On BBS Claim: Get Ready To Celebrate Vesak At Kuragala

By Latheef Farook -April 11, 2013

Latheef Farook

Qutub Muhiyuddin Abdul Qadir Jailani, also known as Ghouse-e Azam, is one of the greatest scholars in Islamic history held in very high esteem by Muslims throughout the Middle East ,Pakistan, India, Bangladesh,Sri Lanka, Malaysia and even as far as Indonesia.

In view of his extreme piety, depth of knowledge, simple life and miracles performed and other such noble qualities some call him a saint while others describe him as the saint of all saints.

I had heard so much about him that during my first visit to Baghdad in 1976 the first thing I did was to visit the mosque where his mausoleum is. The tranquil and peaceful environment in the mosque attract the visitors like magnet that I used to go for Maghrib prayer and stay there till Isha prayer during my weeklong stay in Baghdad.

Thousands of people were seen around. Some reciting the holy Quran, some discussing teachings of Islam in groups while others sitting around the mausoleum enveloped by the smell of traditional incense all over the mosque which contained more than 40,000 rare books.

Qutub Mohiyuddin was born into a pious family in the Iranian village of Naif in the south of the Caspian Sea on 18 March 1077. His father died when he was young .Early in life, with the permission of his mother, he proceeded to pursue his knowledge in Baghdad, the only seat of learning in the whole world. He died in the evening on Saturday 15 January 1166 at the age of ninety-one years. His body was entombed in a shrine within his madrassa in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad, Iraq.

During his life he had mysteriously disappeared for around 13 years during which he had, as believed by millions, meditated in Dafter Jailani or Kurugala (15 miles off Balangoda) thousands of feet above land level, covered with dense jungle growth.

In article written in the 1960s following a visit to the area by late veteran journalist M.M.Thawfeek stated that;

Thanks to the Muslim laird of Balangoda, Cassim Lebbe Marikkar Hadjiar, J.P. (popularly called “Balangoda Hadjiar” by the Sinhalese and Muslims alike there) much of the jungle has been cleared, and the shrine has been maintained with some orderliness.

It is rough going in the last two miles of the 14 mile drive from Balangoda as the road is bad—one comes across wild elephants at dusk, in this section. A flag indicates where the pilgrimage begins.

Mazar Shairf of The Great Sufi Saint MuhiUddeen Abdul Qadir Jilani (RA) of Baghdad

The climb up the mountain covers one and half miles. Mercifully there is a large slice of rock in the shape of an immense mushroom on which one could rest half-way. I finally reached Hituwangala, which is called by the Muslims as “Kal-adi Malai” (palm-print mountain) because the palm-print of the saint is seen on the overhanging rock. Marikar Hadjiar has built a mosque under the rock which serves as a shelter from the sun and the rain.

Qutub Mohyiuddin sought asylum here for meditation after a pilgrimage to Adam’s Peak. He went alone to ‘Kal-adi Malai” (footprint mountain)

or “Soranga Malai” (Tunnel Mountain). This is a huge cliff with an outsize boulder perched precariously on the edge of the cliff. Here he meditated for over a decade, after which he left by divine power.

Ascent up to the steep side of Kal-adi Malai or Soranga malai was very trying. When I reached the top, however the breeze was reviviscent. On the underside of the huge boulder at the edge of the cliff is a huge footprint, which can be viewed with ease if one lies fully stretched under the rock.

A few yards away is a cave-like tunnel, which can be investigated with the help of a flashlight.

According to late M. L. M. Aboosally, eldest son of Marikar and was President of the Balangoda Islamic Association “there is a cave also in this rock with its underground labyrinths leading to 400 yards. After which there is a sudden drop which is difficult to negotiate.

“Various stories exist about this dark cave where bats are plentiful and snakes may exist. No man has yet come out alive from this cave to tell the tale. But there is no doubt that this passage (if it can be negotiated) will end at the foot of the rock about a thousand feet below in the Bintenna plains.

Providing a historical account of the Dafthar Jailany Rock Cave Mosque in his well researched book M.L.M.Aboosallay who was elected to represent Balangoda electorate between 1977 and 1994, by a large majority of Sinhalese, defeating Mallika Ratwatta from the powerful family interest of Ratwattes, had this to state;

The saint Qutub Muhyiudin meditated at Kuragala, the site of historic rock cave mosque .There are many stories about his visit and his impact on that sacred place.

If Sri Lanka was well known among the Arabs in 300 BC, it is also true that Adam’s Peak was as well known to travelers of the Middle East and has been often mentioned in their writings.

Muslims believe in Adam as the first man, as the first Muslim, and as the first Prophet of Allah. The Hadith ( traditions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ( SAL) such as Shahih ul Bukhari and Quranic commentaries of Tafsir Baizavi and Tafsir Khazin have stated that Adam descended in Serendib,Sri Lanka, upon a mountain called “ Nood”.

View of Dafther Jailany Rock Cave Mosque

References to the sacred mountain Adam’s Peak are many.

Sir W. Ousely, in his TRAVELS quoting from a Persian manuscript called Berhan Kattea” stated that Serendib is the name of a celebrated mountain where Adam descended from paradise”.

However, one of the most famous Arab travelers to Adam’s Peak is Ibn Batuta, from Morocco.He visited Adam’s Peak in 1344 AD. In his writing Ibn Batuta speaks of many famous Muslim shrines on the way to Adam’s Peak. He also mentions” A Muslim ascetic who had lived on the road to the peak at a point in those days which was a recognized halting place for pilgrims and wayfarers. According to Van Sanden in his book Sonahar, this Muslim shrine is said to have been sanctified by one Khader or Khidr through his visit.

A map showing Ibn Batuta’s route to Adam’s Peak made in 1344 AD including the Kuragala route, is reproduced courtesy of Denis Fernando in Aboosally’s book.

This was the reason why the early Arabs and Muslims made the hard and arduous journey to Adam’s Peak and why it is probable that Qutub Mohyiuddin visited Dafther Jailany-one of the established routes to Adam’s Peak through Kuragala.

Salaat by Refai faqirs

Following extensive research in Tamilnadu, Susan Schoemburg, research scholar at Harvard University,UK, had told Aboosally that it is believed that Saint Qutub Mohyiuddin spent 40 days in meditation in Kilakarai, South India, after his visit to Adma’s Peak and Daftar Jailany in Sri Lanka.

It is probable that his visit to the historic rock cave of Dafther Jailany in Kuragala coincided with his visit to Indian subcontinent. Stories had endured for centuries how he had sought asylum for meditation on the ledge at Kuragala ,after a pilgrimage to Adam’s Peak.

Kuragla and Hituwangala are two rock formations at the edge of the Balangoda plateau .They are commonly called as Dafther Jailany, a mountain retreat on the ancient road from Galle to Ratnapura and Adam’s Peak. Rock carvings, Arabic inscriptions, writings, tombstones and legends lead us to believe that Qutub Muhyiuddin had spent a part of his meditation at Jailany-Kuragala.

A detailed account of his visit is also given in the book Shathura Shankaram which stated that he came first to Adam’s Peak to pay his respect to Adam and then travelled to Dafther Jailany where he spent 12 years fasting and meditation.

R.N.Thaine, Government Agent. Ratnapura, wrote in his official diary in 1914 that” I understand that this mountain is known to the Mohammadan world as Dastur or Dakma. Qutub Mohyiuddin was seeking the way to Heaven. One day, he placed his hand on the rock which opened. He passed through the aperture. The rock closed and he has never been seen again. Hence the practice of pilgrims imprinting their hand marks on the rock”.

Among the proofs of Qutub Muhiyuddin’s links with Kuragala was the tombstone discovered in 1922 when excavating to build a mosque about ten feet below a mound of earth with the words stating “Disciple of Mohyiuddin” dated 1322 AD. Obviously this is the grave of his follower who had died long before the arrival of Portuguese which ended the lucrative trade of the Arabs and the use of the Kuragala route.

For a tombstone to be engraved in 1322 AD, about 154 years after the death of Qutub Mohyiuddin, there must have been a significant link between Kuragala and the revered saint.

A small mosque was constructed under the Hituwangala rock in 1922.The mosque needed no roof as the rock itself is shaped like a cobra hood and is a shelter from the sun and rain. There are several writings in Arabic and the direction of Kaaba,kibla, shown in the form of a mihrab cut into the rock.