- 1. Why the Vedic Scriptures, especially the Texts known as Shruti or Śruti—the central canon of Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads—cannot be revered as Wahy’ (revealed by Allah)?
- 2. Legacy of Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan (1699–1780) should be recalled because he propounded an inclusivity between the Qur’an and the Vedas.
- 3. India’s Hindus and those known as Sanatanis should be acceptable to Muslims as Ahl-e-Kitab.
- 4. Letters written by Mirzā Mazhar contain an interesting discussion on the ancient Indian faith traditions and the Hindu Dharma in particular from an Islamic perspective.
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If God sent Prophets and Apostles (Rasools) to the land of India like in all other historic territories across the world, then why the indigenous people of the subcontinent—from the Dravidians to Indo-Aryans—were not Ahl-e-Kitab (People of the Book)? And why their descendants and progenies today—call them ‘Hindus’ or more accurately Sanatan Dharmis—are no longer regarded ‘believers’? More fundamental question is: Why the Vedic Scriptures, especially the Texts known as Shruti or Śruti—the central canon of Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads—cannot be revered as Wahi’ (revealed by Allah)?
These are some of the key questions that this essay seeks to grapple with in light of the Letters (Maktūbāt) written by Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan—India’s prominent Muslim Mystic, 18th century established Islamic scholar and Urdu and Persian poet-philosopher.
Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan was a noted saint-scholar of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, which was imitated in India by Khwaja Baqi Billah (d. 1603)—Delhi’s prominent saint-scholar and pioneer of the Order in the Indian sub-continent. The Naqshbandi Sufi Silsila (Order) came to India from Central Asia and believed in the divinity of love, and focused on a deeper personal relationship between Man and the Divine. But it also emphasised a healthy relation between people and the State and their constructive cooperation with the ruling authorities of respective countries. In the Mughal period, Naqshbandi Sufi masters continued in their endeavour to reinstate their place in the Indian subcontinent.
In today’s India, the legacy of Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan (1699–1780) should be recalled not just because he was a prominent Sufi mystic of Naqshbandiyya and Urdu-Persian poet, but more because he propounded an inclusivity between the Qur’an and the Vedas. He found out that there is a beautiful spiritual synergy between the essential creeds and universal values of Islam and Sanatan Dharma and its variant faith traditions. Jaan-e-Janan was the proponent of the belief that the Indian Scriptures, especially the Vedic Texts were Wah’y (revealed by God). Therefore, India’s Hindus and those known as Sanatanis should be acceptable to Muslims as Ahl-e-Kitab—a term in the Qur’an which means “People of the Book” and is accorded reverence in the broader Qur’anic notion of ‘Believers’.
Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlvi—the 19th century Sufi master of the Naqshbandi tradition in Delhi—relays as to how he became the major disciple (Mureed) and successor to his Murshid, Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan:
He [Jaan-e-Janan] was staying at Sirhind (a city in Punjab popularly known as Fatehgarh Sahib). I sought and obtained the permission to visit the master. My heart was instantaneously enticed and ensnared by the charismatic saint. He tied the game of his heart to the saddle straps of my spiritual courser. I was particularly attracted to the teachings of his Exalted Presence [Jaan-e-Jana], that the Vedas were Holy Scriptures revealed by Allah, and that Shri Krishna and Shri Rama were Prophets; thus Jaan-e-Janan privileged the Hindus as the ‘People of the Book’. (As quoted in “The Mirror of Beauty”, By Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, 2014).
Not only that Jaan-e-Janan considered the ancient Indic religions and the Vedas as divinely inspired but some of his Maktūbāt [letters and treatises] also speak so well of the Vedic texts in detail. Such Letters written by Mirzā Mazhar have been compiled by none other than his closest disciple Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlvi under the title “Maqamat-e-Mazhari” originally written in Farsi and later explained and further expanded in Urdu by Shah Abu Al Hassan Zaid Farooqi and Maulana Akhlaq Hussain Dehlvi. These letters contain an interesting discussion on the ancient Indian faith traditions and the Hindu Dharma in particular from an Islamic perspective. According to Mirzā Saheb, the Hindus and non-Muslims of the Indian subcontinent cannot be clubbed together with the Arab pagans of the Prophet's time, who were called ‘Kafirs’ (disbelievers) and ‘Mushrikin’ (polytheists). There is no scope of resemblance between the two entirely different peoples in different territories and times, belonging to diametrically different faiths. Jaan-e-Janan’s deeper reflections on this have been detailed in Maqamat-e-Mazhari. An in-depth study requires great deal of time and energy. Just for an instance—take a look at the following:
“The Sajdah [prostration] of Hindus to their idols is/was essentially “Sajda-e-Tahiyyat” (prostration in respect and reverence), not the “Sajda-e-Ubudiyyat” (prostration in worship) i.e. Hindus pay respect to their parents, spiritual masters and teachers by bowing down (or doing the Sajdah) in place of saying Salaam……Likewise, the Hindu belief in the doctrine of Awagaman (cycle of rebirth) is not akin to Kufr (disbelief)…..All schools of thought in Hinduism are unanimously agreed upon the Oneness of God, and all of them consider the world as the creation of God. The mortality of this life (Fana), the law of Karma as the reward or punishment for the good or evil deeds, and the resurrection and accountability in the hereafter are common beliefs among them. They have got a deep insight into the oral transmissions and intellectual traditions, devotion and mediation, abstinence and austerities, enlightenments (M’arif) and divine unveilings (Mukashfaat)” (Letter No. 14, Maqamat-e-Mazhari, Page No. 258, Publisher: Shah Abu Al-Khair Academy, Delhi).In this Urdu anthology authored by Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlvi and translated by Muhammad Iqbal Mujaddidi, the ancient Indic religions and civilisations have been looked at through the prism of Sufi Islamic perspective in the light of the letters written by Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan. The Letter No. 14 examines the Hindu philosophy of Avatara, in accordance with the Islamic concept of Nubuwwah (prophethood). Based on the Qur’anic verses such as “There is a Messenger for every community” (Surah al-R’ad: 07) and “There was not a Nation without a warner” (36:06), the letter premises that Allah has created no community in the world without a Prophet, and that belief in all Prophets, not just one, is one of the six articles of the Islamic faith. The book then looks at the main characteristics of the Hindu belief of Avatarvad and Prophethood from an Islamic perspective. Other Hindu beliefs and doctrines like MahaMukt and their goals, have also been elucidated.
