With all the excitement and enthusiasm of witnessing an enlightening performance that would consequently uplift the soul enabling me to see the Universe in a broader light ………I requested a friend to accompany me and share all the good that comes my way .
The play began with the character of a teacher (Murshad) who gives formal education to Bulleh Shah r.u.a (a Sufi who lived in Qasur from ( 1680-1757)and was known for his mystic teachings).The scene with the pupils (mureeds) right and left aspiring to seek the guidance of a Murshad doing the Wird of Allah Hoo went in line with tasawoof ;where a lover seeks to take training from a murshad to establish a closer Bond with Reality.
This teacher helps to acquire Closeness with the Creator and comprehend things with the Heart ,Mind and Eye of a Lover !This enables to see the Universe only as a manifestation of the works of the Creator ……and man’s own place only a trifling yet a quintessence of the entire Creation ;acquiring significance due to its connection with the Supreme Being.
An idea which can be understood well by one of Iqbal’s Verse
"Mooj hoon daria mein baroon e daria kuch nahin" .(Translation )Am a wave in the sea and do not have an existence apart from my existence in the Sea !
The dialogues if you have not experienced love at the worldly level (Majaz) which is a stepping stone to the (Hakeeke) Real Love then you will have to take a very big leap to reach the (Hakeeqat) Reality , is the essence of (tasawouof), the way of a lover who takes up the most difficult path to understand Reality and undergoes self annihilation to become one with the Lord . Since the Master helps to establish closeness with the Supreme Being he has to be obeyed and followed with the zeal of a lover who bears every test that a Master subjects him to; only on the inspiration that he would pave a way of getting closer to Allah.
The annoyance of a (murshad) ,guide is the most detestable thing for a mureed and he goes to every length to bring himself to acceptance by the murshad This could be seen in Bulleh Shah.s R.U.A anxiety in removing his murshads annoyance when he refuses to talk to him and Bulleh Shah R.U.A becomes fervent to regain his favour.
The dances with the “thia thia “also seemed to express the state of the intoxicated lover who losing himself in the Divine Being experiences a union with Him and reaches a state of ecstasy. (Another parallel state is that of the whirling dance followed by the flowers of Maulana Rumi (Ru.A).The dialogues incorporated the poetry of Bulleh shah R.U.A which were linked with the incidents which took place in Bullhe shah ‘s life!
Although none of the incidents ,dialogues and poetic pieces of the play seemed to be concocted yet the spirit in which the play was enacted and the reaction it elicited from the people plus the class of people watching the play is what caught my attention!
They mostly belonged to the so called cream of society which totally lacks any understanding of the basics of religion ;let alone the deeper side which very few understand .Their life styles are so hollow that it is an impossibility that they understood “Sufism” which only 30 percent of the population understands!
Bulleh Shah R.U.A disbelieved in offering of prayers and observance of other religious rituals without fulfilling the inner spirit that is required for such actions which gives it the real meaning and determines its quality. He expressed distrust for individuals who just believe in carrying out the rituals of religion and are severe and intolerant towards humanity .What engendered this mistrust in Bulleh Shah .R.U.A were the ways of the mullahs of his time who were narrow minded and dogmatic.
Bulleh Shah’s R.U.A way of life was that of a lover whose approach towards religion was obviously different from the ‘Zahid’; being a lover he could sense matters through an inner Eye feeling perturbed at the world just concentrating on form without inculcating Tolerance and Love for humanity .Being a Sufi he struggled to discourage the narrow minded approach of religion and encouraged an enlightening liberal approach which aims more at accommodating actions and conduct of individuals rather than shunning everything and everyone with only stress on the Form! This is defiantly the essence of Taswauf and Sufism where criticism (which is a manner of Mullahs ) and hatred is abandoned and love and mutual respect encouraged.!
But no where did Bulleh Shah R.U.A promote Secularism and disregard for the religious rituals which the play was definitely portraying! In fact Bulleh Shah R.U.A brought it to the awareness of people that a mere outward performance of the these rituals does not give us a Qalb .e Saleem i-e purity of heart which can be obtained only through the negation of the SELF!A lover who takes up the path of 'taswouoof' inwardly goes through a process of annihilation of the 'Nafs' and as a boon many truths are revealed to him where he discovers that the real way to Oneness with the Supreme Being is by loosing one’s own self in the "Divine Being" . In this process of extinction one’s own Identity becomes Nil!
Bullay Shah r.u.a experienced this Oneness with the Lord which he expressed in his poetry saying “ Bulleh Ke janay mein kaun”! .This is achieved by formally taking training from a murshud which Bullay Shah took from pir Inayatula R.U.A
Shahid nadeem presented his teachings in a way as to prove that the performance of prayers, fasting Ibadat do not carry any importance at all and should be abandoned !.
Reading between the lines I surmised that the motive behind staging Bulleh Shah R.U.A was not as noble as it appeared to be .In fact the presentation by Ajoka theater was a deliberation to create an indifference towards religion.
Ironically according to Bulleh Shah R.U.A ; the spirit of the action is important and not just the mere action so although the dialogues and poetic pieces incorporated in this play were all real and authentic yet the spirit in which they were represented was just the opposite of what Bulleh Shah advocated and changed the very core of his teachings.
The audience despite their total ignorance were full of applause and cheers! The real reason for their enthusiasm was that it seemed to them that Bulleh Shah ‘s R.U.A teachings was making the importance of Salath .Saum Tasbhee zero (AstagfarUllah )and making lack of adherence to them un sinful; thus providing a very good escape from the observance of these disciplines
While I have seen in Muslim societies majority of the people out rightly rejecting Sufism , due to their inability to comprehend and follow the depths of religion; considering prayers ,fasting and carrying out of obvious rituals enough to obtain Closeness’with the Almighty this was my first experience where I saw Sufism the (path of a lover) being exploited to promote an Anti religion campaign and make people totally careless towards the rituals which are an integral part of religion and are ordained to be followed to lead a spiritually disciplined life!
Mullahs of the times were definitely spreading intolerance ………..and mostly definitely Bullhe Shah was in conflict with the intolerant clergy but no way did Bulleh Shah r.u.a promote a total indifference towards religious rituals.
The writer drew a conclusion from his teachings according to his own desire and manipulated and misrepresented the message of Bullhe Shah r.u.a ‘s teachings which is conducive to producing disrespect for religion .What makes the situation deplorable was that all this was concealed under the garb of promoting Humanism with the actual motive of spreading Secularism and Freedom from the shackles of faith.
After watching the play a letter of criticism was sent to the director of the play but no answer was received .On another instance when I actually got the chance to meet her in person and made a reference to the letter the answer I received was “Bulleh Shah was Anti Shariat” !
Anyone who has read about the life of Bullhe Shah R.U.A would know that Bulleh Shah r.u.a actually took training in Shariat and was in no way An Anti Sharait figure. More ever Pir Inayat Ullah R.U.A his Murshud from whom he took training was a Hafiz.e Quran !
They definitely followed Tareeqat the way of a Sufi but Sufism in no way negates Shariat!.In the light of these facts it is obvious that the entire gist of Bulleh Shah r.u.a teachings were turned upside down .
The tragedy is that this play is being staged up till now in different cities of the country and even abroad; attracting some unsuspecting ignorant people but mostly the ultra modern class who being delighted by the idea of getting away from Prayers and Fasting accept the play with open arms.
Bulleh Shah r.u.a followers would be disgusted to see his teachings being used to drive people away from religion when he just urged to abandon ‘Spiritless Religious Devotion.’
While the Mullahs of Bullhe Shahs time were narrow minded rigid and cruel ;the worst people of that particular period and should have been punished severely for their criminal views and closed in attitude ………… in the current times the Ajoka theatre people and the likes are the worst people of the present society who should be sent to the gallows for exploiting Sufism and maneuvering the teachings of a Sufi to dissuade people from all forms of Ibadaa On the part of the audience it is advisable to develop some understanding of the esoteric aspect of religion !In future at some other instance if someone tries to befool the audience by presenting something Sham in a romantic humanistic light at least they should be able to read between the lines.
