In remembrance of Mansoor Hallaj

By Zabeazkar - The News International - Pakistan

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Cultured, lively and creative people, it seems, remain alive in every era and in every place, Pakistan being no exception. Certainly they are the assets of human society. Among these exalted beings include writers, artistes, painters, art lovers and spiritualists.

The last-named class consists of those who believe in mystical interpretation of life. Nazir Ahmed Channa, Coordinator of Mansoor Hallaj Foundation (MHF) Pakistan, who is also a writer and critic, believes that the world needs to remember those great Sufis who were the salt of the earth.

Just as he does every year, he recently made arrangements to observe the 1118th anniversary week of Hazrat Hussain bin Mansoor al-Hallaj, calling the event ‘Urs of Imam-ul Aashiqeen’.

The devotees and admirers of Mansoor Hallaj observed the ceremony with solemnity. Arshad Chaudhary, who presided over the meeting, said he had come from Gujrat to attend the ‘Urs’ and pay homage to the great mystic. Arshad Chaudhary, Sheikh Mohiuddin and others spoke at length on the deep spiritual thought and poetry of Mansoor Hallaj.

Channa said Mansoor Hallaj’s death in the gallows of Baghdad during the reign of Abbaside’s Khalifa Al Muqtadar Billah was in fact a big conspiracy to silence the voice of truth and love which was amply manifested in the personality and teachings of the great saint, and lover of God.

He observed that Mansoor Hallaj was a great thinker, poet, philosopher and revolutionary all at once. He stressed that the world needed to remember this great Sufi and Imam of universe-lovers.

Channa invites and gathers city’s writers, journalists, artistes, human right activists and other people from different walks of life on the occasion of the sage’s anniversary.A study of history shows it clearly that Mansoor Hallaj had been visiting Gujrat (Kathiawar) in India and Sukkur, Khairpur and some other areas in Pakistan (Sindh).

Another proof of his arrival in this part of the world is beliefs of Hazrat Sachchal Sarmast, who was his true Mureed (a genuine follower). Channa argues that the story of ‘Zinda Peer’ and ‘Khwaja Khizar’ popular in the interior of Sindh was nothing but the real story of Hazrat Mansoor Hallaj.