RITUAL PERFORMANCES AND CEREMONIES

It must be focused a key point in mind that Nasir Khusraw converted huge concourse in Central Asia, including Afghanistan. He imparted the science of tawil and the difference between exoteric (zahir) and esoteric (batin) to the new converts. He taught them the legitimate succession of Hazrat Ali after Holy Prophet, the love of Ahel Bayt and the recognition of the Imam of the time. It emanates from his works that he never taught, introduced or originated any specific rite or ceremony.

No prayer hall or central platform existed for centuries in Afghanistan; therefore, the question of their rites and ceremonies as are performed in other parts of world, does not arise. The local elder persons were their religious leaders, called the khalifa or pir, who mostly inherited the office from their forefathers. They collected ten percent of their income as a tithe and delivered to Imam’s vakil. Some khalifas and pirs are said to have misappropriated the tithe and never cared for the improvement of their economical condition. In sum, most of the Ismailis in Afghanistan became used to it and never raised objection, and was difficult for them to overtake their domination or hold. The khalifa or pirs were very wealthy and influential persons and ruled on the poor Ismailis for centuries. These leaders had no basic knowledge of Islam and Ismailism, but acted as their saviours. They also solved the local problems through elders’ assembly (jirga).

The Ismailis residing in or around the locality of the Sunni Muslims used to offer five times daily prayers with them and kept fast in the holy month of Ramzan. They celebrated with them the occasion of Eid and other Islamic festivals. On the other hand, the Ismailis who lived near or around the surrounding of the Shia Muslims used to attend their mosque. Whether the Ismailis offered prayers with Sunnis or Shiah, or formed their own congregations for the purpose, but their performances were absolutely based through the agency of the interpretation of Nasir Khusraw. He provided esoteric interpretation (tawil) of a variety of Islamic regulations and rituals, giving the inner (batin) meaning of certain externals (zahir) of religion. The fifty-one sections of his famous book, Waj- din" includes his tawil of certain verses of Koran, the call to prayer, ablution for prayer, the five assigned times of prayer, the posture of prayer, alms for the poor, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and some prescribed punishments; which are briefly discussed as under:-

Adhan (call to prayer) or bangi namaz is a preaching (dawat), i.e., summoning the people who seek for truth (ahl-i haqq) to the recognition and knowledge of the Imam. The Prophet said: "The mu’addhins, or the persons who call the people to prayer, will be those who have the longest necks on the day of judgement." This means that the Prophet called the dai as long-necked, which in tawil means one who knows the mentality of people from top to bottom.

Taharat (ritual purification) means to make oneself clean from the acts, which are committed by those who stick only to the outward side (zahir) of the teaching. Ablution means the returning to the knowledge of the Imam, because water in the system (hadd) of tawil symbolizes the knowledge of the real truth (haqiqat). When one purifies himself from the acts of the zahiris, he attains the knowledge of the religion, which is the recognition of the Imam. Washing the head, the hands, the nostrils, and the mouth means an act of obtaining the knowledge of the dai and the mu’allim. Washing the face and both hands to elbow means the knowledge of both the Fundaments (asasayu, i.e. Prophet and Ali). The touching (mash) of the head and the feet means the knowledge of both fundamental principles (asl), and the rejection to converse with the wicked or with the adversaries of the true religion, and abstaining from communicating the secret doctrines to outsiders (ahl-i zahir).

Tayammum (substitutional purification) means that if there is no possibility of coming into touch with the hujjat, one has to seek purification with the help of the dai, mu’allim or madhun.

Namaz (prayers) means "being in contact" (paywastagi), because the word salat also comes from the root, waslat (contact, junction). This is the arriving at, or reaching the knowledge of the Imam and of the true religion (dini haqq), after the purification (taharat), which means becoming free from association with the adversaries.

Ruza (fast) means to observe the taqiya or precautionary dissimulation, and to keep secret from the enemies the tenets of the religion, which is to be preached (dini dawat).

Zakat (religious tax) is to teach the religion and make it reach the faithful in accordance with their capacity to understand it.

Hajj (pilgrimage) means to abandon beliefs which one originally had, and advance by stages to the hujjat. The uttering of the formula of labbay-ka means accepting the preaching of the dai. The ahram (pilgrim’s dress) means getting away from the practice and the society of people who stick only to the letter of the religion, zahir. Running or circumambulating (tawaf) means hastening towards the Imam. Throwing stones means driving away devil-like people. Taking the water of zamzam is seeking after the knowledge of the religion.

In sum, the Ismailis unacquainted with the religious interpretations were influenced with the rites of Sunnis and Shiahs. When their prayer halls were built and they were able to restore their link with the Imam of the age, they could enjoy the rites and ceremonies to some extent. The Ismaili faith however survived for many centuries in Afghanistan because of their unwavering faith and unbounded love for the Imam of age, and not the rites or ceremonies.

Sufism, which, in essence, embodied in three orders, Naqshbandiyya, Qadiriyya and Cheshtiyya, flourished in Afghan society and was especially influential in the middle classes of the larger villages and the suburbs of the towns. Kabul and Herat were noted as great centers of Sufism, but the whole of the north of the country and the region of Kandahar, including the Ismailis were much influenced with it.

Nevertheless, the visiting vakils from Iran seems to have taught them certain practices. Thus, few rites were borrowed from Iran, whom they applied according to their own interpretation, whose details are unknown.

While exploring information from the Afghan jamats, it is gleaned that when a child is born, they perform a ceremony called ara’yum, which is solemnized on the third day of the birth within the family. On that occasion, a declaration is made that a gathering will be organized on the seventh day (haftam) of womenfolk only. The local mulla (or moulavi, the religious functionaries) is invited for offering blessings. The date and hour of the child’s birth is of great consequence. Friday is a lucky birthday. A child born at early morning is assured of success in life; a children born in a storm is expected to endure ill-health or to have to face trouble in the days to come

The children in the villages obtained their religious education at home from their parents at the age of six to seven years. They are taught different tasbihat, such as Ya Pir Shah, Ya Panjtan, Ya Murshid, Ya Sakhi. The children are also taught recitation of certain chapters of Holy Koran. With the passage of time, the children study the poems of Nasir Khusraw, Maulana Rumi or Shams Tabriz. In their advanced age, the children go through the works of Nasir Khusraw, notably "Waj-i Din" (face of religion), "Shish fasl" (six chapters), "Zad al-musafirin" (pilgrims’ provision), "Khan al-ikhwan" (feast of the brothern), "Kalam-i Pir", etc. "Um al-Kitab" also played a vital role in Badakhshan. In many places, "Pandiyat-i Jawanmardi" (the collection of the farmans of Imam Mustansir billah II) was also read, but not venerated as a pir, which is prevalent in Indian tradition. They also stressed on the practice of zikr-i jalli i.e., the recitation of the qasida and the esoteric verses of Nasir Khusraw.

On November 2, 1923, Pir Sabzali entered the territory of Afghanistan during his historical journey in the period of Amanullah (1919-1929), the king of Durrani dynasty in Afghanistan. Pir Sabzali held many meetings with the local Ismailis in Faizabad. It is related that he also introduced the tasbih of Ya Ali, Ya Muhammad in all the regions he visited. He also distributed the sugar cubes (misri) among them, which he brought from Bombay. It was a humble sacred presents (taburruk) for them. It is curious to learn that a family in Faizabad, Badakhshan, retained the same sugar cubes with them by mixing other sugar cubes in it. It was used as taburruk for the sicks and is still preserved.

Previously, it has been stated that the Ismailis of Aghanistan and upper Oxus were virtually unknown about the reduction of the Alamut rule until the time of Imam Islam Shah (d. 1423) because of being at a farthest regions. Their communication with the Imam or vakils collapsed for over 150 years during the operations of Halagu Khan and Taimur in Iran. The Ismaili Imam resided in Azerbaijan, then in the villages of Kahek, Shahr-i Babak and Anjudan in district Kashan. When Imam Gharib Mirza (d. 1496) transferred his headquarters in Anjudan, the average Ismailis in remote places came to know that the residence of the Imams was in Kashan. It prompted them to add one tasbih of Ya Shah-e-Kashan (O’Lord of Kashan) in their usual invocation.

It is related that Imam Aga Ali Shah (d. 1885) had sent Pir Shihahbuddin Shah (1851-1884) in Afghanistan to examine the atmosphere around which the Ismailis lived. Nothing is known about his visit. He however prepared a Namaz into Arabic and Persian for them as per Imam’s wish. It contained six parts, and almost a gist of the Indian Dua of 18 parts. Later on, Imam Sultan Muhammad printed it not only for the Afghan jamat, but also for other region of Central Asia, Iran and Syria in 1898. During his first visit of East African countries, the Imam said in Zanzibar on July 5, 1899 that, "I have printed and sent the booklet of Namaz, why? Because the Khojas are not my only followers, but there are so many people. Since the Arabs and Badakhshanis etc. do not understand the Indian language, the booklet of Namaz has been printed and sent for them. There is no difference between the Namaz and Dua which you offer." It appears that the Ismailis began to form their own congregation henceforward to offer Namaz. In Afghanistan, the Ismaili Namaz is called as Kalimatul Haq (divine words). It was offered thrice a day, once in morning (namaz-i fajr) and twice at evening (namaz-i maghrib and isha). The morning prayer was followed by a tasbih (rosary) of Ya Ali Mushqil Asaan for 22 times, while at the end of third prayer in evening, the tasbih of Ya Ali, Ya Muhammad was recited for 101 times. The Kalimatul Haq continued to be recited till 1960 almost in all places in private houses. In 1960, the present Arabic Dua was introduced with four tasbih of Ya Allah, Ya Wahab, Ya Ali and Allahu Samad. The practice of zikr daily between 3.00 and 5.00 a.m. was also prevalent among them.

The obligatory prayers, tasbih and the midnight zikr were generally common among them. They however lacked the tradition of majalis due to non-existent of the Jamatkhana. Some gatherings were arranged in the house of any learned man, mainly the discussion on religious matters. In some places, such private gathering is called manaqabat khana, which is held once a week. When any vakil from Iran came to their places, they learnt the names of the Imam of the age and the date of his ascension. Hence, the gathering like a majlis was held in some places to celebrate the Imamate Day. They also joined with the Shiahs in the celebration of Navroz.

The tithe (dahyak) plays a significant role in Afghan jamat since many centuries. The Ismailis pay 10 percent (dah yoda) of their income to the khalifa in form of money, cattles or other commodities. The average Ismailis were the peasants, and they have mostly three types of agricultural land: the irrigated land (abi), rainfall land (lalmi) and cold-spring watered land (sard). There is a difference in the yield of abi as opposed to lalmi land, while the former is higher, the latter is of better quality. Sard land is plowed and seeded, then left alone without much attention and mostly spoiled by grazing animals and wild fauna. The Ismailis continued to pay the tithe upon the yields of the abi and lalmi lands.

We must touch here the mode of collection of the tithe by the vakil. The Ismailis mostly spread in Hazarajat and Badakhshan. In Hazarajat, several Hazara families make up a larger unit, called the tol, tolwar or tolwara means multi-family. Each tol has its own chief who represents his tol. Several tols in turn make up a tayefa means clan or tribe, a more complex unit than the tol, consisting of a network of social and economic relations. Next the highest unit in the social hierarchy is the qaum, mixed up of a conglomeration of several tayefa. It is more complex network of relations than the tol or tayefa, covering political, social, economic, military and cultural relations. Among the Ismailis, the chief of the qaum or the jamat is called as Pir or Khalifa.

Similarly, the terms navah (wide valley) qaryah (village), qol (valley), qala (castle), aghil (hamlet) and qishlaq (village) are used to describe structure of their society. Each navah is comprised of several qaryah, each qaryah of several qol, aghil or qishlaq; and each qol or qishlaq of several qala, aghil. The vakil generally stayed in a navah (wide valley) and thence he deputed his assistants in the villages, valleys, castles, hamlets, etc. to collect tithe from the local khalifas. Later on, when the office of the mukhi introduced in Afghanistan, the khalifa deposited the tithe to the mukhi, who in turn delivered to the vakils.

Sometimes, the vakils of the Imam were persecuted or killed on their way to Afghanistan, and could not reach to the khalifas. In some places, the khalifas misappropriated the funds, pretending that they had remitted to the Imam. The Afghan Ismailis passed hard life on the mountains and were illiterate, and none among them reported to have suggested to the khalifas or asked the record of tithe or maintaining of its account. It is also related that few persons in the remote location did not deliver tithe to the khalifas and inserted them into a leather bag and dropped into the flowing river, believing that it would definitely reach to the Imam. Many folklore are also woven around this practice.

In 1966, Sayed Nuruddin Ronaq and his friend Mohmed S. Nekbeen came in Bombay from Kabul. Sayed Nuruddin gave first hand informations about the Ismailis in Afghanistan. He said that there were about 30,00,00 Ismailis living in Afghanistan, of which 3000 resided in Kabul and the rest were spread all over the country. About 90 to 95 percent Ismailis were peasants, and rest engaged in trade. He said that there was no khanqah (cloister), but 20 khanqahs would be erected very soon. The Imam made the appointment of mukhi. No council existed for them and their problems were solved in the jirga (traditional group of elders) once a week on every Friday. The daily prayers were offered in Arabic like in other places in the world. They daily performed bandagi in midnight. Sayed Nuruddin further told that they recited the qasida in Persian, which were compiled in 56 volumes by his father, who was the mukhi of Kabul jamat. They also received the messages of the Imam with loving blessings all the times.

When the first Jamatkhana built in Kabul in 1969, few rites and ceremonies mostly borrowed from Indian traditions were gradually introduced. The reciting of the farmans, majalis during Imam’s saligrah henceforward also came to be solemnized.

One ceremony throughout Central Asia is prevalent including Badakhshan, Afghanistan, known as Chiragh-i Rawshan (the luminous lamp). It is however not practiced in other regions of Afghanistan. Some scholars write that it is a ceremony originated in Badakhshan, whose inhabitants were the fire-worshippers and brought it when embraced Ismailism, which seems doubtful. The oral tradition attributes its introduction by Nasir Khusraw, which cannot be ascertained. Nasir Khusraw however arranged the assemblies (majalis) in the villages, known as majalis-i dawat. It is also gleaned from different views that the majalis-i dawat later on became known as majalis-i chiragh-i rawshan, but we cannot take it conclusively due to the paucity of historical informations. It is however a traditional gathering with different kinds, such as dawat-i baqa, dawat-i fana, dawat-i safa and dawat-i raza. When one dies, his family members and relatives assemble in his house for three days, known as the dawat-i fana. The white cloth is spread on the ground and a lamp (Persian, chiragh, or Arabic, misbah) is lit in the middle. No other light is allowed to be kept or used as long as this lamp remains burning. It is also said that a specific person mutters Koranic verses or other religious formula, while preparing the wicks of the lamp and inserting the oil made of the fat of sacrificial animal. With loud chanting of salawat, the qazi stands in front of the khalifa and places the lamp down again three times. When the lamp is kindled, the believers maintain in minds that the Imam is the bearer of the living light of God on earth, and this ceremony is a symbol of the believer who is a living martyr, and there is reward and light for him in this material world and the world hereafter. It also imparts that when a believer dies, it is his physical death not spiritual. His soul quits the earthy body and wears an attire of paradise (subtle body). He was a dark himself on earth, but now he becomes light. The brightness is thus eluded symbolically in the lamp. There is a separation among bodies, but not in the light. There is nothing except union in the light after death. It emanates in another interpretation that the fire denotes ardent love and its light is the knowledge, therefore, unless a believer burns in the fire of love with Imam, the light of knowledge is not flashed in his heart. The ceremony of Chiragh-i Rawshan can also be solemnized for a person who is alive, known as dawat-i baqa.

The tombs of the Pirs became places of pilgrimage (ziyarat) in some places, and most of them have a reputation to cure specific illness. Throughout the country there is a strong belief in divination. Pilgrims or other visitors to the graves are given sacred presents (taburruk) in the form of fruits or bread. In most places, the Ismailis in less number visited the pilgrimage lands (ziyaratgahs), which are the alleged sites of the tombs of religious figures or martyrs. Such as Ziyaratgah-e Abul Fazl, the hoofprints of horse of a son of Hazrat Ali is located in Kabul. The Ziyarat-e Sakhi, the print of a hand with open fingers at the foot of the Asmaye Mountain in Kabul was also venerated. Along the same mountain range can be seen a small passage formed as the result of an avalanche, believed by the people to have been caused by Zulfikar, the famous sword of Hazrat Ali, and so is regarded as the Ziyaratgah-e Sang-e Zolfaqar, and was also attended by few Ismailis

 

[HISTORICAL REVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN] [AFGHANS OF AFGHANISTAN] [ISMAILI MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN] [ISMAILIS IN AFGHANISTAN]

[RITUAL PERFORMANCES & CEREMONIES] [THE SAYEDS OF KAYAN] [SPLIT IN AFGHAN JAMAT]

[IMAM’S REPRESENTATIVE IN AFGHANISTAN] [ANOTHER SPLIT IN AFGHAN JAMAT] [WAZIR CAPTAIN AMIR ALI KARIM IN KABUL]

[AFGHAN DELEGATIONS IN BANGLADESH] [NADERISM] [CASUALTIES & MIGRATION OF THE ISMAILIS]

[AFGHAN DELEGATIONS IN PESHAWAR] [CONCLUSION] [BIBLIOGRAPHY]

[LINKS TO ARTICLES ON THE WEB]


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