Sarmad Kashani: The Naked Sufi Master by Ali Faisal

In history, some people changed the course of coming time by challenging the existing status quo. Sarmad was among those who challenged the typical orthodox religious thought and made the emperors exposed. Sarmad Kashani was a medieval Armenian Persian Jew poet who challenged the orthodox Islam by spreading his thoughts. His thoughts never matched with the orthodox Islamic Sheikhs. What orthodox Islamic clergy taught was rigid and had no space for the free-thinking. Sarmad as a free soul raised the critical thinking and brought his free ideas among the mases. His teachers were none other than Mullah Sadra and Abdul Qasim Fadoski. Sadra and Fadoski were among the best of Islamic scholars in Iran. However, Sarmad had thoughts different than the mainstream Islamic teachings which will be discussed in this article. Those teachings also got him killed in a faraway city of Delhi. His life story is filled with ups and downs, friendships and foes and love and hatred. This article addresses the key events of Sarmad’s life that have shaped the lives and thoughts of many Sufis. These events would also shed some light on Sufi concept of homoeroticism and love. Sarmad was born to a Armenian-Jewish couple in Iran whose elders were involved in trade. From his early age, he was keen to learn about the truths of life. Therefore, to quench his thirst of knowledge, he continuously read books of different religions. It is believed that he was the first person who translated the Old Testament in Persian. In Iran, he got his education from renowned scholars of the time such as Mullah Sadra and Abdul Qasim Fadoski. The teachings of Sadra and Fadoski influenced him on a great scale. However, there are no accounts in which one can say that he remained Jew his whole life. Scholars believe that he continuously changed his religious thoughts to eventually become a person with many yet no identities as he has asserted in his poetry that he was a Sufi, a Catholic, a Buddhist monk, a Jewish rabbi, an infidel, and a Muslim. It is astonishing but true that one can easily find the homosexual behavior of male members in patriarchal Islamic society. However, when it comes to the discourse people generally regard it immoral. As Sufis generally challenge the established norms and values of society, they also challenged the existing maxims and praxis on love, gender, sex and marriage. Sarmad was no exception in that.

Around 1632-33 AD, Sarmad reached Sindh’s region Thatta for the trade purpose. As Sarmad was already a well versed and a person of letters, it was here in Thatta that his life completely changed. Abhay Chand was a Hindu teen boy who used to sing in the musical gatherings. His voice was filled with a burning passion and hurtfulness. At the very sight of seeing and listening to Chand, Sarmad fell in love with him. When the parents of Chand came to know about this, they hid their son. The pangs of separation of Chand made Sarmad a person with no interest in other jobs of life. He would thoroughly walk on the streets of Thatta to get a sight of his beloved. To his vain, he didn’t find him. In this whole time, Sarmad lost his trade business and clothes as well. Sarmad became a naked Sufi and thus remained naked for his rest of life. In love of Abhay Chand, he lost everything. What he did not lose was the hope of getting the beloved. When the parents came to know about the condition and pure intentions of Sarmad, they gave away his son to him. Hence, he met his beloved. This tradition of loving men has remained common throughout the Muslim world. Medieval Ottomans, Mughal India, Safavid Iran are key examples where we find these homoerotic couples. For example, in sixteenth century Sufi Punjabi poet Shah Hussain aka Madhoo Lal Hussain was in love with a Hindu teenager Madhoo Lal. The greatest Sufi poet Maulana Jalal-ud-din Rumi in thirteenth century fell in love with another Sufi poet Shams of Tabraiz. There are thousands of love poems on men which were composed in Arabic from 800 AD to 1800 AD. Active lovers composed verses for their passive beloveds. These examples may sound astonishing to the readers of Western World, however, these are true. Nonetheless, there is a difference between homoeroticism of Muslim world and modern homosexuality practiced mostly in West. In Sufi homoeroticism, they may not engage in sexual acts. However, in modern homosexuality they may engage in the sexual acts as well. Moreover, the relationship of Chand and Sarmad continued till the death of Sarmad. Wherever, Sarmad went, Chand would accompany him. It was like shadow following the body. After spending two years in Thatta, Sarmad moved to Lahore. It is unknown that for how much time he lived in Lahore, but after spending some time there, he moved to Hyderabad Deccan, in 1646 AD where he became a famous dervish. On daily basis people of all creed and castes would visit him. In Deccan, his fame as a Kamil Dervish (Master ascetic) had spread in almost whole of India. However, after Deccan, he went to Delhi which was life-changing and life-ending as well.

In Delhi, his fame had reached before him as people anxiously waited for him. Ministers, common people, alike went to pay their homage to Sarmad. Even Emperor Shah Jahan praised this Faqir. On the other hand, Prince Dara Shikoh were also among those people who went to meet him and soon developed a friendly bonding with this Fakir. Their friendship grew stronger with every passing day. Thus, it reached almost on every ear of the Hindustan. As an account goes that Dara would often come to Sarmad with questions seeking their answers, but Sarmad would answer those big questions with simple answers. These questions dealt with topics such as self, supreme self, morals, pre-determination, free will and so on. One of the questions asked by Dara to Sarmad was like, “Hazrat Hussein was killed according to the will of God then why Yazid is considered the killer of Hussein?” Sarmad told him, “My Dear Friend, What we have read, we have forgotten. Apart from the love of our beloved, in which we day in and out remain ecstatic.” Dara had to become the Emperor. However, the circumstances did not go in his favor and his brother Aurangzeb became the emperor through use of power and force. Aurangzeb was a staunch Muslim who held views of orthodox Islam. He disapproved of the idea of Fakirs and Sufism. His atrocities can be seen in Punjab with his treatment with the Sikhs. He, also, got his father Shah Jahan imprisoned. Now, Aurangzeb had two targets his brother Dara and Sarmad. As, Dara always remained in company of Sufis, Faqirs and Dervishes and enjoyed their gatherings and chats, he was aloof of the political matters. Because of his detachment, he had to pay the price. Before coming to Dara and Sarmad, every Sufi became Wajabul Qatal i.e subject of killing. Thus, each and every Sufi got killed on the orders of the Aurangzeb. The orthodox clergy could not bear the thought of the rising popularity of Sarmad as they saw it as a threat to their authority. Thus, they needed a reason to kill this popular Fakir. Therefore, they sought a plan in which each and every action and thought of Sarmad was declared Kufar i.e. Heresy to Islam. Qazi Abdul Qavi was among the staunchest enemies of Sarmad. He, too, wanted Sarmad get killed at any cost. After using all of his power, he alleged Sarmad of the following heresies. 1. Sarmad lives naked that is against the Islamic Jurisprudence. 2. Sarmad recites Half Shahada i.e. words that make someone Muslim. In spite of reciting “La Ila IlalLaah, Muhammad Rasulullah” which means there is no God but God and Muhammad is his messenger, he only recites “La Ila” which means there is no God. 3. Sarmad also denies Shab e Mairaj. Shab e Mairaj is the night in which Messenger of Allah went to Seventh Sky to meet God. Sarmad one by one answered to all the alleged accusations. However, all went into vain as they had already decided to kill him. Sarmad was publicly executed in the year 1661 AD and Dara had been already killed in the prison before. When the executioner was going to behead Sarmad, he saw him and uttered these words; Fidai Tu Shudam Bia Bia K Tu Bahar Surat K mein Aai Man Tara Khub mein Shanasum. "Oh You! I may get sacrificed for you, You may come in any face, I recognize you." Sarmad was martyred just like Mansur Hallaj and Fariddudin Attar, however, the legacy of his ideas never died. Even today, poets, artists, Sufis and common people venerate him on a large scale. His ideas are alive among masses. As the couplet goes, Toh Abhay Chand Sanda Nen nahin ditha, tokhe Nahe Khabar Soonh Cha ahy Mullan! Ishq Sarmad Je Pairan ji Khaq aa, Toon Thattey ji Ghityun mein Ghumi disjan! "You haven’t seen the eyes of Abhay Chand, Oh Sheikh, you don’t know what beauty is! Love is like feet dust of Sarmad, You may ponder upon this by roaming in streets of Thatta!" A 20th century Sindhi poet, Hassan Dars composed these verses and challenged the orthodox views of Muslim Sheikhs on the questions of beauty and love by giving reference of the Sarmad and his beloved Abhay Chand. Particularly, Sindhi people who reside in Indus Valley give examples of Mansur, Sarmad and Sachal Sarmast for bravery and standing against all the atrocities of the existing status quo. They cherish love by quoting the love lives of these Sufi poets.