Indian link in Jerusalem through the centuries

Jerusalem, one of the world’s oldest cities and centre of the three Abrahamic religions, has for centuries attracted the devout from all parts of the globe. Neither strife nor privation has deterred the faithful or weakened their determination to maintain a presence in this holiest of cities.

Author Navtej Sarna tells the intriguing story of an age-old Indian presence in the heart of the old city in the form of an Indian hospice established centuries ago which has endured the ravages of time, regime changes, wars and destitution. The book focuses on a part of Jerusalem that seems destined to be forever India.

The story starts with the city itself, its ancient walls, gates and buildings, and leads to the Indian Hospice or Zawiya al-Hindiya erected on the site where the celebrated twelfth century Sufi saint Sheikh Farid ud-din Masud Ganj-i-Shakar, popularly known as Baba Farid, is believed to have meditated for forty days.

Over the centuries, travellers and followers of Farid Baba from India purchased property in Jerusalem to house pilgrims and eventually through a complicated process of property transfers, the present day hospice, spread out over several buildings, was established. Sheikh Mohammad Munir Ansari, director of the hospice, symbolises India’s enduring connection with Jerusalem.

The author unravels with great finesse the secrets of Sheikh Munir’s life and the hospice he maintains. The narrative draws the reader into the lanes, coffee shops and bazars of Jerusalem and the lives of its inhabitants. Evocative descriptions of the city and its streets steeped in history provide an exotic setting to the tale.

The writer, who clearly takes his craft seriously, pieces together the story with carefully constructed, eloquent passages such as one where he explains how people in old Jerusalem are slow to trust and how it will take time for the keeper of the Indian Hospice to tell his family story.

“But over the next year or so he will talk to me several times with varying degrees of enthusiasm and detail. Sometimes, just one incident will take an hour or two, punctuated by cups of tea; on other days he will dismiss an entire decade in a few sentences.

Sometimes his voice will rise in excitement as the past comes alive for him, as brilliant as the sunshine in the courtyard. At other times, the memories, the nostalgia for a lost era or the spirits of the dear departed will draw the dusk around him in a sad caress and his voice will go down and the strong, reticent man will begin to choke and his voice will go moist.”

The story slowly and enticingly reveals the life history of Sheikh Munir, beginning with his father’s roots in Saharanpur, a difficult childhood and his enduring mission to keep the Hospice going as a symbol of the city’s timeless Indian connection.

The author weaves many narratives along with that of Sheikh Munir, including that of Jerusalem and its tortuous history. He writes about the legendary 12th century Muslim conqueror Salahuddin who drove out the Christian Crusaders from Jerusalem and incorporated the city into the Muslim world.

There are reminiscences about the city during the world wars, the end of Ottoman control and how the city eventually fell into the hands of the rulers of the new Jewish state. The city’s history is skilfully woven in with that of Sheikh Munir, whose father had moved from India to head the hospice in 1924. His father’s life coincided with momentous changes taking place in the city and the region.

The Khilafat movement had peaked in India and when a delegation from Palestine appealed to its leaders to select a reliable and well qualified Indian Muslim to administer the Indian Hospice in Jerusalem they those Sheikh Munir’s father, who “had many qualifications to commend him. He was an active member of the movement.

He also came from near Deoband, the home of the famous madrasa of Darul Uloom, and he had studied at Aligarh.”Khwaja Nazir Hasan Ansari of Ambheta, Saharanpur, thus became the administrator of the Indian Hospice of Jerusalem. He left behind his family, wife and children to start a new life complete with a new Palestinian wife.

What could have been a boring account of an Indian hospice and its director, has been transformed into a magical tale by Sarna, a veteran of many books including The Exile, We Weren’t Lovers Like That, Folk Tales of Poland and The Book of Nanak.

The images of Jerusalem, its old quarters, streets, cafes and mosques captured so skilfully in Sarna’s book will linger along with the story of an unusual family that insists on remaining Indian despite the passage of time and long faded connections to India. The tricolour proudly flutters outside the hospice and Sheikh Munir continues to remind visitors that once inside its walls they are in India.