A SUFI SAINT IN PESHAWAR

In July 2010, following heavy monsoon rains nearby, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan was flooded. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lies at the junction where the Hindu Kush mountains give way to the hills and valleys of  the Indus River, flowing down through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. The flood water came cascading down hillsides, sweeping in its torrent man and material alike. It swept away domestic animals and crops besides roads, bridges, public utilities and anything that dared to stand up in its path. Officials estimate the total economic impact to be as much as 43 billion USD. http://cber.iweb.bsu.edu/research/PakistanFlood.pdf

While the rivers were brimming to their dikes, more rain was pouring down as if God had decided, “During the last decade I gave you less, so here is some more.” And all the rivers of Punjab ultimately flow into the Indus which goes into the Arabian Sea. Therefore, the wall of water flowed along its flood plains swept away roads, railway lines, villages, people, animals and crops. Ultimately, the floods have forced the Indus to breach its banks until one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was under water.

Perhaps because of Pakistan’s reputation as a haven for Islamic terrorists, the reaction of the  International community was slow. Within the country, the floods accentuated the sharp divisions in Pakistan between the wealthy and the poor. Landowners allowed embankments to burst so as to divert water from their land. Local authorities colluded with the warlords to divert funds intended for rebuilding. Ten million people have been  forced to drink unsafe water. Two thousand people have died and over a million homes have been destroyed since the flooding began. Pakistan is reaping what it has been sowing:  violence.

Of the Muslims in Pakistan, only the Sufis are putting up resistance against the mullahs on behalf of the pluralism. Consider the shrine of the poet Rahman Baba, at the foot of the Khyber Pass. This Sufi poet is revered by the Pashtuns living on both sides of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rahman Baba preached love.

“I am a lover, and I deal in love.”

“Sow flowers so your surroundings become a garden.”

“Don’t sow thorns; for they will prick your feet.”

“We are all one body. Whoever tortures another, wounds himself.”

Rahman Baba‘s tomb is housed in a large domed shrine, or mazar, outside of Peshawar. The site of his grave is a popular place for poets and mystics to collect to recite his popular poetry. Last year, a madrasa was built with Saudi funds near Rahman Baba’s shrine. The students there complained that  women were allowed to pray and seek healing there and eventually the madrasa students placed dynamite around the supports of  the shrine’s dome. The explosion did not destroy the mazar. However, it was so damaged that it had to be torn down in order for it to be totally rebuilt.

Perhaps this is the future for Pakistan  after the floods. The Sufi followers of Rahman Baba do not bomb mazars or kill innocents. But they do say of the Islamic fundamentalists: “Hypocrites who sit there reading their law books and arguing about how long their beards should be, fail to listen to the true message of the prophet.” Perhaps it is time for the world to hear this message as well.