Muslim sufi saints
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Poster exhibition on Muslim sufi saints
Looking beyond the sufic stupour
By Samina Wahid Perozani
WHO would have thought that a poster exhibition depicting Muslim sufi saints would open in Karachi with considerable aplomb? Not many, right? But that is exactly what happened when the exhibition titled, “The Friends of God: Sufi Saints in Islam” opened at the Goethe Institut in Karachi last month. At the exhibition opening, the Oxford University Press also launched a catalogue of the images on display. While the display ended after a week or so, the 158-page hardbound catalogue is still available for art collectors as it is nothing less than a collector’s item because it features all the posters depicting Islamic sufi traditions collected by Dr Jurgen Wasim Frembgen during his career as the Chief Curator of the Oriental Department at the Museum of Ethnology in Munich as well as Private Lecturer of Islam Studies at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg since 1981 to date.
Each poster image in the catalogue is accompanied by a detailed description, some of which traces the origin of the image in question. It is interesting to note that the catalogue has been divided into four chapters, each of which provides a slightly different perspective on Sufism. The bibliography and reference to the saints provided at the end will be of particular interest to both students as well as scholars. The catalogue is a visual treat by virtue of the quality of paper used which, in turn, enhances the quality of the images being reproduced.
Including names such as Data Ganj Baksh, Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Khawaja Gharib Nawaz, Khawaja Khizar ul Islam (also known as “Pani kay Badshah”) and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, to name a few, the poster exhibition itself was an interesting viewing experience. Embellished with standard sufi symbols — candles, prayer beads, bearded, emaciated men and pigeons - the catalogue collection details intricate information which tells us that there is a lot more to Sufism than singing and dancing and drug-induced stupour. If anything, Sufism is about promoting tolerance and love, and rekindling the oft-forgotten spiritual ties and this is exactly what the exhibition and its corresponding book attempts to show. Ironically, this misunderstood school of thought evokes completely opposite reactions at times from zealots and their kind who make the sufic minded individuals victims of hate crimes because they perceive it as heresy.
The saints mentioned above are shown to carry out their everyday activities in the posters, thus, subtly pointing out that they were ordinary human beings, just like their followers, who had simply established a bond with the powers that be and were intent on maintaining it. Many of these posters have verses inscribed on them in praise of the saint. So popular are these verses that they have been incorporated into several modern-day songs (Junoon’s Bulleyah being a case in point). It is also worth mentioning here that these posters bear a stark similarity to truck art in Pakistan, particularly the sufi saint depictions, shrines and animals used. In fact, the colours used in these posters are bright hues of red, green, blue, yellow and orange, which are, once again, synonymous with truck art.
That Sufism has had a huge influence on art, literature and Islamic mysticism cannot be denied and to this end, “The Friends of God” is a commendable effort because if nothing else, it will certainly help those who are unacquainted with the ways of the sufi, to connect the dots and draw parallels.
The author has been annually conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Pakistan. His other exhibitions and major publications include, The scent of roses and the sheen of sabers: Islamic art and culture of the Mughal period, Journey to God: Sufis and dervishes in Islam and Nourishment for the soul: worlds of Islam.
