Hussain H Zaidi
Monday, April 02, 2012

As the story goes, a mureed (disciple) of a well-known pir was once told by a friend of him that his pir was a drunkard and therefore didn’t deserve the high esteem in which he was held. Noting that the mureed didn’t believe him, the friend invited him to see for himself. The mureed agreed, but only to prove his friend wrong. Both hid behind the curtain in the pir’s hujra. After some time the pir entered the hujra, took out a bottle of wine and began to drink.

“Didn’t I warn you that your pir was a habitual drinker?” the friend said to the mureed rather reproachfully. “Now that you’ve seen it with your own eyes, you must part ways with him.” “Well, we’ve both seen what you said. But what you fail to see is the fact that the moment the whisky entered the throat of Pir Sahib, it became a holy drink,” the mureed responded.

The above anecdote sums up the high reverence and utter devotion in which pirs are held by their followers in our society. It also makes sense of the request of Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for Prime Minister Gilani, to the Supreme Court to take into account the status of his client as a pir and custodian of a shrine while disposing of the contempt of court case against him.

The word “pir” is of Persian origin, meaning an old man. However, the denotative meaning of the word can hardly capture its connotations. In fact, the denotative meaning can be misleading for the reason that a pir need not be an old man. Age aside, a pir is regarded by his followers as an epitome of virtue for whom indulging in some immoral act is as unlikely as it is for a triangle to be a square. Even obviously wicked acts become virtuous and evidently outlandish deeds are looked upon as outstanding when performed by a pir.

The Indian Subcontinent has been remarkable for its mystics, particularly the Sufis. These Sufis, who were men of high character, profound knowledge and plain living, played a powerful role in the propagation of Islam and moral reconstruction of society. However, gradually a class of hereditary pirs emerged, whose only claim to sainthood rested on their being descendents of a saint or custodian of his shrine. Thus, genealogy, instead of character or knowledge, became the basis of being a pir, signalling the decadence of the institution.

A pir is deemed to possess some miraculous power and esoteric knowledge, which can cure any ill and resolve any problem. Be it unemployment or infertility, unrequited love or marriage, migraine or mental illness, the pir has an answer to all. On the other hand, if someone incurs a pir’s wrath, he is believed to have placed himself in a hopeless situation both in this world and in the hereafter. In a word, submission to the pir guarantees success in earthly life and salvation in the life to come.

Among the pirs, the most powerful are the custodians of shrines. These pirs were courted by kings and princes when Muslims ruled India and received large tracts of land. This gave birth to the pir-landlord combination, which persists to this day. In point of fact, feudalism and “pirhood” have much in common. Both believe in uncritical acceptance of the authority and each looks down upon dissent and individualism. Both feudals and pirs deem themselves to be above the law, which should be applied only to ordinary mortals.

The British when they conquered India allowed the pirs, who had a large number of devotees, to retain their estates, in return for the valuable political support that they offered to the Raj. The pirs remained staunch supporters of the British regime and by and large had little sympathy for the movement for the independence of India. It was only when the end of English rule became imminent that they shifted their loyalties. Some of the leading pirs joined the All-India Muslim League and, like the feudals, played a capital role in its landslide victory in the 1946 elections. By joining the League, the pirs ensured the continuation of their privileged position in the new Muslim state.

The pirs supported Gen Ayub Khan in his 1964 presidential race against Miss Fatima Jinnah and made no insignificant contribution to his victory. With the rise of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the pirs, as well as the feudals, switched their loyalties. Both Ayub and Bhutto were forward-looking, secular leaders but both heavily relied on the pirs. Subsequent leaders, including those who were otherwise known for enlightened and liberal views, haven’t lagged behind in their devotion to the pirs.

This brings out a sharp contradiction in Pakistani society, where attempts have been made to set up the edifice of a liberal political system on the pillars of retrogressive institutions and authoritarian values. Democracy, taken as a way of life and not merely an electoral system, can hardly take root in a polity dominated by pirs and feudals and values associated with them.

The writer is a freelance contributor based in Islamabad. Email: hussainhzaidi@gmail.com
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