BAWA MUHAIYADDEEN: A STUDY OF MYSTICAL INTERRELIGIOSITY A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Saiyida Zakiya Hasna Islam August 2017 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Khalid Y. Blankinship, Advisory Chair, Department of Religion Dr. Terry Rey, Department of Religion Dr. Sydney White, Department of Religion Dr. Jayasinhji Jhala, External Member, Department of Anthropology © Copyright 2017 by Saiyida Zakiya Hasna Islam All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT The focus of the study is on the teachings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, the mystic saint whose tomb is in Coatesville, PA, which is the only Sufi shrine in North America. Much has been written on the community of Bawa’s followers whose main office is in the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA, USA. However, as far as my research revealed, as to this date, no study has focused particularly on his teachings. The objective of this study is to initiate that. This study spotlighted on how this Sufi saint integrated the various religions in his teachings. His teachings are evidently premised on the Islamic concept of Tawheed. This aligns with the mystic perspective and thus is this study premised. Bawa’s vision is of a single truth emanating throughout creation through all space and time. This is a characteristic that mystics of all traditions appear to share. What makes Bawa unique among the known mystics is how he weaves in the various religions to convey his teachings. Thus, his teachings are a veritable pot pourri of ancient wisdom flowing from the Hindu Puranas to the Sufi teachings in Islam. In one way it can be viewed as a one-man inter-religious monologue. It is not so much the perennial message as looking at each tradition in a way that had eluded the believers of each tradition before. Sufis of yore are known to use this method, but had remained within their own traditions. Bawa’s teachings are significant in his being a figure that is metaphorically described in a title of a Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship publication as the “Tree That Fell to the iii West”. Thus, spanning both the East and the West, his teachings became global in its reach and appears to be more relevant and accessible due to the nature of contemporary progression of our psyche. To situate Bawa the study has provided a very brief overview of the mystic perspective and a comparative sketch of mysticism in the West and Islam. Bawa being a Muslim mystic, a chapter on Islam and the Muslim world view and an insight into Sufism was deemed essential to comprehend the depth of Bawa’s teachings. It was also necessary to analyze the significance of the pioneering spirit of North America that is so consonant with the element of freedom that defines the mystic message that is essentially that of liberation. This is viewed as a vital component in the message of Bawa that probably served to capture the psyche of his followers in the USA in particular. What is notable in Bawa’s teachings is how he integrates the popular ideas of different traditions to draw out a hidden significance that overturns the traditional way of how the listener had hitherto viewed them. He views the religions as sections, states, etc., that have to be experienced into the distillation of the truth in a manner of speaking. Each of these plays its part in the progression of every individual to the point of the ultimate realization to the Real. Bawa’s teaching methodology appears to be aligned to the tradition of the “holy men” who have come to light with the recent research of the past two decades. Bawa remains unique in his expansion, per se, in continuation of the iv model left as the legacy by those holy men that researcher Richard Eaton brought to our attention. An analysis of that legacy is provided as it will be conducive to understanding as to how the Sufi perspective centered on Tawheed brings in the terrain of multiple traditions. Bawa taught through discourses. Such teachings belong to the age old oral tradition. Thus, the teachings flow according to the teacher’s discernment of each individual’s needs in the audience. He would tell his followers that he provides the nourishment as per the need of each individual as he “sees” where each of his “children” are when they come to him. This translates into his perceptiveness of each person’s level of comprehension and his contouring his message to gear into that level for optimal learning. Bawa’s teachings can be described as a veritable ocean in its breadth and depth. The task was to attempt to draw manageable parameters for this research. As such, the usage of Hinduism is the sliver that has been chosen to analyze what and how Bawa conveyed his message. The focal point is that it is through the mystic perspective Bawa integrated diverse traditions to converge on the single point of the Islamic concept of Tawheed. What is shown here is that it is such a perspective that allowed Bawa to bring together the apparently diametrically opposite traditions of Hinduism and Islam through an interreligious journey that brings in a perspectival shift by expanding the psyche of the listener. v DEDICATION To My father, the late Saiyid Abdun Nabi My dear brother Saiyid Munirunnabi Fazlul Wahhab My husband Kazi Monirul Islam My sons Khalid Munirul Islam Kazi & Zia Ulislam Kazi my cousin brothers, the late Saiyid Ahmed Mahmud and Syed Kalimullah & The members of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship who are striving tirelessly to disseminate his teachings vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to mention a few of the very important people in my life that brought in the trajectory that eventually resulted in this research. First and foremost is my father, who bred in my psyche an understanding of the universality of the faith tradition that I was raised in which required a study of all faith systems. The truth of the Oneness that is an approximation of the meaning of Tawheed was emphasized by his teaching me that the “Source” of all faith tradition is the “One”, and so the emphasis was first to get grounded in the Quran, and then to study all faith traditions. Thus raised with an interfaith psyche, studying other faith traditions became my forte. So, when I encountered the followers of Bawa — who I now consider as my spiritual family — I naturally absorbed the teachings of this great sheikh. I am deeply indebted to some members of my aforementioned spiritual family for the invaluable help I got from them in my research. In short, this research could not have been undertaken without their help. I need to mention in particular, Kelly Hayden and Ayesha Sterne. Ayesha Sterne went the extra mile to inform me of whatever new material came her way that was pertinent to this research. Also Kelly and Nourah Karimah amidst their busy schedule, located the unpublished transcripts I requested for, and allowed me to study those. Dr Ganeshen and his late wife Fatima Ganeshan have been invaluable in clarifying aspects of the Hindu praxis and tales for me. vii During the course of my progression it was the constant encouragement of a dear friend and soul mate Sr. Maria Hornung and my cousin Syed Kalimullah and the support of my husband Kazi Monirul Islam and especially my son Zia ul Islam Kazi that allowed me to keep going. I am deeply indebted to Leonard Swidler who guided me to the academic trajectory of this research and who initially anchored me to this domain. It was Dr Terry Rey who had suggested the topic of my research, pointing out the importance of my role being that of a participant-observer. The invaluable help with his expertise has been a constant in directing me to overcome obstacles specially towards the end of this journey. Dr Khalid Blankinship was the first to introduce me to the study of Richard Eaton. This opened up a whole new world that proved vital in providing a background to an aspect of folk Sufism in the interiority of the Indian subcontinent which is only beginning to be recognized in the academia. Dr Jayasinhji Jhala steered me to interview the members of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship and is consistently encouraging me to continue on that terrain. Needless to say, this provided a priceless dimension to get an insight into the teaching methodology of Bawa. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to Dr Sydney White who in the last phase of this journey agreed to be the third member of the defense Committee, despite being stretched thin with her other responsibilities. viii I am adding this note of gratitude at the end to Shahid Nigro, without whose support I could not have managed the technicalities involved in the formalities at the final stage of submission of this dissertation Saiyida Zakiya Hasna Islam Springfield, Pennsylvania, USA 2017 ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ xii Situating Bawa in Mystical Studies ........................................................ xiii Bawa’s Teachings and Hinduism ............................................................. xx Chapter Contents ................................................................................... xxiii