Islam and Hinduism: Symbiotic Mysticism In Devotional Poems

By A N D Haksar

Symbiotic Mysticism In Devotional Poems

Few have heard of the mystic poems Brahma Prakash or Dasa Avatar by the mediaeval Muslim saint Pir Shams. Both are famous ginans of South Asia's Ismaili community, sometimes also known as Khojas or Aga Khanis in popular parlance.

Ginans are hymn-like poems of spiritual import. They are revered by the faithful in deep veneration as repositories of wisdom and spiritual knowledge, and as transmitting the essential teachings of the Holy Qur'an in the vernacular. Composed in Sindhi, Gujarati, Hindustani and Punjabi among other subcontinental languages, the oldest are ascribed to the pirs or saints who first preached Ismaili Islam in India nearly 1,000 years ago.

The tradition continued, and recent composers include the Karachi saint, Sayyida Imam Begum, in the 19th century. "Ginans are recited daily", writes Ismaili scholar Ali Asni, "Whenever members congregate for ritual prayers.'' The recitation is itself a ritual on special occasions like birthdays of the Prophet and the Imam, and on the new year, Navroz.

Outside the context of formal worship, ginans are sung as auspicious blessings and quoted as proverbs. They feature in concerts and cassette recordings.

The contents of ginans are varied. Some are supplications for grace and enlightenment, like Ruhani Visal or spiritual union by Pir Hasan Kabiruddin. Others, like Moman Chetamani or warning to the faithful by Pir Sadruddin, impart ethical and moral instruction. Yet others deal with cosmological themes or the mystic life, like Brahma Gayatri and Boojh Niranjan by the same saint.

Devotion and piety is a common theme. One feature of ginans is of wider interest for plural societies. It is the Ismaili pirs' interpretation of Islamic concepts and ideas that could relate to indigenous religious and cultural contexts. Not only were the hymns composed in local languages, they also utilised the poetic forms and musical modes of local tradition. At the level of religious ideas, there is record of ginans sung to Sikh and Hindu gatherings in East Africa.

The acculturation with the larger Indian environment is reflected also in the name Satpanth by which the Ismaili tradition came to be known. "The pir," says Asni, "introduced his teachings as a natural culmination of local belief systems." One ginan cites the mythological king Harichandra as a model of righteousness. Another is titled Darshan diyo mere nath, a popular sentiment.

In Dasa Avatar, as noted by Islamic historian Annemarie Schimmel, "Muslim and Hindu traditions seem to merge as the poet represents Ismaili Islam as fulfilment of Hindu religious tradition." In such mythopoesis, the tenth avatara of Vishnu is renamed Nakalanki (stainless), and is identified with Ali, the first Shia Imam.

Such an assimilationist approach sees no contradiction between people's religious identity and their participation in indigenous culture. It is natural that it should be opposed by those who tend towards exclusivism. Ginans were termed by some orthodox commentators as lacking as Islamic personality.

Elements which constitute culture are being viewed increasingly from a purely religious perspective in parts of South Asia today. The adoption of Arabic and Persian cultural elements and more is considered by some as an essential aspect of Islamisation. Then there is the process of Sanskritisation, now reformulated as Hindutva. Both result in greater cultural distancing between the two communities, to the detriment of both.

The word ginan is similar to jnana, which means wisdom. This goal is by no means exclusive to any creed or culture. The hymns manifest a cultural synthesis for a devotional purpose. Their symbolism stretches across religious barriers towards a higher harmony.