One day in the life of a Sufi

Political violence and butchering 

Raziuddin Aquil 

Most traditions of Sufism have recommended steering clear of political regimes. They maintained a distinction between political and spiritual domains to remove any confusion in the minds of rulers regarding any political ambition, which could be legitimised through their wide popularity. Others maintained a workable relation with political powers, offering to pray for them and providing legitimacy. A third set worked in tandem in which religious and political powers got enmeshed with each other. The fourth approach threatened political regimes altogether. One such case culminated in a major political onslaught and orgy of violence on a Sufi from Gujarat who had settled in Bengal.

Sheikh Jalal Gujarati was an accomplished Sufi master, miracle-worker, and perfect friend of God. He was trained in Chishti mysticism by Sheikh Payare, who in turn was a disciple of Syed Muhammad Gesu-daraz, a spiritual successor of Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli. This connected him to Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya's large circle of disciples and followers spread across Hindustan, Gujarat, Deccan and Bengal. Sheikh Jalal Gujarati himself had settled down in Bengal, where Chishti excellence was already established by Nizamuddin's disciples, including Sheikh Sirajuddin, better known as Akhi Siraj of Lakhnauti (Gaur, Bengal).

Contrary to the recommended practice of Chishti silsila, Bengal Sufism tended to get involved in political conspiracies with lasting consequences, either in the form of meaningful political intervention in the interest of Islam and Muslims or face brutal assaults and elimination from political rivals. The outstanding recommendation was to maintain low profile in public and avoid involvement in political matters altogether .

Sheikh Jalal lived his life like a king and even issued orders sounding like farmans. Some jealous people, rivals and antagonists created doubts in the mind of the Sultan of Bengal and presented him as a formidable political threat. Sufficiently outraged, the Sultan ordered slaughter of Sheikh Jalal with all his close disciples sheltered in his monastery-like large khanaqah.

Accordingly, the executioners and assailants broke into Sheikh Jalal's khanaqah and began to butcher everyone present there. When they attacked and killed any disciple Sheikh Jalal cried: ya qahhaar, ya qahhaar. When they attacked him with a sword he attained martyrdom chanting: ya rahman, ya rahman. As his decapitated body lay on the ground, the head lying apart was heard boldly invoking the name of God: Allah, Allah.

Political regimes, then as now, can be ruthless and brutal in suppressing any rivals, real or imagined. It is to run away from this violence that many chose to devote themselves in search of peace through invocation to a loving God, following the Sufi path, occasional lapses notwithstanding. This heart-wrenching story of the scandal of the state and tragic episode in an otherwise chequered Chishti history is narrated by Abdul Haqq Muhaddis Dehlawi, author of one of the most authoritative collections of Sufi biographies (tazkiras) written in the Mughal period, Akhbar-ul-Akhyar. Two of Akbar's navaratnas, Faizi and Abu'l Fazl were closely associated with Abdul Haqq as intellectual mentor, who also corrected their poetry and other compositions. On his part, Abdul Haqq devoted his time to writing history and scholarly biographies as well as teaching prophetic traditions as someone who was taught by the best of the scholars in the twin city of Hijaz, Mecca and Medina. Unlike his controversial contemporaries such as author and translator Abdul Qadir Badauni and Naqshabandi Sufi Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi, Abdul Haqq refrained from commenting on contemporary politics to save his soul. He had a peaceful end.

In general, Sufis were not supposed to remain silent in times of tyranny. Texts recommended that they should either fight and achieve martyrdom, or migrate, do hijrat, to a safer place to live peacefully and devote time in praying and remembering the merciful God. The Sufi has no choice in this matter either, for the almighty God is supposed to determine what's already destined to happen. And, God knows best.