Muslim Saints of South Asia: The eleventh to ... - blog blog blog

THE MENDICANT SAINTS
possible that the Hyderis borrowed this custom from the Hindu Nāgā
sanyāsīs (Rizvi 1986: 307). From a sect of Indian ascetics Kānphat’ā
(a variety of Nath Yogis) they had learnt to make incisions in ears at
the time of initiation, inserting heavy iron rings in them. Ibn Battuta
described in details one of his meetings with Hyderis near Amroha
in 1342:
There came to me a company of poor brethren who had iron
rings on their necks and arms, and whose chief was a coalblack
negro. They belonged to the corporation known as
the Haidariya and they spent one night with us. Their chief
asked me to supply him with firewood that they might light
it for their dance, so I charged the governor of that district,
who was ‘Aziz known as al-Khammar to furnish it. He sent
about ten loads of it, and after the night prayer they kindled
it, and at length, when it was a mass of glowing coals, they
began their musical recital and went into that fire, still
dancing and rolling about in it. Their chief asked me for a
shirt and I gave him one of the finest texture; he put it on and
began to roll about in the fire with it on and to beat the fire
with the sleeves until it was extinguished and dead. He then
brought me the shirt showing not a single trace of burning
on it, at which I was greatly astonished.
(The Travels of Ibn Battuta 1962, 2: 274–75)
Although many modern researchers tend to perceive the predominant
influence of the Indian substratum in the practice of Hyderis and
other deviant groups, Ibn Battuta saw in it a similarity with the rituals
of the Rifa‘iyya dervishes active in Egypt, Iraq and Syria, in the region
between Basra and Wasit, i.e. in the cradle of the Arab Sufism.
Ibn Battuta often used to stay in the cloisters of Rifa‘is – he called
them Ah˝madī by the name of the fraternity’s eponym Ahmad b. ‘Ali
ar-Rifa‘i (1106–82) – and knew their rituals well. So Ibn Battuta
wrote about Rifa‘i dervishes in Wasit:
They had prepared loads of fire-wood which they kindled
into a flame and went into the midst of it dancing; some of
them rolled in the fire, and others ate it in their mouths, until
finally they extinguished it entirely. This is their regular
custom and it is a peculiar characteristic of their corporation
of Ahmadi brethren. Some of them will take a large snake
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