'Andal and Rabia had a similar spiritual quest'

CHENNAI: Like in a scene in the Hindi film PK (2015) where it is beautifully expounded that external religious identities had little to do with spiritual beliefs, we saw a group of men wearing skullcap busy arranging food for the Iftar meal in Wallajah Big Mosque.

On a first glance it seemed a group of Muslims were extending help for an Islamic event, to our surprise the donors of Wednesday's Iftar meal were Sindhi Hindus who wore skullcaps as a mark of respect for Islam.

It was one of many instances of the evening filled with syncretism and cultural exchange. Documentary filmmaker S Anwar took us through the ideas of Islam and gave us several meeting points of Muslims and non-Muslim (Hindus especially).

"The meeting point of the two geographically distant cultures (Islam and Hinduism) is a topic needing research. In the Bhakti tradition we see Andal singing about divine love, similarly we see Rabia from Iraq's Basra singing about divine love. Since, Islam came into India in the 7th century so there could have been an exchange of ideas. The spiritual quest seems to be universal," opines Anwar.

He went on to draw parallels between the Bhakti and Sufi traditions in the 7th Ramzan Heritage Walk held in the city.

7th Ramzan Heritage Walk

In addition to spiritual similarities, Anwar explained that it would be a flawed notion to divide Indian history into 'Hindu era' and 'Islamic era' as Vijayanagara empire had Muslims occupy prime positions and it was a similar case with the Hindus with regards to the Deccan Sultanate.

Gautam Sarvesh with his daughter attended the event and said, "My participation is a show of support at a time when the nation is being polarised on religious lines."

Speaking of the harmonious existence that Hinduism and Islam has shared over the centuries, Padma says Walajah Big Mosque is a symbol of harmony and the Muslim rulers of the State such as Arcot Nawabs have respected Hindu culture as they have minted coins with Hindu deities insignia.

Unlearning the myth that Islam is indistinct from the Arab culture, Yuvaraj said: “The discussion about Dravidian Islamic architecture helped him understand that Islam was fluidic enough to adapt to the architectural styles of a particular country."

Talking to us, poet and DMK spokesperson Salma averred that events such as the heritage walk would be instrumental in eliminating Islamophobia and promote amity between people from different religions. "Events such as the heritage walk are some of the key activities that are needed to be undertaken in order to strengthen India's sovereignty," she added.