By Chitleen K Sethi

Date:13-12-05

Source: Tribune News Service

Highlighting the contribution of Sufis and their Silsilas to the socio-cultural tradition of undivided Punjab, historians from India and Pakistan today pointed out that the Sufis were the pioneers in starting irreligious dialogues for communal harmony and peace among the followers of different religions, particularly Islam and Hinduism.

Historians working on medieval Punjab gathered at Panjab University here today for the inauguration of a two-day seminar on The role of Sufis in the making of Medieval Punjab’ organised by the Department of History in collaboration with the Iran Culture House, New Delhi.

Delivering the keynote address, Prof. I.H. Siddiqui from Aligarh said the magnanimity and tolerant attitude of the Sufi Silsilas towards people irrespective of their birth or creed paved the way for interaction between the followers of different religious traditions.

“This served to illuminate the relevance of Sufism to the speculative and intellectual traditions of theosophical learning, giving rise to the Bhakti cult,” he said, adding that the introduction of langar (public kitchen) by the Chishtis was an important contribution to our cultural heritage.

Earlier, Dr Surinder Singh and Dr I.D. Gaur, both of Panjab University, pointed out that it was in the medieval Punjab that Punjabi nationality began to sprout in its non-communitarian form and content. Unlike the socio- religious reformers of the colonial Punjab the medieval Punjabi reformers irrespective of their so-called caste and community affiliations shared a common genealogy of being non-conformists and non-sectarian.

Dr Tanvir Anjum from Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, talked about the question of spiritual succession to the mystic heritage of Baba Farid, the famous Chishti saint of Ajodhan. She said according to the principles of Sufism, it was the spiritual lineage or the initiatic genealogy that was important; lineage by blood held no significance. Those who were unaware of these principles, including ordinary peoples and devotees as well as the rulers, approached the descendants of the Baba for various reasons.

Presenting a critique of the conversations of Sufi saints of Punjab, which was recorded by their disciples, Prof S.M. Azizuddin Hussain from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, said these records were known as malfuzat. He stated that malfuzat had greater historical value than any other category of historical literature for reconstructing social history of medieval India.

Prof Humaira Arif Dasti of the Department of History, Bahauddin Zakaria University, Multan, highlighted the contribution of Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya to the growth of the Suhrawardi Sufi order. She demonstrated a relation between the Shaikh’s mystical ideas and their impact on the socio-economic conditions in Multan highlighting the differences between the Shaikh way and the Chishti beliefs and practices.

Prof Saeed Ahmad from Rawalpindi discussed the corpus of Punjabi Sufi poetry from Baba Farid and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.Sufi poets of Punjab articulated the supreme significance of liberation of soul, union with God, sharing and caring, sacrifice, generosity, piety, compassion, fearlessness and humility,” he said, attributing their popularity to use of local expressions and dialects.

Dr Salim Muhammad from Malerkotla explored the role of Shaikh Sadruddin or Shaikh Haidar who emerged as the founder of the Malerkotla State in the 15th century. The scholar narrated the multiple role assumed by the shrine of the saint in the subsequent centuries, with particular reference to the development of a shared cultural space in which all strata of society acquired a dignified place.

Mr H.M. Muzaffari, Director of the Iran Culture House, discussed the different modes of defining the phenomenon of mysticism, particularly the contradiction between the form and essence of religion.