The tomb of Khawaja Ghulam Farid.

The intellectual discourse amongst Muslims in Pakistan has been extremely mutilated since the creation of the country. It was through state-sanctioned anti-Hindu ideology that the thought process of the entire nation was subverted. If we visit our past and read the ideas preached just a century ago, it is hard to believe where we have ended up now.

The intellectual discourse initiated by Sufi philosophers was inclusive of all religions and negated mullahism. Baba Farid is said to have been persecuted by Pakpattan’s qazi and the ruler of the city for listening to music and dancing in the mosque. Guru Nanak condemned the ritualism of mullahs and the pundits. Shah Hussain, Sultan Bahu, Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah were all defiant against ritualistic religions and developed a secular and enlightened worldview in their poetry. Most of the things related to these intellectuals have reached us mostly through oral tradition. However, the last classical Sufi poet and thinker, Khawaja Ghulam Farid (1845-1901) died in 20th century and has left a well- documented written collection of his intellectual discourse.

Beside Khawaja Ghulam Farid’s poetry, his diary, Maqabeeso-Almajalas, is a great source of knowledge about his predecessor Sufi schools and the worldview they preached. The book is a voluminous encyclopedia of religions, particularly Islam as well as Sufism in the subcontinent. Instead of interpreting and commenting, Khawaja Farid’s original thoughts are presented below in verbatim translation of the text on selected topics.

Listening to music is mentioned on almost every page of the diary. It is also apparent that Khawaja Farid used to listen to music while sitting in the mosque. Describing one of his predecessor Sufis, Khawaja Ghulam Farid is reported to have said, “Shah Abdul Rehman Lakhnavi’s zeal for samaa (qawali) was so intense that after Friday prayers he used to wait for the qawals while sitting in an enclave of the mosque. If the qawals were late, he would ask Nathe Khan, Sheikh Ganzanfar Ali or other followers with good singing ability to sing. They would do so without any accompanying instruments…However when the qawals, they would perform with accompanying instruments.” Pp 333

According to the diary, “Then he (Khawaja Ghulam Farid) said his prayer in the small mosque near new palace. Maulvi Muhammad Ali Rajan Puri came to congratulate him for construction of the new palace and brought qawals with him. Khawaja Farid asked the qawals to play shahnai and they recited some ghazal. He led the Asar (late afternoon prayer) prayer and then asked the qawals to sing raag Bihag. ..This continued till Maghreb (sunset prayer).” Khawaja Farid was sitting inside the mosque while shahnai players and dancers were outside, adds the diarist.  Pp 464-465

Khawaja Ghulam Farid’s views on Hinduism and Zoroastrianism were also very unconventional according to the diary as we can see from this quote “After a conversation about religion of Hindus got underway, he said that Hinduism  is very old and every religion has come after that because this (Hinduism) was the religion of Hazrat Adam. After that all the prophets were sent by God who opposed Hinduism and implemented Shariah that was given to them (by God).”  Pp 263-264.

When Khawaja Ghulam Farid was asked about the Hindu deities, he gave a very different answer than one would have expected. According to the diary “Someone asked if Ram Chandra Ji and Krishna Ji were men of God or not. He said all avtaar (descendent of a deity) and rishi (composers of Vedic hymns) were prophets of their times and everyone came with a [revealed] book. There are four veds in Sanskrit that were meant to eradicate the evil traditions. But when Hindu Brahmans’ influence increased, they started asserting that the truth can be only accessed through them. To eliminate such infectious beliefs, Mahatma Buddha was sent [by God]”. Pp388-389. Khawaja Ghulam Farid had Hindu mureeds (initiated followers) and had given permission to one of them to initiate others on his behalf. pp 704

One also gets to read about the unheard Chajjo religion, a mixture of Islam and Hinduism, from this paragraph of the diary: “A Hindu postal worker, was known to Hazrat (Farid), came. He (Khawaja Farid) asked him about Hindu beliefs. He replied that his religion was Chajjo which was very old and was born in sixth century. In the begging the followers of this religion used to practice their faith privately but were now a bit more open about it. The followers of this religion believe in one God and their beliefs are like Sufi’s concept of unity. Idol worshipping is paganism for them. We follow two prophets: one Muhammad (PBUH) and consider Krishna Ji as truly sent by God as well. We have translated the Quran into Shastri (Sanskrit?) language and we recite it daily”. Pp 404-405.

Khawaja Ghulam Farid had a very different and humanist view about the scheduled class called ‘choora’. He defended their belief system in saying that “Although these people eat haram (non-kosher) but they but they don’t consider haram as halal (kosher), rather they consider haram as haram. It is an act of sin but it is not kufar”.

Khawaja Ghulam Farid was very keen to learn other languages including English as is evident from this  writing “He was writing and teaching the rules of Sanskrit, Gurumukhi and English languages to his devotees”  405. Composer of his Kafis, Barkat Ali Rubabi, is said to have been practicing writing English that Khawaja Ghulam Farid used to check regularly 460.

He revered great Greek philosophers as well. In one sitting he is said “Aristotle is said to have told Shahab-ud-Din Maqtool in heaven that Plato has the highest level in heaven where the most revered Sufis are placed.”  Pp 713

So for all the allegations that foreign agents trying to subvert Pakistan's "indigenous" form of intolerant Islamic chauvinism, Khawaja Farid and other Sufi scholars stand as factual thorns in the paw of the Ghairat Brigade. If one wishes to truly return back to the cultural root of Pakistan's history and the pinnacle of its success in creating a positive and tolerant world view, they need not look to the Middle East, but to the diaries and poems of the subcontinent's own Sufi mystics and scholars.

Dr. Manzur Ejaz is a poet, author, a political commentator and a cultural activist. He is a Doctor of Economics and currently lives in Washington DC.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.