Karabat versus Nazarbandi

By Irfan Aligi, "Mind over matter or parlour tricks?" - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Karachi: Some followers of Sufism, during the height of their conviction, enter into a state of ‘wajd’ or ‘haal’ (ecstasy) during which they claim to be at a place inaccessible to regular believers, and one where only those at the height of their passion can tread.

Very often, these devotees perform unbelievable acts, transgressing the threshold of pain and belief as known by us.

Acts of piercing their tongues, cheeks, nostrils and forearms with sharp needles of the thickness as a mini screwdriver, are normal. Apparently, not a single drop of blood emerges, nor is their any pain in the eyes of the subject. There isn’t any puncture or scar left behind after the removal of needle either.

Peer Syed Mahfooz Ali Shah Ejazi, commonly known as Shah Ejazi, told Daily Times that ‘Peers’, Sufis, ‘Qutab’ and ‘Abdal,’ are all categories of ‘Silsila-e-Tareeqat,’ the followers of different Sufi thoughts, but none of them is above the Shariat.

Those who cross the boundaries of what is normal to us are either imposters or have been rejected divinely, he opined.

“Those who perform tricks on themselves by piercing their flesh are only imposters. They have trained hard to control their nerves, preventing themselves from feeling pain and showing agony during these acts. This is neither a ‘karamat’ (divine or heavenly act), nor magic. It is simply ‘Nazarbandi,’ a deception of the eye.

They also take drugs to make their veins shrink, blocking the flow of blood, practice self-control and soothe their pain, all to impress the viewers,” he said.

A real peer, according to him, has to spend his entire life seeking spiritual guidelines from heaven, while only a few are successful in reaching the final stage. There are more than 360 stages to pass and those who achieve their goal never expose their talent. “It is at this stage that they achieve nirvana,” he said.

Ejazi said that whether such acts are bestowed divinely or not, they should not be performed to open public because Shariat does not allow this. In the media savvy times of today, these acts should be positively utilized for preaching different holy thoughts, he added.

However, followers of other Sufi schools of thought, including Muhammad Jahanzeb Chisti Nizami, told Daily Times that there is only one ‘Silsila-e-Tareeqat’ which is known as ‘Silsila-e-Rifa’ie’ and ‘Gaddi Nasheen.’

These devotees are especially bestowed with the power of piercing their flesh with needles and it is not jugglery, ‘nazarbandi’ or any other act of deception.

Follower of this silsila are everywhere in Pakistan and have a stronghold in Lyari.