SUFI SARMAST

 
A Muslim may laugh at so-called idol-worship; but he becomes guilty of stray-thought worship, if, while placing his forehead down in a Sijda [prostration] in the course of his Namaz, without being prompted by the will to worship, he is attacked by objectionable thoughts, for it means that he is at that time paying homage, not to the Almighty, but to those very thoughts. For instance, if a Muslim gets the thought of any man or woman, while doing the Sijda, it amounts to having offered the Sijda to that man or woman, and thus the Namaz turns into a farce.

This point was convincingly elucidated by the Muslim saint, Sufi-Sarmast (who was averse to offering ritualistic prayers) when King Aurangzeb once forced him to participate in the congregational Namaz. The Saint joined the congregation against his will, but he soon revolted against it by calling loudly to the Imam, who, at the particular moment of leading the prayers, was mentally busy arranging the finances for the forthcoming marriage of his daughter, that "the God of the Imam was beneath his feet."

The Saint's words were verified later when a treasure-trove was actually found just beneath the spot where Sufi-Sarmast was standing at the time of praying with the congregation.