In the liturgical calendar of religious events linked with the Shiʿi faith, Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban (Festival of Mid-Shaʿban)1 is a festival which takes place on the eve of the fifteenth of Shaʿban, the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.2 Like other Muslim festivals, the celebration starts on the night following the fourteenth of Shaʿban, which is known as Shab-i Barat (Night of Atonement or Night of Forgiveness), and marks a unique celebration linked with the public expression of joy and festivity. Traditionally, the Festival of Shab-i Barat, or Barat, represents a night of divine grace, forgiveness and deliverance from Damnation. The sanctity of the night is reinforced by compilations of prayer manuals linked with popular Shiʿi religious literature. In these compositions dating from the fifth/eleventh century3 onwards, the excellence of Shab-i Barat is also cited as being second only to Shab-i Qadr (Night of Power), the night which marks the revelation of Quran during the fasting month of Ramadan.
In popular Muslim culture, Barat is believed to be the night when sustenance and fortunes are determined by Allah amongst His creation for the coming year. The narrative of Barat as a night of sustenance, forgiveness, and salvation resonates in both Shiʿi and Sunni ḥadīth.4 In Kashmir, the shared festivities associated with Barat are also demonstrated by the material manifestations of festivity shared by the Sunni and Shiʿi communities.
Remembering the past in a celebration reflecting sustenance for the future in Hasanabad Cemetery, Srinagar (Shab-i Barat)
© Hakim Sameer Hamdani (2017)
Yet, in contemporary Kashmiri Muslim society, the celebratory aspects of Shab-i Barat are increasingly specific and limited to the ShiÊ¿i community. Amongst Kashmiri Sunnis, neo-Salafi and Ahl-i Hadith5 groups question the foundational basis of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban and Shab-i Barat. On the other hand, we find that the central theme of the ShiÊ¿i communityâs celebration of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban has shifted from a focus on barÄt, or atonement, to an emphasis on another event relevant only to Twelver ShiÊ¿ism â namely, the birth of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi (b. 255 AH/879 CE),6 whom ShiÊ¿is believe went into Major Occultation in 940 CE and will reappear at the End of Time.
However, such an understanding of Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban does not represent a historical reality of how it was celebrated in Kashmir. In attempting a historiographic study of Shab-i Barat amongst Kashmiri Shiʿis, this chapter traces the origin of the celebrations in the region: origins which are shaped by non- and pre-Islamic vernacular cultures rather than the textual scriptures of the Shiʿi faith. Analyzing material cultures linked with Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban, I argue that the traditions and celebrations linked with the festival are continuously evolving, demonstrating the changing dynamics of how Kashmiri Shiʿis perceive both their past and present.
The chapter also highlights the influence of religious ideation following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, and how that has impacted Kashmiri ShiÊ¿isâ commemoration of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban. I argue that there has been a gradual and intermittent shift from a focus on the barÄt-ness (the salvific qualities of atonement) of the festival to an alternative narrative centered on the vilÄdat (birth) of al-Mahdi. This subtle re-appropriation of the meaning behind and significance of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban also resulted in additions to the material culture linked with the festival. This chapter argues that, as the canvas of celebrations linked with the birth of al-Mahdi continues to expand among Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is, Sunni festivities connected to Barat are dwindling.
In its methodology, the chapter differs and distinguishes itself from conventional historiographies by relying on memory as the primary tool of data collection.7 This includes personal memories of the author, drawing on his participation in festive celebrations of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban in Kashmir, as well as oral-history testimonies of research informants collected through a series of non-structured, oral-history intervies. These personal recollections are, of course, partially conditioned by the authorâs and informantsâ sense of nostalgia for the past. Though not an alternative to history, these collective memories are nevertheless used in charting out the materiality related to the celebration of Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban and the changes that have occurred in last three decades. Importantly, the study of using memory is related to the living traditions of the festival and not the past which is accessed through historical texts.
1 The Origin of Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban Celebrations in Kashmir
Celebrations linked with Mid-ShaÊ¿ban constitute a festive break from a ShiÊ¿i liturgical calendar marked otherwise by a series of mourning rituals commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husayn in Karbala on the Tenth of Muharram (Day of Ashura) as well as the deaths of other major figures revered by ShiÊ¿i Muslims. The prevalence of mourning rituals within the Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i society is also reflected in a popular Kashmiri proverb: SunniyÄn bod duh ti shrakhi, Batén bod doh ti faqi, ShiyÄn bod duh ti bakhi (âFor a Sunni, a festival means [slaughter] and feasting; for a Hindu, it is hunger and fasting; and for ShiÊ¿i, it is grief and mourningâ).
Historically amongst Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is and well until the second half of the twentieth century, the celebration of Shab-i Barat eclipsed other major events and occasions including the two Eids (sg. Ê¿Ä«d, Arabic for feast or festival),8 Shab-i Qadr, MiÊ¿rÄj-ul Alam (Ascent to the Heaven), or the birthdays of the Prophet and the ShiÊ¿i imams.
While the presence of a nascent Muslim community in Kashmir9 can be traced back to the eleventh century, it was only in the fourteenth century that Muslim rule was established in this Himalayan region when a Buddhist chieftain from Ladakh,10 Rinchana (r. 1320â1323 CE),11 ascended the throne of Kashmir and converted to Islam at the hands of a Sufi saint by the name of Bulbul Shah (d. 727 AH/1327 CE). No contemporaneous account of Bulbul Shah has survived, leaving us uncertain about his sectarian affiliation. Nevertheless, the oldest surviving textual references identify him to be ShiÊ¿i.12 The short rule of Rinchana was followed by the establishment of the Shahmiri Sultanate (1339â1555 CE), a Sunni dynasty of non-native origins, under Sultan Shams-ud Din (r. 1339â42 CE). ShiÊ¿i influences in the emerging Muslim society of fourteenth-century Kashmir remained limited and marginal, until the arrival of the Nurbakhshiyya Sufi shaykh, Mir Shams-ud Din Araki (b. 828 AH/1424 CE, d. 931 AH/1525 CE) in the fifteenth century and the conversion of the powerful Chak tribe to ShiÊ¿ism.
The marriage of ideology and power epitomized by the Nurbakhshiyya Sufi order and the Chak dynasty would soon result in the setting up of ShiÊ¿i rule in Kashmir under the Chaks (r. 1554â1586 CE).13As rulers of an independent land, Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is were open about their sectarian affiliations. They had no reservation about the public display of their iÊ¿tiqÄd (belief) neither did they practice taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation).14 This was in stark contrast to the prevailing atmosphere in the rest of the Indian subcontinent where many ShiÊ¿i nobles and scholars associated with the Mughal15 court practiced taqiyya well into the eighteenth century. Given the open expression of sectarian association by Kashmir ShiÊ¿is, it is significant that we find no mention of festivities and celebrations associated with Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban amongst the ShiÊ¿i community of sixteenth-century Kashmir. The life of Araki and the material culture linked to the Nurbakhshiyya16 order is described in great details in Tuhfatul Ahbab,17 a hagiographical account (taáºkÄ«rah) of the order written by a disciple of Araki in 1642 CE. Yet, Tuhfatul Ahbab is silent on the celebration of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban, providing no clue as to whether this festival was celebrated amongst the ShiÊ¿i community of Kashmir. Aside from the Eid, the only other festival mentioned in this work is that of Nauroz.18 In the absence of any textual references or supporting archival evidence, it is difficult to ascertain the nature and exact date of origin of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban and its celebration in Kashmir as a festival of light and illumination. In contrast, writing in the early seventeenth century, the fourth Mughal emperor of India, Nur-ud Dyn Jahangir (r. 1605â1627 CE), refers to a Hindu festival in Srinagar, in which houses on both banks of the River Jhelum were illuminated with lamps (Jahangir 1999, 167).19 This textual reference indicates the prevalence of a custom, linked with communal illumination in the city amongst Kashmiri Hindus. Similarly, the tradition of burning candles to mark celebrations is also mentioned by the author of Tuhfatul Ahbab. This work makes a reference to a candle, ShamÊ¿ah-i Nurbakhsh (Nurbakhshiyya candle), which would be symbolically handed over by the shaykh of the Sufi order to a novice, marking the initiation of the latter into the order and the commencement of his spiritual retreat in the khanaqa (Sufi hospice). Likewise, members of the Nurbakhshiyya Order would also light candles on graves of deceased members of their order for a period of forty days following burial (Ali 2006, 83; 91). The absence of a similar practice on Shab-i Barat,20 strongly suggests that the tradition of celebrating the festival by illumination was unknown during the days of the independent sultans of Kashmir (1320â1586 CE) and that it emerged only after the arrival of Mughals in Kashmir.
The demise of the Chak Sultanate came at the hands of the Mughals, who annexed Kashmir in 1586 CE during the reign of Emperor Akbar (r. 1556â1605 CE). Thereafter, the Mughals would rule over Kashmir until 1752 CE, refashioning the land into their own image while also celebrating it as a âterrestrial paradiseâ (firdoÅ«s).21 It is in writings dating from the Mughal period that we find the first recorded instances of celebrations linked with the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban, associating its celebrations with festive illumination. In his memoirs, Jahangir mentions how his Iranian wife, Empress Nur Jahan (d. 1645 CE) hosted a feast on the night following the sunset of the fourteenth of ShaÊ¿ban in her garden. Regarding the nature of the celebrations, he writes,
[T]he fourteenth of ShaÊ¿ban, which is Shab-i Barat, I held a meeting in one of the houses of the palace of Nur Jahan Begam, which is situated in the midst of large tanks [â¦] In the beginning of the evening, they lit lanterns and lamps all around the tanks and building, [â¦] the like of which has perhaps never been arranged in any place. (Jahangir 1999, 385)
The royal festivities marking Barat were also accompanied with full-night revelry amongst members of the Mughal nobility (Jahangir 1999, 386). Jahangirâs memoirs establish the culture of Barat celebrations within the royal court as a secular event devoid of any act of religious piety; an event marked by a dinner party of roast meat, fruits, and drinks under a canvas of illuminated buildings and gardens. According to Annemarie Schimmel (2004, 138), Shab-i Barat celebrations at the Mughal court with âilluminations and fireworks,â reflected Persianate cultural influences, which the Mughal emperors inherited from and shared with their counterpart in Persia.
During their long period of rule over Kashmir, the Mughals introduced numerous cultural influences, many of Persianate origin, which gained favor with the natives and, over the years, became an intrinsic part of Kashmiri culture. These influences can be located in architecture, cuisine, and costume as well as in the crafts of the region. The popularity of Barat festivities at the Mughal court suggests that the material culture linked with this festival came into vogue during Mughal rule in Kashmir. Simultaneously, we find existing native customs related to illumination and grave visitation prevalent among local Shiʿi-Sufi orders such as the Nurbakhshiyya were also incorporated in then-emerging traditions associated with Shab-i Barat as they evolved in Kashmir under the influence of the Mughal royal court.
This transformation of a somewhat obscure festival into an occasion of exuberant illumination of the city is best characterized in the way indigenous Hindu rituals such as the public illumination of residences were adapted into Barat festivities. This propensity for synthesizing exogamous ideas with its own cultural experience is reflective of the syncretism that defines popular Muslim cultures in medieval Kashmir. Furthermore, the celebration of Shab-i Barat by members of the Sunni Mughal court ensured its acceptance by the predominantly Sunni population of Kashmir.22 Tracing its roots to Kashmirâs Mughal past, we observe the emergence of traditions associated with Barat, marked by similarities in celebratory practices amongst ShiÊ¿i and Sunni Muslims in Kashmir, especially the illumination of homes, gardens, and gravesites.
2 The Festival of Illumination: Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban in the Popular Shiʿi Culture of Kashmir
In popular ShiÊ¿i religious literature, the works of the Safavid scholar, Mulla Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (b. 1627, d. 1699 CE) and, following him, that of the twenty-first-century Iranian theologian Iranian theologian and muḥaddith23 Shaykh Abbas Qummi (d. 1359 AH/1941 CE)24 are widely used handbooks of ShiÊ¿i rites, observed on various occasions of the liturgical year, including the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban. In ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd (Provisions for the Hereafter),25 Majlisi forms a connection between grave visitation and the rites associated with Mid-ShaÊ¿ban based on a ḥadÄ«th in which the Prophet Muhammad is said to have visited the Baqi Cemetery in Medina on the eve of the fifteenth of ShaÊ¿ban to pray for the departed souls (Majlisi 1903, 76).26 In Majlisiâs account, Archangel Gabriel instructed Muhammad on the supererogatory prayers (nafl) and supplications (duÊ¿Äʾ) to be made on Eve of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban.27
A lithograph of Majlisiâs ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd
© Hakim Sameer Hamdani (2019)
Manuscript of ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd, copied in 1264 AH by Mulla Aziz-ul Lah Hamdani
© Hakim Sameer Hamdani (2019)
Additionally, both Majlisi and following him Qummi link the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban with the birth of al-Mahdi. Amongst the practices linked with an al-Mahdi-centered narrative of the festival is the recital of ZiyÄrah-i Imam Mahdi, a supplication or salutation dedicated to al-Mahdi. This ziyÄra forges a link between the Night of Atonement and the birth of al-Mahdi:
AllÄhumma bi-ḥaq-i laylatinÄ hÄdhihÄ« wa mawlÅ«dihÄ, wa hudjatika wa mawÊ¿Å«dihÄ, allatÄ« qaranta ilÄ fadhlihÄ fadhlan (Qummi 2019, 258).
transl. âO Allah: I beseech You, by the secret of this night and by the honor of [al-Mahdi], who was born on this night, by the truth of the Sign of God and Your truthful promise [of atonement] on this night; the night, whose bounties You have surmounted with bounty.â
Taken together, the works of Majlisi and Qummi define the entirety of prayer manual defining the devotional aspect of celebrating Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. The existence of handwritten manuscripts of Majlisiâs work dating to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries copied in Kashmir would indicate the familiarity of his work to a Kashmiri audience. Yet the reception of works in the Persian and Arabic languages, such as ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd was limited to a small segment of Kashmiri society: the educated elite, especially those from the religious circle.
Even though in contemporary Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i society the observance and recital of the supererogatory prayers is followed with greater religiosity and discipline, historically this was not the case. In the collective memory28 that Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is have evolved for themselves, the past, even the recent past, is visualized as an age of deep religious piety and ritual observance. However, the actual popular practice of many festivals such as the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban was marked by limited observance of prescribed rituals as defined in religious texts such as ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd. It was only in the educated classes that the observance of various supererogatory prayers as listed by Majlisi and Qummi was followed religiously. This phenomenon was also reflective of widespread illiteracy as well as unfamiliarity with texts in Persian or Arabic, which made these works unintelligible to most people. Additionally, prior to the arrival of printed books, authoritative religious texts, including works such as ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd, though available in Kashmir as manuscripts or lithographs, remained a prized possession within scholarly circles.
At a popular level, the festive dimensions of Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban were more pronounced than the religious or devotional aspects of the festival. This was manifested by visitation to cemeteries as well as lighting lamps or candles on graves of family members and homes. Rooted as they were in popular culture, these festivities also exhibited similarity of expressions amongst both Shiʿis as well as Sunnis. This entire canvas of illumination also served as a dim reminder of the more colorful celebrations under the Mughals, as described by Jahangir.
3 Popular Materialities and Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban in Twentieth-Century Kashmir
Based on my study, the practices linked with the celebration of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban in twentieth-century Kashmir can be divided into two distinct phases. The first phase marks the continuation of long-held local traditions and primarily associates the celebrations with barÄt (atonement). In the second phase, the festival is âreinventedâ or reinterpreted following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, shifting the focus of Shâi celebrations towards the purported vilÄdat (birth) of Imam al-Mahdi.29
Though the argument that both aspects of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban â i.e., barÄt and vilÄdat â were celebrated simultaneously is also made, yet the first known instance of popular linking of the festival with the birth of al-Mahdi happened only in the late 1970s. In his recollections of the festival spanning more than six decades, Professor Shaykh M. Shafi â whose father, Shaykh Muhammad Hadi (d. 2000 CE) was a respected senior Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i cleric â recounts some of the customs and rituals that were observed in their household to celebrate Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban.
According to Shafi, in their joint family of uncles, aunts, brothers, and cousins, the festival was marked by both enactment of prescribed ritual prayers as well as festivities, especially for the younger group of children including Shafi and his cousins. For the children, the celebratory nature of the festival was marked by a special dinner and illumination of houses and cemeteries. The day of the festival commenced with the cleaning of the house and cooking utensils. The preparation of food was overseen by the matriarch of the family, Khadija Begam,30 Shafiâs widowed aunt, assisted by other female members of the family. Shafi recounts that Khadija Begam would wear a white dress, and all the women that were engaged in cooking would be in a state of ritual purity (Kashmiri bawadzu).31 The feast itself would comprise of rice, the staple Kashmiri diet, accompanied by dishes of mutton and chicken. More importantly, it was Khadija Begum who was responsible for preparing the cotton wicks for the earthen lamps (Kashmiri tchung)32 used for illumination at night. The preparation of the lamps was uniformly associated with female members of the household and, though not part of any prescribed ritual, was nevertheless seen as one of the most significant aspects of the festival. New earthen lamps would be procured specially for the festival. By ensuring the ritual purity of everyone involved in the preparation of these lamps, the act achieved a âquasi-ritualistic aspect.â33
In some families four special lamps would be prepared with a varying number of wicks arranged symbolically. This would include five wicks in honor of the panjtan (the Five Revered [Personages]),34 four for the mursil (literally, the messengers, referring to the Prophets of Strong Will),35 twelve for the imams, and fourteen in honor of the Masumīn (Infallibles).36 The preparation of the earthen lamps would be approached with a great degree of devotion and sanctity.
Shafi also remembers visiting the family cemetery later in the evening, where lamps would be lit on the graves of deceased family members after offering the fÄtiha.37 As a child, Shafi and his cousins would also wash the tombstones of deceased family members before lighting the lamps. Not lighting lamps or candles on graves was considered a bad omen, manhousgÄ« (inauspiciousness). Prayers would also be offered at home, where the family elders would stay up for night, while the children would sleep early, after dinner.38
In modern-day Kashmir, grave visitation in addition to lighting of candles and incense sticks is accompanied with showering of the graves by flowers and rose petals.39 Some will also leave a handful of rice grains on the tombstones for birds, in an act of benevolence whose merits would be transmitted to the dead. On the first year after the death of a relative, food is traditionally distributed at the cemetery of the recently deceased on the night of Mid-Shaʿban. The same custom is also followed at home, where food is distributed amongst the neighbors. Generally, the food distributed comprises halwa or firny40 spread on traditional Kashmiri roty (baked bread). In certain instances, food or tea is sent to the local mosque in the mohala (residential quarter or neighborhood) for the congregation participating in nighttime prayers. How much food is distributed depends not only on the financial state of a household but also on how ingrained the custom is within a particular family.41
Children offer prayers at the grave of a family member in Hasanabad, Srinagar
© Syed Shahriyar (2016)
In rural Kashmir, a group of children, normally four, are invited over for the dinner.42 Before being served dinner, the children will recite al-FÄtiḥa or Sura YÄsÄ«n, the 36th chapter of the Quran, for the benefit of the host family. In his recollections, Professor M. Y. Zafar recalls that the invitation was an intrinsic part of the culture surrounding Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban.
According to Zafar, in his native village of Hanjivora, Pattan, all those who could afford to invite guests for dinner would do so. Traditionally, the invitees, numbering between two and four, would be from a family of sayyids, descendants of prophetic pedigree, or the family of the village moulvi (Urdu for Muslim cleric or teacher; also, in Persian). Zafar recalls that, in their village, the only social group who would not engage in this activity was the Doumbs.43 As members of a landless class engaged in menial tasks around the village, they could not afford to host guests for dinner. Additionally, the Doumbs, due to the nature of their profession, were seen as social outcasts by their neighbors, with whom they retained minimal social interaction. The first time when this barrier was broken was somewhere around the 1960âs when Zafar and a friend joined a Doumb family for dinner. In the village, the event was seen as a highly inappropriate act of social transgression.44 Today the tradition of inviting guests for the Shab dinner continues in the village of Hanjivora; yet, exclusion of certain social groups, such as the Doumbs, is no longer practiced. This does not indicate that social grouping based on castes, occupation, and wealth has ceased to exist in the ShiÊ¿i society in Kashmir. What one can posit though, based on field studies, is that the bonds of social taboos governing interactions between various castes groupings within the ShiÊ¿is community have been eased.
The widespread prevalence of hosting dinner gatherings on Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban in rural Kashmir reveals that it appeals more to an agricultural society, where community life revolves around seasons of growing and harvesting food grains. In Kashmir, were rice remains the staple food crop, even today events such as ripening of grain, preparing the first food from harvested grains is followed by organizing community feasts or distributing tahar45 within the village.46
As opposed to the custom of going over to a neighborâs house for dinner on the Shab, the prevalent custom in Srinagar is to have dinner only at home. Not doing so on a night when Allah is said to distribute sustenance amongst His creation is considered highly inauspicious, an act that could invite a diminished fortune.
Both in urban areas as represented by Srinagar as well as in rural Kashmir, a handful of rice is also served in plate for absent members of the family. A cursory examination of this tradition indicates it as an urban phenomenon which traces its origin to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when many Kashmiri Shiʿi traders from Srinagar would embark on an annual trip (phyīr, Kashmiri for travelling in a cyclic manner) to mainland India to sell pashmina shawls.47 In their absence, the family would remember them and their contribution to the family as bread earners by placing food on plates, as a symbolic gesture marking their absence/presence. Over time, as with many other customs originating in the city, the tradition was also adopted in rural Kashmir. On Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban, expecting mothers also prepare a plate of rice for the anticipated baby. In the morning, unconsumed rice from these plates is offered to birds or stray dogs.48 Grave visitations in the evening can be seen as the communal celebration of the event, establishing a link between the individual, the family, and the community, and enshrining the memory of the past by remembering the dead. Meanwhile, limiting the dinner on Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban to immediate family members makes it a more personalized and intimate moment and connects the family to members in faraway lands or those who are yet-to-come.
Until the mid-1980s, the festivities surrounding Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban also involved group of boys going from house to house within a mohala, collecting rice, cooking oil, or money. The money collected, also known as barÄt, would be used for buying the candles which would be used to illuminate the cemetery, mosque, or imambara (ShiÊ¿i house of ritual mourning) in the neighborhood. In some places, the rice and oil collected would be used to cook tahar to be distributed amongst the children.
On arrival at each house, the group would sing a series of rhyming verses:
The verses, which contain some words whose meaning has been lost, may be loosely translated as:
The verses foretell a bountiful year for homeowners who make an offering, cursing those who refuse to do so. This youngster-driven activity was more prevalent amongst the lower strata of society and has been increasingly frowned upon by educated sections of the community, especially in the latter half of the twentieth century. The gradual dying-out of this custom can be linked both to this social negativity due to its popularity amongst the poor, as well as the increasing affluence amongst those who may have participated in it earlier.
Regarding the origins of this tradition, it is reasonable to posit that the act of gathering food from door to door by children and teenagers reflects the harsh social environment that Kashmiris in general and Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is in particular faced following the dissolution of Mughal rule in the province. Kashmir faced misrule, sectarian riots, and natural calamities including the outbreak of cholera, famine, earthquakes, and floods between the late-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. In such adverse conditions, the materiality of food gathering on Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban can be seen as symbolic of sharing and community bonding. The importance of food in the Shab festivities â collecting and eating collectively as a group or family â can also be related to association of the night with Allahâs distribution of rizq, or sustenance.
Given the conservative nature of the Kashmiri Shiʿi society, children participating in the collection would entirely comprise of males.49 Even grave visitation by women in the evening was seen as an undesired activity, frowned upon and, at times, openly censured. In the early-to-mid twentieth century, we find very few instances of such an occurrence.50 Even in cases where women did visit cemeteries, it would always be in the company of male relatives, though even this would not make the act entirely acceptable within the larger community. In contemporary Kashmiri Shiʿi society, this trend is changing and women visiting cemeteries on the occasion of Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban is no longer seen as going against societal norms.
Moulvi Ghulam Ali Gulzar, who has widely written on social issues related to Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is, believes that there is no reason for stopping females from visiting cemeteries. Taking recourse to Islamic history, he notes that the custom of visiting graves is established by the practice of the Prophet Muhammadâs daughter, Fatima al-Zahra (d. 632 CE) who in ShiÊ¿i accounts used to visit the Prophets grave after his death. For Gulzar, there is no reason to prohibit women from grave visitation if Islamic proscriptions of modesty and propriety are upheld. Interestingly, he believes that these values are not specific to female but cover both the sexes.51
Female grave visitation can also be linked to instances where a family had no surviving male member. Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Husayn recounts such an event in his extended family:
In our family, women would not visit cemeteries, even though our family graveyard is walled by a high masonry wall, separating it from the public cemetery at Hassanabad (Srinagar). I do not think that there was any religious reason for their not visiting. It was primarily related to custom of purdah [Kashmiri for âveilingâ; also used in Urdu] prevalent in the ShiÊ¿i community of Srinagar. Somewhere in the 1970s, an uncle, Hakim Ali passed away. Three of his daughters survived him. On the first Shab-i Barat following his death, his daughter, Dr. Suriya Hakim came to offer fÄtiha at the cemetery along with her mother. Their visit occurred in the early evening, before assembly of any large gatherings.52
Justice Husaynâs view on women performing grave visitation on Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban are also echoed by Aga Faisal Ali Qizalbash, a young lawyer from Srinagar. The Qizalbash family graveyard is located within Baba Mazar, the main ShiÊ¿i cemetery in Srinagar, located in the mohala of Zadibal. According to Ali, on every Shab-i Barat, female members in the family visit Baba Mazar to offer prayers and light candles. The visit generally takes place in the late afternoon, before it gets dark, and always in the company of male relatives. Ali believes that this family tradition most probably originated in the 1940s, when a grand aunt Begum Zafar Ali (d. 1990) first visited the family graveyard following her fatherâs death. As such, this would be the first known instance of a women visiting Baba Mazar on the Shab.53
Begum Zafar Aliâs visit to the cemetery can be seen as a manifestation of her public role as a reformist in the Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i society. A pioneering figure and leading educator of Kashmir, she discarded purdah as early as 1946. Although her visit to Baba Mazar was indeed a break with tradition, its immediate affect was limited to her family. This can be understood based on my conversation with Aga Syed Mustafa Rizvi, an Arabic teacher who also serves as the imam of a mosque located in close proximity to Baba Mazar. Rizvi considers the importance of women visitation to Baba Mazar on the Shab as a practice of limited consequence which should be discouraged. According to him, such visitations are to be understood in the spatial layout of the Baba Mazar, a large open land with multiple entry point leading into various neighborhoods. Additionally, the site is also bordered by the revered shrine of Hajji Syed Hassan. According to Rizvi, women inadvertently pass through the cemetery on the way to the shrine.54
Rizviâs opinion on grave visitation by women at prominent cemeteries such as Baba Mazar is contentious do not necessarily reflect the more conservative views of mainstream ShiÊ¿i in Kashmir. Nevertheless, as I mentioned above, in contemporary practices we see an increasing number of women visiting cemeteries on Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. This can also be seen as a reflection of the expanded role of women in Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i society as they move outside the traditional domain of the household and take on new social roles beyond the role of a housewife. By openly participating in public practices such as grave visitation, they are not only challenging established social values of a patriarchal society but also democratizing interpretation of religion and what is considered acceptable religious behavior.
Devotees offer candles and prayers at the grave of a local saint, Astan-Mirza Saheb. Hasanabad, Srinagar
© Syed Shahriyar (2016)
Men and women burn candles at the main imÄmbÄra shrine in Zadibal, Srinagar
© Syed Ilyas Rizvi (2018)
A man lights candles outside his house on Shab-i Barat. Srinagar, Kashmir
© Syed Shahriyar (2016)
Grave visitation is usually followed by a family dinner which concludes the festive part of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban. This is preceded by the lighting of candles in the house. Normally, this is an activity which involves all members of the family, children and adults, men and women. Since the mid-1990s, lighting fireworks or firecrackers have been become another aspect of Kashmiri festivities associated with Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. Though not very popular, firecrackers are seen both as a social nuisance and a bidah.55 The use of firecrackers is seen by many as taking away from the Islamic nature of the festival, especially because of its close resemblance to the Hindu festival of Diwali. While lighting candles on Shab-i Barat was a tradition that Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is historically shared with the Sunni community, firecrackers can be seen as an entirely ShiÊ¿i manifestation. Historically, Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is share many customs with the indigenous Hindu community, including the belief in astrology, ill-omens, and others. In recent times, this manifestation of a shared-syncretic culture has been a source of Sunni criticism against the adoption of practices deemed pre- or un-Islamic by ShiÊ¿i Muslims. Given the prevalence of sectarian debates on social media sites, it is possible to posit that the âIslamic-nessâ of traditions and the question of textual authenticity have premeditated the consciousness of the learned scholars of the Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i community, leading to a rejection of such practices as lighting firecrackers.
Based on my study, it emerges that until the 1980s, there was no precedent or an established custom within the ShiÊ¿i community of Kashmir to hold nightlong prayers in mosques, including on Shab-i Barat, even though individuals would offer prayers and supplications that were part of their family tradition. Generally, a supererogatory prayer followed by a tasbīḥ56 and prayers seeking forgiveness and blessings would be observed. The nafl prayer would be followed by three recitations of Sura YÄsÄ«n, invoking Allahâs blessings for long life, deliverance from calamities, and righteous deeds. The entire session of prayers and supplications would be finished by 10 PM or 11 PM; rarely do we hear of an instance where individuals stay up in prayer until the dawn prayers.57 Even a cursory examination of the prayers can indicate how they relate to barÄt, the qualities of atonement associated with Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban by seeking protection and blessing for the coming year.
While Sunni and ShiÊ¿i Muslims in Kashmir share many of the traditions and rituals associated with the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban and Shab-i Barat, there are also several differences in the way the two communities celebrate the festival. For example, while ShiÊ¿is customarily perform grave visitation before maghrib (sundown) prayers, Sunnis tend to visit their cemeteries in the night, after the Ê¿ishÄʾ (evening) prayers , citing a ḥadÄ«th in which the Prophet Muhammad visited the Baqi Cemetery in Madina on the night following the sunset on the fourteenth of ShaÊ¿ban (Qari n. d., 446). In this narration, the reported event of the Prophets visit takes place at midnight. Thus, for the Sunnis grave visitation at night not only marked the closure of the Shab but also a demonstration of their literal adherence to prophetic tradition. By contrast, ShiÊ¿is would normally avoid visiting cemeteries after the magrib prayers, as this is seen as an inauspicious act, disturbing the peace of the departed.
Moreover, the observance of supererogatory fast on the day following Shab-i Barat â i.e., the fifteenth of ShaÊ¿ban â is generally frowned upon unless it is undertaken in fulfillment of a votive vow (nazr). This is in keeping with traditional ShiÊ¿i view of Shab-i Barat as a festive occasion whereas abstinence from food and drink is seen as a rejection of the blessings associated with festival. Contrary to this, the observance of the fast is a more accepted and popular practice among the Sunni community. For the Sunnis, the supererogatory fast is in accordance with the ḥadÄ«th that establishes the sanctity of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban and Shab-i Barat.
A custom common to both Shiʿis as well as Sunnis was gift-giving, especially cash gifts given to children. It was believed that gift-giving on Shab-i Barat, the night when Allah is believed to allocate sustenance amongst His creations, would ensure greater wealth for the coming year. Additionally, this act of charity also serves as an auspicious beginning for the cycle of divine munificence, commencing on the eve of Mid-Shaʿban. Likewise, some segments of the Sunni community would also illuminate their houses on the eve of Mid-Shaʿban, especially in mixed mohalas.58
Exchanging gifts, especially in the form of clothes or jewelry, between families of engaged couples can also be observed especially amongst rural Kashmiris. In Srinagar, by contrast, such exchanges are more common on the festival of Nauroz,59 which until the early 1980s constituted the main celebratory festival for Kashmiri Shiʿis.
An examination of the nature of the celebration linked with Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban and the various prayers traditionally observed on this night amongst Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is indicates how these rituals â whether devotional or festive â foregrounded barÄt and emphasized notions of divine grace, atonement and munificence. Well until the 1980s, nothing in these rituals bears a connection to the birth of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi.
Allama Aga Syed Muhammad Baqir is one the senior ShiÊ¿i ulema (religious scholars; pl. Ê¿ulamÄʾ) in Kashmir. He is also the vakil (representative) of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Sistani (b. 1930) in Kashmir. According to Baqir, both barÄt as well as the vilÄdat of al-Mahdi constitute equally important aspects of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. He recounts how his family celebrated Mid-ShaÊ¿ban, emphasizing both barÄt and vilÄdat, though he links the practice of festive illumination only to barÄt. Trained in the Najaf seminary and belonging to a traditional family of ulema which produced many leading ShiÊ¿i religious scholars of Kashmir, Baqir assumes that the commemorative practices his family upheld were also upheld by the majority of Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is. This assertion is widely held amongst families of religious scholars in Kashmir.60
Dr. Amjad Ansari belongs to another prominent family of Kashmiri scholars. Several of the Ansaris studied under the leading marÄjiÊ¿ (religious authorities or sources of emulation) of Najaf, Iraq, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Dr. Amjad Ansari himself worked in Iran for many years, while also serving as personal physician of Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Muntezari (d. 2009). In his recollections, Ansari relates the celebrations of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban with his experience in Iran. According to him, the illumination of homes that is undertaken in Kashmir on the eve of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban is not for barÄt but to commemorate the vilÄdat, as is the case in Iran. Asked why such an illumination should be limited to the vilÄdat of al-Mahdi to the exception of other imams, he responded that âin ShiÊ¿i belief, al-Mahdi is the âImam of [this] Ageâ.â61
Both Baqir and Ansari represent an understanding of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban conditioned by their transnational experience of having studied or worked in major centers of ShiÊ¿i scholarly training. Well-grounded in ShiÊ¿i religious texts and historiography, they assume that the religious knowledge that is characteristic of their experience is also prevalent in the Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i community at large. But based on my research and observations, it emerges that this is not the case; at least not for the generation of Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is who came of age before the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Though some in this group also relate Mid-ShaÊ¿ban to the vilÄdat of al-Mahdi, they associate the material cultures and the practices of grave visiting and illumination to the attainment of divine atonement, barÄt. Younger generations of Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is however, increasingly identify the festival with a Mahdi-centric narrative. Their reflections on the Shab characterize an increasing shift of perception amongst the Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i society regarding what they celebrate and why.
4 Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban and the Celebration of VilÄdat-i Imam Mahdi
According to Shafi, Ayatollah Kirmani,62 the representative of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari (b. 1906, d. 1986),63 visited Kashmir in the late 1970s. In a series of public meetings, Kirmani asked the local ShiÊ¿i community to engage more in communal celebrations of festivals linked with birthdays of the Prophet and the ShiÊ¿i imams. In a public meeting held in the compound of Hajji Eydah Masjid in Zadibal, Srinagar, Kirmani reiterated his message, linking Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban with the birth of al-Mahdi. It was Kirmani, who propagated the narrative of al-Mahdiâs vilÄdat as the central defining theme of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban.64
Historically, the first public celebration of the birth of a revered ShiÊ¿i figure in Kashmir was that of the birth of Imam Ali, the first ShiÊ¿i imam and an Islamic figure highly regarded by Sunni Muslims. The event took place on the Rajab 13, 1359 AH (August 17, 1940 CE) in a park at Zadibal, which was later renamed as Ali Park (Hamdani 2014, 371). This celebration was linked with the freedom struggle (1931â1947) launched by Kashmiri Muslims against the Hindu King of Kashmir, a struggle which involved close collaboration between Kashmiri Sunnis and ShiÊ¿is against a common feudal opponent. Representing the coming together of the Sunni and ShiÊ¿i communities, the celebration of Imam Aliâs birth represented a nationalist struggle rather than a public display of religious fervor or piety particular to only one branch of Islam (Hamdani 2014, 38).
Since 1979 however, several organizations and prominent figures in Kashmir propagated views inspired by the teachings of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni (d. 1989), the leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, including an activist reading of ShiÊ¿ism that emphasizes tropes of self-cultivation and piety to prepare the ShiÊ¿i community and immanentize the Reppearance of al-Mahdi in the End of Time. In the early 1980s, this included several Iranian students studying at Kashmir University and the Regional Engineering College in Srinagar. These students formed the nucleus of a movement that reached out and appealed to young, educated Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is.65 The Iranian government encouraged Kashmiri students to study in the seminaries of Qom, provided religious literature to Kashmiri mosques and ShiÊ¿i centers, sponsored organized visits to pilgrimage sites in Iran, and funded the construction of ShiÊ¿i imambara, shrines and mosques in Kashmir. For a greater public messaging of this outreach, prominent members of the Iranian establishment also visited Kashmir, including the incumbent Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (b. 1939), interim Prime Minister of Iran in 1981, Ayatollah Mehdavi Kani (d. 2014), and Ayatollah Ali Gulzadeh Gafoori (d. 2010),66 to name a few. These government-sponsored programs focused on fostering a sense of unity amongst the Muslims and did not seek to change or question any established cultural or religious practices prevalent amongst the ShiÊ¿is.67 Yet, in the following decade, as young Kashmiris trained in Qom returned to Kashmir, they increasingly reflected the religious and ideological proclivities of Iranian ShiÊ¿ism and the viewpoints of the establishment in Iran. The increasing emphasis amongst Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i, on the devotional practices centered on the personality of al-Mahdi, including their celebration of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban, foregrounding the vilÄdat of Imam Mahdi, can be traced back to this period. In appropriating the religious significance of a widely celebrated festival like Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban, al-Mahdi is elevated in the hierarchy of ShiÊ¿i imams, joining two of the most venerated imams in the popular ShiÊ¿i cultures of Kashmir, Imam Ali and Imam Husayn, to whom the two most important events in the Kashmiri liturgical calendar are linked: Nauroz and the Tenth of Muharram.
Foregrounding the vilÄdat of Imam Mahdi at the shrine of Hajji Syed Hassan, devotees light candles and prepare for the night vigil. Srinagar, Kashmir
© Syed Ilyas Rizvi (2018)
A result of this is the emergence of practices associated with the Mahd-centric reinterpretation of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban, such as the arÄ«za (Kashmiri for written requests, derived from the Arabic word for petition; also used in Persian and Urdu). ArÄ«za writing owes its origin to personal ceremonies surrounding al-Mahdi. On the morning of the Fifteenth of ShaÊ¿ban, written requests, or petitions, are immersed in running water,68 with the belief that they will reach al-Mahdi, the Imam of the Age, and that they will be answered. Traditionally, this ritual was largely unknown to Kashmiris, practiced only amongst few families.69 But, more recently the phenomenon of writing arÄ«za has been transformed into a major communal event with busloads of devotees being transferred from the shrine of Hajji Syed Hassan at Baba Mazar to the Gupkar Shrine located on the banks of the picturesque Dal Lake, some 9 kilometers away. After offering morning prayers, the devotees walk down to the banks of the lake, where they immerse their arÄ«zas in the water. To ensure that the arÄ«za, which is written on paper, sinks to the bottom of the lake, it is usually enveloped within a ball of flour. The immersion is accompanied and followed by reciting duÊ¿Äʾ prayers which mark the culmination of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban.70 Communal participation in the arÄ«za ritual, which was introduced to Kashmir 2008 by ShiÊ¿i seminarians from Qom, can also be seen as a reflection of a similar, recent occurrence in Iran; namely, the popularization of the Jamkaran Mosque under former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (r. 2005â2013).71 Participants in the arÄ«za ritual at Dal Lake also offer nimaz-i SÄhib-i ZÄman, a supererogatory prayer dedicated to the Twelfth Imam, reiterating the association of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban with al-Mahdiâs birth. Although the arÄ«za ritual has gained popularity amongst the youth in recent decades, it has not been very popular with the established clergy and the older generations of the ShiÊ¿i community in Kashmir.72
5 Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban: Reflections on Tradition, Change and Continuity in Kashmir
The procession of devotees offering their arÄ«za at Dal Lake is led by a young cleric, Hojat-ul-Islam Aga Syed Ajaz, who hails from a respected family of ulema based at Zadibal. Ajaz is also the appointed imam at Masjid-i Ê¿Abd Saleh and presides over the shrine of Hajji Hasan as its hereditary custodian. Incidentally, one of Ajazâs ancestors was also known to actively engage in the arÄ«za ritual, though in his case it was a personal act unrelated to Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. As the only prominent ShiÊ¿i cleric of Srinagar to oversee the arÄ«za ceremony, Ajaz has uniquely marked the event and the practice with the shrine under his control. By undertaking a procession from his hereditary seat to the Gupkar shrine, which he does not control, he has effectively expanded the spiritual territory of the shrine he presides over. The ritual of arÄ«za was started by Ajaz in the mid-1990s. In the initial years, he would be accompanied by less than a dozen devotees; by 2018, hundreds of young ShiÊ¿is, including women, participated in the ritual procession, which is increasingly appealing to ShiÊ¿is, not only from Zadibal but also other parts of Srinagar. By engaging in the activity, Ajaz is also expanding his appeal base though this may not be his stated motive, which he sees as establishing a devotional practice.73
In addition to holding the arīza ritual, Ajaz also presides over a nightlong session of prayers, supplications, and sermons at the shrine of Hajji Hassan. A larger part of the night is dedicated to the sermon, where Ajaz is assisted by other young Kashmiri clerics, who, like him, studied in the seminary in Qom. As the main cemetery, Baba Mazar also draws a large crowd, many of whom pass through the cemetery, burning candles. Yet, as with such festivities, the cemetery also draws teenagers, who come to light their fireworks and play with firecrackers in the open space of the cemetery. Most of these activities take place around the time of maghrib (sundown) prayer, which also results in conflict between the mosque authorities and those involved in lighting crackers. Calls from the mosque speakers are regularly made to desist from burning crackers as this is an undesired act, disturbing the worshippers. The call resonates in the sermons given later in the night, which emphasize the night as one of forgiveness and deliverance. Though the material manifestation of Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban, as a night of illumination is not questioned, yet within the congregational circles linked with seminary-trained clerics, the emphasis is more on religious piety and observance of textually defined rituals rather than festivities. The sermons delivered by the ulema customarily reiterate traditional morals and familial values, which also figure in Muharram assemblies. As a phenomenon, if it may be termed as such, this is a development that is widespread in both urban as well as rural Kashmir.
6 To Celebrate or not to Celebrate: Kashmiri Sunnis and Shab-i Barat
While festivities remain an integral part of the ShiÊ¿i celebration of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban,74 the importance of the festival for Sunni Muslims has diminished to a large extent. Though many Sunnis recall illuminating their homes on the eve of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban, only a few uphold this tradition today. Similarly, grave visitation on the eve and day of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban has completely vanished from the religious landscape of Kashmiri Sunnis. A major cause for this was the outbreak of armed insurgency in Kashmir during the 1990s. Given the disturbed political and security climate of the region, customary grave visitation at midnight was not possible.75 Coinciding with political turmoil was the gradual eclipse of the Hanafi institutions in the region and the proliferation of the neo-Salafi and Wahabi dawÄh (daÊ¿wa, Arabic for call, referring to proselytism) within the Sunni community. Additionally, as the celebration of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban by the ShiÊ¿i community foregrounds the vilÄdat of their Twelfth Imam over tropes of atonement and munificence, the festival has become increasingly defined along sectarian lines, whereby ever-fewer Sunnis observed the festivities associated with Mid-ShaÊ¿ban.76 Moreover, Ahl-i Hadith and other neo-Salafi movements popular among younger Sunnis in Kashmir question the authenticity of narratives around Shab-i Barat and dispute the permissibility of rituals associated with the festival. The open celebration of the festival by the Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i community and the centering of the vilÄdat of al-Mahdi only added to neo-Salafisâ disquiet and misgiving about Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. This is especially true of the illumination of houses and the visitation of graves both of which are practices condemned by neo-Salafis as bidah, or innovations lacking textual backing in the Quran and the ḥadÄ«th.
This transformation is evidenced by the testimony of Fida Husain, a ShiÊ¿i resident of the mixed Sunni-ShiÊ¿i neighborhood of Shahid Gunj in Srinagar. Husain says that, until the mid-1990s, it was customary for Sunnis in his mohala would illuminate their homes as well as the local mosque on the Eve of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban. But after the outbreak of the armed insurgency in Kashmir, these celebrations ceased. Moreover, the Sunni mosque in this mixed neighborhood is now closed after maghrib prayers on the the eve of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban to prevent people from observing any special prayer associated with the festival. This procedure is targeted against the Hanafi Sunni members of the congregation rather than the ShiÊ¿i community living in the locality. Over time, celebrations associated with Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban in Shahid Gunj have become an exclusively ShiÊ¿i event. For the Sunnis, it is increasingly seen as bidah and âun-Islamicâ.77
The gradual erasure of historical cultural practices and celebrations, such as Shab-i Barat, worries many Sunnis who are increasingly concerned about restrictions affecting what is and is not âproperâ and âacceptableâ religious and communal behavior. Imbibing a cosmopolitan outlook, with a home in Srinagar and another in New York City, Syed Mujtaba Qadriâs memories of how Kashmiri Sunnis celebrated Shab-i Barat are also marred by nostalgia, common to many in the Kashmiri Diaspora:
My grandfather was a [prominent] spiritual guide [pÄ«r] in the Qadri Sufi order [one of the leading Sufi orders amongst Kashmiri Sunnis]. Illuminating homes and grave visitation on Shab-i Barat is a long-established tradition in our family, which I continue to adhere to. Our family â the larger clan to speak, includes more than a hundred households. Traditionally all of them celebrated Barat. But today I believe that in my immediate as well as extended family, I am the only one observing festivities linked with Barat.
Qadriâs understanding is that political turmoil in the 1990s and the spread of neo-Salafi ideas amongst Kashmiri Sunnis has resulted in the eclipse of celebrations such as Shab-i Barat. In continuing with these practices Qadri believes he is also helping to keeping a family tradition alive.78
While individuals from the Sunni community, like Qadri, continue to observe Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban, their numbers are dwindling. In the face of polemical attacks from neo-Salafis, adherents of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam find it increasingly difficult to accept, observe, and justify cultural practices linked with festivals such as Jashn-i Nisf Shaʿban. Maulana Shaukat Keng, a prominent Sunni scholar belonging to the Hanafi school and a frequenter of various Sufi khanqahs, offers yet another narrative. Keng acknowledges that, until the 1990s, many Sunni families, especially in mixed neighborhoods of Srinagar, illuminated their homes and cemeteries on Shab-i Barat. He believes that this was not linked in any way with the notion of jashn (celebration), but as a sort of civic duty. He asserts that, in the past, when electricity was not available, people would light candles on the wall of their houses and graveyards so that wayfarers could find their way. The reasoning given by Keng is clearly an attempt to find a logical explanation for a past practice, whose celebratory nature he wants to understate, probably under the scrutiny of neo-Salafi criticism. It may also be seen as an attempt to distance himself and his community from a tradition that is shared with the Shiʿis of the region.79
While most respondents that I talked to have tended to locate the creeping differences in celebrations of Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban in religion, some associated them with transformations in Kashmiri society. Saleem Beg comes from a Sunni family that used to live in the historic old part of Srinagar Beg remembers that amongst the Sunni families living in his childhood neighborhood, illuminating by lighting candles and distributing food amongst neighbors on Shab-i Barat was a major event. Yet, today at his home, located in one of the upscale city suburbs, no one participates in these traditions. For Beg, the reasons are not entirely located in intra-Islamic polemical debates but are rooted in processes of urbanization and intra-city migrations. He believes that a major reason for the decline in the popularity of many cultural practices â such as those associated with Shab-i Barat â is the large-scale movement of people from the older parts of Srinagar to the suburbs. Traditional practices, such as lighting candles and distributing food, are collective activities, which involve active community participation as was seen in the historic mohalas of Srinagar. For Beg, the failure to recreate social and cultural cohesion amongst communities in the new neighborhoods and suburbs of the modern city is what led to the eclipse of such traditions.80 In relating the decline of past cultural practices with the process of urbanization and urban anonymization and estrangement, Beg makes a pertinent point; that of unraveling of social and cultural bonds due to dislocation and movement of people. Large scale migration of ShiÊ¿is from mixed neighborhood of the old city has also contributed to this phenomenon, especially since the 1980s.
A local mohala shrine illuminated on Shab-i Barat
© Syed Ilyas Rizvi (2018)
The reflections of Tahir Iqbal provide a unique insight as to how Sunni youth imagine Shab-i Barat in an increasingly sectarian milieu. Iqbal lives in the mohala of Marjanpura in the old city of Srinagar. Historically, Marjanpura was home to a large ShiÊ¿i population. However, most of the ShiÊ¿i residents of Marjanpura have migrated from there. Adhering to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, Iqbal feels that the practice of illuminating homes and cemeteries originates from the ShiÊ¿i community and was adopted in the past by Sunnis living in the mohala. Today, as opposed to some thirty-forty years ago, Sunnis in the mohala no longer observe these practices; something with which Iqbal agrees. Unlike neo-Salafis, Iqbal does not question the authenticity of Shab-i Barat. Nonetheless, he seeks to distance himself from the festivities linked with the festival, which he views as contrary to the teachings of Islam. Yet, interestingly, Iqbal was unaware of the association between Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban and the vilÄdat of al-Mahdi amongst ShiÊ¿is, an association which would reflect a genuine ShiÊ¿ificationâ of the festival.81 By stereotyping the origin of these festivities in a ShiÊ¿i culture, we see how a narrative lacking historical context is being advanced to question previously shared cultural practices.
Burning candles and grave visitations continue after magrib prayers, Hassanabad ImambÄra
© Syed Shahriyar (2012)
Iqbalâs perception of the festival is reflective of a widespread phenomenon amongst the Kashmiri Sunnis, where the idea of festive illumination on the occasion of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban is seen as an undesirable innovation, or bidah, which is not authenticated by any religious text. In a move towards âauthenticity,â Kashmiri Sunnis prefer to distance themselves from the vernacular cultural practices previously associated with Islam as it developed in Kashmir. This disassociation is achieved by emphasizing a Sunni identity that is distinct and âpurifiedâ from perceived cultural borrowings of ShiÊ¿i or Hindu origin.82 This is a phenomenon widespread amongst Sunni Muslim communities in South Asia, where syncretic traditions linked with the historic experience of Islam in the region are being condemned as bidah, or impermissible innovations in matters of religion.
7 Conclusion
A visitor to a ShiÊ¿i-majority mohala of Kashmir on Shab-i Barat would be impressed by the overwhelming scene of houses, streets, shrines, mosques, and cemeteries illuminated with candles. If the visitor would then move to a mohala inhabited by Sunnis, he would be equally surprised by the total absence of any such celebration. By narrowing the meaning associated with the festival to a predominantly devotional aspect, Kashmiri Sunnis have effectively moved away from the shared tradition of celebrating Barat. By contrast, the appeal of the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban has remained unscathed in the ShiÊ¿i community of Kashmir. Yet, even among Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is, change has taken place: Today, greater emphasis is placed on the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban marking the birth of al-Mahdi, the ShiÊ¿isâ Twelfth Imam and awaited messiah, and less emphasis is placed on the nightâs promises of atonement, divine forgiveness, deliverance, and the distribution of good fortune. Although the material manifestations of the festival, as experienced by the ShiÊ¿i community, may appear largely unchanged, Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is are re-defining Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban in an increasingly sectarian milieu. Foregrounding the vilÄdat of al-Mahdi reinvents the festival in a way that is appealing only to adherents of Twelver ShiÊ¿ism. This not only appropriates the festival, excluding the Sunni community, but also ascertains the increasingly salient Sunni-ShiÊ¿i divide.
From shared practices of celebration, which, in the light of its illumination effaced sectarian boundaries, today the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban is increasingly representing the material articulation of variegated sectarian experiences. Although festivities associated with Shab-i Barat constituted an integral part of the lived and living tradition of Kashmiri Islam well into the 1990s, the festival has been âre-inventedâ in ways that emphasize the differences between the Sunni and ShiÊ¿i communitiesâ distinct ways of celebrating â or, indeed, not celebrating â Jashn-i Nisf ShaÊ¿ban. Today, festivities associated with the festival demonstrate a new reality, namely a material culture framing two distinct, compartmentalized, differentiated and essentialized communities: the ShiÊ¿is and the Sunnis.
Gone, it seems, are the days, when Kashmiris greeted each other on Shab-i Barat: KhudÄ karney rÄ«zh BarÄt (transl. May God make this Barat auspicious for you.) Today, this is an almost exclusively ShiÊ¿i greeting in Kashmir.
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Khuihami, Pir Hassan Shah, transl. Shams-ud Din Ahmad. 2002. TÄrÄ«kh-i Hassan (The History of Hasan), vol. II. Srinagar: J&K Academy of Arts, Culture & Languages.
Majd, Hooman. 2008. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran. London: Penguin Books.
Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir. 1320 AH/1903â04 CE. ZÄd-al MaÄd (Provisions for Hereafter). Tehran.
Malik, Haider, transl. Razia Bano. 1991. TÄrÄ«kh-i Kashmir (History of Kashmir). Delhi: Bhavna Prakashan.
Pandita, K.N. (transl.). 2009. A Muslim Missionary in Medieval Kashmir: Being English Translation of TuḥfatÅ«l AḥbÄb. New Delhi: Eurasian Human Rights Forum.
Qummi, Shaykh Abbas, MafÄtīḥ al-JanÄn (Keys to Heaven), English translation alhassanain.org/english/?com=book&id=928, accessed December 30, 2019.
Rahimi, Babak. 2019. âJamkaran: Embodiment and Messianic Experience in the Making of Digital Pilgrimage.â In Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World, ed. by Babak Rahimi and Peyman Eshaghi, 207â222. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Rizvi, Kishwar. 2015. The Transnational Mosque: Architecture and Historical Memory in the Contemporary Middle East. University of North Carolina Press.
Schimmel, Annemarie. 2004. The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.
Tabatabai, S.M.H., transl. William C. Chittick. 1980. A Shiʿite Anthology. Tehran Ansariyan Publications.
Turner, Colin Paul. 1989. The Rise of Twelver ShiÊ¿ite Externalism in Safavid Iran and its Consolidation under Ê¿Allama Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (1037/1627â1110/1699). Doctoral thesis, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: etheses.dur.ac.uk/959.
Transliterations in this chapter are provided from the Arabic and Persian languages, according to the origin of the word. For terms and expressions used in both languages, transliterations are provided according to the language from which the word is most likely to have entered the Kashmiri context. A simplified transliteration is used throughout. For simplicity, diacritics are provided for technical terms only and are avoided for proper nouns, place names, and dates or events with a commonplace system of romanization.
In the Persianate world the festival is commonly known as Nimh-i Shaʿban, while in the Arabic-speaking world it is commonly referred to as Nisf Shaʿban.
Unless otherwise stated, dates in this chapter are provided according to the Hijri (lunar) and Gregorian calendars. These are indicated by AH for Anno Hegirae and CE for common (or current) era.
A ḥadÄ«th (pl. aḥÄdÄ«th) is an authoritative narration of the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad. Compilations of aḥÄdÄ«th have achieved canonical status among Muslims, rendering ḥadÄ«th, as a collective canon, a major source of religious knowledge, second only to the Quran.
Ahl-i Hadith is a religious movement that emerged in nineteenth-century British India. The movement gained prominence in Kashmir especially in the 1980s. Among other things, Ahl-i Hadith are known for their literal interpretation of ḥadīth and the rejection of vernacular cultural practices of the local Muslim community. In particular, followers of Ahl-i Hadith are opposed to Sufi practices and reject festivals such as Barat. For more on Ahl-i Hadith, see Bhatti (2007).
In some traditions the date is mentioned as 868 CE.
The study is structured as a descriptive research design based on fieldwork in Shiʿi-majority neighborhoods of Srinagar, the capital city of Kashmir. The city has historically served as the enabler of Kashmiri culture. Nevertheless, experiences linked to the celebration outside of Srinagar have also been collected, but these studies are only illustrative.
The two Eids celebrated by all Muslims are Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) and Eid al-Fitr (Feast of Breaking the Fast). ShiÊ¿is celebrate two additional Eids, those of al-Ghadir (Ê¿Ä«d al-ghadÄ«r) and al-Mubahala. According to ShiÊ¿i belief, Eid al-Ghadir commemorates the Prophet Muhammadâs declaration of his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as his vice reagent during his Farewell Pilgrimage in 632 CE. Eid al-Mubahala commemorates the Event of Mubahala, when the Prophet Muhammad and a Christian delegation prayed together to invoke a divine sign to reveal truth and falsehood in their religious differences.
Shaykh Muhammad b. Yaqub Kulyani (b. 250 AH/864 CE, d. 329 AH/941 CE) in his account of the twelfth ShiÊ¿i imam records a meeting in Baghdad between al-Mahdi and Abu Said Hindi, a Kashmiri, who reportedly arrived in the city sometime after 264 AH/877 CE. Historically, Abu Said represents one the earliest reference to Kashmir ShiÊ¿i Muslims in ShiÊ¿i ḥadÄ«th (Kulyani 2001, 141â174). Regarding Muslim presence in Kashmir, the Kashmiri historian Kalhana speaks of Turuska (Sanskrit, for Turks) soldiers who were in the service of King Harsadeva (r. 1089â1101 CE), see Kalhana (2007, 353).
Ladakh borders Kashmir on the north and forms the entry point to Tibet.
On his conversion he adopted the name of Sadr-ud Din and is remembered as such by medieval Muslim historians. Malik gives his year of passing as 727 AH/1326 CE (Malik 1991, 40).
The author of TÄrÄ«kh-i Kashmir (c.1620â21 CE) speaks of Bulbul Shah as a ShiÊ¿i, see Malik (1991).
The Sultans of Kashmir ruled from 1346â1586 CE, under the two ruling dynasties, the Shahmiris and the Chaks.
The last Chak ruler, Yaqub Shah (r. 1586 CE) insisted that the Sunni imam of the main congregational mosque Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, recite the typical ShiÊ¿i phrase Ash-hadu anna Ê¿AlÄ« walÄ«-u Allah (âI testify that Ali is the Viceregent of Allahâ) in the adhÄn (call for prayers), see Malik (1991) and Khuihami (1999).
The Mughals are a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin who ruled over much of the Indian sub-continent between 1526 and 1857 CE.
For the Nurbakhshiyya, see Bashir (2003).
The work has been translated into English, see Pandita (2009).
Nauroz (Persian for âNew Dayâ) marks the beginning of the Iranian New Year and falls on the day of spring equinox. Amongst Kashmiri ShiÊ¿is, the day is celebrated to mark the commencement of the caliphate of Imam Ali.
The illumination mentioned in this account marks Vyeth Truwah (Kashmiri for âThirteenth of Vyethâ), an ancient Hindu festival celebrating the origin of the River Jhelum (Vyeth) on the thirteenth of the month of Bahdawan (August/September) of the Hindu calendar.
The taáºkÄ«rahs of Sunni Sufi orders also lack any mention of festive celebrations linked with Mid-ShaÊ¿ban. This includes the famous books of Kashmiri hagiography, such as Dastur-i Salikin of Baba Dawud Khakhi (d. 1585), Hidayat al-Mukhlisin of Baba Haider Tulmuli (d. 1590) and Chilchilat-al Arifin (c.1574) of Khwaja Ishaq Qari.
Traces of this fetishization of the land can be observed in official Mughal accounts and reports, imperial biographies, poetical compositions as well as in the gardens and mosques that the Mughals constructed in Kashmir.
Sunni ḥadÄ«th literature on the merits of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban is recorded in the Mussanaf of Abdul Razaq b. Humam (126 AH/744 CEâ211 AH/827 CE) and the Musanad of Ahmad b. Hanbal (164 AH/780 CEâ241 AH/855 CE). Amongst the canonical Sunni ḥadÄ«th collection, the SahihyÄn, chapters on the merit of Nisf ShaÊ¿ban are to be found in both Jamia al-Tirmidhi and Sunan of ibn Majah, see Qari (undated, 444; 446).
A muḥaddith (Arabic) is a person who studies and transmits ḥÄdÄ«th (traditions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). The term usually denotes conservative or traditionalist scholarship.
According to Turner, Majlisi represents ShiÊ¿i scholars from the Safavid period who were concerned primarily with the exoteric trappings of Twelver ShiÊ¿ism â the practical aspects of Islam rather than Ä«mÄn (faith or belief) (Turner 1989, 219). Earlier compilations like ZÄd al-MaÊ¿Äd from which Majlisi borrows include al-Miá¹£bÄḥ al-KabÄ«r of Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 460/1066), al-Balad al AmÄ«n and Miá¹£bÄḥ al Kafami of Ibrahim b. Ali al Kafami (d. 905 AH/1499 CE).
ZÄd al-maÊ¿Äd (Provisions for the Hereafter) is a Persian language book of prayers and supplications written by Mulla Muhammad Baqir Majlisi in 1107 AH/1695â96 CE. Shaykh Abbas Qummiâs more recent compilation of prayers and supplications has to a large extent eclipsed Majlisiâs original work.
The supplications attributed to the Festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban also include a duÊ¿Äʾ whose merits are bestowed on the supplicatesâ parents (Qummi 2019).
The ḥadÄ«th is reported on the authority of the second ShiÊ¿i imam, Hassan. The nafl prayer comprises of ten units (rakat) with the recitation of Sura al-Ikhlas ten times after al-FÄtiḥa in each rakat.
The use of âshared memoryâ here is influenced by Halbwachsâ view of individualâs memory being influenced by the group consciousness linked to family and socio-cultural norms in which he resides. For a study of intersection of collective influences in framing an individualâs memory, see Halbwachs (1992).
Though within educated Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i youth, a gradual awareness of the role of al-Mahdi as the Imam of the Age and an interest in his áºuhÅ«r (âemergenceâ) can be observed as early as the 1980s, this awareness nevertheless did not result in any significant re-orientation of Shiâi ritual observances in a way that foregrounds a Mahdi-centered mode of religiosity.
Khadija Begam was the wife of Shaykh Abu Ali, who was also a renowned aliÌm.
Ritual purification baths (ghÅ«sul) are listed amongst the Ê¿amÄl associated with the festival of Mid-ShaÊ¿ban (Qummi n. d., 257).
Tchung, also known as diyas in Hindi, comprised of small earthen oil filled lamps and were the preferred means of illumination before wax-based candles became common in the 1980s.
Authorâs interview with Professor Shaykh M. Shafi, Retired Head of the Department of Library and Information Sciences at Kashmir University (Srinagar, April 20, 2019). The Shaykhâs family is known for its scholarship and contribution to the spread of ShiÊ¿ism, especially during the nineteenth century. For more, see Kashmiri (2011); Cole (1989); and Hamdani (2014).
Panjtan, or Panjtan Pak, meaning the Five Revered [Personages], is a reference to the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, her husband, Imam Ali, and their two sons, Hassan and Husayn.
According to the Quran, the five Prophets of Strong Will (ʾUlu al-Ê¿Azm) are Nūḥ (Noah), IbrÄhÄ«m (Abraham), MÅ«sÄ (Moses) and ʿĪsÄ (Jesus) in addition to the Prophet Muhammad himself.
Twelver Shiâi Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima and the Twelve imams to be infallible.
Prayer offered for the benefit of soul the dead, by reciting the first and 112th chapters of the Quran along with some additional supplications.
Authorâs interview with Prof. Shafi (April 20, 2019).
Sprinkling of the tombstone with gulab Ê¿arak (rose water) is rare, and generally only followed in case of renowned religious scholars.
Halwa and firny are traditional sweets introduced to Kashmir during the Mughal period.
So, we have instances where a family may forgo this custom because there is no young male in the family to distribute the food. This is especially true of those families whose children and grandchildren have migrated from Kashmir in search of job or better life prospects. Also, there are a small number of families who prefer to spend money on charity-based community welfare projects rather than on distribution of food etc.
Maqbool Sajid. Writer. Authorâs interview (Srinagar, September 9, 2019). In Kashmir, a communal feast is eaten by four persons on a shared copper plate (tramm).
The Doumb is a pastoral social group which was traditionally involved in rearing cattle for landed families. Due to their pastoral lifestyle, they would rarely possess any agricultural land. Every night children from the Doumb family would make a round of houses in the village to collect rice. In the twentieth century, young Doumb men would find employment in the city as servants. Bismillah Shaukat. Housewife. Authorâs interview (Srinagar, April 3, 2020).
Authorâs interview with Professor M.Y. Zaffar, Former Director of the Institute of Kashmir Studies (Srinagar, April 21, 2020).
In Kashmir, tahar is used as a food offering, on fulfillment of a vow, or on religious festivals. Here, it refers specifically to a Kashmiri yellow rice cooked with oil and turmeric.
Authorâs interview with âSajidâ (Srinagar, September 9, 2019).
Authorâs interview with âShaukatâ (Srinagar, April 2, 2020).
The custom of earmarking a handful of rice from the daily dinner plate for birds or animals predates Islam in Kashmir and is widely prevalent amongst Kashmiri Hindus.
Zulfikar Ali Ashraf. Government employee. Authorâs interview (Srinagar, April 14, 2019). As a participant in these collection during his childhood in the early 1980s, Ashrafâs description of the event was repeated by other respondents who had participated in these processions.
Syed Zafar Safvi. Government employee. Authorâs interview (Srinagar, April 14, 2019).
Moulvi Ghulam Ali Gulzar. Former Secretary, Tanzim-ul Makatib, Kashmir. Authorâs interview (Srinagar, April 12, 2020).
Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Husayn. Retired Judge, Jammu & Kashmir High Court. Authorâs interview (Srinagar, April 10, 2019).
Interview with Aga Faisal Qizalbash. Lawyer (Srinagar, April 12, 2020).
Interview with Aga Syed Mustafa Rizvi. Imam (Srinagar, June 12, 2019).
Literally meaning innovation or novelty, bidah refers to innovations in theology, ritual or the customs of daily life, that did not exist in early Islam but came into existence in the course of history. See, Esposito (2003, 138) and Kaptein (2016, 167â168). For modern conservatives and adherents of revisionist Islamic movements, bidah is considered impermissible and corrupting, condemned as unauthentic, and is seen to be unsubstantiated by textual sources and religious dogma. In Kashmir, the debate about what is permissible and what constitutes bidah is generally confined to the Sunni community.
In each rakÊ¿ah, worshipers will recitate al-FÄtiḥa followed by Sura al-IkhlÄá¹£. Worshipers conclude the prayers with two sets of tasbīḥ (glorification) using traditional prayer beads.
By contrast, there are established traditions of night-long prayers on Shab-i Qadr performed not only at homes but also in mosques and congregation halls.
This was common especially amongst followers of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence, in contrast to Ahl-i Hadith and members of the Tabligh-i Jamat who oppose such customs and consider them to be bidah.
Until the 1980s, celebration of the two major eids amongst Kashmiri ShiÊ¿i was more subdued. The reason being that Eid-ul Fitr closely followed on Imam Aliâs martyrdom while the Eid-ul Edha was similarly linked to the martyrdom of Muslim ibn Aqil.
Authorâs interview with Allama [Aga Syed Muhammad] Baqir, local religious scholar (Budgam, April 2, 2019).
Authorâs interview with Dr Amjad Ansari, physician (Srinagar, March 31, 2020).
According to Ansari, the cleric was Shaykh Husayn Kirmani, who represented Ayatollah Muhammad Reza Golpaygani (b. 1899, d. 1993).
Following the death of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Husayn Borujerdi (d. 1961 CE) and well before the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, Ayatollah Shariatmadari was seen as the leading Shiʿi scholar, widely followed by Shiʿis in South Asia. Surprisingly following his defrocking by the Islamic Republic, his remembrance has almost been totally erased from collective memory of Kashmiri Shiʿis.
Authorâs interview with Prof. Shafi (April 20, 2019).
Authorâs interview with âHusaynâ (Srinagar, April 10, 2019).
A member of the first Majlis (parliament) of Iran following the Islamic Revolution, he developed differences with the government and left Majlis and politics in 1981.
Authorâs interview with âGulzarâ (Srinagar, April 12, 2020).
For citizens living in the Srinagar city this would be the River Jhelum, or the Nigin Lake which was located in close proximity to two major Shiʿi suburbs of the city, Zadibal and Hasanabad.
Authorâs interview with Allama Baqir (April 2, 2019).
Authorâs interview with âAshrafâ (Srinagar, April 14, 2019).
The popularization of the Jamkaran Mosque as a sacred site devoted to messianic hopes of the ShiÊ¿i world has evoked divided opinions from the Iranian religious circles. Since 2005, the site has acquired a transnational character linked to ShiÊ¿i eschatology; most Kashmiri pilgrims to Iran visit the site as a part of their itinerary. Hooman Majd provides an interesting insight on how the evolution of Jamkaran can be linked to the salvific hopes of nation battered by political chaos and a murderous war â the Iran-Iraq War, see Majd (2008, 86). For a more detailed discussion of the Jamkaran phenomenon and the associated architectural and pilgrimage-tourism enterprises, see Rahimi (2019, 207â22) and Rizvi (2015, 130â34).
Authorâs interview with Allama Baqir (April 2, 2019).
Authorâs interview with Hojat-ul-Islam Aga Syed Ajaz, local cleric (Srinagar, January 7, 2019).
In recent works on Kashmiri Shiʿi, the celebration of Shab-i Barat is listed amongst major festivals of the community, but unfortunately no detailed account of the celebration or its origin in Kashmir is to be found, see, Gulzar (2010); Husayn (2017).
During most of the 1990s, Kashmir, including the capital city Srinagar, used to be placed under a curfew, restricting travel from evening till dawn.
Authorâs interview with Saleh Najar, engineer (Srinagar, July 14, 2019).
Authorâs interview with Fida Husayn, engineer (Shahid Gunj, Srinagar, December 18, 2019).
Authorâs interview with Syed Mujtaba Qadri., businessman (Srinagar, July 9, 2019).
Authorâs interview with Maulana Shaukat Keng, local Sunni scholar (Srinagar, April 2, 2020).
Authorâs interview with Saleem Beg, retired Director General Tourism (Srinagar, January 9, 2019).
Authorâs interview with Tahir Iqbal, Professor at the Department of Islamic Studies, Amar Singh College (Srinagar, April 12, 2020).
As an exemplar we can see how historic Persianate influences on Muslim culture of Kashmir are being replaced by Arabized forms within the Sunni community. For example, Sunni Muslims in Kashmir are likely to replace the Persian-origin expressions referring to the five obligatory prayers (á¹£ubaḥ, pyshan, dyghar, shÄm, and khufá¹an), preferring instead the Arabic-origin expressions (fajr, áºuhar, aá¹£r, maghrib, and Ê¿ishÄʾ).