Spiritual celebration: ‘Allowing men in the shrine robbed it of its character’
The three-day urs of Bibiyan Pak Daman opened on Friday .
Women devotees carrying pitchers of rose water to wash the shrine. PHOTO: ABID NAWAZ/EXPRESS
LAHORE:
The urs of Bibiyan Pak Daman opened with the washing of the shrine on Friday. Dozens of women carried pitchers filled with rose water used to wash the shrine with.
The three-day urs celebrated on the 6th, 7th and 8th of the Jumada Al Akhira of the Islamic calendar pays tribute to the “chaste women” traced to the families of Hazrat Ali (RA) and Hazrat Muslim Bin Aqeel (RA).
Several women lawmakers including Shaista Pervaiz and Azma Bokhari visited the shrine on the opening day of the urs. Begum Atta Maneka was present as was Agha Qizelbash, the caretaker of Karbala Gamay Shah. The men paid their respects to the Bibiyan from outside the chamber housing the graves as only women were allowed to enter.
The narrow alleyways leading to the shrine were lined with shops selling rose garlands and petals, bracelets and rings and other trinkets.
As women picked up the pots to go wash the shrine with, a small scuffle broke out. Dozens of women devotees scrambled over one another to get a pot. Desperate for the honour of washing the shrine, the women clawed and screamed at one another sometimes using derogatory language.
Samina Rohail was among these women. She had come to the shrine to pray for her child who she said was going blind in one eye. “If I wash the shrine, my prayers will be answered,” she said. “Miracles happen.”
Others, especially men, who stood outside the shrine to pay their respects said the rowdy behaviour violated the sanctity of the shrine.
Asghar Ali, who had travelled from Faisalabad to attend the urs, said the women devotees were dishonouring the saints.
Syeda Minahil, whose father had helped put up the decorations for the urs, said she visited the shrine every Thursday. “I try to stay away during the urs because some of the women devotees throw all sense of decorum to the winds and start fighting,” she said.
Minahil said she had been visiting the shrine since she was a child. Minahil was of the opinion that Bibiyan Pak Daman should be exclusively for women. She said the practice of allowing men into the courtyard of the shrine had robbed the place of its spiritual character.
“Bibi Ruqaiya was a syedzadi and her veil (purdah) was important for her. It was because of purdah that she asked God to let the ground swallow her rather than being taken away by an army of a Hindu prince.”
After the ghusl, which took up most of the day, there was a chirghan – lighting of lamps.
Legend has it that Bibi Ruqaiya, fleeing the battle of Karbala, arrived in the Indian subcontinent with three sisters and two daughters of Hazrat Muslim Bin Aqeel (RA). The women settled in this area and preached Islam. They amassed such a large following that a Hindu prince sent an army to arrest the women. When the army drew close, the ground opened up and swallowed up the women.
The urs will end on Sunday after prayers at 8pm. Over the next few days, hundreds of people are expected to visit the shrine. Men and women are frisked at the entrance of the shrine and police personnel are deployed in the alleys leading up to the shrine.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2015.
The urs of Bibiyan Pak Daman opened with the washing of the shrine on Friday. Dozens of women carried pitchers filled with rose water used to wash the shrine with.
The three-day urs celebrated on the 6th, 7th and 8th of the Jumada Al Akhira of the Islamic calendar pays tribute to the “chaste women” traced to the families of Hazrat Ali (RA) and Hazrat Muslim Bin Aqeel (RA).
Several women lawmakers including Shaista Pervaiz and Azma Bokhari visited the shrine on the opening day of the urs. Begum Atta Maneka was present as was Agha Qizelbash, the caretaker of Karbala Gamay Shah. The men paid their respects to the Bibiyan from outside the chamber housing the graves as only women were allowed to enter.
The narrow alleyways leading to the shrine were lined with shops selling rose garlands and petals, bracelets and rings and other trinkets.
As women picked up the pots to go wash the shrine with, a small scuffle broke out. Dozens of women devotees scrambled over one another to get a pot. Desperate for the honour of washing the shrine, the women clawed and screamed at one another sometimes using derogatory language.
Samina Rohail was among these women. She had come to the shrine to pray for her child who she said was going blind in one eye. “If I wash the shrine, my prayers will be answered,” she said. “Miracles happen.”
Others, especially men, who stood outside the shrine to pay their respects said the rowdy behaviour violated the sanctity of the shrine.
Asghar Ali, who had travelled from Faisalabad to attend the urs, said the women devotees were dishonouring the saints.
Syeda Minahil, whose father had helped put up the decorations for the urs, said she visited the shrine every Thursday. “I try to stay away during the urs because some of the women devotees throw all sense of decorum to the winds and start fighting,” she said.
Minahil said she had been visiting the shrine since she was a child. Minahil was of the opinion that Bibiyan Pak Daman should be exclusively for women. She said the practice of allowing men into the courtyard of the shrine had robbed the place of its spiritual character.
“Bibi Ruqaiya was a syedzadi and her veil (purdah) was important for her. It was because of purdah that she asked God to let the ground swallow her rather than being taken away by an army of a Hindu prince.”
After the ghusl, which took up most of the day, there was a chirghan – lighting of lamps.
Legend has it that Bibi Ruqaiya, fleeing the battle of Karbala, arrived in the Indian subcontinent with three sisters and two daughters of Hazrat Muslim Bin Aqeel (RA). The women settled in this area and preached Islam. They amassed such a large following that a Hindu prince sent an army to arrest the women. When the army drew close, the ground opened up and swallowed up the women.
The urs will end on Sunday after prayers at 8pm. Over the next few days, hundreds of people are expected to visit the shrine. Men and women are frisked at the entrance of the shrine and police personnel are deployed in the alleys leading up to the shrine.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2015.