Violence on Minorities in Pakistan: – The historical legacy of Sheikh Ahmad Sarhindi

Violence on Minorities in Pakistan: – The historical legacy of Sheikh Ahmad Sarhindi

By R. Upadhyaya

The recent suicide attacks on Shia processions by the Sunni extremists in Lahore (September 1) and southwest city of Quetta (September 3) killing about one hundred people and wounding over 350 are the historical legacy of targeting the Hindu, Christian, Shia and Ahmadia minorities in the Islamist controlled government in Pakistan ever since its birth as an independent country.

In fact the centuries old sectarian feud between the two prominent Islamic sects namely Shia and Sunni began immediately after the death of Prophet Mohammad over the right of succession and engulfed the entire Muslim world.

As history goes, the Islamist clergies and scholars after entering into Indian sub-continent from Central Asia following the establishment of Muslim society interpreted the Islamic scriptures befitting to the tradition and traits of the Arabs and made Islam synonymous to Arabisation of the world. They played a vital role in transforming the converted subjects into the cultural and civilisational mould of Islam for destroying the traditional culture of the natives. No Muslim ruler except Akbar ever tried to understand the civilisational sentiments of the conquered subjects and gave free hand to the priestly class in imposing their dictates on the natives who accepted Islam under the threat of sword.

Despite the resistance of the indigenous Hindu population, when Muslim rule became a reality in larger parts of the sub-continent by the reign of Mogul emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, the Islamist priestly class made concerted effort for complete Islamisation of the sub-continent Initially, like the early Muslim rulers Akbar too had exercised imperialist strategy of Arabisation of the sub-continent and had intolerant attitude towards the non-believing subjects but continuous resistance from the Hindu kings turned him to be pragmatic.

So long as Akbar maintained his strong grip over the administration, there was no challenge to his changed policy of Islamic modernism, until the emergence of one Sheikh Ahmad Sarhindi (1564-1624), a hard core Sunni extremist Sufi saint of Naqshbandi order who was neither ready to accept any moderation in the Islamic trilogy of Quran, Hadith and Sharia nor content with living in a country like India under Muslim rule where the ruler also befriended those who did not surrender and comply with the Arab traditions and traits.

Born in a small town of Sarhind which lies somewhere between Ludhiana and Ambala in the then Patiala State of East Punjab, Sheikh Ahmad Sarhindi was known as the first Mudjaddid (Renovator of Islam) in Indian Sub-continent. In Islamic tradition the Muslims believe that Mudjaddid is sent by the Allah in the first half of the every century of Islamic calendar for revival of Islam.

An eminent Islamic mystic of Muslim India Sarhindi traced his Arab descent from Hazrat Umar, the second Caliph of Islam. After receiving his early education through Suhrawardiyya, Qadiriyya and Chistiyya orders of Sufism he began spreading the teachings of Islam. In 1599 he came under the influence of Khwaja Baqi Billah, the founder of Naqshbandi order in Indian sub-continent and became his staunch follower. Baqi Billah, was the disciple of Kwaja Wah ud Din of Bukhara who founded the Naqshbandi order of Sufism which is vehemently opposed to any innovation in Islam, recommended complete obedience to Sunnat (Arabian tradition of Prophet Mohammad) and literal implementation of Sharia. He was also against the tomb worship of the Islamic saints as prevalent in other Sufi orders.

Contrary to the general impression that Sufism presented a locus of possible religious syncreticism, Sarhindi’s Sufism was within the watertight compartment of Sharia. His objective behind aggressive intellectual campaign for propagating the Naqshbandi movement was to influence the Muslim rulers and counter Akbar’s religious liberalism and also the rising trend of Bhakti movement. As the Hindu mystics like Guru Nanak and Sant Kabir did not follow Sharia,, he viewed them with contempt.

As a reaction to the moderate attitude of Akbar towards the Hindus and the Shias Sarhindi entered into correspondence with his contemporary Islamic theologians and laid stress on following the true contours of Islam based on the literal compliance of Quran, Hadith and Sharia. Upset with the budding intellectual movement for Islamic modernism in the court of Akbar and dedicated to uphold the dignity of the pristine purity of Sunni orthodoxy and Sharia, he wrote strong letters to the courtiers against the onslaught on Islam and declared Akbar as heretic and his doctrine of Din-i-Ilahi as un-Islamic, blasphemous.

Considering Akbar’s innovation as deviation from the imperial setting of Islam formulated by Prophet Mohammad and his companions, he contacted prominent courtiers like Abul Fazl and Faizi and tried to approach the emperor but due to distrustful attitude of the latter towards the conservative Islamic theologians his preaching hardly had any impact in the administration during Akbar’s time.

Despite his failure to influence the emperor, a widely read Islamic scholar and a charismatic orator Sarhindi was filled with hope after the death of Akbar and was confident that he would be able to revive pristine purity of Islam in the sub-continent. Accordingly, he launched an aggressive movement of Islamic renaissance against the Hindus and Shias and tried to influence Jehangir (1605-1627). With continuous attempt to get support from some important nobles in Jehangir’s court, he spread his message among the elite Muslims who facilitated his followers to work even in the imperial army camp and soon came to the notice of the emperor.

The Shia officials in the court on the other hand represented against his activities as dangerous to the state. Sarhindi was therefore given an audience to Jehangir but non-compliance of ‘sajda’ (prostration) by him led to his imprisonment in Gwalior jail. After a year or so, he was however released from jail by Jehangir on persuasion of his courtiers. It is said that Sarhindi through his repeated letters to the courtiers succeeded in managing Jehangir.

Starting with a strong opposition to the placement of Shias and Hindus in the court of Akbar and their continuance in the court of Jehangir he strongly refuted the Bhakti movements of Hindu saints and Sikhism as anti-Islamic. Steering his intellectual confrontation with Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi, his puritanical movement for purifying Islam from any amalgamation with Hindu Pantheism was under the presumption that Akbar was an enemy of Islam. With conviction that entry of Hindus and Shias in the rule of Islamic kingdom had polluted Islam, “he did believe that the Sharia could be glorified through the sword as well. He also believed that killing of cows glorified Islam”. (A History of Sufism in India by Arthar Abbas Rizvi, Vo. II, 1992, page 365).

His appreciation to the assassination of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of Shikhism in 1606 at the instance of Jehangir also proves his hatred towards non-Muslims. Whether Sarhindi had any role in assassination of Guru Arjun Deo may be a debatable issue but his Makutbat letter no. 193 was said to have stated “The execution of the accused Kafir of Goindwal (Guru Arjun Deo) at this time is a very good achievement indeed and has become the cause of a great defeat of the hateful Hindus”. Also known as a staunch rival of Shia doctrine and largely responsible for rehabilitation of orthodox Sunni Islam, he wrote a number of tracts on Islamic topics but was chiefly remembered among Islamic theologians for his letters written in Persian to his disciples and nobles in Mogul courts in support of his orthodoxy.

He died in 1624 but his aggressive movement against the Shias and the Hindus gradually became a perpetual legacy for the Sunni extremists in South Asia. His tomb in Sarhind is still a place of reverence for the Sunni Muslims.

Over the years the letters and tracts of Sarhindi written in Persian worked as ideological mascot for the Islamic revival movements launched after the collapse of Islamic rule in India. His letters exercised great influence on successive Mogul emperors after Akbar particularly at the time of Aurangazeb.

It is said that Aurangzeb was so much impressed with these letters th that he not only adopted hard-line Islamism but also became a disciple of Khwaja Mohammad Masum, the son and successor of Sarhindi. His letters recommending revival of Jizya were the height of his hate-Hindu campaign.

Serving as a great source of inspiration for successive Islamists thinkers in the sub-continent believing in Arab imperialism like Shah Wali Ullah, Sayyid Ahmad Barelavi, Maulana Qasim Nanautawi, Sir Sayed Ahmad Khan, founders of Muslim League, leaders of Jammat-e-Ulema-e-Hind, Tabligh Jammat and Jammat-e-Islami who were directly or indirectly associated with the movements for Muslim separatism, the treatise of Sarhindi had a great contribution in the truncation of the sub-continent on communal basis and also in widening the divide between the two major religious communities the Muslims and the Hindus. The leaders of Deoband Movement, Aligarh Movement and Pakistan Movement who emerged as the vanguards of Muslim separatism are indebted to Sarhindi for his inspiring thesis.

It was in recognition of his great services to the cause of Sunni Islam, Arab imperialism and Muslim separatism that Mullah Abd al Siyalkoti gave him the title of Mudjaddid (Renovator of Islam). Since then he is known as the first Mudjaddid (innovator of Islam) in the Indian sub-continent. His tracts and letters in collected form known as Maktubat constitute one of the most important classics of Islamic literature gradually became a major source for successive Islamic revivalist movements in Indian sub-continent.

This treatise emphatically made clear to the Muslims that they had nothing common with the Hindus. It emphasized that the Muslims should keep themselves distinct from the Hindus even with reference to food, dress, social customs and way of life. Making the literal implementation of Sharia as an integral part of Muslim society, Sarhindi left an indelible impact on the history of Muslim India. His intellectual movement for countering ‘religious liberalism’ of Akbar also served as an ideological input for Pakistan Movement. It is therefore said that that Sarhindi “founded the first stone of two nation theory in Indo-Pak subcontinent which led to the success of Pakistan Movement and establishment of Pakistan”. Some of his followers also called him the First Founder of Pakistan. (www.guesspapers.net/2259/role-of-sheikh-ahmed-sarhindi/)

His reputation spread as far as Afghanistan and Central Asia even during his life time. Shah Waliullah who translated his letters and tract from Persian to Arabic was also inspired with the thesis of Sarhindi favouring the radical Islam in its purest form. In a hangover of Islamic power the angry and embittered Arabian Indians lost their intellectual balance and failed to give right leadership to the demoralised community members. Upset with near-terminal decline in Muslim education they found solace in the writings of intellectual Jihadi Sheikh Sarhindi and launched the Deoband movement after about a decade of the end of Muslim rule in 1857 AD.

Another Arabian Indian Sir Sayed Khan also launched a parallel Aligarh Movement for modern education to the elite section in the community with an objective to take them out from their self-imposed isolation with a formula for compromise with the British and to re-establish the supremacy of the community over their former subjects the Hindus which ultimately gave birth to All India Muslim League. With both these movements with superior Muslim identity as a common meeting point the commoners in the community were hypnotised to believe that it was the infinite superiority of Islam that the Islamic conquerors held their power in India. These separatist movements therefore not only pushed the Indian Muslims to the directionless future but also made them a perpetual community in decline.

Mohammad Iqbal (1877-1938) known as ideological father of Pakistan was also an ardent follower of Sheikh Sarhindi. Acting upon the Naqshbandi thesis he laid stress on the need of a separate land for Muslims in the sub-continent. “Iqbal venerated the Naqshbandi saint in his poetry more than once. In one of his verses he prayed for his reappearance on the spiritual and political horizon of Muslim India.” (allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review). It appears that Pakistan which was born as a replica of Muslim India inherited the legacy of Sarhindi and the on going crisis of hate-minority violence in this Islamic state is therefore, also a Naqshbandi inspired reaction of Sunni extremists.

(The author can be reached at e-mail ramashray60@rediffmail.com)