Veneration of the prophet Muhammad in an Islamic Pillaittamil.

• Author: Richman, Paula

THE PILLAITTAMIL TRADITION AND ISLAMIC TAMIL LITERATURE

ACCORDING TO TAMIL TRADITION, pillaittamil poems are, par excellence, the poetry of childhood. In fact, the name of the genre means "Tamil [poetry] to or for a child (pillai)." As part of the conventionally accepted framework for the pillaittamil, poets--virtually all male--take on the persona of a female care-giver, often the mother of the baby. Traditional commentators interpret the verses of the poem as tracing the activities of an infant as it grows up.(3) Although the individual topics of each section do not compose a pattern that traces the total development of a child, they do highlight certain kinds of activities that a child performs at different stages of development. Intriguingly, however, pillaittamil poets do not limit themselves to depicting the childhood of the poem's subject; instead they juxtapose material from the period of infancy with great deeds performed by the subject during his or her adult years.

The pillaittamil genre, which had its origins in twelfth-century court poetry in praise of a king (in the area that is today the Indian state of Tamilnadu), later became popular among Hindu poets as a way to praise various deities. The earliest extant Hindu pillaittamil of this second kind dates from the fifteenth century; since that time Hindu poets have written over three hundred pillaittamils addressed to gods, goddesses, saints, and gurus. Especially within the Saivite tradition, poets wrote a large number of poems in this genre to Murukan, son of Siva, and to the goddesses, conceived of as consorts to Lord Siva.

A number of Islamic Tamil writers adopted traditional Tamil literary genres in order to compose religious texts for their communities, thereby enriching Tamil literature in many ways.(4) Islamic literature in Tamilnadu has a long and diverse history.(5) Although a number of writers chose to express themselves in Arabic and Persian,(6) others composed in Tamil--some writing in Arabic script and others in Tamil script. Although many wrote in literary genres derived from the Persio-Arabic tradition, others appropriated Tamil literary genres. Although some adopted primarily narrative genres, others were attracted to poetry composed of discrete verses.(7) The pillaittamil genre offered Islamic poets who wished to write in Tamil language and script, and to use a literary genre composed of discrete verses, a unique framework within which to express praise and veneration.

When Islamic poets composed in the genre, however, they did not compose pillaittamils to Allah. This genre involves the envisioning of its subject in a particular form, an enterprise contrary to the spirit of the Quranic verse, "No vision can grasp Him" (Sura 6). More specifically, Sura 112 of the Quran says "He did not beget, nor was he begotten," which excludes representation of the divine in any human form, including that of a baby. Given orthodox Muslim repugnance to representing or anthropomorphizing Allah, the absence of pillaittamils to Allah is not unexpected.

Islamic poets have used the genre, however, to praise a number of those venerated within the faith, most notably the Prophet Muhammad, but also members of his family, and various walis whose tombs are revered in Tamilnadu.(8) The earliest four Islamic pillaittamils date from the eighteenth century, and Islamic pillaittamils continue to be written today. Two were addressed to women (one to Fatima and another to Ayisha(9)), the rest to men. Of the twenty extant Islamic pillaittamils, six are addressed to the Prophet Muhammad. Scholars of Islamic Tamil literature recognize Napikal Nayakam Pillaittamil as an especially excellent example of a pillaittamil to the Prophet Muhammad. When selecting the pillaittamil tradition, Muslims adopted a well-established and sophisticated poetic form.

All pillaittamils share a ten paruvam (section) structure. The topics or activities highlighted in each paruvam are prescribed by literary tradition. The first paruvam always asks for protection of the little baby. The second paruvam asks the infant to move gently back and forth, while the third is a lullaby verse, always ending with the talelo refrain (equivalent to "la la la"). Next come three paruvams asking the subject respectively to clap hands, give a kiss, and come hither. In the seventh paruvam, directed towards the moon, the poet requests that the moon approach and be a playmate for the baby. In poems addressed to males the last three paruvams ask the subject to play his little drum, desist from knocking over the playhouses built by little girls, and ride his toy chariot.(10) Table 1 gives the name of each paruvam in both transliterated Tamil and English translation (column one), its prescribed subject matter (column two), and the refrain that appears at the close of each verse within a given paruvam (column three).(11)

The pillaittamil genre provides a poet with a challenging combination of constraint and opportunity for creativity.(12) Although the poem must be addressed to its subject in the form of a baby, poets commonly incorporate references to and praise for deeds performed by the subject of the poem as an adult. Thus, for example, the poet can write poems that focus upon the extraordinary details of the Prophet's birth, his charming play, the loving way his mother rocks him in a cradle, and the radiance of the little child. In an Islamic context, the same poem can also praise extraordinary, valorous, compassionate, or majestic acts performed by the Prophet Muhammad as a young man and as an adult, such as helping to move the black stone in the Kaba, speaking with Allah during his heavenly journey (the mi raj), or returning from military victory in triumph. Similarly, literary prescriptions set the topic for each paruvam, but individual verses contain references to a wide range of other activities performed by the Prophet.

The poem under discussion here, Napikal Nayakam Pillaittamil, must be read in the context of a long tradition of veneration of the Prophet, as reflected in the devotional poetry of Islam. Among other scholars, Annemarie Schimmel, whose publications demonstrate the historical breadth and aesthetic sophistication of this theme in poetry throughout the Islamic world, has called attention both to the scholarly neglect of this tradition of veneration and to its central role in Islamic piety. Its centrality led to the composition of myriad poems in many genres, in languages ranging from Arabic and Persian to the regional languages of South Asia. In these poems we find not the austere, "stripped down" figure of Muhammad portrayed both by certain Muslim reformers and by some Western scholars, but the "mystical" Muhammad of popular piety and literary tradition. Poetry about the Prophet Muhammad in this vein tends to share a number of recurring features: reference to his primordial light and status as the perfect man, mention of the special attention lavished upon him (such as the opening of his chest and cleansing of sin), celebration of miraculous deeds he performed (such as the splitting of the moon), praise of his great victories in battle, identification of his deeds as models of action for believers, and inclusion of many special names and epithets for him.(13)

While the scholarship of Schimmel and others provides a pan-Islamic context for our poem, praise for veneration of the Prophet also appears in a text written about the same time as Anapiyya lived, and originating in the Islamic Tamil community: Mapillai Alim's compendium of Muslim theology and jurisprudence.(14) His compendium can help us to understand some of the religious values of the community of which both authors were part. Mapillai Alim (d. 1898) addressed his text to those whose main language was Tamil, could read Arabic script, and wanted a guidebook for proper religious behavior that made available to them a digest of the works of earlier Muslim writers.(15) In Mapillai Alim's discussion of "Priority in Dignity," he says, "It is necessary for a Mumin [person of faith] to know that of all things Allah created, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sal.) holds the highest position in dignity and honour." A section of his work, which sets out the prerequisites of iman (faith) identifies "bearing love towards His Prophets" as the third most important prerequisite, superseded only by bearing love towards God and His Angels, respectively.(16)

Given the primacy of love towards Prophet Muhammad in the life of the faithful, how does that primacy come to be expressed in literature within this particular Tamil-speaking Muslim community? Schimmel's general comment about the ways in which particular linguistic traditions shape textual traditions helps us to understand the text at hand. Schimmel notes that the poetic traditions of different languages color the features characterizing praise of the Prophet in their own ways: "For although the basic forms of praise are everywhere and always similar, the elaborations and the shifts of emphasis around this or that peculiar aspect of the Prophet result in a surprisingly multicolored picture."(17) When veneration of the Prophet comes to be expressed in this particular Muslim community, "elaborations" and "shifts of emphasis" emerge, as the Islamic devotional impulse takes shape in highly conventionalized Tamil poetic genres such as pillaittamils. If Mapillai Alim's statement is any indication, the Muslims in this region were eager to learn more about their religious principles, but were unable to read Arabic religious texts in the original (although they did know the script). Mapillai Alim's compendium, composed in the Tamil language using Arabic script, was one way of expressing and encouraging respect for the Prophet among his readers. Anapiyya adopted another way, praising the Prophet in a Tamil literary genre indigenous to the region.

THE TEXT

Although our knowledge about Anapiyya, his...