Philosophy of Imam Hussain vs Clericalism: A Study of Sultan Bahoo and Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s Thoughts
Syed Azizullah Shah Advocate | August 21, 2026
Philosophy of Imam Hussain vs Clericalism: A Study of Sultan Bahoo and Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s Thoughts
Author: Syed Azizullah Shah Advocate
The foundation of Islam rests upon that principle which makes the human being worthy of the Divine assurance, "There shall be no fear upon them, nor shall they grieve." The true believer carries no fear except the fear of God. His knowledge and his action are of truth and for truth alone, and he stands like a strong wall of molten lead against falsehood, having trust in Allah Almighty until his very last breath. The preservation and defence of Islam has always been the distinguishing mark of the learned scholars ('ulamā'), and in every age such people of truth have been present. The Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) declared in ha Hadith,
"On the Day of Judgement, three kinds of people will intercede: The Prophets (A.S.), the scholars, and the martyrs." (Sunan Ibn Mājah)
And for these same scholars of truth, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
"The highest form of goodness among all goodness is the goodness of the scholars."
The supreme example of this principle is none other than the grandson of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), the beloved son of Honourable Fāṭimah (R.A.), the Chief of Martyrs and the Master of supreme spiritual station, Imam Hussain ibn 'Alī (R.A.), who demonstrated through his knowledge and his action that the preservation of true religion is itself the very embodiment of knowledge and action, and that knowledge and action directed against it are purposeless, meaningless, and worthless.
Sultan al-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo was a devoted admirer of the noble family of Prophet (sādāt), wove the pearls of their philosophy into his spiritual poetry in the following way,
جے کر دین عِلم وِچ ہوندا سر نیزے کیوں چَڑھدے ھو
اَٹھاراں ہَزار جو عَالم آہا اوہ اگے حسینؑ دے مَردے ھو
جے کجھ مُلاحظہ سرورؐ دا کردے تاں خیمے تمبو کیوں سڑدے ھو
جے کر مَندے بیعت رَسُولیؐ پانی کیوں بندے کردے ھو
پر صادق دین تنہاں دے باھوؒ جو سِر قُربانی کردے ھو
"Had Deen (Divine Religion) been in knowledge, why the heads would have been hanged high on spears Hoo,
Eighteen thousand scholars were there; they would have laid down their lives for Hussain (R.A.) Hoo,
Had they had any respect for the Prophet (ﷺ), they would not have burnt camps Hoo,
Had they accepted the pledge to the Apostle (ﷺ), water would not have been refused, Hoo,
Only those were truthful in their faith, Bahoo, who sacrificed their heads Hoo."
In contrast to the scholars of truth and goodness, the way of the corrupt scholars ('ulamā'-e-sū') has always been one of hypocrisy, hatred, violence, bigotry, sectarian division, and the hollowing out of religion's foundational structure. Yet for all their efforts, truth has always prevailed.
Corrupt Scholars in History
To confine the universal and transcendent vision of Islam within artificially constructed sectarian enclosures out of greed for political positions, and to entangle people in sterile logical debates devoid of any genuine taste for righteous action and the quest for closeness and recognition (ma'rifat) of Allah Almighty, has always been the role of corrupt scholars. Whatever service the scholars of truth rendered, such as Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām Bukhārī, Imām Ghazālī, Imām Nasafī, and others, the goodness of that service exists to this day. Whatever the corrupt scholars did, its consequences were suffered in the past, and the Muslims continues to face its painful and grievous results in the present. Knowledge as the greatest veil (ḥijāb al-akbar), the intoxication of awe and grandeur, the drunkenness of power and authority, worldly greed, the desire for power, and the habit of self-worship lead a person away from the path of truth without him even realising it. The corrupt scholars were present in the Army of Yazid opposing Imām Hussain (R.A.), men whose eyes of the heart were blind and whose outward eyes, though physically capable of sight, were dazzled and blind.
The event of Karbala affected the Muslims in several dimensions, one significant aspect of which is the role played by corrupt scholars. Allama Iqbal shed light on this aspect in his celebrated lectures, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, where he explained that in order to escape accountability for their actions in the Muslim world, the Yazīdī scholars (scholars following thoughts of Yazid) of that era laid the foundation of fatalism. When feelings arose across the Muslim world against the Umayyad king over the oppressions inflicted upon the family of the Prophet, the Yazīdī scholars offered the interpretation that the king was not to blame, for Allah had preordained it and therefore it was bound to happen. In Iqbal's view, this interpretation drove the Muslim world toward fatalism rather than accountability, giving rise to a culture of inaction. Iqbal also addressed this thought in Urdu verse:
خبر نہیں کیا ہے نام اس کا خدا فریبی کہ خود فریبی
عمل سے فارغ ہوا مسلماں، بنا کے تقدیر کا بہانہ
"I know not what to call it, a deception of God or a self-deception. The Muslim became free of action, making destiny his excuse."
Sultan Bahoo's poetry cited above makes the same point clear: if "religion" could be attained through reading and knowledge alone, why would the heads of the family of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) be raised on spears in the presence of thousands of scholars in the army of Yazīd?
A Verse with Multiple Meanings
The second line of the poetry is rich with multiple meanings, and the words “'ālam” and “age” merit careful attention,
“اَٹھاراں ہَزار جو عَالم آہا اوہ اگے حسینؑ دے مَردے ھو”
Some scholars hold that 'ālam here means "the world," meaning that at the time of the supreme sacrifice (dhabḥ-e-'aẓīm), the creatures of eighteen thousand worlds were present, yet none could precede Imam Hussain (R.A.). This refers to the blessed spirit of Imām Hussain (R.A.), which had in the world of spirits made the promise to fulfil the sacrifice of Honourable Prophet Ismā'īl (A.S.). Others hold that “'ālam” here means "scholar," and that Sultan Bahoo is saying proverbially that eighteen thousand scholars were embedded in the army of Yazīd, yet before Imām Hussain (R.A.), not one offered his life against oppression and transgression.
The word “age” is also richly layered. One meaning is "before," and another is "in front of," meaning that if those eighteen thousand religious scholars truly knew their religion, they would have stood as a shield before the unarmed and defenceless Imām Hussain (R.A.) and sacrificed their lives for him. To stand with Imām Hussain (R.A.) meant to stand with the leader of the people of Paradise. So "if religion had been only in knowledge," how could those scholars, knowing the narration that identified him as the leader of the youth of Paradise, have stood against him? The only answer is that the corrupt scholars cared only for their positions and ranks; they neither stood with the leader of the youth of Paradise, nor held firm to the "Ark of Noah of Muslims," nor held fast to "the Book, the Sunnah, and the descendants of the Prophet.
The Burning of the Tents and the Question of Allegiance
جے کجھ مُلاحظہ سرورؐ دا کردے تاں خیمے تمبو کیوں سڑدے ھو
"Had they had any respect for the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), they would not have burnt camps, Hoo."
If these corrupt scholars had held even a trace of regard for the noble Prophet, the Master of both worlds (ﷺ), they would never have allowed the tents where the pure and veiled ladies of the Prophetic household resided to be set aflame.
جے کر مَندے بیعت رَسُولیؐ پانی کیوں بندے کردے ھو
"Had they accepted the pledge to the Apostle (ﷺ), water would not have been refused, Hoo."
The corrupt scholars had become so devoted to political positions, ranks, and rewards, and had drifted so far from truth, that they accepted Yazīd's allegiance while rejecting the allegiance of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), the very allegiance that Allah Almighty Himself, in Sūrat al-Fatḥ, declared to be His own. Had the corrupt scholars not rejected the allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), under what principle of the Divine Islamic law (sharī'at) of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) could they have allowed water to be cut off from the family ('itrat) of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ)?
In the final line, Sultan Bahoo pays tribute to the martyrs of Karbala, the companions of Imām Hussain (R.A.) who gave their lives in his protection and defence:
پر صادق دین تنہاں دے باھوؒ جو سِر قُربانی کردے ھو
"Only those were truthful in their faith, Bahoo, who sacrificed their heads, Hoo."
One religious example was set by the corrupt scholars, who respected neither the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) nor his allegiance. The other religious example was set by the companions of Imām Hussain (R.A.), who sacrificed their heads in obedience to Imām Hussain (R.A.). The truly truthful were those who offered their heads, not those who gained positions, robes, and political favour.
Sultan Bahoo's Critique of Corrupt Scholarship
Regarding the scholars of the army of Yazīd and his followers, the champions of mere religious rituals, the bead-rattlers and cowardly corrupt scholars, Sultan Bahoo wrote in his work Muḥakk al-Faqr Kalān:
علم نہ علم است کہ بر ارباب جاہ
جادہ است آن از پی تسخیر شاہ
i.e.., Such knowledge is not actually knowledge which, for those who seek prestige and status, is merely a path to winning over the king.
Wherever the Punjabi poetry of Sultan Bahoo (Abyāt-e-Bahoo) hold corrupt scholars to account, a close historical reading reveals that all the allusions lead back to the scholars attached to the Yazīd’s court. At one point, for instance, he said,
پَڑھ پَڑھ عِلم مَلوک رَجھاون کیا ہویا اُس پَڑھیاں ھو
ہرگِز مکھن مُول نہ آوے پھَٹے دُودھ دے کَڑھیاں ھو
"Some seek knowledge to satisfy the rulers, what is the use of this scholarship - Hoo,
Butter can’t be acquired out of milk turned sour - Hoo,"
The meaning is clear. The corrupt scholars' purpose in acquiring religious knowledge has never been to make people seekers of truth, to draw them toward the recognition (ma'rifat) of Allah, to lead them to the pleasure and approval of the true object of servitude, to kindle within them the desire to attain the perfection of servitude, to connect human consciousness with a universal consciousness, or to show the way to illuminating hearts with light and radiance. Their purpose is to attain standing and attention in the eyes of rulers. To that end, they deliver sometimes melodious and sometimes inflammatory sermons; they use their followers and students as instruments to acquire positions, ranks, and other privileges. From such methods no spring of goodness ever flows. What flows from them is perpetual sectarianism, a trade in hatreds, incitement to violence, encouragement of hooliganism and destruction, and blackmailing of states through organised mobs for the sake of cheap fame and power. What benefit can Islam possibly receive from such conduct? This is why Sultan Bahoo holds corrupt scholars sternly to account throughout his poetry, and said at one point,
جِتھے ویکھن چنگا چوکھا اُتھے پڑھن کلام سوائی ھو
"Whenever they see good foods prolong their sermon and recite more – Hoo."
This was precisely what the corrupt scholars of the court of Yazīd did: they fell into the trap of wealth and riches and abandoned their steadfastness with the family of the Prophet ('itrat).
Iqbal's Reflection on Corrupt Religious Authority
Allama Muhammad Iqbal, described the psychology of corrupt scholars at numerous points in his work,
دل ملا گرفتار غمی نیست
نگاہی ہست، در چشمش نمی نیست
از آن بہ گریختم از مکتب او
کہ در ریگ حجازش زمزمی نیست
"The heart of the cleric is not captive to any grief, for though his eyes are open, there is no moisture in them. I have departed from his school of thought because in the sand of his Ḥijāz there is no spring of Zamzam."
Thoughts of Imam Hussain versus Clergy: The Eternal Distinction
The philosophy of the martyrdom of Imām Hussain (R.A.) rests upon the premise of Islam's truth and righteousness, and one dimension of that philosophy teaches those who reflect and those who are conscious to distinguish between scholars of truth and corrupt scholars, between hollow religious formalism and genuine spiritual reality, and between the Sufi of devotional recitals and the Sufi in the struggle. As Iqbal made this distinction clear,
الفاظ و معانی میں تفاوت نہیں لیکن
مُلّا کی اذاں اور، مجاہد کی اذاں اور
"In words and meanings there is no difference, and yet the call of the clergy (mullā) is one thing, and the call of the one making struggle in the path of Allah is another."
On the battlefield of Karbala, though both sides outwardly professed Islam and there were men of religious learning present on each side, one group comprised those scholars who were the true "heirs of the Prophets" and whose knowledge had made them deeply rooted, while the other group comprised worldly scholars of the corrupt kind. It was upon these corrupt scholars that Iqbal struck a devastating blow in his work Ḍarb-e-Kalīm:
خود بدلتے نہیں قرآن بدل دیتے ہیں
ہوۓ کس درجہ فقیہانِ حرم بے توفیق
"They do not change themselves but change the Qur'an. How utterly deprived of Divine-ability have become the jurists of the sanctuary."
The Fundamental (Alif) of Knowledge and the Legacy of Imam Hussain
The reality of knowledge lies within the Alif (first Arabic letter), and that Alif is the Glorious Name of Allah Almighty (Ism Allāh). Whoever truly knows the knowledge of the blessed name of Allah Almighty has, through knowledge, found the Known. On the sands of Karbala, thought of Imam Hussain raised the banner of this knowledge of the Alif, but only those with inner sight could perceive it. Imam Hussain (R.A) is the manifestation and trustee of the knowledge of the first letter (bā) of Bismillāh, and he is the embodiment of the supreme sacrifice (dhabḥ-e-'aẓīm) as established in the Glorious Qur'an. Iqbal addressed him directly in these famous lines from his book Rumūz-e-Bekhudī,
اللہ اللہ بائے بسم اللہ پدر
معنی ذبح عظیم آمد پسر
"Glory be to Allah, glory be to Allah! The father was the Bā of Bismillāh, and the son became the very meaning and embodiment of the supreme sacrifice."
Those who believe that religion is contained within mere rituals and formal scholarship were warned long ago by Sultan Bahoo: if religion resided in knowledge, why would the blessed heads of the noble family (ahal al-bayt al-aṭhār) be raised on spears? Knowledge that keeps its bearer a stranger to the Known, and that turns a person into a coward like the people of Kūfa and a prisoner of worldly greed, can never be the "knowledge that is obligatory" (al-'ilm farīḍah). Iqbal lifts the veil from this reality when he says,
حقیقت ابدی ہے مقام شبیری
بدلتے رہتے ہیں انداز کوفی و شامی
"The station of Imām Hussain (Shabīr) is an eternal truth; only the styles of the people of Kūfa and Syria (Shām) keep changing."
The Purity of Sultan Bahoo's Intent
The Punjabi poetry of Sultan Bahoo contains absolutely no negation of knowledge itself, nor any negation of the true scholars of Islam. What they contain is the negation of those corrupt scholars who, to secure worldly benefit from Yazīd or out of fear of him, supported Yazīd despite knowing the merits, virtues, and greatness of Imām Hussain (R.A.) and the noble family (ahal al-bayt), and who sold their religion purely for worldly gain. That very mentality exists today as well, wearing the cloak of religion, regarding the servitude of foreign powers and their servile thinking as a source of honour, entangling the people in hatreds and violence, first seeking a seat in parliament for itself, then one for its children whether they are scholars or not, and positions for the family whether they are deserving or not. For such people, the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) declared, as recorded in Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ on the authority of Musnad Aḥmad:
"Whoever learned the knowledge that is sought for the pleasure of Allah Almighty, for the purpose of gaining the material world through it, such a person shall not even smell the fragrance of Paradise."
These corrupt scholars continue to exist till today, under their political interests, dividing and further dividing the Muslims. They have made arrogance, enmity, envy, malice, and foul-tongued abuse their very character.
The True Role of Imām Hussain
The role of Imām Hussain (R.A.) throughout the entire event of Karbala was that of a reformer. His entire struggle was for the reform of the Muslims, for commanding what is good and forbidding what is evil. This is why, when Imām Hussain (R.A.) set out with the noble family from Ḥijāz toward Kūfa, he wrote in his will to his honoured brother Muhammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah:
’’اِنّی ما خَرَجتُ اَشرًا ولا بَطرًا و لا مُفسدًا و لا ظالمًا، اِنّما خرجتُ لِطلَبِ الاِصلاح فی اُمَّهِ جدّی، اُریدُ اَن آمُرَ بالمعروفِ و اَنهی عن المنکر و اُسیر بسیرهِ جدّی و اَبی علیّ بن اَبی طالب‘‘
"I have not set out in arrogance, nor in quest of prestige, nor to spread corruption, nor to do injustice. My purpose is solely to seek the reform of the Muslim Ummah of my grandfather, to command what is good and forbid what is evil, and to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather and my father 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib."
If his desire had been worldly power, as was the way of corrupt scholars, he would have journeyed with the full equipment of war. Iqbal said,
مدعایش سلطنت بودے اگر
خود نکردے با چنین سامان سفر
"Had his purpose been the attainment of kingship, he would not have undertaken such a journey with so meagre an equipment."
When the people of Kūfa broke their pledges and betrayed him, he did not surrender it to the hands of fate. Instead, he became the sword of Alif and did not bow his head before falsehood. Iqbal teaches that the true believer, in every circumstance, keeps his gaze fixed upon his Master, and does not become despairing and helpless by making destiny a pretext. In Iqbal's thought, the dignified spiritual-excellence (faqr-e-ghayūr) is the very mark of that believer who follows the way of Imam Hussain (R.A.). Such a person keeps his heart free from the anxieties, desires, and cravings of the material world, and his heart is the abode of “Allah only, all else is lust” (Allāhu bas, mā siwā Allāh hawas). The real cause of our decline and disgrace is none other than this: in our character, our speech, our knowledge and action, our outward and inward, we have chosen the traditional sour-and-sweet scholasticism and hollow clergy (mullāiyyat) over the spiritual-excellence of Imam Hussain (faqr-e-Shabīrī). As Iqbal said,
واعظاں کیں جلوہ بر محراب و منبر می کنند
چوں بہ خلوت می روند آں کار دیگر می کنند
مشکلی دارم ز دانشمند محفل باز پرس
توبہ فرمایاں چرا خود توبہ کمتر می کنند
"Preachers display their glory on the pulpit and the arch (miḥrāb), yet when they retire to their private chambers, they do quite the opposite. I have a difficulty: ask the learned man of the assembly once again why those who command others to repent are themselves so reluctant to repent."
Conclusion: The Scholars We Need
Sultan Bahoo made clear in his Punjabi poetry (abyāt) that those scholars who were in the army of falsehood, in the army of Yazīd, derived no benefit from their acquisition of knowledge, for that knowledge could not save them and instead became the cause of their destruction. The knowledge of such people can produce nothing other than corruption on earth. As Iqbal said:
دینِ ملا فی سبیل اللہ فساد
"The religion of the clergy (mullā) is corruption in the path of Allah."
The path of corruption and violence must therefore be abandoned, and the path of the scholars of truth, that is, peace and steadfastness, must be embraced. Allama Iqbal concluded that until the inner self (nafs) that incites to evil is subdued in the fire of love, it cannot be overcome.
Imām Mālik said,
"Whoever learned purification (spirituality) but abandoned jurisprudence went astray. Whoever learned jurisprudence but could not attain purification fell into transgression and corruption. But whoever combined both, that is, jurisprudence and purification, attained the station of verified truth."
The Iqbālian rendering of Imām Mālik's saying is that when "Rūm and Tabrīz" (innerself and outerself) are united, the problems resolve. What the Muslim world needs today are scholars who carry a beautiful fusion of outward knowledge and inward knowledge. These are the true heirs of the Prophets (A.S.), for in the inheritance of the Prophets (A.S.) both kinds of knowledge are found. These are the true scholars, who are a pure and overflowing spring of goodness: whose thinking is goodness, whose sight is goodness, whose writing is goodness, whose reading is goodness, whose teaching is goodness, and whose speech is rooted in goodness.
Honourable Jābir (R.A.) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
"Do not sit with every scholar; sit only with the scholar who calls you from five things to five things: from doubt to certainty, from enmity to well-wishing, from pride to humility, from ostentation to sincerity, and from attachment to the world to detachment from it."
This is possible only through scholars of goodness.
This article was originally published in Urdu in the Monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen International Magazine. To cite the original article: https://www.mirrat.com/article/90/1477
Syed Azizullah Shah, “Hussainiyyat and Mullāiyyat: A Dimension of the Shared Vision of Sultan Bahoo and Allama Muhammad Iqbal,” Mirrat ul Arifeen International, July 2024, https://www.mirrat.com/article/90/1477.