There seems to be a common misconception amongst people that devotees who visit shrines offer prayers to the saints but is that the reality? What takes place resonates with devotion to the saint and worship of God- the devotees pray to God and hold hope in their hearts that their prayers will be exclusively heard as it passes through the medium of God’s favorite i.e. the Sufi.
Upon entering a shrine, one is met with the hubbub of the visitors that are in various phases of their prayers. The air is charged with the zeal of the devotees and filled with clouds of incense. The atmosphere of shrines is powerful enough to swipe up even a newcomer into the throngs of visitors. Prayers being chanted in every corner and people lightening up chiraaghs that illuminate the entire darbaar, a shrine is a place that has a magic of its own.
Every shrine has its own customs rituals that are according to the Sufi’s teachings. The discourse around the shrine culture in Pakistan is to deem it a folk religion. Sufis and their shrines made their way into the region before the foundations were laid for the country. Many obstinate Muslims operate on the belief system that when Islam was introduced to the region, it was in the form that it is today- the puritan Islam. It is a common mistake as the reality is that Sufis/saints were the harbinger of the religion. If Islam in the sub-continent was studied at that time, one would notice that the bounds of it were not as constricting as they are today.
To a cynical mind, the shrine culture might seem like a system built on scrounging people by offering an illusion of guidance but the truth is far from it. A unified opinion of the public is that shrines are a place of acceptance; the solace that one soaks up from the shrines is unparalleled to anything as reported by the visitors. The astoundingly pleasant truth of shrines is that any individual can be a devotee regardless of their organized religion, race, or standing in life. Unlike prayer houses of most institutional religions, shrines do not impose any rules or restrictions, the only unspoken word of the place is to attend them with respect and peace.
The throngs that mill about any shrine engaged in various activities like putting chadaar over the grave, offering prayers, or hanging up beautiful garlands. The devotion of many devotees is apparent when they observe or participate in dhamaal. It is a sacred ritual that takes on the form of dance during which the devotees hypnotically but energetically dance to the rhythm of dhols.
The bewitchment of the entire gathering is made to be more potent by the strong smell of hashish that hangs around the air at many of these shrines. Used as a tool to transcend and immerse fully in the reverence of the Sufi, clouds of hashish are puffed and mark the communal activities of the devotees of Qalandars.
Many lean towards blaming Zia-ul-Haq for introducing and propagating a version of Islam that sputtered the spread of the folk religion. It was not long before that extremists ran with Zia’s rendition of the religion and took it upon themselves to not only denounce but create prejudice in the heart of the common man against any devotee of a Sufi.
Jürgen Wasim Frembgen, a social scientist from Germany with extensive research on Sufism under his belt, commented, “Sufism does not play a prominent role in Pakistani society anymore. We know that a number of hardline Islamist and political movements are not in favor of it in Pakistan. Sufism is ‘haram’ or forbidden in their ideology.”
Disguised in an attempt to rejuvenate the structures, many Sufi shrines have been renovated but Frembgen believes that it is an attempt to erase the culture of Sufism from Pakistan. By disregarding the original architecture of shrines, promoters of puritan Islam redecorating the shrines in their own colors and ways.
Al-Is’irdi, a poet of medieval times wrote:
It is the secret. In it, the spirit ascends to the highest
Spots on a heavenly ascent (mira’j) of disembodied understanding
While poets like him put a lot of stock in hashish enhancing the spiritual experiences of the devotees, others in the society do not offer the same acceptance of hashish. Islam does not permit the intoxication of any drug which is what makes people disdainful of hashish intoxication. Ba-shar Sufis exist who are strict followers of law which means that they do not indulge in hashish but even they are shunned by the general population; it alleviates the notion that society of now has cast aside Sufism irrespective of any matter.
Many speculate that the rejection of the shrine culture by the general public is purely based on classism; faqirs and qalandars leave their worldly life behind to be closer to divinity. Alas, there are those people with full pockets and good social standing who frown upon this pious and enlightened way of life. Furthermore, as many of the devotees happen to be people who are not flush with money has led many to feel justified in their maligning the name of Sufism as something that is only followed by those who lack wealth and intelligence. It is not a stretch for the conceited bunch to conclude that the reason Sufism and its following is so rampant is that the followers are “jaahil” (uneducated).
Following a scale produced by Gordon Allport, a famous psychologist, what started as antilocution according to the Allport’s Scale of Prejudice and Discrimination has horrifically transformed into physical attacks on the shrines and its devotees. It is well on its way to becoming extermination of the particular group.
Taliban and the Muslim militant group in the country have been targeting Sufi shrines and mosques for quite some time now. Whenever these groups brutally murder people of this peaceful group, they claim to have done it in the name of Islam; the notion that Sufism and its following is completely against Islam is rampant among the militants and they have taken it upon themselves to cleanse the land of the ones they call heretics.
In 2010, two different shrines, the shrine of Sufi Baba Farid Ganjshakar in Pakpattan and the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi, were targeted by suicide bombers, leaving bodies and injuries in their wake. Sufis like Data Ganj Baksh who promote peace and nonviolence do not receive the same respect from these fanatics- in 2019, the shrine of the said Sufi was bombed which resulted in 10 murders and 20 wounded victims.
Apart from the few examples, there have been many other violent attacks against the peace-loving devotees of Sufis and their shrines, all in the name of some misguided implementation of Sharia. The problem lies not only with the extremist groups but also the people who stick to and spread bigotry against this certain group. Till the time comes where acceptance is practiced in Pakistani culture and society, the shrine culture of the region will suffer at the hands of the people.
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