Just over 300 years ago, the Muslim Sufi poet Bulleh Shah, while a student at a madrassa (Islamic school) in what is now Pakistan, asked his religious teacher this question: "What is the point of washing one's hands and feet before prayers if the heart wasn't clean?"
The teacher considered Bulleh Shah's query most contentious and refused to answer the question which in his mind bordered on the blasphemous.
Despite his teacher's attempts to dissuade him from rocking the religious boat, Bulleh Shah just couldn't contain his restless heart: He grew his hair long, dressed outrageously, danced wearing ankle bracelets, picked up the iktara (the one-stringed South Asian folk instrument) and began singing poetry.
His poetry of love, freedom and tolerance not only gave voice to Muslims chained by blind ritualism and a fear-mongering clergy. It also created a cultural and spiritual bridge between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs living in the subcontinent.
My advice to people who are seeking God is to look within their own hearts.This is best illustrated in Bulleh Shah's poetry which was directly inspired by the Quran:
You could tear down the mosque, break down the temple
Break all that can be broken
But never break anyone's heart
Because that is where God lives.
Baba Bulleh Shah
HAPPY HANNUKAH, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND EID MUBARAK!
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