Some Sufis And Sants Of Punjab

(Ibn-e-Punjab, Lahore)

BABA SAWAN SINGH:
Baba Sawan, a famous Sufi-Sant of Punjab, was born in 1858. He always taught the message of brotherhood and peace between the people of all religions. He had beautiful white hairs, beard and eye-brows. In his old age, his eye-brows were grown so large that he uses to see by moving them aside with his hands. Due to this reason, he comes out occasionally from his small house. Whenever he came out, a large mob of people was always there to see him. He died at very ripen age in on April 2, 1948 in Beas, near Amritsar.

MAULVI GHULAM RASOOL:
Maulvi Ghulam Rasul Alampuri of Kapurthala was one of the most popular Sufi poets of Punjab. He was born about 1813 in Alampur, Punjab (presently, in India). He was the teacher of saint Baba Malang Sahib’s mother. He was the author of ‘Yousaf Zulekha’. ‘Yousaf Zuleka’ of Ghulam Rasool and ‘Heer’ of Waris Shah are regarded as the crowns of Punjabi literare. Ghulam Rasool’s potery infuneced many modern poets like Habib Jablib and Saad Ahmad Baghi. He died in 1874 at the age of 61.

BABA PHUMAN SHAH:
Baba Phuman Shah was born to a religious family in the 2nd half of 19th century. He got Quranic and Arabic education in early age and use to offer prayers regularly but latter he was so much influenced by the Sufi poet Jyoti Shah that he left mosque and became a Sufi and started preaching, “It’s better to serve God’s creation than to serve God”.

He was a rebellious Sufi poet. In his poetry he used so bitter and harsh tongue that no one ever dared to write, and preserve, his poetical work. He had a donkey and once, in a sunny afternoon, he was found to be in a mosque resting with his donkey. When people came to know of it, they beat him severly. This was not first time, infect, he had been beaten several times by extremist Muslims but no one ever dared to kill him because of his relationships with Baba Jyoti Shah and Enayat Shah Zeldar, both of which were highly respected by the people. He died a natural death, despite so many enemies, around 1940 AD. At his death only Hindus, Sikhs and some open-minded Muslims expressed grief while a large number of Muslims, mostly extremist Mullahs, took the sigh of relief. Today researches have shown that his poetry was against ‘Mullahism’, but not against Islam, or any other religion.

SANT BABA NARAYAN DAS:
Baba Narayan Das was a famous Sufi-Sant of Punjab who born and died during the British rule in India. He was the contemporary of Sufi poet Baba Jyoti Shah and both sages were closely acquainted with each other. Today, there are several NGOs, Inns, hospitals and educational institutes on his name, in the India.

BABA LACHMAN DAS:
Baba Lachman Das was a Sufi Sant born in the 2nd half of 19th century. He was the disciple of Sant Baba Narayan Das. He was a naked fakir (saint), like his teacher. According to Hussein Baksh Malang, a Sufi who met him, ‘the nakedness of Lachman Das was the protest against the inequalities and cruelties of the system (both social and economical)’.

Baba Lachman Das was a great humanist. During the bloody partition of British India, in August 1947, when the blood of natives was shedding like water, he went on the hunger strike and, as a protest against the bloody partition; he stood in a lake for about seven days, completely naked (as a protest), in the extremely cold and stormy weather. He stood there until the blood shed stop from his side. It was the result of his protest that his town became one of the safest ways to cross border. He died in the East Punjab soon after the Partition but he didn’t accept the Partition till his last breath.

BABA JYOTI SHAH:
Baba Jyoti Shah, born around 1840, was a famous Sufi sage and poet of his times. He belongs to the Chishti order of Sufism. He was the contemporary of Khwaja Ghulam Farid and Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. He was a very learned and enlightened person. His poetry too much resembles with that of poet Baba Bulleh Shah. But, unlike Bulleh Shah, he and his poetry has gone in fugitiveness and abscondment. His poetry was very popular among the masses, in British India, and was often sung by Qawals (India’s classical singers). But after the partition of British India, in 1947, due to extremely negligence, his poetry soon disappeared from the horizons. Today, whatever we know about this ‘forgotten poet’ is much due to poet Saad Ahmed Baghi and the Qawals, some of whom still preserve a small number of his poetical verses. British Indian Museum have also preserved some portion of his, yet unpublished, poetical work.

Baba Jyoti Shah’s dated of death is still disputed. It is believed that he died in the mid 1st half of 20th century, perhaps around 1926. The village ‘Jyotishah Alampur’ of Indian Punjab is named after him.

BABA KALI:
Baba Kali, a Sufi sage, was born in the 1st half of 20th century. He was a very learned person and well-versed in Punjabi, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and English. He led the life as a normal person up to the partition of British India, in 1947. But during the ‘bloody partition’, he was so much shocked, at the unexpected and brutal deaths of his countrymen, including his relatives, that he ‘left everything’ and start to live in fugitiveness, like a n hermit, under a canal drain, located in the Lahore cantonment. He lived there till his last breath.

It is said that he blown up his both eyes, during the Partition, so that he couldn’t see the bloodshed of his people. He use to sing ‘Heer’, the poetical work of Sufi saint Peer Waris Shah, in a very appealing tone, like that of prophet David. This was his only pass time. According to Hussain Baksh Malang, his only ideological friend, perhaps, in whole world, “he use to sing ‘Heer’ so deeply and in such a sympathetic way that tears fell from his blind eyes while singing.”

The killings and bloodshed during the Partition had unpleasant and everlasting effects on this noble soul. Since, he considered the politicians and VIP class for this ‘vulgar incident’, thus, he never hesitated in expressing his utmost hateness towards them. This rebellious, bold and kindhearted Sufi died in the 2nd half of 20th century. At his death, just four men were present [including few children who were there just to ‘enjoy the show’] and these were the persons who were appointed by the local authorities to remove his corpse from the canal drain.

When in evening Hussain Baksh Malang came home from his work, he was told about the death of Baba Kali, by his son. He took a deep sigh, wept and expressed his utmost sympathy with him. He said, “Baba Kali was the Waris Shah in himself; just as Waris Shah is living in us; Baba Kali too will live in us and his mission will endure through ages”.

MAOJ DEEN:
Baba Maoj Deen was born as Majad-al-Deen, in about 1876 A.D. He was the Murshed (teacher) of saint Hussain Baksh Malang and friend of poet Dr. Muhammad Iqbal He was employed in British Indian Railways and was respected in whole domain not just of his piousness but also of his high education. He was quite learned man and was well versed in Arabic, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and English. He had a beautiful white beared. He always preached the message of peace, humanity and brotherhood. He influenced many pots like Allama Iqbal, Dr. Wajdi, Malik Khushi Mohammad and Saad Ahmad Baghi. He also influenced many revolutionary leader of India and has close relations with them. Bhagat Singh, Dada Amir Haider and Masood KhadPoosh are the most famous of them.

Maoj Deen was the disciple and caliph of Enayat Shah Zeldar, the ‘Abraham-bin-Adham of Punjab’. Maoj was an employ of British Indian Railways (now, the Pakistan Railways). He died in Lahore, on December 25, 1959 around 3 o’clock, at the ripen age of about 87.

ENAYAT SHAH ZELDAR:
Inayat Shah or Enyat Shah, often called the ‘Abraham-bin-Adham of Punjab’, was born around 1855, in a well-to-do feudalist family. Enayat’s father was a rich feudalist of Punjab and was given the title of ‘Zeldar’ (a lord of seven villages), by the Government.

After the death of his father, Enayat Shah succeeded him as a Zeldar. Whole day, he uses to roam in his lands aimlessly, sitting on his royal white horse. Once, during his journey he met Baba Jyoti Shah, a saint with very attractive personality. He talked with him and was very impressed by his thoughts. After few meetings, he was so much influenced by the teachings of Baba Jyoti Shah that he became his disciple and left the aristocratic and feudalist life. He gave up his all feudalist activities and declared that ‘the land doesn’t belong to feudalists and landlords but to the people who work on it’. He, then, distributed half of his land and property among poor peasants and farmers while half among his relatives and family members while keeping not an inch of land for his personal use. After this, he became the ‘Messiah’ of poor masses while on the other hand he became one of the chief rivals of his relatives and local feudalists, who tried their best to stop him from his socialistic activities but all in vain.

After Baba Jyoti Shah’s death, Enayat Shah succeeded him as his caliph. Till his last breath, like his beloved teacher, he taught the message of love, peace, brotherhood and equality. He died, perhaps, around 1935 and immense number of people, mainly poor village folk, attended his funeral. He was perhaps the only saint of the world to be buried like a king. His sacred tomb lies in the East Punjab near the ‘Durand line of Punjab’, which divides Punjab between India and Pakistan. With the division of Punjab, his land too divided in two parts; half (<50%) in Pakistan and half (>50%) in India.

HUSSEIN BAKSH MALANG:
Muhammad Hussein Baksh ,commonly known as Baba Malang Sahib, was born to Ghulam Muhammad and Churaan Bebe in 1921 in Hoshiarpur (Punjab) of British India. He was the descendent of General Yaar Muhammad, the son of celebrated Sufi saint Shah Muhammad and one of the most faithful Commander-in-Chiefs of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. He was the fourth in the line of succesion from Baba Jyoti Shah.

Hussain’s father was extremely relegious person who use to send him to local ‘Madrassa’ (Islamic school), for learnig Quranic education while his mother was a liberal Sufi lady. She was the student of famous Maulvi Ghulam Rasool of Alampur. After her marrige she came Hoshiarpur and became the pupil of Baba Jyoti Shah and Baba Narayan Das, the two outstanding Sufi-Sants of their time. She died when Hussain was quite young. After her death and according to her will, Enayat Shah Zeldar, the caliph of Baba Jyoti Shah, took the responsibility of teaching the young Hussain. But he was too old thus he, soon, made his disciple Maoj Deen the new teacher of Hussain. This was the man who first time called Hussain a Malang, a term used for enlighted and dauntless Sufis and qalandars.

Maoj Deen was the friend of famous poet Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. Once Iqbal was sitting with Maoj Deen when Malang Hussain arrived. Maoj Deen said to Iqbal 'there comes my Shaheen'. Malang met Iqbal and both admired each other.

In about 1934, the young Hussain came Lahore, from Hoshiarpur. After spending four to fives years in Lahore, Malang got job in the British Indian Railways, Lahore. Maoj Deen was also an employ of the Railways thus both enjoyed each other’s company. Maoj taught Hussain like a benevolence friend and comrade. Malang Hussain had due respect in his heart for Maoj Deen and love him more than his father. To him, his father gave him life but his teacher gave him the way to led life. Malang was the favourite disciple of Maoj Din. He was the ‘Shaheen of Maoj Deen’ who latter became his caliph.
Malang was the greatest humanist of his time. In 1947, at the time of the partition of the British India, Malang saved the lives of many non-muslims from the hands of extremist Muslims and helped them to reach their destinations in India.. To him ‘humanity is the best relegion’. According to him all human beings, and all other creatures too, belong to one class. He so much love animals and birds that he never wore leather-made sleepers and never ate meat.
Malang died on October 31,1995 in Lahore due to a lung disease. He is buried in Mughalpural next to his beloved teacher Maoj Deen.

MALIK KHUSHI MUHAMMAD:
Malik Khushi Mohammad was born on May 21, 1927, in the district Amritsar. He was well-versed in Arabic and Punjabi language. He was the pupil of famous saint Baba Maoj Deen. He is a revolutionary Sufi poet and had published his master piece ‘Sachiyaan Gallaan’ (2007), which comprises very beautiful poetry on Sufism, humanism and revolutionism. Nowadays, he is spending his last days in Lahore.

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