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Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
(Muhammad Usman Marwandi )
The real name of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was
Syed Muhammad Usman who was born in 1177 AD in Marwand, Iran. His father, Syed
Ibrahim Kabiruddin, was a virtuous and pious dervish, and his mother was a high-ranking
princess. His ancestors migrated from Iraq and settled down in Meshed, from
where they again migrated to Marwand. During the Medieval period, Meshed and
other cities of that region were renowned centers of learning and civilization.
Even as a young boy, Shahbaz Qalandar showed
strong religious leanings. He learnt the Holy Quran by heart just at age of
seven, and at twenty embraced the Qalandar order of Sufism. Qalandar is a type
of dervish who is generally dressed in beggars clothes, likes poverty and
austerity and has no permanent dwelling. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar wandered
throughout Middle East and came to Sind from Baghdad via Dasht-i-Makran. In
1263, he arrived in Multan, which at that time was at the height of glory and
splendor. The people of Multan besought him to stay but he continued his
journey southward and eventually settled down in Sehwan, then a famous center
of learning and popular place of worship for Hindus, in the southern part of
Sindh, where he lived in the trunk of a tree on the outskirts of the town. He
stayed at Sehwan for six years and during this period he disseminated the light
of Islam, providing guidance to thousands of people.
Sehwan is probably the town with the oldest
continuous existence in Sind.It rises on the top of a conical hill, and nearby
lie the ruins of a huge fort believed to have been founded by Alexander the
Great. Some coins of Alexanders time are reported to have been found here.
Sehwan was the capital of a Buddhist ruler who was brother of Chandragupta II, the
third of the Guptan dynasty in the 4th century AD. From the time of Arab
invasion in 712, Sehwan was very important in the history of Sind since it
commanded the route from the Upper to the Lower Indus, through which all
invaders from either north or south had to pass. And possession of the fort was
essential to the success of every campaign.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is an overwhelmingly
popular patron saint cherished and adored alike by Hindus and Muslims of Sind.
He was a great missionary, mystic, scholar, philologist and poet. Several books
in Persian and Arabic on philology and poetry are attributed to him. He was Lal
(red) because of his red attire, Shahbaz due to his noble and divine spirit
that soared like a falcon higher and higher in the boundless heavens and
Qalandar since he belonged to Qalandria order of Sufism and was saintly,
exalted and intoxicated with love for eternal being of God. The legend goes
that the incumbent fakirs in Sewhan sent him a bowl of milk filled to the brim
indicating that there was no room for anything more. But surprisingly, he
returned the bowl with a beautiful flower floating on the top. This legend
spread far and wide by the time of his death in 1274, after living a good span
for 97 years.
The shrine around his tomb, built in 1356,
gives a dazzling look with its Sindhi kashi tiles, mirror work and two
gold-plated doors – one donated by the late Shah of Iran, the other by the late
Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The inner sanctum is about 100 yards square
with the silver canopied grave in the middle. On one side of the marble floor
is a row of about 12 inch high folding wooden stands on which are set copies of
Quran for devotees to read. On the other side, beside a bundle of burning
agarbattis (joss sticks), are rows of diyas (small oil lamps) lighted by Hindu
devotees. The Hindus regarded him as the incarnation of Bhartihari, the saintly
brother of King Vikramaditya, who is believed to have worshipped Shiva at the
venue where Lal Shahbaz’s shrine is situated with all its grandeur and glory.
Thousands of devotees flock to the tomb while
every Thursday their number stands multiplied. Especially at the time of his
Urs (death anniversary) being a carnival as well a religious festival and
celebrated every year on the 18th day of Shaban, Sehwan springs to life and
becomes the focal point of more than half a million pilgrims from all over
Pakistan. On each morning of the three day feast, the narrow lanes of Sewhan
are packed to capacity as thousands and thousands of pilgrims, fakirs and
devotees make their way to the shrine to commune with the saint, offer their
tributes and make a wish. Most of the people present garlands and a green
chadar (a cloth used to cover a tomb) with Quranic inscriptions in silver or
gold threads. Humming of verses, singing and dancing in praise of the saint
continues till late at night. A devotional dance known as dhamal, being a
frenzied and ecstatic swirl of the head and body, is a special ritual that is
performed at the rhythmic beat of the dhole (a big barrel-shaped drum), some of
them being of giant size and placed in the courtyard of the shrine. Bells,
gongs, cymbals and horns make a thunderous din, and the dervishes, clad in long
robes, beads, bracelets and colored head-bands whirl faster and faster in a
hypnotic trance, until with a final deafening scream they run wildly through
the doors of the shrine to the courtyard beyond.
Not only the people congregating from all
over Pakistan but also the tourists and the foreigners are enthralled at this
fascinating scene and aspire to enjoy it time and again. Such were the persons
who really attained the lofty mystical experience. Through their transcendence,
their relation to God is such that in them the Divine personality seems to
reflect itself and through them is revealed to his followers, and the grace of
God is dispensed to those who invoke God in his name. In Iqbals inspirational
poetry we find so many verses about who is Qalandar and what are the attributes
of a Qalandar.
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