From Pir Sain (Saint) to Lucifer: A Critical Study of Spiritual Abuse from Tehmina Durrani’s Novel ‘Blasphemy’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/q231c309Keywords:
Spiritual Abuse, Piri Muridi (Saint-Disciple culture), religion, exploitationAbstract
The present study is a comprehensive critical account of “spiritual abuse” perpetrated by a spiritual leader “Pir Sain” (the saint) and the horrible picture of Piri-Muridi (Saint-Disciple) culture practiced specifically in rural Pakistan, from Durrani’s novel Blasphemy. Spiritual Abuse is an abuse that occurs at holy places like shrines, churches, mosques, madrassahs etc that goes unquestioned as the victims, out of reverence and religious fervour do not speak up (Ward 2007). The course of events have been critically analysed against the critical ideas of various spiritual abuse theorists. The study unravels “Pir Sain” as a religious hypocrite, manipulator of the religious texts, an extreme sex addict, paedophile, and wife abuser, seducer of her own daughter and the murderer of his own son. As according to (Heil 2017), the Spiritual abuse works with thought reform or brainwashing to usurp the individual's own way of thinking and holding control over his thought process, various elderly women like the mother of Pir Sain and his mother in law, being well aware of the Pir’s real character remained silent and also urges Heer (his wife) to be even more submissive as the submission to the Pir Sain would be rewarding in the life hereafter. The study discloses the worst modulation and usage of religion as per the wish and desire of the so-called man of God specifically in Pakistani society. The study concludes that the Pir Sain was not a messiah rather a Lucifer who exploited myriads of poor souls and devoured many lives.
Downloads
References
[1] Blue, K. (1993). Healing spiritual abuse: How to break free from bad Church experiences. Downers Grove Illinois.
IVP Books
[2] Brown, M. (2009). Respect and responsibility: A critical review of the Tri-Council policy statement in Aboriginal community-based research Pimatisiwin. A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health (Published thesis) CA. Praeger.
[3] Damiani R (2002) Spiritual abuse within the church: Its damage and recovery process. Evangel 20(2): 42–48
[4] Desai,M (2018). Book Review: Blasphemy
[5] Retrieved from http:// ...www.theliterarycircle.com › Book Reviews › Fiction
[6] Durrani, T. (1998). Blasphemy. Lahore: Feroze Sons Publishers Pvt Limited.
[7] Enroth, R. M. (1992). Churches that abuse. Grand Rapids Michigan. Zondervan
[8] Ewing,K. 91983). The Politics of Sufism:Redefining the saints of Pakistans. Journal of Asian Studies, 42(2), 251- 268.
[9] Gilbert, P. (2003). Evolution, social roles, and the differences in shame and guilt. Social Research 70(4).
[10] Heil, E. C. (2017). It is God’s will: Exploiting religious beliefs as a means of human trafficking. Critical Research on Religion, 5(1), 48-61.
[11] Henke, D. (1996). Watchman fellowship profile: Spiritual abuse: Available at: http://www.watchman.org/prOfile/abusepro.htm. (Accessed May 2009).
[12] Henzel, R. (1997). The Bible and spiritual abuse: Available at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9575/biblespirab.html. (Accessed April 2009).
[13] Mubarik, A. (2015). Loss of Essential Humanity and Empathy as a Result of Exploitations in Blasphemy by Tehmina Durrani. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 6(3), 123-127
[14] Oakley, L. and Kinmond, K. (2007) Spiritual abuse: raising awareness of a little understood form of abuse. Thresholds Summer 2007. pp9.
[15] Oakley, L., Kinmond, K. (2013) Breaking the silence on Spiritual Abuse. Hove: Palgrave Macmillan
[16] Parish-West, P. (2009). Spiritual abuse within the Judaeo Christian tradition: implications for practice. Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Derby, United Kingdom.
[17] Pinto, D (1995), Piri-Muridi relationship:A Study of Nazimuddin Dargah. New Delhi: Manohar Publisher
[18] Purcell BC (1998) Spiritual abuse. The American Journal of Hospice and Palliative. Care 15(4): 227–231.
[19] Ward, D. (2007). Wounding the soul: the lived experience of spiritual abuse. (Unpublished thesis) The University of Queensland. M. Phil. School of Social Work and Applied Human Services
[20] Raza, S. (2011). Unsynchronized Thoughts. Retrieved from http://saimah-raza.blogspot.com/2011/07/book- reviewblasphemy.html.
[21] Skedgell, K. (2008.) Losing the way. California. Bay Tree Publishing.
[22] Shupe, A. (1998). Wolves within the fold: Religious leadership and abuses of power. New Jersey. Rutgers University Press.
[23] Szasz T (1987) Justifying coercion through religion and psychiatry. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 27(2): 158– 174
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
