But surprisingly, he returned the bowl with a beautiful flower floating on the top. This legend spread far and wide by the time of his death in , after living a good span for 97 years. The shrine around his tomb, built in , gives a dazzling look with its Sindhi kashi tiles, mirror work and two gold-plated doors — one donated by the late Shah of Iran, the other by the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The inner sanctum is about yards square with the silver canopied grave in the middle. On one side of the marble floor is a row of about 12 inch high folding wooden stands on which are set copies of Quran for devotees to read.
On the other side, beside a bundle of burning agarbattis joss sticks , are rows of diyas small oil lamps lighted by Hindu devotees. Thousands of devotees flock to the tomb while every Thursday their number stands multiplied. Especially at the time of his Urs death anniversary being a carnival as well a religious festival and celebrated every year on the 18th day of Shaban, Sehwan springs to life and becomes the focal point of more than half a million pilgrims from all over Pakistan.
On each morning of the three day feast, the narrow lanes of Sewhan are packed to capacity as thousands and thousands of pilgrims, fakirs and devotees make their way to the shrine to commune with the saint, offer their tributes and make a wish.
Most of the people present garlands and a green chadar a cloth used to cover a tomb with Quranic inscriptions in silver or gold threads. Humming of verses, singing and dancing in praise of the saint continues till late at night. After memorizing the Holy Quran, he travelled all over India. Later he migrated to Marwand. During this period, he had the opportunity to observe the Ghaznavid and Ghori empires. He travelled innumerable times in the Islamic world due to which he became proficient in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Sindhi and Sanskrit.
Imam Hassan gave the title of Shahbaz to his father in the world of vision as a good news piece before his birth. For this reason, he was given the title of Shahbaz, and it refers to the high position of Wilayat. He had to go to Karbala by an order, where he reached Hazrat Ibrahim Mujab who transferred all the trusts and knowledge to him during this time. He had a high level of spirituality and was highly respected by the Muslims and the Hindus.
The first effect of his presence was that the market for adultery and fornication became cold there, hearts turned towards righteousness and purity, and adulterous women repented at his hands. He stayed in Sewastan and guided the diverted people to the right path. He improved their morals, instilled in the hearts of human beings a devotion to goodness and truth, and taught them to love one another. Lal Shahbaz lived there for about six years and spread the light of Islam in Sindh.
He guided thousands of people, and many lost people reunited with God. He had such a unique charm in his personality that people could not live without being influenced by him. Whenever there is a terror attack in Europe or the US, the entire world is alarmed, devastated. What makes this site unique from any other shrines or mosques is that no devotee is compartmentalised into any particular religion.
There are no labels. It is a space where different religious identities are embraced. This is a side of Pakistan that the global media would not cover, as it often portrays only a relatively fanatic, narrow version of religion in Pakistan, inspired by violent fundamentalist groups, incognizant of a Sufi mystical dimension that is bound neither by space nor time.
In fact, the spread of Islam in the subcontinent was not because of the invasion of Muslim armies — it was primarily owing to the tremendous influence of the mystics of Islam — the tolerant and pluralistic spirit of the Sufis.
The fanaticism that Pakistan is witnessing today is nowhere near the ancient spiritual attitudes and tolerant sentiments of the land. Its pluralistic history is being lost with each and every terror attack. Another saint of Lahore, Mian Mir, belonged to the same category of pluralist faith.
Khushwant Singh once lived in Lahore and was loved by all his Muslim friends. What connected Singh to Muslims was Sikhism itself. The holy book, Adi Granth, was not a collection of punishing edicts but an anthology of mystical poems culled from Punjabi and Rajput classics, from Baba Farid to Kabir and Meera. The writer is consulting editor, Newsweek Pakistan. Click here to join our channel indianexpress and stay updated with the latest headlines.
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