Where Hindu and Muslim Kneel Together
Where Hindu and Muslim Kneel Together A reverential reflection on Lalleshwari There are places built of stone where people kneel. And then there are spaces built of presence where kneeling becomes natural. Lalleshwari , lovingly remembered as Lal Ded and Lal Arifa , did not construct an interfaith platform. She did not draft doctrines of coexistence. She did something far more enduring—she became a field in which both Hindu and Muslim could bow without hesitation. Notice this carefully. They did not kneel to her. They knelt within the clarity she embodied. In her lifetime, Kashmir was already a confluence of traditions— Shaiva mysticism , emerging Sufi currents , inherited rituals, evolving identities. Tension did not always shout, but it existed quietly in assumptions. Lalleshwari did not argue theology. She did not negotiate doctrine. She moved the axis entirely. She shifted the conversation from belief to being. When spirituality is rooted in belief, it competes. When rooted i...
