The humanist tradition of Punjab
Ishtiaq Ahmed
The sages, sufis and gurus of Punjab tried in different ways to
heal the wounded humanity of their times. It is a legacy we can
all be proud of
In today’s column, I shall delineate the humanist
tradition of Punjab as bequeathed to us by our sages, sufis and
gurus. I define humanism simply as a worldview that recognises the
equal worth of all human beings irrespective of the incidents of
race, religion, sect, language and other such attributes. Such a
standpoint is premised on the assumption that empathy, compassion
and solidarity among human beings are a superior basis for human
relations both morally and practically. The simple proof of such
an assertion is an ancient idea: I should treat others the way I
want them to treat me. Yet, the history of humankind is replete
with wars of race, religion and sect deriving primarily from
tribalism. State-nationalism and religious dogma are both
manifestations of tribalism. Humanism is therefore the
counterpoint movement against the powers-that-be.
With regard to Punjab, one of the earliest sages to represent
humanism was Gorakhnath. The exact year and place of his birth are
not firmly established, but it is widely recognised by scholars
that his influence was pervasive in what came to be known as
Punjab, whatever his precise place of birth. The Gorakhnathi yogis
or wandering sages retained features of the Shaivite Hindu cult
while accepting Buddhist and Islamic influences. The Gorakhnathis
were able to form a bridge between Muslims and Hindus because of
their opposition to caste distinctions and ritual purity. The
symbiosis between Hinduism and Islam in the Gorakhnathi movement
comes out strongly in the great Punjabi version of Romeo-Juliet,
the epic Heer, as narrated by both Damodar (a Hindu) and Waris
Shah (a Muslim), when Heer’s lover Ranjha joins the Gorakhnathi
yogis to express rejection of a world full of intrigues,
jealousies and oppressive customs and beliefs.
Another Hindu reform process that gained a foothold in the Punjab
was the order of the sants, or itinerant sages often of humble
status. The sants were associated with the Bhakti movement, which
originated in South India among Hindus who were opposed to caste
oppression. The Bhaktis made great headway into northern India and
Punjab. Later, the Muslims also joined it. Among them the name of
Bhagat Kabir is the most well-known. Kabir was not from Punjab but
his poetry is replete with the suffering of the ordinary people.
His ideas made a great impact on the non-conformist traditions
prevalent in Punjab at that time. Bhagti philosophy was premised
on the assumption that there was one God and His creation was
inseparable from Him. The Bhaktis professed a life vowed to
poverty and purity of conduct.
The sufi brotherhoods that arrived in South Asia from either the
Middle East or Central Asia had already incorporated the
pantheistic traditions of South Asia, and in some cases the result
was theist fusions or Unitarian views of God. Individual sufis
sometimes evolved non-conformist positions that assumed that
ultimately there is one Great Spirit or God holding together the
cosmic and earthly systems.
Such a train of thinking reached its apogee under Bulleh Shah
(1680-1758). Bulleh Shah’s guide and master, Shah Inayat,
belonged to the Qadriyya Shattari school of Sufism, which readily
borrowed Hindu philosophical ideas of reaching individual
salvation and incorporated them into sufi beliefs. Bulleh Shah,
however, surpassed his teacher and guide in terms of openly
questioning religious dogmas. Just to quote a couplet:
“Gal samajh layee te raolaa keeh,
Eyh Raam, Raheem te Maula keeh.”
(Why this commotion if you claim you understand?
Why this fuss about calling Him Ram, Raheem or Maula?)
(Ram is a Hindu god; Raheem and Maula are designations for Allah).
The guru tradition based on devotion to an ideal teacher found its
most innovative and enlightened expression in the teachings of
Guru Nanak. He famously expressed the idea of a wounded humanity
when he said, “Nanak dukkhia sabb sansaar” (Nanak, humanity
everywhere is in pain). Born as Nanak Chand (1469-1539), in a
Khatri Hindu family in Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib, in the
Pakistani Punjab), Guru Nanak initiated a reform movement to
alleviate the pain he found afflicting humanity everywhere. He
rejected untouchability and condemned the corruption rampant in
the Muslim and Hindu religious and political establishments.
Founding a system of free community kitchens, he was able to
persuade his followers, who came largely though not exclusively
from Hindu ranks, to eat together. The brotherhood he founded was
based on absolute respect for the personal faith of all human
beings. Thus for example, the musician Bhai Mardana was a Muslim
who accompanied him wherever he went all his life. At no stage was
Mardana’s Islamic faith a problem for Guru Nanak to accept him
among his closest companions. Guru Nanak thus established a
principle and practice for moral persuasion which, in my opinion,
is far superior to the use of force that has typified the spread
of religions otherwise in the world.
On November 13, 2011, a well-known scholar of Islam, Professor
Akbar S Ahmed, spoke on Guru Nanak’s 543rd birthday at a Sikh
gathering in Rockville, Maryland, US. He remarked that through
Guru Nanak’s life we learn “how he promoted the dialogue
between the two great religions of India; Hinduism and Islam,
which added to the beauty and birth of Sikhism”. That I believe
was a very apt compliment by a devout and enlightened Muslim
scholar.
One can add that Guru Nanak was able to promote a dialogue between
Hinduism and Islam, because in his scheme of things it was the
dignity and equal worth of all human beings that was important —
not religious dogmas. Therefore, he chided the priests of both
religions. In that sense, he was a challenger of the status quo
that he saw served the interests of brute forces in society and
those armed with the might of the state and the authority of
scriptures.
In the light of the above discussion one can say that the sages,
sufis and gurus of Punjab tried in different ways to heal the
wounded humanity of their times. It is a legacy we can all be
proud of. In our own times, the old issues and problems remain
very much intact. Therefore, the struggle must go on. Universal
human rights as inalienable entitlements of individuals are a
sublimation of humanism that the sages, sufis and gurus set forth
in another historical context. That point needs to be grasped.
The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science,
Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the
Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of
Singapore. He can be reached at billumian@gmail.com
Daily Times: Sunday, December 18, 2011