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NUDE MYSTIC IN BIGOT'S EMPIRE
By Sadia Dehlvi
Deccan Chronicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/nude-mystic-bigot%E2%80%99s-empire-345
April 3 2012
Close to the eastern gate of Delhi's Jama Masjid, there is a dargah
painted half green, half red. The red colour signifies the martyrdom
of the Sufi, Sarmad Shaheed, and the green colour is a symbol of the
calm personality of his mentor Syed Abul Hasan, popularly called Hare
Bhare Sahab. Inscribed on a board on the wall is a verse from the
Quran, "And call not those who are slain in the way of Allah dead:
nay, they are living, only ye perceive not..."
An Armenian Jew, Sarmad mastered the Judaic texts and then studied
with famous Islamic scholars. He converted to Islam and took the name
of Muhammad Saeed. Sarmad hailed from Kashan in Iran. The son of a
rich merchant, he established himself as a successful trader. He set
out for India to sell Persian ceramics. In 1631, AD, Sarmad arrived
in Sindh. After a decade, his wanderings took him from Lahore to
Hyderabad until he finally arrived in Delhi.
Sarmad was intolerant of authority, refusing to show respect even
to emperor Aurangzeb. It was Sarmad's nudity which deeply annoyed
Aurangzeb. Once, as Aurangzeb's procession was passing through the
streets of Delhi, he saw Sarmad sitting by the roadside. The king
ordered the march to halt and demanded that the mystic cover himself.
The saint looked at him with wrathful eyes and said, "If you think I
need to cover my nudity, why don't you cover me yourself?" When the
emperor lifted the blanket that lay beside Sarmad, he saw the bloodied
heads of all the family members he had secretly murdered. Bewildered,
Aurangzeb looked at Sarmad, who said, "Now tell me, what should I
cover - your sins or my thighs?"
Another famous tale recounts how Sarmad would recite just the
first part of the Muslim kalimah (declaration of faith), "La illaha
illallah" (there is no god but God) and would leave out the other half
affirming Prophet Mohammed as the Messenger of God. A board of state
jurists questioned Sarmad as to why he refrained from completing the
declaration. Responding to this accusation of heresy, Sarmad replied,
"I am so engrossed in negation, I have not yet reached the spiritual
station of affirmation yet."
Found guilty of blasphemy, Sarmad was executed in 1660 AD in the
compound of the Jama Masjid. His tomb lies on the steps adjacent to
the mosque. According to one legend, after Sarmad was beheaded, his
body seized the chopped head from the ground and ran up the stairs of
Jama Masjid, threatening to destroy Aurangzeb's kingdom. In another
version of the same incident, the moment Sarmad's head was severed
from the body, it fell to the ground and everyone in the audience
heard it recite the full kalimah. It is believed that had Sarmad's
Master not intervened and calmed the dead Sufi's fury, Sarmad's wrath
would have destroyed Delhi.
Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author of Sufism: The Heart
of Islam
From: Baghdasarian
By Sadia Dehlvi
Deccan Chronicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/nude-mystic-bigot%E2%80%99s-empire-345
April 3 2012
Close to the eastern gate of Delhi's Jama Masjid, there is a dargah
painted half green, half red. The red colour signifies the martyrdom
of the Sufi, Sarmad Shaheed, and the green colour is a symbol of the
calm personality of his mentor Syed Abul Hasan, popularly called Hare
Bhare Sahab. Inscribed on a board on the wall is a verse from the
Quran, "And call not those who are slain in the way of Allah dead:
nay, they are living, only ye perceive not..."
An Armenian Jew, Sarmad mastered the Judaic texts and then studied
with famous Islamic scholars. He converted to Islam and took the name
of Muhammad Saeed. Sarmad hailed from Kashan in Iran. The son of a
rich merchant, he established himself as a successful trader. He set
out for India to sell Persian ceramics. In 1631, AD, Sarmad arrived
in Sindh. After a decade, his wanderings took him from Lahore to
Hyderabad until he finally arrived in Delhi.
Sarmad was intolerant of authority, refusing to show respect even
to emperor Aurangzeb. It was Sarmad's nudity which deeply annoyed
Aurangzeb. Once, as Aurangzeb's procession was passing through the
streets of Delhi, he saw Sarmad sitting by the roadside. The king
ordered the march to halt and demanded that the mystic cover himself.
The saint looked at him with wrathful eyes and said, "If you think I
need to cover my nudity, why don't you cover me yourself?" When the
emperor lifted the blanket that lay beside Sarmad, he saw the bloodied
heads of all the family members he had secretly murdered. Bewildered,
Aurangzeb looked at Sarmad, who said, "Now tell me, what should I
cover - your sins or my thighs?"
Another famous tale recounts how Sarmad would recite just the
first part of the Muslim kalimah (declaration of faith), "La illaha
illallah" (there is no god but God) and would leave out the other half
affirming Prophet Mohammed as the Messenger of God. A board of state
jurists questioned Sarmad as to why he refrained from completing the
declaration. Responding to this accusation of heresy, Sarmad replied,
"I am so engrossed in negation, I have not yet reached the spiritual
station of affirmation yet."
Found guilty of blasphemy, Sarmad was executed in 1660 AD in the
compound of the Jama Masjid. His tomb lies on the steps adjacent to
the mosque. According to one legend, after Sarmad was beheaded, his
body seized the chopped head from the ground and ran up the stairs of
Jama Masjid, threatening to destroy Aurangzeb's kingdom. In another
version of the same incident, the moment Sarmad's head was severed
from the body, it fell to the ground and everyone in the audience
heard it recite the full kalimah. It is believed that had Sarmad's
Master not intervened and calmed the dead Sufi's fury, Sarmad's wrath
would have destroyed Delhi.
Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author of Sufism: The Heart
of Islam
From: Baghdasarian