Pir in Islam

 

Pir in Islam

Now let us discuss something about Pirgiri or Pirs. Pir refers to a Muslim saint or holy man. Pir or Pir shaheb is the title of a Sufi spiritual guide in Muslim sect of religion.

 

The word pir comes from the Persian word. The word pir literally means an elderly man in Persian. The terms Shah, Pirzada, pir shaheb kebla, etc. are also used regionally instead of Pir.

 

But the pirs originated from Sufism. Pirs are also considered teachers of his Muslim followers; and their followers are called murids.

 

8 Outside the Shari'ah of Islam, the Pirs also teach their murids to practice Marifah. Basically, the Pirs teach their disciples that if they adopt his or their methods), it will be very easy to get the mind of Allah.

 

An eminent Pir has a particular method of teaching Marifah to the murids. This is called tariqa. Again there can be more than one pir of the same tariqa.

 

After the death of a pir, a pir is appointed from among his sons. However, apart from the Pir's own children, any murid can be appointed as the pir's khalifa, caliph or representative with his consent. These Caliphs act as Pir's representatives in different regions.

 

The predecessors of today's Pirs have contributed greatly to the spread of Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. Basically, those Pir Sahebs spread Islam in this region.

 

The terms Shah, Pirzada, etc. are also used regionally instead of the term Pir. Apart from the subcontinent, Pirgiri is also practiced in various countries of the Middle East. Pirs do not take any remuneration for giving religious instruction to murids.

 

But when the murids come to the dargah of their pirs, they carry various gifts for the pirs. Such as paddy, rice, fruits and vegetables, poultry, cow, goat, buffalo, sheep or some money, etc.

 

The place of work or school of the pirs is called dargah. For the murids, the Pirs organize annual mahfils for a specific period of the year. All these mahfils are called Orosh, jolsha or annual mahfils.

 

This Mahfil or Jalsa is organized for one to three days. On all the days of the Mahfil, the murids get to stay and eat at the Pir's Dargah free of charge.

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