|
Page18
Even
Dara's own main Sufi teacher, Mulla Shah, a Qaddiri, later on
reconciled himself with Aurangzeb, who not only murdered Dara and
Dara's son but unleashed a holy war of terror against Hindus. Mulla
Shah composed a poem to commemorate the coronation of Aurangzeb and
sought his favor, which was not easily given. While a few Sufis like
Sarmad (originally himself a Jew) gained the wrath of Aurangzeb,
most Sufis, like followers of Ahmed Sirhindi considered Aurangzeb to
be one of their own.
Other apparently liberal Sufis were recent Hindu converts whose
liberalism was owing more to their residual Hindu tendencies, than
to their new Islamic faith. In short the liberal Sufis were rarely
universalists who accepted Hinduism as equal to Islam. They were
generally more open-minded Muslims who were willing to give Hinduism
some credit, something most Muslims afford to Christianity or
Judaism. In this group of liberal Sufis were only a few rebel Sufis
who really dared to criticize militant Islam and they often paid for
it with their lives.
Liberal Sufis were like liberal Christians in India who wanted
Hindus to adopt Christianity out of faith, rather than coercion, and
who sincerely promoted charities to help the poor. Some of these
Christians developed appreciation of Hindu philosophy as well, but
seldom gave up their regard for Christianity as the true religion.
|
