Bihar Aur Sufivad: A Heartfelt Chronicle of Bihar’s Sufi Traditions
By Adnan Faizi, New Age Islam
29 April 2025
Bihar Aur Sufivad
Publisher: Rajmangal Prakashan
Published: 27 April 2025
Language: Hindi
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When I first laid hands on Syed Amjad Hussain's “Bihar Aur Sufivad”, I was anticipating a straightforward account of Sufism's arrival and development in Bihar, a piece of history, maybe, or an orderly overview of shrines and orders. What I discovered, however, was something much deeper: a linkage across centuries, across memory and contemporary reality, across the search for spirituality and the imperative to hold on to shared heritage.
Bihar Aur Sufivad is no mere book; it is an act of affection. It is a gesture towards clearing away rusted pages from Bihar's forgotten history and inserting them into its living memory again. Hussain's success lies not in merely telling us of saints, Silsilas, or shrines; it is in reminding us who we used to be — and who, maybe, still are.
At its core, this book is a personal journey. With each chapter, the reader accompanies the author — across the green plains of Maner, through Fatuha's crowded streets, along the quiet riverbanks where forgotten Khanqahs murmur their ancient prayers. Hussain's approach is not that of the aloof academic; it is that of the seeker. His connection with the saints he discusses is not an abstract admiration, but an affective, near-familial connection.
This is clear from the first pages. Hussain does not hasten to biographies or to historical analysis. Rather, he takes time to set the mood of Sufism: the devotion to love rather than law, to mercy rather than power, to equality in the sight of God rather than hierarchy of the world. He presents Sufism not as a movement, but as the essence of Islam's message, an essence that throbbed with vigor in Bihar's soil.
The Sufi silsilas (orders) section does more than label Chishti, Suhrawardi, Qadri, and Naqshbandi traditions. It describes how these lineages evolved to fit Bihar's distinctive culture — incorporating local sensibilities, languages, and even customs without diluting their core message. Hussain demonstrates how Sufism in Bihar was never about rejecting the world, but about consecrating ordinary life. Whether during urs or modest community prayers at Dargahs, the hallowed and the mundane intersected so efficiently.
Perhaps the most poignant part of “Bihar Aur Sufivad” is Hussain's dedication to forgotten or underappreciated figures. While there is much honor due to great luminaries such as Hazrat Shaikh Sharfuddin Maneri, Hazrat Malik Zafaruddin Bihari and Hazrat Malik Ibraheem Baya, Hussain also writes eloquently of lesser-known saints — the ones whose names exist in tradition locally only, whose Dargahs disintegrate quietly in forgotten alleys. His accounts of saints such as Hazrat Makhdoom Shah Aamu'n and Hazrat Syed Ahmad Jajneri are acts of quiet rescue, keeping their memory from being lost forever.
I was most impressed by how Hussain deals with these tales. He does not aggrandise. There is no false romanticism. He tells the saints as they are with all their human complexities — their love, their struggles, their periods of education. But by doing so, he raises them even higher still, demonstrating that true sainthood is not in perfection but in perseverance and love.
The addition of Manqabat (devotional poetry) adds greatly to this pilgrimage. Hussain's own poems, penned in sincerity, are placed alongside traditional pieces. They remind the reader that Sufism was never a dry academic theory; it was sung, whispered, wept into existence. Each word in these poems seems drenched with yearning — a yearning not for earthly fame, but for proximity to God.
Reading the poems between the chapters puts a rhythm to the book — a breathing space in which intellect yields to heart, and the reader may feel, rather than merely think. In a manner of speaking, Hussain asks us to come to the saints as they came to the Divine: through beauty, emotion, and humility.
Another quiet strength of the book is its refusal to put Sufism in a museum of the past. Hussain's rich fieldwork — his journeys to shrines, his interviews with caretakers, his observations of contemporary Bihar — always connect the old to the new. He demonstrates that although the buildings have grown old, the spiritual thirst that constructed them is alive and kicking. And he exhorts us to ask: will we allow this legacy to recede into memory, or will we make it fresh and relevant?
The photographic section (Tasveer) is an evocative visual companion to the book. These are not slick, travel-brochure photos. They capture the still dignity of sites normally overlooked: a dome, a plain green flag flapping over a grave, a man reciting fatiha. They convey not only the look, but the mood of such holy sites — the mood Hussain so tenderly evokes in his writing.
The last section of the book, a compilation of reflections (Samiksha evam Vichar) by scholars, poets, and social leaders, is an apt conclusion. It reminds the reader that “Bihar Aur Sufivad” is as much a spiritual or literary pursuit as it is a movement towards reclaiming the spiritual honor of Bihar. The endorsements from different voices across India indicate that Hussain's effort has hit a chord deeper than regional identity.
Finally, what is so remarkable about “Bihar Aur Sufivad” is its integrity. Hussain never sacrifices truth to say that Sufism can fix everything, or that Bihar's religious heritage is untouched by scars and lacunae. But he maintains — with soft, steadfast insistence — that honoring our saints, re-grafting ourselves on their principles of love, humility, and service, can provide an exit route. Not merely for Bihar, but for all of us.
In an era when history is weaponised and spirituality commodified, “Bihar Aur Sufivad” is a soft, golden light of a reminder of what's really at stake: the soul of a nation, and the aspirations of generations who thought that God could be discovered not by conquest or fear, but by love.
It was less a feeling of studying history, and more a feeling of coming home, reading this book.
A very strong recommendation for anyone who feels that the past is not a burden, but a blessing, ready to be rediscovered.
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Adnan Faizi is a Peace and Harmony activist based in Delhi. He is an alumni of CCS University, Meerut.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/bihar-sufivad-chronicle-s-sufi-traditions/d/135355
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