SHAH GHULAM MUHAMMAD (R.A.)

The SYMBOL and the MAN

 

By Maulana Ahmed Mukaddam

 

Sufi Sahib (r.a.) has become a symbol. Though the practice of Sufism has is fair share of detractors, most scholars agree that Ghulam Muhammad Sufi (r.a.) was an extraordinary human being.

 

At this crossroads in the history of the human race, where the very definition of humanity is being debated, discussed and formulated in sciences that range from anthropology to archaeology – at such a time, I say – a recollection of the exemplary behaviour of humans of the past may prove significant. At this juncture we are almost bound by a sense of duty, historically and spiritually, to commemorate, through Hazrat Sufi Sahib (r.a.), the perseverance of a particular definition and practice of humanity that is one hundred years old in Southern Africa.

 

‘LOVE ALL AND HATE NONE’ – the Sufi Chisti dictum – was the daily standard by which Shah Ghulam Muhammad Sufi Sahib (r.a.) thought and lived. In name and deed, he was a true servant of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). It was this status of spiritual servitude to the Messenger of Allah that Sufi Sahib (r.a.) found so attractive in Tasauwwuf. It was his life-blood. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that he was spiritually related to the Prophet of Islam via the Qadiriyyah and Chistiyyah silsilahs, first with Shah Ghulam Mustafa Effendi (r.a.) at Baghdad and later with Habib Ali Shah (r.a.) of Hyderabad.

 

There is a saying in Islamic culture that goes like this: ‘The true leader of a nation is the one who is its servant’. Hazrat Sufi Sahib can be said to have been a true servant of his community. His leadership status evolved as a result of his commitment to the upliftment of society. There is thus, in the personality of Sufi Sahib (r.a.), an example of the Quranic and Prophetic definition of the human being. This is further illustrated by the nature and functions of the various institutions established by this earthbound yet extraordinary individual. The social spaces he founded and maintained would serve to enhance, restore and consolidate for its inhabitants that sense of belonging to the greater humanity. They reflect his pragmatic approach to the age-old question of what defines a human being.

 

Of the thirteen institutions he built, all comprise at least two of the following:

 

A  MASJID

B  MADRASSAH

C  KHANQAH

D  YATIM-KHANA

E  CEMETERY

 

These structures provide individuals with both spiritual and social sustenance between birth and death. The communal spirit of the human being is generally encouraged. Values such as consultation, co-operation and interdependence are key elements of the Sufi ethos. In stark contrast, the modern industrial definition of the human being seems to be based on the concept of individualism, selfishness and haughty independence.

 

The Sufi-inspired community gains its first sense of belonging and identity at the place of prostration – the Masjid. Sufi Sahib (r.a.) clearly intended his community to hold inextricable links with the Shari’ah. Similarly, the child attends the madrassah to learn the language of the Quran. The Word of Allah is in the Arabic language. Thus learning that tongue is a vital part of the Islamisation process.

 

Furthermore, the consciousness of Allah, which is an obligation in the mosque, is further extended by the optional retreat to the khanqah. Here the Sufi master instructs, moulds and guides his disciples in the spiritual cleansing of their humanity.

 

The Sufi orphanage is a refuge for orphaned children and other vulnerable and under-privileged human beings. The Sufi family assumes the mantle of parenting and caring for emotionally scarred children and adults.

 

Moreover, death, in the Sufi philosophy, is not destructive. Hence it is welcomed as a reality. According to Sufi poetry:

“Death is a goblet

Every soul must drink therefrom

The qabr is a door,

Every soul must pass there through”.

Thus the Sufi cemetery announces the last rites of passage from the material confines of the world. The dead in the Sufi cemetery are honoured, respected and remembered. They are remembered in a Fatihah on Thursday nights, or at the cemetery on Fridays. And, if you are Sufi Sahib, wali or ‘friend of Allah’, you are commemorated in an annual Urs at a Sufi cemetery, under a dome overlooking the Indian Ocean. Sufi Sahib (r.a.), the ghulam of Muhammad (pbuh), an extraordinary human, who laboured with love to redefine the meaning of humanity.

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