மஹ்திதாசன்

"Man kunto Maula, fa-hadha Aliyyun Maula,"  the Prophet uttered at Ghadir Khumm—an event memorialized by the annual celebration of Eid al-Ghadir. "To those whom I am Maula, Ali too is your Maula!" And with this single statement did he not only solidify Islam, but also what would become the universal cult of Ali... THE TREK UP MAULA ALI HILL  Around a year ago, my friend Mehdi bhai took me to the Maula Ali Dargah—a Muslim shrine in Hyderabad, dedicated to the Prophet’s son-in-law and spiritual heir, Imam Ali.  It was all sorts of wonder; pouring rain, stray dogs, rocky pathways. There was a” djinn masjid” at one point—a familiar sight in South Indian Muslim culture—where, allegedly, if you sleep anywhere near it at night, the annoyed genie pilgrims will quietly whisk you back to the base of the hill by morning, blankets and sleeping mats and all. At the centerpoint of the trek was a shrine dedicated to another one of Imam Ali’s sons, Hazrat Abbas—the defender and fla...