Disambiguity
He was a mystic poet or poet sants of India, whose literature has greatly influenced the Bhakti as well as Sufi movements of India. According to some sources, he was born to a Hindu Brahmin widow and later adopted by childless Muslim weavers – Niru and Nimma – who found him near Lahara Tala lake, adjacent to the holy city of Varanasi.
A contemporary of Guru Nanak Dev, who sang the ideals of seeing all of humanity as one, and also the path of natural oneness with God; some even believe him to be the preceptor of Guru Nanak.
His teachings are distinguished theologically by inward-loving devotion to a divine principle, and socially by an egalitarianism opposed to the qualitative distinctions of the Hindu caste hierarchy and to the religious differences between Hindu and Muslim.
He is also one of the 99 names of God in Islam.
When he died, his Hindu and Muslim followers started fighting about the last rites… The Muslim followers buried their half and the Hindu cremated thier half. In Maghar, his tomb and samadhi still stand side by side.
Finally, Wikipedia has a “disambiguity” page on him! The name I’m talking about is Kabir!
To be honest, when the wife and I decided to name our second child and only son – Kabir, we did not know all these facts. (Elsewhere on this blog, he will be known as “Tiger”)
While we received many many emails from friends and family, commenting on the excellent choice of our son’s new name, we also heard cautious comments from wellwishers who were “concerned” that the name sounds “too Muslim”. “It may make things difficult in the future”, some of them said… “You know how 9/11 has changed the way the world responds to Muslims in general”, others commented… It’s all one global village – you know how it is?
Naturally, the wife was also a bit concerned. Was it too Muslim-sounding after all?
This post is my response to all those fears of all our near and dear ones. No, I do not think that it sounds “too Muslim”. And, so what if it does? If anything, the poet’s life was dedicated to opposing the differences between Hindus and Muslims! Shouldn’t that count for something?
Incidentally, our Kabir is born to a Hindu father (whose Sindhi community follows the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs in which Kabir’s words are included!) and a Mangalorean-Catholic mother. Not to mention, his baptism is scheduled for next month.
Some ambiguity can make for an interesting life, don’t you think?
Very interesting post .I liked the name Tiger, and with your post i liked it even more coz of the diversity that the name signifies. Who knows maybe some day i might also name my son Tiger