Ethical Teachings in Kalam-i Shaikh-ul Aalam

Introduction
Ethics - The Science of Akhlaq is the branch of study dealing with what is the proper course of action for man. Ethics is a segment of philosophy concerned with values of human conduct. The term ethics refers to a code of conduct that guides a person in dealing with others. Ethics relates to the social rules that influence people to be honest in their dealings. It answers the question, What do I do? It is the study of right and wrong in human endeavors. At a more fundamental level, it is the method by which we categorize our values and pursue them. Ethics is a requirement for human life. It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it, our actions would be random and aimless. There would be no way to work towards a goal because there would be no way to pick between a limitless number of goals. Any flaw in our ethics will reduce our ability to be successful in our endeavors. According to John Dewey (1859-1952) - an American philosopher, educator, social critic and political activist- the terms 'ethics' and 'ethical' are derived from a Greek word 'ethos' which originally meant customs, usages, especially those belonging to some group as distinguished from another. It was in customs, says John Dewey, that the moral or ethical made its appearance, for customs were not merely habitual ways of acting; they were ways approved by the group or society. To act contrary to the customs of the group brought severe disapproval. The customs, therefore, were strictly observed which gave birth to customary morality. But it is a fact that customs and usages are subject to changes, for they fail to adequately meet the new issues and problems of life. Therefore, this type of moral theory can not work anywhere. whereas Islamic morality, also has the same meaning as it too discusses the issues like: what is good and evil, what are good manners, conduct, habits and etiquettes etc. further it is not determined by customs and usages of the society but is derived from the two main sources of Islam, namely, the Holy Quran and the Sunnah, is therefore divinely inspired. Ethics in Islam is nothing but the body of
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injunctions laid down in the Quran for the practical conduct of life and fully exemplified in the practice of the Holy Prophet throughout his life. The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said: ( I have been sent to achieve the culmination of high moral standards).1 He is also reported to have said: The best among you are those who are morally sound from others.2 On the Day of Judgment, it will be high moral behavior which will carry most weight in the scales of a person. 3 A believer achieves the same rank through high ethical behavior as can be achieved through fasts and the night prayers.4 Thus Islamic ethics is universal, perfect and for all times. In this regard, Kashmir has been regarded as an ethical hub in the 14 th century where number of Sufi movements worked to create the ethical atmosphere. Kashmir was unique in the sense that unlike the Central Asia, it accommodated Suharwardi, Naqashbandi and Qadiri orders within the broader framework of Islam and developed its own school called Rishism, which was the culmination of the indigenous mystical ethos fruition into a universal phenomenon. The Rishi movement branched out under the inspiring leadership of its founder Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam (R.A.) commonly known as Nund Reshi, born on 10th Zilhajj, 779 A.H. / 9th April 1377 A.D. in Qaimuh village, Kulgam District. Shaikh Salar was his father and Sadra Mauj his mother. He died at the age of 63 on 26th Ramadan, 842 A.H. /12 March, 1439 A.D. at Rupawan. From where his body was taken to Chrar Sharief, where Sultan Zain-ul Aabidin, himself led his funeral payer. In 1808 A.D. an Afghan Governor Ali Mardan Khan minted currency in Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalams (R.A.) name, as a mark of respect to the saint. He preached his message by going from place to place and having discussions with the people. The most
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Bayhaqi, Sunan al-Kubra, vol. 10 (Makkah: Maktabah Dar al-Baz, 1994), 191. Bukhari, No: 5682; Muslim, No: 2321. 3 Abu Daud, No: 4799; Tirmadhi, No: 2002. 4 Abu Daud, No: 4798; Tirmadhi, No: 2003.

effective means, which made his movement pervasive throughout the Valley, was the language and the genre he used to bring home to the people his message. He used common peoples language Kosher and the piercing mode of expression poetry. However, there is a common perception about the Rishis that they were apposite to the Sufis in their approach and method of preaching, but according to Prof. M. I. Khan, the Rishi movement was a synthesis of universally accepted human purposes in comparison with the Brahmanic ethnocentrism. Although the movement was essentially rooted in the local traditions, nevertheless, it became an important aspect or dimension of the Islamic Civilization consequent upon the process of adoption of cultural traits or social patterns of Muslim immigrants, sufis, ulama, artisans from Central Asia and Persia, by masses. To respond to the challenges of the emerging cultural ethos during the time of the great saint, he turned an educator to reform the society in accordance with cherished values of his social order. He made his poetry as an instrument to create a moral social fabric. Knowing the importance of ethics he expressed his views in the form of sweet verses like

Heart is a fish, throw it not on land, The water of muttering Allahs name will make it live. Salah is as to sow the seeds in the field. Preach the showering of morality and ethics, then you will see the perfect man.

Morality is a relative term but there are values which are universal. The universal value like Truthfulness is essence of human civilization. The Prophet said, Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur (i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur (wickedness) leads to the (Hell) Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar5. The patron saint conscious of what Truthfulness is, educating common people the same thing in a local language, calls them to speak the truth and avoid falsehood. He says:

To speak the truth you shiver, You speak falsehood, with sweetness, You abandon the commands of Prophet, you obey Satan, You ignore blessings of God, who is hearing, From whom do you keep it secret? The great Shaikhs concern is, therefore, to promote truth or honesty without any kind of its adulteration. His verses are universal in theme and are valuable gems of Kashmiri literature. He preached against worldly allurements, vanity, hypocrisy, jealousy, backbiting and misuse of religion for petty mundane gains. Speaking about backbiting, he says

Bukhari, Narated by Abdullah, Vol. 8, Book 073, Hadith Number 116

He was also a strong opponent of polytheism, social discrimination and ritualism. For the promotion of virtue, he negates lying, this faith of his makes the saint to educate ignorant masses in the following verse. To prove my every lying, I tried to measure the world, So I dived in the middle of the ocean, Alas, I earned nothing out of it. Because of his charismatic and saintly personality, persuasive teachings and strong abhorrence of worldly things, Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam (R.A.) won many conversions to Islam, the more significant being Bhum Sadh, a prominent Brahman ascetic, Zia Singh - a descendent of the royal family of Kishtiwar and Ladi Raina the chief of pargan Maru-Advin. Bhum Sadh was named as Bam-u Din, Zia Singh as Zain- u Din and Ladi Raina as Latif-u Din. It may be mentioned that Baba Bamu Din. Baba Zain-u Din, Baba Latif-u Din and his other immediate disciple Baba
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Nasir-u Din became the four prominent khulfa of the Shaikh, who like their spiritual preceptor chose to live away from the hustle and bustle of life and won many followers. Thus, a big brotherhood of Rishis was created who carried on the mission of the Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam (R.A.) generation after generation. AbulFazl and Emperor Jahangir were highly impressed by the selflessness, worldliness, tolerance, philanthropy and celibacy of the Rishis. This had earned them the more respectable position in the society. Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam (R.A.) has presented his poetry as a literature for life and not only as literature for the sake of art. It can serve as guide to all those poets, literary figures who want to bring a pious ethical and spiritual revolution in Kashmir. Review of the Literature and Relevance of the Study A number of works deal with different aspects of Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam (R.A.) and his Kalam. In this regard various works have been written in different languages including Persian, Urdu, Kashmiri and English, but the primary literature is available in Persian language.
1. Rishi Nama by Baba Nasib (d. 1047/1637) begins with a preliminary discourse

on the virtues of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Khulafa-I Rashidin. It then gives a detailed account of Rishis with special reference to Shaikh-ul Aalam
2. Asrarul Abrar by Dawud Mishkati is a biographical work on the sufis of

various orders. Besides the other sufis the author gives a detailed account of Shaikh-ul Aalam.
3. Rishi Nama by Bahaud-Din Mattu is a work on the biographies of the Rishis.

It adds some anecdotes regarding Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam which have not been described in the earlier Rishi Namas This provided basis for moderate researchers like Peer Ghulam Hassan Khuyihami, Mohi-ud Din Miskeen, G.M. D. Sofi and P. N. K. Bamzai. However, so for as well documented research, on the Shaikh is concerned the credit goes to three scholars
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of Kashmir i.e., Professor Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Ghulam Nabi Gawhar and Asadullah Aafaqi.
1.

Prof. Mohammad Ishaq Khan has written a monumental book titled

Kashmirs Transition to Islam: Role of Muslim Rishis that covers all the aspects of
Rishi movement in Kashmir. 2.

G. N. Gawhar is amongst the most noted scholars of Shaikh-ul Aalam in

Kashmir. His book Kashmir Mystic Thought was published by Gulshan publishers and is a rich contribution to Shaikh-ul Aalam studies. This books deals with immensely difficult problems in Shaikh-ul Aalam studies such as the Shaikhs Rishi vs Sufi identity.
3.

Asadullah Afaqi who has devoted his whole life to the study and

explanation of the poetry and mission of Shaikh, researching on the authentication of the shruks of Shaikh ascertaining the details mentioned about the life of Shaikh and pondering on the very subtle and esoterically oriented verses of the Shaikh. After these preliminary efforts in this direction Aiyena i-Haq Kulliyat-i Shaikh-ul Aalam by Asadullah Aafaqi, published by Life Foundation, is a great contribution presented single handedly by Asadullah Aafaqi so far as the total poetical compositions of Shaikh-ul Aalam are concerned. However, ethics has assumed tremendous significance in the contemporary world. In fact, Islamic Ethics has been dealt with in all branches of Islamic Sciences. The various authors who have contributed to Political Theory of Islam, Islamic Economics, Islamic Jurisprudence, Tasawwuf, Philosophy and Literature have dealt with certain aspects of Islamic Ethics in their respective works, as they realized the inevitability of this science. In this backdrop the present dissertation entitled Ethical teachings in Kalam-i-Sheikh ul Alam is an attempt to search the ethical teachings in the poetry of Shaikh-ul Aalam.

Aims and Objectives Several research works have been done on Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam (R.A.) and many aspects of his life and teachings have been studied in detail. However, we have scanty of works available that deals exclusively with Ethics (Morality) and Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalam. In this backdrop the present work aims at an in-depth study of ethical teachings in Kalam-i Shaikh-ul Aalam. Further the present dissertation aims at exploration of Hadrat Shaikh-ul Aalams perception on ethics. Tentative chapters A tentative breakup of the chapters of the proposed work is as under: 1. Introduction 2. Ethical teachings in Islam 3. Social milieu of Shaik-ul Aalam(R.A)
4. Ethical teachings in Kalam-i Shaikh-ul Aalam and their analysis

5. Conclusion

Methodology My Methodology will be analytical and conceptual in nature. We will depend on the primary and secondary works on the subject and will identify the flaws which may be present in the methodologies of our predecessor Scholars who have worked on the subject before us. However,we will restrict our attention towards the ethical teachings in Kalam-i- Shaik-ul Aalam.

Tentative Bibliography

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Afaqi, Asadullah (1998), Taaleemat-i- Sheikhul Alam, 2 Vols., Meekaf Printers, Delhi. Afaqi, Asadullah (2008), Aayena-i-Haq Kulliyat-i-Sheikhul Alam, Life Foundation, Char-i-Sharif, Budgam. Kalam-i Hazrat-i Shaikh al-Alam Shaikh Nooruddin Noorani, R.P.D. 2993. Kalam-i Shaikh al -Alam, R.P.D. 1756, 2993, 3184, 3279. Kalam-i Shaikh al-Alam (compiled by Mir Abdullah), R.P.D. 45. Khan, M. Ishaq (1994), Kashmirs Transition to Islam, the role of Muslim Rishis, Manohar Publications, Delhi. Kulliyat-i Shaikh al-Alam, compiled by Moti Lai saqi (1985), C.A.P. Kulliyat-iShaikh al-Alam, compiled by Moti Lai Saqi, 2 vols. C.A.P. 1979, 1981, respectively. Lawrence Walter R. (1992), The Valley of Kashmir, Chinar Publishing House, Srinagar. Rashid, Burhan (2008), The first step in the field of Islamic Studies, Wisdom Publications, Gander porah, Srinagar. Prof. Umaraudin, Ethical philosophy of Al Gazali Ghamidi, Javed (2006), Morals and Morality (in English), Mizan, AlMawrid Arberry, A.J. (1966), Muslim Saints and Mystics, London. Baba Kamal, Rishinama, C.A. 24. Baba Khali, Rauzat al-Riyazat, C.A. 31. Bashir, Prof. Bashar (2010), Yiman Padan Me Vetsar Gotshy, Sahatiya Academy, New Delhi. Bukhari, M. Farooq (1998), Kashmir Mein Islam Ka Manzar Aur Pasmanzar, Maktaba Ilm-O-Adab, Srinagar. Abdul Haq Ansari, Islamic Ethics: Concept and Prospect, The American Journal Islamic of Social Sciences, Vol 6, No.1, 1986
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