limits & boundaries
Main wi janan dhok Ranjhan di, naal mare koi challey Pairan paindi, mintan kardi, jaanan tan peya ukkaley Neen wi dhoonghi, tilla purana, sheehan ney pattan malley Ranjhan yaar tabeeb sadhendha, main tan dard awalley Kahe Husain faqeer namana, sain senhurray ghalley
Travelers, I too have to go; I have to go to the solitary hut of Ranjha. Is there any one who will go with me? I have begged many to accompany me and now I set out alone. Travelers, is there no one who could go with me?
The River is deep and the shaky bridge creaks as people step on it. And the ferry is a known haunt of tigers. Will no one go with me to the lonely hut of Ranjha?
During long nights I have been tortured by my raw wounds. I have heard he in his lonely hut knows the sure remedy. Will no one come with me, travelers?
On separation
Sujjen bin raatan hoiyan wadyan Ranjha jogi, main jogiani, kamli kar kar sadian Maas jhurey jhur pinjer hoyya, karkan lagiyan hadiyan Main ayani niyoonh ki janan, birhoon tannawan gadiyan Kahe Husain faqeer sain da, larr tairay main lagiyaan
Nights swell and merge into each other as I stand a wait for him. Since the day Ranjha became jogi, I have scarcely been my old self and people every where call me crazy. My young flesh crept into creases leaving my young bones a creaking skeleton. I was too young to know the ways of love; and now as the nights swell and merge into each other, I play host to that unkind guest - separation.
Female freedom
Ni Mai menoon Kherian di gal naa aakh Ranjhan mera, main Ranjhan di, Kherian noon koori jhak Lok janey Heer kamli hoi, Heeray da wer chak
Do not talk of the Kheras* to me,
Oh mother do not . I belong to Ranjha and he belongs to me. And the Kheras dream idle dreams. Let the people say, "Heer is crazy; she has given her-self to the cowherd." He alone knows what it all means. O mother, he alone knows. Please mother, do not talk to me of Kheras.
*The Kheras were a wealthy family.
Mai ni main kinon akhan Dard vichoray da haal ni
Dhuan dhukhay mere murshad wala Jaan pholan taan laal ni
Jungle belle phiran dhondendi Ajay na payo lal ni
Dukhan di roti, solan da salan Aahen da balan baal ni
Kahay hussain faqeer nimana Shoh milay tan thewan nihal ni
Mela Chiraghan is one of the most cultural events in the city when
Darvesh come from all over the country and join the three days celebrations. Their ash covered faces, colorful dresses and expressions attract a lot of people.
Pakistani Muslim devotees gather around the fire at the shrine of Muslim Sufi Saint Madhu Lal Hussain in Lahore on March 29, 2008 on the saint's409 death anniversary. The three-day annual festival of Hazrat Madhu Lal Hussain started at his shrine with full devotion on 29 March. The festival celebrations were also famous for the Mela Charaghan in which a large number of people from all over the country participate.
Devotee: A Muslim celebrates at the shrine of Saint Shah Hussain during the first day of the annual religious festival in Lahore on Saturday. The three day festival of the prominent Sufi poet and spiritual leader Madhu Lal began at the shrine on Saturday. Arif Ali, AFP
I just watched a More 4 documentary (A Jihad for Love - heartbreaking stuff) and briefly it covered the story Shah Hussain, the sufi poet saint, and Madho Lal his Brahmin male lover. Apparently their love story is renowned and celebrated annually by followers of the Sufi religious branch. Did any of you know about this/ hear about this before? Their tombs lie side by side and their names have even been merged when referring to just Shah Hussain, Madho Lal Hussain i believe.
Dhamal at the urus of Madhu Lal Hussain (R.A) Lahore
Biography of Shah Husayn (Madhu Lal)
Shah Husayan (1538-1599) is commonly known as Madhu Lal Hussain, the story being that he adopted his Hindu friend Madhu Lal's name to immortalise their friendship. He was around during the time of the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jehangir. Though of a poor family, Hussain was highly educated.
His poetry is full of symbolism. Some of his most famous kafis feature the Charkha, as in those days foreign merchants used to sell cotton to Lahore, which the poor later weaved into cloth.
Hadrat Shah Lal Husayn of Lahore, a disciple of Bahlul Shah Daryai. His mother was a Rajput woman of the Dhadha tribe, and his paternal ancestors were known as Kalsarai. Thus Lal Husayn's own name was originally Dhadha Husayn Kalsarai. The first of his ancestors to accept Islam was a man named, Kalsarai who became a Muslim during the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlag, and was appointed by him to be Shaykhul-Islam. The family name, Kalsarai, dates from that time. Lal Husayn showed, even as a child, a marked preference for clothes of saffron and red colour, hence the epithet Lal added to his name. Very early in life it became clear that he possessed a religious disposition, and while still only ten years' old he was initiated into the Qadiri Order by Bahlul Shah Daryai.
For twenty-six years he strictly followed the rites and practices of Islam, and led a life of real austerity. But on reaching the age of thirty-six, it is said that while studying a commentary on the Quran under a certain Shaykh Sa 'du'llah in Lahore, he came one day to the verse; "The life of this world is nothing but a game and sport." (vi. 32). He asked his master to explain this to him, but when the usual meaning was given he refused to accept it, saying that the words must taken literally, and that henceforth he himself would pass his life in sport and dancing. This incident proves to be a turning point in his career and from that time he sought to express in life the extraordinary views he held.
In consequence he abruptly left the madras and went about shouting and dancing in public. He never returned to his student life and religious practices. One of his first acts on leaving his studies was to throw his book. Maddrik, a commentary on the Quran, into a well. His fellow-students, grieved at the loss of so valuable a work began to chide him, whereupon he turned and addressed the well as follows: ""O water, return my book, for my friends are anxious to have it;" on saying this he drew it out unsoiled.
He now gave himself up to the life of a libertine and spent so much of his time in drinking, dancing and music that he became, in the language of the Sufi malamati, blameworthy. It is said that his pir Bahlul Shah Daryai. hearing of the change in his disciple came to see him and, strange to relate, in spite of the freedom from restraint which he himself witnessed in Husayn's manner of life he expressed himself satisfisfied with the hidden sanctity of his disciple, and thereupon confirmed him in his position as his vicegerent in` Lahore.
Hassu Teli, famous as the saint of oilmen, was a contemporary of Lal Husayn. He kept a shop at Chawk Jhhanda near the Mori gate. At first he used to sell corn but later at the direction of his Pir, Shah Jamal ((whose tomb is in Ichhra) he started selling oil.
Lal Husayn, who was in the habit of visiting the tomb of Data Ganj Bakhsh, would stop on his way at the shop and spend some time in dancing and shouting. One day Hassu Teli teasing him said, O, Husayn, why this dancing and shouting? You have no cause for such ecstasy, for I have never seen you in the court of the Prophet." But on the following day, when Muhamad held his court in the spirit world, with all the prophets and saints in attendance including Hassu Tell as one of the representatives of the living saints on earth, a child appeared who first went to the lap of the Prophet, and was then passed from one to the other, finally coming to Hassu Teli. While playing on the latter's knee he plucked out some hairs from his beard. When next Husayn stopped at the oilman's shop Hassu repeated his taunt that the man was not worthy of being admitted into the Prophet's court. For reply Lal Uusayn quietly produced the hairs which he had plucked from Hussu's beard! The oilman was at first thrown into great consternation, but recovering his equilibrium retorted after a moment's silence: "So it was you, was it ? Ah well, it was as a child that you got the better of me!"
Lal Husayn's name is popularly associated with that of another person called Madhu, and in fact, the two are so constantly thought of together that the saint commonly goes by the name of Madhu Lal Husayn as though the master and this disciple of his were one person. Madhu was a young Hindu boy, a Brahmin by caste, to whom Lal Husayn was, one day, irresistibly attracted as he saw him pass by. So strong indeed was the fascination he felt for the boy, that he would rise in the middle of the night and, going to his house, would walk round it. In time Madhu himself felt the attraction of Lal Husayn and, coming under the spell of his fervent love, began to frequent his house, and even joined him in drinking wine. Such intimate connection between a Hindu boy and a Muslim faqir of questionable character very soon become the talk of the place. Madhu's parents feeling it to be a disgrace to their family tried their utmost to dissuade the boy from going to Lal Husayn, but in vain.
So far Madhu, though the bosom friend of Lal Husayn, had not yet renounced Hinduism. It was, we a told, a miracle wrought by LAl Husayn that finally led him and his parents to the conviction of the truth of Islam. The story goes that once when Madhu's parents were going to Hardwar to perform the bathing ceremony they desired to take their son with them. Lal Husayn however, would not let him go, though he promised to send him later. When the parents had reached Hardwar Lal Husayn made Madhu shut his eyes and then, after striking his feet upon the ground, to open them again , Madhu did as he was told and was greatly astonished on looking round to find himself in Hardwar! His surprise was shared by his parents, who marveled at his arrival from such a distance within so short a space of time. Impressed by this miracle, Madhu and his parents on their return to Lahore accepted Islam at the hands of Lal Husayn.
The latter died in 1599 A. D. at the age of 63 and Madhu who survived him for forty-eight years was buried in a tomb next to that of his pir, in Baghanpura, in Lahore. The shrine containing their tombs continues even to this day to attract dense crowds of people of classes. The urs used formerly to be celebrated on 22nd Jamdi 'th-thani, i. e. the anniversary of Lal Husayn's death; but later, in order to avoid any inconvenience through the date for the celebration falling in the heat of summer, it was agreed to make the festival coincide with the advent of spring so now the 14th Baisakh and the last Sunday in March are the recognized dates for its celebration.
Lal Husayn had sixteen Khalifas, four of them were called Khaki, four Gharib, four Diwan, and four Bilawal. After his death four of them, viz. Khaki Shdh, Shdh Gharib, Diwan Madhu, and Shah Bilawal took up their abode at his shrine, and were eventually buried within its precincts.
http://www.abntv.com/festivals/mela_charagan.html
Documentary on Madhoo Lal Hussain
..
SHAH HUSAIN By: Najm Hosain Syed
From his book: Recurrent Patterns In Punjabi Poetry
In the new Lahore lies buried Shah Husain and with him lies buried the myth of Lal Husain. Still, at least once a year we can hear the defused echoes of the myth. As the lights glimmer on the walls of Shalamar, the unsophisticated rhythms of swinging bodies and exulting voices curiously insist on being associated with Husain. This instance apparently defies explanation. But one is aware that an undertone of mockery pervades the air - released feet mocking the ancient sods of Shalamar and released voices mocking its ancient walls. Husain too, the myth tells us, danced a dance of mockery in the ancient streets of Lahore. Grandson of a convert weaver, he embarrassed every one by aspiring to the privilege of learning what he revered guardians of traditional knowledge claimed to teach.
Then again, fairly late in life, he embarrassed every one by refusing to believe in the knowledge he had received from others, and decided to know for himself. He plucked the forbidden fruit anew.
The myth of Lal Husain has lived a defused, half-conscious life in the annual Fare of Lights. The poetry of shah Husain which was born out of common songs of the people of the Punjab has kept itself alive by becoming a part of those very songs. In recent past, the myth of Madhu Lal Husain and the poetry of Husain have come to be connected. But the time for the myth to become really alive in our community is still to come.
Husain s poetry consists entirely of short poems known as "Kafis." A typical Husain Kafi contains a refrain and some rhymed lines. The number of rhymed lines is usually from four to ten. Only occasionally a more complete form is adopted. To the eye of a reader, the structure of a "Kafi" appears simple. But the "Kafis" of Husain are not intended for the eye. They are designed as musical compositions to be interpreted by the singing voice. The rhythm in the refrain and in the lines are so balanced and counterpointed as to bring about a varying, evolving musical pattern.
It may be asserted that poetry is often written to be sung. And all poetry carries, through manipulation of sound effects, some suggestion of music. Where then lies the point in noticing the music in the "Kafis" of Shah Husain? Precisely in this: Husain s music is deliberate - not in the sense that it is induced by verbal trickery but in the sense that it is the central factor in the poet s meaning.
The music that we have here is not the vague suggestion of melodiousness one commonly associates with the adjective "lyrical : it is the symbolic utterance of a living social tradition. The "Kafis" draw for their musical pattern on the Punjabi folk songs. The Punjabi folk songs embody and recall the emotional experience of the community. They record the reactions to the cycle of birth, blossoming, decay and death. They observe the play of human desire against the backdrop of this cycle, symbolizing through their rhythms the rhythms of despair and exultation, nostalgia and hope, questioning and faith. These songs comprehend the three dimensions of time - looking back into past and ahead into future and relating the present to both. Also, these songs record the individual s awareness of the various social institutions and affiliations and clinging to them at the same time - asserting his own separate identity and also seeking harmony with what is socially established.
Through this deliberate rhythmic design, Shah Husain evokes the symbolic music of the Punjabi folk songs. His "Kafis" live within this symbolic background and use it for evolving their own meaning.
By calling into life the voice of the folk-singer, Husain involves his listeners into the age-old tension which individual emotions have borne it its conflicts with the unchanging realities of Time and Society. But then, suddenly one is aware of a change. One hears another different voice also. It is the voice of Husain himself, apparently humanized with the voice of the folk-singer, and yet transcending it. The voice of the folk-singer has for ages protested against the bondage of the actual, but its fleeting sallies into the freedom of the possible have always been a torturing illusion. The voice of the folk-singer is dragged back to its bondage almost willingly, because it is aware of the illusory nature of its freedom and is reluctant run after a shade, fearing the complete loss of its identity. The voice of Shah Husain is transcending folk-singer s voice brings into being the dimension of freedom - rendering actual what had for long remained only possible:
Ni Mai menoon Kherian di gal naa aakh Ranjhan mera, main Ranjhan di, Kherian noon koori jhak Lok janey Heer kamli hoi, Heeray da wer chak
Do not talk of the Kheras to me, O mother, do not. I belong to Ranjha and he belongs to me. And the Kheras dream idle dreams. Let the people say, "Heer is crazy; she has given her-self to the cowherd." He alone knows what it all means. O mother, he alone knows. Please mother, do not talk to me of Kheras.
At first , the little "Kafi" deftly suggests the underlying folk-song patter. The usual figures in the marriage song - the girls, the mother, the perspective husband and the perspective in-laws are all there. And the refrain calls the plaintive marriage-song address of the girl to he mother on the eve of her departure from the parents house.
But the folk-song pattern remains at the level of an underlying suggestion. The mother and the daughter in the folk-song were both helpless votaries of an accepted convention, bowing before the acknowledged power of an unchanging order. Here in the "Kafi" the daughter assumes the power of choice and rejection. She stands outsides the cycles of time and society. The mother continues to represent the social order and the accepted attitudes according to her convictions, the Kheras offer the best possible future for her daughter because they assure mundane security and prestige, within a decaying order. But the daughter I snow determined to go beyond this order and seek further inner development. To her the Kheras, her unacceptable in-laws, represent the tyranny of the actual forced on the individual. To her, Ranjha, the socially condemned cowherd, represents the consummation of her revolt, promising a union which is the real inner fulfillment. The accepted attitudes are based on a superficial vision,
which takes appearance to be the only reality. Ranjha, who always hides his real self behind the shabby garb of a jogi or a cowherd can never be understood and can never be preferred to the wealthy Kheras. His real identity is a mystery that can be realized only in Heer s individual emotions. And for such a realization, a conscious break with the order of appearances is a prerequisite. Husain s triumph is achieved, not by evading the bondage s of the actual but by suffering them and finally transforming them. The mother remains a part of the daughter s consciousness - in addressing her she addresses herself. But this part of her consciousness is now subjected to more vital individual self. In the refrain:
Ni Mai menon Kherian di gal naa aakh
there is a tone of confidence - a mixture of earnest protestation and assured abandon.
Here is a "Kafi" presenting a different emotion:
Sujjen bin raatan hoiyan wadyan Ranjha jogi, main jogiani, kamli kar kar sadian Mass jhurey jhur pinjer hoyya, karken lagiyan hadyan Main ayani niyoonh ki janan, birhoon tannawan gadiyan Kahe Husain faqeer sain da, larr tairay main lagiyaan
Nights swell and merge into each other as I stand a wait for him. Since the day Ranjha became jogi, I have scarcely been my old self and people every where call me crazy. My young flesh crept into creases leaving my young bones a creaking skeleton. I was too young to know the ways of love; and now as the nights swell and merge into each other, I play host to that unkind guest - separation.
The slower tempo of the refrain sets the mood of the "Kafi." The voice of the singer stretches in an ecstasy of suffering along the lengthening vowel sounds. The vowel sounds initiated by the refrain are taken up by rhythms and several other words.
The Heer-Ranjha motif is used here in a different emotional background. The intense loneliness here contrasts sharply with the confidence of fulfillment shown in the earlier "Kafi." Here people s preoccupation with appearances is not treated with indifference;
Ranjha jogi, main jogiani, kamli kar kar sadian
instead it adds to the plain. But in the notes of suffering, there is a strange quality of single-mindedness. One is not aware of any fidgety second thoughts. The plain does not evince any desperation: in fact there is an air of contemplative pose, born out of the awesome finality of commitment.
In another "Kafi" using the Heer-Ranjha motif, we are taken back to a still earlier stage of the poet s emotional Odyssey:
Main wi janan dhok Ranjhan di, naal mare koi challey Pairan paindi, mintan kardi, janaan tan peya ukkaley Neen wi dhoonghi, tilla purana, sheehan ney pattan malley Ranjhan yaar tabeeb sadhendha, main tan dard awalley Kahe Husain faqeer namana, sain senhurray ghalley
Travelers, I too have to go; I have to go to the solitary hut of Ranjha. Is there any one who will go with me? I have begged many to accompany me and now I set out alone. Travelers, is there no one who could go with me?
The River is deep and the shaky bridge creaks as people step on it. And the ferry is a known haunt of tigers. Will no one go with me to the lonely hut of Ranjha?
During long nights I have been tortured by my raw wounds. I have heard he in his lonely hut knows the sure remedy. Will no one come with me, travelers? <
The folk-song locale is present here in the shape of a river, a ferry and a batch of travelers. The travelers gather to set off to remote places for business, duty and other reasons. And there is the self conscious girl who comes daily to hear some chance gossip drop a word about her friend. The river for centuries has flowed between desire and fulfillment. No one knows where it goes; it has no beginning and no end. The river is ancient and unfathomable - holding mysterious dangers. It causes both life and death but shows a fascinating indifference that compels awed men and women to kneel and worship the river. There is another reason for this homage. The river bounds the village. It limits and defines the known and tried capacities of humanity. The girl s father has no possessions beyond the river. What she was born with lies placidly marked this side of the river. What is beyond, is vaguely threatening. But this hazardous unknown fascinates the girl and seeks to lure her out of the complacent peace she was born with.
But the girl in the "Kafi" differs from the girl in the folk-song in one vital respect. The girl in the folk-song has for ages, waited on this side of the river. She visits the ferry and moves among the travelers with questioning looks. But in her words and looks there lurks the knowledge of perpetual impossibility, the acknowledge that desire is never more than a wish is often less than it. The girl in the "Kafi" is prepared to bridge the gap between desire and attainment. She too is aware of the hazards of her ways but for her he imperative need to set out has become the supreme fact.
The image of a patient, desperately looking for a last remedy contains subtle implications. When Heer fakes illness in the house of her in-laws, Ranjha the fake jogi was approached for some magic cure. Heer was cured in a way the people did not foresee and her illness turned out to be of an unexpected nature. Those believing in appearances as the only reality were given a dramatic lesson. Here in the "Kafi", the metaphorical background is recreated. The girl earnestly wishes to align herself with ordinary motives and measures. But the uncommon purpose of her journey and the uncommon destination still stand out among the group of travelers. Her request for some one to accompany her only throws into stranger relief her unique loneliness.
The ecstatic rhythm brings to the refrain a tone of finality, a finality comparable to that of death. The journey across the river is a transition as radical as death. The two worlds of experience are as different from each other as the familiar life and the unknown beyond. (1959)
... Sufis - Wisdom against Violence by Salman Saeed Madho Lal Shah Hussain [1538 - 1599]
The story goes that Madho Lal [a Hindu Brahmin] and Shah Hussain [a Muslim Sufi] were great friends and to immortalise the friendship between the two, Shah Hussain decided to call himself Madho Lal Hussain.
Outside the walls of the Shalamar Gardens in Lahore, there is held an annual festival at the time of Spring harvest called "Mela Chiraghan" or the Festival of Lights, close to the grave of Lal Hussain. In the songs of the village minstrels and the dancers' movements, the myth of Lal Hussain once again is reborn. Grandson of a convert weaver, Lal Hussain embarrassed everyone by aspiring to the privilege of learning.
...
A Victim of Apathy
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
The News, March 29, 2005
LAHORE has two festivals, Basant and Mela Chiraghan, which are cultural and secular in nature.
Mela Chiraghan or the Urs of Madho Lal Husain has long been thrown out of the Shalamar Gardens and the streets which lead to the mazar of the sufi poet have been encroached upon, courtesy the Qabza group.
Mela Chiraghan is closely associated with peasants, and the Mughals, the Sikhs and the British administrations used to observe their festival officially. During the Sikh period, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh used to lead the procession from the Lahore Fort to the mazar.
After the annexation of the province by the British, the festival was announced open to the peasantry from all over Punjab. It was then that the festival was given the name of Mela Shalamar or Mela Chiraghan. Before that it was simply known as the Urs of Madho Lal Husain - a name representing both Muslims and non-Muslims. Ranjeet Singh paid much respect to the sufi poet and saint.
After independence the festival continued as it was designed during the Raj. It used to be the biggest festival of Punjab on which doors of the Shalamar were flung open to the public. But the centre of the festival, Shah Husain, was lost as a poet. There was a time when Shah Husain's poetry was used to train young classical singers. Among the last generation of such singers was Inayat Bai Derowali.
This tradition was also lost till much later when it was revived by singers like Hamid Ali Bela.
He made Husain's verses popular under the banner of the Majlis Shah Husain, formed in 1964.
Husain thereafter has been remembered as a poet.
The Majlis conducted research on the text of Shah Husain's works, got it translated into English and published Haqeeqatul. Fuqara, biography of Shah Husain in Persian. It arranged national seminars, mushairas, book exhibitions and concerts at the Urs. The three-day celebrations were attended by Bengali, Sindhi, Pushto and Urdu writers besides Punjabi writers and poets.
The Majlis also prepared a project for building a Shah Husain cultural centre, but the One-Unit provincial government was not in a mood to honour this 16th century Punjabi poet.
Shah Husain was the pioneer of the kafi. His poetry had influenced the great Sindhi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, on whose Urs the Sindh government declares a holiday. The original manuscript of Bhitai's work also included kafis of Shah Husain. It was this genre which was further developed by Bulleh Shah and Khwaja Farid. Shah Husain's language, images and symbols were frequently used by later kafi writers.
The most striking feature of the language used by Shah Husain was its representation of all dialects spoken in Punjab and adjoining areas. The standard dialect thus united all subdialects.
Kartar Singh Duggal, a prominent writer, says: "Shah Husain wrote in impeccable central Punjab idiom and can claim to be one of those writers who have brought mediaeval Punjabi closest to modern usage." In the light of the comment offered by Duggal, Shah Husain's language can serve as a role model for all books to be written and taught in Punjab. A resolution to this effect is scheduled to be tabled in the Punjab Assembly on April 7.
Another Sikh scholar, Dr Mohan Singh Diwana, who had compiled the verses of Shah Husain in the Persian scrip in the early 1940s, writes in his History of Punjabi Literature, (1932): 'The religious love song found its sweetest singer in Shah Husain whose 60 or so scattered kafis in various manuscripts ... are perfect little gems in their simplicity, music, eternal and changeless love vocabulary, and their elemental passion and saintly spontaneity. Written about 350 years ago, they are as easily intelligible today as then and their lyrical charm has the same glister and perfume as it ever had.' Though Mohan Singh calls these kafis "religious love songs", the Punjab government under bureaucratic influence of the culture ministry has refused to acknowledge the anniversary of the non-conformist poet. Not a single function. has been arranged by any state-run educational or cultural institution. Even the newly-established Punjab Institute of Language, Arts and Culture, headed by a bureaucrat-cum-kafi writer has shown no interest. It is worth noting that the institute in the recent past arranged a function in Multan to pay homage to Khwaja Farid.
The unfortunate aspect of this affair is that the government has not so far considered it proper to arrange visits of foreign cultural delegates to the mazar of this 16th century poet and saint.
Shah Husain continues to be a victim of apathy on the part of the World Punjabi Congress, the Pakistan Punjabi Adabi Board and the Academy of Letters. In the sufi poet's own words: Maaen ni mein kinnun aakhan.
Pakistani worshipers gather next to the mausoleum of Sufi poet Rehman Baba, after an explosion that damaged one corner of the shrine, in PeshawarAP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad
THURSDAY’S bombing in Peshawar was not the first time a Sufi shrine has been targeted by militants.
In March last year, Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-i-Islam destroyed the four-centuries-old Abu Saeed Baba shrine near Peshawar, in the process killing at least 10 villagers who tried to save the monument.
Later in December, suspected Taliban militants attacked and damaged the shrine of Abdul Shakoor Malang Baba, also located near the NWFP capital. But the biggest outrage in terms of symbolic value was yet to come. Thursday’s attack was directed against the final resting place of perhaps the greatest and most revered Pakhtun poet, mystic and Sufi saint of all time.
Rehman Baba is still quoted widely and is a household name in many Pakhtun homes some 300 years after his death. He is a legend on both sides of the Durand Line and the desecration of his shrine has been condemned by both the Pakistani and Afghan governments.
Unlike the vision espoused by the merchants of death now operating in the garb of ‘Islam’, his was a message of love, peace and tolerance. He was not only a mystic and a poet but a cultural commentator of his time.
It would be incorrect to describe the Taliban as ultra- orthodox in their religious views. There are countless people in this country who subscribe to rigid interpretations of Islam but are not in the least inclined to bend others to their will, let alone kill them.
But the Taliban specialise in barbarity and aim to destroy everything they cannot abide. They hate music, clean-shaven men and education for girls, so they blow up CD shops and schools and attack barbers. Since they consider Sufis and their followers to be heretics, the Taliban feel it is their ‘religious’ duty to destroy shrines and kill devotees.
They cannot tolerate Sufi music, dance or mysticism, or the intermingling of the sexes in shrines, or what they see as intercession between the individual and the Creator. It is believed Thursday’s bombing could be linked to the fact that women used to visit Rehman Baba’s shrine.
Sufism with its message of peace, simplicity and equality, and tradition of charity, played a leading role in the spread of Islam in the subcontinent. It is still followed by millions who want little more than to be left alone to pray or rejoice as they please. But bombs and guns do the talking these days and a small minority bent on violence calls the shots.
The people are helpless and the government appears incapable of stemming the rot. Rehman Baba’s words still apply, ‘Contemplate the frantic efforts of the age/ Countless are its antics, boundless is its rage.’
.....
Attack on Rehman Baba is attack on Pashtun identity
On Thursday, terrorists from Khyber Agency blew up the mausoleum of the great poet of the Pashtun and put the state of Pakistan on notice once again about their intent against Pakistani culture. The tomb of Rehman Baba was rebuilt as a complex in 1994 and it included other tombs of great Pashtun cultural icons, such as Akhund Darweza. The Taliban had come to the mausoleum and told the devotees that saying namaz at the mosque attached to the grave was “haram”. The administration knew that a strike would take place but did nothing.
Rehman Baba (1632-1707), who appeared on a Pakistani postage stamp in 2005, is an acknowledged cultural symbol of the Pashtun and Afghan people. While Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689) stands together with him as a classical foil, Rehman Baba has moved the soul of the Pashtun far more. He also stands at the root of Pashtun nationalism and has been adopted in the past by all kinds of secular and conservative movements. He marks a significant phase in the development of Pashto language and his lines are often quoted spontaneously by the speakers of the language. The various schools of thought in the Sufi tradition like the Naqshbandiya, Chishtiya and Qadiriya have claimed him as their own, so great was his appeal among the masses.
In Pakistan, religious culture has been traditionally represented by the Sufi tradition. The culture of the elite, represented by painting, architecture and calligraphy, doesn’t touch the masses whose way of life is reflected more accurately in the collective celebration of Islam’s mystical heritage. The Sufi taught the people how to link their faith with their entertainment and imbue their culture with their religious belief. It is often said that many of the Muslims of the region of Pakistan were brought inside the pale of Islam by the Sufi who sang of Allah’s divinity in the music and dance he inculcated among them, composed in the classical tradition.
It is this culture of the masses that has been targeted by Talibanisation, a new faith born out of the terrorist coercion of Al Qaeda which is steeped in the anti-mystical Saudi-Wahhabi Islam. The trend towards anti-culture extremism, however, is seen across the Islamic world, much aided in the 1990s by Saudi investment in the spread of the Wahhabi faith. Pakistan’s culture has also been under assault from the Taliban who target the dominant Barelvi school of Pakistani Hanafi jurisprudence as representing the “impure” faith. In 2006, a large congregation of Barelvi clerics and leaders was suicide-bombed in Karachi where, too, scores of Barelvi mosques have been grabbed by the more powerful Deobandis.
Pakistan committed cultural suicide when it allowed a purely Deobandi jihad in Afghanistan after 1996, empowering jihadi militias increasingly under the influence of Al Qaeda. Those who planned this strategy were devoid of any sense of culture. This was helped by the fact that Pakistan’s Constitution is silent on culture, most probably because the framers, bedevilled by clashing linguistic and regional identities, were unwilling to define it. Today, the violence of terrorism is expressed through its assault on culture, on entertainment in general, on female education, and the destruction of cultural landmarks.
In Khyber Agency, the Sufi tradition was defeated and ousted by the Taliban as the state stood by and watched. The Sufi leaders fled the agency and left the field open to the extremists. In Swat, a Sufi leader was killed and later exhumed from his grave and made to hang in the city square. Without the refinement of culture, Pakistan is a rudderless society characterised by extremism. The masses are deprived of all collective celebration and are losing their male children to the Taliban as suicide-bombers. The Sindhi, whose mysticism-based culture is still intact in the interior of the province, is yet to appear as a suicide-bomber in the service of Al Qaeda. But even that could change in the face of relentless assault by the Taliban and the desperate secession of the writ of the state. (Daily Times, 7 March 2009)
Sufi Islam versus the Taliban's Wahhabi/Salafi and Deobandi Islam
....
Can Sufi Islam counter the Taleban?
Some believe that Pakistan's mystic, non-violent Islam can be used as a defence against extremism (Photos: Kamil Dayan Khan)
By Barbara Plett BBC News, Lahore
It's one o'clock in the morning and the night is pounding with hypnotic rhythms, the air thick with the smoke of incense, laced with dope.
I'm squeezed into a corner of the upper courtyard at the shrine of Baba Shah Jamal in Lahore, famous for its Thursday night drumming sessions.
It's packed with young men, smoking, swaying to the music, and working themselves into a state of ecstasy.
This isn't how most Westerners imagine Pakistan, which has a reputation as a hotspot for Islamist extremism.
Devotional singing
But this popular form of Sufi Islam is far more widespread than the Taleban's version. It's a potent brew of mysticism, folklore and a dose of hedonism.
Inside the Sufi drumming session at the shrine of Baba Shah Jamal
Now some in the West have begun asking whether Pakistan's Sufism could be mobilised to counter militant Islamist ideology and influence.
Lahore would be the place to start: it's a city rich in Sufi tradition.
At the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri, musicians and singers from across the country also gather weekly, to perform qawwali, or Islamic devotional singing.
Qawwali is seen as a key part of the journey to the divine, what Sufis call the continual remembrance of God.
"When you listen to other music, you will listen for a short time, but the qawwali goes straight inside," says Ali Raza, a fourth generation Sufi singer.
"Even if you can't understand the wording, you can feel the magic of the qawwali, this is spiritual music which directly touches your soul and mind as well."
But Sufism is more than music. At a house in an affluent suburb of Lahore a group of women gathers weekly to practise the Sufi disciplines of chanting and meditation, meant to clear the mind and open the heart to God.
One by one the devotees recount how the sessions have helped them deal with problems and achieve greater peace and happiness. This more orthodox Sufism isn't as widespread as the popular variety, but both are seen as native to South Asia.
'Love and harmony'
"Islam came to this part of the world through Sufism," says Ayeda Naqvi, a teacher of Islamic mysticism who's taking part in the chanting.
"It was Sufis who came and spread the religious message of love and harmony and beauty, there were no swords, it was very different from the sharp edged Islam of the Middle East.
"And you can't separate it from our culture, it's in our music, it's in our folklore, it's in our architecture. We are a Sufi country, and yet there's a struggle in Pakistan right now for the soul of Islam."
Sufism is a mixture of music, chanting and meditation
That struggle is between Sufism and hard-line Wahhabism, the strict form of Sunni Islam followed by members of the Taleban and al-Qaeda.
It has gained ground in the tribal north-west, encouraged initially in the 1980s by the US and Saudi Arabia to help recruit Islamist warriors to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan.
But it's alien to Pakistan's Sufi heartland in the Punjab and Sindh provinces, says Sardar Aseff Ali, a cabinet minister and a Sufi.
"Wahhabism is a tribal form of Islam coming from the desert sands of Saudi Arabia," he says. "This may be very attractive to the tribes in the frontier, but it will never find resonance in the established societies of Pakistan."
So could Pakistan's mystic, non-violent Islam be used as a defence against extremism?
An American think tank, the Rand Corporation, has advocated this, suggesting support for Sufism as an "open, intellectual interpretation of Islam".
There is ample proof that Sufism remains a living tradition.
In the warren of Lahore's back streets, a shrine is being built to a modern saint, Hafiz Iqbal, and his mentor, a mystic called Baba Hassan Din. They attract followers from all classes and walks of life.
'Atrocities'
The architect is Kamil Khan Mumtaz. He describes in loving detail his traditional construction techniques and the spiritual principles they symbolise.
Huge crowds are attracted to Sufi gatherings
He shakes his head at stories of lovely old mosques and shrines pulled down and replaced by structures of concrete and glass at the orders of austere mullahs, and he's horrified at atrocities committed in the name of religion by militant Islamists.
But he doubts that Sufism can be marshalled to resist Wahhabi radicalism, a phenomenon that he insists has political, not religious, roots.
"The American think tanks should think again," he says. "What you see [in Islamic extremism] is a response to what has happened in the modern world.
"There is a frustration, an anger, a rage against invaders, occupiers. Muslims ask themselves, what happened?
"We once ruled the world and now we're enslaved. This is a power struggle, it is the oppressed who want to become the oppressors, this has nothing to do with Islam, and least of all to do with Sufism."
Sufi people are often actively engaged in social welfare programmes
Ayeda Naqvi, on the other hand, believes Sufism could play a political role to strengthen a tolerant Islamic identity in Pakistan. But she warns of the dangers of Western support.
"I think if it's done it has to be done very quietly because a lot of people here are allergic to the West interfering," she says.
"So even if it's something good they're doing, they need to be discreet because you don't want Sufism to be labelled as a movement which is being pushed by the West to drown out the real puritanical Islam."
Back at the Shah Jamal shrine I couldn't feel further from puritanical Islam. The frenzied passion around me suggests that Pakistan's Sufi shrines won't be taken over by the Taleban any time soon.
But whether Sufism can be used to actively resist the spread of extremist Islam, or even whether it should be, is another question.
Suspected Taleban militants in north-west Pakistan have blown up the shrine of a 17th Century Sufi poet of the Pashtun language, police say.
No casualties are reported but the poet Rahman Baba's grave has been destroyed and the shrine building badly damaged.
Rahman Baba is considered the most widely read poet in Pashto speaking regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Taleban had warned they would blow up the shrine if women continued to visit it and pay their respects.
Historic popularity
Literary experts say the poet's popularity is due to his message of tolerance coupled with a powerful expression of love for God in a Sufi way.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that his lasting appeal reflects the historic popularity of Sufism in South Asia.
But our correspondent says that his views are anathema to the Taleban, who represent a more purist form of Islam and are opposed to Sufism, preventing people from visiting shrines of Sufi saints in areas they control.
When the Taleban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 1996, they locked Sufi shrines.
In Mohmand tribal region, the local Taleban captured the shrine of a revered freedom movement hero, Haji Sahib of Turangzai, and turned it into their headquarters.
Taleban leaders have said in the past that they are opposed to women visiting these shrines because they believe it promotes obscenity.
Residents of Hazarkhwani area on the eastern outskirts of Peshawar - where the shrine of Rahman Baba is located - say that local Taleban groups had warned that if the women continued to visit the shrine, they would blow it up.
The destruction of the shrine of Rahman Baba, the Pashtun mystic and poet who is widely regarded, indeed revered, across NWFP is yet another indicator of the advancing wave of intolerance and extremism that now engulfs us. Reports say that the shrine was blown up by militants using up to 40kg of explosive because it was frequented by women. There are reports that militants had warned that they would not tolerate women attending the shrine, and that they suspected them of involvement in immorality or 'illegal acts'. It is difficult to imagine precisely what immoral or illegal acts might have been performed by pious women - but not difficult to imagine the misogynist mindset of those who would banish women forever to a darkened room where their sole function is to cook and produce male children. The deal done in Swat is a Pandora's Box of troubles that now pour out everywhere. The validation of one set of extremist demands now gives them the green light to make other demands wherever they choose in the entire country where they wish their vrit to run. Let us be under no illusion here – the militants now ruling in NWFP have their sights set on ruling Pakistan. All of Pakistan. They wish their interpretation of Islam to be the one followed by all of our people, no matter what their Muslim denomination or their faith – which is why our religious minorities fear for their safety and their future.
Are we to see the great shrines of Uch Sharif similarly attacked? Are we prepared to see our cultural heritage destroyed before our very eyes? Remember the Buddhas of Bamiyan, those ancient structures in Afghanistan that had stood for over a thousand years? Remember their destruction, just a few short years ago? Or the Buddhist statues in Swat? Or the agitation for the destruction of Buddhist and Hindu rock carvings of great antiquity at Chilas? Are we to see the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro pulverized because they are from a time before Islam or our museums razed to the ground in an iconoclastic frenzy that will leave us bereft of our cultural past? How long will it be before bookshops are burning, following hard on the heels of music and video shops? Ours is a land which was a part of the cradle of civilization. Within what are now our borders were sown the seeds of human greatness and invention. We are the custodians of that heritage. We have a duty to ourselves and the rest of the world to protect it. A duty which, as of recent times, we might be said to be failing in.
aah yes, the actions of our ever tolerant shariah loving "brothers", you know the ones who are our saviours from our infidel selves.
Doctor Death said:
Soon most of Pakistan will be celebrating the birthday of the prophet muhammed (S.A.W) the most sacred of all eids but I dread to think what will happen. How many bomb attacks and subsequent deaths. They have started with this shrine. Soon most of the sufi shrines in punjab and sindh will be attacked and they will try and decimate the shrines of Dr Iqbal and Muhammed Ali Jinnah just like their counterparts in Saudi Arabia who have destroyed janat-al-baqi.
I'm not a hardcore beralvi but a traditional sunni hanafi with a strong love for sufiism and its teaching of peace,tolerance and dialogue as practiced by the Prophet (May peace and blessings be upon him). My heart bleeds at what is going on in Pakistan. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Newbie said:
The really scary thing is many many Pakistanis silently support whats happening here
clutch said:
Another attempt to divide Muslims along so-called liberal and so-called fundamentalist lines!
Yes ... I agree the culprits might come across as dressed as Muslims... but rather these people are a) RAW CIA agents b) Unwitting accomplices of Enemies of Islam c) are a small insignificant minority
killuminati said:
The government itself should ban women from entering graveyards and shrines, so that we don't have idiots like these taking the law in to their own hands.
Sufi said:
We need to nuke these b@$t@rd$. Let drop a low yield nuke, it'll take care of all the Taliban and Indian vermin..
Ababeel said:
Unless and until Pakistan take a holistic approach, acts like this will continue.
Pakistan has been fighting and dealing with internal terrorist element for good 8 years now. Whether we agree with various policies adopted in past 8 years is a different matter. Fact is we are focusing on our internal problems.
Problem we have is that we have not addressed external threats that are directly exacerbating this situation. Many of our intellectuals dont even acknowledge this threat exist. They live in a fairy tale lala land. Then we have those who acknowledge it but insist on ONLY focusing on our internal problems hoping things will magically turn around.
Its only when we address both internal and external threats that we will see result. We need to continue to solve our problems internally, and go after those external elements that are exacerbating this situation.
And if our government cant do that for National interest then they have no right on ruling Pakistan.
ZPak said:
Birthday of the prophet is not a sacred eid. There are only two Eid's in Islam. And where did you get the Bull$hit that the Saudis have nauzbillah destroyed Janat-ul-Baqi???
zainabia said:
Why should we made that thing HARAM at our own which was made Halal by Rasool Allah (saw) for his Ummah? (and that too for religious fanatics?)
Women are allowed to visit the graves and graveyards in Islam.
Aisha narrated that she asked the Apostle of Allah): Messenger of Allah, how should I pray for them (when I go to graveyard)? He said: Say, Peace be upon the inhabitants of this city (graveyard) from among the Believers and the Muslims, and may Allah have mercy on those who have gone ahead of us, and those who come later on, and we shall, God willing, join you. Sahih Muslim, Book 004, Number 2127
So, better to educate these religious fanatics, ............. or to close their Madaris where they are brain washed for such terrorist attacks ...... otherwise kill them all as they are FITNA and Quran orders to kill the fitna till it is completely destroyed or show repentence.
There is no other way than this.
zainabia said:
QUOTE (ZPak @ Mar 5 2009, 07:13 PM) * And where did you get the Bull$hit that the Saudis have nauzbillah destroyed Janat-ul-Baqi???
Dear Brother,
I am afraid it is very true that Saudies have destroyed Janat-ul-Baqi and many other sacred places. [This is their version of Islam that it is Shirk. I am not talking if they are right or wrong, but only bringing this fact in light that they have indeed did the destruction of sacred places]
Not only Janat-ul-Baqi, but also following places have been destructed by Saudi Authorities:
* The destruction of grave of Hadhrat Hawa (as) [Eve] in Jeddah. * The destruction of grave of Prophet Elisha in Ewjawm city. * The destruction of Janatul-Baqi, with graves of Imam Hassan (as), Imam Zainul Abidin (as), Imam Baqar (as) and Imam Jaffar-e-Sadiq (as). There are a lot of other companions of Rasool Allah (saw), who are buried here. * 1925 AD Jannat al-Mu'alla, the sacred cemetery at Makkah was destroyed alongwith the house where the Holy Prophet (s) was born. Since then, this day is a day of mourning for all Muslims. * The grave of Hazrat Abdullah, the father of the Prophet (s) in Madina * The graves of the martyrs of Uhud (a)
Note: All these places existed during times of Sahaba, Tabaeen and later Muslim Generations but none destructed it ..... till last century.
Here is a partial list of other places, which were destructed by Saudi Authorities in name of Shirk.
* The house of sorrows (Bayt al-Ahzan) of Sayyida Fatima Zehra (a) in Madina, where she used to weep and mourn after the Prophet (SA). * The Salman al-Farsi (RA)mosque in Madina * The Raj'at ash-Shams mosque in Madina * The complex ( mahhalla ) of Banu Hashim in Madina * The house of Imam Ali (a) where Imam Hasan (a) and Imam Husayn (a) were born * The house of Hazrat Hamza (RA), (the prince of martyrs). * The house of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a) in Madina * The house of the Prophet (s) in Madina, where he lived after migrating from Makkah
*************************
Most Important Question:
Did Rasool Allah (saw) ever destroyed any graves of Muslim or ordered the Sahaba to do so, so that no sign of his grave be left? No, certainly not. Contrary to this, look how Rasool Allah (saw) wanted to show the grave of Hadhrat Musa (as) to his companions.
Narrated Abu Huraira: …Then Moses asked, "O my Lord! What will be then?" He said, "Death will be then." He said, "(Let it be) now." He asked Allah that He bring him near the Sacred Land at a distance of a stone's throw. Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said , "Were I there I would show you the grave of Moses by the way near the red sand hill." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 423
Please also note in above tradition that how Prophet Musa (as) is wishing to be buried in a Sacred Land, while Saudi Authorities say that it’s shirk.
Another Proof is the following practice of Sahaba:
Narrated Abu Burda: When I came to Medina. I met Abdullah bin Salam. He said, "Will you come to me so that I may serve you with sawiq (i.e. powdered barley) and dates , and let you enter a (blessed) house in which the Prophet entered? Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 159
This means had it been a Shirk, then Sahaba would have not done this practice (contrary to this, they would have destructed that Sacred House too in name of Shirk like Saudi Authorities do today)
PakSniper786 said:
The above post is just the tip of the ice-berg, the Saudi's also want to destroy the Prophets Tomb (where he rests in peace). There was an article released in 2008 where one of there Bedouin mullahs was saying they can't wait to see that day. Honestly, these Wahhabi are a threat to Ummah's security and need to be brought down.
zainabia said:
Yes, I also saw that Fatwa in Arabic Language by Saudi Mufties. Let me search for it.
In the mean time, please see the testimony of Hazrat Aisha, who confirms that all Sahaba considered the Rawdah of Rasool Allah (saw) as a Sanctuary (not as Shirk place which should be destroyed) and wished to get buried there.
Narrated Hisham's father: 'Aisha said to 'Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, "Bury me with my female companions (i.e. the wives of the Prophet) and do not bury me with the Prophet in the house, for I do not like to be regarded as sanctified (just for being buried there).'
Narrated Hisham's father: 'Umar sent a message to 'Aisha, saying, "Will you allow me to be buried with my two companions (the Prophet and Abu Bakr) ?" She said, "Yes, by Allah." though it was her habit that if a man from among the companions (of the Prophet ) sent her a message asking her to allow him to be buried there, she would say, "No, by Allah, I will never give permission to anyone to be buried with them." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 428
If any one Interested in the subject for research, he could begin it here as there are links to several external sites with complete details of destruction of Sacred Sites by Saudi Authorities.
QUOTE Tombs at the Prophet's Mosque under threat The Prophet's Mosque in Medina is where Mohammed, Abu Bakr and the Islamic Caliph Umar ibn Al Khattab are buried. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, stated that "the green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet's Mosque." This sentiment was echoed in a speech by the late Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen, one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent Wahhabi clerics: "We hope one day we'll be able to destroy the green dome of the Prophet Mohammed".[4]
Link to Complete Article on Wikipedia with important External Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_sites_associated_with_early_Islam#cite_note-SN-3
Now this is reason of big Anger and Tension against Saudi Authorities by those who don't follow their Ijtehaad, but follow the Ijtehaad of 4 Sunni Imams + Shias.
*****************
Actually, if Mazar of Sufi Poet is bombed by Religious Fanatics in Pakistan, then it is no Wonder. You could find out the real Problem from where the root lies of all this problem.
Therefore, there is no Military Solution to this Problem, but Ulama of Different Schools should sit with the Ulama of Saudia and discuss this Matter on Religious Bases. If we as Ummah able to solve this problem on the Table, then it will be much better than bringing any Military Solution.
Secondly, Media should tell the Religious Fanatics in Pakistan that every Schools of thought should be accepted and respected along with it's Aqaeed. There should be no use of Force in order to impose your version of Islam.
Islamabad—Sajjada Nasheen of Golra Sharif Pir Syed Naseeruddin Nasir died of heart attack in Islamabad Friday. He was fifty-nine years of age.
Naseeruddin Gilani was true Ashaq-e-Rasool, spiritual leader, religious scholar and seven language poet.He was author of eleven books on different subjects of Islam. He was also Chief Editor of the monthly Taloo-e-Mehr.
Pir Naseeruddin had devoted his entire life to the cause of Islam and preaching. He delivered hundreds of lecturers on various issues and subjects relating to the religion and these are available in audio and video formats.
His book on Persian Rubae is included in the syllabus of Tehran University. He was also an active leader of Tehrek-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat and always emphasized the need for Muslim unity and harmony among different sects. He also made active contribution for enforcement of Sharia, propagation of Islam and elimination of terrorism.
He was a scholar, spiritual poet and author of almost 36 books on Islam, Quran and Holy Prophet (PBUH) including ‘Lafz-e Allah ki Tahqiq’, ‘Quran Majid key Aadab-e Tilawat’, ‘Mawazna-e Ilm-o Karamat’, ‘Kia Iblees Alim Tha’, ‘Pakistan men Zalzala ki Tabah Karian’, and ‘Musalmano k Arooj-o Zawal k Asbaab’. His devotees and followers used to visit shrine of Golra Sharif throughout the year and their number surged suddenly during the days of annual Urs of his ancestors.
A tribute to Pakistani soliders fighting the terrorists of Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Sipah-e-Sahaba
Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto 1953-2007
Ghalib
The rose, with its redolent petals The water lily, with its robe of virgin white These have surely come to us in transmigration Of but a few of those Endowed with sublime beauty and grace. Some embrace death to sprout again But most, forever, in dust remain.
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(Only) When love teaches the etiquette of self-knowledge, Are the Imperial Mysteries revealed to the slaves! Whether it be Attar or Rumi, Razi or Ghazali, Nothing comes to hand without supplication in the early dawn Do not lose hope in them, 0' wise guide! Even though the wayfarers are slow-moving, They are not without zeal (to reach the goal)! (Iqbal)
