Religious ‘Psycholars’
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN
If religion was the opium of the people for Karl Marx, it was a source of great inspiration a few hundred years ago for St Thomas Aquinas. And, if God was dead for Fredrick Nietzsche and humans had killed Him, it was the strongest reality for Abu Hamid Al Ghazali in the 12th century. With these contrasting views in mind, we can discern without a doubt that human intellect has taken on the idea of religion with skepticism in the last couple of centuries and has dealt with the concept of God with a pinch of salt.
From one extreme in the West that has rejected the idea of an Omnipotent Creator altogether, people in the Middle East at the other end are embracing the same notion with great fervor. For a majority of them, from Pakistan to Morocco, faith helps Muslims to identify themselves. It enables them to boost their spirituality, satisfy their quest for the Unknown, and provide meaning to this mundane life.
From a pragmatic perspective, Islam also disciplines their thought process, sets their boundaries, imparts a moral code, and offers both retribution and reward in the afterlife. Above all, it introduces them to a special class of people known in Pakistan as maulvis (priests), the pillars of our Islamic identity. In our society, unfortunately though, maulvis are semi-literate professionals on a meager salary, with limited knowledge of science, and hired to interpret one of the most complex aspects of human existence. Even their understanding of the scripture is questionable and inadequate (at best), which, in turn, makes them much more dangerous for society since they do not realize the consequences of their explanation of the religious texts.
In many ways, maulvis are neither limited to any specific region of the world; nor they are bound by any religion. They are ubiquitous, guiding people to attain enlightenment across the globe. Although their title may vary from place to place and their attire may be different, the nature of their job is essentially the same: interpretation of God’s will. With no one to challenge their authority, it is virtually impossible for them to maintain objectivity and like all of us, they are just as vulnerable to being swayed by their social circumstances and personal biases. So, even when they are proved to be wrong, with concrete evidence and logical debate, they are confident of being in the right and innocent.
Among maulvis, mystics consider themselves to be a little different. They even get annoyed by the term and prefer to be known as ‘Sufis’. They claim they are the only people in search of gnosis or nirvana and have relinquished their will completely in His honor. With that moral certitude, at some point in their lives, most of them announce to have successfully established a ‘special’ relationship with the Divine. This declaration of celestial approval of their sainthood can vary from being extremely subtle to profoundly loud and from being covertly narcissistic to overtly humanistic. Nonetheless, whether it is direct or implied, subtle or flashy, once the news hits the masses, their career as a mystic is invigorated. On the one hand, spiritually, they rejoice a special understanding with the Almighty, yet on the other, politically, in the subcontinent, they enjoy a cozy relationship with the sultans of their times. From the association of Ali bin Usman Hajveri with Sultan Mahmood Ghazanvi till today, rulers pay visits and tribute to ‘the people of God’ for special prayers.
Likewise, most Pakistani politicians today, except those who are maulvis themselves, have one or two Sufis on their side to help them understand God’s undisclosed plans. Benazir Bhutto used to visit a Pir Sahib, famous for greeting his guests by tapping their shoulders with a stick. For her, it was believed that the number of times he tapped her equalled the number of years she had left under her rule. On her last visit, it is reported that she was hit four times. Being a devotee, she was confident that she would complete her term after the prediction, but, unfortunately, the prophecy could not be translated into reality and she was forced to leave office in a matter of a few months. Similarly, before moving close to the Saudis — spiritually and politically — Mian Nawaz Sharif also regularly visited Sufis to get the ‘Divine’ input. During his second term, we may recall, he was also erroneously reassured by some contemporary mystics that he would remain in power for years to come. Nevertheless, the forecast again did not hold ground and from the Prime Minister’s House, Nawaz Sharif was sent directly to the ‘Big House’ within months.
Imran Khan also cherishes his experience of meeting with some mystics in his book. Interestingly, he has mentioned only those who were deeply impressed by the persona of the star cricketer. Perhaps out of their malleability, they gave him the ‘spiritual’ mandate of changing the direction of the nation; and for sure, the skipper has been left with no choice except to subjugate himself to God’s will! One of them has even predicted that Khan would get at least 20 million votes in the coming elections. It is quoted in a column by a journalist-turned-Sufi and a close associate of the PTI chairman. The Sufi journalist in his Urdu piece refers to his spiritual ‘guru’ who has carefully estimated the numbers and has based his opinion on ground realities along with divine understanding.
As long as the claim had come from a political analyst, there would have been nothing to object to. However, we have to remember that the person making these political observations is also claiming to know a lot more about us (through our names) with God’s wisdom and permission. Having that special power in hand, it is easy to convince the gullible people of Pakistan about the Almighty’s will in the political process of the country, which is unfortunate. While it is irresponsible and biased on the part of the journalist, it is also imprudent for a scholar to mix his political opinion with a proclaimed gnostic vision. Even if the skipper — as usually called by his friends — wins the hearts and minds of the people and gets as many votes as predicted, the problem with our religious psycholars (psychic plus scholar) remains to be corrected.
(The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com )
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