53. Message of the 15 Bhagats or saints (Part-7)

Baba Sheikh Farid Shakkar Ganj ji  

Principal teachings : Have a forgiving nature, never be discontented and dissatisfied, do good even to a person who is evil, live a simple life, never beg from any body, always do simran and beg for meditation of naam from Almighty God. Baba Sheikh Farid ji was a great Ascetic, a most sublime intellectual, profound meditator, deeply content, true believer and a great saint of highest spiritual degree. He was born in the village Khetwal, Distt. Multan(Pakistan) in the year 1173 A.D. His father was Sheikh Jalal Din Suleiman and mother Miriam (Kursam).  His parents were very noble and religious, especially his mother, who was an enlightened soul. She had an intense desire to see her son as a True devotee of Allah(God). There are few mothers in this world that can be compared with Baba Farid ji’s mother. She always considered spiritual achievements much higher than worldly materialistic positions. She contributed a lot in the life of Baba Farid ji to achieve spiritual heights and powers. In early childhood, Baba Farid ji was inspired by his mother to meditate and recite the name of Allah by receiving an incentive of small packet of Shakkar(lumped brown sugar) daily. She used to keep this packet of brown sugar under his Musallah (a mat used by Muslims to spread over the ground before praying). With the passage of time, this packet of brown sugar took the form of real nectar of naam which surpassed all the taste of sweet things like honey, refined sugar and milk. He enjoyed this nectar of God and openly declared as mentioned on page 1379 :

Fareed: sugar cane, candy, sugar, molasses, honey and buffalo's milk all these things are sweet, but they are not equal to You 

He was a gifted child of extraordinary intelligence. He learned the whole of Quran (Holy Book of Muslims) by heart at the early age of 12. He got religious instructions from Khawaja Qutab Din Bakhtiar Kaki to achieve a higher degree of spirituality what is called the stage of Marfat (spiritual state of detachment and longing for god) and Haqiqat( spiritual state of unity with god). Khwaja Sahib was a strict follower of Sufi-ism.

Note: Sufi-ism :  The concept of “Khudah in Sufi-ism is something far higher then the fanaticism of “Sharah and Shariat” in Muslims. It teaches worship one God who is not confined to the walls of a mosque. According to Sufi-ism, God(Allah) is omnipresent. The holy persons who are in the embrace of Sufi-ism, live a very simple life.

Their basis of life is the love of Allah and to live in his will. They think it is best to please their Murshid(spiritual teacher) and to live as he wishes. They live their lives in contentment, eat little, and wear simple clothes, give thanks to Allah every time and remain in deep remembrance of Almighty God. The Sufi saints had been very close to Gurughar(Sikhism). The foundation stone of Sri Har-Mander Sahib was laid by fifth Guru Arjun Dev ji through the hands of Sa-ee Mia Meer ji(Sufi saint). Sa-ee Bhikhan Shah of village Ghurham bowed in the direction of East instead of West(Muslims tradition) on the eve of Birth of tenth Guru Gobind Singh ji. A Sufi saint Faqir Budhu Shah offered his four sons and 500 disciples in the battle of Bhangani to Guru Gobind Singh ji and was accepted in the court of true Guru. A Sufi saint undergoes four different stages ot achieve unison with God Almighty(Allah). These are Shariat, Taraqiat, Marfat, Haqiqat.

Shariat :  A Sufi fakir(Saint) considers Shariat is performing different actions. These are to keep Rozas(fast form dawn to dusk) in the month of Ramadan, to serve his Murshid(Spiritual Teacher)in every way, to recite Namaz(Muslim prayer), to do noble deeds, and to shun fanaticism, to love all and adopt open-mindedness. to have compassion, and lead a simple life, to remain thankful to God and abide by above principles

Tariqat :  A curious learner of Sufi-ism stays with the Murshid and remains in his order, shuns evil desires, meditates and recites Allah’s name, reforms and moulds his mind in a better way, gives thanks to Allah and thus remains Taraqiat.

Marfat :  This is the third stage. Remaining in Shariat and abiding by the rules o Sufi-ism. This world seems to be a show. During this stage the person becomes an introvert He leaves worldly attachment and desires all the time to meet Allah. He is totally lost in penance and prays in privacy. He wants to attain next stage of Haqiqat.

Haqiqat :  When a Sufi fakir reaches the stage of Haqiqat, a divine light of Allah visions through him. A person becomes thoughtless. One light of God becomes visible inside and outside. There remains no difference between the Creator and the creation. The whole world seems to be one form of Allah. After Reaching this stage, a person becomes utmost polite and humble, self-sacrificing, rises above ego-ism, behaves and acts as a care free person. This is called the fourth stage of Haqiqat in Sufi-ism.

Sheikh Farid ji was a family man. In some books it is written that he had four wives. First was Hazbara(daughter of Sultan Giansudin Balvan), Second was Sharda, third was Shakkar and fourth was a widow, whom he married. Bibi Hazbara stayed with him in the uniform of a fakir throughout her life. According to S. Shamsher Singh Ashok(Sikh Scholar) he had 8 sons and 9 daughters. From the age of 25 to 50 years of his life, he did very hard work, strict penance and meditation. He ate very little food and wore only essential clothes. Sometimes he only had half a hyigt.iutglass of syrup, half piece of corn loaf and some pieces of Raisins in twenty four hours. He used to wear a beggar’s blanket and often said ,” Any person who is a slave of his desires to eat, drink and wearing clothes cannot meditate, because his mind is not under his control. A person is great who keeps his balance in joys and sorrows, is content and remains stable. The person who is dissatisfied becomes dependent on everybody.”  Farid ji didn’t preach the principle of detachment in theory only, but he practiced it in his personal life. When he left for his heavenly abode, there was not a single piece of cloth for his funeral ceremony found in his house. Even the bricks needed for his tomb had to be obtained by dismantling the wall of his house. For some time, he went out in a jungle for penance and meditation. He did penance by starving himself and hanging himself upside down. He only ate leaves of the trees to satisfy his hunger. One day he was meditating in solitude of the jungle when he realized that the noise of the sparrows was an obstacle in his meditation. Spontaneously and in an angry voice he said,” Die”. As soon as he said that, all the sparrows died. He became very sad after seeing the dead sparrows. He then remarked,” Sparrows come to life”. Again, as soon as he uttered these words, the sparrows came back to life and flew away. Farid ji was happy to see that his meditation had been accepted in the court of God and Allah had made his words come true. After getting his power, a little ego over whelmed him but Allah Almighty God never wants that his devotee should fall victim to false pride.