| Awaken Bharata |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| SUFIS AND MILITANCE | |
| Another
illusion people have is that there was some alliance between the
Sikhs and the Sufis. Generally the Sufis considered the Sikhs to be
great enemies because they projected a powerful and later militant
form of religion that was hard for them to defeat. For example,
Sirhindi felt that the "execution of the Sikh leader Guru Arjun
(by Jehangir) was a great Islamic victory." Even the Chishti
leader Miyan Mir, who had been his friend, turned his back on Arjun
Dev when he was arrested by Jehangir and sent for execution.
"Shaikh Waliullah considered Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna Islam's greatest ruler as he launched and sustained the first real conquest of Northern India." Mahmud of Ghazna invaded India around 1000 AD and had as his greatest fame, the destruction of the Somnath Shiva temple, one of the largest, oldest and most sacred in India. Clearly his fame for destroying Hindu temples and killing Hindus was no bar on this Sufi's idea of the ruler's greatness but rather a sign of it. Even great Sufi poets like Attar and Sanai wrote in praise of Sultan Mahmud's destruction of Somnath as a great victory of Islam over idolatry. Shaikh Walliullah (1703-1762) advised the Mughal Emperor of his time to strive to enforce intolerant edicts like "strict orders should be issued by all Islamic towns forbidding religious ceremonies publicly practices by infidels (such as the performance of Holi and ritual bathing in the Ganges)" Fortunately the Emperor lacked the power to do so. The Shaikh conspired with the Afghan king, Ahmed Shah Abdali, to invade India and put down the Hindus after the Marathas had gained power over the Mughals. |
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