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

EPILOGUE
As I have tried to show in this book, in India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh there exists a valid living Islamic tradition which far from
being hostile to non-Muslims unifies compatriots of other faiths,
Hindus and Sikhs, in popular religious forms rather similar to those
of Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
This tradition is the cult of the veneration of Muslim saints and
their tombs, which involves millions of believers and not just Muslims
alone. The cult of saints dating back to the medieval period demonstrates
remarkable stability with no less remarkable adaptability
to historical changes, social cataclysms and the new geopolitical
realities. Successfully surviving all the political tribulations of the
last few decades, it stands as a living testimony to the once composite
culture of the subcontinent still uniting its inhabitants over ethnic,
religious and state barriers.
The present flare-up of tensions between India and Pakistan, the
unending tug-of-war over the ‘division’ of cultural heritage, heated
debates on the definition of national identity on the religious issue
make this subject highly important and topical. The cult of the
Muslim saint is at least one flourishing institution of South Asian
society where people of different creeds not only coexist peacefully,
but collaborate actively. The cult of the Muslim saints in South
Asia is not only a historical and cultural component, or an element
of popular religion, but rather a universal and all-pervading phenomenon
embracing the life of the subcontinent in all its aspects,
including politics, social and family life, interpersonal relations,
gender problems and national psyche.
It is as if the densely populated world of South Asian awliyā,
crowded with relatives and those related by marriage, namesakes
and doubles, represents a parallel ‘sacred’ history and geography of
the subcontinent. Every event, social movement, economic reform,
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