Most of us have our own personal ways of keeping our spiritual well-being, but there are too many people in this country who place their complete trust on religious-attired old men who have limited knowledge of anything, even the religion they claim to be experts of, and take up title prefixes pir- or fakir- and take advantage of simple-minded people of the villages.
Seventeen-year-old Salma Akhter had to pay a huge price for the trust her mother placed on one such pir. On the morning of July 10, while Salma was peacefully sleeping in their room, someone came in and doused her face with acid. She woke up screaming and saw the resident pir running away from the room very fast. She quickly went to the tube well and splashed her face with water. But it was too late. The left side of her face had already been burned. She was rushed to a hospital in Bhairab where doctors advised her to go to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Jahangir Alam, a self-proclaimed pir, had been coming to Salma’s house for some years. Salma’s mother, who had been living with her maternal grandmother’s family ever since her father left for Saudia Arabia to work, stayed in one room with her two daughters. According to Salma, this 50-something pir had been coming and staying at their house on and off for some years now. Salma’s mother was so taken in by the charm of this fraud, who claimed to have spiritual powers to solve all their problems, that she allowed him to stay in the same room with her and her young daughters at night.
It began a few years ago when Alam started noticing Salma. “He used to make bad advances towards me,” says Salma, “and threatened that he would burn me and break my arms and legs if I told anyone about him.” If it wasn’t bad enough that the mother of this 17-year-old allowed this man to stay in the house, the story gets worse when she (Salma’s mother), besotted by the pir refused to believe that it was he who had attcked Salma.
Salma passed her SSC exams this year from Sarail Girls High School in Brahmanbaria. She was looking forward to getting admitted into college. Now she sits on the DMCH burn unit in stony silence, trying to hide her burned face, and wondering why her mother and aunt are defending a vile impostor who had just tried to destroy her life.
“My mother was a big Maijbhandari fanatic,” says Salma, “she trusted this pir completely. We are also very good friends with his two daughters and three sons. He lives in an adjoining village. We all know his family very well.”
Although her mother’s apathy about her daughters’ safety and blind faith almost cost her, her life, Salma’s spirit is not broken. She wants to put this incident behind her and get on with her life. She hopes the pir will be caught soon and she will be able to join college as soon as the new session starts.
If you believe in a pir, would be interested to know what is your philosophy behind it.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Its not just the pure and unenlightened who get misled by the fakes.
I think pirism operates on the political level of Bangladesh too. Especially the anointment of a successor process and the attribution of events, public works, credit and fault to individuals.
I am for political and spirituality, just not a daft ones that ruin peoples lives or enrich people. It because of these breaches of trust that many rational people stay away and chose less pirified religious tendancies.
Theres people you can consult on Sufism and its history in our part of the world, that is if you are willing and able to go beyond the whole ’syncretic mystical’eyewash or maulivi-idiot thing.
August 1st, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I am not sure on the origin of word ‘Pir’. I know some commonly used ‘Islamic flavored words’ came from farsi and of course many from Arabic. In their original location how these words were used and for whom, may have been faded away through its long journey to foreign nation. Word ‘Imam’ in Bangladesh invariably means ‘Imam of a masjid’, but in reality word Imam used to express one who led people (of course during Islamic era they led ummah). Surely an Imam can lead prayer but his task did not end there. In Bangladesh an Imam’s task usually one kind and that is led prayers. But definitely during flourishing of Islam, many individuals went distant places to convey the message. Message was always same but each had their different flavor. Unfortunately some people not emphasizing message they were preaching, took Pir and like people as their spiritual savior to a level which can be called as deification. That is disturbing. No disrespect to those past individual who preached messages, but today’s Pir and like, and their many practices should never be the base, essence or guidance of what Islam is and what Muslim should do or not.
August 1st, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Sufi-‘ism’ is the name of a movement or sect of Islam, which was probably started about 700-800 years after the death of the noble Prophet of Allah (saws). Although the followers of ‘Sufi-ism’ adhere to a few basic tenets of Islam, a lot of their teachings, beliefs, and practices have moved far away from the true guidance of the Quran and Sunnah.
“PIR” is the bengali word for Saint- after the deadth of our Prophet(SAWS)-there wwere 4 Khalifas who were equally versatile and accurate in the the learning of the Holy Quran and took great pains to spread the religion- after that were the Khalifas and then subsequently the Saints- all these designation meant that they were highly enlighted had good character and did good for the people. There are verses of the Holy Quran which are recited to ward of/protect from evil.These epeople travelled far and set themselves in different regions. However they had large disciples too who were subsequently tutored and authorized to teach and spread the religion.
In context of the Asian region,particularly Bangladesh,India and Pakistan the poverty level being higher these disciples of the great Saints found it good business to trade the knowledge for exchange of money and gifts from their clients and thus word spread that so and so is a great “PIR”- some of whom really are they have their graveyards here too- but in time the business attitude overcame the main good purpose and thus we get many “BHONDO PIRS”- YES and we should be careful of them- High Court Pir shaheb area has the greatest numbers of these Bhondos- However many of our Presidents n Ministers are also easily memerised by their so called magical powers of enchanting prayers for success etc.
Islam is the name of the Way or System of Life, that is approved by our Merciful Lord and Creator of everything that exists. When one enters into the fold of Islam, he leaves behind him every belief, every ‘ism’, every notion; and blends himself with the beliefs and teachings of the Glorious Quran and the Sunnah of the Last Messenger of Allah (saws).
My sincere advice to you is to first and foremost read and study the Message of Guidance that our Merciful Creator has revealed for the guidance of all mankind, the Al-Quraan.
Please stay away from these “PIRS” for if they could help other why then do they not live in Palatial Places and why they dont get FOOD DELIVERED ALL times and all other necessities of life.
I thank Hana for sharing this experience with us– its very tragic and please also spent sometime to make people aware of these “FRAUDS” and save lives– if the local people would have advised the Mother and taken a strong stand against the PIR than today this 17 yr Salma Akhter would be saved from the Acid Burn.
August 1st, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I think we are being told half of the story. Why would any mother allow any middle aged men to sleep in the room of young teenage daughters? Did she ever take money from the pir? Was the mother having affair with this pir since the husband was away? Was she selling her daughter to the pir? Did any sexual assault occur to provoke such a drastic action of the pir? I think the mother should have been charged. Sorry for Salma and hope she get better.
All these could have easily been avoided if proper precaution had been taken. Lot of ugly people live in disguise of religion. I don’t think religion is fault here, but the mother.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am
I agree with Hasi. It’s completely beyond me how a mother can allow a man to sleep in the same room as her daughters. But from what I understood in my short conversation with Salma, pretty much everyone in the house [the khala and nani stay with them] was almost on the verge of comparing this man to god. He used to eat and sleep at their place, and give them his blessings when someone got sick or something. It’s not possible to find out if he was giving them any money but I really doubt the mother was selling her off to this man. Trust me there are many people in this country who place such an amount of trust on pirs. I personally know someone who claims to be a pir and is actually a journalist by profession. People in my in-laws family believe him to this extent and it makes me so sick I just keep myself away from them.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 am
#5 Has Salma’s family offered an explanation? What is their explanation? Obviously a 15 yr old girl wouldn’t intentionally do that to herself!!
I too am mortified by the fact that the mother let this man sleep in the same as her teenage daughter! Pir or not! This is just sick!!
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:23 pm
phantom.
Tasawuf, the spiritual discipline has existed from the beginning, and developed from then as well. If you have an inclination towards it its there to explore. Lets not sectarianise it any further or create an alternative space outside the mainstream for it, its in the deoband school, its in the other schools too to various degree.
interesting how this article has been assigned a ‘religious doctrine’ tag though!
August 4th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Fugstar,
Refyr#7:Deobandi,Naksbandi,Quaderi–etc yes their style also exists– but only their teachings in accordance with Quran and Sunnah is spiritual disicpline-outside that the physical extravaganzas are their innovations-the and I stress on discipline–innovations are to be shunned- however the disciples and their concurrent disciplies of the region where poverty and illiteracy is wide spread-they have taken this opurtunity to provide verses from the quran in return of money-again you will find that “majars” also flourish and their keepers are running business very well–infact they have income which can be taxed.I am referring here these points in respect of how true it is that many illiterate (those who cannot at all read or write and then those who r illiterate in terms of Religion)-both trust this “PIRS” very much as Hana has said in his #5. You will be surprised to know that BTV journalists sometime in 1980s or so have displayed in TV programme how same “Mazars”-a little outside Chittagong dont even have any dead body in it and yet many people believe that if they dont pay respect and money to this “Mazar”-they will have bad omen soon and theeeeeir life could be destroyed.Again “Mazar” worship is strictly Prohibited.
In respect of the story here I am confident that the Mother concerned was convinced by this “BHONDO PIR” that if she and family would sleep in same room the whole family would be blessed– absolutely fooling the Mother’s blind believe.In this manner many were trapped and lost their cash money and or children who were later sold or taken to foreign countries as labours–
There do exist “PIRS” some of whom are good and teach the poor the correct rituals of prayers and reading of the Quran BUT they dont definitely dont want to sleep in bedrooms with ladies and their girls in the same bedroom.
The topic here is related to only one thing :To be careful of people who use religion wrongly– therefore the explanations given.
August 4th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Fariha Sarawat,
Refyr#6. isnt Salma’s statement enough of an explanation:-”“My mother was a big Maijbhandari fanatic,” says Salma, “she trusted this pir completely. We are also very good friends with his two daughters and three sons. He lives in an adjoining village. We all know his family very well.”- I wonder what is the reaction of this criminal’s family-wife and children whom Salma also knows.
Salma should be congratulated for her courage and cleverness to save herself and confidence that she still can carry on with her life.
There are many women right’s organization and I wonder how many render awareness programmes to spot criminals who wish to exploit them and steps to be taken to protect themselves,including some judo lessons.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
#9
What good is judo if your own mother is letting strange men sleep in the same room as you just because they claim to have divine affinity?
This isn’t merely a question of religious bigotry, but also a reflection how our society ranks the security of women and children. Had a grown man brought in the same accusations, would he be distrusted? This should also answer your queries about the perpetrator’s family. I doubt his family will believe a 17 yr old female!
Do you know that many mothers/elders blame their young girls for enticing attention if they complain about harassment/molestation/assault? This is our reality! I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve told me to cover myself when i go to New Market/Chadni Chawk– as if the exposure of an inch of skin is an open invitation to assault!
August 6th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
This story is really tragic and I hope this man will be put behind bars but not all pirs are like this man. What about Lalon for example?
I’ve personally met a couple of pirs and was greatly touched by both of them (one had opened a hospital and was known far and wide for his generosity and charisma) the other was a wanderer full of profound philosophical understandings of our world and a man of great kindness.
What is wrong with wanting to shun material wealth and living off the charity of others if you can bring them solace and spiritual help in the process? Why would that go against the principles of Islam?
August 6th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Phantom Phupha,
Im not advocating stuff outside the limits. I do urge caution in misunderstanding spiritual relations though. Sufism doesnt scale up to the millions in my experience, despite some of the movements using some of its content. Its more organic and growws through trust, which can be manipulated my the imoral.
I am less interesting in going through the long list of fraudulent people in bangladesh (secular or religious) but what if one mans pir actually has ijaza? Spiritual leadership is not democratic for goodness sake… is nothing sacred?
Annu,
Personally i admire the ability to pull of wealth and vision and great custodionship of that wealth and vision. This may be due to a different in taste.
Shunning materialism doesnt mean throwing it aside or pretending to to be a pauper(not a politician, warrior, shipping magnate…). Facing it and defeating its pull sounds more Islamic and Sufi to me. Every human being however shoudl be able to spot a skank when they see one.
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:57 am
I think its not a matter of religion its a matter of male system which dominate our religion state observation ethics and all. And a unbelievable thing that womens also bear the male dominating thinking.
Bibhuti Bhushan Mitra
Columnist