Way of life, not way of politics, regarding the past, Barelvi Islam is based upon traditions and beliefs of the past.
So is Islam, here is an interesting article.
Myths Our Common Asset
The art of story-telling is perhaps as old as the human language itself. It almost seems that humans developed language so that stories can be told! Some myths were created around historical events and landmarks while others to explain natural phenomena or a transcendental world-view. There are some parables that celebrate loyalty, honor and there are others which denounce greed and mendacity. Some myths are woven simply for entertainment and to reflect the emotions and aspirations of the human spirit. However, all myths have one thing in common: They conform to the geographical and cultural context of their audience.
Therefore, when the body parts of Osiris are dispersed, they land around Nile; those of Sati, get distributed in the subcontinent. Similarly, after the Great Deluge, the vessel of Utnapishtim lands on Mt. Nisir, while that of Manus lands on Mt. Meru, and of course Noahs Ark lands on Mt. Ararat. Cultural signatures are found even in identical myths such as the creation myth of Bible. Adam eats an apple in the West, in Iran he reaches for a pomegranate, but when the story reaches India, it is the grain of wheat that does him in.
All over the world, even in isolated cultures such as Australian aborigines, people have stories and myths born of that land. It is in these myths that humanity takes solace or derives wisdom. While myths have been around well before the written language, the earliest written myth known to the world is the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Like all other stories, there are many versions of the story of Gilgamesh, but what attracts me the most is that later mythologies have borrowed fragments of this epic, an interesting proof that stories travelled fast, even in ancient times. There are conniving gods and goddesses and a hideous underworld as in Greek mythology, there are quests for immortality as in Persian fairly tales and Hindu myth of Amrita, and there is the story of the Great Deluge as in Hindu and Biblical mythologies. The epic, while a window to the Mesopotamian society at that time, is stricken with myths that explain phenomena such as why snake sheds his skin. This epic also introduces the cosmic bull to be used by later myths in various roles. The same bull which makes it to the clay seals of Moenjo Daro and in the Phoenician letter a.
Similar to Ice Age, Iron Age and Bronze Age, there seems to be an Age of Mythology. Confining our conversation to Eurasia, mythologies seem to have thrived in various places, almost simultaneously, and travelled to other areas and adopted everywhere with local flavors, characters, places and technology. Even though a lot of stories shared a common plot, different emphasis was given to different stories based on the needs and taste of a particular culture. This is because mythologies, though fabricated for various purposes, are always tailored for their audience. Moses would never be caught freeing the Trojans and Rama wouldnt dream of fighting Ravana on the peak of Mt. Sanai! The characters, places and the entire mise-en-scène needs to conform to the world-view of the immediate audience. Myths, though born of the human experience, have the power to provide its audience the immediacy of experience of supernatural realms.
Take for example Biblical mythology. Told and retold to the Semitic people of Arabia, the initial stories are mostly about the warring Semitic tribes, their survival and adventures. The god of these people in Old-Testament is clearly one among many legitimate competing gods of rival tribes. However this particular god YHWH demands utmost obedience from its people in order to guarantee their survival. Some of his commands (such as burning every man, women, fetus, every tree, shrub and cattle, in the battle of Jericho) are so outrageous that it challenges even the moral values of these prehistoric tribes. These stories are loosely based on historical events, part myth, part history, part genealogy. However when the nomadic culture of Semites came in contact with civilized population of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia
some exchanges were bound to take place.
While the Semitic people were warring among themselves, somewhere in Persia a prophet named Zoroaster was preaching duality, a tale of cosmic struggle between two equal and opposite powers, the good Ahura Mazda and the evil Ahriman. Later a colorful mythology was spun around this world-view. This epic is so sensational; it pales the mighty battle between Rama and Ravana in exaggerations and fantastical maneuvers. There is a myriad of characters as if coming out of Murasakis novel one after the other, helpers of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman; the Asuras and Daevas. There are both allegorical and physical strata in which various creations dwell; this scheme of multiple layers and the time span of this cosmic battle render Tolkeins work juvenile. The magnificence of theatrics related to this mythology is evident in the Greek accounts of the Zoroastrian priests Magi, the root of the very word magic.
The impact of Persian mythology is not only seen in Shahnameh, Qissa Chahar Dervesh, Alif Lailah and Daastane Amir Hamza, it is quite present in the biblical and Islamic mythology. The Ahriman takes the garb of Lucifer and even though Quran never talks about the helpers of Satan, to an Indian Muslim shaitan ke cheelay is a common term. Similarly helpers of Ahura Mazdah fit well with angels of Allah. The concept of heaven and hell and a judgment day is very much Zoroastrian as well. There is the good force, the bad force and the (ugly?) Free Will of humans, that chooses between the two. Because the humans possess the free will to choose, they must be rewarded for good choices and punished for bad ones. This is very different from (say) the Hindu concept of a self-sustaining philosophy based on Karma and Dharma, of recycling the souls until they have achieved enough wisdom to reunite with the creator Brahma.
The Old-Testament does not mention heaven and hell or Judgment Day. Later Zoroastrian influence brought these concepts in Christianity which Islam solidified into concrete beliefs in heaven and hell with detailed descriptions of each, and even prescribed a set path for successfully avoiding hell and acquiring heaven. The concept of bridge of Siraat is the Zoroastrian myth of the Cinvat Bridge which is stretched between the mountain tops leading from this world to heaven with hell in the chasm below. The Semitic world-view was forever changed as they absorbed the black and white of Zoroaster vs. gray of Hindus and the Greeks.
The Hindu Vedas and later mythologies of Ramayana and Mahabharata have many plots borrowed from (or lent to?) neighboring myths. The gambling match in Mahabharata seems to have been inspired by the Egyptian myth of Isis. However all myths are carefully crafted and meticulously worded to depict local characters. A distinct practice of meditation, called Yoga, is perfected and practiced at certain times of day in order to seek union with the divine creator Brahma; a practice that Buddhism adopted albeit with a few twists. First they actively spread the teachings of Buddhism to the Far East, second their prostrations deviated from the breathing exercise emphasized in Yoga. These travelling, chanting and prostrating Buddhist Monks with white robes wrapped around their bodies, will eventually catch the attention of the nascent civilization of Mecca, the heartland of Semitic culture in Arabia.
Perhaps of greatest personal interest to me, is the Canaanite high god El, who made his way from Canaan to Hebrew mythology and became so entwined with the Hebrew god YHWH that it was hard to differentiate between the two in Old Testament. El apparently had a lot of help, probably from female deities, because he is also referred to as Ellohim (plural of female Eloah.) El could well have found his way to Arabia in the form of pre-Islamic high-god Allah, the patron of Kaba. The fact that Quran scorns kuffar for associating (the pre-Islamic version of) Allah with daughters, while preferring sons for themselves, gives us some more clues that El/Allah had a pantheon of female deities/helpers. Another clue is in the use of the Arabic word allahumma a variant of Hebrew Ellohim. While Ellohim can be broken down in Hebrew, Allahumma cannot be broken down in Arabic, a sure sign of borrowing. Allahumma is frequently called upon in the Hajj rituals and other prayers possibly existing from pre-Islamic customs.
Pre-Islamic Hajj was performed for the pantheon of gods housed in the four walls of Kaba. Kaba is believed to have housed gods of all cultures including Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and India. Mecca, at a crossroads of the ancient international trade, was a cosmopolitan city which welcomed devotees of all religion to feel at home with their personal gods, en route to the perilous caravan trails ahead. At some point the Meccans decided that Buddhist robes, prostrations and chants are a perfect accompaniment to their rituals and so the practice of Hajj flourished with sophisticated rituals, vibrant chants and uniformity of attire, (those who did not afford the robes would perform Hajj without any clothing.)
Digressing here a bit; whenever I mention this connection of Hajj and the Hindu/Buddhist custom of chants, clothing and prostrations, people get upset. I dont understand this reaction. Surely everyone knows that Hajj rituals have changed little from pre-Islamic version? Surely everyone knows that the pre-Islamic Hajj customs were borrowed from all over the place? Why take offense? I believe it says volumes on the true nature of Islam. Islam is not against local cultural practices, unless they directly contradict any basic values of Islam. Muhammad PBUH kept all the cultural rituals of Hajj, gave them a meaning in the Islamic framework and abandoned nude circumambulations and other customs, to which he had objections. Islam was not born in a cultural vacuum, nor did Allah of Islam send an entire new cultural package with the new religion. Some people get upset at me for mentioning pre-Islamic Allah; they think by that I mean Allah before Islam. When in fact what it really means is Allah as defined by Arabs before Islam. Surely the definition and dominions of gods depends on people who claim to believe in them. Allah did exist in the pre-Islamic pantheon of gods, however his true nature, as revealed by Muhammad PBUH, was not known to Arabs. Allah as defined by Islam is not the same Allah known to pre-Islamic Arabia. Quran explicitly refutes the attributes to the pre-Islamic Allah who apparently had a lot of female helpers (angels) who were his alleged daughters.
Following the characters, plots and context of world mythologies is analogous to peering into a kaleidoscope trying to catch a form. Just when you think you have a grasp on one, it morphs fluidly into another. You cant trace the beginning or the end; you are simply left with a prevailing knowledge of beauty and wonder. I am unable to understand the efforts of researchers trying to find the dimensions and location of Noahs Ark in order to prove Bible correct or incorrect. I do not associate adjectives such as true or untrue to the myths, instead I prefer adjectives such as beautiful, powerful and useful; or malicious, odious and pernicious. The entire human community, or kith, is interwoven together not only biologically, genetically, socially and economically but also culturally; it seems that our myths, both unite and divide us at the same time!
Myths are constantly created even in this day and age. There are conspiracy theories around Free Masons, Illuminati and the ever powerful Jewish-American lobby. Some modern myths are in the form of fantasy movies such as Golden Compass and Harry Potter. Another popular genre is of science fiction movies such as Star-Wars and my personal favorite: The Matrix. The art of story-telling has taken on many forms but at the core, myths are still designed to excite the audience and reveal to them the hidden dimensions of their lives. Is a computer program really running our lives? Indeed, it is a very plausible explanation of even the most random acts of nature because randomization is quite programmable
or so I am told.
