
Emperor Aurangzeb
(CHAKRA) Sufism is contrasted with more intolerant strains of Islam, notably that advocating jihad, proscribing of dancing and music, intolerance towards the kuffar, and strict interpretation of sharia. Unlike the stern teachings found within Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia or the Shia strain in Iran , Sufi Islam holds a more mystical approach in which the ego is purified and cleansed through esoteric knowledge of a loving supreme deity. This inner journey seeks self-improvement through devotional exercises which not only allow but often insist on music and even dancing as a mean to advance spirituality. The results have been impressive because to this day humanity struggled to create anything more uplifting than the poetry of Ibn Arabi and Rumi. Sufi compositions remain the most beautiful of all creations from Islamic civilisation.
With the increasingly negative image given to Islam through the media Sufism is held up not only as the alternative but often the original model before the faith was corrupted by intolerant strains of Salafism and Khomeinism. This is very similar to the emphasis given to the Islamic contribution to western civilisation from everything to science and mathematics, to foodstuffs like the lemon. Sufism has indeed come under increasing pressure in Iran where its centres of worship have been demolished and its adherents arrested.
With its decentralised and mystical approach Sufism is an anathema to Saudi Arabia ’s Wahhabis and their more extreme Salafi offspring. Through petrodollars the Sufism of Pakistan has become deemed as un-Islamic event though Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah and Madho Lal Hussain were figures of great respect in South Asian Islam. The same pressure is now being placed on analogous traditions such as that of the marabouts in West Africa . But Sufism also felt the wrath of the modernist secular reforms of Ataturk as he strove to build a European style state on the ashes of the defeated and discredited Ottoman Empire .
Sufism however does not describe a single set of doctrines but a disparate set of spiritual practices and mystical techniques which added a new dimension to Islam. In this the Sufi masters imbibed ancient spiritual traditions of the Greeks, Jews, Zarathustrians and Hindus which predated Islam. Nevertheless Sufis could be as fanatic as any mullah or army on the march of jihad. The history of Islam in South Asia demonstrates this very clearly. Like David Livingstone was to do in Africa these missionaries for the one true jealous male demiurge called ‘God’, acted as sappers and miners for the colonialism which was devastating ancient civilisations without mercy.
The Chishtiyya school was foisted on India by Muin-ud-din who had settled down in Ajmer in the twelfth century and converted some Hindus to act as his agents. He then made special demands from Prithvi Raj Chauhan and when they were ignored he immediately invited Muhammad Ghuri to invade and despoil the land in the name of Islam. Literature on the true fanatic nature of Sufis such as that of the Chisti order abound. Sculpted stones, apparently from a Hindu temple, are incorporated in the Buland Darwãza of Muin-ud-din’s shrine and his tomb is built over a series of cellars which may have formed part of an earlier temple. A tradition, first recorded in the ‘Anis al-Arwãh, suggests that the Sandal Khãna is built on the site of Shãdî Dev’s temple. Four Islamic mystics namely Moinuddin (d. 1233 in Ajmer ), Qutubuddin (d. 1236 in Delhi ), Nizamuddin (d.1335 in Delhi ) and Fariduddin (d.1265 in Pattan now in Pakistan ) accompanied the Islamic invaders in India . All of them were from the Chistiya order of Islamic mysticism.
Amir Khusru was one of the foremost disciples of Nizam-ud-din Awliya of Delhi who is counted among the five great sufis of the Chishtiyya school. He is himself regarded as an outstanding sufi on whose mazar in Delhi urs is held every year. His Hindi verses are cited as a proof positive of his love for the land of his birth. The great poet, sufi and artist Amir Khusro, full name Muhammad Hassan Yaminuddin (1253-1325) said to be a great human being because, he was the father of Qawwali, and he is even said to have invented the sitar and tabla, he loved India, and of course was tolerant and mystical.
Yet in his own words he glorified how Islamic hordes had despoiled India , sacking the infidel Hindu shrines for the glory of the true faith, saturated the land with the blood of idol-worshippers, and jizya imposed. Khusro lamented that the sultans had adopted the Hanafi code because it allowed them to categorise Hindus as dhimmis; which meant a third-class existence as opposed to outright extermination. The Sufi preacher Sayyid Ali Hamdani came from Hamdan in fourteenth century to Kashmir where after making converts made moved to stop Hindus building temples and restrict their religious practices as they were forced into dhimmi status, including payment of jizya.
Sufis fully supported the oppression and often forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam, accepting the gifts of adolescent boys and young women to their khanqahs and dargahs. Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Shah Jahan and rightful heir to the Mughal throne was perhaps the exception in trying to marry mysticism within Islam and Hinduism, such as translating the Upanishads into Persian. Of course he was killed by his younger brother Aurangzeb who was himself a Sufi, a follower of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi method and disciple of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom, the third son and successor of the founder of Mujaddidi order Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi. That shaykh sent his fifth son, Khwaja Saif ad-Din Sirhindi, to instruct Aurangzeb in the strict application of sharia law such as banning musical instruments.
Many other famous Sufis also revered Aurangzeb, including the Punjab Sufi Sultan Bahu who wrote ‘Aurang-i-Shahi’ praising the emperor as a just ruler. Now Aurangzeb or Alamgir is notorious in history as the Mughal who tried to annihilate Hinduism completely, destroying temples and suppressing religious practices. Guru Tegh Bahadur and his two close companions Bhai Matti Das and Bhai Fateh Das were executed for refusing to convert to Islam. Aurangzeb’s tomb is in Khuldabad in Maharashtra within the courtyard of the shrine of the Sufi saint Shaikh Burham-u’d-din Gharib.
This association of the most fanatic and intolerant of Mughal emperors with Sufism will shock many who have been fed the belief that all Sufis were purveyors of a soft version of Islam. But the Naqshabandis had always stood for strict interpretation of sharia law. Khwaja Mohammad Baqi Billah Berang whose tomb is in Delhi introduced Naqshbandi order in India and due to common Turkic origins with the Mughal invaders this Sufi order always remained steadfast in its political loyalty right from the invasions of Babar.
His grandson Akbar is often portrayed as a tolerant ruler. Yet it was Akbar who made an annual pilgrimage to the Dargah of Muinuddin Chishti at Ajmer as he believed it was through the blessings of the Chishti saint through which he begot a son. Yet Moinuddin was of course the foremost symbol of Islam’s ceaseless war on Hinduism. Akbar was however more pragmatic than most which explains practical steps to involve powerful Hindu groups such as the Rajputs into becoming pillars for Mughal rule, such as abolishing the jizya poll tax. This of course earned the wrath of many, including the Sufis.
The mission of Shaikh Sirhindi (1564-1624) was to purify Islam from the influence of Akbar. He proclaimed himself the Mujaddid-i-alf-i-sãnî, ‘renovator of the second millennium of Islam’ and his Maktûbãt-i-Imãm Rabbãnî have been collected and published in three volumes. n letter No. 163 he wrote: “The honour of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims… The real purpose of levying jiziya on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honour and might of Islam.”
In Letter No. 81 he said: “Cow-sacrifice in India is the noblest of Islamic practices. The kafirs may probably agree to pay jiziya but they shall never concede to cow-sacrifice.” After Guru Arjun Deva had been tortured and done to death by Jahangir, he wrote in letter No. 193 that “the execution of the accursed kafir of Gobindwal is an important achievement and is the cause of the great defeat of the Hindus.” Sirhindi viewed Hindu mystics like Guru Nanak and Sant Kabir despicable, as they did not follow Sharia, he wanted to encourage the sacrifice of cows and revelled in the execution of Guru Arjun Dev.
Shah Waliullah, a prominent Muslim thinker of 18th century and the son of Shah Abdur Rahim, a Sufi who was employed by Aurangzeb for compiling the Fatawa-i-Alamgiri. This Sufi fanatic was of the Naqshabandi order and elevated Mahmud Ghuri as the greatest figure in Islam after the four righteous caliphs. No mention of Rumi here. Wali Ullah invigorated the practice of his Naqshbandi Sufi order, synthesising the disciplines of the three major Sufi orders namely Qadari, Chisti and Naqshbandi with a view to uniting the Muslim society against the Hindus.
Like Shaikh Ahmad Sirhind, he was also against the presence of Hindu employees in the administration of Muslim rulers as he viewed it harmful to the purity of Islam. His attempt was to purify Islam from the spiritual influence of Hinduism. In this context he invited Ahmad Shah Abdali to lead an Afghan invasion into India to save Islam from the infidel Hindus. He was therefore not open to the spiritual tradition of local Hindus in any form.
Sayed Ahmad Barelvi (1786-1831) was a disciple of Waliullah’s son, Abd al Aziz, and continued the tradition of by launching armed jihad with a view to restoring Darul-Islam but was killed in the battle of Balkot against Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Indian Muslims continue to regard him as martyr for the cause of Islam. Karamat Ali, a disciple of Sayed Ahmad Barelavi further developed the ideology for purifying Islam from the influences of Hindu custom and tradition.
Viewed in this historical perspective it is not only easy to see past the politically correct whitewash of Sufism but also realise that Sufis were merely a long line in salesmen for an intolerant belief system. There is therefore no real contrast between the aforementioned Sufi preachers and schools of thought, and that of more modern ideologies as represented by Wahhabism and Salafism in Sunni Islam, or Khomeinism among the Shia.
Indeed with modern technology and the organs of a modern state funded by petrodollars, media savviness and sophisticated use of social networking the neo-imperialist forms of Islam are merely doing what was beyond the reach of the Sufis.
While the compositions of Rumi and Ibn Arabi remain an inspiration to all humanity, they like the much-vaunted Islamic contributions to science were in many ways an exception, a temporary flickering light enveloped in uncompromising darkness. As Averroes (Ibn Rushd) discovered when asked to explain his knowledge of the heavens, and froze in terror because his scientific discoveries would contradict theological dogma, the mystical aspects in Islam had more to do with the legacy of civilisations which had been crushed underfoot than anything within the one true faith.
As the poetry of Rumi and Ibn Arabi demonstrate the spirit of antiquity had yet to be fully snuffed out. Freethinkers could still survive for now without being deemed infidels and heretics. It is that spirit which needs to be recaptured not the reconstruction of some non-existent past simply because the truth about Sufism is to inconvenient.
By Ranbir Singh
Good Article especially when you see all those dumb hindus lining up at the Ajmer Dargah for ‘blessings’ Can you imagine Jews praying at the tomb of jew hater ( Christian Saint) John Chrysostom for blessings lol
I would submit to you that much (probably about 75%) of this article is based on mis-representation and an ignorance of the real historic facts at best or is a singularly sneaky underhanded way of trying to dishonor Sufism in general at worst. I would undertake a point by point rebuttal to this article if the chakranews people would want me to do that. You have my email, how about it?
Haha absolutely Arjun 😀 Hindus were stupids, still are and will be .. And we are playing the card of secularism eventhough its only applicable to us 😛 .. When will you open your eyes my fellow Indians [Hindus sikhs jains n Budhists] ???
Arjun
Don’t you know that all are one?
Lnur , Everyone dont look the same so how can they all be one ?
Imam Salim Chishti , Just do the rebuttal here im sure chakra news will publish it and the author will respond
Imam Chishti that’s a typical use of taqiyya, lying in the name of the faith. Explain where the errors are on here, in public.
And Osama bin Laden was, of course in the East, the “Masih ad-Dajjall”; for further reading come to unicorn144.wordpress.com In the West Osama bin Laden is called by another name: /the Antichrist/.
The real Unificationists the Enlightened Sufis do NOT pr4eently KNOW THAT REV. MOON CLAIMS THE real transmission of “the Vine and the School” as the DIVINE KNOWLEDGE of the 7 levels of the PROVIDENCE OF SALVATION as being strictly HIS OWN; NEVER having READ page 293 of the book by IDRIES SHAH “THE SUFIS” in which the levels from the individual to the global and then finally universal are explained; although not in the detail of Rev. Moon’s book “Divine Principle”.
However; William B. Seabrook in his book “Adventures in Arabia” has an interview with a Druse Sheikh in which the levels of the Providence are spelled out; on page 206.
Those who watch and those who care should give heed;
In Love;
The Mighty God of Jacob;
Salvation Rose
unicorn144
First of all you do not know what taqiyya is (don’t worry, almost no one who does not study Islam does know, and most Muslims do not know either). So i will explain it for you. This comes from a hadith in which a person was very upset because they wondered what to do because during the time when the early Muslims were being persecuted by the Quraish, individuals were questioned and threatened with death if they followed Muhammad (saw). So many of them lied and said they did not. This one person was very upset because he also knew that a Muslim should not lie. But Muhammad (saw) said that in this case it was ok to lie because your life was being threatened and your life has precedence. That is the only time that lying about religion is allowed. It says in the Qur’an very specifically that anyone who lies about Allah (swt) or the religion is a wrong doer – as it says in the Qur’an (3:94) “If any, after this, invent a lie and attribute it to Allah, they are indeed unjust wrong doers.”
Muslims who invent lies, which are wrongly branded as taqiyya by those who do not know, are endangering their own afterlife and committing a sin.
As for the rest, for one thing, Akbar did not give Mouniddin Chishti credit for having prayed for his having a son, it was Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri. This is why the emperor’s son was named Salim.
Many pilgrims would come from all parts of India to visit Moinuddin Chishti and he was tolerant of all pilgrims. He came to Ajmer at the answer to a call from the Prophet (saw) in a vision that he had. And his tolerance was extended to all, included in his practice of Langam – feeding the poor. At the time there was a downtrodden class of people in India and the Sheikh became known as Gharib Nawaz because he helped the poor – no matter what religion they were.
Same with Nizamuddin Awlia – in one of the writings of his mureeds (Raj Kumar) he is quoted as saying that Sufism was like a very large tree which offers its shade to all who come tither.
I agree with the political parts of the story – in all times there have been people of all religions and philosophies who have taken advantage of those less well off or not politically connected by usurping and gaining the favor of those in power – and usually those in power are interested far more in their own benefit than that of others. Sufis are not immune to this failing.
Thank you for the opportunity to write again. This will be all I have to say on the subject. Peace and Blessings to all.
Well actually Imam I do worry about taqiyya. It’s precisely because people don’t properly study Islam that they don’t know what it is. In fact you just proved it is lying by lying to say it’s not actually lying! What a pseudo-intellectual cul-de-sac if ever there was one.
And quoting any Hadith wont help as many are regarded as inauthetntic while others are very violent and intolerant (justifying slavery as well as hatred of Jews and blacks). So who knows if this one will be overruled by another one? Is it from Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim or Dawud? Also Shia have different hadith to Sunnis. Quoting from Quran is problematic because by the process of itjihad (interpretation) later ayats abrogate earlier ones. So on that basis (and using taqiyya) you can quote anything you want to justify anything you want.
I never said that Akbar gave Moinuddin credit. I said the “Chishti saint”, yes Salim, the same one that was given to Akbar’s who later become Jahangir. But that dargah was the shrine of Moinuddin? Right? Am I not correct? As to him being tolerant well that’s a sick joke in the light of all the evidence including his writings. Are you conveniently forgetting how he invited Muhammad Ghuri to invade? It’s a bit like saying the Voortrekkers ‘welcomed’ blacks while they were busy stealing the land from Bantu tribes and wiping out the San and Khoi-Khoi. The only ‘welcome’ they got was to be wervants and slaves for the Boers. This “vision” well I hardly call that evidence any more than the visions seen by the Oracle at Delphi. If he was so keen to help the downtrodden then why did he not start a campaign to abolish slavery? Ok that’s a bit rhetorical since the hoiest figure in Islam kept slaves and hence slavery is sanctioned by the faith which is why Sudan and Mauritania keep it and Gulf states abolished it as late as 1962 in the case of Saudi Arabia and the next year in Dubai; which is why Filipinos and South Asians continue to be treated as slaves such as having wages withheld while forced to labour in filthy and dangerous conditions. Quoting a few nice bits like about Sufism being a tree offering shade is all well and good, but then it is dwarfed by all the nasty intolerant stuff. I never doubted the genius of Rumi and Ibn Arabi. But then how to compare this with the imperialism, colonialism, slavery, massacres and destruction of ancient cultures that also happened?
This bit about people of all religions abusing power again digresses from the fact that the Sufis supported atrocities on an ideological basis. There was either no counterweight or if it was then that came from pre-Islamic cultures of the region. When we look at it the Sufis at best act in the same manner as Al-Jazeera English news broadcasts do today by softening the hard edges of an uncompromising ideology which enslaves mentally and physically. If you deny all this as you have then I’m afraid you have reached the pseudo-intellectual depths of ‘revisionist historians’ such as David Irving and Robert Faurrisson.
weak people occupied by small numbers of muslims and even less british.
a religion so stupid it’s only spread is reserved to south asia and only by being passed down generation to generation or otherwise it would be near extinction.
the only thing hindus can cheer about is some elaborate architecture. they have offered the world nothing else to marvel at.
give me islam any day.
Muslims are forced to admit by divine decree that islam is not a screw-up. They’re f u c k e d . Unbelievable. I think mohammad hated the people he hung out with….. including some women and dogs and pigs etc….so he in turn made up s h i t daily in the name of divine laws that screwed them up more and more …..Fantastic !! Deadly !! The ultimate dark revenge…. and the best part is he passes the buck to some guy called allah. Fantastic side-step. Blame allah not me mohammad who by the way am the only guy on the planet who’s interacted with allah…..AND……guess what this is the last transmission…… so don’t even look for help….If you’re muslim remember you’ve entered a life of some illiterate dark-tortured and insane man’s revenge on those around him. Just look at muslims…..they’re a f u c k i n g joke . The Quran is the record of a psychotic Arab talking to himself…That’s why nearly everything Mahoundians do is crazy..
Listen people ….Mohammad is just another psycho with a sword that started a cult ….. and the cops have still not got him. It’ll happen. 3 more years ?? max 5 .
A frustrated rage-venter that started a cult by full-on-lying and pure rubbish that baffled some idiotic people who in turn over generations retarded themselves even more because there was no exit . Mohammad had slam-shut the exit door and walled it too. Serious Psycho . Muslims are screwed….and the best part is they seriously think they’re winning !!! Winning what ??? More murder! Actually the only good news about islam is it’s open to culling ….when the going gets tough i guess the muslims will go first…they’ve already started….and the blood loss will be heavy but culling is a scientific term that we can use for the planet’s betterment . Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word from the times of the Rig-Vedas of spiritually forward beautiful India… that means least-violence….Ahimsa is mistakenly taken to mean non-violence. Ahimsa means minimum violence for maximum permanent good. Ahimsa once understood properly paves the way for nuclear weapons use for maximum good for our planet. Islam is a drag ….on the planet and in conversations….i could do without it’s idiotic in my face presence. Makes sense…. A few simultaneous choice strikes that annihilate full cities like mecca and medina and at least 20 other Islamic cities and we’ll get thru thru islam’s thick dense skull that it’s time to exit planet earth as there is no allah-shield over anything Islamic .infact they will realise that there is no allah !! Can you imagine the awakening ?
It’ll be a bit noisy but mullahs swinging in the wind will be as soothing a sight as palm trees in a soft cool breeze. I’ll right-click it and make it my desktop wallpaper……ah!! the simple life……
A loud goodbye. Cool . The radiation we can mop-up in peace. Islam gotta go man !! like now!!
Muslims will soon start hanging mullahs and self-proclaimed clergy from lamp-posts….. It’ll be fantastic. We have to get used to seeing hanging mullahs and Islamic self-proclaimed clergy……robes and all.
In history, only Genghis Haan and his grandson Hulagu Haan stopped Islam by killing up to 1.5 million Muslims.To date, Muslims who know that history vehemently despise Genghis and his notable grandson Hulagu Haan who actually did our human civilization a priceless favor.
Arjun,
What a stupidity to insult other religions.
By the way being black and hating blacks is the dumbest thing in this world, i think knowledge didn’t teach you that. change your name, change your skin and then may be it suits at least a bit.
To Ravi, its ok to have softcore feelings like you. But keep in mind, that however much costly is your shoes, you would never like it put over your head…
Great Reply Ranbir, to this taqqiyah practitioner Imam.
Let me enlighten Imam on taqqiyah, according to one of his own “kind”, Grand Ayatollah al-Sayyid Ab? al-Q?sim al-Kh?’? (d. 1412) issued the following fatwa:
Question 1245: Is lying to an innovator or a promoter of deviance permissible during the time of argumentation against him? If that lie was used to refute his proof and it nullifies his false claims?
[Answer by] al-Kh?’?: If the reply to him stops his falsehood, it is permissible.
?ir?t al-Naj?t fi Ajwibat al-Istifta’?t, of al-Sayyid Ab? al-Q?sim al-Kh?’? (d. 1412),
volume 1, page 447 [Qum]
Vengeance, tit-for-tat, forcibly apply mohammad made laws, is what Islam is apparently about. Then if a muslim finds one having “false” beliefs, why can’t he be forbidden to fall even further to retaliate with a bigger LIE! And as we see its perfectly allowed in Islam.
To Jacky: the dog, your barking is familiar.