{"id":6755,"date":"2015-06-05T09:28:55","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T03:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/?p=6755"},"modified":"2015-06-05T09:28:55","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T03:58:55","slug":"dark-side-of-sufism-r-k-ohri-i-p-s-retd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/?p=6755","title":{"rendered":"DARK SIDE OF SUFISM – R.K.Ohri ( I.P.S.Retd)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ram-k-ohri\"<\/a>\u00a0DARK\u00a0 SIDE OF\u00a0 SUFISM <\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0– R.K.Ohri ( I.P.S.Retd)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Reappraisal of\u00a0 the Role of \u00a0Sufis Working as Missionaries of Islam <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ram\u00a0 Kumar\u00a0 Ohri, IPS (Retd)<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For centuries the Sufi creed and Sufi music have been tom tomed as great symbols of spiritualism and promoters of peace and harmony between the Hindus and the Muslims. The cleverly marketed concept of\u00a0 Sufi spiritualism has been unquestioningly accepted as the hallmark of Hindu-Muslim unity. \u00a0\u00a0It is time we studied the history of Sufis, tried to track the narrative of \u00a0their coming to India and analysed their explicit missionary role in promoting conversions to Islam.\u00a0 \u00a0More importantly, it needs to be assessed how did the Sufis conduct themselves during reckless killings and plunders by the Muslim invaders ? \u00a0Did they object to the senseless mass killings and try to prevent unremitting plunder of\u00a0 Hindu temples and innocent masses?\u00a0 Did the Sufis ever object to the capture of\u00a0 helpless men and women as slaves and the use of \u00a0the latter as objects \u00a0of carnal pleasure ?\u00a0 These are some of\u00a0 \u00a0the questions to which answers have to be found by every genuine student of \u00a0Indian history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most Sufis came to \u00a0India either accompanying the invading armies of\u00a0 Islamic marauders, or followed in the wake of\u00a0 the sweeping conquests made by the soldiers of \u00a0Islam. At least the following four famous Sufis accompanied the Muslim armies which repetitively invaded India to attack the Hindu rulers, seize their kingdoms and riches and took recourse to extensive slaughtering of \u00a0the\u00a0 commoners.\u00a0 Almost all Sufi masters were silent spectators to the murderous mayhem and reckless plunder of\u00a0 temples ands cities by the marauding hordes across the sub-continent. \u00a0Taking advantage of the fact that the Hindu masses are deeply steeped in spiritual tradition and mysticism, the Sufis used their mystic paradigm for applying sort of a healing balm on the defeated, bedegralled \u00a0and traumatized commoners with a view to converting them to the religion of the victors.\u00a0 The following well-known Sufi masters came to India along with the invading Muslim armies which repetitively invaded India in wave after wave :<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

1. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer had accompanied the army of<\/p>\n

Shihabuddin Ghori and finally settled down at Ajmer in the year<\/p>\n

1233 A.D.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Khawaja Qutubuddin came to Delhi in the year 1236 in the train of\u00a0 Shihabuddin Ghori and stayed on to further the cause of\u00a0 Islam.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Sheikh Faridudin came to Pattan (now in Pakistan) in the year 1265.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      4.\u00a0 Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya of \u00a0Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin\u00a0 came<\/p>\n

      to Delhi in\u00a0 the year 1335 accompanying a contingent of \u00a0the Muslim<\/p>\n

      invaders.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Additionally,\u00a0 the famous Sufi Shihabuddin Suhrawardy of\u00a0 Baghdad was brought to India for carrying out the missionary work of conversions by Bahauddin Zakariya of\u00a0 Multan several decades after the Hindu ruler had been defeated and the kingdom laid waste after repetitive plunder and manslaughter.\u00a0 Like all Sufi masters, his main task was to apply the balm of spiritual unity on the traumatized Hindu population and then gradually persuade them to convert to Islam. Not a single Sufi, the so-called mystic saints, ever objected to the ongoing senseless manslaughter and wreckless plunder, nor to the destruction of \u00a0temples, nor\u00a0 for that matter to the ghoulish enslavement of \u00a0the so-called infidel men and women for sale in the bazaars of \u00a0Ghazni and Baghdad. Operating from the sidelines of spiritualism they even participated in the nitty-gritty of governance to help the Muslim rulers consolidate \u00a0their authority in the strife torn country. And significantly, their participation in the affairs of the State was not conditional upon the Muslim rulers acting in a just and even handed manner. On the contrary, the Sufis invariably tried to help the Sultans in following the path shown by the Prophet and the Shariah. \u00a0Another important objective of the spiritual and mystic preachings of the Sufi<\/p>\n

      3<\/p>\n

      masters was to blunt the edge of Hindu resistance and prevent them from\u00a0 taking up arms to defend their hearth and home, their motherland and their faith, by presenting \u00a0the fa\u00e7ade of peace and religious harmony.<\/p>\n

      The Naqashbandi Sufis had very close relations with Jahangir and Aurangzeb. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The well known Sufi Saint of \u00a0Punjab, Ahmad Sirhindi (Mujadid) of \u00a0the Naqashbandi order (1564-1634)\u00a0 held that the execution of\u00a0 the Sikh leader Guru Arjun Dev\u00a0 by Jehangir was a great Islamic victory. \u00a0He believed and openly proclaimed that Islam and Hinduism were antithesis of \u00a0each other and therefore could not co-exist.\u00a0 \u00a0Even \u00a0the Chishti Sufi, Miyan Mir, who had been a friend of Guru Arjun Dev, later on\u00a0 turned his back on the Sikh Guru when the latter was arrested by Jahangir and sent\u00a0 for execution.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      It may be recalled that the great Sufi master of the eleventh century, Al Qushairi \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0(A.D.1072) had unambiguously declared that there was no discord between the aims of the Sufi \u2018haqiqa<\/i>\u2019 and the aims of \u00a0the Sharia<\/i>.\u00a0 The definition given by Al Hujwiri should be able to quell any doubt about the commitment of Sufis in upholding the supremacy of the Islamic faith over all other religions. \u00a0That dogma has been the key component of \u00a0the philosophy of \u00a0Sufism not only in India, but across the world \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0– from India to Hispania (i.e., the Spain). \u00a0The great Sufi master, Al Hujwiri, laid down the golden rule that the words \u201cthere is no god save Allah\u201d are the ultimate Truth, and the words \u201cMuhammad is the Apostle of Allah\u201d are the indisputable Law for all Sufis. In other words, the Sufism and the ulema represent the same \u00a0two aspects of the Islamic faith which are universally accepted and obeyed by all Muslims.\u00a0 By definition therefore Sufi masters could be no exception. The renowned ninth century Sufi master, Al Junaid, also known as \u201cthe Sheikh of the Way\u201d, and widely revered as the spiritual ancestor of \u00a0Sufi faith, had categorically proclaimed that for Sufis \u201cAll the mystic paths are barred, except to him who followeth in the footsteps of the Messenger (i.e., Prophet Muhammad) \u00a0[Source<\/i>: \u00a0Martin Lings, What<\/i> is Sufism<\/i>, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1975, p.101].<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      As pointed out by Reynold A. Nicholson in the Preface to the famous tome, \u00a0\u2018Kashaf al Mahjub\u2019<\/i> (Taj & Co., Delhi, 1982). \u00a0\u201cno sufis, not even those who have<\/p>\n

      attained the highest degree of \u00a0holiness, are exempt from the obligation of \u00a0obeying the religious law\u201d. \u00a0In fact, the famous tome, \u2018Kashaf al Mahjub\u2019<\/i> written by Ali bin Al-Hujwiri, who was also known as Data Ganj Baksh, <\/i>was <\/i>widely regarded as the grammar of \u00a0Sufi thought and practice. \u00a0<\/i>\u00a0Most Sufis have invariably drawn on the contents of this<\/p>\n

      treatise for preaching the sufi thought ( also known as sufi silsilas<\/i>). As already stated, on page 140 of\u00a0 Kashaf al Mahjub<\/i> Al Hujwiri loudly proclaims that \u201cthe words there is no God save Allah are Truth, and the words Muhammed is the Apostle of \u00a0Allah\u201d \u00a0are the indisputable Law. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      K.A. Nizami in his celebrated book, The Life and Times of\u00a0 Shaikh Nizamuddin<\/i> Auliya<\/i> (Idarah-I Adabiyat-i-Delhi, Delhi) has stated that the Auliya openly used to \u00a0say \u00a0that \u201cwhat the ulama seek to achieve through speech, we achieve by our behaviour.\u201d\u00a0 The Auliya was a firm believer in the need for \u00a0unquestioned \u00a0obedience of every Muslim, every Sufi, \u00a0to the dictates of the ulema. \u00a0According to K.A. Nizami, another Sufi saint Jamal Qiwamu\u2019d-din wrote that though he had been associated \u00a0with the Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya for years, \u201cbut never did he find him missing a single sunnat \u2026\u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      .The well known authority on Sufism, \u00a0S.A.A. Rizvi has recorded in his book, \u2018A History of \u00a0Sufism in India\u2019<\/i> \u00a0that Nizamuddin Auliya used to unhesitatingly accept enormous gifts given to him by\u00a0 Khusraw Barwar which implied that the Auliya was unconcerned with the source of \u00a0the gift, provided it was paid in cash. Yet the Auliya was a firm believer in the need for a Muslim\u2019s unquestioned loyalty and obedience to the ulema. \u00a0As reiterated by K.A. Nizami, Auliya used to preach that the unbeliever is the doomed denizen of\u00a0 Hell. \u00a0In his khutba<\/i> he would leave no one in doubt that\u00a0 Allah has created Paradise for the Believers and Hell for the infidels \u201cin order to repay the wicked for what they have done\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0It has been categorically stated on page 161 in the famous treatise, Fawaid al-Fuad<\/i>, translated by Bruce B. Lawrence (Paulist Press, New York, 1992)\u00a0 that\u00a0 the Auliya confirmed\u00a0 on the authority of\u00a0 the great Islamic jurist, Imam Abu Hanifa, that the perdition of \u00a0the unbelievers is certain and that Hell is the only abode for them, even if\u00a0 they agreed to confess total loyalty to Allah on the Day of Judgment.<\/p>\n

      In the above mentioned treatise on Sufi philosphy, Fuwaid al-Fuad<\/i>, \u00a0a very interesting instance of\u00a0 enslaving the kaffir Hindus for monetary gain has been cited which shows how another Sufi, Shayakh Ali Sijzi, provided financial assistance to one of<\/p>\n

      his dervishes to participate in the lucrative slave trade. He had advised the dervish that he should take \u201cthese slaves to Ghazni, where the potential for profit is still greater\u201d. \u00a0And it<\/p>\n

      was confirmed by Nizamuddin Auliya that \u201cthe Dervish obeyed\u201d. \u00a0Obviously therefore, neither spiritual ethics and nor justice to all, including the infidels, were the strong points of\u00a0 Sufi saints.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      If \u00a0the narrative of \u00a0the preachings\u00a0 and acts of \u00a0Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer are taken as indication of\u00a0 his religious philosophy and deeds, he emerges as a sufi master who nursed a deep hatred against the infidel Hindus and showed utter contempt for\u00a0 their religious beliefs. As elaborated by S.S.A. Rizvi in \u2018A History of Sufism in<\/i> India,<\/i> Vol. 1<\/i> (Munshiram Manoharlal, 1978, p. 117), \u00a0there is a reference in the book, Jawahar-i- Faridi, <\/i>\u00a0to the fact that\u00a0 when Moinuddin Chishti reached near the Annasagar Lake at Ajmer, where a number of holy shrines of \u00a0Hindus were located, he slaughtered a cow and cooked a beef\u00a0 kebab at the sacred place surrounded by many temples. It is further claimed in Jawahar-i-Faridi<\/i> that the Khwaja had dried the 2 holy lakes of Annasagar and Pansela by the magical heat of \u00a0Islamic spiritual power. He is even stated to have made the idol of the Hindu temple near Annasagar \u00a0recite the Kalma<\/i>. The Khwaja had a burning desire to destroy the rule of the brave Rajput king, Prithviraj Chauhan, so much so that he ascribed the victory of Muhammad Ghori in the battle of\u00a0 Tarain entirely to his own spiritual prowess and declared that \u201cWe have seized Pithaura alive and handed him over to the army of \u00a0Islam\u201d. [Source<\/i>: Siyar\u2019l Auliya<\/i>, cited by Rizvi on page 116 of \u00a0\u2018A History of Sufism in India\u2019<\/i>].<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Throughout the Muslim rule all Sufis enjoyed full confidence, royal favour and patronage of\u00a0 the cruel Muslim rulers. Though foolishly accepted as \u201csecular\u201d\u00a0 by\u00a0 most Hindus seeking spiritual solace after being battered, bruised and marginalised, almost all Sufi saints dogmatically followed the commandments contained in the Quran, the Hadith<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      and Sharia. Historians have recorded that many Sufi saints had accompanied armies of the Muslim invaders to use their spiritual powers in furtherance of \u00a0Islam\u2019s conquests. Not one of them raised even a little finger to forbid slaughter of the innocents and destruction of thousands of temples.\u00a0\u00a0 Nor did they question the imposition of jiziya by Muslim rulers. In fact, most of them guided the Muslim rulers in carrying forward their mission of\u00a0 conquest and conversion by furthering their campaigns of \u00a0plundering the wealth of Hindus of which many Sufis willingly partook \u00a0share.<\/p>\n

      It was a taboo for Sufis, the so-called saints, \u00a0to accept a Hindu ascending the throne of\u00a0 any kingdom during the heydays of \u00a0the Muslim rule. . In an example narrated by S.A.A. Rizvi on page 37 of \u00a0his well researched book, The Wonder That Was<\/i> India<\/i> (Vol.II, Rupa & Co, 1993, New Delhi) \u00a0it is pointed out that when the powerful Bengali warrior, king Ganesha, captured power in Bengal in the year 1415 A.D., Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, attacked his kingdom at the request of outraged ulema and numerous Sufis of\u00a0 Bengal. In the ensuing strife, the leading Sufi of Bengal, Nur Qutb-i-Alam, interceded and secured a political agreement to the benefit of\u00a0 the Muslim community and satisfaction of Sufis. \u00a0Under dire threat King Ganesha was forced to abdicate his throne in favour of \u00a0his 12 years old son, Jadu, who was converted to Islam and proclaimed as Sultan Jalaluddin\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 to the satisfaction of the Sufi masters.<\/p>\n

      Similarly Sultan Ahmed Shah of Gujarat (1411-42), though a practitioner of \u00a0Sufi philosophy, was a diehard iconoclast who took delight in destroying temples, as stated in the same tome, \u00a0by S.A.A. Rizvi. \u00a0The Sultan also used to force the Rajput chieftains to marry their daughters to him so that they would become outcastes in their own community.\u00a0 And the endgame of the Sultan could as well be that perhaps some of\u00a0 the outcaste Rajputs might then opt to become Muslims.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Unfortunately due to relentless colonization of the Hindu mind during 1000 years long oppressive Muslim rule, the Hindu masses till date have failed to realize that the so-called Sufi philosophy of\u00a0 religious harmony is a one-way street.\u00a0 \u00a0This trend of Hindus praying at tombs and dargahs has been nurtured by the strong undercurrent of\u00a0 belief in<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      spiritualism among Hindu masses, even educated classes. That is the crux of the matter.\u00a0 Deeply steeped in their traditional belief in spirituality and mysticism, the Hindus have developed the custom of\u00a0 visiting dargahs and continue to\u00a0 pray at the tombs of\u00a0 Sufis.<\/p>\n

      No Muslim, nor any Sufi, has ever agreed to worship in a \u00a0Hindu temple, nor make obeisance before the images of\u00a0 Hindu Gods and Godesses. For them it would be an act of \u00a0grossest sacrilege and unacceptable\u00a0 violation of\u00a0 the basic tenets of \u00a0Sufism.\u00a0 \u00a0That is the truth about the Sufi saints and their bogus \u00a0philosophy of inter-religious harmony.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      **************<\/p>\n

      P.S.\u00a0 This Paper was presented \u00a0by the author at a Seminar organized in Chennai in<\/p>\n

      December, 2008.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u00a0DARK\u00a0 SIDE OF\u00a0 SUFISM \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0– R.K.Ohri ( I.P.S.Retd) \u00a0 A Reappraisal of\u00a0 the Role of… more »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6757,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6755\/revisions\/6757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}