Do you know that the former Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Imran Khan, who is currently in prison and officially denied but there are rumors that he was killed in prison on November 26, was an admirer of the Sufi order, and that his wife Bushra Bibi is one of the well-known contemporary Sufis?
Medianews.az reports that Imran Khan himself, so to speak, is not officially a Sufi. But because he holds great respect for Sufism, sometimes his name is also mentioned as a Sufi.
Imran Khan, a Sunni Muslim, has always acknowledged the role of the Sufi order in his approach to Islam and the formation of his religious worldview.
In interviews, Imran Khan has repeatedly talked about Sufism, stating that since his youth he has been deeply influenced by Pakistan's famous Sufi poet Muhammad Iqbal. He said that the inner (batini) aspects of Islam attract him more, and considers the spiritual depth more important than the external rituals of religion. Because of these views, Imran Khan has also earned the title of a "Sufi-oriented leader."
His connection to the Sufi order is also linked to the fact that his wife is Bushra Bibi.
Bushra Bibi, so to speak, is officially a Sufi. She is a Sufi spiritual leader, even considered one of the Sufi guides, called murshids. In public, she appears wearing the hijab and niqab, usually wearing a white hijab.
Bushra Bibi is a member of a contemporary Sufi center located in the city of Pakpattan, where the famous 13th-century Sufi mystic and poet, better known as Baba Farid or Sheikh Farid Shakar Ganj, is buried. This place gathers followers and disciples of Farideddin Masud.
Bushra Bibi is an ardent promoter of Sufism, religious mysticism, and inner Islam.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi married in 2018. Bushra Bibi is Imran Khan's third wife. She was a widow when she married Imran Khan, having divorced her first husband shortly before the marriage.
Imran Khan assumed the prime minister position six months after marrying Bushra Bibi.
During the period when she was Pakistan's First Lady, Bushra Bibi did not involve herself much in political affairs, remaining primarily in the image of a Sufi spiritual leader. However, after Imran Khan left power, faced official charges, and court proceedings began, Bushra Bibi appeared at the forefront of protests. Nevertheless, in these processes, she was regarded more as a spiritual leader than a political figure.
Born in 1952, Imran Khan led the Pakistan government from 2018 to 2022. He has been imprisoned since the summer of 2023 and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He faced several charges, with the main accusation related to corruption.
Born in 1964, Bushra Bibi has been in prison since February 2024. The court found her guilty of not observing the ‘iddah’ when marrying Imran Khan. ‘Iddah’ is the waiting period prescribed in Sharia for a divorced or widowed woman before she can remarry. The waiting period is 3 months for divorced women and 4 months and 10 days for widows.
More than 6 years after divorcing Bushra Bibi, in November 2023, her former husband Ghulam Muhammad Maneki filed a lawsuit claiming that both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi violated the iddah requirements. In February 2024, the court upheld the lawsuit and sentenced Bushra Bibi to 7 years in prison. This accusation was also taken into account when calculating Imran Khan's sentence duration.
Toğrul Ali,
Medianews.az
