Reshiyyat: Key to Kashmir Religion and Philosophy

Published as theme paper by the Institute of Kashmir Studies, Kashmir University (2010)Kashmir is traditionally held to be a sanctified or blessed land of the Spirit. Kashmir is indeed a pir-waer and the garden of paradise on earth if paradise is the name of saints dwelling. Kashmir as the fairyland of peace and contentment warped round the devotion and silence of the Himalayas, musical streams and limpid lakes is an ideal location for japa or zikr, for contemplation or meditation. It is no wonder that the history of Kashmir is a history of its saints and sages who have provided the life style and culture to its people. The valley itself was founded and established by a legendry mystic, Kashyapa who drained the waters of “Sati Sar.” He recognised the sacredness of the land and designed it to be the abode of saints. If there is any land where the order of eternity and the order of time, the heaven and the earth, intersect and overlap, where celestial lights illumine everything it is Kashmir.
Our aim is to argue that it is the mystic that defines the ideal of Kashmiri consciousness. Throughout history it is mysticism that has given identity to Kashmiris. It is not dualistic exoteric religion but esoteric or mystical thought that has been central to the definition of Kashmiri culture in all its different forms Buddhist, Saivist or Islamic. If history is any guide to the determination of present identity then mysticism emerges as a strong candidate for it. Kashmiri culture has been and is mystically oriented. It has upheld a mystical or philosophical (more precisely metaphysical) outlook and not simply a religious worldview which could easily lend itself to communal or sectarian appropriation. Kashmir, historically speaking, has never been a theologically oriented culture. Its religiosity cant be measured in terms of more conventional parameters and amazement expressed by many scholars regarding the Kashmiris lax religiosity is not difficult to comprehend. In this paper it is argued that the traditional mystical identity of Kashmir needs to be understood from metaphysical rather than religious perspective and that it could be deployed in charting a response to a host of current challenges social, economical, religious and environmental. Mysticism has ample resources for us to squarely face the problems that bedevil the postmodern West and a world condemned to live in the midst of divergent cultures and identities . So far there has been no comprehensive attempt to study diverse religious traditions of Kashmir simultaneously especially in relation to modern secular thought currents and exclusivist theological voices. In the absence of any attempt to apply by comparativists any comprehensive methodology to deal with divergent religious world-views we have yet to develop outlines of what could be called as Kashmir philosophy. If the most important task of comparative philosophy is to understand common basis of different traditions as Ananda Coomaraswamy said we can say that Kashmiri scholars have yet to contemplate such vital a task. In this paper the task before us is:
Identifying mystical/metaphysical basis of different religious traditions that have informed our heritage.
Attempt to argue for the centrality of the mystical in Kashmir religion and culture.
Salvage the mystical worldview of Kashmir against its modern day critics especially exotericist critics.
Identify misappropriations of the mystical in occultist and pseudomystical circles.
Critique exploiting power structures that trade in the name of the mystics.
I shall be taking a series of questions and attempt to answer them from the perennialist viewpoint to establish the basic theses that Reshiyyat is the integrating and unifying element of all the important religio-philosophical traditions of Kashmir and that the state of Reshi, identified as the sage or the mystic in less precise terms, is the ideal posited by different traditions. The thesis of the paper is that transtheological, transsectarian and thus metaphysical Reshiyyat as Kashmirs quintessential tradition and its defining identity. Reshiyyat approached from the framework of traditional metaphysics unites diverse theological traditions without denying the validity of particular religious traditions. It is unfortunate that it has not been approached from this perspective so far and in fact there is no systematic presentation of Reshi metaphysics available. A lot of religious/theological, sociological and historical studies of it have been done but the profound metaphysical grounding of it has yet to be attempted. Understanding Reshiyyat from metaphysical perspective serves to foreground the essential transcendent unity of contributing traditions and help evolve a response to pluralism and multiculturalism that has become the reality of the postmodern world. The questions I shall take for discussion include What is Reshiyyat and its history? Who is a Reshi? What is the relation between exoteric and esoteric dimensions of religions? Could traditions be under threat from rival traditions and in need of revival.
Who is a Reshi?
How does one become a Reshi and who qualifies as a Reshi? The answer is a good Muslim or Sufi is a Reshi according to Sheikh Nuruddin. The Reshi is Sanskrit equivalent of mystic or inspired person, one to whom the vision of God has been vouchsafed. It signifies mystical consciousness which precedes or transcends diverse theological formulations or expressions. Reshi is a generic term for mystic or enlightened person or anyone who seeks to realize the esoteric aspect of his religious tradition. The fruit of the path that he follows is self realization. Know thyself is first commandment of all mystical traditions, Eastern and Western. Reshi goes on the great adventure to know this self. The debate over Persian vs. Sanskrit origin of the term is hardly warranted in view of the fact that the mystic is a bird of lamakaan for whom these things hardly matter. There has been an attempt by Hasan and certain other scholars to Islamize the term Reshi, its origin and the whole chronology that Nurrudin gives in his famous verses. This should be understood from the same perspective and we need not fight over the literal or historical validity of this Islamized history of Reshiyyat in Kashmir. We need to caution against confounding literal with the symbolic and historical with metahistorical and absolutizing the names and labels. The Reshi, the sage, the self realized one, the inspired poet, is the image of primordial man or Adam. One becomes a Reshi by transcending desiring self or ego and becoming a mirror to Reality or God. When the realm of the known ceases, when thoughts cease, when the mind is transcended, when carnal self goes, man becomes a fit receptacle of divine tajalliyat. When nafs or hawa dont speak, God speaks. The Quran must be revealed to us for authentic existential response from our side, as Iqbal has famously said in his Urdu couplet. The Reshi is name of a medium, an empty receptacle (where no fog of passions and mind obstructs the Unknown, the revelation to descend), a flute, a clean slate on which God writes with his own qalm. One must be gone to be able to assimilate the mighty speech of God. No earthly tongue can be vouchsafed the ability to utter Gods word. The ego or the lower self must be annihilated so that only God remains as happened in case of Mansur. The Reshi passes away from this phenomenal world, as the Beloveds word consumes him, burns him. One cant live (as the ordinary self) and know God. That is what is the purport of the following verses of the Sheikh, the revivalist, the resurrector of Reshi movement in the 14th century A.D. The reading of the Quran should have broken the flashy talisman of your life. In reading the Quran Mansur annihilated himself. These verses explain the meaning and making of a Reshi. God can only speak through man/ to man when man is no longer man in the ordinary sense of the term. To let God speak man must be silent. He must pass through that severe mystical discipline and control his mind and self. It needs, to quote our Shiekh, Consecrating life to the search for Truth. One who tighten the belly to learn (the virtues of) patience/Gives up his ego/ Contemplates Him in seclusion could be eligible for the lofty station of the Reshi. Shiekh Nuruddin, identifying true Muslim with the Reshi, explicates attributes of him. Who longs to live by the sweat of ones mind/ Who shows fortitude in provocation/who shares meals with the hungry / who is obsessed with the idea of removing huger, who scorns anger, greed, illusion, arrogance and self conceit. The Reshi reaches arsh by the load of his nobler actions and then only the grace of the Omnipotent embraces him. The Reshi is one who remains humble despite his substance and sits very low on the wheel of life. Consuming himself in the fire that the kalima generates and realizing the mirage of existential unity he finds the Eternal and transcends space. The Reshi may be ummi or unlettered but by knowing the meaning of kalima which is the source of all knowledge, he appropriates all the essential metaphysical, eschatological and moral truths that are contained in the kalima. The Reshi kindles the lamp of knowledge and religion as he realizes the essence of all knowledge contained in alif, lam and mim. The Reshi realizing the oneness of existence (what Shaikhul Aalam calls kunyr) radiates peace. There is no other for him as he has realized unity by transcending all dualities and dualism. His principle of nonviolence extends to all nature, inanimate and animate. His Unitarian weltanschauung dissolves all exclusions and marginalization. He isnt guilty of any epistemic violence. He is one with Existence. He makes no claims over and against it. He surrenders to Reality and that is why he attains peace within and without. Islam as another name of peace and non-violence and an ethic of social justice has been practically realized by the Reshis. For Nuruddin the Reshi is more a name of a consciousness than a name of particular historical or concrete personality and by virtue of that belongs to all of us. We are all, by virtue of being humans, Reshis or Reshis is the making. This world is the Vale of Reshi making and the Reshi in widest sense of the term is Spirit or its archetypal image. The Reshi possesses the essence of all religious traditions and is heir to everything grand and noble in the history of humanitarian and mystical thought. He sacrifices his desires for the good of others. That is the meaning of his vegetarianism and faqr. He has no self or ego and is epitome of altruism. To be a Reshi is a realization that mere creedal formulae cant save. It is to be the object of ones knowledge or belief. It is not merely consent to a proposition but whole hearted effort to submit to the Truth that makes one a Reshi. Becoming a Reshi is a process and not an event. It is lifelong commitment to follow a different life. It is not consummated at some point of time. It is lifelong odyssey. God is the name of perpetual creativity. Life divine is an unfinished project. One never reaches God. God is a perpetual quest, unattainable ideal. Reshi life is a matter of choices that one makes every moment. Seeing God is the last luxury of life and very few can afford it. It costs one everything including ones soul. It is idle to debate who is a Sufi or a Reshi from outside. Forms must be transcended according to all Sufis if one has to make the great leap to God. There is no address of the man of God. The man of God is trackless, traceless as Rumi says. One wonders how one can judge Sufis or Reshis on the basis of the world of forms which they have realized in depth and then transcended.Reshiyyat, Mysticism and Metaphysics
From the perspective of perennialism one could say that the term Reshi is Indian way of referring to Logos, the Light of Muhammad, and the Christ-Reality. If the first Reshi was Ahmad Reshi and the latter is synonymous with the pole of Existence, the Universal Man, the envoy of the Absolute as elaborated in Sufi metaphysics then Reshiyyat is an integral tradition and formulation of the Sanatana Dharma, the primordial Din, the Sophia perennis, javidaan khird. This makes it truly universalistic. Reshiyyats history doesnt extend only to 4000 years as some have argued but to all eternity, to preeternity. Specifying Muhammad as the first Reshi is not to restrict Reshiyyat to post-Islamic period. In fact the Prophets name is Ahmed in heaven in Islamic tradition. Sheikh Nuruddins specification of the name as Ahmed Reshi seems to be an allusion to this heavenly or timeless transhistorical Muhammad. It is also established that Reshiyyat in Kashmir predates the birth of the Prophet of Islam. The Reshis journey is from pre-eternity to post-eternity and we are all, willy nilly summoned to take this great expedition. We are all fellow travelers on the path of Reshiyyat because to be a Reshi is to be concerned, ultimately concerned with our Ground of Being, which is none other than God who is none other the Self, the ideal pole of man.
What is common between Buddhism, Saivism, Tantricism and Sufism is the religious experience, the fruit of which is the peace that passeth all understanding. The path is transcendence of ego to realize the Infinite, the Unconditioned. Theologies are only different conceptual schemes to make sense of the religious experiences of the prophets and saints and are dispensable. Metaphysics which is the science of the supraphenomenal, the science of the Infinite and the Unconditioned transcends the theologies as it speaks of direct vision or gnosis (irfan). It is non-dualistic and takes Absolute or Godhead rather than the personal God of theology as the Ultimate Reality. Enlightenment/deliverance/ gnosis/ vision of God or the kingdom of God dissolves all questions that conceptual intellect raises. Theologies and forms are transcended as their supraformal referent and ground is realized. The great end is not merely mystical realization but metaphysical realization where the there is no limitation of finitude or individuality and knowing and being are merged as subject-object duality is finally transcended. Transcendence of the desiring self is the unifying element of all traditional religions. Perennialists convincingly argue that that there is no important difference between different mystical paths which constitute the inner reality of all religions. There cant be any difference in the fruit either. They claim to derive logical conclusion from the Quranic verses that speak of the universality of revelation and ad-Deen and that describe the Quran as the testifier of previous revelations. Tawhid, Sufistically interpreted as There is no truth but Truth or there is no reality but Reality,’ is seen to be the essence of all religious and mystical traditions. Iqbals description of the Prophet in such verses as Lowh b tou, kalm bi tou, tera wujood alkitab, Aayai Kaiyinat ka main-i- dareyaab tou/ niklae teri talash mai kafla haay rang-o boo, Nigahi isq-o- masti mai wahi awwal wahi aakhir approximates the metaphysical understanding of Muhammad (upon whom be peace and blessings the very name Muhammad means the praised one. Organized ritual blessing on him is a practice in vogue in Kashmir. Praising Muhammad is, metaphysically speaking, praising and blessing Existence or Life. Durood is at root indicative of the attitude of yes-saying to life which could be contrasted to absurdist attitude of rebellion or nihilistic despair) that perennialists put forward in defence of their thesis that Muhammad is universally acknowledged by traditional communities. Muhammed, seen in mystical and metaphysical terms as the Pole of Existence, the Logos, the Principle of Manifestation, the positivity of existence, the envoy of the Absolute, the First stage of the Tanazullat-i-Sitta, the Praised One in the capacity of perfection of man, the ideal pole of man, the essence of Aadamiyat, the Light that was created before Adam, the revealer of Divine Attributes, the unfragemented integrated perfected manhood, the transhistorical or metahistorical or archetypal Muhammad is not denied by any integral religious tradition. Islam, metaphysically and mystically interpreted as the surrender of the finite self before the Infinite, the Totality, the Existence, is not a religion among other religions but the Religion. It is the religion of all prophets. Islam is not a set of propositions or a mere creedal system. It claims to be the Truth or Reality (Allahs denotative name is al-Haqq) that is Manifest. Allah is the Manifest Truth according to the Quran. Islamic kalima is translatable in such terms that only a spiritually blind person who deliberately chooses to veil or cover the truth. Kafir, in the Quranic parlance, is one who denies the truth that is made manifest to him with dazzling clarity and not the one who denies certain theological proposition. The Quran is not reducible to theology. In fact it is not understandable in purely theological terms. Traditional Muslims have never encouraged kalam. At the stage of metaphysical realization the theological plane which is dualistic and inherently limited is transcended so that no question of exclusivist labels and identities is there. So the question whether Lalla was a Saivite or Muslim belonging to the theological plane cannot be entertained from the metaphysical plane.
Reshiyyat is not to be designated as a religion but as a metaphysic and esotericism that grounds different religions. This metaphysics assumes different forms in accordance with different religious traditions. This metaphysics forms the unifying element of all traditions religions. Religions are adaptations according to different human receptacles of the truths of metaphysics. Doctrinal content or dogmas of different religions are reducible to metaphysical principles. There is a difference between religion and metaphysics. As Guenon points out the metaphysical point of view is purely intellectual while as in the religious or theological point of view the presence of a sentimental element affects the doctrine itself, which doesnt allow of it complete objectivity.1
The fact that Reshi is a transreligious term and cant be spoken of as belonging to only a particular religious universes means we have to see the underlying metaphysical truths that he comes to realize. Forms are relative; only the Absolute is absolute. Theologies are forms. The supraformnal truth that Reshi comes to cognize allows him to penetrate the forms from within and then at the same time transcend them. The fact that Reshis have arisen within specific religious traditions and have remained loyal to a particular religious universe disproves crude syncretistic view that dissolves forms as irrelevant. Forms are also divine though relative. They conceal an esoteric supraformal truth of which they are clothing. It is for the insider only that a journey to the centre of religious universe which is Godhead is possible according to the perennialists. Ad-Deen is the eternal truth that different sharia and theologies express and it is the later that vary across time and space in the history of religions. By virtue of crossing the dark night of the soul and attaining to the stage of haqq-ul-yakeen the Reshi or the Sufi is able to have unmediated vision of truth that ad-Deen is. A Muslim Reshi is born in the bosom of Islam and lives Islam but that doesnt mean the truth in previous revelations is thereby negated but only relived in a different form. Reshiyyat is not approachable as a particular philosophical system. It because it refers to the Universal, the Unlimited cant be contained in a particular system. Metaphysics, being the truth of Universal Principles or the Infinite and All-Possibility isnt definable. One cant make a system or ideology out of it. Only reason constructs systems or ideologies. Darsanas of Indian origin and Sufism are not philosophical schools in the Western sense of the term. So those authors who use such phrases as Reshi ideology, Reshi philosophy or Saivite philosophy misuse the terms. Western philosophy lacks complete metaphysics and is not what Plato meant by it: a way of life and love of wisdom. Philosophy in the primordial sense of the term that prepares one for death and assimilation to God as Plato said is not a rational logical abstract discipline only and is allied to gnosis, a way of life or realization of the good. It is not a prerogative of ratio or mental faculty of reason but of nous, the supraindividual universal faculty of intellect. Metaphysics, the science of supraphenomenal universal principles, the Infinite, that transcends all binaries and dualisms that have plagued the Western philosophical and theological tradition, and resolves all contradictions in the One, the Absolute, coincidentia oppositorum, is intellectual (non-discursive intelligence) rather than rational discipline and postmodern critiques are hardly relevant to it as it is not dualistic, structuralist, or to be identified with metaphysics of presence. It is not a mere theoretical rational inquiry but a realization, intellection or noetic vision that transcends subject-object duality and demands something like ethical discipline that Plato argued for. Platonic philosophy, understood as a spiritual and contemplative way of life leading to illumination or enlightenment; an intellectual discipline based on intellection culminating in union (henosis) with ideal Forms; his Orphic-Indian conception of philosopher as one who seeks release from the wheel of cyclical term concurs with the perennialist understanding of metaphysics and Indian understanding of darsana. Reshiyyat is a philosophy in this sense and not in the typical Western sense.
Reshi metaphysics is not rational construction. It is not a totalizing system either. It is not a metaphysics of presence either as the Supreme Principle or Absolute in Buddhism, Kashmir Saivism or Sufism is not Being but pure Being or Beyond-Being or Non-Being best described as Void or Northing in Reshi literature. Deconstruction and other postmodern philosophies problematize rational metaphysics and theology only. Reshiyyat also doesnt take a humanist view of self which postmodernism challenges. Postmodernism has indirectly helped to strengthen the realm of unreason that mysticism takes care of. Mystical traditions such as Reshiyyat transcend all thought constructions and the binaries of dualistic mind and thought. Reshi talks about the language of silence, of prelinguistic prereflective witnessing of phenomena and deconstruction can do nothing to discredit this discourse of silence.
History shows that mysticism in Kashmir has been the defining element of Kashmiri tradition and identity. Buddhism and Saivism are essentially mystical religions. Ritualism had been questioned from the very beginning in the history of religious thought in Kashmir. Buddhism that coloured Kashmir religious landscape before the advent of Saivism is strongly critical of ritualism. Saivist sages emphasized relativity and even dispensability of forms. Kashmir Saivism was especially Unitarian or nondualistic like Sufism that followed it. Tantricism was extreme development of esoterical viewpoint that led ultimately to disregard of law. Muslim Kashmirs greatest sons have been mystics. Our greatest poets have been mystics. Our art is a reflection of our mysticism.
Genealogy of Reshiyyat
Reshiyyat has been the Great Tradition of Kashmir from preIslamic times. The origins of the Reshi movement go back to pre-Islamic times in the Vedic period. The founder of the Muslim Reshi movement in Kashmir, Nuruddin Nurani (1377-1440), moulded the pre-existing Reshi tradition, transforming it into a vehicle for the spread of Islam, using local institutions and methods to make Islam more comprehensible to the Kashmiris. After Nuruddin Reshi movement made deep inroads in Kashmir. Mystical ethos found newer expressions and continues vigorously in the form of Sufis and their shrines. Most Kashmiris are followers or admirers of some local Sufi.
The first Reshi, from traditional metaphysical and mystical viewpoints is Logos, the Pole of Existence, the Principle of Manifestation. He brings into consciousness the archetype of God. The term Reshi should be seen as a perspective, a standpoint, an archetype of certain dominant historical personalities and even dominant images, a way of looking at experience as a whole, a way of interpreting certain fundamental features of human existence (Khan, 1994). Shiekh Nuruddin has used the term Reshi in this universal transhistorical and transempirical sense. This is evident in his famous eulogization of the legendry Reshis. He wants to convey something more valuable than an elementary historical definition of the term. Mystical quest is perennial. In this sense one could well argue that the Reshi movement didnt originate in the 14th century but has been always there. Consciousness has no beginning in time; rather it creates time and history. The Reshi is the name of this consciousness. The Reshi lives in eternity, in timeless moment. The present author strongly disagrees with traditional historical approach to phenomenon of Reshiyyat which belongs more to metahistory than history and it is only metahistoric or transhistoric dimension of the Reshi movement that makes it perennially relevant. The origin and evolution of the Reshi movement should be discussed in terms of its metahistorical archetypal image rather than in purely historical terms.
All the great names in Kashmirs religion and mysticism which include such Buddhist sages, philosophers and kings as Nagasen, Mender, Nagarjuna, Kumarajivia, Gautama Sanghadeva, Punyatrata, Vimalaksa, Dharmamitra, Ashogosh, Varsobando etc. and suchKashmiri Saivite sages and philosophers as SriKantha, Vasugupta, Kallata, Prodyumna Bhatta, Prajnarjuna, Somanand, Utpal Dev, Abhinavgupta, Jayaratha are links in the Reshi chain. Lalla connects Saivism with Islamized Reshiyyat of Shiekh Nuruddin. Great Khulafa (disciples) of Shiekh Nuruddin and Khulafa of those Khulafa and the Sufi appropriation of Reshi movement by Shiekh Makhdoom and from then on a galaxy of Reshis of 3rd period (Ist period is up to Shiekh Nuruddin and from him up to Harda Reshi is 2nd period and from then on may be labeled) as third period when Reshis modified their socio-economic structure by abandoning strict monkish asceticism and began to earn their own livelihood) have been keeping alive the great Reshi tradition. The Sufi poets of Kashmir have been vital in preservation and transmission of Reshi message. Sufi poetry represents the essence of Reshiyyat. Thus not only the great Reshis such as Bamuddin, Zainuddin, Latifuddin, Nasiruddin, Payamuddin, Lacham Reshi, Reshi, Rupa Reshi, Sangam Dar, Hardi Reshi and later day representatives like Shankar Reshi, Aali Baba Saeb, Rajab Baba Saeb but also great Sufi poets of Kashmir whose names are too well known are links in the great chain of Reshiyyat. Intellectual and religious history of Kashmir is the history of Reshiyyat.
Islam and Development of Reshiyyat
We now take up the discussion of development of Reshiyyat in relation to Islam in Kashmir to foreground the centrality of the mystical in the whole process of conversion and consolidation of power by Muslims. The story of Islam in Kashmir is one of the most interesting stories in the history of civilizational dialogue. There is hardly any similar example in history of peaceful takeover of one religion and culture by the other. This feat became possible because of the role of Sufis. It is a unique story exemplifying Islams resilience and potential to appropriate alien traditions. It shows contours of interfaith dialogue in action. It refutes the dominant perception of Islam as monolithic exclusivist legalistic tradition. The story of Islam in Kashmir is an interesting case of larger story of cultural transformation brought about by mysticism. How mysticism approaches and solves certain important problems is illustrated in Kashmir.
We need to know historical reasons for the ascendency of Islam in Kashmir. Saivism had lost vitality. It degenerated in the course of time as traditions do. No major thinker was produced by Kashmir Saivism after the 12th century. Spirituality had given place to occultism. Buddhism had already yielded to dominant tradition and even adopted the latters many forms. Masses had been alienated from decadent religiosity and oppression of priestly class. Prof. Rattan Lal Hangloo has, for instance, argued in his The State in Medieval Kashmir that the mass conversion to Islam was facilitated by the then Hindu society and polity which produced deteriorating social system, the broadening crisis in economy or political insecurity (Hangloo, 2000). According to him the spread of Islam appeared as an answer and solution to the problem of injustice, disharmony and the peoples misery. Islam filled the vacuum quite admirably. It was Sufism that was destined to play historical role in consolidating and revitalizing centuries of spiritual heritage. Mysticism has been the religion of man from the very beginning. It has adapted itself to diversity of forms. Men are programmed to worship God according to the Quran. There is no escape possible from God who is our Environment, our Origin and our End.
Mansur al-Hallaj, the famous mystic-martyr, is said to have visited Kashmir. It took many centuries, until the advent of Sufis from Central Asia and Persia, for the process of conversion to significantly transform religious and cultural landscape of Kashmir. Islam won mass conversion in the 14th century and from then on it has been the dominant tradition displacing both the already enfeebled Buddhism and the decadent Saivism.
The thousands of years long heritage of Reshiyyat easily adapted to the Sufistic face of Islam. Reshiyyat got Islamized at the hands of Sheikh Nuruddin and his followers. Native thought currents thus got assimilated` in the new synthesis of the Shaikh, popularly called Shaikhul Alam or Jagat Guru. Masses didnt feel alienated from their tradition in embracing Islam at the hands of Sufis and Reshis as Islams spiritual dimension converged significantly with the Hindu-Buddhist Unitarianm outlook. Ibn Arabis wajudi Unitarian version of Islam that Syed Ali Hamdani, the great leader of about 700 Sufis that constituted organized mission for Islamizing Kashmir, advocated could easily get acceptability in already monistically oriented mind of Kashmir. It has been amply demonstrated that conversion to Islam was either by Reshis or Sufis rather than state sponsored enterprise.
New life was breathed into the age old Reshi tradition by Shiekh Nuruddin. He transformed it from the perspective of Sufism and gave it a social dimension. As is usual with the mystics, hardly anything is known with certainty about his life. And we neednt know! One wonders why biographers and historians exhaust so much energy on these issues. The Sufi comes from nowhere and goes to nowhere. Indeed from nothingness to nothingness is mans journey. God who is our Origin and End is both Void or Nothing or Sunyata (in the tradition of negative divine) and Fullness or Plenitude of Being, Goodness, Beauty and Truth or Truth, Existence and Bliss (in the tradition of positive divine). Only God is, man as an independent self subsisting entity isnt. Man can attain baqa only when he ceases to be, when he transcends his I or ego consciousness and only mirrors God by total surrender. This is the essence of mysticism of which Shiekh Nuruddin is the exponent. Body and details of its earthly career which subject of biographies are hardly of any significance from the mystical point of view. So our historians obsession with the facts or concrete details of worldly life of saints is unwarranted. What isnt important for a saint because of his transcendence of all labels, all the coordinates of space and time that could be used to fix his position, shouldnt of much importance to us also and our obsession with it creates such needless controversies as Was Nunda Buddhist or Muslim? or Was Lalla Savite or Muslim?’ These questions neednt be asked and can’t be answered and even if answered by careful sifting of historical evidence, Reshis cause isnt served who essentially belongs to the supraformal world and not to the realm of nasut, to metahistory and not to history. India, the land of the seers, never cultivated history as a discipline in the modern sense of the term. To the extent modern man (and modernist Kashmiri historian) has lost the sense of the Sacred, the Immutable, the Metahistorical, to that extent he is interested in prying in historical facts and details. We have, generally speaking, no biographies of saints available. We need not either. Historical life of a saint has not to do much with the essence of the thing for which mysticism stands. The earthly period of a saint hardly matters as he lives in eternity. The Spirit (which is the purely divine element in man as is clear from the Quranic verse nafiktu fir-ruhi as distinguished from soul) is never born and never dies. It transcends history and time completely. Our inmost reality is constituted by spirit. This is why, generally speaking, saints dont care for biographies. As individuals or egos saints dont exist. They are nobodies, nameless, trackless gone in the experience of fana. Only God is absolutely real; only Gods Face abides and everything else is annihilated and strictly speaking nothing is existent in the real sense.
That is why most modern historians (and this is true of G.M.D. Sufi, A.Q. Rafique and to some extent Ishaq Khan though the last mentioned takes great care to approach it from within and go against the orthodox rationalist historical viewpoint) can’t make sense of hagiological literature with its preponderances of the supernatural. It is modernist historians credulous attitude towards the myth and metanarrative of rationalistic scientism that makes him incredulous towards the element of supernatural in the lives of Reshis. The present author is much pained to see misappropriations of hagiographical accounts of our Reshis in rationalist naturalist reductionist framework of modernist historians. Modernist Kashmiri historians’ representations/appropriations of hagiographical sources or miraculous or supernatural element in the lives of the Reshis have serious limitations and sometimes we see gross distortions on account of their rationalist modernist assumptions. There is no space here to elaborate the point.
While analyzing the question of Islam in Kashmir from a theological viewpoint serious misunderstanding have arisen and scholars are still fighting over unresolved issues regarding the distinctive character of Kashmiri Islam or the relationship between Sufism and Reshiyyat, the religious identity of Lalla, communalist vs. secular interpretation of Reshi movement etc. A purely historical approach has led to unending problems for scholars of Kashmir Studies. There is a need to situate Islam and Reshiyyat in the context of pre-Islamic heritage of Kashmir by foregrounding metaphysico-spiritual dimensions of the respective traditions that have contributed to the formation of Kashmiri identity and culture. The theological as against the metaphysical approach adapted by communalists needs to be transcended. This will put in proper context the role of Saivite mystic Lalla vis-à-vis Islams emergence in the Valley. The origin and evolution of the Reshi movement should be discussed in terms of its metahistorical archetypal image rather than in purely historical terms. Is Reshiyyat different from Sufism in the same manner in which Saivism and other religious tradition of Kashmir are different from Islam? Is Islamic framework dispensable in Reshiyyat as it developed after Nuruddin? The issue of religious affiliation of Lalla or Buddhist influence on Sheikh Nuruudin is also very controversial. How to make sense of popular perception of Sufi connection of this Saivite mystic? These and other problems are best approached, in the opinion of the present author, by taking recourse to insights of perennialist scholars which are represented by Ananda Coomaraswamy in India.
The story of Islam in Kashmir has largely been a story of Islamic mysticism or Reshiyyat as Islam entered the valley through the efforts of mystics called Sufis and Reshis. The legalist exotericist exclusivist version of Islam that attained dominance in certain regions in the world today could not take roots in Kashmir. Kashmir has been a pir-waer, the land of saints and it is mysticism which has been instrumental in determination of its sensibility. The modernist rationalist historian or an exoteric exclusivist theologian can’t fully deal with the transcendery phenomenon of Reshiyyat, the former being uncomfortable with the supernatural ambience surrounding it while as the latter being uncomfortable with its inclusivism and sulhi-kul (peace with all).
Reshiyyat and the Question of Conversion
Another issue that has been subject of much controversy is Reshis role in conversion of non-Muslims. This is also made more complex issue by sensitive issue of conversion itself. For such scholars as Rafiqi the Reshis didnt go out to seek adherents to Islam as proclaimed conscious missionaries, like the immigrant Sufi and their Kashmiri followers. Not did they act as high priests but as the saints who were willing to help the needy on the spiritual path. (Rafiqi:). In contrast Khan credits them with primary role in Islamization of Kashmir. Again esotericist or metaphysical perspective of perennialist authors could be used as a corrective to limitations of traditional historical scholarship. It is a fact of history that despite their tolerance of other faiths and inclusivism the Sufis from Central Asia and Persia and the Reshis have been instrumental in Islamization of Kashmir. It is only in the integral tradition of a particular religious tradition the seed of mysticism grows and fructifies pace the belief of our syncretists and secularists. Sufism is understandable only in the light of Islam. The question of syncretism and borrowing doesnt arise if we understand what Frithjof Schuon calls universal orthodoxy of mysticism. The Sufis/Reshis needed to preach Islam as an integral tradition so that the souls could be weaned for their spiritual growth. Esoterism can’t be practiced in isolation from exoteric religion, despite what libertine mystics like Osho and Krishnamurti assert. What I want to point out is that conceptual framework of our scholars of Reshiyyat and Kashmir history suffers from certain limitations, which could be redressed by recourse to perennialist insights. Then only could the sensitive issue of conversion and the Reshis’ role in it be clarified and the process of Islamization of Kashmir understood in its proper context.
Orthodoxy of Reshiyyat
There is also not much warrant for doubting orthodox credentials of Reshi version of Sufism. From the insiders perspective there is hardly anything such as borrowing from any alien source. The form of spiritual practices and discipline dont constitute the essence of a mystical tradition like Sufism. Masters of tariqah know that in the path of enlightenment or irfan any practice or mode and discipline are substitutable. It is only a saint like Nuruddin who can decipher the esoteric significance of exoteric dimension (sharia) of Islam. There are as many kinds of spiritual practices and disciplines as there are men. There is no such thing as orthodoxy in this context. There is a lack of sound scholarship on mysticism and metaphysics in literature on Reshiyyat. It needs a metaphysician and a mystic of the calibre of Frithjof Schuon (Isa Nuruddin) to clarify the question of origin, orthodoxy/heterodoxy and borrowings in case of Reshi movement. It is the end of the quest or path i.e., enlightenment or irfan (gnosis) that is important for the mystic. Paths, the practices and the modes of discipline are variable even within the same silsilah sometimes. These can’t be made the basis for labelling and categorizing such saints as Nuruddin and Lalla.
One cant properly speak of Reshiyyat as Reshiyyat because ism has the connotation of an ideological system. However the suffix ism has now been used widely on even such non-ideological traditions as Sufism so we may retain the use of such terms as Reshiyyat but without understanding thereby that it is name of an ideology. One can say that Reshiyyat is not a name of some entity over and against different integral religious traditions. It is not a rival religious or philosophical tradition. It is the esoteric and metaphysical content of these religions.The God of Islam is synonymous with truth (God is named the Truth in the Quran) and truth has infinite faces, aspects and layers. One cant impose a version of Islam as orthodox and disqualify all divergent interpretations. The Quran and the Prophetic traditions contain inexhaustible treasures of meaning and are vulnerable to potentially countless interpretations. Purely literal understanding of Islam is impossible. Even an uncompromising Zahiri exotericist or literalist theologians is bound to resort to non-literal interpretation at certain places. All truths are mediated through our linguistic, cultural and conceptual filters. So labelling certain interpretation such as Reshi interpretation of Nurudduin as deviant or heterodox is to be guilty of what Lyotard calls meaning closure. Strictures of certain exoteric authorities regarding the Islamic credentials of mystically inclined Kashmiri peoples understanding of Islam reflect an imposition of certain totalistic and totalizing preconceived ideological reduction of Islam at the hands of these exotericists. Islam has not outlawed any interpretation as long as the frame of reference is the Quran and Sunna. Islam resists and transcends all totalistic ideological reductions because of its universality and timelessness.
There are some huge misunderstandings about the Reshis attitude to orthodox religious forms. For instance, the issue of Sufi connection of this Saivite mystic Lalla is a problem for exoteric authorities. She inherited and organically fused in her own way Saivism, Upansadic wisdom and Sufism. Her transcendence of dualist plane is revealed by the fact that her religious identity is still a matter of dispute. The message of Nuruddin and Lalla is hardly distinguishable. Saivism comes close to Islamic metaphysical doctrines and Sufistic “wahdatul wajoodi” thought and that accounts for Lalla being at home in either of them. It doesn’t regard phenomenal world as unreal but as the self expression of Siva, His poem, His art. It, like Islam, sees God both as Immanent (Shakti) as well as Transcendent (Siva). A Reshi is a bird of lamakaan and every attempt to circumscribe him in conceptual categories or theological labels that are derived from makaan or time is a category mistake. The realm of eternity is incommensurable with the realm of time. In Gods proximity all labels must drop as that station is attained only by the surrender of finite self and individuality before the Nameless Infinite.
One can loosely take Reshiyyat as Perennial Philosophy as it developed in India. Islam is simultaneously a religion and a metaphysic. So Reshiyyat as traditional metaphysics itself is part of integral Islamic tradition. As Sufism cant be practiced outside the formal religious universe of Islam according to perennialists so Reshiyyat after Nuruddin needs the supposing framework of Islam. Esotericism isnt realizable in religious vacuum despite the assertion of libertine mystics to the contrary. Without the background particular religious forms Reshiyyat becomes almost impossible to become a concrete reality. One can loosely say that Reshiyyat as tariqat is the fruit of sharia. Over and above Islamic sharia Reshiyyat has no inalienable doctrinal or practical principle. Reshiyyat is Kashmiri version of Sufism and if it appropriates and accommodates influence of certain local or indigenous practices it is in keeping with the principle that in every age Sufism needs new formulations and adaptations in consonance with the spirit of that age. Kashmirs collective unconscious, its archetypal inheritance necessarily needs to be taken into consideration when a spiritual genius such as Nuruddin wishes to Islamize it. Reshi version of Islamic Sufism is the best creative adaptation of Islam with religious universe of Kashmir that had moulded it from centuries. Local context has always affected the expression of the alien religious tradition. Such praiseworthy innovations as the practices of loud recitation of durood and awrad in Kashmir make smooth assimilation and penetration of alien religious universe possible.Limitations of Historical Approach to Reshiyyat
No purely historical approach will be able to clarify what Reshiyyat is and make sense of its diverse and rich literature. Only the shell of Reshiyyat enters history. That is why our historians have created more controversies than they have been able to resolve. The core of Reshiyyat which consists of ineffable experience of God cant be philosophically, theologically or historically approached and analyzed. The Life of Sprit which Reshiyyat actualizes is living life in a spirit of detachment, as a witnessing self. The Spirit transcends all the humdrum of life. It watches and watches without identifying with any of lifes actions and experiences. The philosophy of actionless action or wu wei wei is what mystics or Reshis advocate. The Reshi transcends mind and lives in the space of no-mind as God is revealed only when we transcend time and mind. A purely historical approach that gives much importance to the life lived in time and the life of mind cant do justice to such a person such as Reshi and his thought that transcends all discursive thought. Authentic life or the life of freedom in mystical perspective is possible only when one transcends ego and the dualistic plane of action, the fret and fever of the life of mind. The joy that the Reshi finds in God is expressed either through dance as in Lalla or in aesthetic contemplation or poetry of love and bliss or in selfless service. What is visible to the historian from the life of Reshi is only a surface or outward face of it.
Reshiyyat does enter history as an institution in a particular spatio-tempioral setting which, however, is to be differentiated from the eternal essence of religion or mysticism. We must not confound the eternal and the temporal dimensions of the Reshi movement. For the temporal setting historical and phenomenological approaches do have ample relevance but must caution against the reductionist tendency that is quite fashionable with modern academic disciplines. It is not a name of an historical movement that began somewhere at sometime in history. It is not in its essence a merely human thing. It is a celestial song, a celestial feast. It is celebration of love and peace that passeth all understanding. It is Kashmiri adaptation of perennial wisdom that is the common property of all traditional civilizations. The modernist rationalist historian or an exoteric exclusivist theologian can’t fully deal with the transcendery phenomenon of Reshiyyat, the former being uncomfortable with the supernatural ambience surrounding it while as the latter being uncomfortable with its inclusivism and sulhi-kul. From the perennialist perspective only a Reshi can authentically talk about Reshiyyat. Reshiyyat aims at self realization which is something very personal and beyond the jurisdiction of any categorical propositional framework. It can’t be discussed, analyzed, proved or refuted in the usual sense of these terms. It is too existential an affair to be handled by abstract philosophical theorizing. It is more akin to a love affair with the Absolute rather than to an abstract philosophy or religious ideology. It is a celestial song, a grand and life long adventure of spirit. It demands transcendence of subject-object duality and that is what metaphysical meaning of tawhid implies. It is a monologue of the Self, heard in silence. It is an unheard melody. It is not a matter of kal (talk) but hal (existential state or taste). It is a concrete living experience. It is synonymous with innocence of becoming and the repose of being. No categorizing conceptual framework could deal with it. Historical/philosophical analytical and ideological appropriations of Reshiyyat may miss its kernel. It is a matter of experience or realization and not of discourse or debate. It demands the whole of our life, a free response to the call from the Absolute.
Societial Dimension of Reshiyyat
Mysticism isnt a flight into dreamy foggy subjectivity but as manifested in concrete historical milieu is Eternity permeating and informing time as supernatural order suffusing natural order, as heaven showering life giving rain on earth, as Presence transmitting and transforming our baser elements into gold. It is deeply concerned with this worldly problems also. It has a deep social concern. The mystic doesnt enjoy the solitary bliss of divine vision but like Buddhisatva is concerned with salvation of whole humanity. He returns from his cave, having reached the other shore after crossing the dark night of the soul, into the world of time and space, of evil and suffering, to transform it in accordance with his transcendary vision. He celebrates mystery and beauty of life and shares woes and sufferings of his fellows and leaves forests to jackals and monkeys and caves to rats. He in no way denies life or this world at the cost of the other world, but only uplifts it, transforms it. All these characteristics of mysticism are evidenced in Reshiyyat and its history.
Political readings of Sufism need to be cautiously appraised. Sulhi kul of Sufis is not passive resignation in the face of adverse socioeconomic and political realities. Though Sufism as such has no ideological commitments but it seeks realization of the God of justice. Sufi care of the self is not at the cost of the world of form and colour. Both Saivism and Sufism transcend the dichotomy of the sacred and profane and take ample care to beautify the world. Both are conscious of our historicity, our temporality. The world is not left to dogs. It is a belief of Sufis that rulers are first chosen in the higher world and monitored strictly according to divine standards of justice. Sufism need not be dragged into the service of ones political belief. Political appropriations of spirituality are at the cost of spirituality itself and always dangerous.
The Sufis have played very important role in the political life of Kashmir. They have been informal advisors to kings. They have been influential in some important decision making. It is a widely shared belief amongst Kashmiri Muslims that Sufis play key role in making and marring of the kingdoms. Most rulers from the great Budshah to Farooq Abdulla, the chairperson and former chief minister, paid obeisance to Sufis, living and dead. The Sufis have been, according to popular belief, closely monitoring performance of authorities in terms of rendering social justice.
Mass Appeal of Sufism
Reshi/Sufi thought has deeply impacted on the development of artistic and literary culture of Kashmir. Sufism has become an integral part of Kashmiri artistic sensibility. Most of the great names in the history of Kashmir Sufism have been great poets. There exists a strong oral literary tradition amongst Sufis. Most Sufis and their students remember great number of verses by heart and routinely sing Sufi poetry in sama gatherings. There are numerous Sufi poets in Kashmir. Almost every Sufi writes poetry as if the latter is a spontaneous expression of a heart tuned to the divine. Sufism has shaped Kashmiri music and given rise to a distinct brand of classical music in Kashmir called Sufiana music All great names in Kashmir literature, until recent times, have been either Reshis or influenced by Reshiyyat. Poetry in Kashmir is either mystic poetry or sort of romantic poetry that we can subsume under the head of mysticism. Many Kashmiris believe that Habba Khatoon wasn’t married to Yusuf Shah and that their relationship was spiritual or platonic. Even modern poets such as Mehjoor, Rahi and Kamil couldn’t afford to extricate themselves from Sufi influences. We need not to be surprised that a mystic verse occurs all of a sudden in their romantic poems. Legends and myths too have been appropriated in mystical terms e.g., five Kashmiri mystic poets have versified the folk story of “Aka-Nandun” and appropriated mystic themes in it. The same is the case with “Heemal Naagraj.” The Gulrez of Maqbool Shah Kralwari, the “Bakawali” of Lassa Khan Fida and such mathnavis and narrative poems as “Heemal Nagraj” appear love poems when superficially read but are “essentially a journey from an outer world towards the inner.” The poet is called gwanimath a word charged with mystic connotations. Didacticism and certain artistic lacunae don’t generally mar the merit of great mystical poetry of Kashmir.
Sufism in Kashmir embodies one of the most interesting experiments in world spirituality. Here is a test case for integration of different traditions. Reshiyyat appropriates the central insights of four different religions of the world. It expresses the metaphysical core of all religions. Though Reshiyyat no longer survives in the form of a movement it continues to live in and impact essentially Sufistic tradition of Kashmir. The shrine of Nuruddin is still the most respected shrine of Kashmir. Nuuddin is called Alamdar or standard bearer of Kashmir. There is hardly any room for any sectarian or fundamentalist outlook in a predominantly Sufistic culture. But the unfortunate political legacy has precipitated certain communal problems which have been misappropriated by political forces.
Walter Lawrence wrote about Kashmir in his famous The Valley of Kashmir that no niche is without a shrine here. It may well be said that Sufism is today the most popular tradition in Kashmir. It has resisted all attacks and campaigns from legalistic theological schools in recent years. Almost every Kashmiri is a Sufi in making. Sufi gatherings and festivals are spread round the year. Kashmirs prayer food culture, niyaz culture and shrine culture all testify to the deep influence of Sufism. Kashmir is traditionally called as a land of mystics (pir waer). Here even many mentally deranged people are respected because suspected to be majzoob Sufis. Most families have a family saint. Though newer generations are critical of antinomian tendencies in some Sufis and of pseudoSufis for promoting polytheistic interpretation of Sufism. However the fact remains that Kashmir culture remains an essentially mystical culture.Perennity of Mysticism in Kashmir
Mysticism survives the change of religious guises in the course of history. The Quran makes it clear that Gods words cant change or dont change. The eternal element in religions that perennialists designate as Sophia perennis and the Quran subsumes in the notion of Ad-din is the living element of mysticism. It ensures continuity of religious thought across millennia. Exoteric religion or the form of religions changes but the essence that forms seek to express remains the same. Metaphysics cant change by definition. God is unchangeable. The Truth is timeless. Metaphysical foundation of all traditional religions is one as perennialists have demonstrated. In Kashmir different traditions have been living and displacing one another and in a way continue to live in different forms today. In fact one may remark here that traditions hardly ever die in the course of history. They get transformed and their spirit gets adapted to newer vehicles. They continue to influence even after their supposed death substituting traditions. This point is illustrated in the fate of Buddhism in Kashmir.
Reshiyyat and Impact of Buddhism
Buddhism penetrated into the heart of Hinduism and transformed it from within so much so that the greatest Vedantic philosopher Sankara is accused to be a cryptobuddhist. Buddhism changed its guise and continued to flourish in Saivism of Kashmir. Similar remarks could be made and applied in case of Islam. Neither Buddhism nor Saivism died here. Their essential spirit and many peripheral practices continued to be, in one or the other form, in Rishiyyat or post-Nuruudin Islam in Kashmir. Risshiyyat has appropriated key Buddhistic elements in its practice. A poem composed in honour of Buddha by Sheikh Nuruddin is ample evidence of impact of Buddhist tradition. Buddhist metaphysics of Void, its eightfold path, its four noble truths, its silence towards speculative metaphysical theological issues, its emphasis on orthopraxy rather than any particular view of Ultimate Reality, its pragmatism, its monkish culture, its ahimsa and vegetarianism all could be traced in Risshiyat of Kashmir in the Muslim period. Kashmiris continue to use, both consciously and unconsciously key Buddhist concepts and formulations in their discourse. Kashmiris blame their karma rather than any external factor or force for their suffering. Whenever something untoward happens he cries panien gunah, aamali baden hienz shamat (My bad karma, bitter fruit of bad actions). Many proverbs and folk stories have possible connection with Buddhism. Many traditional Kashmiris seek refuge in God and in Pir which seems to echo Buddhist practice of talking refuge in the Buddha. The world is described as a place of suffering by common Kashmiri (dunya chu tawan). Impermanence of everything is asserted by such common sayings as dunya chu napayidar, yaet kya chu rozwun(nothing stays long in the world). Permanence is attributed to Spirit or Absolute only, to Void in Buddhist terms. Rozuwun chu bas tamsund naw(Gods name or Essence alone is permanent) is a common saying in Kashmir. One can cite many more similar expressions used in different contexts of which we can find equivalent in Buddhism.
Kashmir remains a land of the Buddha despite centuries of oblivion of Buddhism. Buddhism never really disappeared in Kashmir. It impacted on deeper structures and in subtle ways on Kashmirs history, religion and culture and its impact continues. It continues to live in Muslim Kashmir, not to speak of Leh etc. Contemporary Muslim Kashmir is not understandable without appreciating impact and living presence of Buddhism.
Islam in Kashmir is a fulfillment of socially engaged egalitarian Buddhist project rather than a new faith that negated the spirit of Buddhism and usurped its throne by force. Buddhism is not history here and its study is not of merely historical importance. It lives in archetypes and as a metaphysical and mystical darsana it cant be exiled from the collective unconscious of Kashmiris. Of course its distinct identity may be nonexistent now but it doesnt bother about its distinct identity. Wherever people attempt to conquer suffering and identify desire, the desiring self (nafsi amara) as the culprit) and seek the light (nur in the Quranic terminology) out of existential darkness that constitute samsaric becoming there Buddhism lives. Buddha will have nothing new to teach our Sufis and Sufism, properly understood and shorn of its theological dress, is living and authentic expression of timeless wisdom of which historical Buddhism was one expression.
Buddhism has a very sublime conception of tawhid, understood metaphysico-mystically. Originally it rejected image worship. It completely rejected anthropomorphism in its theology. It guarded against shirk so successfully that even now after centuries of development and even distortion Buddhism refuses to allow any human conception of the Ultimate Reality any validity and strictly advocates silence. Kashmiri Sufi poets have appropriated essential Buddhism in their conceptions of fana, devotion to Unitarianism, and sublime conception of divine transcendence. Qadir Sb Keyna is a Sufi poet who has specifically composed verses on void. I am the Void, you are the Void/ What shall I speak of the Void. Lallas vaakhs too have echoes of the Buddhist formulation regarding the Void. Nuruddin Reshi, popularly called the Sheikhul Alam (world teacher) has emphasized mingling of the Void and Shiva and thus foregrounding Islamic integral metaphysical formulations that take care of both the positive and the negative divine. Negation of all gods in Islamic terminology is what Buddhism asserts in its doctrine of impermanence of all manifested things. Kashmiri Sufi vision is strongly centred on this negative view of divine. A Kashmiri is fond of using tasbih and forms of collective meditation such as durood and azkar. Relic culture has Buddhist origins. Keeping photographs of pirs and parents and grandparents is a substitute for image culture which flourished from Buddhist times in Kashmir.
Though none can deny differences at theological plane the question is what differentiates Islam from Buddhism in such sharp terms at metaphysical or ethical plane. Metaphysical unity of diverse traditions which claim to be founded on religious experience of its founders has been amply demonstrated by various scholars, most importantly and most cogently and forcefully by perennialists. Theological differences when translated in terms of more foundational metaphysical or esoteric principles (of which theologies are distant and inexact or crude translations) get dissolved and can be easily reconciled. Let us analyze differences between Buddhism and Islam of which such critics as Harun Yaha make much fuss.
The doctrine of rebirth, anatta, absence of theism or agnosticism, different doctrines concerning hell and heaven, asceticism or world negation, which are part of Buddhism are found to be irreconcilable with Islam according to most scholars. But a deeper analysis of all these doctrines reveals remarkable convergence with Islamic doctrines. Here a very brief explication of these doctrines could be attempted in the following paragraphs.
There is no such thing as rebirth understood in animistic sense of transmigration of soul or personality in integral traditions according to Comaraswamy. God is the only transmigrant as Shankara put it. There is no reality behind the façade of ego/personality which could survive and transmigrate according to all religions. As long as man is trapped in the illusion that there is really a person So and so he is condemned to suffer and in the symbolic language of Scriptures to rebirth. Really there is no birth, no autonomous soul or self, no death. The Buddha taught suffering bred from illusion of desiring self and a way of escape from it. About the whither and whence of souls he is not concerned. His problem is salvation or conquest over suffering and ignorance. Islam too has not entertained discussion over those questions which have no bearing on human salvation. Discussion divine Essence, destiny, eschatological states, origin of the world of manifestation are not encouraged. The only problem is correct knowledge or right view which leads to right conduct, to God or Truth.
The doctrine of annata is the integral part of Islamic conception. Only the Spirit, a transindividual faculty, the luminous centre of consciousness/knowledge is immortal or divine element in man. The body and the soul are subject to sin and suffering. The Spirit transcends all the individualities of existence and is not liable to sin or corruption. The Spirit constitutes our buddha nature. Nirvana is a blissful experience because our Spirit is made of the substance of joy or ananda. Sufism ceaselessly talks about transcendence of nafs or desiring soul. The Quran asserts mortality of the soul (nafs) in clear terms (for every individual soul is death it says). All compounded things are mortal but the spirit is not a compounded thing. It is not born and death cant approach it.
About the posthumous states there also is little difference amongst traditions. The final destination is no destination, the Garden of Essence where there is no separate individual desiring self hankering for pleasures. It is a state of utter contentment where Spirit comes to enjoy its eternal repose. Like parinirvanic state it is a state of unalloyed bliss. All seeking, all questioning is laid to rest. Nirvana is unimaginable as is the joy of contemplating God in the other world. Seeing God one is lifted above all cares and transcends all desires. Nirvana too is a state of cessation of desires. For the soul under divine tuition there are states and stations in hells and heavens according to Buddhism. Islam is in essential agreement with the conception of posthumous life on different planes. Hell is not the everlasting abode of any sinner. The flames of hell are finally cooled. Eternity belongs to God only and not to any created or manifested realm. God is the only Permanent entity. Everything is annihilated and only Gods face remains declares the Quran.
The question of theism/atheism loses its significance from the Sufistic metaphysical viewpoint. When doctrine of tawhid is approached as Unity of Existence the question of personal divinity is almost bracketed off. Personal God of Muslim theology is not the Absolute of Buddhism and Islamic metaphysics. The former is in Divine Relativity and the Absolute transcends it.
It must be acknowledged that Buddhism is less open to the graces emanating from the world of hue and colour. Islam takes a more positive view of the world, of women and sexuality, of seculer pursuits. However Buddhism too, according to Mahayana school, declares samsara and nirvana as one. It too is compatible with worldly pursuits taken up in the sprit of detachment.
Attachment to doctrines, to rituals, to forms is to be transcended for attaining the ultimate goal. Buddhism has no quarrel with any religion, no truck with identity problem. The dispute for superiority of a doctrine or creed is vain from a Buddhist viewpoint thatis committed to no-view or transcendence of all views. Buddha is a mirror with no form of its own. It is the plain light of Spirit that shines inside all of us. Kashmiri Sufis have often used the metaphor of mirror for the arrived souls and for expressing the mystery of creation. The only significant question from Buddhist viewpoint is how free we are from the bondage of desires and attachments to perishing things. All other questions are secondary. Buddhism can enter into a dialogue with world traditions so readily because it has no views of its own to impose. Kashmir as a land of Rishis has been a land of Buddhist Reshis. Reshi movement of Kashmir has appropriated Buddhist wisdom and made it a part of Kashmir culture and heritage. What emerges from the above discussion is that there is little divergence at deeper mystical-metaphysical plane between Buddhism and Islam. It is no wonder that Islam found a receptive audience in the Buddhist world. I wonder why some Buddhist leaders of Kashmir should be pained at Rinchanas conversion and see it as betrayal of Buddhist community.
The Question of Identity
It is the question of identity of Kashmiris that has been hotly debated in recent times. In the light of perennialist insights this vexed issue could be resolved in a satisfactory way. We can’t write off any period of history or any of the major traditions Kashmir has been hosting in determining its present identity. Here we may turn to Reshiyyat and its revivalist Nuruddin who is acknowledged as the patron saint of the valley by both Hindus and Muslims. He is remembered as Sheikhul Alam or Jagat Guru (The World Teacher) by Muslims and as Shahjanand (The Blessed One) by Hindus. Reshiyyat that can’t be identified with or subsumed under any one historical movement or religious tradition and thus provides a transcendentally grounded identity. Nationalistic and religious appropriations of Kashmiryat (lately introduced term for Kashmiri consciousness and identity) are not quite warranted have been increasingly questioned in recent times. We must note that Kashmirs identity cant be defined in isolation from the distinct mystical and metaphysical ethos that has traditionally defined Kashmir. Kashmir has housed or appropriated most of the major world traditions. It has been argued that to its sacred ambience most of great religions and civilizations Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim have contributed. Reshiyyat seeks to transcend all local, regional, divisive identities perpetrated by various groups and to be grounded in the universal or cosmic or divine Reshi identity that duly encompasses and appropriates other identities as well. Shiekh Nuruddin and Lalla, the patron saints of Kashmir, have emphasized transcendence of all identities of self, caste, race, nationality and even religion taken in its exclusivist sense. In the Sheikhs universalistic inclusivist humanitarian transcendental cosmopolitan vision of Reshiyyat could alone be true Kashmiriyat grounded. Kashmir has been hosting some of the most important world religions and has been largely unfamiliar with sectarian strife. Its values of tolerance and non-violence are attributable to its mystical (Reshi) identity. Reshiyyat should be taken not in the narrow historical sense as a cult of Sheikh Nuruddin but in the wider sense as mystical dimension of Kashmir and that alone safeguards its universalism.
Kashmirs resistance to all sectarian divisive identities and cults, to exclusivist fundamentalist dogmatic theological voices and to this worldly oriented secular visions that are divorced from the wellsprings of transcendence is attributable to its deep mystical ethos. It has been more interested in exploring inner landscape, in the great adventure of consciousness than in looting and plundering the neighboring territories. Believing in the gospel of truth and love it has not worshipped the Mammon of power and it has too readily succumbed to political subjugation from non-natives. Its cosmopolitan consciousness has assimilated Sayyids and Pathans, Mugals and Dogras. It knows no nationalism in the constricted sense of the term. Like India it has been a soft target of all imperialist forces. But it must be noted that the hell modern man is in is because the mystical gospel of love and compassion that has been promulgated by Reshis has been forgotten. In a postmodern globalized transnationalistic world only the kind of identity that mysticism gives could give us an abiding peace. All borders are becoming irrelevant and it is the renunciatory ethic that gives us transcendent grounding and identity that needs to be foregrounded.
Reshiyyat vis-à-vis Hinduism and Islam
It is also to be noted that Hinduism or Buddhism and Islam are not as divergent at deeper level as exotericist theological reading of Islam would have us believe. Originally every human collectivity has been blessed by the presence of prophets according to the Quran. Vedanta, Kashmir Saivisnm and Buddhism are not dualistic or polytheistic but essentially Unitarian or tawhid centred traditions if one grants Sufistic-metaphysical understanding of tawhid as the correct view of it in place of dualistic theological reading. These are all Absolute-centric tradition and this Absolute is not to be subsumed under the theistic theology. At the level of Absolute (Zat) theism is transcended. Islam and other religions are not opposed in fundamentals of faith as all have originally been recipients of revelation in accordance with the Quranic dictum that all human collectivities have received revelation. Despite distortions and extrapolations in subsequent centuries it is still possible to unearth the core of Tawhid in these religions. Spiritually or mystically one can easily see how all religions are oriented towards God and none allows associating partners with God, the popular polytheistic idolatrous interpretation or mask of Hinduism not withstanding as it is quite heterodox reading of originally monistic/monotheistic traditions. Tawhid, according to the Quran, is the one message of all prophets and if we presently see anything that deviates from pristine conception of Unitarianism or Tawhid it is surely a product of misinterpretation according to perennialists. But one must first be sure that some doctrine alleged to be polytheistic/animistic etc. is really so. It needs great mastery in comparative religion to be able to understand different doctrinal formulations in different religions. There are few comparativists in the world, not to speak of Kashmir. Dismissive remarks and generalizations are too readily made betraying ones ignorance of the traditions in question. Just one instance may suffice here. Abdul Wahid Yaha and Isa Nuruddin, arguably the greatest metaphysicians and authorities on comparative religion in the 20th century, demonstrate that there is no pantheism, no idealism, no rebirth, no individualist subjectivist mysticism as ordinarily understood in orthodox Hindu traditions.
Some critics here are needlessly apologetic about using the word Reshi by Sheikh Nuruddin. It suffices to mention that it was the Sheikh who opted for this terminology and found no need of another term such as Wali for describing himself and his disciples. Had the Shiekh adopted the strategy suggested by our critics which emphasizes differences instead of common points and wishes to prove that the advent of Islam was a radical break from the traditional past of Kashmir Islam could hardly have been firmly planted in Kashmir. It was great catholic, assimilating and appropriating genius of the great Shiekh to Islamize Reshi movement and it opened natives for Islam. Loud recital of durood, awrad etc. was another strategy to show Islams assimilating potential. Thank God Syed Ali Hamdani had no advisors to censure him for these unIslamic innovations as otherwise Islams diffusion in the masses would have been more difficult. Our Sufi poets have appropriated pre-Islamic notions and allusions and nothing can be done to edit them from a supposedly Islamic perspective. Sufis are at home in different traditions and dont feel Islam is polluted or in danger if one appropriates other than Islamic mythological or linguistic resources.
It must be noted that Sufism cant be practized outside the doctrinal framework of Islam. The fact is that the post-Nurudin Kashmir is Islamic Kashmir that has already appropriated the best of spiritual genius of India. Islamized Reshiyyat appropriates, for all practical purposes, Buddhist, Saivite and other Indian traditional philosophical thought currents and is not to be construed as an appendage to them. By practicing Islam in all its depths, one practices all religions, as Abdul Wahid Yaha (Rene Guenon) said who wrote, despite being a Muslim, many greatly acclaimed and sympathetic work on Hinduism. We must not allow encroaching of Islamic identity of Sufism or present day Reshiyyat in the name of superficial syncretism. It is not for nothing that many of the greatest spiritual minds of the 20th century in the West became Sufis. Muslims dont need to look here and there in the past for inspiration and metaphysics. Saivism, Buddhism etc. are to be read as historical religions in Kashmir and as independent traditions and not to be confounded with or grafted with or privileged in any sense against the Islamic context and framework of present Reshi thought. We need to respect uniqueness of all traditions and not attempt syncretism.
Some further clarifications are in order to put in right perspective the charge of Brahamanism against Kashmiri Muslims. Sufism isnt to be confused with Vedantic Islam or Islam in Vedantic dress. Rumis or Ibn Arabis Unitarian (as distinguished from dualist monotheistic exoteric Islamic) perspective has also been well appropriated in orthodox terms. Islam has shielded diverse theological, mystical and philosophical schools in its history. Its tradition is far more catholic than usually conceded. The catholicity of Sufism is well known and if we grant that Sufism is indeed the esoteric dimension of Islam and not an alien growth on its soil we hardly need to argue for universalism or catholicity of Islam. Some passages of Ibn Arabi would appropriate even seeming atheists in the salvific scheme. In fact much to the delight of many ecumenists Islam transcends theistic/nontheistic binary. Islam is acceptance of truth in its widest sense. It isn’t an interpretation of truth despite the claim of exclusivists to the contrary. Islam doesn’t talk about truth but talks truth. It is witnessing the truth and that truth is the truth of Infinite and All-Possibility. The Quran identifies God as Al- Haqq or the Real. Truth has no face; it has infinite aspects. Whatever partakes of the Reality or truth is affirmed in Islamic shahadah which is translated by the Sufis and perennialists as “There is no reality but Reality.” Islam means surrender to God, Truth and Reality, for God is Al- Haqq. It is too inclusive to be guilty of any exclusion which Foucault and others fear Thus Islam shields a great heterogeneity and the image of pure monolithic homogenous traditional Islam isnt vindicated by its history, the protest from certain ultra orthodox sections notwithstanding. To be a Muslim is to be in a placeless place. He declares with Rumi (who is generally recognized by the orthodoxy as one of the greatest representatives of esoterism):
I have expelled duality from myself. I have seen the two worlds as one
Let me seek one, say one, know one and desire one
He the First, He the Last, He the Manifest, He the Hidden./Without Him and other than Him nothing else I know.
I am drunk with the soul of love and the two worlds have passed from my hand
Further remarks seem to be warranted here for elaborating Sufi view of man- God relationship which has been misinterpreted by exoteric critics of Islam and Hinduism. The first premise of the doctrine of unity to which Rumi and the Ibn Arabi adhered is the vision of God in man, be it male (Shams in case of Rumi) or female (Nizam in case of Ibn Arabi) before which one feels ones nothingness. It is after this vision of God, and love for it, that one strives to attain God Himself and finally becomes His vision, His proof (Ali), His testimony, Shahid (Hallaj) or His manifestation (Ibn Arabi), the perfect man. God and the world/man according to the Quran arent two poles apart. God is the other, the ideal pole of man as far as the latter is the Spirit or the abode of the Spirit (God having breathed the Spirit in him). Man as an ego or soul, as creature is of course not one with God. Ibn Arabi for whom God is the essence of all existence including man was nevertheless emphatic in maintaining that man can never become God and vice versa. Islam rejects hulul in no uncertain terms. It is only when the ego is gone in the experience of fana and only God remains that An’al Haq (I am the truth can be asserted). In fact this claim is made by the Spirit which is in man but is not his. The Qurans conception of Unity perceives both God and the man as the two aspects of reality by underlying the apparent duality of God and the world/man on the one hand and their essential oneness on the other. This is best manifested in the Quranic conception of Jesus, who was a man like any other human being but he was at the same time the word of God (kalimatullah) or the one in whom God had breathed His own spirit (Ruhullah). The Sufi conception of the perfect man or Insan-i-Kamil also problematizes the absolutization of man-God polarity. The question of man’s relation to God is better approached from the Absolute-relative rather than the Lord-creature framework as the perennialist metaphysicians have argued. Theological controversies are resolvable at the metaphysical plane and it is losing sight of this point that has contributed to unwarranted dualistic polemical quibbles between Sufis and different theological schools and between Hindus and Muslims. The Quran emphasizes both Gods transcendence as well as His immanence in creation (man/world). A typical verse in this connection is Nothing is like Him and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
How perennialists reread theological differences may be shown with reference to the notion of Avatara in Hindu traditions. As Schuon explains:Muhammad was not and could not be an Avatara; but this is not really the question because it is perfectly obvious that Islam is not Hinduism and notably excludes any idea of incarnation (hulul); quite simply, and using Hindu terminology, which is the most direct or the least inadequate, we would reply that a certain Divine aspect took on under particular cyclic circumstances a particular earthly form, something in full conformity with what the Envoy of Allah testified as to his own nature…,
In any case, if the attribution of divinity to an historical personage is repugnant to Islam, that is because its perspective is centred on the Absolute as such, as is show for instance in the conception of the final leveling before the Judgment: God alone in this conception remains living and all else is leveled in universal death including the supreme Angels, and so also even the Spirit (Er-Ruh), the divine manifestation at the luminous centre of the cosmos (Schuon,1963:90-91).
For Schuon (Isa Nuruddin) Islam is the way of intelligence; it is simply objective perception of the Reality. Allah means Reality, Truth as such which both transcendent and immanent. Islam in its deepest meaning is that which is everywhere And that which has always been(Schuon, 1963:104) and the Prophet represents both universality and primordiality (Schuon, 1963:104). Perennialist perspective conceives Muhammad as Logos, as pole of existence, as one through whom God is known, manifested. As a spiritual principle the Prophet is not only the Totality of which we are separate parts or fragments, he is also the Origin in relation to which we are so many deviations; in other words the Prophet as norm is not only the Whole Man but also Ancient Man(Schuon, 1963:103). Thus to be as Muslim doesnt require belief in a certain proposition, a certain narrative or an ideology. It transcends all linguistic and conceptual categories and thought constructions. Metaphysics isnt absolutization of certain viewpoint or aspect to the exclusion of other possible perspectives. It is the vision of totality of the Real as such and this is achieved by transcendence of merely rational faculty, by becoming a mirror that will reflect the truth, the Essence. Intuition of the mystic isnt subject to any critique such as that of deconstruction. It is prereflective prelignuistic apprehension.
Schuon explains the limitations of the theological approach and thus of all those statements made by exoteric authorities while appraising doctrines of other traditions.
The ordinary monotheist theologies are hardly capable of giving adequate account of theism, owing to the fact that they operate only with the utterly inadequate alternatives of the created and the uncreated. For these theologies there is only God and the world m the creator and the created, whereas inn reality, there is first of all the Absolute and the relative, and then within Relativity itself, the Uncreated Creator, not the Uncreated in itself and all creation… .The alternative in question could be transposed to the Divine level and the distinction between the created and the Uncreated expressed instead as a distinction between the personal God and the impersonal Divinity, and hence between Being and Beyond-Being( Schuon, 1963: 185-86).
Schuon doesnt see any essential contradiction between Muslim and Hindu eschatologies unlike exoterism that finds them simply irreconcilable. He finds the meeting point between the monotheistic eschatology of Islam and Indian transmigrationism in the concepts of Limbo and Hell and also in the resurrection of the flesh in which the being isnt however invested with a new individuality (Schuon, 1969:139). Ananda Coomaraswamy, Schuon and other perennialists reject popular animistic conception of rebirth as do they reject exotericist conception of afterlife, of perpetuity of hell or eternal damnation.
Sufism and nondualistic Saivism are, from the perennialist viewpoint, subsumable under the rubric of common traditional metaphysics as both share the conceptions of Absolute and nondualism. Both advocate almost analogous schemes of descent of the Absolute towards the increasingly grosser or impure states of existence. Both share a realist ontology taking the world of phenomena as real rather than illusory as they share the understanding of Divine Relativity or Maya. We see affirmative transcendence in both of them. Both recognize the importance of diverse approaches to God realization. Both are against a renunciatory life negating ascetism as they believe in metaphysical transparency of phenomena. Sufistic Unitarian perspective harbours an epistemology that could readily appropriate Kashmir Saivistic doctrine of recognition or pratibijna. Both see man as microcosmos. Mystical disciplines or meditational techniques and spiritual anthropology and psychology in both traditions show a remarkable convergence. Exoteric/esoteric division and a respect for exoteric formulations are noticeable in both traditions. One can also discern convergence in metaphysics of Beauty between the two traditions. However if we approach the two traditions from purely theological viewpoint certain differences are easily noticeable. Theology and metaphysics are confusingly mixed in usual expositions of Saivism. A lack of philosophical rigour in theistic appropriations of Saivism is evident. Panentheistic reductionist tendency in most of modern expositions of nondualistic Saivism compromises orthodox or traditional character of Saivism. There is a need of approaching Saivism from the perennialist perspective to put Saivism in the proper context of traditional Indian darsanas. Dualistic schools of Saivism are to be seen as stopping short of pure metaphysics. We need to reject against fashionable uniformitarian syncretistic approach to Saivism and Sufism and attempt to situate them in their respective traditions of Vedantic and Islamic frameworks that respects their unique character and different theologies while also emphasizing their shared metaphysics.
Reshiyyat and Environmentalism
Perennialists have made major strides in ecological reading of the sacred scriptures. The great relevance of perennialist perspectives lies in pointing out metaphysical errors of modern man and science that have contributed to ecological crisis. However they have been compelled to lean primarily on premodern traditional civilizations while showing the concrete examples of practice of ecological wisdom. I think we could point out to Kashmir as living example of traditional outlook that concretely embodies ecological consciousness even today. A very important dimension of Reshi thought is its ecological consciousness and that makes it vitally relevant to the world that has lost ecological health. The Reshis aversion to causing injury to all animate beings including plants, insects and animals; their concern for conserving forests; dissuading hunters from hunting hangul; personal care of pets, tamed animals and birds; planting trees throughout the length and breadth of Kashmir all these things show how deeply eco-conscious has been the Reshi movement. Long before ecological crises occurred Shiekh Nuruddin had anticipated it. Mysticism provides the only valid ideological framework for practizing sound ecology. Kashmir has traditionally been ecologists paradise. How ecological consciousness has been achieved in Kashmir is a forgotten chapter of history of ecology and it is again our duty to present ecological face of Kashmiri Reshiyyat to the world. Shiekh Nuruddin could well be proposed as patron saint of ecology.Appraisal of Major Criticisms of Kashmir Mysticism
Kashmirs mystical credentials have been questioned only very recently by some circles. Progressivist writers found fault with Kashmirs mystical bias. More recently some exotericist theologians have questioned authenticity of Kashmiri Muslim identity as they believe mysticism to be alien to Islamic tradition. Sheikh Nuruddin has been seen as social reformer and preacher rather than a mystic. To these points one may reply that for good or worse Kashmiris are mystically oriented. I think it is for good in the age that swears by pluralism and is fed up with self styled advocates of God. It is gross misreading of the text of Sheikh Shruks and history to write off the mystic in the great Sheikh. Sufism understood as spiritual dimension of Islam is inalienable from it. Nothing in Islam makes sense except in light of this spiritual dimension. AntiSufi rhetoric is modernist heresy. It is good to censure excesses and perversions and misuses of Sufism in Kashmir but to reject the esoteric in the name of literalism and supposed fidelity to scripture is quite unacceptable. Sufism is the metaphysical face or even basis of Islam. History of Islam is largely the history of its saints and philosophers and mystically oriented ulema. The most illustrious thinkers of Islam have been influenced by Sufism. Islamic art and architecture is incomprehensible without the knowledge of Sufi symbolism. Kashmirs arts and crafts express Sufi symbolism. From turban to carpets everywhere we see symbolism in work. No wonder the Dargahs of Hazratbal, of Makhdoom Saheb and of Sheikh Nuruddin continue to attract millions of Kashmiris today.
Mysticism in Kashmir has been attempting to obliterate class and creedal divisions. Shrines have been acting as public guest houses providing food and shelter to anyone regardless of class. Shrines act as cohesive and integrating centers. They are retreat centers. Today newer generations nostalgically recall their immediate past that is believed to incarnate certain values of simplicity, honesty, purity of conduct and thought which we usually associate with saintly life.
One may point out that class analysis of Kashmir society is yet to be made. But one needs to note that Reshis were not complicit with ruling class. Neither were they associated with the rich. It might be objected that they were parasitic on common peoples properties. This too is contravened by history. It is only recently that a class of beggers and begger priests has been thriving in the name of past saints.
Mysticism is a million dollar industry in Kashmir according to critics. Of course abuse of mysticism is a huge industry in itself but we need to note that mysticism contributes significantly to Kashmir economy. Shrines are amongst the most visited tourist spots. Local tourism is largely concentrated on shrines. Much donation money is with Wakf Board which could be used to finance thousands of welfare projects if steps are taken in this direction. The Board could well experiment with a variation of interest free Grammein banking or Islamic banking that could potentially benefit thousands. Prayer food culture is a huge industry in Kashmir that contributes to cohesion of social bonds as well.
There is a pir class, occultist class and the class of so-called majzoobs that largely exploit the name of mysticism and contribute to discrediting it in the eyes of many. A large number of social drop outs and parasites support their living by masquerading as mystics. Salafi onslaught against abuses of mysticism in Kashmir is not quite unwarranted. Illiteracy and gullibility of local people contributes to their exploitation at the hands of many dabblers in the spirit business, black magic and the like.
Mystic class continues to be among the most influential one in todays Kashmir though some mystics claim that there is hardly any genuine mystic living today. Too many are masquerading as mystics as mysticism sells like anything and could be resorted as a means of livelihood by all kinds of charlatans.
Mysticism is the best antidote to communalism and sectarianism. Communal violence does flare up occasionally. But it is ironic to note that the religious group playing the card of mysticism (Berelvees) is also the most dogmatic in certain issues and highly rejectionist and exclusivist. There are few traceable or accessible authentic mystics and mystical thinkers in Kashmir today. The serious and systematic study of mysticism is yet to be a prerogative of any academic institution. Masses are either simplistic believers in claimants of mystical power or alienated from the founts of traditional mystical wisdom on account of propaganda from certain antimystical quarters.
Reshiyyat vs. Humanism
Reshiyyat is often labelled as humanistic tradition . This is incorrect because humanism is a loaded term that arose in the Western against theocentricism of traditional Christianity. Reshiyyat though stressing the dignity of man as a mystical and metaphysical worldview is an antithesis of humanism which severs all ties with transcendence and defies man at the cost of God.. It shifts the emphasis from Being to being, from Nature to man, from universalism to individualism, from metaphysics to science. It rejects heart in favour of head. In place of traditional pontifical man it puts Promethean Faustian man. Man is considered as an end in himself. It takes man for granted as he stands, and takes man the world of mans experience as it has come to seem to him. Man is defined as or identified with Ego. Science and reason are its idols. Supernatural or higher degrees of reality or vertical dimension is rejected by such different varieties of humanism as Huxleys evolutionary humanism, Sartres existential humanism, secular theological humanism or scientific humanism, Marxist humanism. Humanism in Guenons words implies a pretension to bring everything down to purely human elements and thus to exclude everything of a supraindividual order. Sartre thus gives a representative humanist statement There is no other universe except the human universe, the universe of human subjectivity This is humanism, because we remind man that there is no legislator but himself: that he himself, thus abandoned must decide for himself It surrenders not to God but to human finitude and severes all ties with transcendence. Humanistic theologian by identifying the Truth of God with this worldly truth degrades the essence of religion.
Contemporary Significance of Reshiyyat
Regarding contemporary significance of Reshiyyat which has been challenged by certain modernists it may be remarked that for modern man salvation and recovery of meaning could be possible only through the mystical. If theology no longer convinces and philosophy stands challenged from various quarters it is mysticism alone that fits the bill it is no wonder that many (post)modern writers and philosophers are mystically oriented. Reshiyyat as a formulation of timeless perennial philosophy cant be dead as long as man remains man in need of transcendence. Reshis have not been inflexible with regard to any dietary, juristic, theological, meditational prescriptions. No institutional framework is indispensable for practising mysticism. All of us who take transcendence or sacred seriously are Reshis or would-be-Reshis, to a little or greater extent. Man is condemned to be a meaning seeking or self transcending creature. He is bound to transcend himself and look heavenward if he is not to be reduced to beastly status. God is the ideal pole of man. He is our ultimate concern. Any search for fuller and larger life, a more creative life, a more celebratory and more authentic life, is basically a search for God as God is really another name for Life. This is the purport of the Quranic name al-Hayy for God. God is our Environment (al-Muhit) as the Quran says. We live by transcendence and breath it. Transcendence is accessible through search for values. According to Plato anyone who chooses to seek beauty, truth and goodness (the three defining attributes of God) would qualify as a lover of wisdom or mystic. Man is properly called human only when he seeks to realize these values. In broader terms we can say that we are all travellers on the path (salikeen) of Reshiyyat. All travelers on the path of life who have faith in life and seek to beautify it are in a way Reshis.
There is something about Kashmir mysticism whether Saivist or Sufistic that makes it quite interesting and relevant for modern man. Its attitude of affirmative transcendence, affirmation of world and life, despite its renunciatory ethic or asceticism characterizes Kashmiri mysticism. If Shiva is all or God is the only existent then by affirming life we affirm God. The body too is a temple of God and thus its needs can not be ignored. There is no escapism but positive acceptance of Immanent existence. Don’t torment your body with the pangs of thirst and hunger/Whenever it feels exhausted take care of it. For a non-dualist Reshi like Lalla there is no difference between “I” and the “other”(par te pan); immanence and transcendence, universal and individual; consciousness, subjective and objective reality being but aspects of the ultimate reality which is indivisible.
Reshiyyat is not dead or history; it continues to live as it has always been living in the unconscuious or preconscious of Kashmiris. It continues to inform our movement forward in history and every aspect of Kashmiri culture and spirituality. Shiekh Nuruddins verse dominates preachers sermon at pulpit, it has been lulled on the strings of Sufiana musician, it along with Lal waakh devises the introductory tunes of light music Chakri, it is quoted by the house wife when the souring prices exhaust has small purse and it is usually quoted by common voters against the monkeys of such ruling cheques which misrule the country. The piercing sarcasm against Mulla retains its freshness. He is living in the language that he helped to shape. One could well transpose the words of French president de Gaul about Sartre on him and assert, Shiekh is Kashmir.
Eco-conscious earthly matriarchal socially conscious world-view of Reshiyyat is presently being advocated as a remedy of so many ills that affect not only Kashmir but also the whole globe. The need is to interpret Reshi message in contemporary language. This contemporary language that postmodern man can understand is not the language of moralism or theology but the wordless language of mysticism. Only the religion of the heart, whose language is silence, is experiential and existential and is synonymous with selfless service of man could be the religion of (post)modern man and in the context of Kashmir what else besides Reshiyyat, which after Nuruddin is an adaptation of Islamic esoteric kernel, could provide it. Sufism of which Reshiyyat now is a tested historical manifestation has the best resources to address our post-Nietzschean postmodern ages that claims to be posttheological.
Notes
1 The emotional element nowhere plays a bigger part than in the mystical form of religious thought. Contrary to the prevalent opinion he declares that mysticism, from the very fact that it is inconceivable apart from the religious point of view, is quite unknown in the East. (Guenon, 1945:124) The influence of sentimental element obviously impairs the intellectual purity of the doctrine. This falling away from the standpoint of metaphysical thought occurred generally and extensively in the Western world because there feeling was stronger than intelligence and this has reached its climax in modern times. (Guenon, 1945:125) Modern theistic appropriations of mystical experience by choosing to remain at the level of theology and not cognizing the metaphysical point of view (that brilliantly and convincingly appropriates such apparently divergent varieties of mystical and metaphysical realization as that of Buddhism and Christianity) cannot claim total truth as theology itself cannot do so. And it is not always possible to fully translate metaphysical doctrines in terms of theological dogmas. Antimetaphysical anthropomorphism comes to the fore in this realm of individual variations. Reshiyyat is thus misdescribed as mystical. However it has been almost universally used to describe it by scholars. So we may follow the accepted though inaccurate description while at the same time qualify it by foregrounding the metaphysical content of it and its supraindividual and intellectual character
References
Guenon, Rene, Rene Guenon, An Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines, 2000 (1945) Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi,
Hagloo, R. L., The State in Medieval Kashmir, Manohar Publishers , New Delhi, 2000.
Khan, Ishaq, Kashmir’s Transition to Islam: The Role of Rishis, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi,1994.
Lawrence, Walter, The Valley of Kashmir.
Rafique, A. Q., Sufism in Kashmir, Varanasi, Bharatiyya Publishing House, n.d.
Schuon, Frithjof. Dimensions of Islam trans. T.N. Townsend George Allen & Unwin, 1969
Schuon, Frithjof, Understanding Islam .George AlIen &Unwin, 1963,
Wani, M A., Islam in Kashmir Oriental Publishing House, Srinagar, 2005.

Reshiyyat, Mysticism and Metaphysics: Clarifying the Question of Kashmirs Spiritual Heritage

Muhammad Maroof Shah
marooof123@yahoo.comThere is much loose talk and conceptual confusion in the use of such terms as mysticism, Sufism and Reshiyyat in writings on Shaikhul Alam and his legacy or Kashmiris spiritual landscape. I propose to turn to scholars of perennialist school to clarify key terms and accordingly explicate the convergence and divergence between Reshiyyat and Mysticism. As mysticism is not the precise term either for understanding Indian traditions or such traditions as Buddhism or Saivism that preceded Islam in Kashmir or for Sufism that took over after the advent of Islam in Kashmir and what is called Reshiyyat is not a species of mysticism we better take care with this term while explicating Kashmirs past or present religio-spiritual landscape. Reshism as a term may be replaced by another term Reshiyyat to distance it from connotations of the suffix ism that implies an ideological or exclusivist stance. Reshiyyat is an adaptation of traditional metaphysics in Kashmir. Shaikhul Alam should be seen as a contributor to this project of adaptation of Perennial Philosophy and not be described as mystic. His own description of himself as Reshi, understood in accepted sense in indigenous traditions and read in perennialist metaphysical language is to be respected. Tasawwuf that Shaikhul Alam championed is to be read not as a species of mysticism but esoteric content of integral tradition and seen in light of Metaphysics instead of theology that has often been the case in modern writings on it. Thus the paper argues for precise use of the terms and adopting the hermeneutical tools of comparative religion and philosophy best articulated in the approach of perennialists in my view to clarify great deal of conceptual confusion in current discourse of Reshi heritage. I will argue against characterizing Reshiyyyat or Kashmiri Sufi poetry as syncretist, as simply a species of mysticism, as something that can be approached in purely historical terms, as cryptobuddhist adaptation of Islam, as exclusivist theological-moralistic school, as simply a socio-cultural movement. Employing the tools from the perennialist metaphysical school, I argue for a nuanced reading of the whole philosophical-spiritual heritage of Kashmir that does away with often proposed rather loose and inaccurate terms or concepts used in the academia.The Question of SyncretismMany scholarly and journalistic writings on the question of Mysticism, Reshiyyat Sufism and religious identity in Kashmir employ, while discussing Shaikhul Alam or Lalla or Sufi poetry in general, the much loaded term syncretism and attempt to foreground it as the defining feature of Kashmir culture. The present paper seeks to clarify the fundamental issues involved in understanding Kashmirs complex religious identity and question the deployment of the notion of syncretism in this connection. The present paper tries to argue that it is the perennialist metaphysical approach to the study of religion that alone provides viable orthodox perspective on diversity of religions by positing the transcendent unity of religions which follows from the idea of Unity of Revelation and rejects exoteric dogmatist, and exclusivist theological claims which are behind fundamentalism and theological imperialism. However importance of religious forms and exclusivity at a certain plane associated with religions are maintained. Communalist appropriation of religion in Kashmir can be best tackled by resorting to perennialist approach to the issue. I start by clarifying the notion of religion as appropriated in fundamentalist exclusivist and equally problematic syncretist response to it while arguing for a more nounced metaphysical view of it and then approach the familiar story of Islam and its encounter with the religious other from this perspective.
The phenomenon of diversity of religions has been a problem for modern scholarship because of its lack of principial knowledge which is the domain of traditional religion and metaphysics. Fundamentalism with its attributes of exoteric theological exclusivism, religious bigotry and theological imperialism is the unfortunate consequence of misunderstanding the significance of diversity of religions due to lack of comprehensive approach to the issue. Eclecticisms, sentimental ecumenism, secularist indifferentism, relativism and most version of religious pluralism and uniformitarianism and certain versions of libertine-spirituality all fail to do justice to the phenomenon of religious diversity. Perennialist approach doesnt commit reductionist and unformitarian fallacies, that doesnt marginalize the significance of exclusivist claims of religion in the name of vacuous pluralism and inclusivism and that doesnt reduce unique theological genius of each religion to monochoromatic uniformitarianism.
Against that sentimentalism that sees all religions as being the same or that brand of Neo-Vedantism which became popular after the second world war, perennialists stress importance of orthodoxy which they dont limit to the exoteric level but also apply to the esoteric. Exoteric theologies are duly respected at their own level (and this differentiates them from syncretists and shows their respects for exclusive character of theologies) and at the higher level their exclusivism is transcended also at a plane on which theological approach by its very definition cant reach or encroach being influenced by individual and sentimental elements. Distinguishing between the Principle and manifestation, Essence and form, inward and the outward, it places absoluteness at the level of the Absolute and this means transcendence of purely theological plane. Contradictory claims of different religions have a warrant only at the theological plane. But what is needed is to transcend the theological plane and be at the plane of pure truth that is accessible only at the metaphysical plane. It asserts categorically that only the Absolute is absolute. It refuses to commit the cardinal error of attributing absoluteness to the non-absolute, the error which Hinduism and Buddhism consider as the origin and root of all ignorance. Every determination of the Absolute (theisms personal God is also a determination of the Absolute) is already in the realm of relativity. True unity is to be sought only in the One, the nondual Absolute.The Question of MysticismThe perennialists critique misappropriation of mysticism by many a scholar and even mystic in so-called religious synthesis for limiting their perspective to that kind associated with love. This oversentimentalized approach studies religions on the basis of so-called universal spirituality related to mysticism but devoid of its intellectual content. As Nasr notes that justifiably a reaction has set in against this approach by many a scholar who point out the differences rather than the similarities between religions and various sacred forms. But these scholars have also usually been unable to distinguish between a unity which transcends forms and a supposed unity which disregards forms or rather seeks to melt them into a solution whose coagulation cant but result in those conglomerates of religious ideas which characterize the so-called religious syntheses of the modern world (Nasr, I988: 288). As Nasr has pointed out, Metaphysically speaking, unity lies at the opposite pole of uniformity and the reduction of religions to a least common denominator in the name of religious unity of mankind is no more than a parody of the transcendent unity of religions which characterized the traditional point of view (Nasr, I988: 288). Authentic mysticism, as perennialists argue, isnt formless and duly respects particularity of a religion and its sacred scripture e.g., one cant speak about Sufism without referring to the Quran or Kabbala without Torah. It considers crucial significance of the sacred form as necessary means for the attainment of the formless. However, as Schuon has repeatedly emphasized, one must be aware that sacred form is not only form as a particularity and limitation but also that it opens unto the Infinite and the formless. One must oppose the sentimentalism of the syncretists but must be on guard against idolizing the forms also. Perennialists value total integrity of a tradition above everything and are critical of those who place mutual understanding between religions above it.Schuon explains the term mysticism to foreground the distinction between mystical and metaphysical viewpoints:The word mysticism denotes anything that refers in one way or another to a supra-rational communication with Divinity; since this word is European it must of necessity coincide with the mode of spirituality known in the West, which is a way of love. The word is, however, often used to designate, either a way that is without a method properly so called or one that is characterized by a predominance of a moralistic and sentimental individualism. It may be added that in German the word Mystik has the meaning of spirituality whereas Mystizismus means only a play of fantasies, and that in French Mystique refers to true and Mysticisme refers to false mysticism. The theological definition of mystical states is doubtless too extrinsic, and this is explained by the fact that the way of love is nurtured on faith and asceticism and not on intellection, and is centered on grace and not on knowledge (Schuon, 1987).The concept of Tradition is central to the perennialist point of view. That is why the perennialists are critical of that type of bhakti spirituality practiced and advocated by some moderns which is based on vague and emotional universalism, sentimentalism which opposes intellectual discernment, and supposed universalism which opposes the particularity of each tradition on the level of that particularity, thus fails to understand respective distinctive character and genius of each form being unable to penetrate into the meaning of each form (Nasr, I988: 287). Spiritual libertines and syncretists have misappropriated bhakti and what is loosely called as spirituality. Those who advocate liberalism, or libertine spirituality and open mindedness in observance of rituals, dos and donts of religion, mixed gatherings for worship or doing away with doctrines and dogmas and law (e.g., personal law); and idolize time or progress in historicist terms are expectedly scorned by the perennialists.The Question of Interfaith DialogueThus, from the perennialist perspective we see that the question of interfaith dialogue is the question of proper understanding of ones own faith, of practically realizing the higher or inner reality of ones own tradition. Religions unite at the apex and it is only the chosen few who undertake the necessary discipline and cultivate the necessary virtues who reach this apex. Great sages and metaphysicians have demonstrated this unity and integrity of primordial Din. The question of interfaith dialogue is the question of taking seriously ones God, of being loyal to ones own Self. One must cease to be a disputant or rhetorician and be at home in silence that was before the Word to realize what religion or God is. Ultimately religion is not about Truth but truth itself and it is the truth rather than any discourse about it or any representation of it that saves. The perennialist approach is an invitation to experience rather than talk about that Which alone is. To one who has achieved metaphysical realization all disputes, all questions are irrelevant. In a way even the binary of theism/atheism is transcended. What unites religions is not any doctrine about Truth but the Truth which is one and the vision of which is the raison detre of all religions. Religion is not an ideology; metaphysics is not a system of propositions. Pure consciousness, objectless consciousness or what the Sufis would call God consciousness transcends all talk, all thought, all argumentation. It is an experience and those who have had their experience alone are entitled to share its fragrance or talk about it. Only a sage can carry an interfaith dialogue. To the pure in heart only is given the kingdom of God and those who are there dont indulge in vain talk.Reading Reshiyyat MetaphysicallyThere are a huge number of questions hotly contested for want of a proper framework to deal with them. These include, among others, Nunda Rishi vs. Sheikhul Alam debate, radical break thesis supported by ideological exclusivists, religion of Lalla, orthodoxy of Sufi poets, supposed marginization of Buddhist-Saivist heritage with the advent of Islam, Islamist verses vs. syncretist verses in Shaikhul Alams poetry, Budshahs supposed betrayal of orthodox Islam, antinominan tendencies in certain spiritual paths and contours of interfaith dialogue.
All these and related questions could be tackled if we shift the focus from historical, theological, and philosophical approaches which have hitherto dominated the scholarly scholarship to transhistorical and metaphysical one. This is the purport of the present study. The shift in perspective argued here needs a detailed and systematic work to be concretely applied. Our presentation of Reshism might look more poetical than academic or historical as I believe that Reshiyyat transcends not only history but theology and philosophy as usually understood and it is poetry that best captures its essence. It is not accidental that illustrious Reshis such as Lalla and Nuruddin have adopted the medium of poetry to convey their thought and experience. Abstract academic studies of mystical traditions have a danger of missing the very essence of the thing which is the subject of discussion. Strictly speaking Reshiyyat cant be rationally or discursively approached, it cant be analyzed. It can only be lived and experienced. Purely philosophical approach or phenomenological study by an outsider would create more problems than solve. Reshiyyat is an experiential path, a spiritual odyssey and it asks for quite different methods than cool abstract academic study to be properly appreciated. The essence of all mysticism can only to be appreciated by direct tasting by plunging deep into it and appreciating it from within. The so-called objective study by a neutral outsider is least suited to treat mysticism. Modern academic discipline of philosophy of religion is gravely mistaken in applying phenomenological approach to the study of religion and mysticism. I here refer to only one example to make my point. The vexed issue of Hindu or Muslim identity of Lalla cant be decided by a purely historical and phenomenological objective study. Reshiyyat doesnt talk about God because it is not mere theology but talks God and lives God because it is, in its authentic and original sense, direct experiencing or tasting God. The realm of about is the realm of theology and rational philosophy and that is ever open ended and never conclusive. A purely theological approach will miss the essence in which alone are all metaphysical questions (dis)solved. In the peace that passeth all understanding, which is the fruit of mystical journey are all questions resolved.
Reshiyyat includes a path and a doctrine. The path is the same old well tested ofte treaded path. Some of its important elements are clearly spelt out in Shaiks and Lallals poetry. I note a few of these points from the Shaikhs poetry:
The path calls for Consecrating life to the search for Truth. One who tighten the belly to learn (the virtues of) patience/Gives up his ego/ Contemplates Him in seclusion could be eligible for the lofty station of the Reshi. Shaikhul Alam, identifying true Muslim with the Reshi explicates attributes of him. Who longs to live by the sweat of ones mind/ Who shows fortitude in provocation/who shares meals with the hungry / who is obsessed with the idea of removing huger, who scorns anger, greed, illusion, arrogance and self conceit. The Reshi reaches arsh by the load of his nobler actions and then only the grace of the Omnipotent embraces him. The Reshi is one who remains humble despite his substance and sits very low on the wheel of life. Consuming himself in the fire that the kalima generates and realizing the existential unity he finds the Eternal and transcends space. The Reshi may be ummi or unlettered but by knowing the meaning of kalima which is the source of all knowledge, he appropriates all the essential metaphysical, eschatological and moral truths that are contained in the kalima. Reshi kindles the lamp of knowledge and religion as he realizes the essence of all knowledge contained in alif, lam and mim. The Reshi realizing the oneness of existence (what Shaikhul Aalam calls kunyr) radiates peace. There is no other for him as he has realized unity by transcending all dualisms.
Human soul knows no chronology and the Sufis journey is from pre-eternity to post-eternity. The Reshi, the sage, the self realized one, the inspired poet, is the image of primordial man, the Perfect Man or Adam. He has no history because he transcends history. The Light of Muhammad was there before the heavens and the earth were there. And the first Reshi is said to be Ahmad Reshi (S.A.W). And Ahmad, from traditional metaphysical and mystical viewpoints is Logos, the Pole of Existence, the Principle of Manifestation. He brings into consciousness the archetype of God. Thus the term Reshi should be seen as a perspective, a standpoint, an archetype of certain dominant historical personalities and even dominant images, a way of looking at experience as a whole, a way of interpreting certain fundamental features of human existence. Shiekh Nuruddin has used the term Reshi in this universal transhistorical and transempirical sense. This is evident in his famous eulogization of the legendry Reshis. He wants to convey something more valuable than an elementary historical definition of the term. Mystical quest is perennial. In this sense one could well argue that the Reshi movement didnt originate in the 14th century but has been always there. Consciousness has no beginning in time; rather it creates time and history. The Reshi is the name of this consciousness. The Reshi lives in eternity, in timeless moment. The present author strongly disagrees with traditional historical approach to phenomenon of Reshism which belongs more to metahistory than history and it is only metahistoric or transhistoric dimension of the Reshi movement that makes it perennially relevant. The term Reshi and its etymology tell half of the story. Our historians have fought over the issue of its Islamic and Hindu appropriation and thus missed the import of Nuruddin and the whole Reshi movement. Some medieval Muslim scholars of Kashmir have tried to Islamize origin of the term and have preferred to see its derivation in the Persian word raish or rish which means the feathers of a bird, abundance of means of life, beard. Other historians have argued for the Hindu origin of the term. If due attention had been paid to the signified of the signifier Reshi all this debate would have appeared irrelevant. The Reshi is Sanskrit equivalent of mystic or inspired person, one to whom the vision of God has been vouchsafed. It signifies mystical consciousness which precedes or transcends diverse theological formulations or appropriations.
Reshiyyat in its deepest sense is an appropriation of Eternal Religion of God, what the Quran calls Ad-Din. It makes Kashmir a traditional society as it embodies timeless metaphysical and religious insights. It gives it an identity that is universal and timeless and cuts across all divisive sectarian loyalties. It is not a name of an historical movement that began somewhere at some time in history. It is not in its essence a merely human thing. It is a celestial song, a celestial feast. It is celebration of love and peace that passeth all understanding. It is Kashmiri adaptation of perennial wisdom that is the common property of all traditional civilizations. The modernist rationalist historian or an exoteric exclusivist theologian can’t fully deal with the transcendery phenomenon of Reshiyyat, the former being uncomfortable with the supernatural ambience surrounding it while as the latter being uncomfortable with its inclusivism and sulhi-kul.
From the perspective of perennialism one could say that the term Reshi is Indian way of referring to Logos or the Light of Muhammad. The Reshi is more symbolical than historical figure and is more a name of consciousness than a person and we are all potential Reshis. Reshiyyat is timeless trans-historical transcendental movement. If the first Reshi was Ahmad Reshi and the latter is synonymous with the pole of Existence, the Universal Man, the envoy of the Absolute as elaborated in Sufi metaphysics then Reshiyyat is an integral tradition and formulation of the primordial Din, the Sophia perennis, javidaan khird. This makes it truly universalistic.
From metaphysical perspective of perennialists one could well argue that Reshiyyat as indigenous order of Sufism appropriates (though it isnt a synthesis) Hindu, Buddhist and other local mystical traditions of Kashmir. If mysticism is the common denominator or essence of all traditional religions we could well argue that Reshiyyat has been the religion of this Rish-waer always. All religious traditions are variants of the Great Tradition of Reshiyyat. There is no space available for detailed defense of this assertion on perennialist grounds.
Reshiyyat approached from the framework of traditional metaphysics unites diverse theological traditions without denying the validity of particular religious traditions. It is unfortunate that it has not been approached from this perspective so far and in fact there is no systematic presentation of Reshi metaphysics available. A lot of religious/theological, sociological and historical studies of it have been done but the profound metaphysical grounding of it has yet to be attempted.
Kashmir has been hosting some of the most important world religions and has been quite unfamiliar with sectarian strife. Its values of tolerance and non-violence are attributable to its mystical (Reshi) identity. Reshiyyat should be taken not in the narrow historical sense as a cult of Sheikh Nuruddin but in the wider sense as mystical dimension of Kashmir and that alone safeguards its univesalism. Discussing it in terms of such parameters as vegetarianism, asceticism, conversion, theological binaries, orthodoxy/heterodoxy and the like reduces its scope and distorts its pristine vision of spiritual democracy and dignity of life, its humanitarianism and universalism. All its practices (which dont form its essence, however and are not inviolable or sacrosanct per se) are directed towards achieving the supreme end achieving divine consciousness which needs crossing the dark night of the soul. It is too existential a matter to the ignored or just discussed on purely historical lines and approached from the outside. It concerns us (out credulity/incredulity towards it not withstanding) deeply, vitally, existentially. Reshi vision is geared towards our very Ground of Being, our salvation. Persian derivation of the term, if that is the case, only serves to foreground its universal existential dimension. Dawood Mishkati, arguing on etymological grounds, says that the Reshi is a bird without feather which means it is unable to dictate its will and just surrenders to universal will or cosmic will. Reshi is one who has transcended his desiring self or ego (nafs) in Shiekh Nuruddins terminology and thus harmonized his will with the cosmic will or will of God. He trusts Existence and makes no demands on it. He celebrates innocence of becoming, to use an expression of Nietzsche, which originally belongs to Buddhism and Sufism. He is perfectly at home in Gods world and it is thus supremely eco-conscious person. Non-violence and non-injury to life in any of its forms is the fundamental tenet of Reshiyyat.Mysticism or Reshiyyat?
The thesis of conflict between Islam and indigenous traditions in Kashmir may be best contextualized by taking note of difference in spiritual types or approaches/sensibilities of Semitics and Aryans. Schuon offers these profound insights to clarify the issue.The Aryan, insofar as he is observer and philosopher, has a tendency to describe things as they are, while the Semite, who is a moralist, readily presents them as they ought to be according to his pious sentiment; he transcends them by sublimizing them before having had time to extract from them the arguments comprised in their nature. This tendency obviously does not prevent him from being a philosopher when he wants to be, but we are speaking here of the most immediate and most general predispositions (Schuon, 1981).
It is perhaps not too hazardous to say that the Aryan spirit tends a priori to unveil the truth, in conformity with the realism sacred or profane that is proper to it, while the Semitic spirit whose realism is more moral than intellectual tends towards the veiling of the Divine Majesty and of its secrets that are too dazzling or too intoxicating; as is shown, precisely, by the innumerable enigmas of the monotheistic Scriptures in contrast with the Upanishads and as is indicated by the allusive and elliptical nature of the corresponding exegesis (Schuon, 1981).For the Semite, everything begins with Revelation, and consequently with faith and submission; man is a priori a believer and consequently a servant: intelligence itself takes on the color of obedience. For the Aryan on the contrary and we are not thinking of the Semiticized Aryan it is intellection that comes first, even if it be indeed thanks to a Revelation; Revelation here is not a commandment which seems to create intelligence ex nihilo while at the same time enslaving it, but appears rather as the objectivation of the one Intellect, which is both transcendent and immanent. Intellectual certainty has here priority over obediential faith; the Veda does not give orders to the intelligence, it awakens it and reminds it of what it is.
Grosso modo, the Aryans except in cases of intellectual obscuration in which they have only retained their mythology and ritualism are above all metaphysicians and therefore logicians, whereas the Semites if they have not become idolaters and magicians are a riori mystics and moralists; each of the two mentalities or capacities repeating itself within the framework of the other, in conformity with the Taoist symbol of the yin-yang.
Or again, the Aryans are objectivists, for good or ill, while the Semites are subjectivists; deviated objectivism gives rise to rationalism and scientism, whereas abusive subjectivism engenders all the illogicalities and all the pious absurdities of which sentimental fideism over-zealous and conventional is capable. It is the difference between intellectualism and voluntarism; the first tends to reduce the volitive element to the intelligence or to integrate it therein, and the second on the contrary tends to subordinate the intellectual element to the will; this is said without forgetting the fluctuations necessarily comprised in the concrete reality of things. It is sometimes necessary to express oneself in a schematic manner for the sake of clarity if one is to express oneself at all (Schuon, 1981).The following point about difference between belief and gnosis, moralistic and intellectual approaches is thus in order.In reality, gnosis is essentially the path of the intellect and hence of intellection; the driving force of this path is above all intelligence, and not will and sentiment as is the case in the Semitic monotheistic mysticisms, including average Sufism. Gnosis is characterized by its recourse to pure metaphysics: the distinction between Atma and Maya and the consciousness of the potential identity between the human subject, jivatma, and the Divine Subject, Paramatma. The path comprises on the one hand comprehension, and on the other concentration: hence doctrine and method. The modalities of the latter are quite diverse: in particular, there is on the one hand the mantra, the evocative and transforming formula, and on the other hand, the yantra, the visual symbol. The path is the passage from potentiality to virtuality, and from virtuality to actuality, its summit being the state of the one delivered in this life, the jivan-mukta (Schuon, 1991).Reshiyyat has the two components of path and doctrine. After Shaikhul Alam it is Sufi tradition that supplied both. Before the advent of Islam Buddhism and Saivism provided these two things. Schuon, a modern Sufi and metaphysician of the first rank, elucidates the Man of Faith/Man of Gnosis distinction to further clarify his point:It is the difference between the believer, who in all things has in view moral and mystical efficacy to the point of sometimes needlessly violating the laws of thought, and the gnostic, who lives above all from principial certitudes and who is so made that these certitudes determine his behavior and contribute powerfully to his alchemical transformation (Schuon, 1986).René Guénons approach to mysticism can be gleaned from his provocative remark that there is no mysticism in India (and this would apply to Kashmir as well). He approached mysticism, from the point of view of initiation and saw it as affected by a sort of sentimentalist mentality that prevented it from going beyond a narrow individual perspective in relation to (the subject of) transcendence.
This “influence of the sentimental element, René Guénon notes, affects the intellectual purity of the doctrine, and marks a degeneration in relation to metaphysical thought.” He adds in this connection that “a sentiment is only relative and contingent and a doctrine which addresses and reacts to it can itself only be relative and contingent. This can particularily be observed regarding the need of ‘consolation’ to which responds, to a large degree, to the religious point of view.” Mysticism being coloured by elements of individuality and emotions “cannot any longer be identified with absolute and total Truth; a profound modification which produces in it the introduction of a principle of consolation is correlative of an intellectual deficiency of the human collectivity to which it addresses itself.”
A Guenon scholar has pointed out that:
Although those mystical states are not super-individual, and very often fall into the disorder imagination and exaggerated sensibility which are liable to the least interior or exterior manifestations, or to non-explained phenomena, to visions and expressions, they never-the-less imply an extension of the individual possibilities (which are) infinitely superior to the common general level. Certainly, this ‘realization’ does not have a universal significance such as the ‘metaphysical realization.If we claim that Reshiyyat is universal or Sheikh Nuruddin is world teracher, jagat guru, Shaikhul Alam, we must be able to show how this universality follows from the framework that his teaching best embodies. In my view it is the framework of Traditional Metaphysics that best explains certain elliptic expressions and seeming contradictions in his poetry. His denunciatory verses on Hindu practices despite his more accommodating view of the religious other can be put in perspective. His adoption of certain cultural practices from indigenoius traditions or previous Reshis is also thus comprehended.
Noting that the ‘mystic realization’ as distinguished from metaphysical realization does “never imply any identification, but on the contrary, always leaves there (remaining) the duality of subject and object”, he sums up the point regarding limitations of mysticism in comparison with metaphysics:To sum up, mysticism does not go beyond the dualism of subject / object which belongs to the religious exoteric domain, and does not focus its attention on the objective to reach pure Knowledge, but places itself into a ‘passive’ attitude, in which the expectation [of experiencing a mystical state] is taken as sole spiritual ‘method’, always starting from an isolated and individual approach, therefore not joining any initiatory ‘chain’ where it would be possible to transmit [to the person in question] a veritable ‘spiritual influence’, [so this doctrine of Mysticism] can only be very limited and incomplete, [and only] presenting numerous very minor aspects.The question is: If this is what mysticism connotes how can we reduce the Reshi tradition that appropriates or assimilates indigenous traditions and Islamic tradition to mysticism? Isnt it quite narrow and inadequate? So why continue to use loose terms? Or it is the case that scholars use such term in more conventional rather than precise technical sense? I grant this possibility but this doesnt absolve us of responsibility to be careful and to employ adequate terms only.Reshiyyat as Metaphysics or Theology?Guenon is his monumental work An Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines forcefully advocated metaphysical perspective and pointed out why theology stops short of pure truth though he grants the possibility of translating key theological statement in terms of metaphysics but notes that it constitutes an inadequate translation. He illustrates his thesis through the example of Being/God binary. The immediate metaphysical truth Being exists gives rise to another proposition when expressed in the religious or theological mode God exists. But as Guenon says the two statements would not be strictly equivalent except on the double condition of conceiving God as Universal Being, which is far from always being the case in fact (Tillich comes close to holding this view of God), and of identifying existence with pure Being or what the Sufis call Zat or Essence which is metaphysically inexact. The endless controversies connected with the famous ontological argument are a product of misunderstanding of the implications of the two formulae just cited. It is the inadequate or faulty metaphysical background that contributes a lot to controversies on either side of the debate on religious experience in modern discourses of philosophy of religion. As Guenon says:
Unlike purely metaphysical conceptions theological conceptions are not beyond the reach of individual variations. Those who discuss such matters as the proofs of Gods existence, should first of all make sure that in using the same word God they really are intending to express an identical conception. However this is hardly the case usually and we see altogether different languages being used. Antimetaphysical anthropomorphism comes to the fore in this realm of individual variations (Guenon 128-129).
Conclusions
Regarding Rishis whom Guenon identifies as the Sages of the first ages and hails as recipients of revelation. As such we can appreciate the advocacy of Rishis as Book centric, Revelation centric approach and this helps put Islam in the proper perspective as the last great Revelation or Book-centric adaptation of the Tradition (Ad-Deen).
Asking such questions as religion of Lalla or raising an issue of Nunda vs. Shaikh simply betrays ones lack of the metaphysical basis of realization centric path that both of them championed.
There cant be a politics or business over religious other if we concede that mankind has never been without witness, that prophets/Rishis have come to all nations, that the Deen has remained a constant and identifiable Presence always.
We need to avoid such terms as mysticism and reject identification of Reshiyyat with mysticism.
Theological approach cant adjudicate on the question of spiritual heritage of Kashmir as it falls short of accessing pure truth due to inherent limitations of language and representation.
Sufism is to be carefully distinguished from often used term Islamic Mysticism. Metaphysical/Intellectual aspect needs to kept in consideration.
References
Guenon, Rene, An Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, 2000 (1945)
Nasr, S.H., The Need for a Sacred Science, State University of New York Press, Albany,1993
Nasr, S.H, Knowledge and the Sacred, Gifford Lectures,1981, Suhail Academy Lahore,1988
Schuon, Frithjof, The Essential Writings of Frithjof Schuon, ed. S. H. Nasr,Element, 1991.
.. Roots of the Human Condition. Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1991.
.. Survey of Metaphysics and Esotericism (trans. G. Polit). Bloomington: World
Wisdom Books, 1986.
. Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts (trans. P. N. Townsend). Bedfont:
Perennial Books, 1987.
Sufism: Veil and Quintessence (trans. W. Stoddart). Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1981.
Understanding Islam. Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1994.

Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi of Kashmir: A Case Study of his literary and political contribution

Abstract– Kashmir since the establishment of Muslim rule had
remained an important Centre of Sufism. It acquired fame as
Raeshwar (valley of Rishis). Among the sufi saints of Medieval
Kashmir, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi occupies an important place. He
was a man of international repute for his learning, scholarship
and piety. The present paper throws a brief light on the life and
times of Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi and his literary contribution and
apart from that the paper discusses in detail the role of sufis
particularly Shaikh’s role in the Mughal conquest of Kashmir.
Index Terms– Conquest, Kashmir, Learning, Mughal, Poet,
Shaikh, Sufism,I. INTRODUCTION
he history of Sufism in Kashmir is spread over a long period
of time starting from Bulbul Shah to the Sufi poets of
modern age. Kashmir is known as Reshwaer (Valley of Rishis).
Sufi saints had always been the inspiring people of Kashmir by
their subtle mystical insights. Among the well-known sufi saints
of Kashmir, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi has been the distinguished
figure not only among his contemporaries but among all the Sufis
of his age. He was displayed with the accomplishments of
learning and the perfect qualities which distinguished him as a
pious man.1 Modern scholars call him ‘Shaikh-ul-Islam.’2 He
was a man of international reputation for his piety, scholarship
and learning. He had occupied an important place in the history
of Kashmir and during the time Akbar he was given the title
‘Haji Sani’.3
Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi was the most prominent Sufi saints of
sixteenth century belonging to the Kubarwiya order.4 The
Kubarwiya order had its remarkable influence on the different
aspects of the life of Kashmiris. People in the various walks of
life used to practice Sufi-value system including sama as
ascribed by this famous order and work for the betterment of
humanity irrespective of any consideration. haikh Yaqub Sarfi belonged to the Ganai family of
Kashmir. He was born in 928 A.H/ 1521 A.D in Srinagar.P4F5P His
father’s name was Shaikh Hassan GanaiP5F6P who belonged to the
Asami clan. The Asami clan traces its descent from Asim, A son
of Caliph Umar (PBUH) and it was because of this he was also
called as Asmi.P6F7P
زا سفاد عاسم کہ آں نيک خو
بده ابن فاروق اعظم نِکو
گنائی لقب داشت ابن عاصمی
محرمی
ِ
کشاده خدايش در
ِ گنائی است دانا بہ عرف ديار
بہ عثمان گنائی شداد يار غار
و کشمير مثلش کسے بر نخواست
زو صفش مقصر فہوم رسا است
Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi studied under Mulla Aini who came to
Kashmir from Sialkot and the later breathed here the last and is
buried in the graveyard of Shaikh Bahauddin Ganjbaksh. Mulla
Aini was the pupil of the great Mulla Abdur Rahman jami (Jam
is a place in Herat). Mulla Aini, on seeing the intelligence and
scholarly qualities of Shaikh and power to acquire the knowledge
prophesied that Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi would rise to the place of
Jami due to his literary imminence and will acquire the fame as
‘Jami Sani’ (second jami).P7F8P About which Shaikh Yaqub has
himself given a clue in one of his verseP8F9P
بعد خسرو بود جامی بلبل باغ سخن
کيست جز صرفی کنوں آں مرغ خوشخواں راعوض
After Mulla Aini, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi studied under Mulla
Basir Khan Khandbhavani.P9F10P Thereafter Sarfi Travelled
throughout the world to quench his thirst for acquiring
knowledge. He visited the places like Sialkot, Lahore, Kabul,
Samarqand, Mashhad, Mecca, Medina etc.P10F11
Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi became the spiritual successor of the
great master Shaikh Hussain of Khawarizm and acquired honour by performing the pilgrimages to the two great holy places of
Islam (Mecca and Medina) twice in his life.12 He received from
Shaikh Ibn Hajar a license to give instructions in the traditions of
Muhammad (PBUH) and clad in the robes of a Shaikh. He
travelled much and visited most of the Shaikhs of Arabia and
Persia and profited much by his intercourse with them and
received the authority to assume prerogatives of a religious
teacher and spiritual guide and as such he had many disciples
both in Hindustan and Kashmir.13 Shaikh also got benefited by
his intercourse with the famous sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chasti of
Fatehpur Sikri. They both spent a lot of time together during the
time of Hajj which was the last Hajj of Shaikh Salim Chasti.
They both exchanged the views of their respective orders. Sheikh
Salim taught him the teachings of Chasti order and learnt from
him the teachings of Kubarwiya order.14 Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi was
also well versed with the writings of Ibn-ul-Arabi.
Apart from worldly knowledge, Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi was deeply
interested in the spiritual knowledge and for this; he spent a lot of
time in the Khankah of Mir Syed Ali Hamdani in Srinagar.P14F15P In
the Khankah, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani appeared in his dream and
asked him to go to Khawarizm and visit Makhdoom Ali Shaikh
Kamaluddin Hussain Khawarizmi. After this Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi
left for Khawarizm via Sialkot, Lahore and Kabul and presented
himself before Sheikh Khawarizmi. Sheikh Khawarizm was one
of the great sufi saints of Kubarwiya order. He received Sheikh
Yaqub Sarfi with great respect and assigned him the work to
bring wood for the langarkhana of Khankah.P15F16P After some time
Sheikh Khawarizmi gave him the permission to return back to
Kashmir and perform the religious duties and was asked to look
after his parents.P16F17P After some time he revisited Khawarizm for
the second time and from there he went to Meshhad, Khotan,
Mecca and Medina. From Mecca, he received sannad and the
necessary license to give instructions in the traditions of Hadith
from Sheikh ibn Hajjar Makki who was a renowned Sheikh and
the great teacher of Hadith.P17F18P Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi also visited
many of the cities of Hindustan like Ahmedabad, Surat etc.
where he met many of the sufi saints and obtained spiritual
knowledge from them about which he wrote.P18F19P
احمد آباد و بہر گوشہ نگارے ديگر نتواں يافت بايں حسن ديارے ديگر
کارايں خلق ہمہ عاشقی و معشوقی است کس دريں شہر نديدم بکارے ديگر
گرچہ ايں شہر پرازما ہو شان است ولے جز ابوالفتح نخواہيم نگارے ديگر
گرچہ فارغ از يا ريم آں بے پروا حاہ ل کہ شوم مائيل يارے ديگر
It is necessary to mention that apart from Sheikh Salim,
many other Sufis of Hindustan were closely associated with Sarfi
and foremost among them are Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi also
known as Mujaddid Alfi Sani (reformer of the second
millennium). He studied the traditions of Prophet and Tafsir and
also the teachings of Kubarwiya order from Sheikh Yaqub
Sarfi.P19F20
Shaikh was a great sufi of his age. At the age of just seven,
Shaikh memorized the whole Quran.P20F21P Abul Fazl also considers
him as the greatest authority on religious mattersP21F22P He was also a
great poet of his age. He himself writes in his Diwan that he was
just eight years of age when he started writing poetry in
Persian.P22F23P
چودر سال ہشتم نہاد دم قدم
زطبعم رواں گشت شعر عجم
Abul Fazl praised him and says that he was well aquanted
with all branches of poetry.P23F24P He wrote with the pen name of
“Sarfi”P24F25P Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni who was a close associate
of Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi praised him and says that he was among
the great personalities of the age. He was illustrious and relied
upon as an authority on all brancehes of learning which are
treated of in Arabic, such as Quranic commentaries, the
traditions of Prophet and Sufism. He was an authorized religious
leader.P25F26P When Sarfi departed from Lahore to Kashmir, He wrote
a letter to Badauni from the other side of the river Ravi in which
Sheikh writes, “I hope you will not entirely efface the memory of
me from the margin of your heart and that you will adopt the
graceful habit of remembering the absent. If you should have any
need of Kashmiri paper for rough notes and drafts, I hope that
you will inform me of the fact so that I may send you from
Kashmir, the rough copy of my commentaries, the writing of
which can be washed from the paper with water so completely
that no traces of ink will remain, as you yourself have seen.”P26F27P
On reaching Kashmir, Sheikh wrote another letter to Badauni
which was his last letter to him. In this letter Sheikh wrote, “I
hope that whenever you sit in Nawab Faizi’s apartment of
fragrant grass (khas khana) on the floor, with its matting cooler
than the breezes of Kashmir, in the midday heat of summer,
drinking the water which, though originally warm, has been
cooled with ice and listening to sublime talk and witty
conversation, you will think of me, the captive of the hardships
of disappointment.”P27F28
It is an established fact that Kashmir has never been able to
produce a man, a religious scholar, a sufi saint or a poet who can
equal the place of Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi in History. He possessed a
vast worldly and spiritual knowledge and it was because of this
he is famous as ‘Jami al Kalimat Souri wal Masnavi’.P28F29P
Although, he was not involved in worldly pleasures, yet the
rulers and their nobles had respect for him. They used to listen to
his advises and practice over it.P29F30P Humaiyun and Akbar had a
wonderful belief on him and conferred distinction on him by
dmitting him to the honour of their society, regarded him with
gracious favour, so that he was held in high estimation and much
honoured. He was generous and open handed beyond anything
that can be imagined of his contemporaries.31
The number of literary works by Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi is not
known and neither all of them are available. Some of the famous
works include- Sawati-ul-Ilham (it is an Arabic taqriz/
introduction to Faizi’s Tafsir-ul-Quran), completed a Khamsa,32
Manasik-i-Hajj,33 Sharah-Sahih al Bukhari34, Kunz-al-Jawahir,
Risala e Azkar.35 Apart from that Sheikh Yaqub Safri is also
credited with a number of works like Diwan-i-Sarfi36, Treatises
on the art of composing engimas and also Quatrains (Rubaiyat)
on the mysticism of sufi with a Tafsir/commentary37
Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi occupied an important place in the
political history of Kashmir. He was the pivotal figure behind the
Mughal conquest of Kashmir. In 1557, when Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi
was thirty-five, the Shah Miri dynasty was overthrown by the
Chaks. The Chaks traced their origins to Baltistan. Being from
outside Kashmir, they were not particularly concerned about the
welfare of the people of Kashmir. The Chak rulers persecuted the
Sunni subjects. This caused several Sunni scholars to leave
Kashmir and seek shelter elsewhere.38 As an important Sunni
leader and scholar, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi is said to have been a
thorn in the Sultan’s flesh, and therefore, a conspiracy was
plotted to have him killed. When the Shaikh heard about the
conspiracy, he left Kashmir, and went on a long journey that took
him to Samarqand, Iran and then finally to the holy cities of
Mecca and Medina, where he spent several months in the
company of accomplished Islamic scholars, studying various
Quranic commentaries (tafasir) and the Traditions of the Prophet
(hadith). When he finally returned to Kashmir, the political
situation was grim, with the Sunnis labouring under considerable
oppression under Chak rule. Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi tried his best to
normalize the situation but that was never possible under those
circumstances. A royal decree was issued ordering that Azan/
callto prayer should be offered in shia manner and the name of
Hazrat Ali should be mentioned. Qazi Musa was killed for not
mentioning the name of Hazrat Ali in the callto prayer (azan) and
his body was tied to the tail of an elephant and dragged through
the streets of Srinagar. This provoked the Sunnis of the town,
who rose up in protest. In order to put an end to the persecution
of the Sunnis, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi and a group of his companions
Baba Daud Khaki, Baba Ismail Anchari and Baba Mehdi
Suharwardi went to the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar at
Agra, requesting him to send an army to Kashmir and overthrow
the Chak rule.39 In their audience with Akbar, Shaikh Yaqub
Sarfi and his companions insisted that after Akbar took over the
administration of Kashmir, he should ensure full freedom of
religion to all its people; That there should be no interference
with local commerce and trade; That no Kashmiri should be
enslaved; That the practice of beggar or compulsory labour be
abolished and that those who had been associated with the Chak
regime should be divested of their powers.40 Akbar gave his
consent to these conditions, and then dispatched an army under
Mirza Shah Rukh against Chak ruler, in December 1585.41
Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi himself accompanied this army. 42 The
Mughal invasion was more a reaction in anger than a seriously
thought-out plan, neither the season was suitable nor was the
internal conditions suitable for launching such an attack. The
leaders of the army had urge to wait for some months till the
roads are cleared of snow and should enter Kashmir through
Bhimber which was relatively a better route but Akber in haste
ordered them to march through the Pakhli route.43 The Chaks
fought valiantly and defeated the Mughals. Then, in 1586, Akbar
sent a larger army to Kashmir, under Mirza Qasim Khan, which
inflicted a decisive defeat on the Chaks, and Yaqub Shah Chak
was forced to flee to Kishtwar, where he died in 1592. In this
way, the last independent Kashmiri dynasty came to an end, and
Kashmir was made a part of the Mughal Empire.
With the Mughal takeover of Kashmir, some Sunnis are said to
have launched stern reprisals against the Shi’as. Shaikh Yaqub
Sarfi is said to have bitterly protested against this, and is credited
with having made efforts to restore peace and communal
harmony.
II. CONCLUSION
Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi occupies a place of prominence in the
history of Medieval Kashmir. He had acquired international
reputation for his learning, scholarship and piety. He was
displayed with the accomplishments of learning and perfect
qualities that distinguish him as the greatest sufi of his age. He
was the greatest authority of religious matters. He traveled
throughout the world to quench his thirst for knowledge. He was
the author of many sublime and beautiful works including
Khamsa, Commentaries of Quran and Hadith, Treatises,
Quatrains etc. He devoted his life to normalize the sectarian
tensions between the Shias and Sunnis of Kashmir. When the
situation was out of control he himself along with his
companions went to the court of Akbar and assured him of
necessary support for the invasion of Kashmir and when Akbar
dispatched the army Shaikh accompanied and guided them.
Above all Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi was a man for which Kashmir
feels proud. Though he did not left behind his successor because
his only son ‘Muhammad Yousuf’ died in infancy, yet Shaikh
had Khalifas/disciples throughout India and Kashmir like Mir
Muhammad Khalifa, Shah Qasim Hakkani, Arif Billah,
Habibullah Naushahri44 etc. He died at the age of seventy- five in
1594 AD, in Srinagar. The tomb of Shaik Yaqub Sarfi attracts
visitors and is known as Ziyarat-i-Ishan.
from:- Sameer Ahmad Sofi
Research Scholar, CAS, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 6, Issue 2, February 2016

references:-
1 Abdul Qadir Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. III (tr. W.
Haig), Patna, 1973, p. 200.
2 Peerzada Muhammad Tayyab Hussain Kashmiri, Auliya e
Kashmir, Nazir Publishers, Lahore, 1988, p. 38
3 Auliya e Kashmir, op. cit., p. 38
4 A.Q.Rafiqi, Sufism in Kashmir from the Fourteenth to the
sixteenth Century, Bharatiya Publishing House, Delhi, 1984, p.
114
5Khawaja M. Azam Diddamari, Wakiat-i-Kashmir (Urdu
translation by Hameed Yazdani), Srinagar, 1998, p. 224
6The literal meaning of Ganai is learned man, His family was
since centuries well learned and that is why they came to be
known as Ganai, for details, see, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi, Dewan-iSarfi, With an introduction by Mir Habibullah Kamli,
S.P.College Library, Srinagar, (1387 A.H), p. 2.
7 Ibid
8Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224; Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p.3;
9
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 3
10Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224; Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p.3;
11
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p.3; G.M.D Sufi, Kashir : Being A
History of Kashmir from Earliest Times to Our Own, p. 360
12 Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224
13 Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, III volumes, Vol. III,
(translated and edited by Sir W. Haig), Academica Asiatica,
Patna, 1973, p. 200
14
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 4.
15
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 4.
16 Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224; Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit.,p. 4.
17 Diddamari, op. cit, p. 225
18 For details see, Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 4.
19 Ibid, p. 5.
20
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 5
21 Ibid, p. 3; Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224
22 Abul Fazl, op. cit., Ain –i-Akbari, III Volumes, Vol. I, (tr.
Blochman), Low Price Publications, Calcutta, 2011, p. 191
23
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 3
24 Ain-i-Akbari, vol,I, op. cit., p. 651
25 Badauni, op. cit., p. 200
26 Ibid
27 Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, p. 202.
28 Ibid, p. 203
29
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 6.
30 Ibid
31 Badauni, op. cit., p. 201.
32 Khamsa is a series of five Masnavis also known as Panj-Gunj
which includes Masalik ul Akhyar, Wamiq-i-Uzra, LailaMajnun, Makhaz un Nabi and Muqamat Murshid. These five
works were written in imitation of Khamsa-i-Nizami Jami),
See Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, p. 200 n., Diddamari,
op. cit.,p. 226.
33 Manasik-i-Hajj, It is written in Arabic prose and explains the
rules and regulations of the pilgrimage.
34 It is a Persian commentary in prose on the Sahih-al-Bukhari of
Muhammad bin Ismail Bukhari.
35 This work is devoted to the importance of the Zikr and to the
legality of Zikr-i-Jahr.
36 It is a collection of Ghazals and Ruba’iyat
37 For details see Dewan-i-Sarfi, p. 6
38 Diddamari, op. cit., p. 225
39 Auliya-e-Kashmir, op. cit., p. 39; see also P.N.K.Bamzai, A
History of Kashmir: Political, Social and Cultural, Delhi,
1962, p. 346
40 P.N.K.Bamzai, Op. Cit., 353
41 Abul Fazl, Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. I, (Blochman), op. cit., p. 479.
42 Abul Fazl. Akbarnama, vol. III, (tr. H. Beveridge), Low price
Publications, delhi, 1939, p. 715
43 Abul Fazl. Akbarnama, vol. III, op. cit., pp. 722-23

Mystic Mantra: Kashmiri mysticism

Rich in spiritual intellect, Kashmir’s Rishi-Sufis spoke in poetry and parables to highlight the universal human trajectories.

The Kashmir Valley is one of the sacrosanct places for mystics. Historically, it was the bastion of pluralism, which merged the two Indian Oceans of mysticism — Rishimat and Sufism — thus introducing “Rishi-Sufis” as harbingers of mutual respect, understanding, spiritual acceptance and non-violence.

Rich in spiritual intellect, Kashmir’s Rishi-Sufis spoke in poetry and parables to highlight the universal human trajectories. The founder of this Sufi order is believed to be the 14th-century mystic — Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali — widely known as Nund Rishi. While Muslims revere him as Sheikh-ul-Alam (mentor of all), Hindus often call him Sahaj Anand (affectionate soul).

Born in 1377, he was bestowed with mystical moorings right from his childhood days. His foster mother was a female mystic (yogini) popularly known as Lal Ishwari among Hindus and Lal Arifa among Muslims. Holding the newborn Nund Rishi in her lap, she whispered in his ear to feed him with her milk:

“Chai ali chai zaina yali na mandchookh chaina kyazi chukh mandchaan”
(Suckle son, suckle, you didn’t hesitate when you were born, why hesitate now?)

Inspired by the early Kashmiri mystics, he strengthened the Valley’s syncretic culture spreading his messages in the form of verses and poetry. Most verses by Sheikh-ul-Alam or Nund Rishi foster the concept of ishq-e-haqiqi (divine love) and wisal-e-ilahi (divine union), such as these:

Oh God, you are all pervading,
You are the self in our body.
When man’s heart lights up with the flame of love,
Then shall he reach La-Makaan (no-place).
First I forgot myself and yearned after God,
Then I reached La-Makaan (highest mystical state).

Many such verses in Nund Rishi’s poetry build a deeper personal relationship with God and inevitably an innate concern for all his creations — mankind, animals, nature and environment in particular. Therefore, his poetry is popularly known as “Shrukhs” (catholicity of vision). Significantly, environmental protection and preservation of the Valley’s nature from devastation is also the thrust of his verses like this:
Extensively I toured in jungles through kail trees,
The warmth of June touched adversely the delicacy of jasmine,
Distinct are not the pearls to the moisture,
Mere touch shall damage delicacy of diamond,
Sooner the flame of tulips shall extinguish,
The evening occasions but the drowsiness of slumber.

Sheikh-ul-Alam left deep spiritual imprint in the teachings of later Rishi-Sufis like Hamza Makhdoom also known as Mehboob-ul-Alam (loved by all), Shamas Faqir, the celebrated Kashmiri Sufi poet and Resh Mir Sahib, a prolific Sufi scholar called the “last giant of the Rishi-Sufism”.

Rishi-Sufis focused not only on spiritual pursuits but also social, economic and cultural development of the Kashmir Valley. In fact, they brought the various crafts and industries from Persia, like the famous pashmina, the textiles woven in Kashmir. Today’s Valley is in quest for the very lost cultural heritage.

Shared by : Ghulam Rasool dehalwi

The saint we all call Makhdoom Sahab

 

It was the time when the present Nallahmar road was a famous waterway connecting Srinagar with wullar via Ganderbal. Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen (AR) was performing ablution at the bank of this river at Kalashpora Ghat. There came a procession of few boats decorated with gold and silver, the music of the ores was heard from a distance. It was the procession of the Qazul qazzah the then chief justice of Kashmir, Aalama Baba Dawood Khaki (AR) coming from Koolipora, Nowpora to attend his court. A man performing ablution at the bank directed the boat men to ask their chief justice to come to me. Baba Dawood Khaki(AR)  refused at the very first instance to obey the order of a person ordinarily dressed. The entire procession of boats came to standstill, despite the efforts made by boatmen to carry boats forward. No boat moved from its place. Baba Dawood Khaki (AR) was again remained by his men that he denied the order of a godly person which may be the cause for this episode. This was the turning point for Aalama Khakhi (AR), He came, as usual, well dressed, wearing costly costumes with Golden belts and Jewellery to see the man performing ablution. The Godly person asked a few questions to the Qazi, the questions were how much gold did Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) wear? Which fatwa you are going to give for a case that you don’t follow yourself? Aalama Khakhi(AR)  could not reply instead took out his outfit and began to  follow Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen(AR) whom he considered his  “Pir Murshad” now on and  till he was alive. Baba Dawood Khaki (AR)   narrates the all dealings, teachings, mission and vision of Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen(AR)  in “Virdul Muzeedeen”

Shukur lillah hale maanhar lehzanay kotaar shudaast,
Sheikhu Sheikha Sheikh Hamzah ta mara rehber shudaast.
Hazarat Makhdoom Hamza(AR)   bin Usman was born at Tujar, a peripheral village in Zainageer area of Kashmir. He originated from Shahi Chak Dynasty. The elders of his dynasty were rich, honest, and pious and his  house was then a super centre for learning and teaching of Islam  quotes Aalma Khakhi. I met a few elders of his village who were pious, well adapted with the Shariah, as I inquired cause of their being so religious they quoted Baba Usman’s (RA) company with them as reason adds Aalma Khaki(AR). Hazarat Makhdoom’s(RA) family used to send zakat of their wealth and livestock to the Khankhah of Hazarat Moulana Sheikh Ismail(RA) who was scholar and religious leader of that time besides being a good friend of Baba Usman(AR)  , the father of  Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen(AR) in Srinagar.
Initially he was admitted to a local Khankah run by Sultan Shuhab ud din in this village. One fine morning this child (Hazrat HamzaAR) left his house for school, but joined other children who were busy in playing on road side. He didn’t go to school. In the evening when his father asked about the lesson of the day, the child emphatically agreed that he didn’t go to school despite knowing consequences he could have abstained himself from saying the truth. His father got annoyed and furious and beat child to pulp so much so that he was down with fever for a couple of days. Hazarat Sheikh Hamza(AR)  was not yet adolescent, when he was made to leave Tujar Shariaf and come to Srinagar after he recovered, his grand father brought him to Srinagar where he was admitted in the Khankah of Hazrat Sheikh Fattahullah, the successor of Moulana Ismail, situated on the foothills of Kohimaran. This Khankah consisted of a library, langer (community kitchen)/ hostel, an academy that was a well known establishment of Baba Ismail , It named Dar ul Shifa. He stayed here for one year and learned one para of Quran. From here Sheikh Hamza (RA) was shifted to another Khankah built by Malikh Shams Chak on the bank of Nallahmar a most distance from Jamia Masjid . The khankah had a provision for separate rooms for the scholars to live in. He had a long stay of 20 years in this khankah. For this long span he kept busy in ibadah.
Hazrat Sultan (RA) had a wonderful memory power, as this is known from the fact that he was admitted in the Malik Shams Chak Khankha. Being a minor, a very elderly righteous person was kept as a room mate with him. The room mate used to get up during middle of the night and recite “Surat ul Kahaf” of Quran. The minor used to leave the bed and listen the same. With in few days he posed challenge to his room mate that he can remember the Surat ul Khaf without any mistake. He was given a test and proved successful. The elderly room mate was amazed to see his alarming memory.
In beginning I developed affection of Quran and repeatedly reciting this Holy Book during a night, I remembered it by heart, says Hazrat Sultan(RA)  as quoted by Aalama Khaki in Dastooru-Salikeen.
Meanwhile what happens is that one person namely  Makhdoom Syed Jamal ud din Bukhari (AR) went for Hajj along with his brother Syed Abdul Wahab Bukhari. During their stay in Madina, an amazing episode occurred with Jamal ud din (AR).He was reported turned drowsy, and was taken in a meeting being conducted by Prophet (PBUH) with his pious Suhabis. As in this meeting, a lucky young man was introduced to whom Prophet (PBUH) shared special attention to the extent that Jamal ud din(AR)  was  amazed and inquired whereabouts of the young man. The house was informed that the young man hails from Kashmir. His name is Hamza(AR)  and Prophet (PBUH) has fixed you for his training as Murshad. Jamal ud din Bukhari (AR)  was directed to proceed to Kashmir immediately for the purpose. Here in Kashmir, one might while sleeping, some unknown person told me that you should be thankful to Allah as we have finalized and fixed a Murshad, the Guide for you.  His name is Makhdoom Syed Jamal ud din Bukhari (AR), he has reached Srinagar and you can see him in Khankha Ahmad Yatoo, whatever he directs you follow in letter and Sprit. Alma khaki (AR) quotes said Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen (AR).
Next morning, Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen (AR) reached the spot and found Jamal ud din Bukhari (AR) slepping in Khankah. He stopped for a while but didn’t wake him up but left without meeting. He again went on very next day, seeing him in sleep, waited outside the door. The Murshad opened his eyes and gazed at him and directed Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen (AR)   to come nearer. Don’t feel alone he said, I have been informed about you in Madeena spiritually. You have been handed over to me permanently, work hard, be punctual and obedient. Some one had brought mutton and bread to Khankah. He  was also offered some share says Hazarat Sultan (RA). I felt ashamed eating before so many people and made my mind to carry the share along with and eat in hostel. No said the guide, eat it before us all. We all have already eaten. I will be offering two more breads which you can eat at your place, said Jamal ud din Bukhari (AR) to Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen (AR) Then former kept his cap on the head of later and directed him to go for special prayers in isolation for a few days. He did the same. Whatsoever he was bestowed in exchange, he narrated to his  Murshad The Murshad was happy to note the  reward that was given by Allah to Hazrat Sultanul Aarifeen(AR). He remained initially under the control  of his Murshad for six months continuously. Lastly the disciple was stressed that whatever his Murshad has sheared, should be dissipated amongst the needy ones.Hazrat Hamza(AR) has met many times with Hazrat Khawaja Khazir(AS) and their first meeting was in Jamia Masjid Srinagar(Dastoor us Saleeken)
After that, Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah (AR)was blessed with a divine spiritual power, knowledge which goes  in agreement with a hadith Qudsi.P rophet (PBUH) once said when a Godly persons crosses a few stages  in Allah’s remembrances , the Malaika (angles) keep them friends  and he shines and becomes focus of affection for all. Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah (AR) continued to quench the thirst of thousands of devotees who aspire for Allah’s  favour, with his wisdom and knowledge. As is acknowledged by Aalama Khaki (AR) in Virdul Muredeen in following few lines.
“ Chou khuda elmayludan kard taleemash zemahr
Bahre asrare Illahi Aalim amhar shudast “
“ Ao sheryat raast nasir dartareekat mujtahed
Bahre asrare hakekat sadr o masdar shudaast “
“Roushanash anwaare quraan gasth hum asrare aan
pus khawasish dedo hum alfaaze aanash aabr shudaast “
During the period of Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah(AR) a number of great personalities existed amongst whom Hazrat Sheikh Yaqoob Sarfi(AR) and Hazrat Mir Syed Ahmad Kirmani deserve a special mention .They too bear witness to the fact that Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah(AR) had enormous spiritual power as is quoted by Aalama Khaki in Virdul Mureeden.
“Mir Syed Ahmed Kirman zaahil kashf bood
ashq o dard o souz awra deedah wahair shudaast “
Which  means, that Mir Syed Ahmad Kirmani (AR)despite being a man with kashf (knowing before hand ) was amazed to see  Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah’s(AR) earnest desire for Prophet’s (PBUH). There were a number of Khalifas of         Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah (AR) which include Baba Ali Raina , Mir Baba  Hyderi Tulmullah, Khawaja Hassan Qari, Hazrat Ishaq Qari , Mir Mubarakh Behaquee, Hazrat Roop Reshi , mulla Chouwgali, Hazrat Zeeti Shah Wali and Mian Abdul Rehman Manak(AR)etc.
During the regimen  of Ali Shah Chak, then administrator of Kashmir, Makhdoom Sheikh Hamzah left for Aakhirah on 24th of Safarul Muzzafar 983 Hijri at Makhdoom Mandaw, Kalashpora  Srinagar. Hazrat Mullah Mohammad Tahir Rafique offered the Gussal and Nimaze Jinazah in Iddgah. A huge congregation has been reported joined the heavenly departure of the saint and Kohimaran was decided his permanent place.This is the day when people celebrate his URS mubarak with enthusiasm.

(The author is professor cum chief scientist and Head, Teaching Veterinary Clinical Services complex at FVSc & AH, SKUAST-K. Feedback at dmmakhdoomi@gmail.com)

Concept of “Ilm” and “Demonstration” in the philosophy of Sheikh-ul Alam

ABSTRACT

Sheikh-ul-Alam was a great Kashmiri philosopher considered as the patron saint of Kashmiris. Sheikh ul-Alam is a saint of Reshi order who is known as Crown of the Saints of Kashmir and Flag bearer of the people of Kashmir. He is regarded as the founder of an indigenous Sufi order in fifteenth century. Sheikh-ul-Alam had not attained any conventional education but, still a great philosopher and a poet, having eternal knowledge about the existence of life. Sheikh-ul-Alam was having a sound consciousness about the reality of universe. His poetry is very influential, prestigious and esteemed at every angle. Every verse of his poetry is having a charm and conveys a message. His collection and combination of words are even unparallel. He used his poetry as an instrument to extend the true knowledge of absolute. He has used the word “Ilm” in his poetry that means knowledge which should not be confused with our often used term knowledge. His concept of knowledge is entirely different with its usual meaning. The present paper attempts to explore the word “Ilm” in his poetry which may further widen the horizon of our shrunk perception about “Ilm”. While teaching he often used the demonstration method where a person can empirically gets an opportunity to perceive a particular concept.

Keywords: Reshi, Ilm, demonstration method.

I.INTRODUCTION

Sheikh-ul-Alam was a great Kashmiri philosopher regarded as the patron saint of people of Kashmir. He is considered as the founder of the Rishi order of saints that deeply influenced many great mystics like Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom, Resh Mir Sàeb , Shamas Faqir, Sakhi Zainu Din Wali, etc. A blessing of God unto the people of Kashmir, Sheikh ul-Alam was a saint of Reshi order who is also known as Taj-ul-Awliyai Kashmir means the Crown of theSaints of Kashmir and Alamdar-I-Kashmir means Flag bearer of the people of Kashmir. The admired saint is greatly respected by both the Hindu and Muslim communities of Kashmir. He also has to his credit for laying the foundation of an indigenous Sufi order in the fifteenth century. Reshi is a person who immerses himself into the Divine self. Speaking about the saint‟s life, Nund Reshi was born in Qaimoh (district Kulgam of Jammu and Kashmir) on Eid-ul-Adha. His parents Sheikh Salar-ud-Din and Sadra were pious, honest and sincere human beings and were well known because of their goodness. Sheikh-ul-Alam‟s parents were very much influenced by a great and prominent Sufi saint Hazrat Mir Syed Simnania. Inspired by his piety, it was through the hands of Simnania, that Sheikh-ul-Alam‟s parents embraced Islam. Sheikh-ul-Alam had not attained education through any formal or traditional mode but, still a great philosopher and a poet, having eternal knowledge about the existence of life. Whatever he acquired was the outcome of his meditation, good deeds, honesty and love for God. He wrote such powerful mystic poetry that he became the patron of saints and protector and embodiment of Kashmiri culture. The form of Sheikh-ul-Alam poetry is called SHRUK. Sheikh-ul -Alam‟s shruks are popular throughout Kashmir and have been spread and circulated orally by generations of people of Kashmir. Sheikh-ul-Alam left behind all those things which were bonded to material world. He detached all the connections which were linked to this world. He busied himself thoroughly in the remembrance of God and dedicated all his time in meditation and prayers in order to overcome and conquer the appetite of self, to strengthen the connection between him and God and to strengthen his spiritual power. Later he traveled to Kashmir remained in Charar-i-Shareef for a pretty long time where he met Syed Mir Mohammad Hamdani. Sheikh-ul-Alam was very much influenced by Syed Mir Mohammad Hamdani after having discussion with him and became the disciple of Syed Mir Mohammad Hamdani, who bestowed him the name “Alamdaar-i- Kashmir”. Sheikh-ul-Alam was quite aware about the reality of this universe; he could easily identify the mentality of a person at the very first sight. His poetry is very influential, prestigious and esteemed at every angle; every line of his poetry has its own charm and message. His collection and combination of words is unparallel. He used his poetry as a toolto spread the true knowledge of kindness beyond the borders of limitation. His verses are preserved in the Nur-Nama written by Baba Naseeb-ud-Din Ghazi in Persian. Besides Tasawuff Sheikh-ul-Alam composed poetry on different topics like the people of his time, about the time he lived, about towns and villages, about the self, about the lust of life and last but not the least about the practical education. There are number of schools, colleges, hospitals and institution in the name of Sheikh-Ul-Alam. University of Kashmir is conducting research on his poetry and philosophical thought in an exclusive research centre know as Markaz-i-Noor a centre for sheikh-ul-Alam studies. He used his poetry as tool to spread the knowledge of absolute. Tawhid (oneness of Almighty), Risala (Prophet-hood of Muhammad PBUH), Ma’ad (Materialism), human lust and importance of Education are main subjects of his poetry. He vehemently criticized the so called Mullas and other pseudo-scholars of Islam. One of his most famous and oft quoted couplets is (Kashmiri:”Ann poshi teli yeli wann poshi“) meaning ‘Food will last as long as forests last’. He was very much stressful about the conservation of environment the time when no one would even imagine about the current environmental crisis. Lal Ded the Shaivite poetess of Kashmir was his contemporary. She had a great impact on his spiritual growth. He has in one of his poems prayed to God to grant him the same level of spiritual achievement as God had bestowed on Lal Ded. (Khan, 2012) concluded not withstanding the fact that his personality has been unsheathed by myths invented by careless hagiographers, Sheikh-ul-Alam was a towering historical figure of medieval Kashmir. (Wani, 2012) revealed that of a very few subjects of Kashmir history, which has stimulated exceptional great scholarly attention, Sheikh-ul-Alam and his founded Rishi Movement occupies a prominent place. Yet, the corpus of literature produced on the Shaikh and his silsila (order) rests on a shaky ground in the absence of an authentic text of the poetry of the Shaikh which constitutes the basic source of his life and teachings. (Shah, 2012) conducted that the result of a study of the poetry of Sheikh-ul-Alam one of the most venerated and well acclaimed Sufi saints of Kashmir, which finally led to compilation of an inventory of plant species mentioned therein, with the broad objective to recuperate traditional botanical wisdom for sustainable development. The list of plant species is presented along with their brief description and pictorial support for understanding of common people. The conspectus of plant species is of significance, not only to provide useful insights into important floristic elements of that particular era, but also to rejuvenate the sense of species sacredness for their conservation. Such studies, if extrapolated for other regions in a multicultural nation like India, can potentially yield an invaluable traditional ecological knowledge base for conservation of sacred species. (Zaffar, 2012) Shaikh ul Alam was a man with increased knowledge and understanding which he himself Claims in one of his Shruks. The most effective means which made his movement pervasive throughout the Valley was common man‟s language and the genre he used to bring home to the people his message. He was very much concerned about the artistic and aesthetic elements in his poetry. In spite of being didactic in nature Shruks are loaded with artistic and aesthetic elements which bring more and more beauty in his verses. Therefore to understand and interpret his poetry one has to be more cautious, technical and skillful.

Concept of “Ilm” in the poetry of Sheikh-ul-Alam

“Ilm parith tae parith na palan Pheng payi lalan gash kati aasee”

“Just acquiring of knowledge without following it in a practical sense would make a person blind with eyes”. We today are having a lot of knowledge just for the sake of knowledge. The real motive of having knowledge in the past was to practice all that we know. Today is the period of value crisis even having a very impressive literacy rates in developed and developing countries. More we gained the knowledge more we get deviated from the path of practicing values. The Sheikh mostly stressed over practicing knowledge. He considers a person blind who is not following the knowledge he has gained.

“Paran paran te par gayee Tim khar gayee kitab borah hayeth

Yim sahibas nish bakhabar gayee Tim nar gayee fazal ta ata hayeth”

The so called students who get education not in a real sense just as a formality are like donkeys carrying burden of books on their shoulders. But the students who realize their self and are very much aware about their heart are more successful.

“Yath waw haley czhong kus zale Tale kani zaleas alim ta deen”

Who is going to light a lamp in these heavy stormy and windy nights of ignorance, it‟s the only education and religious practices that can do it in real sense. He considered the ignorance as the strongest storm in the world that can damage the structure of humanity. He is saying that knowledge is the only lamp which will put an end to strong winds of ignorance.

Sheikh-ul-Alam and Demonstration method

Once Sheikh-ul-Alam was invite to a feast to accept an invitation is a part of teaching of prophet (PBUH) so he could not deny and went to the house of host wearing shabby clothes. Gate keeper did not recognize him and was not allowed to enter the party. He went home back and came again but now wearing new clothes. When all had sat for the lavish dinner, Sheikh-ul-Alam entered wearing a stunning cloak and was provide the position of admiration. When everybody started to take food Sheikh-ul-Alam extended out his sleeves and put them onto the plates full of food, people surrounded got surprised and asked him the reason, Sheikh-ul-Alam replied: Kheyev Badev Narew Kheyev ,Eat you rich clothes eat “

The feast was not for poor like me, it is for the wealthy who dress in rich clothes and long sleeves. In education this method of teaching is called demonstration method. The people at party were able to perceive the concept and his criticality by experience.

Bibliography

• Dwivedi, A.N. (2003). Rpt. Hopkins: Selected Poems. Bareilly.
• Gauhar, G.N. (1995). Rpt.Shaikh Noor-ud-Din Wali. New Delhi: Sahitya Academy.
• Kalam-e –sheikh-ul-Alam
• Khan M.A., (2012). The Shaikh and His Shruks, Alamdar, Markazi Nūr Shaikh al–„Ālam

Chair, University of Kashmir, 5(5), 9-38.

• Khan, M.I.(1997). Kashmir‟s Transition to Islam, N. Delhi, Manohar, 187-188.
• Malik, G.R. (2006). Kashmiri Culture and Literature. Srinagar: Department of Kashmiri,

University of Kashmir.

• Moyeed-ul-Zafar, (2009). “A Fresh Approach to Shaikh al-„Ālmiyyāt”, Alamdar, Markazi

Nūr Shaikh al–„Ālam Chair, University of Kashmir, 124.

• Moyeed-ul-Zafar, (2012). Problems with the interpretation of Shruk literature, Alamdar,

Markazi Nūr Shaikh al–„Ālam Chair, University of Kashmir, 5(5), 73-86.

• Munawwar,N & Shouq.S.(1992). Nov Kạshrị Adbuk Tavạ rīkh, Srinagar, University of

Kashmir, 42.

• Parimoo, B.N. (1984). Unity in Diversity. Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of

Art, Culture and Languages, Raina, Trilokinath.

• Shah, M.A. (2012). Plants in the poetry of Shaikh-ul Aalam(RA).Alamdar, Markazi Nūr

Shaikh al-„Ālam Chair, University of Kashmir, 5(5), 49-72.

• Wani, M.A. (2012). In search of an authentic text of Shaikh-ul Aalam‟s poetry, Alamdar,

Markazi Nūr Shaikh al–„Ālam Chair, University of Kashmir, 5(5), 39-42.

• Wani, M.A. (2009). Islam in Kashmir, Srinagar, Oriental Publishing House, 67.
• Wikipedia. (2018)

Research by:-

Mirza Muneeb Manan* Sayar Ahmad Mir**

Research Scholar Research Scholar

School of Education and Training Department of English

MANUU, Hyderabad MANUU, Hyderabad

Presented at:-

International Conference on Recent Research and Innovations in Social Science & Education

19^th May 2018

Genealogy of Shaykhulalam Sheikh Noorud din Noorani (qadasallahu Sirah)

Genealogy of Alamdar-e- Kashmir…
The Paradisal pleasance of Kashmir does not merely mean the beauty and symmetry which this sphere of the globe
possesses but in fact means the grandeur of its inhabitants who have made its surroundings so fragrant that the
perfumes evaporated to vast areas of human habitations and atmospheres. From time immemorial the milky way of
the firmament of Kashmir did possess glittering stars emitting fluorescence to remove the stygian darkness amid
the terrains and lofty areas of the terrene. The brightest star appeared on the firmament in the shape of Sheikh Noor
ud Din who is the lone son of the soil enjoying the status of a flag bearer (Alamdar), besides the great sheikh of the
world.
Sheikh is said to have been born on Friday the 25th Rabiul Awal, 774 Hijri corresponding to 24th of September 1373
A.D. The genealogy displayed by Naseeb ud Din Ghazi (disciple of Sheikh) is as under:
Raja Ogra Sanz……… Drupta Sanz……… Zanga sanz…………. Hunar Sanz…….. Wogra Sanz……….. Salar Sanz………. Nund
Sanz.
Mohi ud din Miskeen the well known author of “Tarikhi Kabir” states that the ancestors of this great man belonged
to Kishtwar area of Jammu & Kashmir and were the rulers enjoying the valorous state of Sanz -¬ The brave. Owing
to political instability in the region they migrated to this part of the region. The then rulers of Kashmir did not only
grant them the refuge but also granted them the fief dom of Rupvan, a village in North-East region of Chrar-i-Shareif,
03kms away from the township. Miskeen Jots down that Zanga Sanz the great grandfather of Sheikh was an
advisor to Khumni- a great grocer and ruler of village Tilsara located in the Eastern side of Chrar-i-Sharief 02kms
away from the town. Khumni was murdered in the upheaval of Dalchu and Hunnar Sanz the son of Zanga Sanz
remained hidden in dark dense forests of Chrar-i-Sharief which was then known as “Tsrar Van”. After confinement
among conifers did he appear in village “Gud Sathu” situated at Chadoora Budgam road and got settled there. Salar
sanz the beloved father of Sheikh was influenced by Yasmin Rishi and accepted Islam & was named as Salar ud Din.
Though historians are mum and mute about Salar sanz but the verse revealed by Sheikh implies his prosperity and
affluence as he says,
“Kaimoh kis Salar-dins….. Yes dowlatch manz boud aayie”
Means Salar-ud-din the inhabitant of kaimoh deserves felicitations as he yielded among riches to adopt the doctrine
of Islam .This proves that sheikh was nourished and cherished in a well-to-do family with all luxuries and dainties,
rejecting the concocted stories designed and devised for him. Sheikh’s mother a pious and noble lady did hail from
“khee” a village of in kulgam District. Historians have highlighted only the spiritual conduct of Sheikh and have
ignored his other dimensions of life which include his scholarly behaviour, linguistic approach, researcher’s aptitude,
philosophical temperament and missionary zeal. The tide of time has masticated his scientific innovations which
are eminent from his Kalam.
The details can have from my paper on scientific aptitude of this great man which I delivered in university of
Kashmir on 03 day international seminar on Shah-i- Hamdan’s contribution to learning & society. The paper is
published in local daily of Kashmir Frontier of 15 March 2012.
Falsified stories have been attributed to this man by our historians and writers either due to political hedges or
timely tides which is a separate debatable discussion. Sheikh proved sharp witted from the early childhood and did
posses a capacious brain to feel and catch temperamental beats and throbs of the time. He was a great philosopher
and a true time server of his time. He happened to be a great scholar and had a full command on knowledge. His
linguistic aptitude shows his majesty and stateliness. His multidimensional personality is the outcome of his multi
phased poetry which proves to be the sole alchemy for refinement of a multi shaped creature like man. His poetry
seems to be a perfect medicament, a complete therapy and a well known remedy for ailing and failing human souls
& spirits at different times and occasions.
Once the verses revealed makes a man to feathers for aerial trips but thereby abides him to drupe down to dust to
abide and adore one omniscient and omnipotent lord. His appeal for killing one’s appetite from worldly charms &
beauties do teach and preach the man the modes and styles of this world and world after. He analyses the different
aspects of life with scientific and innovative modes and moments. His message does not pertain to a sect of society but the humanity as a whole. His plain and chaste phrases undoubtedly sensitize the human intelligentsia
and makes a man to shun his lustful behaviour and to get accelerated for human aid and help. His verses act as
stimulants for secretions of wit and wisdom for thought full innovations of this living world and he proved to be the
best annotator of Quran.
Sheikh was a great missionary and he started missionary schools for both the genders of the society across the
length and breadth of his native land. Trained missionaries were plotted to disseminate the theology of Islam to the
grass root level. For its percolation he used the soft, sweet and candid sap of his mother tongue which created a
vigorous pressure to accelerate the human wit and will. Hardly a place is found in the entire terrain where the sole of
Shiekh would not have enjoyed the bill and coo of the soil/dust.
A like a jeweller, Sheikh with the art & craft of wit & winsome designed a long chain of his followers who in close
association with the society taught the people the essence of great religion. Such grooming did create a bonton
atmosphere around the Alps and dales of Kashmir. Among these followers; comrades like Latif ud Din, Zain ud din,
Bam ud din & Nassar ud din, Dhut Ded, Shanga bi & Sala Bi are of great importance. Sheikh is said to have remained
stationed for a long time at Draigam in Budgam, Chimmar in Devsor, Hoonchipora in Beerwah and Rup Van in Chrar-
i-Sharief Budgam. Besides he had brief visits to almost all the parts of Kashmir. Sheikh during his life selected Chrar-
i-Sharief as a permanent abode where he was laid for eternal peace in 842 A.H corresponding to 1438AD.

Article shared by
Sir G N Adfar
Rozabal, Char-i-Sharief
Cell: 9419003402

Prakash Ram Bhat Kashmiri

Prakash Ram Bhatt is one of the reputed Kashmiri Sufi poets of the 9th century .Prakash Ram well
known poet of Kashmir worthy of appreciation for his impression, spectacular and simple writings.
Prakash Ram was a devotee of Shri Rama, Prakash Ram was born in 1819 Kawarigam, a small village
Qauzi gund and he left for his eternal journey at his native place 1877.Prakash Ram was born in the house
of Mezrah Pandith,Mezrah Pandit the father Of Prakash Ram was an illiterate person but sent his son to
the Madrasa (school) for acquire knowledge .Merzah Pandit being uneducated person was very keen
about his child`s education. From the childhood Prakash Ram was honesty and pious. He was a reserved
man and used to speak less and most of the time remained alone. Prakash Ram was one of Greatest
devotees of Lord Shri Ram and due to this fondness. he penned The Ramayana in two Kashmiri language
and name it Rama Avatar charyit and Lav Khush charyit. This Ramayana became first epic Poetry ever
Written in Kashmiri and the most important contribution to the kashmiri literature . The Ramayana got
renowed throughout Kashmir particularly Kashmiri pandits. Prakash Ram has also written Akanandun and
krishanavtaar Lila and as such he got reorganization in every corner of the valley because of
Ramayana.Prakash Ram has used the name Shri Ram`s family in many of his poems like kind Dashratha
(father) Mother koushaliya,Laxmana,Bharath etc. Koushaliya hindeh gobroo,karoo goore goore,Paryo ram
ramie ,Karoo goore goore,meh depyamie rama rajia,Khoush aawie ni woureh maajeh,Aadnek seer
baajia,,Karoo goore goorem,Atchen hund gaash kout gaoom,Seryeh Prakash kout gaoom kehnti tchem
neh aash kout gaoom,,Karoo goore goore. Prakash Ram lived a simple life which is also observed in his
poetry,his verses simple in style with trouble-free words.this quality made him unknown among general
masses of valley. Once Praksh Ram as usual was praying and was singled in devine meditation.All of
sudden Goddess Bhagvati got appeared ahead of him.Prakash Ram stunned to see Goddess Bhagvati
footing infront of him.Goddess Baghvati said,I love u being for so simple and isolated from this world in
the contemplation of God and you should meet me tommarrow at ~Reid Naag~ (a famous spring of the
village where Goddess baghvati used to dwell).Prakash Ram was joyous and could explain this felicity
and anxiously waiting for the day.Next Day Prakash Ram arrived at `Reid Naag` to meet Goddess
Baghvati.Goddess Baghvati again go visible before him with a bowl of honey in her hand. She offered the
honey to Prakash Ram to eat it.Prakash Ram received willingly and ate the honey.After the meeting with
Goddess,Prakash Ram commenced his daily conducts as usual but an emergent transformation was
sensed by him.Till the meet he was a good poet but after Prakash Ram was incredible,he started to write
down Poems with great profundity,meaning and rhythm,Goddess Bhagvati bestowed him enormous
power of thinking and writing. Gaoom Travith Dil tchum Meh Dazaan, Tchum Neh Wazaan Sitaare Nayee,
Siryeh Prakashi Kartam Yon Payaee, Laie Woath Tiem Tachi Tali Krayaee, Pashe Panne Tchet Tchet Tchet
Neeraan, Tchum Neh Wazaan Sitaar Nayee… Prakash Ram being a Hindu Written verses which are being reited by Muslim Sufi in Mehfil-i-Samma functions.Parkash Ram was amystic poet,who enjoyed his life in
divine company. From early age he was extremely attracted to spiritual deeds which he agained through
consecrated efforts in the path of love.Parkash Ram was reasonably influenced by Islamtoo;he has
poetized beautiful lines in the grand and idealistic nobility of Prophet Muhammad..saw…in these lines he
mentions the begining creation of the universe.. Aashiq Tche zindeh Roozan Loluk Quran per perh,
Beshak Kar-i-Irfan Thavaan Bayan ker kerh, Awalie Ishq Tchu Tashooq Panuie Gatchum Meh Mashooq, Ad
kurnie Padeh Nooraan,Muhammad .Saw. Naw Ker Kerh, Prakash Bhat Tchuie Miskeen,Peerus Kaaran
Afreen; Chaw Tam Meh Moie Piyapie Moie Khaan Tchi Tche Ber Berh.(Loves are Breathing coz they
believe love as Quran undoubtedly utter about oneness of God In the begining God fell in love anad craved
to see his beloved Then he created The Noor, Named it Muhammad .SAW. PRakash Bhatt is
poor,extolments his murshid Make me drink of divinity,thy cantina is fully sated) . In the above mentioned
lines clear that Prakash Ram had deep Knowledge,awareness and understanding about The Holy quran
and Holy Ahadith As Prophet Muhammad.Saw. say: .Ana min Noor-il-Lahhin Wal Khalku Kulhum Min
Noori.(The first creation of All Mighty is the creation of my NOOR from his own Noor and latter whatever
is Created is created from my Noor(Noor-e-Mohammad..Saw..)
The essential uniqueness in his composition was the simplicity,Cleaness and purity of thoughts and
language. While going his poetry it seems that Prakash Ram was well influenced by the sufi saints and
poets of Kashmir valley. who have bestowed greatest poetry for future generations. Most of the poets
have used Persian and Sanskrit words in their poetry but Prakash Ram did not utilize the Sanskrit and
persian idiom in order to preserve it for general people.
**** DE NA DARSHUN TI YE NA SOUN .KARSAI POOSHEH WARSHONAIE,
PRAKASH PRETH JAYEH KATEH CHARUN,SUBHUK SIRYEH RAMBEH VONOYEE,
ZALWUN THONAM NAAR LALVUN, KARSAI POOSHEH WARSHOONAI *****
Show me thy visage and visit my home,
I shall shower blossoms upon you,
Prakash is everywhrer here, where shall I search,
Moment of sunrise is heart touching,
He left me and my heart is burning,
I shall showeer blossoms upon you..
Prakash Ram had strong faith in supernatural powers of God that Control human destiny; he has
expressed in his deep feelings in many verses. He believes that God himself is a defender to defenseless
people; the people who are deprived and left alone by their relatives will take pleasure in the eternal
ecstasy; people who believed God the only protector will definitely enter heaven.
Prakash Ram Says to those who lost their parents and have none in this material world should not feel
alone because. God is the parent of all those who have none to look after them; people who are homeless
should not worry about the painful experience because any shelter which gives happiness and comfort is
an absolute home. His poetry expresses the reality of author who was well experienced about this life and
hereafter…
** HI VESS MUSHTAQ KAS GAOOM,
THAS GAOOM PETMAI PRIYARE,
POHAL TRAVITH RAMBUS GAOOM,
KEH TER KE ROED YEMPARE,
DIE RUS KAHMA TCHMAMBUS GAOOM,
THAS GAOOM PETMAI PRIYARE,
PRAKASHAS YEL HESS PIYOOM,
MAS GAW SUH SOOZ CHI TARE,
MASTAAN MASS CHEITH MAS GAOOM,
THAS GAOOM PETMAI PIYARE ***
..Oh ! My friend whom my beloved loves,
Who he left me at the dawn,
Shepherd left flock of sheep,
Some got across some did not,
None at watch may some skipped,
Who he lefty me at the dawn,
When Prakash got conscious,
He was in rapture while listening to sweet music,
My beloved drank and was fairly squiffed,
Who left me at dawn….

Prakash Ram used to spend most of time in continuous and profound contemplation of God.he was a
true lover of Shri Ram but still has written many poems about Islamic Tassawuf.Islamic Scholars. Saints
and poets used to read and listen to his wonderful
Verses. He has poetized Islamic Tassawuf as brilliantly and gracefully as great Muslim Sufi poets have
did. Going through Prakash Ram`s Writing it seems he had a Muslim Mursheed but history does not verify
anything about it..
** MASHOOK WUCH MAKH PANAI,
AZ TAN KYA WURYANAIE,
TASHOOQ GAOOM BIRYANAIE,
AZ TAN KYA WURYANAIE,
PRAKASH WUL JAMEH WAJOOD,
WAJOOD ANDRIE TCHU MAJOOD,
MAJOOD TCHU AZ RAH-E-NABOOD
AZ TAN KYA WURYANAIE.**
..Oh my beloved I saw thou,
Face to face without veil,
Thy love chopped me into pieces,
Face to face without veil,
Prakash clothed his soul with mortal body,
But is breathing within it,
The existence inside body came from deity,
Face to face without veil..
Praksh Ram has written many Leela`s and Bajans in the admiration of various Gods and
Goddess.Prakash ram Died young in his 50`s . he was very famous and had many disciples from both
Muslim and Hindu religion.
After his death quarrel started between Muslim and Hindu disciples whether Prakash Ram`s body be
buried or burned. Hindu disciples said he was a Hindu so should be burned .and Muslim disciples said he
should be buried. Then they decided to bathe the body first after that the later decision would take place.
Disciples were washing the dead body all of a sudden everyone was astonished when they saw the body
of Mursheed Prakash Ram flying in air and went away of eye sight. At the end body was not found.
People of Village Bonigam,Near by village of Quazigund says That Prakash Ram`s body took flight over
the chinar tree and touched a branch of it and went away. It is said that the branch which came in contact
with the dead body of Prakash Ram remain evergreen even in the winters when every leaf turns red but
the leaves of that branch remain flourishing in all season.

@imran yousuf

WAHAB-KHAAR THE MESMERIZING AUTHOR OF MYSTIC POETRY PART ONE

The 19 th century Sufi poet WAHAB KHAAR was born at Khrew Shaar, Pampore. He had fine and beautiful long life of one hundred years; there is uncertainty in the birth and death date of Wahab Khaar, some historian say he died in the year 1910. His father HAIT KHAAR was also a Sufi saint and poet, well known, respected and reputed man of the area. He had remained in touch with many Sufi saints of the time, he was fond of singing and used to attend almost all the singing functions, he spend most of his time in the company of Faqeers. He was disciple of SABIR SAAB, a great Sufi saint of his time. I would love to write down few lines of Hait Khaar’s Kalaam which he used to sing in presence of his Mursheed.
Suleh Paigaam Boozum Drayes, Suleh Ges Ges Wachis Neh Neyayes
Waneh Hait Khaar Waneh Naie Aamie, Yaar Konie Aamaie Latiye
Poosheh Tarenn Meh Bahaar Aamaie, Yaar Konie Aamaie Latiye
Early I got wind and left, still could not accomplish my desires
Hait Khaar says, I could not recognize him, Why my beloved didn’t come
Flower branches blossomed, Why my beloved didn’t come
WAHAB-KHAAR, the name itself assures that he wasa blacksmith by profession who moulds hardest and most arduous iron according to necessitate andgives it a new shape, this endowment was also found in his writings. He had acquired mastery in shaping thoughts completely in a different and unique way which has its own beauty. Wahab Khaar is a celebrity and renowned mystic poet of Kashmir for his towering spiritual powers and unique approach of writing poetry.
Kalwael Dama Dechaow Meh Tai, Mai Khaan Manzai Choom
Mass Tcheth Wahab Khaar Talab Daar Tchu Tai, Su Kass Patai Gaoom
Beh Tchus Dramut Yaaras Patai, Su Kass Patai Gaoom
Mixologist offer me a sip of wine, I drunk in cantina
Fuddled Wahab Khaar is a devotee, but whom afterhe went
I am following my beloved, but whom after he went.

Being a blacksmith Wahab Khaar was a handsome lad used to wear fine looking outfit, he was famousthroughout the area from childhood. It was the time of Dogra Raj when Kashmir was undergoing somany difficulties and distress. People of the valley were living in bad condition could not even fulfill the daily requirements. But Wahab Khaar was a technical hand, farmer and singer, his earnings allowed him to wear costly clothes and live a comfortable life. When whole Kashmir was in poorcondition Wahab Khaar was living a bit comfortablelife.
Wahab Khaar belonged to a Sufi family and as suchhe was inclined to Sufism from the very birth; he was fond of writing and singing from early age, wherever he finds Mehfil-i-Samma, he used to attend at any cost. Wahab Khaar dedicated his life in writing poetry and singing in presence of great Sufi saints of the time. It is said that Wahab Khaar used to smoke bhang (Charas) at some occasions.
Wahab Khaar got married with REHMAT . She was apious lady helped Wahab Khaar in every step of life. Besides taking care of children she was a good house wife, dealt everything with ease and calm. She became a helping hand for her husband wherever it needed. She domesticated many animals and used to help Wahab Khaar in the fieldstoo. These qualities make her a fine lady with great caliber, lady of excellence, worthy of great respect. Wahab Khaar was very fortunate having Shareeq-e-Hayaat (wife) like Rehmat who assisted and served him whole life; her contributions in the pathof faith and love can never be overlooked. Wahab Khaar used to call her with the name “Bun Gam Tchi” because she hailed from a nearby village called Bun Gam.
Yem Yemi Bosareh Draie Matioo, Tim Neh Firith Aai
Abdul Wahabas Rai Matioo, Jaie Kativ Tchei
Tchem Cheenie Sehtha Maie Matioo, Jaie Kativ Tchei
Who he left this mortal world never came back
Abdul Wahab has credence to meet you, where do you dwell
I have unconditional love for you, where do you dwell
One of the worth mentioned quality of Jenab Wahab Sahab Khar was his determination and regard for his land that he tilted himself to inspire others to follow the suit. Though being a mystic he managed to live a normal life which after some time underwent a tremendous change for his being lost in the world of wonders.Wahab Khaar was a famous Sufi poet and singer used to sing along his party members in various occasions. Once Wahab Khaar with his fellowships went to a function organized by the disciples of Rehman Saab (A celebrated Sufi saint of the time). Mehfil-i-Samma was at its zenith when the Mursheed Rahman Saab asked to stop singing and said Wahab Khaar to enter the kitchen and look in the pots for some food. Wahab Khaar could not deny entered in the kitchen and started searching but all the pots were empty except one containing grains of rice. He took and brought it to Rahman Saab who ordered Wahab Khaar to eat it. It was an order so Wahab Khaar accepted and ate up the rice. After some timeWahab Khaar lost his conscious, he felt full of obsession and eagerness did not converse to anybody, he was very anxious about something could not even halt for a minute, all of a sudden he began to run left the place, his companions and the people in the midnight. His party of singers followed him and led him back to his house.
WAHAB-KHAAR was also a hard working farmer; he had vast wasteland which he turned into agricultural land by his own efforts, on the other hand he was a deep lover of singing, he used to play so many instruments like Sarnagi, Gadda (Vessel) and Rabab, but having specialty with favoritism most of the time he used to sing and play Rabab. He has participated in so many Mehfil-e-Samma functions organized by Sufi saints of the time. He had complete party of singers who used togo village to village for singing. When farmers had time of reaping, his party used to sing there for their entertainment and get rice, wheat and mustardseeds in reciprocation.