Tohfatu'l-Ahbab

Muḥammad, A. K., & Pandit, K. N. (2009). A Muslim missionary in mediaeval Kashmir: Being the English translation of Tohfatu'l-ahbab. New Delhi: Voice of India.

• When the virtuous Sultan Sikandar, the Iconoclast, left this house of toil for the house of comfort, his son Sultan Zainuíl- ëAbidin succeeded him. This Sultan reversed the policy of his father and adopted the path of prevarication (fisq) and heresy (zandaqa). He brought some of the infidels close to himself and on some others he conferred ministries. He revived all customs and rituals of infidels and polytheists. He rebuilt all the idol-houses and temples that had been razed and destroyed. By rebuilding the temples of the infidels and the people of darkness and prevarication, this ruler ó who was not God-fearing ó popularised their religion. In this way, the fallacious beliefs and oppressive vices of the heretics and dualists gained strength to such an extent that in every household, most of its members returned to infidelity, heresy and despicable innovation.1 Only a small number of people expressed adherence to Islam. Islamic tenets and the customs of idolaters had got mixed up in a way that the nobles, officials, and the Sultan, all considered the heretics, the infidels, the wretched and the innovators as their close associates to drink and dine with. In his mathanavi, of which we bring a few verses here, Qadi Muhammad Qudsi, has properly depicted the condition of those days:

• Infidelity, rampant during olden days, was revived. The sun of shariat (Islamic law) illuminated it. In line with old tradition, the fireplace and the temple flourished side by side. Islam got mixed up with infidelity and its elements disintegrated. The ambivalent groups joined and compromised with heresy. The stupid became the minister and he was party to infidelity. The idol house and the hospice stood side by side, the mosque and the church (perhaps meaning Buddhist temple) were seen in close proximity. If a man offered Muslim prayer (namaz), his wife would interact with (pray to) the devil. If the father went to the mosque, his son attempted to fraternise with the infidels (kafirs)

• The people of Samarqand asked him, ìDid not the ulema, the learned men and the intellectuals of those lands forbid the infidels and the lost people from diluting (the principles of) Islam?î Araki answered, ìThe ulema, and the learned men of those lands showed no interest in the propagation of the Islamic religion, shariaí and the tenets (of faith). The Qadis and theologians of that land had become indifferent towards the traditions and the ways of Islam. They had mixed up with the infidels, the heretics and the misguided people. The acts and ways of the ulema and the theologians could not be differentiated from those of the ignorant and the wretched. Their customs and habits had got mixed up. (verses)

• Despite the fact that learned and distinguished men of the times are always amidst them each one experienced in his own right and each one having examined the books a thousand times, none of them is really aware of the basics of faith. Nobody is able to show the path of true religion. Nobody cares for the religion (Islam). Everybody is on the path of falsehood and ignorant about religion and the ways of faith. They care for riches that are expendable but unmindful of that which lasts long, he said.

• The people of Samarqand were shocked and surprised on knowing that the learned men of Islam in those lands had adopted the ways and customs of the infidels. I told them that I had seen the ulema and the Qadis of those lands with my own eyes and witnessed their (mis)deeds.
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• After some time during the reign of Sultan Zainuíl-íAbidin, clans and groups of people rejoined the infidels and idol worshippers and thus revived traditions and practices of infidels and polytheists. At the time of the death of Sultan Sikandar, Sultan Zainuíl-íAbidin was still a minor. As such, he could not benefit from the upbringing of Sultan Sikandar. He mixed up with the children of the infidels. The company of despicable progeny of heretics led him astray from the path of guidance, devotion and belief (in Islam).3 Indeed, he had gone astray even when Sultan Sikandar was still reigning.4 Abducted by satanic people and fraternizing with atheists had made him a zindiq 1 and a mulhid 2 (apostate and proselyte).3 He permitted the community of polytheists and groups of infidels to practice idolatry and infidelity: he allowed reconstruction of old idol houses and temples that had been demolished; he allowed that smashed idols be replaced: he ordered that these (worshipping places) be rehabilitated. All heretics, proselytes and deviators, who had feigned allegiance to the Islamic community and the people of faith but secretly nursed false beliefs and heretical customs, were given the freedom to return to their original faith.4 With the permission of this blasphemous ruler, many groups of people withdrew from the circle of Islam and the community and religion of the Holy Prophet. They adopted the path of darkness, apostasy and acrimony. High and low of this land, all turned apostates and returned to infidelity and idol worshipping. Practices of heresy and infidelity were revived. Reconstruction of temples was carried out with full force. In Kashmir there was hardly a village or a locality that did not have two or three temples. There was hardly a day when a festival of the infidels would not be observed in a locality or village or when an idol would not be installed in a temple. Lowly as well as distinguished people, senior and the learned, everybody was not only opting for idol worshipping but was also pursuing it with all seriousness. Housekeepers in urban and rural localities, traders, shopkeepers, artisans and commoners, all decorated their houses with five or six idols of various shapes and size. They worshipped these idols at dawn and dusk as is the practice of idolaters and infidels. People took to the practices of heretics, and those wearing the thread (zunnar). No respectable person (khwajah), trader, or artisan was circumcised. Every one among the nobles and the commoners, low or high followed the ways of idolatry, did not go for circumcision. Apart from indulging in these prohibited practices, many people considered it a matter of pride to take to drinking and merry making. Everybody considered that whatever was not permitted (in Islam) was permitted (for them) and thus proper for adoption. Outwardly the festival of Eid and Fridays were observed in towns and villages and although some of the Qadis maintained the laws and tenets of religion, yet the Islamic laws and the essence of Islamic religion did not enjoy full flowering and effect. No theologian, Sayyid or Qadi prohibited flouting of religious law and adoption of what was not permitted in Islam. How could the ulema and Qadis prohibit these vices when all these customs and traditions sprang from within their own houses. Their womenfolk practised infidelity, and engaged themselves in corrupt deeds. It was not possible for them to stop others from indulging in awful practices. The learned men of this land had become so demoralized and imbecile to such an extent that they did not object to the indulgence of their womenfolk in irreligious, heretical and polytheistic practices. On the contrary, it made them happy. We have said about this in detail in the context of Shaykh Shihab Hindiís account.
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