The persistence of the mystical current of Islam, with its cultural and artistic manifestations, shows a country far from the imaginary of religious repression, cultural poverty and backwardness
It is unlikely that a trip to Pakistan does not lead to an encounter with places of the Sufi tradition, the mystical current of Islam which here sees a lineage of saints, philosophers, men of letters and poets that has survived to this day, with large brotherhoods and cultural institutions where they are still lives artistic traditions linked to them. Like, for example, devotional music qawwalibrought to its interpretative peak and notoriety abroad by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (protagonist among other things of fruitful collaborations with western artists such as Sting, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam).
The persistence of Sufi mysticism and its associated manifestations shows that there is a Pakistan far from the consolidated imagery abroad of religious repression, cultural poverty and irresolvable backwardness. Of isolation, too. Instead, as for the whole of its history and its tradition, Pakistan also shares the Sufi tradition with the entire Indian subcontinent. Indeed, today it is its main headquarters with hundreds of sites and works that recall a succession of teachers and disciples that originated seven centuries ago.
With a 96% Muslim population, the country suffers from its contradictions rather than its religious identity. Many factors – poverty, sectarianism, low level of education – combine to leave room for religious extremism. However, resistance is strong, and not only from minorities who are looking for new ways of participating while asking for the protection and guarantee of the law.
The presence of the mystical and emotional tradition of Islam is far from the doctrinal intransigence that often distinguishes the Sunni identity. For this the mausoleums in the center of imposing dargahheadquarters of brotherhoods that have millions of members or sympathizers, sometimes end up in the crosshairs, with devastating attacks in terms of victims but also in terms of national cohesion.
As recently confirmed by a government minister of Sindh, the southernmost of the country’s four provinces, “this is the land of the Sufis and it is no coincidence that Sindh is known as Bab-ul-Islam, gateway to Islam”. The diffusion of this religious experience, which has played an important role in the acceptance of the Muslim faith in the Subcontinent, has had a geographical direction from South to North. From the landings on the Sea of Oman and from the caravan routes between the Great Indian and Iranian deserts, through the lands of ancient urbanization of Sindh and the desolate ones of Baluchistan, from the eighth century the message of the Sufis went up the course of the Indus up to the fertile plains of Punjab.
The great “source” of this expression of Islam far from the rigorism of Sunni theological schools and more easily cosmopolitan was the Iranian, Shiite world, with the role of impressive devotional demonstrations, with the value of the transfer of knowledge from master to disciple, up to to the possibility of a prophecy capable of being fully realized if entrusted to exceptional personalities.
However Arab of Mecca was, according to tradition, Abdullah Shah Ghazi, whose shrine is located at Clifton beach, in Karachi. Ghazi, “the warrior”, is commonly believed to be part of the lineage of Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, and if this brings him closer to the Shiite current, his proximity to the Prophet makes him perhaps the most revered saint in Pakistan. Still an example for many, to the point that it is said that even Benazir Bhutto, the influential political leader assassinated in December 2007, was a follower.
Despite their wisdom and the often emotional and passionate tones in which they communicated, many pir (the guides, the masters of Sufism) were strong, sometimes fickle personalities. Local tourist guides like to remember the figure of Madho Lal Husain, one of the best known Sufi saints of Lahore, who after a long study announced that he had discovered the secret of God. To prove it, he threw a copy of the Koran into a well and when the crowd began to approach menacingly shouting heresy, he called for the book which returned to his hand dry and intact. To celebrate, he indulged in excesses by wearing red clothes (hence the moniker lalred, the color that remained in the Sufi banners), causing scandal but without anyone – intimidated by his powers – daring to intervene.
The following of the Sufis is heterogeneous. Descendants by kinship or discipleship of the saints are viewed with great consideration and enjoy privileges, even for the income guaranteed by offers, donations and management of the goods and land entrusted to them. In fact, they too are part of the feudal system that governs the country and which in some respects contributes to its stagnation. On the contrary, among the devotees who crowd the mausoleums on the anniversaries of the death of the holy founder there are fakirthe itinerant ascetics who have chosen a life of renunciation and wandering.
The daily devotional practice and even more that of Thursdays remain on, with near and far followers of the saint who access the shrine passing through the courtyards where rows of tombs of disciples and benefactors are often arranged. Once inside, they go around the burial reciting prayers and invocations. Many touch the grate that surrounds the monument, others scatter flower petals and sugar balls and place drapes that are periodically replaced. Habits that in general the Sunnis consider pagan manifestations, but which create an atmosphere both mystical and material to which the ecstatic experience can be associated, propitiated by music and songs. Everything is amplified in the anniversaries of the death of the saint or master, often seen as “wedding” (urs) with God. From the immense mausoleums that overlook the alleys of the old city in Bhit Shah, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, to the small structures scattered throughout the countryside, it is the intensity of devotion that makes these events unique, which do not distinguish between origin, wealth or gender. The same goes for the Uch Sharif mausoleum dedicated to Bibi Jawindi, a 15th-century spiritual teacher, built by a devoted patron in an area now designated to obtain recognition as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, such as the one in Multan it includes the monumental tombs of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Bahahuddin Zakharia and Shah Shams Sabzwari.
The goal of overcoming differences also passes through dialogue with other religious expressions. Following the example of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a native of Tabriz in Persia who arrived in Sehwan (now Sehwan Sharif) in 1274 fleeing the fury of the Mongols and the fall of the Abbasid caliphate. Here, as in Multan already under Islamic influence after the first Arab invasion, Qalandar preached with other itinerant mystics to Hindus and Buddhists, using Persian for his poems and hymns, but dialoguing with the population in the local language, in ways similar to to the sensitivity of other faiths. This opened the hearts of the inhabitants to him and opened the doors of present-day Pakistan to the Sufi experience.
“In this land that has seen the preaching of Shah Abdul Latif one breathes peace and tranquillity. People from all over the country come here to ask for well-being and seek a spiritual answer to their problems – underlines the Sindh minister again, recalling the figure of the seventeenth-century mystic, the only one of the most revered saints born and lived in what is now Pakistan , and buried in Bhit Shah -. Here the followers of every school of thought, sect and religion are free to pray according to their beliefs, as long as they recognize respect and honor for every human being”.