Final Conclusion Thesis

8/13/2019 Final Conclusion Thesis

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Chapter Seven

Conclusion

Studies by Ewing (1988), Oberoi (1994) and Ballard (1996; 2004) have forcefully

argued that the boundaries between religious traditions in South Asia have

traditionally been characterised by a great deal of ambiguity. Oberoi, for example,

rightly asserts:

It is very well for historians of religion to think, speak and write about, Hinduism and

Sikhism, but they rarely pause to consider if such clear-cut categories actually found

expression in the consciousness, actions and cultural performance of the human actors theydescribe. (1994:1)

Similarly, in his account of the various dimensions of Panjabi religiosity, Ballard

argues that despite:

Contemporary processes of religious polarisation, there is a powerful sense in which Punjabi

religion has historically manifested itself in a sense of spiritual inspiration which flows freely

across current ethnic and religious divisions, and is consequently quite specifically

unbounded. (1996:5)

In contrast to the unbounded and ambiguous religiosity of pre-modern South

Asia, scholars of diaspora such as Hinnells (1997) have argued that in contexts of

modern migration especially processes of religions standardization become more

common and certain religious practices are either eroded or lost. Thus, the main

aim of this study was to highlight the underlying dynamics of Mirpuri religiosity

and to illustrate how these might have changed in the diaspora.

Despite the fact that it is generally acknowledged that a substantial number of

Pakistanis in Britain are in fact Mirpuris, none of the major studies of South

Asian Muslims has thus far focused primarily on the religious life of this


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community. A study exclusively devoted to the religious life of British Mirpuris is

therefore long overdue. I have argued that the religious beliefs and practices

characteristic of many Mirpuris can reasonably be described in terms of devotional

Islam. Devotional Islam here reflects a belief in the power of the Prophet and pirs

as intercessors with God and the practice of certain rituals which provide access to

this sacred power. The central argument of this thesis has been that, in diaspora,

Mirpuris have had a greater exposure to modern neo orthodoxy in the form of the

Barelwi modern reform movement. However, in many ways, the religiosity of

Mirpuris in Britain today, and in particular their ways of following forms of

devotional Islam, is much more pluralised than I had originally anticipated.

Chapter One established that devotional Islam has been rather invisible in the

academic literature on Muslims in Britain until relatively recently. Early studies on

South Asian Muslims, (Dahya 1970; Saifullah 1974; Anwar 1979) were not

concerned with religion per se. The Religious Studies tradition (Barton 1986; Lewis

1994; Geaves 1996; 2000), gave much needed recognition to religion in the lives of

British South Asian Muslims. Lewis (1994) study showed the first major sign of

recognition of devotional Islam in the lives of Pakistani migrants in Britain. Geaves

(1996; 2000) provided useful ethnography and the first full study specifically

devoted to Sufis in Britain. However, anthropologists have also contributed

immensely to the study of devotional Islam in the UK diaspora. Werbner (1990;

1996; 1998; 2001; 2003) is in many respects key in this regard although Ballard

(1983; 1991; 1994; 2006), who has the most longstanding interest in Mirpuris in

Britain, has in recent times also turned his attention to religion.


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Chapter Two suggests that the study of Mirpuri devotion needs to be located in both

universal and local contexts from the wider mystical tradition of Islam to the

more particular South Asian Muslim tradition and specifically to developments in

the Panjab. Indeed, the cosmology of Mirpuri religiosity is closely linked to that of

the three most prominent Sufi orders to become established in India: the Chishtiyya,

Naqshbandiyya and Qadiriyya. The intoxicated Chishtiyya, for example,

transmitted Shaykh Ibn Arabis doctrine of wahdat al-wujudto the illiterate masses

through the medium of Farsi-Urdu and Panjabi poetry and music. Similarly, one of

the foremost intoxicated Qadiriyya Panjabi Sufi poets of the eighteenth century,

Bulleh Shah, was also a great advocate of Shaykh Ibn Arabis concept of wahdat al-

wujud. However, despite their popular appeal to the masses, none of the

Chishtiyyas devotional practices had the whole hearted support of the ulamawho

deemed wahdat al-wujudas contrary to the shariah. The sober Naqshbandiyya,

by contrast, produced famous Sufi reformers such as Shaykh Sirhindi and Shah

Wali Allah who most influenced the neo-orthodox reform movements of the

nineteenth century.

The Ahl-i Sunnat movement, commonly known as the Barelwis, came to the

defence of the Sufi orders and their associated rituals. However, there is

underlying tension between the Barelwis and the Sufis in the sense that the formers

founder, Mawlana Riza, was primarily a scholar and ultimately concerned with a

(modern) (re)construction of the certainties of religious boundaries that Sufis have

sought to transcend.


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Despite the critique by reformist-Sufi and anti-Sufis scholars and movements,

undoubtedly the kismetic dimension of religion (Ballard 1996) still holds great

appeal for the masses. In this regard, Chapter Three is an original account of the

Qadiriyya-Qalandariyya tradition associated with Kharri Sharif shrine in Mirpur. It

draws upon the translation into English of Urdu and Panjabi literature as well as

participant observation and interviews both in Mirpur and the UK. Mirpuri

religiosity was described in some detail in an account of visitation at the shrine of

the patron saint of the Mirpuris, Pira Shah Ghazi Qalandar. According to the

Qalandariyya, without ishq (passionate love), conformity to religious laws and

rituals has no meaning. However, notably, Pira Shahs devotee, Mian Muhammad

Bakhsh, who composed the famous Sufi epic poem, Saif al-Muluk, produced no

successor. Against this context, in post-Partition Mirpur, the Barelwi ulama

gradually began to gain greater influence. Both Mian Muhammad Bakhsh and

Mawlana Riza belonged to the Qadiriyya order. However, whilst Mian Muhammad

Bakhsh advocated a policy of peace with all, Mawlana Riza and the Barelwis

reflected a nineteenth century neo-orthodoxy that was much less tolerant of Muslim

Others. For various reasons, the latter ideology was given a further lease of life in

the Mirpuri diaspora that was beginning to establish itself in the UK.

In Chapter Four it was argued that Bartons (1986) observation, that there was a

lack of religious activity amongst early Muslim (Bengali) migrants to Britain, holds

true to a degree for the Mirpuris. During the 1960s, the religious life of migrants

was confined to their homes and thus invisible to outsiders. However, those with a

tradition of religious learning -big and little sober pirssuch as Pir Maruf and

Pir Ji not only maintained their own religious obligations but also began to


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educate other, less devout and less literate, Muslims in towns such as Bradford

and Bury. Therefore, in diaspora, the religiosity of migrants was transformed

with some religious practices lost and others gained. Despite their continuing

transnational connections with Kharri Sharif, in Britain, many Mirpuri migrants

have lost something of the intoxicated Qalandariyya tradition. This is partly due

to the modern urban setting but partly due, too, to the shift in emphasis from shrine

to mosque. As a result, the attitudes of mystics such as Mian Muhammad Bakhsh

are being replaced by the sectarian neo-orthodox attitudes of Mawlana Riza

especially amongst the younger generations with little access to the tradition of

popular Panjabi Sufi poetry. This has also led to the popularity in Britain of sober

orders such as the Naqshbandiyya, which were less popular than the Qalandariyya

in Mirpur.

Chapter Five examines some manifestations of Barelwism in Lancashire and the

role of the mosque and imams in reproducing sectarian attitudes and devotional

practices such as milad sharif,giyarvin sharif, urs, dhikr and khatam al-khawajgan.

There is widespread criticism of imported imams in Britain and, in many ways,

the Barelwi tradition is least well adapted to the needs of British-born youth. While,

in Barelwi mosques at present, it is often part-time teachers who are most active in

making such changes on an ad hoc basis, it was also argued that it is important to

consider the demands on the imam in Britain against his much more limited role in

Pakistan. The continuing Pakistan-orientation of Barelwis in Britain was

underlined in a case study of DI, a Barelwi movement which seeks to bring the

youth back to devotional Islam but has limited appeal.


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Chapter Six shows that the debate between Sufis and anti-Sufis has taken place

in Muslim countries for centuries and is now taking place amongst the youth in

Britain. The Barelwi imams shortcomings have been made evident in their

unsuccessful attempt to defend devotional Islam from the attacks of groups such

as Hizb al-Tahrir and Jamaat-i Islami. Even what I have called post-Barelwi

inspired modern movements like MQ, which present a broader view of devotional

Islam than Barelwism per se, has not made the same impact on the youth as its anti-

Sufi rivals. This has led British Asian Muslim youth to look beyond Pakistani and

Kashmiri circles in search of spiritual guidance in the modern age. For example, the

universal Sufi message of Turkish Cypriot Shaykh Nazims has made a deep

impression on some Mirpuri and other Muslim Asian heritage youth in Lancashire.

At the same time, despite all the social, educational, cultural and linguistic

differences between the babas and kakasof Mirpuri heritage in Britain, veneration

for the Prophet, pirsand sayyidsis still widespread. Moreover, the youth continue

to turn to kismetic religion to alleviate their problems on a needs basis.

In summary, the Mirpuri community in Britain has been heavily exposed to the

rapid processes of social change. Traditional Mirpuri religiosity was enchanted

and mystical. However, due to the onset of a rationalising modernity, and

accelerated by globalisation, in a diasporic context especially, reformist neo -

orthodox ideas about religion seem to be in the ascendancy. Religion in the modern

West is generally conceived as something that is sober, highly organised and

generally more Protestant. Indeed, a concern for the maintenance of strict

religious boundaries has come to characterise something of a dominant discourse

about religion amongst Muslims in Britain. Moreover, the contemporary global


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political setting tends to create more boundaries than it builds bridges. The colonial

crisis of the British Raj is replaced with a generalised clash of civilisations.

Arguably Mirpuris are now more exposed to neo-orthodox views due to both

education and wealth. There is an element of social mobility as people move from a

rural to an urban setting, people who were illiterate are now educated. However, all

such Mirpuri Muslims have not been made Barelwis. Despite, their prevalence in

the literature, most ordinary Muslims still do not use reformist labels to define their

religiosity. One can be exposed to a dominant discourse, a sectarian environment,

without it necessarily resulting in conformity. Despite the attempts of the

reformist-Sufis and anti-Sufis to distance youth from the devotional and kismetic

religion of their ancestors, and despite imamsand mosques efforts to Barelwi-cise

Mirpuri youth in the sectarian image of Mawlana Riza, my research suggests that

devotional Islam is still, and even increasingly, a plural and diverse tradition that

is being further transformed in the modern British context, a process that is likely to

continue in future generations.

Finally, it must be stated that this study raises many new questions and certainly

more than I can answer here. For example, the work I have begun could pave the

way for further studies of the relationships between i) pirs and their associated

institutions and rituals (urs, qawwali, mazars, giyarvin sharif, dhikr, khatam al-

khawajgan, milad sharif, ziyarah), ii) the ulama, imams and their associated

institutions and rituals (such as mosques) and iii) ordinary Muslims with multiple

identities and social positions - babas, kakas and women. Indeed, a study of Mirpuri

women, their relationships to pirs and imams/mosques, and their role in the


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reproduction of devotional Islam in Britain, would be very interesting indeed.

Religious activities performed by Mirpuri women such as mujiza bibiFatima(the

Miracle of Lady Fatima), durud tanjina (Salutation of Salvation), ayat-i karima(the

Nobel Verse), and nur-nama(the Story of Light) are all worthy of investigation. At

the same time, my thesis is a localised time-bound study of Mirpuris in Lancashire

and it would be interesting for others to conduct similar studies of the Mirpuri

diaspora in other UK towns, five, ten, fifteen and twenty years hence.

Final Conclusion Thesis

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