In the desert swelter of southern Pakistan, the scent of rosewater mixed with a waft of hashish smoke. Drummers pounded away as celebrants swathed in red pushed a camel bedecked with garlands, tinsel and multihued scarfs through the heaving crowd. A man skirted past, grinning and dancing, his face glistening like the golden dome of a shrine nearby. "Mast Qalandar!" he cried. "The ecstasy of Qalandar!"
The camel reached a courtyard packed with hundreds of men jumping in place with their hands in the air, chanting "Qalandar!" for the saint buried inside the shrine. The men threw rose petals at a dozen women who danced in what seemed like a mosh pit near the shrine's entrance. Enraptured, one woman placed her hands on her knees and threw her head back and forth; another bounced and jiggled as if she were astride a trotting horse. The drumming and dancing never stopped, not even for the call to prayer.
I stood at the edge of the courtyard and asked a young man named Abbas to explain this dancing, called dhamaal. Though dancing is central to the Islamic tradition known as Sufism, dhamaal is particular to some South Asian Sufis. "When a djinn infects a human body," Abbas said, referring to one of the spirits that populate Islamic belief (and known in the West as "genies"), "the only way we can get rid of it is by coming here to do dhamaal." A woman stumbled toward us with her eyes closed and passed out at our feet. Abbas didn't seem to notice, so I pretended not to either.
"What goes through your head when you are doing dhamaal?" I asked.
"Nothing. I don't think," he said. A few women rushed in our direction, emptied a water bottle on the semiconscious woman's face and slapped her cheeks. She shot upright and danced back into the crowd. Abbas smiled. "During dhamaal, I just feel the blessings of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar wash over me."
Every year, a few hundred thousand Sufis converge in Seh- wan, a town in Pakistan's southeastern Sindh province, for a three-day festival marking the death of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in 1274. Qalandar, as he is almost universally called, belonged to a cast of mystics who consolidated Islam's hold on this region; today, Pakistan's two most populous provinces, Sindh and Punjab, comprise a dense archipelago of shrines devoted to these men. Sufis travel from one shrine to another for festivals known as urs, an Arabic word for "marriage," symbolizing the union between Sufis and the divine.
Sufism is not a sect, like Shiism or Sunnism, but rather the mystical side of Islam—a personal, experiential approach to Allah, which contrasts with the prescriptive, doctrinal approach of fundamentalists like the Taliban. It exists throughout the Muslim world (perhaps most visibly in Turkey, where whirling dervishes represent a strain of Sufism), and its millions of followers generally embrace Islam as a religious experience, not a social or political one. Sufis represent the strongest indigenous force against Islamic fundamentalism. Yet Western countries have tended to underestimate their importance even as the West has spent, since 2001, millions of dollars on interfaith dialogues, public diplomacy campaigns and other initiatives to counter extremism. Sufis are particularly significant in Pakistan, where Taliban-inspired gangs threaten the prevailing social, political and religious order.
Pakistan, carved out of India in 1947, was the first modern nation founded on the basis of religious identity. Questions about that identity have provoked dissent and violence ever since. Was Pakistan to be a state for Muslims, governed by civilian institutions and secular laws? Or an Islamic state, governed by clerics according to sharia, or Islamic law? Sufis, with their ecumenical beliefs, typically favor the former, while the Taliban, in their fight to establish an extreme orthodoxy, seek the latter. The Taliban have antiaircraft weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and squads of suicide bombers. But the Sufis have drums. And history.
I asked Carl Ernst, an author of several books about Sufism and a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whether he thought Pakistan's Sufis could survive the wave of militant Islam sweeping east from the region along the Afghanistan border. "Sufism has been a part of the fabric of life in the Pakistan region for centuries, while the Taliban are a very recent phenomenon without much depth," he replied in an e-mail. "I would bet on the Sufis in the long run." This summer, the Taliban attracted a few hundred people to witness beheadings in Pakistan's tribal areas. In August, more than 300,000 Sufis showed up to honor Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.
Qalandar was an ascetic; he dressed in rags and tied a rock around his neck so that he was constantly bowing before Allah. His given name was Usman Marwandi; "Qalandar" was used by his followers as an honorific indicating his superior standing in the hierarchy of saints. He moved from a suburb of Tabriz, in modern-day Iran, to Sindh in the early 13th century. The remainder of his biography remains murky. The meaning of lal, or "red," in his name? Some say he had auburn hair, others believe he wore a red robe and still others say he once was scalded while meditating over a pot of boiling water.
In migrating to Sindh, Qalandar joined other mystics fleeing Central Asia as the Mongols advanced. Many of them settled temporarily in Multan, a city in central Punjab that came to be known as the "city of saints." Arab armies had conquered Sindh in 711, a hundred years after the founding of Islam, but they had paid more attention to empire-building than to religious conversions. Qalandar teamed with three other itinerant preachers to promote Islam amid a population of Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus.
The "four friends," as they became known, taught Sufism. They eschewed fire-and-brimstone sermons, and rather than forcibly convert those belonging to other religions, they often incorporated local traditions into their own practices. "The Sufis did not preach Islam like the mullah preaches it today," says Hamid Akhund, a former secretary of tourism and culture in the Sindh government. Qalandar "played the role of integrator," says Ghulam Rabbani Agro, a Sindhi historian who has written a book about Qalandar. "He wanted to take the sting out of religion."
Gradually, as the "friends" and other saints died, their enshrined tombs attracted legions of followers. Sufis believed that their descendants, referred to as pirs, or "spiritual guides," inherited some of the saints' charisma and special access to Allah. Orthodox clerics, or mullahs, considered such beliefs heretical, a denial of Islam's basic creed: "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet." While pirs encouraged their followers to engage Allah in a mystical sense and relish the beauty of the Koran's poetic aspects, the mullahs typically instructed their followers to memorize the Koran and study accounts of the Prophet's life, known collectively as the Hadith.
While the tension between Sufis and other Muslims continued through history, in Pakistan the dynamic between the two groups has lately entered an especially intense phase with the proliferation of militant groups. In one example three years ago, terrorists attacked an urs in Islamabad, killing more than two dozen people. After October 2007, when former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto—a native of Sindh province with roots in Sufism—returned from exile, terrorists twice targeted her for assassination, succeeding that December. Meanwhile, the Taliban persisted in their terror campaign against the Pakistani military and launched attacks in major cities.
This article was fantastic. I had never even heard of "Mast Qalandar". Thank God for all the child-like people in the world. "For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."
Posted by Carl Strickland on November 26,2008 | 11:15AM
just a small correction to the article. I didn't want djinn to have a bad name like they do in this article. It is understood by the teachings of islam that djinn are beings that can either be wholesome or corrupt. The dancing and chanting that these sufis do are meant to discharge the corrupt djinn from people whom they have caused negative psychological effects. There are other djinn that pray and cultivate a spiritual and moral life like humans. It was recorded in hadith that muhammad had frequented a djinn inhabited area where he spoke and preached to these invisible beings. And they engaged with him and took advice from him like any other of the people that were with him. thanks Kyle
Posted by kyle hayes on November 26,2008 | 06:08PM
An interesting article. As a Zen Buddhist whose path to Zen lay in my delight in Sufism, I am of the opinion that something like an amalgam of Sufism, Ismaili practice and that of Mahayana Zen Buddhism are the only viable foundations for anything like a basis for healthy polities in this time of universal folly and self-worship. I am interested in hearing more concerning the New America Foundation. Be well. Prof. Burnett Carter (Ret.)
Posted by Richard B. Carter on November 27,2008 | 08:40AM
Yes, wonderful article. But the Way of the Sufi is not just for the East. << If only for a few minutes, it didn't matter whether I was a Christian, Muslim, Hindu or atheist. >> In some Sufi orders, especially in India and Pakistan, a sincere seeker will be fully accepted into Sufism regardless of religion or even the lack of it. You do not have to become a practicing Muslim to undertake the Sufi path of transformation. << something like an amalgam of Sufism, Ismaili practice and that of Mahayana Zen Buddhism are the only viable foundations for anything like a basis for healthy polities >> Ah, but you see, every positive thing in Zen and Isma'ili practice are also found in Sufism... However, not everyone should be a Sufi. There are different religions and different paths for different hearts and minds, and that's as it should be. There will be great healing for humanity when we can accept that every soul has a unique trajectory back to God.
Posted by Hafizullah Chishti on December 2,2008 | 01:04PM
Mr. Schmidle's picture, included with the article, shows he is a young man and his article opened up a part of the Muslim religion that never seems to make the evening news. I had to chuckle at his description of being swept up in the festivities between the dancing and the hashish (pages 46 and 47). In another place in time we used to call that a "contact high". Can you dig it?
Posted by L. M. Lee on December 2,2008 | 04:13PM
There is an echo of the early Christian Church in some of the story. Islam admires Jesus as a major prophet. This is a path for the Church to advance in reaching out to the Christian side of Islam without any heresy. The unification of Islam with the Church would bring a real Age of Aquarius! Great story. Wonderful photos. Award winning!
Posted by v. martin ogrosky on December 3,2008 | 08:35AM
Frankly this is very under-researched & misleading article, which is only looking to prove its own prejudices. This gentleman is too set on setting up Sufism as the soft, liberal alternative to mainstream orthodox Islam, to deal with the issue in its complexity. This Sufism-as-liberalism myth may be comforting but it is a serious mistake. Sufis are not Liberal or Orthodox, they are just Sufi and they are fanatically committed to Sufism. And believe you me, all of Sufism does NOT fit the Liberal Humanist paradigm. The fact that a lot of liberals in Pakistan and other Muslim countries are also interested in [mis]interpreting Sufism as a "stick to beat the mullahs with," means we should be more careful in seeking out the authentic Sufism, from the Sufi's mouth rather than vested interests. I would strongly urge readers to look up Prof. Anne-Marie Schimmel or Dr. Carl Ernst's work on Sufism for an accurate picture.... which cannot be acquired by interviewing a few non-sufis and attending one Urs. Also btw, Benazir was a Shia, and the Shi'ites detest Sufism, hence their persecution in Iran. In Shi'ism, religious authority is inherited by the descendants of the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him. In Sufism, religious authority can pass on to anyone based on piety.... Benazir's claim on the Sindhi populace was a very Shi'ite one: I have the legitimate right to rule as I'm a syed, or descendant of the Prophet.
Posted by GreenSufi on December 4,2008 | 11:09AM
Because Sufism is to link you with your God, it becomes very much personal... thus every Sufi has a different creed depending on what he or she absorb. There is a big number of Sufists to whom Sharia is the essential part while many take Sufism as above all.
Posted by Jeech Pakistan on December 5,2008 | 03:53PM
I was ordained as a Charaga in to the Sufi Order international in 1988 at the behest of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, finding Sufism gave me access to a beautiful new way of thinking and a rich community. I am grateful for this article and to see that my Sufi sisters and brothers in Pakistan are thriving in spite of the fundamental factions that would have them disappear. The Clerics are threatened by followers of a belief that has allowed them to move past the fear that has been such a useful tool for controlling the masses.
Posted by Donnee Komisar on December 6,2008 | 08:39AM
These people have nothing to do with Sufism! You people in the west have misunderstood Tasawwuf (Sufism) and what it means! These people have deviated from the path of Tasawwuf and have fallen into ignorance! True Tasawwuf does not go against the teachings of Islam!
Posted by Ali on December 8,2008 | 07:38PM
You can't judge people like that, Ali. I agree though that tasawwuf (Sufism) has often been misunderstood in the West. Let's say it clearly. If you want to be a Sufi you have to be a Muslim first. The law, the sharia, is the bark that protects the tree (the Truth). Without it the tree will die. As far as the ecstatic Sufis are concerned, they are simply one group amongst many. I belong to the Shadhiliyya tariqa, and we are called the sober ones. The founder of our branch of tasawwuf insisted that every follower had a trade and lived amongst the people. You can express your love for God by being the mercy for the people around you.
Posted by Fatima on December 12,2008 | 09:23AM
Islam does not accept any mystic tradition. Suffis are the leftover vesitages of the pre-Islamic traditions of the Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan. The Al-Hajaz and several other were burnet by the follower of Islam. In India Sufi's from these countries came with 10 to 15 thousand people at a time fully armed from tooth to nail. They used their fervishness in the conversion process through sword and Jehad. The sugar coating and the gentle presentation is presentation of the victor. Some of the descendent's of those who fell as victims of these are still alive to tell the other side of the story. Ravindra
Posted by Ravindra Kaul on December 17,2008 | 02:57PM
Out here in the Colorado, we have a derivative of Sufism, the Dances of Universal Peace. One Sufi, Sufi Sam, began (during the sixties) to invent group dances honoring various traditions. This seed grew in fertile soil in the Western U.S., and now sends emissaries to dance in Russia and the Near East. Exactly how immaculate the blood-lines of this variant are, is of less interest to me than that people dance and choreograph dances--and as they dance participate in honoring the varied forms of the religious life. "Our beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi (cc. Damian L)
Posted by frank leuthold on December 19,2008 | 12:03PM
I just finished reading this wonderful article. Although I believe in Jesus, I would be insulted if you called me a Christian. I can understand the Sufi so well and their message of LOVE. I revere it as well. Through the dance they call upon the divine that resides in every living person and connects each of us with the universe. When we listen only to the call of LOVE, we will experience the Divine Being. Anything else is doctrine and politics and is the mirror to the ambitions of men. I feel encouraged that in a very explosive part of the world there is also, quietly a voice for love. It is too bad that so many people both Christians and Moslems alike, are so mired in the words of a book that was written a couple of thousand years ago. Who knows if we even have true translations. I feel this is the true evil of both these religeons. Listen the the still quiet voice of your heart.
Posted by Frances Stone on December 23,2008 | 09:38AM
Frank, the 'Sufi Sam' you mention was a man named Samuel Lewis who died in 1971. He's sometimes called 'S.A.M.', not because of his given name, but because of the name he was given when he was made a Sufi Murshid (in Pakistan,in 1960). The name he was given was: "Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti". His mureeds sometimes called him 'S.A.M.' for short. There is nothing tarnished about the 'bloodline' (or Silsalah) of the Sufi Rhuhaniat that he began some years after he returned to the United States (and which has continued to this day). In addition to being a Sufi Murshid, Sam Lewis was also a Rinzai Zen Master and a Hasidic Rabbi. He taught his mureeds, among other things, about the universality of spiritual pursuit and the incredible power of universal love.
Posted by John Ludlow on December 28,2008 | 09:25PM
In January 1999, Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, leader of the Naqshbandi order of Sufis in North America went to the State Department to deliver an address titled "Islamic Extremism: A Viable Threat to U.S. National Security" in which he specifically warned about thousands of "suicide bombers being trained by Bin Laden in Afghanistan who are ready to move to any part of the world and explode themselves." I wish they would have taken him more seriously. When asked about Sufism, Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Qassab--the master of Junayd--said, "Sufism consists of noble behavior that is made manifest at a noble time on the part of a noble person in the presence of a noble people." Sheik Kabbani is a noble Teacher.
Posted by Patrick Clinton on January 2,2009 | 12:39PM
The article on Pakistan's sufis did much justice to real islam which abhors killing and prescribes preaching with love and understanding unlike the angry hues we witness proliferating today. These would not only have been condemned by Muhammad peace be upon him, but its proponents would have had to face expulsion and even war at the hands of the Islamic community! Little does one read about Muhammad and his ways. As for the word LAL used to denote the Qalandar, the same is not the URDU or HINDI for the word/colour RED, but it is spelt with a guttural E after the letter A like LAEL as will be evident from comparing the two words--one in Arabic(LAEL) and the other in URDU/HINDI (LAL). The word means JEWEL and the Qalandar was called just that. If you remove the letter J from the word JEWEL as the same is the Anglicised version for the Hebrew or Arabic word Jewel--you get your answer. Thankyou for the article.
Posted by Walid Ansari on January 5,2009 | 06:28AM
A very good article with sufi's and mystic touch.It is important to note here that the Province Sindh has always welcomed people from different communities, faiths, beleifs, convinctions, school of thought and religions. Sindh is truely a centre of all these activities that preach humanity. However I would suggest that the writer of this article should add a paragraph on Transcendentalism. There is a dire need to link Sufism, mysticism and transcendentalism. This unison will help people come closer. Regards Habibullah Pathan
Posted by Habibullah Pathan on January 6,2009 | 04:49PM
This is a great article. Meher Baba, who proclaimed himself to be the Avatar of the Age and God in human form, had a keen interest in Sufism. He founded a spiritual organization called Sufism Reoriented, which has flourishing branches in Washington, D.C. and Walnut Creek, California. Sufism is thus alive and well in both the East and the West.
Posted by Stephen Church on January 12,2009 | 06:16AM