I'm still not clear as to the origins of this religious festival, but Shab-e-Barat, ( also known as 'All Souls Day' as well as the 'Day of Atonement') is an Islamic occasion that is solely celebrated in the subcontinent. Classical muslims (as Jonathan calls the Arabs... although I'm still not clear as to why I can't be a classical muslim) apparently do not celebrate this occasion. In fact Wahabis even denounce our celebration of it. The tradition of Shab-e-Barat is that on the 15th of Shaban (arabic calendar) we make halwa (a kind of sweet dish made with fruits or vegetables or nuts etc. boiled in sugar) which we exchange with our neighbours and relatives, feed the poor, light candles and incense, pray for the dearly departed, and pray for our own atonement. The myth of Shab-e-Barat is that on this day, God writes down the path that we are to take for the next one year in some ominous volume of the book of destiny and on this night we are given an opportunity to ask for God's forgiveness (hence the name 'day of atonement'). It also said that on this day the souls of our beloved dead descend on Earth to see how we're faring ('all souls day').
I can see why ultra-conservative muslims would denounce it, in that there's no mention of it in the Quran (except for a vague inkling in Sura Dukhan) and also because apparently the celebratory rituals are reminiscent of the Hindu practice of Diwali and this amalgamation was started by the Mughal emperor Akbar in order to create a harmonious balance between Hindus and Muslims in the subcontinent. However, I personally see no wrong in devoting a day to renewing ties with neighbours and relatives, feeding the poor and destitute, remembering the dearly departed, and just praying. I guess this is one of those fuzzy boundaries where religion meets culture.
So yesterday was Shab-e-Barat, and it was halwa galore: my mother made chickpea halwa and egg halwa, our cook made papaya halwa and semolina halwa, I made peanut halwa and strawberry cream cheese mousse (for anyone who wanted a break from all the halwa!). We distributed semolina halwa and naan bread in some city slums, and then the halwas started pouring in from the neighbours and aunts and uncles, and we had to quickly send out ours (I guess we were a bit late as you're supposed to send it before people go off for prayers). We usually arrange it in plates and decorate it with nuts and raisins and edible silver leaves. After all the distribution onus is over and done with, you are supposed to take a cleansing shower which is said to be symbolic of washing away your sins (and I know this is definitely not Islamic but very Bengali). Well, after the shower (which I took because I was in the hot kitchen not for my sins) we went over to my aunt's place, around 11 pm, where my other aunts and cousins had come over and we all prayed together (I have not prayed communally with my family since I left for NC so this was really nice). And then at 1 am we all went to the cemetery to pray at my grandmother's grave. On this night the cemetery, which is usually deserted, is filled with people visiting their unearthly beloved and is lit up with candles and lights, taking on a haunting but hallowed presence. We visited my grandmother, lit candles and incense around her grave, and prayed for her. I think I came home at 2 am. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful night.
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7 comments:
not very surprisingly this seems to have many parallels to Jewish Rosh-Hashana and Yom Kipur which will take place in two weeks (again the date proximity is not very surprising, So in my mind the origins of this festival seem clear):
these days are considered the holy days in judaism and you have to first beg forgiveness from your friends for the wrongs you did, and second ask god for forgiveness for your sins.
For us, it is considered the day where god writes in "the book of life" and decides our destiny for the coming year (hmmm, very familiar)
This holiday is mentioned in the bible, in the part that is also sacred according to the muslim tradition (the Torah), so the influence is pretty clear
The shower thing is kind of interesting too, becuase there is a tradition that goes over 2000 years if I am not mistaken, where in the second day of Rosh-Hashana you must go to a place of water and "throw your sins to the water". it is carried out until this day.
However, there is no mention of dead coming back on this day. This seems to have a hindu origin.
So as usual religions steal costums from one another, where our excuse is usually that we did it first, though we also stole some pegan costums as well if truth is of the matter.
Oh well religion, can't live with it... pass me the beer.
I'm not surprised either. But I wouldn't call it 'stealing' customs. It's actually strategic integration. It is said that when Prophet Mohammad was trying to preach Islam, the pagans believed in thousands of gods with idols for each i.e. gods for fertility, prosperity, wealth etc, and the main god was 'Lah' or 'Lat'(al lah stood for 'the God', probably not Arabic tuned). Muhammad's main aim was to establish monotheism, so instead of introducing a new god he told the people to shun all other gods and only believe in the main god (Al lah) as one god and he abolished the idol to state that god has no form, god is what connects us, is within us and amongst us. It was simply a more spiritualistic philosophy. And many of our rituals are primarily ones that already existed, but were integrated into Islam and given a different significance. It's called following the path of least resistance. If you look at how religions evolve you will find the same course of transposition and integration. In fact, interestingly a new religion has emerged in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh where a sixteen year old indigenous boy preached a new religion called Krama which has now spread to India and Burma. Some French anthropologists are now studying it, and it turns out that the boy, who was born into a hill tribe which was originally animist but were converted into Christianity by missionaries, took the fundamental principles of Christianity and mixed it with animism and his own philosophy and with the sheer power of his charisma, spread his own brand of a new religion. And essentially, I think, that is basically what a religion is: a philosophy of life ( usually popularized by someone with immense powers of eloquence and mesmerizing charisma of personality.) But it is up to you whether you choose to follow the philosophy or not.
As for the rituals of shab-e-barat, the atonement bit does seem rooted in our sister religions however the cleansing with water ritual is something that's present in every religion including Islam. We have to perform ritualilstic ablutions every time we pray, and we are also asked to take ritualistic cleansing baths before many specific acts. It's present in Christianity too as well as Hinduism, i.e. people dowse themselves in the waters of Ganga to purify themselves. Surprisingly though the shower ritual of shab-e-barat seems to be one that actually comes from the Hindu influence because it is practiced in India and Bengal and completely absent in Pakistan.
The dead visiting earth is actually not from Hinduism but something that was mentioned in the Hadith, where it is said that on this night (15 days prior to Ramadan) Prophet Muhammad used to visit the graveyard to offer prayers for the dead.
Personally I like shab-e-barat for the cultural practice rather than religious reasons. I love the frenzy of halwa making, of renewing ties with neighbours and relatives through halwa (something so arbitrary, might as well have been ice-cream), and the smile it brings on the faces of the slum dwellers and beggars when you hand them the sweets, and praying together is also amazing. It's a very fulfilling day. And I don't even know if the bit about Prophet Muhammad going to the graveyard is true, But we rarely visit the cemetery together and I was very close to my grandmother, so I really like the fact that on this one day we all gather together to pray for her and pay respect to the deceased.
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