Those who listen to their dreams can be dangerous, to themselves and to others, because they traverse the treacherous boundaries between conscious and unconscious, sanity and insanity, myth and reality, possible and fantastic, sacred and profane. Their dreams put them at the centre of the universe; other people and creatures often appear merely as manifestations of their own inner self.
Thanks to a journal maintained by Tipu Sultan to record his dreams, we know how dreams of the great freedom fighter led him to his martyrdom and annihilation of his kingdom for the sake of the greater glory and a bigger cause. We also know that some dreams, even of holy persons, can be satanic in essence, created in Lucifer’s workshop, and meant to mislead a saint and his flock to a path of eternal damnation.
Sheikhul Islam Allama Tahirul Qadri is not an ordinary mortal; he is a mystic, scholar of international renown and leading politician of the country, all combined in one mercurial person, hard to grasp and impossible to define. If you go by his word, you are bound to revere him as a living saint who was taught for 15 years by Imam Abu Hanifa, founder of the Sunni Hanafi school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) who lived in the 8th century, in the world of spirits. Through his dreams, he remains constantly in touch with the parallel spiritual world that exists side by side with the material universe. Like his worldly existence, Sheikhul Islam holds a prestigious position in the world behind the curtain of four elements.
Sheikhul Islam listens to his dreams, believes in them and acts upon them, for which he is both admired and ridiculed. He has recounted many of his dreams to his followers (most available online in video or audio format) that speak of the love he enjoys from the holiest persons of Muslim faith. According to his own statement, he founded his institution, Minhajul Quran, on the most sacred orders a Muslim could receive from the other world, even though he hates the Sharif family that provided the material resources to translate the holy command into reality.
Many years ago, when I was invited to visit Minhaj-ul-Quran, I found it an impressive organisation, focusing on modern and scientific education with an emphasis on the tolerant brand of Islam Sheikhul Islam preaches. The educational institutions under Minhaj-ul-Quran have empowered girls and provided them equal opportunity to access modern education, in many cases in a co-education environment. By now the organisation runs no less than 12 colleges and 872 schools.
In a country where merchants of death masquerade as leaders and guides, why should we be afraid of a politician whose politics has not resulted in a single incident of violence, who has a proven record of social services and, if you are not prone to scepticism, who commands such a lofty spiritual status?
We certainly should have no problem with the dreams of Sheikhul Islam as long as they do not impinge upon our reality. But unfortunately they can and that is what scares the hell out of us. We know that some of his dreams cannot be realised without the active involvement of the giants, djinns and angels of this world and it is right here that the frontier of his dreams meets the boundary of our nightmares, for a moment making us feel like residents of Elm Street. Some of us even suspect that like Freddy, Sheikhul Islam stalks us at our vulnerable moments.
Sheikhul Islam reached the pinnacle of his political career in September 1999, when he was made head of Pakistan Awami Ittehad, an alliance of 19 opposition parties, including Pakistan People’s Party. But soon after Musharraf’s coup, he received a basharat, a sacred tiding in a dream, that he would soon be the prime minister of Pakistan. It did not take him long to jump over to the other side of the fence.
In 2000, I saw him barging out of a meeting of Grand Democratic Alliance at a Lahore hotel while Asfandyar Khan Wali was shaking his head in disbelief. “Musharraf is being insulted”, said Sheikhul Islam. “ I protest, Mr Chairman (Nawabzadad Nasrullah Khan) and we are walking out.” For Asfandyar, this was an unbelievable spectacle. “Just before you people (journalists) came in, he was making a fiery speech against Musharraf”, said Asfandyar. “Politics”, whispered a close associate of Sheikhul Islam as he smiled and winked at me. Not many saints have the capacity to combine the two worlds so comfortably, I thought.
The other party that left the opposition alliance to support Musharraf was the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Sheikhul Islam supported Musharraf through the referendum and the 2002 elections. While supporting Musharraf’s election as president through a referendum, he said at a press conference that “Hazrat Usman was elected through a similar process.”
Contrary to the basharat, Musharraf did not pick Sheikhul Islam as the prime minister. In April 2004, a leading English language newspaper reported: “The Pakistan Awami Tehreek, ‘outcast’ from both the political as well as religious parties – and hated alike by the ruling coalition and the two major opposition alliances – is holding closed-door meetings these days to identify reasons which reduced the party into a worthless entity over the years and decide steps needed to restore its credibility.”
Rather than investing more time and energy on his party, on November 29, 2004 Qadri announced his resignation as a member of the National Assembly, issuing a 41-page resignation statement and soon migrated to Canada. According to Pervez Musharraf, Imran Khan also expected to be made prime minister and started opposing him (Musharraf) after the general picked someone else.
Even while migrating to Canada, Sheikhul Islam did something that could humble Willy Ollins, termed the high priest of the religion of branding by The Economist – he rebranded himself for his new playing ground. His robes and cap were changed and Sheikhul Islam was added to his ever increasing list of titles. For seven long years, Sheikhul Islam pled the case of the religion of peace all over the world. During this period he issued a landmark 600-page long fatwa against terrorism and suicide bombing in the name of Islam.
Lest we forget that God has sent such an entity for our guidance, almost a year ago, Sheikhul Islam returned to Pakistan to usher in a revolution and he is returning yet again. While people have come up with a number of wild theories regarding his motives, it is more plausible that he is only following his destiny revealed through his dreams. What stands in his way is the cursed system that is utterly incapable of realising his greatness. The change that our messiah wants can only come through those who are capable of upsetting the apple cart, hence our nightmares.
What Sheikhul Islam does not realise is the fact that the almost 200 million people of Pakistan are not bereft of dreams either and they have sacrificed a lot for the sake of their dreams. In the last seven decades, citizens of the land of the pure have seen many kinds of merchants and dealt with a variety of merchandise, becoming candid customers in the process. They have become particularly weary of buying sacred relics. It is not without reason that the sellers of halal chooran now want to peddle their stuff with the help of guns. Unfortunately, Sheikhul Islam does not deal in gun powder and this is a serious disadvantage for a saviour of souls in Pakistan.
Sheikhul Islam also forgets that the Pakistani state does not just have a religion, it also has a sect and it is not his school of thought that the state and its institutions hold dear. It is a state that has nationalised shrines and privatised jihad. It may be easy for him to amuse the angels, but quite hard to sell his stock to them. May I dare to suggest that for once Sheikhul Islam has seen a dream that is not so sacred?
Email: zaighamkhan@yahoo.com, Twitter: @zaighamkhan
Zaigham Khan, "Qadri’s dreams and our nightmares," The News. 2014-05-10.Keywords: Social sciences , Social needs , Social aspects , Religious groups , Social theology , Post elections-2002 , Social services , Islamic teachings , Politicians , Islam , Politics , Gen Musharraf , Dr. Tahirul Qadri , Imam Abu Hanifa , Pakistan , Canada