Invoking Sufi tradition to defeat extremism

Promote the message of love and peace, say scholars but warn against shrine worship.

KARACHI:

Noted scholar Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed has underscored the need to promote the ‘cosmopolitan message’ of Sufi saints to fight off the obscurantist forces of fundamentalism and extremism that are gnawing at the roots of the country’s social fabric.

“But instead of worshipping the shrines of Sufi saints, we should promote their message of love, peace and universal brotherhood,” Dr Ahmed, the director of Karachi University’s Pakistan Research Centre, told participants at a seminar on Sufi Shah Inayat, the first socialist Sufi of Sindh. The event was organised by the Sindh Sufi Institute at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi.

Most Sufi saints promoted peace, love and tolerance. But Dr Ahmed doesn’t believe in generalisation and instead calls for a critical approach to the teachings of the practitioners of this esoteric dimension of Islam.

“A blind following of the successors of Sufi saints (sajjada nasheens) has led to the exploitation of Sufism by feudal lords to further their political agendas. It has created political dynasties, such as the Gilanis, the Makhdooms and the Pirs, who exploited their religious statures to become powerful politicians,” he said.

Generally, Sufi saints are believed to be ‘self-mortifying’ hermits, or unproductive ascetics, praying and meditating in the wildernesses. “But look at Sufi Shah Inayat. He wasn’t a recluse, he fought for the rights of his devotees and led them in rebellion against the rulers,” he said.

Progressive writer Muslim Shamim credited Sufi Shah Inayat with conceptualising socialist ideology, though in a rudimentary form, much before Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital. But he lamented that while Marx became the godfather of Socialism – few acknowledged Shah Inayat’s ‘land to the tillers’ philosophy.

In his groundbreaking book ‘From Moses to Karl Marx’, renowned progressive writer Sibte Hassan ignored Sufi Shah Inayat’s contribution to the socialist philosophy in the South Asian subcontinent. However, later he realised his mistake and tried to make amends by writing another book, wherein he dedicated an entire chapter to Sufi Shah Inayat and called him ‘the first Socialist Sufi.’

Advocate Shamim pointed out that much before the establishment of La Commune de Paris – commonly known as the Paris Commune – Sufi Shah Inayat had set up a commune in the Jhoke area of Sindh, then called Miranpur. And his concept of ‘collective farming’ together with his message of love and universal brotherhood earned him a large following.

“In fact, Sufi Shah Inayat rebelled against the political establishment and clergy (read: Mullahism) of his time. And for this, he became a ‘traitor’ and an ‘infidel’. Subsequently, he was put to death by then local Kalhora rulers with the help of their Mughal masters,” said Advocate Shamim.

Zulfiqar Halepota, young columnist and secretary general of the Sindh Democratic Forum, and Professor Monis Ayaz of Khairpur University spoke about the Sufi tradition in the land of Sindh, with particular reference to the role of Sufi Shah Inayat. All speakers thanked Khadim Hussain Soomro, the founder-director of Sindh Sufi Institute, for organising the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2012.