Monday 27 April 2015

Fatman-A Gift of Hindu Raja to Imamis


 Image result for fatman varanasi
 Zuljina Procession Proceeding  to Rauza Fatman -Varanasi

 
By Dr.Mazhar Naqvi


Rauza-E-Fatman is one of the holiest 1338 Muslim shrines existing in Hindu’s most sacred Varanasi city, formerly known as Banaras.. The shrine not only conveys the message of communal harmony and peaceful coexistence but also serves as the main center of Muharram ceremonies observed with traditional reverence by the followers of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad and his ‘Ahle- Bait’( Progeny) in the city of Lord Shiva. It is considered to be a symbol of Hindu- Muslim unity as the shrines stand on the land granted by Raja of Banaras to a great Islamic scholar and ardent devotee of ‘Ahle-Bait’, Sheikh Muhammad ‘Ali "Hazin" Gilani (1692-1766).
The sheikh had arrived in India from Isphahan (Iran) in 1734 after becoming embroiled in an insurrection against Nadir Shah’s governor of Lar province. Initially, he tried to settle down in Multan, Lahore and Delhi but his haughtiness as an upper class Iranian with great scholarly and literary talents earned him more enemies than friends. He even refused to occupy a coveted post offered by the Mughal emperor. Finding the atmosphere in Delhi not congenial for his mission to propagate the true teachings of Islam, he headed for Bengal in 1748 but found solace in a pre-dominantly Hindu city in 1750.The scholar who had declined royal favor of a powerful king accepted the land grant and cash from a petty ruler to build two mosques and a tomb for himself. He did so after observing the keenness of elite Hindus, especially Brahmins, to learn Persian and encourage multi-religious characteristics.  
He devoted the most of his time in writing and teaching Persian poetry, without, however, giving up his religious role. He composed  many fine qasidas in praise of  Hazrat 'Ali, Imam Ali Musa Raza, Imam Ahmad bin Musa al-Kazim, and Imam Mahdi Akhiriuzzaman in his Diwan. Hazin's construction of his house, grave, mosques and garden at Fatman; his composition of Risala-i-Imamat; al-Ighasat fi'l Imamat; Risala fil Imamat ; and Qasida-i-Lamiyya lend further support to spread of love for Ahle-Bait in the neighboring parts of Varanasi.

The spot where Sheikh wished to be buried was a thorny, uneven and unleveled land. He improved it into a cultivable state and allotted a part of it for his grave and declaring the rest of the land granted to him as a waqf(Trust). Towards the end of his life, Hazin passed his days with bare necessities and solitude. He did not visit the house of any one—rich or poor. He did not receive anything from anybody; rather he gave frequently to the poor as his means permitted. He led an irreproachable life and desired only union with God..He used to visit the proposed site of his burial on Thursdays and sit there to distribute alms to the needy.
The construction of shrine began when Sheikh happened to be sleeping under a myrtle tree at the spot where his grave exists now. He had a dreadful dream. Hazin saw in his dream drops of blood dripping from the leaves of the tree with all his clothes drenched in blood. The frightened Sheikh, with a horrible scream on his lips, tried to interpret the dream. While pondering, it suddenly flashed to him that Bibi Fatima, daughter of Prophet Muhammad, was expecting him to erect a shrine in her honor. Hazin devoted rest of his life to the construction of a rauza for Bibi Fatima from whose pious name the shrine derives its own identity as Fatman. The shrine today not only contains rauza of Bibi Fatima but also the imprint of the right hand of her husband and spiritual successor of the Prophet, Hazrat Ali. The imprint is made of a slate-colored stone and is placed in a lowly room. The sheikh on the basis of his dream was of the view that ‘Astana’(Dargah) of Hazrat Saiyid-un-Nisa Fatimat-az-Zahra and the imprint  attributed to his Shah-E-Mardan ,Hazrat Ali existed at the site of Fatman time immemorial and he was only chosen to expose them to people at large.

Devotees of ‘Ahle-Bait has also contributed generously on the development and renovation of  Fatman by erecting shrines dedicated to Imam Husain, Maula Abbas and other martyrs of Karbala. The place is also dotted by Imambara and mosque amidst the tomb of Hazin is near Rauza of Bibi Fatima. His simple grave is built of red stone on a raised platform. There is nothing elaborate or pompous about it. It is not even covered, indicating that he was simply a slave of Masoomeen. Fatman is also used as graveyard and happens to be the last resting place of eminent scholars and personalities, including Bharat Ratna and Shehnai Maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. There is very little open space left at the shrine for burial as every lover of ‘Ahle-Bait prefers to be buried here. The only shortcoming on the part of devotees has been the neglect of shrine’s founder as no serious effort has been made to publish the works of Hazin or hold annual religious congregations for his ‘Isaal-e-Sawab’.  Such initiatives will be a befitting tribute to a great scholar and poet who  was born in a happy little family of scholars with a decent family income. Then, he fell prey to innumerable and interminable grieves. He lost his father in 1127 A.H. and mother 2 years later, followed by the death of two brothers in the prime of their youth in 1134 A.H. His native land was devastated by Afghans, Turks, and Russians, and the royal Safavi family of his patrons exterminated by Nadir Shah. Hazin also lost many friends throughout Iran. His library and all his possessions also extinguished in the series of hardships that befell on him. Yet nothing could deter him from dedicating his to promotion and preservation of azadari in a place far from his native land.( References available on request)



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