One of
the most accomplished Indian Sufi masters of the nineteenth
century Hazrat Ghouse 'Ali Shah Qalandar Panipati (RA).
He was born in
1804 at Panipat, in the present-day state of Haryana in a family
of
Sayyeds who claimed direct descent from the Prophet Hazrat Syedina
Muhammad ( Sal-lal-lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam ). As his mother had
fallen
sick soon after his birth, he was given to a wet nurse to be
looked
after, the wife of Pandit Ram Sanaihi, a pious and God-fearing
Hindu.
He was doted upon by his relatives. His grandfather would address
him
as 'Khurshid 'Ali' (One who shines in the light of Ali, the
son-in-law
of the Prophet); his father would address him as Abul Hasan
('Father
of Hasan', one of the titles of Imam 'Ali); his mother would
call him
'Ghouse Ali' ('One who is under the protection of Imam 'Ali);
while
the Pandit's wife would call him 'Ganga Bishan' ('One who is
an
offering to the Ganga').
At the tender
age of four Hazrat Ghouse 'Ali Shah Qalandar Panipati
(RA) began to learn the Holy Qur'an from his mother, while Pandit
Ram
Sanaihi began teaching him the Hindu scriptures. In his youth
he was
initiated into three different Sufi orders namely Soharwardi,
Qadri
and Naqshbandi. He had a total of nineteen spiritual masters,
of whom
eleven were Muslims and eight were Hindus.
Great Miracle
about on the topic of Meraj-un-Nabi ( Sal-lal-lahu alaihi wa
sallam )
Once a person
met Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah Qalandar Panipati (RA) near a
masjid and argued how can Nabi-e-kareem ( Sal-lal-lahu alaihi
wa
sallam ) go on arsh for mehraj in one day. Hazrat Ghouse Ali
Shah
Qalandar Panipati (RA) said Oh Be-adab look hear
and suddenly
Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah Qalandar (RA) penerated inside the walls
of the
masjid and disappeared breaking the walls of the masjid and
at the
same time he came came again back to the original positon where
he was
standing before and the walls came back to the orginal positon.
Seeing
the miracle the person began pardon from the great saint and
became
his disciple.
Another
Famous Miracle Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah Qalandar Panipati (RA)
narrates :
Once he accompanied with his spiritual teacher peer-o-murshid
and they
went to a jungle where two people were sleeping. Both the sleeping
persons had burning red charcoal on their hands. One persons
hand had
burnt severely and bones were visible. Another persons
hand didnt
burn and burning Charcoal didnt effect the person even
when it was on
his body. On this stage his Peer-o-murshid asked him tell me
now who
is kalim among these 2 persons. Hazrat answered I think the
person
whom the charcoal has not effected his body, he might be the
kalim.
Peer-o-murshid on hearing this answer said . No. This is not
the right
answer. The Muqams of Ashiqeens this world cannot know. Here
the
person for whom the charcoal has not effected is not in deep
concentration and his spiritual power is on the burning charcoal
and
he is still not matured in the path sulook but where the person
whom
the charcoal has effected and burnt his bones is so deep in
the love
and mediation of allah that his concentration is not on burning
charcoal but deep in the rememberance of allah subhaanahu thaalah.
This great waqiya is narrted by hazrat ghouse ali shah qalandar
panipati (RA)
Hazrat
Ghouse 'Ali Qalandar Panipati (RA) had a large number of
disciples, both Muslim as well as Hindu. His sayings were noted
down
by one of his closest disciples, Hazrat Gul Hassan, and collected
in
the form of a book, Tazkirat-ul Ghouseiya. The book, which is
in Urdu,
deals with a range of issues related to universal love and the
true
meaning of monotheism.
Like
the Sufis of old, Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah Qalandar Panipati (RA)
taught his disciples through short stories and sayings that
could
readily appeal even to an unlettered audience. A story that
well
illustrates Ghouse Ali's belief that all attempts by ordinary
human
beings to understand God are necessarily limited, and hence
no one can
claim a monopoly of the truth, runs as follows:
There were once five travellers who were journeying together
in great
fellowship. One was a cook; one was a drunkard; one was a hafiz
[one
who has memorized the Qur'an]; one was a Sufi and one was a
Brahmin.
They passed through a jungle and heard the call of a black partridge.
One
of them asked, 'What is it really saying?'
The cook said, 'Nothing but onion, garlic and ginger'.
The drunkard said, 'No, it is saying that every religious jurist
is malicious'.
The hafiz recited the Qur'an, 'When We created the heavens'.
The Sufi said, 'It is saying "Great is His power"'.
The Brahmin said, 'Ram, Lakshamn and Jasrat'.
And so everyone interpreted the partridge's call after their
thought
and temperament and nobody knew exactly what the partridge was
saying.
Many of the stories narrated in the Tazkirat-ul Ghouseiya deal
with
the oneness of all humankind and the essential unity of different
religious paths attempting to reach the one. Each religion is
unique,
Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah Qalandar Panipati (RA) suggested, and
behind
the historical manifestations of religious difference is a common
quest for the Truth.
The
message of the unity of all human beings, transcending religious
differences, underlies many stories contained in the Tazkirat-ul
Auliya. In one story, Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah (RA) relates: Once
there
were four travelers passing through a dense forest. When they
stopped
to rest for the night, because of the dangers from highwaymen,
robbers
and wild animals, they decided they should keep a watch for
each part
of the night.
The first watch was given to the wood sculptor. While he was
sitting
alone, his three companions sleeping, he took a piece of wood
and
began to carve. During his watch in the first quarter of the
night he
carved the figure of a beautiful woman. Then he woke one of
his
companions, a dressmaker, to take over the watch while he slept.
Noticing what his friend had created and admiring his skill,
the
dressmaker decided to spend the time of his watch making a beautiful
garment for her. After he had made the garment and dressed the
statue,
it was time to wake up the third watch of the night, who happened
to
be a jeweller.
This man decided to adorn the girl with beautiful jewellery
from
earrings to necklace, from bracelets to a beautiful belt for
her
waist. Now the last watch of the night was about to begin. The
jeweller managed to wake the fourth man who was fast asleep,
a
good-for-nothing fellow with no skills or arts to speak of.
The man rubbed his eyes to shake off his sleep and looked around
in
the pitch darkness broken only by the last embers of the fire
which
they had lit. In the light of that fading fire he saw to his
utter
amazement the figure of a beautiful woman, dressed and adorned.
He
looked at his three friends, now fast asleep, and admired their
skills. He was perplexed because they had left nothing for him
to add,
and even if they had, he was unable to offer anything.
So he felt very distressed at himself and thought how u
seless
his life
had been and was ashamed before these strangers whom he had
met on the
journey. The night was quickly receding as he rose with tears
in his
eyes and did the necessary ablution to offer a special prayer.
There
he sat in that still land before sunrise and raised his hands
and
prayed thus:
'Oh Almighty and Merciful Lord, give from your boundless mercy
a
little portion so that I may not be ashamed before these friends
as
this day rises. You are the Giver of Life, who gives life to
everything in the universe. You are Eternal. Bestow upon this
figure
the gift of life, which is in Your power alone to give'.
At the first moment of daybreak, there was a movement in the
figure
and there she was, a breathing, beautiful woman. So when the
travellers awoke, their eyes were filled, not only with the
light of
the rising sun, but also by the beauty of a living form before
them
whose miracle confounded them. They could not believe that a
form
carved out of dead wood could breathe and move.
Soon their bewilderment was replaced by mutual hostility as
to who had
greater claim over her. Each one talked about his contribution
to her
making, and the fool about his prayers. They had slept the previous
night as friends but when they awoke the following morning they
became
bitter enemies.
However, they agreed on one thing, that they should go into
the city
and present their case before the magistrate. This they did
and the
magistrate was baffled by the intensity with which each one
of them
stressed his part of the story. What mystified him most was
the fact
that the girl did not
utter a single word, as if she were deaf and
mute.
Finally, he brought the men before the king, hoping that in
his
presence at least one of them would speak the truth. But each
repeated
the same story, which was obviously so unbelievable that the
king was
also greatly puzzled. One of the princes suggested that they
should
invite a faqir ( saint of allah ) to advise on this inscrutable
problem.
On his arrival, the faqir looked at the assembly and the helplessness
of everyone there with the single exception of the mysterious
girl who
stood amidst them as if she were all alone. Then the faqir led
them
out of the city and brought them before an old and mighty tree
known
in ancient times as the Tree of the Oracle.
As the faqir asked the tree on behalf of the king for the solution
to
the mystery, an opening appeared in its trunk. They all watched
as the
girl walked towards the tree, stepped into the opening and disappeared
inside it. So from formlessness emerged the form and to formlessness
it returned.
We are of God, and unto God we return, says the Holy Qur'an,
Hazrat
Ghouse Ali Shah (RA) noted. Such is the case, he said, with
all of us.
As soon as we step into this world, we are surrounded by claimants
of
various kinds and powers -- parents claiming us because they
brought
us up; teachers claiming us because they gave us education;
relatives
claiming us because they are our kin; friends claiming us because
they
gave us their love; and rulers and employers claiming us because
they
gave us security and livelihood; and, if we happen to be Muslim,
the
Imams claim that we owe them our obedience; and if we happen
to be
Hindu, then the Pandits claims us because they have prayed for
us in
the temple.
But a day shall come when these relationships and the claims
that
build upon them will all be nullified, and none shall ever know
from
where he came and where he went. On that day, each soul shall
have
much to worry about itself. On that day shall a man flee from
his own
brother, and from his mother and father, and from his wife and
children, says the Holy Qur'an, Hazrat Ghouse Ali Shah (RA)
instructed.
Hazrat
Ghouse Ali Shah (RA) was by no means an exceptional Sufi, and
numerous mystics, from within the Muslim, as well as Sikh and
Hindu
traditions, have taught the same message, expressing it in different
ways.
These
traditions need to be recovered and rearticulated today, to
provide new ways of understanding religion and coming to terms
with
the fact of religious pluralism. In the struggle against religious
fascism and terror such traditions must have a major role to
play.
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