In a dream Sain Zahoor saw a
hand beckoning him to a shrine. He could not shake
off the dream and eventually at the age of 13 left
home traipsing from one Sufi shrine to the next.
At Uchh he recognized the shrine of his dreams and
stayed there, spending his days learning Sufi
music and singing. Sain is unlettered, but has
memorized hundreds of Punjabi Sufi songs by
sketching images on paper. When he started singing
at the age of five, his first lessons were in the
Sufi kalams (verses of devotional
spiritual love). Now nearly sixty, he himself
looks like a Sufi saint when he comes onstage clad
in long kurta and tightly bound turban
with beads dangling down his neck and ghungroos
– (bells) tied to his ankles. His is such a
compelling presence onstage and so close to what a
Sufi really looks like, that Sain Zahoor is
adorned on our cover. Playing the centuries old
three-string lute,he delivers kalams of
Sufi poets like Baba Bullay Shah, Shah Hussain and
Mian Muhammad Bakhsh with ecstatic joy and
intensity which ends up in a dhamal – a
frenzied dance. His first onstage performance only
came in 1989 when he was invited to the All
Pakistan Music Conference. In 2006 he received the
award for the best singer in the Asia-Pacific
category at the BBC World Music Festival.
Sain Zahoor is one of the
hundreds of singers who spend their lives singing
and playing at the shrines of Sufi saints
following the way of the Sufis. Sufis are revered
in the subcontinent and have an appeal for people
from all walk of life, says Yousaf Salahuddin,
vice chairman of the National Sufi Council which
was launched in October last year. “At the
urs [death anniversary] of Shah Abdul Latif
Bhitai around 600 musicians gather delivering Sufi
kalams on the streets with hundreds of
people listening. It’s a treasure trove in need
of a wider audience. Sufi philosophy has the
strongest appeal to the people of Sindh and
southern Punjab. That’s the reason mullahs don’t
get elected from there.”
The Sufi Council was formed in
October 2006 with the aim of popularizing pristine
Sufi music and disseminating Sufi thought among
the younger generation. It was the openness of
Sufism, its preaching of peace and coexistence
that attracted people to the first Sufis that came
to the subcontinent before the conquests of Muslim
armies began. A majority of the people in the
subcontinent were converted to Islam at the hands
of these Sufis.
“Sufism preaches equality,
harmony, tolerance and respect for all religions
– the values that are needed in our society now
more than ever before. You might be a sinner in
the eyes of the world but the Sufi will accept you
wholeheartedly,” says Yousaf. Thus Khwaja
Moinuddin Chisti is called ‘Gharib Nawaz’ or
‘Comforter of the Poor’. Rumi’s words
explain this philosophy beautifully: “Man is not
sinful but forgetful.” The Indian writer
Kushwant Singh writes in A History of the
Sikhs, “The battles of Islam were won not
by Muslim iconoclasts but by peaceful
missionaries.”
“Sufis portray the true soft
image of Pakistan,” says Yousaf. “Those people
have got it all wrong who think that the
westernized side of Pakistan shows the soft image
of the country. How many people want to be
westernized and adopt a western way of life?
Ninety percent of the people of Pakistan are
religious – they are not narrow-minded but are
close to their religion. During General Zia’s
regime the mullahs were made so powerful
that they are now trying to force their writ on
the ordinary person.”
The Sufi Council was launched at
a concert in the famous Mughal Lahore Fort where
young singers were invited to deliver Iqbal’s
verses. The setting was awesome. (The DVD of that
concert is enclosed with this issue of Blue
Chip). Allama Iqbal, called the Poet of the
East and acknowledged in his lifetime as the most
influential poet in the subcontinent, gave the
vision of an independent Muslim state in British
India. “We invited the singers who are popular
among the younger generation and have a fan
following and are therefore the right kind of
catalysts to popularize Sufi music and poetry
among the younger generation.” At the same time
the Council wants to bring to the fore the
traditional street singers who sing at shrines and
do Sufi concerts at the provincial and divisional
levels. He is also trying to encourage
multinationals to sponsor these events which would
provide a better livelihood to these singers, most
of whom are just fakirs. Singers like
Allan Fakir spent twenty years singing Sufi verses
at the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai before he
was introduced on radio and gained popularity.
“The fantastic flute player Ghaus Bakhsh Brohi
was also plucked out of Bhit Shah, the shrine of
Shah Latif.
Many people are first introduced to
Sufism through the poetry of these Sufi saints
that challenges the listener to come to his or her
own spiritual understanding. This expression of
poetry and music is found in the other mystics of
the subcontinent like Kabir, Tulsidas and
Gurunanak. In the subcontinent these mystics and
the Sufi saints have had an influence on people of
all faiths. Kabir is not easily categorised to any
faith and his poetry is a synthesis of both Hindu
and Sufi philosophy:
If God be within the mosque,
then to whom does this world belong?
If Ram be within the image which you find upon
your pilgrimage, then who is there to know what
happens without?
Hari is in the East: Allah is
in the West. Look within your heart, for there you
will find both Karim and Ram;
All the men and women of the
world are His living forms.
Kabîr is the child of Allah
and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.
In the same vein Sufi poet Baba
Farid, who is recognised as the first acclaimed
poet in the Punjabi language, is also considered
one of the holy saints in Sikhism. His verses are
compiled in the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib
under the chapter ‘Farid’s Sayings by Guru
Nanak Dev’.Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, whose
shrine is in Sehwan and who incorporated the
whirling dance of the dervish of mevlevi semas
introduced by Jalaluddin Rumi in Turkey, was also
called Jhoolay Lal by the Hindus of his area
believing him to be an avatar of Hindu saint
Jhoolay Lal.
Two years ago when a young Indian
singer, Rabbi Shergill, made a debut with the kalams
of Baba Bullay Shah, the eighteenth century
Punjabi Sufi mystic of Kasur, his main number, Bulla
ki jaana maen kaun, topped the charts. Some
of its verses are:
Na maen bhed mazhab da paaya
Na maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na vich baitthan na vich bhaun
Bulla kee jaana maen kaun
Secrets of religion, I have not
known
From Adam and Eve, I am not born
I am not the name I assume
Not in stillness, nor on the move
Bulla, I know not who I am!
(translation source: wikipedia)
Rabbi, whose father was a Sikh
preacher, dropped out from college to focus on
music. His music has been described as a fusion of
rock, folk and Sufiana. He explains the thought
behind the lyrics: “Bulla Ki Jana is
all about us not knowing who we are, of thinking
of life in terms of boxes, until we are
enlightened. And then you realize how
meaninglessly you’ve compartmentalized life”
(source wikipedia). The name Sufi Rock was
first attributed to the Pakistani band Junoon when
they sang Iqbal’s verses.
Sufi orders began to get organized
around the 12th century with hospices emerging
from Morocco to Central Asia. These hospices were
presided over by the successor of the founder of
each Sufi order. Sufis also evolved the techniques
and disciplines like dhikr or zikr and sama
to induce transcendence. Dhikr is
contemplation with repetition of God’s name.
While during the sama poetry, music and
dance were used as an aid to reaching an ecstatic
state. Some Sufi orders banned music and dance,
and preferred contemplation. Others used music and
poetry as a medium of expression. Rumi and his
followers, the Mevlevis, completely
integrated music and dance (the rhythmic dancing
of the whirling dervishes) in their rituals.
According to tradition, Rumi’s companion,
goldsmith Salahuddin Zarkub, was working in the
goldsmiths’ market in Konya. Rumi passed by and
on simply hearing the sound of the goldsmiths’
hammers coming from his workshop began to dance in
a whirling movement. Explaining his enthusiasm for
dance, Rumi said: “It’s not dance that induces
ecstasy, but ecstasy that arouses the dance. The
body that moves for pleasure will surely burn in
hell. But the hands of Sufis that rise in Sama’
will reach paradise, for we are danced by God
the Exalted.” (source: A Moth to the Flame
– The Life of the Sufi Poet Rumi, written by
Connie Zweig)
When Sufis came to the subcontinent
they adopted the local languages in their poetry
since poetry and music have played a big part in
Indian culture and religion. Thus Sufis also
adopted the local music as their mode of spiritual
expression. This kind of integration drew
criticism, that Sufis changed their beliefs
according to the direction in which the spiritual
wind was blowing. Ibn ‘Arabi provides an answer:
“The Sufi must act and speak in a manner which
takes into consideration the understanding,
limitations and dominant concealed prejudices of
his audience.” John Baldock elaborates: “The
outward form belongs to the phenomenal world. As
such it is transient, and so is its semblance of
stability. The Sufis know that the outward forms
taken by their teaching, beliefs and organizations
are transient too… The outward form adopted by
Sufi teaching therefore changes so that it is
presented in such a way that its audience can
comprehend it. Sometimes the method appears
subtle, sometimes confrontational. It all depends
on which method is most appropriate for a
particular audience at a particular time. Once it
has served its purpose, the outer form adapts
itself to suit new circumstances.”
An interesting synthesis of
Indian classical form and Sufi music came from the
legendary classical singer and composer of music,
including one raag, Taansen. Mian Taansen
is considered one of the greatest composer and
musicians in Indian classical music. Taansen is
said to have been influence by the Arabic and
Persian music of Mohammed Ghaus of Gwalior, his
spiritual guide. The
interaction with Ghaus in the Sufi tradition and
the earlier training with Swami Haridas in the
Bhakti tradition led to a fusion of these streams
in the work of Tansen. The word Bhakti in
Hinduism is used exclusively to devotion to a
particular deity. Certain traditions of Hinduism
recommend that a person chose a deity for worship
or reverence for one that attracts them most and
suits their personality and intellect.
The Bhakti tradition also inspired Ghaus,
who devotes several chapters to Yoga practices in
his text Bahr-ul-Hayat (Ocean of Life).
There are many legends attributed to Tansen. An
interesting legend of improvisation is that a
musician composed an improvisation of Tansen’s
Todi after Tansen’s death at the wake itself and
Tansen’s corpse moved one hand in approval of
the new melody. Another legend is that Tansen
could bring down the rains by singing the raga
Megh Malhar and could start fires with the
legendary raga Deepak and that when he would sing
for his lover Tani flowers bloomed.
The synthesis of Persian poetry and
ghazals (love songs) and Hindu bhajans (devotional
songs) also led to the development of the Sufi
music genre, Qawwali. Its origins come
from ‘qaul’ uttered in sema ceremonies
(Mehfil-e-Sema) through poetry. The Samakhani,
as it was called, is carried on without
breaking the line of lyrics till a state close to
unconsciousness is reached. The Qawwali in
the form we know today was created by Sufi saint,
poet and singer Hazrat Amir Khusro in the 13th
century. Khusro was associated with rulers of
several royal courts. His output was enormous in
prose and poetry, which included riddles and
songs. He represents a true multi-cultural
identity writing in Persian and Hindvi and
sometimes mixing them in a single poem like in the
verse below:
wa roz-e waslat cho umr kotah
Sakhi piya ko jo main na dekhun
Long like curls in the night of
separation
short like life on the day of our union
The invention of tabla is
also attributed to him which he fashioned by
splitting the traditional Indian drum. He is also
said to have invented sitar but that’s
disputed. Both instruments are very hard to
master. A verse from Khusro’s most famous song
is given below, which still remains very popular.
ChhÄp tilak sab chÄ«nÄ«
re mose nainÄ milÄike
BÄt atham keh dÄ«nÄ« re mose nainÄ
milÄike
You’ve taken away my looks,
my identity, by just a glance
By making me drink the wine of love-potion
Arguably the greatest exponent of
Sufi music in our times was Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Before him Sufi music had never reached a
worldwide audience. Often his mesmerizing music
would make the people leap to spontaneous
outbursts of ecstatic dance. Yousuf Salahuddin,
who has been working on Sufism for a long time,
says, “Nusrat had been singing for a long time
in Pakistan. Imran Khan sent him abroad as part of
the charity events for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial
Hospital and he quickly swept through Europe.”
The north Indian system is based
upon the two major concepts of ‘rag’ and
‘tal’. The word ‘tal’ literally
means ‘clap’. Thus the origins of qawwali.
In traditional qawwali intensity is built
up gradually and the singing is supported by the
rhythmic handclapping and musical instruments like
tabla and harmonium. Nusrat also did
fusions in collaboration with Peter Gabriel, U2
and String and famously sang in the hit film, Last
Temptation of Christ.
Judith Gabriel, a Los Angeles based
journalist and playwright, says of Nusrat’s
virtuosity, “For those who understand the
language, the play of words is a symphony in
itself, as the soloist and the chorus weave a kind
of word-jazz, jumping to other poems to amplify a
given verse, or stopping at one phrase or word to
accentuate it with a cascade of repetitions, as in
the Sufi practice of dhikr in which the
name of God is ‘remembered’ by repeating it…
It’s all geared to induce a properly ecstatic haal
or ecstatic state in the audience. The
gradual escalation en masse of the
audience into such a state poses a major
responsibility for the master of qawwali, who
carefully monitors his ‘passengers’ as if he
were an airline pilot. And, indeed, one of
Nusrat’s favorite verses of Amir Khusro, is:
‘It is the courage of each, it is the power of
flight; some fly and remain in the garden, some go
beyond the stars.’”
Yousaf says Nusrat drew respect
from all the top musicians of the world: “I met
rock star Sting’s wife Trudie Styler at a dinner
in Pakistan and told her about the Sufi Council.
She said she and her husband were crazy about Sufi
music. She said that Mick Jagger also took them to
Nusrat’s concert and even came to Pakistan to
listen to Nusrat. That concert was arranged at my
house. He came with his daughter and we had an
all-night concert with Nusrat. Pop star Madonna
and Italian opera legend Luciano Pavarotti wanted
to do an album with him. Nusrat had gone to Los
Angeles for 5-6 months for medical treatment from
where he called me and asked who Madonna was? So
simple was he! He told me that she would come to
visit him every day with her daughter telling him
that she wanted to take out an album with him.”
An indeginous devotional dance form
called dhamal also developed in the
subcontinent. Dhamal was attributed
fire-running dervishes whom Ibne Batuta
also encountered during his travels. It
now denotes Sufi trance dance and is less
constrained to rules and regulations of movement
of the whirling dervishes. One might encounter dhamal
dance at Sufi shrines. Bells, gongs, cymbals
and horns make a thunderous din, as dervishes,
clad in long robes and beads dance in a
frenzied and ecstatic swirl of the head and body.
In the Sufi tradition both music and dance are
first and foremost a devotional celebration of
mystical Love and Unity with the Divine.
Getting back to the Sufi Council,
Yousaf says that they were investing their own
resources to promote their cause. “Chaudhry
Shujaat Husain, chairman of the Council, funded
the album’s production when they chose Iqbal’s
potry and the task was given to me. It didn’t
cost much though as the artists wanted to do it
for free. The album was recorded at Mekal
Hasan’s studio and was completed in a record
time of 15 days. At that time I only knew Rahat
Fateh, nephew of Nusrat. I wanted Rahat to do the Qawwali
on Iqbal’s verse apna maqam paeda kar, which
was chosen as the title of the album. In the
traditional qawwali genere this poem was
sung by his grandfather and brother and was the
most popular qawwali during the freedom struggle
for Pakistan and explains the whole philosophy of khudi.
Most of the kalams I have chosen carry a
message for young people. Allama had high hopes
from the youth.” Iqbal’s chief doctrine was
the idea of khudi, (Selfhood), that is
the development of a dynamic personality and self
assertiveness against the Sufi ideal of passive
contemplation. In his later verses he delved on
healthy development of the individual within a
healthy community.
Yousaf, who is the grandson of
Allama Iqbal, says, “Rumi was the spiritual
mentor of Allama. After a lifetime of reading,
corresponding and meeting with intellectuals and ulema,
it was the Mathnavi of Rumi where he found his
answers. So you can say that even the very concept
of Pakistan or the ideology of Pakistan has a very
strong link with Rumi.”
Yousaf doesn’t favour the
asceticism of Sufis. His stress is on those Sufis
who have also enlightened others that makes both
Jinnah and Iqbal Sufis, he says, because they
changed people’s lives and gave them a path. He
also warns against the darker side of Sufism.AsSufi
orders grew in influence they started receiving
endowments from sympathetic rulers and rich
citizens and became fabulously wealthy. Overtime,
spirituality declined and the focus turned to
superstition and miracles and the shrines became a
place of wish-fulfillment. The gaddi nashin,
or heir to the original Sufi, and therefore became
the object of devotion. “Gaddi nashin like
Shah Mahmood Qureshi would collect millions of
rupees in just one visit to their places of
influence. The spirit of Sufism is conveyed by the
whirling dervishes – with one hand you receive
and with the other you give. You are only a
conduit. You are learning from Him and parting to
others. Iqbal has criticized not only the Mullahs
but Sufis also who went into greed. He believed
that we have forgotten the spirit of Islam and
have gone into ritualism – another kind of
idolism,” says Yousaf.
The Sufi
Council has also launched a book on Sufism and did
a program with the Rumi forum on whirling
dervishes. They are now launching the album on
Iqbal globally. Similar programs will be
done on other Sufi poets also, Yousaf says. Instead
of personality worship the Sufi Council is
focusing on the poetry of the Sufis, which conveys
their philosophy and love of humanity. Their
humane approach and flexibility in dealing with
life’s big questions have drawn people from all
walks of life. As Karen Armstrong writes in
‘The History of God’: “For the
mystic the revelation is an event that happens
within his own soul, while for more conventional
people like some of the ulema it is an
event that is firmly fixed in the past. Mysticism
often claims that there are as many roads to God
as people.”
Sufism
The name Sufi is said to have
first come into usage about 150 years after the
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The origin and meaning of
the word Sufi is often debated. It is said to be
derived from the Arabic word for wool, suf, after
the simple woolen robe worn by the early Islamic
mystics. Yet others claim that the name is derived
from safa (purity) or safwe (those who are
selected) and is often also linked to Greek Sophia
(wisdom) and to Ain Sof (the absolutely infinite).
John Baldock tells about Sufi
origin in The Essence of Sufism, “After the
passing of the Caliphs disputes and disagreements
developed and the three aspects of authority that
had been united in the Prophet – the legal,
theological and mystical – now divided between
the jurists, the theologians and the mystics.
Essentially these three fell into two camps –
the jurists and theologians, and the mystics –
which reflected the exoteric and esoteric aspects
of Islam. The two camps were guided by the ulema
(the religious authorities) and the Sufi shaykhs.
Without the strong presence of the latter, the
ulema would have imposed their legalistic and
religious authority in whatever way they saw
fit.”
Overtime Sufi philosophy took
varied forms and new branches and orders appeared
that would sometimes merge with each other. During
the eighth and the ninth centuries an ascetic form
developed in reaction to the opulence of the
Muslim court life and recalled the simple life of
the first Muslims. Louis Massignon, the late
French scholar, elaborates on this: “The mystic
call is as a rule the result of an inner rebellion
of the conscience against social injustices, not
only those of others but primarily and
particularly against one’s own faults with a
desire intensified by inner purification to find
God at any price.”
The ascetics were the
homeless wanderers. Then there were the anarchists
with their deviant renunciation like Barak Baba
who went about naked. There also developed the
intoxicated school, also known as the drunken,
inebriated or ecstatic Sufi who used drugs to
reach an ecstatic state or coffee to help
concentrate. But all along Sufi orders developed
that advocated a more restrained approach than
that adopted by the ecstatics and are often
described as the sober school of Sufis. Some of
them also set out to bridge the divide between
Sufism and orthodox Islam.
