Upholding the spirit of unity, people belonging to Islam offered Namaz on February 3rd, 2020, for the smooth and successful conduction of the 89th annual session of the Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha in Assam.
The session will be held at Mohura Dihingiya Pothar, which has been named as ‘Heritage Kaziranga Samannay Kshetra’, in Bokakhat under Golaghat district from February 5th to 8th, 2020.
Speaking to the media persons, a person, who also offered Namaz, said, “Today, we offered Namaz for the smooth and successful conduction of the session. We hope the unity between the Hindus and Muslims in the state known as the land of Sankar and Azan stays like this forever.”
Meanwhile, another person said, “The Namaz offered by the Muslim society shows that still there is unity between Hindus and Muslims in Assam. This differs the state from the rest parts of the country. We hope it will continue.”
Traditionally, the Muslims and Hindus of Assam have been living together following the path shown by the Assamese polymath of the 15th-16th century Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva and Azan Faqir, a Sufi preacher from Baghdad. That is why the state is often referred to as ‘Sankar-Ajan’or Dex’ (the land of Sankar-Azan) after Sankardeva and Azan Fakir. Both had devoted their entire lives uniting the people of the Brahmaputra valley.
Shah Milan, who later came to be called Azan Fakir, was generally believed to have come to India from Baghdad. After stopping at Ajmer and Delhi, where he was initiated into the Chisti order, he set off for Assam.
The Sufi saint’s first stop in Assam was the tomb of Ghiasuddin Auliya in Hajo, near Guwahati. He is supposed to have spent considerable time here, mastering the Assamese language. From Hajo, he went to Gargaon, the capital of the Ahom kingdom. The Ahom king is believed to have accorded him a warm reception and gave him some land near Sivasagar, where he eventually settled down after marrying a local Ahom woman. Azan Fakir composed hundreds of Zikirs in Assamese, derived from the Arabic word ‘ziqr’ which means ‘remembering Allah’s name’.
Inputs & Photo: Rituraj Phukan
