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

THE INDIAN TOMB
form with a dome into a prayer and ritual complex (dargāh), where
side by side with the tomb proper there used to be a small mosque
with minaret, living accommodation for the pīr (‘old man’), or the
‘successor of a pīr’ the sajjādanishīn (literally ‘one sitting on his
prayer rug’), cells for dervishes (h˛ujra), halls for gatherings (majālis),
for hearing music (samā‘) 10 and for celebration of the saint’s birthday
(maulūd) and day of demise (‘urs), a guest house for pilgrims and also
a public kitchen, where any visitor or beggar could get food free of
charge. Some of these premises were separate buildings, but most
of them were located in a covered gallery or arcade (riwāq), bordering
the spacious courtyard of the dargāh. Apart from the main sacred
place, the tomb of the saint, comparatively modest mausoleums of
his deputies (khalīfa), the graves of disciples (murīds) and of close
male relatives were also located on the territory of the dargāh.
The structure of a dargāh in many respects bears a resemblance both
to the structure of the cloisters of the Sufis (khānqāh, jamā‘at-khāna,
zāwiya) in various lands of Islam and the Hindu shelter for pilgrims,
the dharma´sālā, and even to the Sikh temple, gurdwārā, which gives
the communal refectory, or langar its name. The idea which had taken
root over the centuries about the omnipotence of saints not only in
spiritual but also in temporal matters led to their identification with
temporal sovereigns, hence the commonly used prefix of the title Shāh
to the name or nickname of saints and the other name of dargāh –
darbār – also signifying a ruler’s court or hall for receptions.
The central ritual act of the cult of saints was pilgrimage to their
tombs, ziyārat (literally ‘visit’), 11 the practice of which took shape in
Islam quite late. This ritual, substantially at variance with the spirit
of early Islam, came into being under the manifest influence of local
religious beliefs in the countries conquered by Arabs. It is from this
that the basic features of ziyārat take their origin: the succession of the
places of devotion, when one and the same place in the course of
centuries is visited for religious purpose by pilgrims of various faiths,
and great diversity of rites, substantially varying from one Muslim
country to the other. In short, fusing of ziyārat with pre-Islamic or
non-Islamic forms of pilgrimage brought about the phenomenon of
the rise of ‘inter-religious shrines’.
The practice of pilgrimage was in existence in India long before the
advent of Islam; thus various sacred objects, visited by pilgrims, are
mentioned even in the Mahābhāratā and Purāņas. This practice bears
little resemblance to Muslim ziyārat; it comprises ablution and libation
in sacred rivers and reservoirs, circumambulation of sacred objects
from left to right (pradakshiņya), memorial offerings to forefathers
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