Mysticism vs. Fanaticism

Among the major problems confronting our people today—poverty, unemployment, inflation, lawlessness, and injustice—there is yet another serious issue: religious fanaticism, whose roots lie in ignorance and which, through extremism, leads directly to terror.

Here, illiteracy is generally taken to mean ignorance. But in the eyes of the mystic, there is no shortage of educated individuals who surpass the uneducated in spreading fanaticism. Merely learning to read or write is not education unless it enlightens human consciousness. The true purpose of knowledge or awareness is to elevate the level of one’s consciousness.

Buddha beautifully said that consciousness is even greater than the soul—it never dies; its radiance keeps spreading forward. Compare the level of collective human consciousness three or four thousand years ago with that of today’s intellectual evolution, and many truths will be revealed.

You must have met people in life who, though seemingly uneducated, possess a level of awareness far superior to that of many “writers.” Those who lack a research-oriented mind, who never seek the roots of any issue, never develop intellectual depth; their shallowness is evident in their words and writings. Hence the saying: “A half-doctor endangers life, and a half-scholar endangers faith.”

Clerics, generally, are not illiterate, but they feel such aversion toward reason, consciousness, liberal thinking, and modernity that they prefer to live in the past. Bound by their conservatism, they glorify old tales with a sacred hue, singing them like hymns.

“Turn back, O wheel of time, turn back!”

This obstinate clinging to outdated traditions and fear of new ideas is the mindset that has ruled this land of contradictions for seven decades. The Taliban did not fall from the sky—they are the product of this very mindset, which one might call “The Study of Pakistan.”

Outwardly, Taliban means seekers of knowledge, yet their level of awareness remains stuck somewhere in the 7th century. Taliban mentality is not limited to robes and turbans; it can also be found in suits and jeans. In tune with this mindset, some of these individuals once rushed to interview Bin Laden, saw Mullah Omar as a warrior saint, and sang praises of Al-Qaeda. Today, their sympathies lie with the militants of Hamas, whose “jihad” perfectly mirrors their intellectual level.

When Bin Laden first appeared alongside Abdullah Azzam, this mystic wrote an article exposing his reality. The editor immediately summoned him, saying, “What have you written about the holy warrior of Islam?” I replied, “Sir, let there be at least some difference between Osama bin Laden and Osama bin Harith.”

Bin Laden began his mission with emotional and fanatical slogans about liberating Palestine and Al-Aqsa and destroying Israel—but later became a tool against the Soviet Union. Our zealots can show the public as many green meadows as they wish, but their rhetoric always ends with lofty promises about Palestine and Kashmir—as if resolving these two issues would bring forth a global Islamic caliphate or rivers of milk and honey.

The mystic writes with responsibility: time will prove these were dead issues that devoured your resources. Your ailment was mental, but the self-appointed healers of the Ummah kept performing surgery on your knees and ankles. In this confusion, they sometimes attack Modi, sometimes see Netanyahu as either a hero or a Hitler.

It is against this backdrop that they now find flaws in the Sharm El-Sheikh ceasefire agreement, though the same twenty-point Gaza peace plan by Trump was signed with full agreement by Turkey’s Erdogan, along with Egypt and Qatar. The entire Islamic Arab leadership stood in harmony with U.S. President Trump. Pakistan’s Prime Minister, representing all, not only declared Trump as the true torchbearer of world peace—who had saved countless lives in South Asia and the Middle East—but, while being on the same page with Israel, nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the presence of European and Islamic leaders, he even saluted Trump and praised his peace efforts so eloquently that Trump himself said, “There’s nothing left to say—let’s go home.”

Even after such wisdom and commitment from our Prime Minister, if any “emotional brother” insists that Hamas are not terrorists and refuses to accept the clauses of disarmament, then are they implying that Pakistan’s leadership is hypocritical? If this isn’t fanaticism, then what is a fanatical mindset?

True mysticism only becomes deceit when it turns into a merchant of interests. In essence, mysticism teaches humility, gentleness, and love for humanity. To hate anyone on the basis of belief, to brand others as hell-bound while claiming paradise for oneself, is not the way of mystics—it is the behavior of fanatical zealots.

Mysticism does not hide awareness behind the walls of monasteries, nor does it blindly support or oppose anyone. To incite one’s people against other nations is fanaticism. Hatred for Jews and Hindus was never the path of our saints and mystics; they celebrated Diwali and Holi with their Hindu brothers. They even considered the Jews part of the Abrahamic community, calling them members of the same “One Ummah.”

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Baba Farid, Hazrat Madho Lal Hussain, and Baba Bulleh Shah were all such saintly mystics. As Baba Ji beautifully said:
“If you have understood the essence of the flower, what’s the argument?
Whether you call Him Ram, Rahim, or Maula—it’s all the same.”
When I attended the annual ceremony of Jamia Naeemia on the invitation of Dr. Raghib Naeemi, Chairman of the Council of Mystical Thought, a columnist friend asked, “What business does a secular man have at a clerics’ religious gathering?”

I replied, “If you believe in the humanistic enlightenment of the Sufis, you should also know that just as wisdom and sainthood are linked, so too do the approaches of a Sufi and a secular mind converge at higher levels of consciousness.”

As Allama Iqbal said:
“Theological asceticism, when it reaches its highest point, transforms into secularism.”

The reality of the issues of Palestine and Kashmir, in which you and the emotional masses remain entangled, will soon become clear—if only you abandon this “behead the blasphemer” mentality.

All notions of fanaticism are built upon the doctrine of compulsion. It cannot breathe in a liberal, secular, open society. The mystic’s heart burns, for he has much to say against the propaganda of zealots—but the people lack the patience or tolerance to listen.

Our government and the powerful have countless flaws; I have always been a critic of both their domestic and foreign policies. Yet, in recent times, they have at least made some effort to restrain fanaticism. Even their decision to grant clerics a stipend of twenty-five thousand rupees—gradually to be increased to fifty thousand—is a step forward, provided our clerics give the state the same respect their counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other Muslim nations give to theirs.

Likewise, in foreign affairs—though I’ve often accused our diplomacy of being stagnant and unresponsive to changing times—our current leadership has skillfully used Trump’s vanity to Pakistan’s advantage.

That once-isolated, violence-ridden Pakistan, which no one wanted to engage with, has now, through our leadership’s tact, charmed the American president so thoroughly that he now frequently criticizes Modi and praises Pakistan’s “wise statesmen.” When the U.S. President speaks thus, other nations too begin to view Pakistan with newfound respect.

Today, not only Turks and Arabs, but even Israelis see new olive branches sprouting from Pakistan’s peace-oriented approach. Hence, our fundamentalists should stop labeling themselves as “ignorant and emotional” and refrain from mocking those who think like the mystic.

Iqbal and Jinnah are long gone. Time has moved far ahead. The demands of this era call for enlightenment, broad-mindedness, modernity, and humanism to be given their rightful place.

May God bless the late scholar who once fought with General Zia-ul-Haq over this very issue—the spread of fanaticism in place of enlightenment.
“If the son has not memorized the father’s knowledge,
How can he claim his father’s legacy?”

And as your Iqbal also said:
“I do not dare insult the jurist of the city,
But I seek that which brings ease to my heart.”