Sufism in Kashmir: Potential role to end crisis between India and Pakistan

With the escalation of events and skirmishes in the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, Sufism emerges as an important variable in the crisis as it has a large presence in the region, along with influence that could be ease the situation there or play a possible role in a slippery problem.

In this light, the spiritual leader of the Ajmer Sharif, Zainuddin Abidin Ali Khan, supported the decision of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi abolishing Article 370 on Kashmir, which had granted it self-rule. Khan congratulated the government on the step, considering it the beginning of economic development for the region. The Sufi leader called on the people of Kashmir and other areas in the region not to allow separatists, terrorists or political parties to mislead them and push them into conflicts of no benefit.

In a different statement on August 18, Indian Sufi leader Syed Sarwar, the chargé d'affaires of the Ajmer Sharif mausoleum (one of the most important Sufi shrines in India with the body of Moinuddin Chishti), made an appeal to all Muslims in India to unite under one word and put aside their sectarian differences, calling on them to work together to stop the repressive practices of the government against them and to prevent their aggravation in the current situation and the conflicts in the region.

In turn, Pakistan entered the crisis line, taking advantage of Sarwar’s proposal. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 15 warned the international community of the possibility of India’s ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Kashmir, vowing to respond in case of escalating violence against Muslims. He stressed that Modi’s rule and the way he deals with the sectarian issue can fuel the conflict between Hindus and Muslims. According to the Pakistani press, it is logical that Chishti Sufis would fear a worsening crisis.

But the likelihood of Sufism playing a role in this crisis depends on its fundamental presence in the region. A study titled “The Effects of Sufism and Spiritual Ways in Kashmir”, published by the University of Jaipur in India, states that, since the Middle Ages, Kashmir has been influenced by different cultures that have influenced Sufism and its teachings in the region, leading to reciprocal influence between Muslims and Hindus in the region, as well as spreading the Chishti, Qadiri, Naqshbandi and other Sufi orders.

The paper also confirmed that the spread of Sufism in Kashmir and its tolerant teachings have led to the development of standards of justice and sincerity among the core populations in the region, and contributed to the multiplicity of sects and denominations in the region. Even the Chishti mausoleum is visited by Muslims and Hindus.

Accordingly, the political conflict in the region seems to be the most important factor in bringing terrorist groups to Kashmir, as well as it being homegrown. Regarding this problem, Ali Bakr, a researcher of terrorist movement affairs at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that the indications of Sufism being used politically in the Kashmir crisis seem very weak. Not one of the region's Sufi leaders has commented on the recent Indian decisions on Kashmir, except for the Chishtis, which affects the possibility of dealing with Sufism there as a movement. Bakr added that the likelihood of three or four sects participating in supporting or rejecting the political decision in the future could talk about the possibility of employing Sufism in the current crisis in the region.

However, the recent conversations by one of the Chishti spiritual leaders regarding the crisis are likely to mark the beginning of new Sufi tendencies to either accept or reject the decision to abolish Kashmir's self-rule. If the Sufis’ comments on this matter escalate, there may be interest.