saint Mian Mir, which no kafir could have been.[1]
The saintly Jahanara also speaks of Dara as
her spiritual preceptor. The manifesto in
which Aurangzib as the champion of Islamic
orthodoxy denounces Dara for heresy, ascribes
to him no idolatrous practice
Charge of
heresy against Dara.
brought or denial of
Muhammad's
prophetic mission, but only the
following faults: (i) Consorting with Brahmans,
yogis and sanyasis,—considering them as perfect spiritual guides and knowers of God',—regarding the Veda as a divine book, and spending his days in translating and studying it.
(ii) Wearing rings and jewels inscribed with the word Prabhu ("Lord") in Hindi letters.[2]
(iii) Discarding prayers, the fast during the month of Ramzan, and other canonical cere-
- ↑ During his stay in Kashmir, 1050 A. H., Dara had become a disciple of the great Sufi, Mulla Shah (who died in 1072)...... Dara received the initiation to the Qadiri order in 1049 from an eminent master, Muhammad Shah Lisanullah, one of the disciples of Mian Mir. He erected a sumptuous dome over Mian Mir's tomb outside Lahore. Jahanara wrote the Munis-ul-arwah, a life of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, into whose order she was initiated as a disciple or murida. (Rieu, i. 54, 358 & 357) Dara used to add to his signature the titles Qadiri and Hanifi, which is not consistent with a profession of heresy.
- ↑ Prabhu is simply a Sanskrit word meaning "one able to punish and to bless", "the supreme lord". It is not the name of any idol, but an epithet of the Deity, as innocent of any connection with polytheism as the Arabic term Rabb-ul-alamin ("Lord of the Universe") applied to God in the Quran.