Roshani Movement and Pashtun Nationalism

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Salutations and Peace be upon You, My Master, Apostle of Allah

As the Prophet Daniel عليه السلام was hurled into the den of lions for refusing to pray to King Darius, likewise Mujaddid Alf Thani, Imam Rabbani, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi رحمة الله عليه was imprisoned at the Gwalior Fort by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1619 for refusing to prostrate to him. 

King Darius, witnessing the miracle of Prophet Daniel being unharmed by the lions, released him and not only honored him but decreed that the people should worship the God of Daniel. Likewise, Emperor Jahangir had Mujaddid Alf Thani, Shaikh Ahmad released from imprisonment and in fact became his disciple and fell under his charismatic influence.

The zeal for the oneness of God, and willingness to endure persecution and even death for its sake often moves the heart of many an unbeliever and evildoer to repent and later honor the Believer for his uncompromising attitude.

The way of the people of Sunnah and the Jama’ah is therefore not to raise the sword against tyrants and evil rulers, but rather to speak truth to power and firmly invite them to amend their ways and subordinate themselves to the divine law of Allah سبحانه وتعالي

The tendency to revolt against the government is something far from the prophetic methodology and the way of the saints and mystics of Islam who follow in the footsteps of the Prophets. Rebellion is from the madhhab of the Kharijites and Shi’ites.

Apparently motivated by a desire for social justice and egalitarianism, some misguided individuals and groups from this Ummah rose up in rebellion against the government of their day. 

Consider the movement of Bayazid Ansari, so-called Pir Roshan of Jalandhar, a 16th century Pashtun tribesman who rose up in revolt against the Mughals. Bayazid and his Roshani movement were accused of holding heterodox doctrines too, such as pantheism and the transmigration of souls. They were characterized as antinomian, seeking to replace the Islamic Shari’ah with the code of Pashtunwali.

In many ways, the Roshani movement resembled the earlier heresy of the Qaramitah, and the ideology behind the Zanj rebellion. Its anti-feudal and egalitarian character was the basis for a last ditch nativist and ethnic revolt against orthodox Islam.

Indeed, there are echoes of the Roshani movement today in the terrorist insurgency of the TTP in northwestern Pakistan, and of Marxist Baluch and Kurdish separatist factions elsewhere. Well, the TTP insurgency matches closer the legacy of the Roshani movement not merely because it too is based in Pashtun ethno-nationalism, but also because it presents a religious coloring unlike the secularist Baluch and Kurdish separatists.

The Roshani movement could be considered in the line of earlier nativist Iranian false prophets and heretics who rose up in revolt against Arab Muslim rule.

It has come to my attention that some elements within Pashtun ethno-nationalism view Bayazid Jalandhari positively and take inspiration from him and his heretical movement.

The Mughals established themselves in the Subcontinent after overthrowing the Lodi dynasty, which was Afghan, and taking possession of Delhi. This is partly what sparked the Roshani movement’s uprising, for it could not stomach the rule of Mughals, non-Afghans. Likewise, the TTP and other Pashtun nationalist anti-State activity is largely animated by an unwillingness to accept the apparent ascendancy and domination of an Indic people—the Punjabis—identified as the power behind the modern state of Pakistan.

Prioritizing their narrow ethnic interests and sense of honor over and above the glory of Islam and the rise of a new and mighty Islamic power is certainly what unites the 16th century Roshani movement with the 20th and 21st century Pashtun nationalist sentiment against Pakistan. Pakistan is essentially the heir of the Mughal legacy, representing a shift from the palaces of Delhi to General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.