Hawke's Bay case

The Hawke's Bay case was an incident of religiously motivated mass hysteria that occurred in late February 1983 in Hawke's Bay Beach, Karachi. This event, involving members of the Shia community, resulted in 18 casualties and a similar number of injuries.^[1]

Incident

The incident occurred when 38 Shias from a village in Chakwal Tehsil headed into the Arabian Sea led by Naseem Fatima (alternately, Nasreen Fatima).^[2] She claimed to have direct contact with the 12th Shia Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, and was a claimed miracle worker, despite her lack of wearing the customary Muslim hijab (veil). She was supported by her father, Willayet Shah, who had returned from Saudi Arabia, after working there for several years, during which his Shia faith was strengthened following Khomeini's success in the Iranian Revolution. Naseem Fatima claimed that the Mahdi told her to go to the Arabian Sea, where its waters would part and allow her and her followers to walk to Basra and finally to the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala - both in Iraq - without having to pay for the journey. She also claimed that the Mahdi told her to place the women and children in locked trunks for the journey, which the men then carried.^[3] However, most pilgrims who took part drowned (including Fatima),^[4] after the Karachi police arrived too late to save them. Those who did survive were arrested for attempting to leave Pakistan without visas.^[5]

Reactions

The event was highly praised by Shias, but ridiculed by Sunnis as 'insanity'.^[6] It also inspired two chapters of Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses.^[7]

The Shiahs, by contrast, viewed the event as a validation of their faith. They claimed that only the Shiites were capable of such deep devotion and sacrifice. It was, undeniably, an instance embedded in Shiah mythology, which predisposed the community to both respond to and enact the drama.^[8]

Aftermath

The surviving pilgrims were able to eventually reach Karbala after their airfares were paid for by wealthy Shias. This was seen as fulfilling the prophecy that they would travel to their desired destination free of charge.^[9]

References

1. Fletcher, M. D., ed. (1994). Reading Rushdie: Perspectives on the Fiction of Salman Rushdie. Rodopi. p. 232. ISBN 9789051837650.
2. Charles Knight. "The Satanic Verses: Study Questions. VIII. The Parting of the Arabian Sea". University of Massachusetts Boston. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
3. Annabel Patterson (30 September 2014). The International Novel (illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780300198003.
4. Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (6 September 2007). Church and Islam: report of a consultation. the University of Michigan. p. 253.
5. Florian Stadtler (30 October 2013). Fiction, Film, and Indian Popular Cinema: Salman Rushdie's Novels and the Cinematic Imagination. Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 9781135964306.
6. Annabel Patterson (30 September 2014). The International Novel (illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. p. 178. ISBN 9780300198003.
7. Peter C. Hill; William Paul Williamson (2005). W. Hood, Ralph (ed.). The Psychology of Religious Fundamentalism. Guilford Press. p. 157. ISBN 9781593851507.
8. Ahmed, Akbar S (27 June 2022). "Death in Islam: The Hawkes Bay Case (Part I)". Daily Times. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
9. Manav Ratti (19 December 2012). The Postsecular Imagination: Postcolonialism, Religion, and Literature (illustrated ed.). Routledge. pp. 162–3. ISBN 9780415480970.

External links

• Akbar S. Ahmed (March 1986). "Death in Islam: The Hawkes Bay Case". Man. 21 (1): 120–134. doi:10.2307/2802650. JSTOR 2802650.