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Zikrism(alsoZikriyya)[1][2]is aMahdistminority Muslim group or sect found primarily in theBalochistanregion of westernPakistan.The name Zikri comes from the Arabic wordDhikr.[3]

LikeShiaandSunniMuslims, Zikri revere theQuran.However, they follow different prayer practices and believe theMahdi(the messiah figure and Final Leader inIslamic eschatologywho is believed to appear at theend of timesto rid the world of evil and injustice) has already come.

They already suffered sectarian attacks before the founding of Pakistan and more recent attacks and insecurity episodes have led some of them to migrate from Balochistan to Pakistan's cities.[4][5]

Their population is estimated to be somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 individuals.[6]

Origins and beliefs

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The Zikri faith developed inMakranin the late 16th-century.[2]

Zikris believe in a Mahdi figure known asNur Pak,or "Pure Light." Zikris believe Nur Pak walked the earth beforeAdamand will return at the end of days to restore true Islam which has been perverted by the Sunnis.[7]According to Stephen Blake, anAfghannamed Mulla Muhammad declared himself Mahdi and formed the Zikri movement which faced persecution from theMughalauthorities.[8]By the 18th-century, Zikrism virtually achieved the status of state religion in Southern Balochistan.[9]

A number of sources talk about howSayyid Muhammad Jaunpuriis believed to be or thought to be by some, the founder of Zikrism.[note 1]According to at least two scholars (Robert Benkin and Sabir Badalkhan), this cannot be true. Benkin writes that outside observers have claimed the Mahdi figure of the Balochi Zikris was Muhammad Juanpuri, but Balochi Zikris deny thatMuhammad JaunpurivisitedBalochistanand insist their Mahdi is a different figure from a later period. Zikris believe Nur Pak was born in 977AH,or between 1569 and 1570 AD.[15][16]

According to Sabir Badalkhan, the vast majority of Zikris, including their most influential leaders, reject the notion their Mahdi was Muhammad Jaunpuri, pointing to the different birth dates and deaths of Juanpuri and their Mahdi, and that all Zikri sources record the Zikri Mahdi having died in Kech.[17]They state their ancestors have never heard of Juanpuri, and that there are no relations between Zikri and Mahdavi communities, and that their beliefs and practices are distinct.[2]

Practices

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Zikris make a pilgrimage (Ziyarat) toKoh-e-Murad,"Mountain of Desire" inBalochi,on the27th of Ramadanin commemoration of their Mahdi. They observe this day as a sacred holiday.[3][15]The descendants of the original believers of the Mahdi continue to lead the Zikri community and are known asMurshids.Zikris refer to them asWajaas a form of respect.[3]Early that morning, Zikris observeShab-e-Qadr,the commemoration ofMuhammadreceiving his first revelation from theAngel Gabriel.[3]

Zikris observe daily prayers calledZikrin place ofSalah,the daily prayers of other Muslims. There are five daily Zikrs.Three prayers are obligatory and performed in group orally. Two are silent and generally performed only by older and more devout Zikris. Women perform only the spokenZikrs.[2]The five prayer are known asGwarbamay, Nemrochay, Rochzarday, Sarshapay,andNemhangamay.[2]RochzardayandNemhangamaymay be performed individually, with all others being said in a group.[2]

Zikri places of worship are calledZikr KhanasorZigrāna(lit. "House of Zikr" ). Zikris gather at three times a day atZikr Khanasand perform a special prayer in a square formation with the leader in the middle. This prayer consists of formulae inPersianand Balochi, Quranic verses, and the repetition of God's name while standing, sitting, and prostrating. Zikri worshippers wear white or light-colored clothing,washbefore participating, and cover their head with a scarf or handkerchief called arumal.Non-Zikris are forbidden to attend Zikri worship services at theZikr Khana.Zikr Khanaswere often built onAstanas,places deemed holy by the Zikri community. This could be a place aMurshidmeditated or the former home of a community leader.[3]UnlikeMosques,Zikr Khanas have noMihrab(there is no need to mark the direction of prayer because God is everywhere), norMinarets.[18]

Contrary to some popular beliefs, Zikri do not have a different holy book than the Quran or in addition to the Quran. According to Sabir Badalkhan, they keep copies of the Quran ( "printed by Sunni Muslim printing presses in major Pakistan cities" ) inZikr Khanason shelves or in niches, "usually wrapped in clean costly cloth" and are treated with customary reverence, being kissed by Zikris after recitation of a verse.[2]

On special occasions, Zikris observeChaugan,songs of praise forMuhammad,theMahdi,TurbatandKoh-i-Murad,accompanied by ritual dance-like movements. Members stay up all night performing devotions. A female reciter known as theShehrstands in the middle of the formation reciting devotions to which the male group calls back.[3][2]

Chaugansare sung in celebration of religious events such as the 27th of Ramadan,Shab-i-Barat(the 15th day ofSha'ban), andEid al-Adha.Zikris believe the fourteenth day of the lunar month, if it falls on a Friday, to be auspicious, and may perform theChauganthen.[2]

Persecution

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Zikris have faced persecution from other Muslims for their beliefs.

Zikris faced persecution in the eighteenth century under the rule of Mir Nasir Khan the Great, the Sunni Muslim ruler of theKhanate of Kalat.[19]Their religious and historical records were destroyed and surviving information was carried on by oral tradition and non-Zikri writings.[4]Nasir Khan waged a war to convert Zikris to Sunni Islam, killing 35,000 Zikris, in a period known as the Zikri-Namazi war.[13]Sunni Islam became the dominant religion in Balochistan with modern Zikris living in more remote areas.[9]

In the 1930s, in Iranian Makran, an extremist called Qazi Abdullah Sarbazi declared jihad against Zikris, "which resulted in a major massacre" and the driving out of Zikri from that area.[20]Also in that era, "hundreds of other Zikris were killed" in periodic pogroms by "fanatic Sunnis at the instigation" of their religious leaders "in the areas of Farod, Baftan andKishkaur(in Balochistan), according to Abdul Ghani Baloch.[21]

After the establishment of Pakistan,Sunni Muslimsattacked Zikris and subjected them to forced conversions. With the general rise of Islamic extremism and jihadism in the region since the 1980s, Zikris have been discriminated against, targeted, and killed by Sunni militants in Pakistan.[22][23][24]Under the military government ofZia-al-Haqq,Sunnis sought to have Zikris declared as non-Muslims.[19]In the 1990s, Zikris were harassed, and protestors called for the destruction of their shrines.[25]

The persecution of Zikris by Sunni militants as of 2014 has been part of the larger backlash against religious minorities in Pakistani Balochistan, targetingHindus,Hazaras,Shias,and Zikris, resulting in the migration of over 300,000 Shias, Zikris, and Hindus fromPakistani Balochistan.[19]The militant groupsLashkar-e-Jhangviand thePakistani Talibanwere responsible.[23][24]

During the 1990s, there was a movement among Sunnis to declare Zikris non-Muslim, and a campaign was mounted against their annual congregation at Koh-i-Murad in Malakand. This was accompanied by demonstrations calling for the destruction of the Zikri Baitullah (House of God), and members of the sect were subjected to violence and harassment.[26][27][28][29]

An attack occurred August 29, 2014, on a shrine in theAwarandistrict of Pakistan. Gunmen killed at least six Zikris and wounded seven others.[30]On October 7, 2016, a gunman shot a Zikri religious leader dead in the Kech district of Balochistan.[31]In August 2017, two Zikri pilgrims were killed and two were wounded when a bomb detonated in the Kamp Tal area of Pangjur, Balochistan.[32]

Population

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The Makran Division of Pakistani Balochistan.

TheUnited States Senate Committee on Foreign Relationsin 2004 stated that there were approximately 200,000 Zikris.[33]Victoria Williams estimates the number of Zikris at 800,000 Zikris,[29]and Sabir Badalkhan at around 600,000 to 700,000.[34]

Zikris live primarily in Pakistani Balochistan, concentrated in the southern coast ofMakran,theLasbela District,andQuetta.[2]They are a majority in theGwadar Districtof Makran in Balochistan.[15][33]There are sizable communities of Zikris in Pakistan'sSindhprovince andKarachi,[2]especially in the economically disadvantagedLyari Town.[citation needed]While Zikris also historically lived in the province of Iranian Balochistan, almost all of them left for Pakistani Balochistan in the last decades of the 20th-century.[1]Some Zikris have migrated from Pakistan to the peninsula of the Arabian Gulf where most live in theSultanate of Oman.[34]

Persecution has driven hundreds of Zikri and other minorities from Balochistan to safer cities in Pakistan likeKarachi,Lahore,RawalpindiandIslamabad.[5]

Pakistani Balochistan has a population of people of African descent from slavery.[35]In the Makran region, many of these Afro-Balochi's follow the Zikri sect.[36]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^Connection of Mohammad Jawanpuri and Zikrism:
    • "The founder of the Zikrism is believed to be Seyyed Mohammad Jawanpuri, who in the 15th century declared himself the last Mahdi. He started to preach his doctrine in Makran, around the Koh-i Morad, after several pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina and wanderings in Turkey and Syria...";[10]
    • "Various theses have been put forward concerning the identity of the Mahdi of the Zikris. URRAZAI describes four major opinions" [one of which is]... the hypothesis that he [Sayyid Muhammad Jaunpuri who founded the... Mahdavia sect] is the Mahdi is the one that has been advocated by many non-local writers (and a few Zikri writers). "[11]
    • "Some people believe that they are the followers of Syed Mohammad Jaunpuri, but others disagree and say that they believe in Prophet Mohammad as the last prophet and Holy Quran as the last divine book."[12]
    • "According to historian and writer Dr. Shah Mohammad Marri based in Quetta, Zikris can be called ‘pure’ as they are not a mix of any other race. Belonging to the Mehdvi sect, founded in the 15th century by Syed Mohammad Jaunpuri, the Zikris were initially Zartosht (Zoroastrian), then converted and became Sunnis and later started Zikr, journalist Ayaz Sangur explained."[13]
    • "As a bounded community, the Zikris' origin seems to be linked to a historical moment in 1496 when one Syed Muhammad Jaupuri (d. 1505) declared himself as the Mahdi, or messianic redeemer of Islam."[14]

Citations

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  1. ^abBoyajian-Sureniants, Vahe (2004)."Notes on the Religious Landscape of Iranian Baluchistan: Observations from the Sarhadd Region".Iran & the Caucasus.8(2): 199–213.doi:10.1163/1573384043076135.ISSN1609-8498.JSTOR4030992.
  2. ^abcdefghijkBadalkhan, Sabir (2008). "Zikri Dilemmas: Origins, Religious Practices and Political Constraints". In Jahani, Carina; Korn, Agnes; Titus, Paul (eds.).The Baloch and Others: Linguistic, Historical and Socio-Political Perspectives on Pluralism in Balochistan.pp. 293–326.
  3. ^abcdefMawani, Rizwan (2019).Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Spaces of Muslim Worship.IB Tauris.ISBN978-1788315272.
  4. ^abBaloch, Inayatullah (2 January 2015). "Zikris of Balochistan".Oxford in Pakistan Readings in Sociology and Social Anthropology.Retrieved9 August2023.quoted in"Zikris under attack in Balochistan".Dawn. 2 January 2015.Retrieved9 August2023.
  5. ^abBaloch, Kiyya (12 November 2014)."Who Is Responsible for Persecuting Pakistan's Minorities? Islamists in Balochistan are targeting minorities, yet NGOs are beginning to blame the government too".The Diplomat.Retrieved8 August2023.
  6. ^"2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Pakistan".United States Department of State.Retrieved2023-08-21.
  7. ^Ahmed, Akbar S. (2013-10-16).Islam in Tribal Societies: From the Atlas to the Indus.Routledge.ISBN978-1-134-56527-6.
  8. ^Blake, Stephen P. (2013-02-11).Time in Early Modern Islam: Calendar, Ceremony, and Chronology in the Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman Empires.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-107-03023-7.
  9. ^abPastner, Stephen; Flam, Louis (1982).Anthropology in Pakistan: Recent Socio-Cultural and Archeological Perspectives.Cornell University. p. 63.
  10. ^Boyajian-Sureniants, Vahe (2004)."Notes on the Religious Landscape of Iranian Baluchistan: Observations from the Sarhadd Region".Iran & the Caucasus.8(2): 199, note 1.doi:10.1163/1573384043076135.ISSN1609-8498.JSTOR4030992.
  11. ^Badalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas", 2008:p. 297.
  12. ^Syed Minhaj ul Hassan (April–June 2020)."Zikris of Baluchistan: Muslim but Different?".JRSP.58(2): 122.Retrieved23 August2023.
  13. ^ab"Zikris under attack in Balochistan".Dawn. 2 January 2015.Retrieved9 August2023.
  14. ^Mawani, Rizwan (2019)."5.Transcending Boundaries. The Zikris of Pakistan".Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Spaces of Muslim Worship.IB Tauris.ISBN978-1788315272.
  15. ^abcBenkin, Robert (2017).What is Moderate Islam?.Lexington Books. p. 102.ISBN9781498537421.
  16. ^See Badalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas" (2008), page 299, note 299: Cf. the manuscripts Sayl-iˇ iah¯ an¯ı and Angab¯ın 1725; UMRANI BALOCH 1986:103; HOSHANG 1991:26; DURRAZAI 2003:18; 2005:6. The author of Itti˙h¯ ad-i nawˇi aw¯ an¯ an-i Zikr¯ı II:4 quotes several sources, some of them poems composed by the companions of the Mahdi and some poems composed by thesecond generation of his followers. All give 977/1569 as the birth date of the Mahdi. Among them is a poem composed by a companion of the Mahdi, Mir Abdullah Jangi, which records his travels, and the manuscripts Durr-i wuˇ i¯ ud (completed in 1107/1696) by Shaikh Mohammad Durfishan, grandson of Mir Abdullah Jangi; also Durr-i ˙sadaf (completed in 1182/1769) by Qazi Brahem Kashani, and several others. I have consultedhttp://www.islamsa.org.za/calendar/converter.htmto convert Hijri dates to Gregorian.
  17. ^Badalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas", 2008:p. 299.
  18. ^Badalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas", 2008:p. 301.
  19. ^abcWaseem, Mohammad (2022-04-01).Political Conflict in Pakistan.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-765426-2.
  20. ^Zand Moqaddam 1991: Hekayat-e Baluc I. Tehran: Karun 1370 h.s. quoted in Badalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas" (2008), pp. 294-5.
  21. ^Quote is from Badalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas" 2008, pp. 294-5. Source of his description is Abdul Ghani Baloch (Abdul Gani Baloc) Zikri Firqa ki Tarikh, Karachi 1996.
  22. ^"Human Rights Commission of Pakistan worried over mass migration of Hindus from Balochistan".DNA.13 October 2014.Retrieved23 July2019.
  23. ^ab"Meanwhile, in Balochistan".Epaper.dawn.com.Retrieved3 January2015.
  24. ^ab"Pro-Taliban Takfiris Hail ISIS: Zikri-Balochs, Hindus Threatened To Death".The Shia Post.Archived fromthe originalon 3 September 2014.Retrieved3 January2015.
  25. ^Williams, Victoria (2020).Indigenous Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Culture, History, and Threats to Survival.ABC_CLIO. p. 141.ISBN9781440861185.
  26. ^"Pakistan: The Zikri faith, including its origins, the tenets, number of adherents, whether its adherents are easily distinguishable from non-adherents, and the treatment of adherents by the authorities and Muslim extremist groups (1984 to present)".Ref World.Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada. 16 December 1999.Retrieved8 August2023.
  27. ^UNHCR. May 1998. Background Paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Pakistan. 22
  28. ^Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), United Nations. 2 January 1996. Implementation Of The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief: Report submitted by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur, in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/23. Addendum. Visit by the Special Rapporteur to Pakistan. [Accessed 6 Dec. 1999], #46.
  29. ^abWilliams, Victoria R. (24 February 2020).Indigenous Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Culture, History, and Threats to Survival, Volumes 1-4.Bloomsbury Publishing USA.ISBN979-8-216-10219-9.
  30. ^"Gunmen target minority sect in Pakistan".Aljazeera. 29 Aug 2014.Retrieved8 August2023.
  31. ^"Zikri leader shot dead in Kech".Express Tribune. 8 October 2016.Retrieved8 August2023.
  32. ^"Latest News Remote-controlled bomb blast kills 2 Zikris in Panjgur".Baloch News. 28 August 2017.Retrieved8 August2023.
  33. ^abSenate Committee on Foreign Relations, Annual Report on International Religious Freedom (2004),p. 656.
  34. ^abBadalkhan, "Zikri Dilemmas", 2008:p. 293.
  35. ^Edlefsen, John B.; Shah, Khalida; Farooq, Mohsin (1960)."Makranis, the Negroes of West Pakistan".Phylon.21(2): 124–130.doi:10.2307/274335.ISSN0031-8906.JSTOR274335.
  36. ^Mirzai, Behnaz (2017).A History of Slavery and Emancipation in Iran, 1800 - 1929.University of Texas Press. p. 20.ISBN9781477311868.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Azhar Munīr, I. A. Rehman. 'Zikris in the light of history & their religious beliefs',Izharsons, 1998.
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