Rita Farhat Mukand

Driving down to the Haji Musafir Khana in the bustling city of Guwahati with its ever-flowing teeming life is a fascinating experience. Vendors selling cartloads of fruits, and vegetables; tiny shops crammed with clothes, shoes, and all varieties of hardware line the roadsides. Vendors pushing heavy wooden carts keep calling attention to their wares. The air is thick with mixed scents of sweet fruit, flowers, smoke, chicken barbeques, and samosas.

I hurried down the streets frantically searching for a white cotton dupatta before I visited the khanqah and finally found one in a tiny shop stacked heavily with cloth wares.

As we drove down the broadening road to the khanqah, a sudden quietness calmed the air with only the song of birds and the scenes opened up to brilliantly lush lawns, green foliage, and shady trees.  A plush AC restaurant called Mughal Garden Restaurant stood just outside the khanqah and one could guess was a spot of good business with seemingly fewer shops and restaurants around.

As I sauntered across the cemented pathway surrounded by a green lawn leading to the entrance of the religious establishment a little hesitantly since this was the first time I was entering a khanqah, I was not sure how I would be greeted. A Khanqah is a house of rest for travelers especially kept by Muslim Sufi masters who held their gatherings and assemblies here to bring spiritual revival.

Entrance to the Khanqah

The foundation stone Haji Musafir Khana was laid by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the fifth President of the country.  As I entered, a man garbed in dazzling white with a bright red beard and hair greeted me at the entrance. He immediately took me to his office. He told me he was Badar Ali.

I told him that I would like to offer my duas and prayers, explaining it was my first time in a khanqah. He instantly warmed up, and to my astonishment, he shot up from his chair, smiled broadly, and very kindly led me to show me around. The tiled pearly white floors were cool and refreshing and a sense of calm pervaded the air. As I walked along, I noted the little cubicles and rooms that provided sanctuaries of retreat. On the left side of the building were airy clean residential rooms.

He took me to the prayer hall, heavily covered with thick richly woven soft carpets, with the main center of the prayer hall adorned with a sapphire blue carpet. Kneeling to pray, meditate, and celebrate to God who created the Universe was an ethereal experience. As I walked out, another lady was entering and she smiled at me. There was a feeling of harmony towards one another, which was comforting.

As I came out of the prayer room, Badar Ali who while being an administrator is also a Pir (spiritual teacher) told me with a smile that Allah would hear my prayers.

Badar Ali, Pir and the manager of the Shrine

He told me that the season time for the pilgrims to visit is usually from April to June so during the sultry-hot monsoon of September, very few pilgrims are lodging in the premises. Pilgrims visit from all over India including Delhi as well as other parts of Assam.

The food and lodging are entirely free and most pilgrims stay for a month. Without having to worry about food and lodging, people can focus on prayer for a month and come out spiritually revived. The general kind of food was rice, chapattis, vegetables, mutton, chicken, fish and eggs, and other dishes. As pilgrims were not so focused on eating but rather on spiritual refreshment, food was never something they were too concerned about.

I asked him if all people come even from different religions and he replied, “Oh yes, we have all people, especially Hindus and of course Muslims. An equal number of ladies and gents come. There have been many troubled people who came and prayed and I have also prayed for them and their prayers have been answered. While this is a place for spiritual retreat for the Sufi brotherhood or tariqa, it is open to all people of the world and with their prayers and meditations, people experience personal transformation.

Badar Ali explained, “Some people come with a lot of troubles in their lives, broken and in pain, all they seek is a place of spiritual healing and they are open to every spiritual truth to get back their lives. We have the five times of prayer, as you may know, the Fajr, and this prayer starts the day with the remembrance of Allah just before sunrise, Dhuhr which is after the day's work has begun, one breaks shortly after noon to again remember Allah and seek His guidance, Asr: In the late afternoon where people take a few minutes to remember Allah and the deeper meaning of their lives, Maghrib right after the sun goes down and the day comes to a close and Isha, just before sleeping, one takes the time to remember Allah’s great mercy, presence,  guidance, and forgiveness. All follow these faithfully and feel that peace coming back to them. Saying Salat gives you great strength.”

In the khanqah, daily, they gather in a hall where the pirs and religious teachers discuss spiritual matters, and the people seek the blessings of the leaders, who guide them to solve their problems. Sometimes, soothing spiritual music and dance sessions were held to draw out spiritual creativity and healing to the pilgrims that help them when they leave and go about their everyday lives.

Foundation stone of the Khanqah

Badar Ali explaining music in Sufism says, “Music evokes deep, powerful experiences makes it ideal for inspiring the elevated states of consciousness central to Sufi tradition enabling worshippers to explore inner paths to self-knowledge to gain paths to the Divine.  For this reason, music is so integral to the practice that some Sufis consider it a wajab (essential practice) rather than just halal (permissible). Many Sufi orders use methods like Dhikr-e-Qalbi, or ‘invoking God within the beat of the heart,’ where they chant Allah’s name continuously for extended periods as part of their daily lives.”

Badar Ali also mentioned that one of the most powerful times for prayer was at 2 a.m. when the angels were assigned specific tasks and were changing positions and pilgrims would get up in the dark of the night to pray.  He explained about Qiyām al-Layl where the power of praying in the night brings positive results where they spend some of the night in vigil prayer and regularly taking it from the verse in the Quran:  “They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend. And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.”

He also spoke of the Tarāwīḥ prayers which are the only night prayers that are limited to a certain time of the Islamic calendar and that is in the blessed month of Ramaḍān and starts after the ʿIshā’ prayer is completed and is preferred by many scholars to be done in a congregational gathering.

The khanqah marked a milestone in enhancing facilities for pilgrims in the region and is a central hub for pilgrims with a range of facilities with comfortable beautiful rooms, lovely ambiance, and a relaxing rejuvenation location for those on spiritual journeys. The love and care received by the staff, peers, and teachers have also stimulated the cooperative spirit in the community as well as with pilgrims, with its hospitality and has become a catalyst for positive change in the region bolstering the local community and promoting tourism and has also uplifted the living standards of the people in the area.

Of note, it is commendable that both Hindu and Muslim pilgrims also live in the khanqah for a month promoting cultural and communal harmony which is the key foundation stone to establishing peace and prosperity in the nation.

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Walking out of the khanqah that Sunday afternoon of September 8, 2024, I felt spiritually richer and enlightened, learning the gift of tolerance, love, and acceptance in the Universe the Creator has given to us all.

Rita Farhat Mukand is an independent writer and author