মিরাজ, সাধনায় ধর্ম সমন্বয় এবং জন্মান্তরবাদ: একজন মুসলিম সাধিকার বয়ান (পর্ব ৩) | Mi'raj, Harmoniztion of Religions and the Doctrine of Re-Birth: Story of a Bengali Muslim Sadhika (Part 3)|

Abstract

It's known that the last prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammed (Sm) met the Creator by Mi'raj. The common Bangladeshi people as well as the Devotees are active in the discourse of extracting the hidden meanings of the Mi'raj and apply the knowledge in their personal life. The beginning of the article describes how the devotee Mariam Begum, a Muslim woman of Bangladesh has experienced Mi'raj by her dream. Further, there is a comparative discussion of the Mi'raj of Mariam and that of Abu Yazid Bastami (passed away in 874), a philosopher and Sufi devotee of Iran, who also had narrated his archetype Mi'raj experienced by dream. Actually, this type of discussion aims to understand the long practiced religious history and culture of Bengali people. We know that Hindu, Muslim, Buddha and other groups of diverse religions have been living in Bangladesh in peace and harmony from time immemorial. The second phase of this article reflects the identified relation berween the Hindu devotee Swapan and the Muslim austere Mariam. It's remarkable that, despite prohibition of worshipping figures and praying at Majars, the Muslim devotee (Mariam) in her practical practice in life, worships the Hindu goddess Maa Kaali and simultaneously doing ascetic practices at the majars. Moreover, she recognizes the power of Hindu goddess Maa Kaali, Muslim Pir-Murshid and the 'Ruhani' influence of Vagwan Buddha with same devotion. It shows that this Bangladeshi Muslim devotee in light of the folk lifestyle of Bangladesh didn't find conflict in the elements of Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism in the course of her experiences; rather, she evolved a nice harmonization among all of the religious differences. In the third phase of the article, Mariam shares her couple-austerities and she by the by tells us the historical story of her former birth. She states that the devotees in their couple-austerities consider the men partner and female partner as the Creator (God) of each-other. Explaining the mystery of her former birth, she says that in the 4 (four) different ages in the history of Islam she was Fatima, the daughter of Hazrat Muhammad (Sm); in the Mughal period in India, she was the austere under Khaja Mainuddin Chisti; in the Dwapar Age of her Sanatan Rieligious life, she was an active witness of the love of Radha-Krisna, that is, she was Bishakha, the chief of the eight women friends of Radha; even in the time of Fakir Lalan Sain, she was known as Bishakha. At present, she has become the combination of her all tormer lives. This article critically exposes a tew hints as the process of harmonization among religions by discussing different aspects of austerities of a Muslim woman austere in Bangladesh.