By TNI Correspondent, *Capturing the wisdom of modern mystic* - The News International - Karachi, Pakistan
Friday, July 10, 2009
Islamabad: When the believer’s light of joy goes out, the unbeliever’s home is lit up with ceremonial lamps. What will he, who has no light in his heart, gain from a festival of lamps?
Such enlightened messages of mysticism from Wasif Ali Wasif is the only remedy to contemporary challenges facing us today and Ejazul Haque’s book ‘Farmaish’ captures the true spirit and wisdom of this modern mystic of contemporary times.
National Language Authority Chairman Iftikhar Arif said this while sharing his views at the launching ceremony of a book titled ‘Farmaish’ under the auspices of National Book Foundation here on Thursday.
Professor Fateh Mohammad Malik presided over the launching ceremony attended by a significant number of intellectuals and literati from the twin metropolis. Ahmad Javed was the keynote speaker, while the author Ejazul Haque was also present to share his experience and read out extracts from the book. Hamid Qaiser of NBF and other participants also put in their views later in a dialogue.
The book compiled by Ejazul Haque, is a tribute by a disciple to commemorate the memory and wisdom of Wasif Ali Wasif. Based on reminiscence of his life and mystic thoughts, the book is a collection of anecdotes from his life and also his great words of wisdom and speeches from time to time. If anyone has not studied Wasif Ali Wasif, after reading this book, one is sure to search for every book written by Wasif Ali for his thought provoking ideas and simple yet but very unfathomable words.
Professor Fateh Mohammad Malik said that in these conflicting times, Sufi thoughts needs to be promoted, as beacon of light in dark hours. He described the book, as a unique contribution of the author for collecting the words of wisdom of Wasif Ali Wasif, who enjoyed great respect for his contemplative wisdom and people used to gather around him to listen to his speeches. He said that Wasif Ali Wasif has left as a product of his mind a treasure invaluable of the wisdom of the real Islamic spirit and ideology in his books.
Iftikhar Arif said that apart from being a poet and columnist, Wasif Ali Wasif was also a unique follower of mysticism, which represents the true Islamic spirit and ideology that is reflected in his own words ‘Islam is not the name given to the body of Muslim knowledge, but to the pattern of Muslim behaviour. In other words, Islam is not something to be talked but something to be done’.
Iftikhar Arif said that the book is a tribute of a disciple, as the author Ejaz has collected Wasif Ali’s biography, his sayings, and reminiscences of his close interactions with his followers.
Iftikhar Arif said that for words like ‘Wasif mujhe azal se mili manzile awvad, har daur pe muhit hoon jis zawiye mey hoon’ he was revered for his unique literary style. “Wasif Ali used to write short pieces of prose on spiritual aspect touching topics like life, fear, expectations, and happiness,” he said and added in his life time, most of his columns were combined to form books with his own selected title. Probably no contemporary Urdu writer is more cited in quotations than Wasif Ali Wasif.
In later years, he was known to answer questions in specially arranged gatherings at Lahore attended by the notable community. Some of these sessions were recorded in audio and were later published as ‘Guftagu’ talk series.
Wasif Ali Wasif has over 30 books to his credit and his thought was more on mysticism, spirituality and humanity.
Born in Khushab back in 1929, Wasif Ali Wasif received his primary education under the supervision of his father in Khushab, and graduated with distinction from his maternal place Jhang. Moving to Lahore, he obtained degree of MSc in Mathematics from Government Islamia College, and Masters in English from Government College, Lahore.
This world has seen many great essayists, but the essays of Wasif have their own distinctive quality that could be easily differentiated from the works of other stalwarts. Wasif had written four books in Urdu prose titled ‘Dil Darya Samundar’, ‘Kiran Kiran Suraj’, ‘Qatra Qatra Qulzum’, and ‘Harf Harf Haqiqat’. All these are wonderful works having a touch of mysticism, and judging from the merit of these works, it will not be a miss to say that these works could be placed in the line of great Islamic mystic writers of the past.
Wasif Ali Wasif died on January 18, 1993. Being famous for Sufism and respected by many people, he is usually referred to as Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif.
His shrine is located in Lahore near Chauburjee, where his ‘urs’ is celebrated every year from 22nd to 24th of the month of Rajab.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Shatter The Stereotype
By Erica Kritt, *Students learn Arabic at Common Ground* - Carroll County Times - Westminster, MD, USAThursday, July 9, 2009
When writing Arabic, the scribe must be aware of which letters can connect, what form the letters take next to other letters, when to dip the characters below the guiding line and how they all connect to one another.
“It’s challenging,” Carol Zaru said.Zaru, who teaches Arabic at McDaniel College in Westminster, is teaching a weeklong course on the language at Common Ground on the Hill, which is a traditional music and arts foundation whose focal piece is two weeks of classes in summer.
This week, the class has learned day by day to write letters and say certain phrases.“You’re getting there, you’re getting there,” Zaru said to the class after practicing some writing Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier in the class, Zaru went from student to student, asking them questions like, “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?” in Arabic.The students have already learned basics and were able to answer her questions.
“You can have a whole dialogue going; it’s exciting,” Zaru said to the class.
Student Denise Diegel said the language sounds pretty. Samantha Evans, another student, said the language also looks beautiful when written by someone who hadn’t just learned.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Zaru said there has been an increased curiosity about the Arab world. She said some of her students use it in careers, others to find out more about the language and culture, and others to try to learn the language.
“They love it for the challenge,” she said.
Those taking the Common Ground course also have varied reasons for choosing this class.
Samantha Evans, 15, of Reisters-town, said this class is an introduction for her.“I’d love to get to the point where I could read the Quran,” she said. Samantha said she is a Sufi, which she described as a type of Islam.
Betsy Garrett, of Towson, said she is a fan of languages.“Arabic is such a different language,” she said. Garrett said she would also love to be able to understand some of the Arabic calligraphy at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Diegel, of Glyndon, who teaches French and Spanish at Westminster High School, said she would like to become informed enough to start an Arabic program at Westminster.“It’s so needed these days,” she said.
Zaru said she hopes all of her students keep going with the introduction she is giving them to her native tongue.
Born in Jerusalem, Zaru lived most of her life in Palestinian territory and moved to Maryland in 2001. She started teaching at McDaniel in the fall of 2007.
“I’m hoping they will get a good taste for it,” she said. Zaru said she also wants people to become more aware of Islam, that not all people who speak Arabic are Muslims.
“[If people were aware of] the diversity of the Arab world, that would shatter the stereotype,” she said.
Picture: Instructor Carol Zaru demonstrates letters during an Arabic class at Common Ground on the Hill at McDaniel College in Westminster Wednesday. Photo by Dylan Slagle/Staff Photo.
As Fire Eats Firewood
By J. Samia Mair, *Salafi, Sufi, Sunni, Shia, Progressive--what about Muslim?* - Examiner.com - Baltimore, MD, USAWednesday, July 8, 2009
“Muslims have it backwards,” stated the scholar at a recent lecture. “We divide ourselves into categories, even though it specifically states not to do so in the Qur’an, and we refer to every non-Muslim as a kafir, even though non-Muslims are divided into categories in the Qur’an."
“Yeah, why do we do that?” I asked myself. “Aren’t we all just Muslims?”
Mentioned in the Qur’an are kafirun (disbelievers), mushrikun (polytheists), and munafiqun (hypocrites, i.e., those who state that they are Muslim but conceal their disbelief). The word “kafir" tends to be tossed around a lot in some circles, but I have yet to hear anyone described as a mushrik or a munafiq.
I also hear Muslims (including me) describing themselves and others as belonging to a certain group. And usually when someone is describing someone else it is not a compliment.
Although we are told not to divide ourselves into sects (Al Qur’an, 6:159), the Prophet Muhammad, may Allaah bless him and grant him peace, told us that we would:
The Jews were split up into seventy-one or seventy-two sects; and the Christians were split up into seventy one or seventy-two sects; and my community will be split up into seventy-three sects. (Abu Dawud)
I’m not sure how many sects there are now but clearly we are on our way to seventy-three. One of the problems with labeling ourselves differently is that we may begin to feel superior to others.
Imam ‘Abdallah ibn Alwawi al-Haddad discusses “conceit” in his book The Treatise of Mutual Reminding among Loving Brothers, People of Goodness and Religion. He states:
Beware of conceit, for it invalidates works. The Messenger of God (saas) said, “Conceit eats good works just as fire eats firewood.” And he said, “Three things are ruinous: avarice that one obeys, passion that one follows, and admiration that one has for himself.”
Conceit is for someone to see himself as important and his behavior as excellent. From this arises showing off one’s works, feeling superior to others, and being self-satisfied.
As Ibn ‘Ata’illah said, may God’s mercy be upon him, “The root of every sin, distraction, or lust is self-satisfaction.” He who is satisfied with himself does not see his shortcomings. And he who is unaware of his shortcomings, how can he succeed?
May we be protected from conceit and self-satisfaction and led to the Straight Path.
*The Treatise of Mutual Reminding among Loving Brothers, People of Goodness and Religion
For more info: Who Are the Disbelievers? by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Books by Imam al-Haddad
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
To Pause And Reflect
By Alexa Baracaia, *Video artist Bill Viola to create work for St Paul's Cathedral* - The London Paper - London, UKWednesday, July 8, 2009
The video art pioneer will erect two giant plasma screens that will flank the cathedral's two altars
Heaven knows what Sir Christopher Wren* would think, but St Paul's Cathedral is going digital.
Two new permanent altarpieces have been commissioned for the historic building, but they will not be made from carved wood or marble. Instead, they will be giant plasma screens.
Video artist Bill Viola is to create the pair of displays, expected to flank the cathedral's High Altar and the American Memorial Chapel.
Based on the theme of Mary and the Martyrs, they will be arranged as multiple screens configured in a manner "similar to historic altarpieces", said a spokeswoman today.
Canon Martin Warner, Treasurer of St Paul's, said: "The new works are expected to add to the devotional and reflective experience of visitors to St Paul's, arresting people's attention and inviting them to pause and reflect."
Work will begin on the pieces this summer for completion in early 2011.
New York-born Viola, 58, is hailed as pioneer of video art. He has created installations and sets for the Opera National de Paris, the Guggenheim Museum and the Church of San Gallo in Venice a.o.
His emotionally charged slow-motion works are inspired by traditions within medieval and Renaissance devotional painting and deal with central themes of birth, death, love and spirituality - drawing from Buddhism, Christian mysticism and Islamic Sufism.
He said today: "If I'm successful, the final pieces will function both as aesthetic objects of contemporary art and as practical objects of traditional contemplation."
* Click to meet Sir Christopher Wren
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A Caravan Of Hope
Les tombeaux des Saints (Maqâm) en terre d‘IslamDômes des Lumières et Sources de Vie
The tombs of the Saints (Maqam) in the Land of Islam
Domes of Lights and Sources of Life
Exposition à l’Université Kharouba de Mostaganem, Algérie
Ecriture, architecture et photographies
Du 25 au 31 juillet 2009
Exhibition at the Kharouba University of Mostaganem, Algeria
Writing, Architecture and Photography
From July 25th to July 31st 2009
"Fate guides our steps towards the Invisible and God's Mercy enlightens the hearts of his sincere servants."
Shaykh Khaled Bentounès
This exhibition witnesses the sacred places in Islam. It is presented for the first time at the Centennial of the Tariqa Alâwiyya-Darqâwiyya-Shâdhiliyya in Mostaganem, Algeria.
The purpose is to convey a universal teaching as part of the heritage of humanity and to honor the regal spirituality of the Sufi masters. It is expected to become a subsequent traveling exhibition.
It offers a selection of one hundred images. Visitors will discover the graves in the land of Islam from Morocco to India through Algeria, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Pakistan.
Texts: Laila Khalifa, Historian
Plans: Souad Bédrane, Architect
Photos: Catherine Najma Touaibi
www.touaibi.com/maqam
From the Centennial Website:
Mostaghanem, the birthplace of Sheikh al-Alawee and his eponymous Sufi path, will host an international conference involving reflection, activities, and festivities.
The conference will be held from the 25 to the 31 of July, 2009.
For seven days, seven great questions will be presented, debated, and answered by political personalities, religious leaders, thinkers, specialists, and field workers from all over the world.
In view of the major challenges and global emergencies facing the world today, the Alaweya Sufi path (Tareqa Alaweya, in Arabic) will conduct an in-depth reflection, through conferences and workshops that will lead to concrete projects and sustainable actions.
Nourished by memory and history, this centennial is oriented toward long-lasting endeavor. The Alaweya Sufi path is based on spiritual and universal values, which call for peace and brotherhood.
For the entire past century, it has drawn from previous Sufi teachings to carry out concrete actions. With thousands of members, Tareqa Alaweya’s charisma and experience give it relevance and an undeniable impact in the world.
During the year of 2009, a caravan of hope and many cultural, artistic, and spiritual activities will be organized throughout the Maghreb and Europe as a precursor to the centennial.
[To visit the Centennial website (also in French and Arabic), click on the title of this article.]
Picture: Algeria, Sidi Belkacem, near Khemis-Miliana. Photo: copyright by Catherine Najma Touaibi
Monday, July 13, 2009
In Peace And In Harmony
By Lamine Chiki, *RPT-FEATURE-Algeria sponsors Sufism to fight extremism* - Reuters UK - UK
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Algiers: After using police raids, arrests and gun battles in its fight against Islamist insurgents, Algeria is now deploying a new, more subtle weapon: a branch of Islam associated with contemplation, not combat.
The government of this North African oil and gas producer is promoting Sufism, an Islamic movement that it sees as a gentler alternative to the ultra-conservative Salafism espoused by many of the militants behind Algeria's insurgency.
The authorities have created a television and radio station to promote Sufism and the "zaouias" or religious confraternities that preach and practise it, in addition to regular appearances by Sufi sheikhs on other stations. All are tightly controlled by the state.
Sufism, found in many parts of the Muslim world, places a greater focus on prayer and recitation and its followers have tended to stay out of politics.
In Algeria it has a low profile, with most mosques closer to Salafism -- though not the violent connotations that sometimes carries.
Exact numbers are hard to come by, but George Joffe, a research fellow at the Centre of International Studies, Cambridge University, estimates there are 1-1.5 million Sufis in Algeria, out of a total population of 34 million.
Salafism has its roots in Saudi Arabia and emphasises religious purity. Adherents act out the daily rituals of Islam's earliest followers, for example by picking up food with three fingers and using a "Siwak" -- a toothbrush made out of a twig.
Officials believe Sufism could help bring peace to Algeria, a country still emerging from a conflict in the 1990s between government forces and Islamist rebels that, according to some estimates, killed 200,000 people.
"I disagree with the Salafi ideology because it doesn't take into consideration the particular nature of Algeria," said Mohamed Idir Mechnane, an official at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
"We are doing a lot to encourage people to come back to our traditional Islam: a peaceful, tolerant and open-minded Islam. And thanks to God, people are much more attracted by our message than by the Salafi message," he told Reuters.
Invocation
To give the Sufi "zaouias" a more central role in society, they are encouraged to arrange marriages, help take care of orphans, teach the Koran and distribute charitable donations.
Followers of Sufism focus on the rituals of "Dhikr" or "Hadra" -- "invocation" or "remembrance" -- which feature sermons, reciting the Koran, praising the Prophet Mohammed, requests for intercession and rhythmic invocations of Allah.
During one "Dhikr" ritual at a Sufi zaoui just outside Algiers last month, about 60 men sat in a circle in a large room and began chanting. After a few minutes, some of the elders rocked from side to side, deep in what appeared to be a trance.
"For over 14 centuries, Islam has been present in this country," said Hadj Lakhdar Ghania, a member of the influential confraternity, Tidjania Zaouia.
"We used to live ... in peace and in harmony. But the day the Salafists said we should implement a new Islam in Algeria, problems and troubles started," he told Reuters.
Though the violence has tailed off sharply, insurgents affiliated with al Qaeda still mount sporadic attacks on government targets, posing a challenge to stability in a country that is the world's fourth biggest exporter of natural gas.
Deploying Sufism against radical Islam is not a new idea. A 2007 report by the U.S.-based Rand Corporation think tank, said Sufism could be harnessed to help promote moderate Islam.
"Traditionalists and Sufis are natural allies of the West to the extent that common ground can be found with them," it said.
Algeria's promotion of Sufism could also have implications for countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, which also have Sufi traditions and where Western governments are struggling to counter the influence of Islamist radicals.
Follow The Rules
"A Sufi should connect with Allah through invocation and prayer. For example, on Fridays we spend several hours ... chanting and reciting the Koran. We repeat 1,200 times the name of Allah, and 1,200 times the name of his Prophet Muhammad," Hadj Lakhdar Ghania said.
The Salafists are a more visible presence in Algeria because while the Sufis do not wear any distinguishing dress, most Salafists have beards and in the street wear the "Kamiss", a long white robe, and white skullcaps.
For some militants, the Salafi puritanism leads to a strict interpretation of religion that justifies violence against non-Salafis.
Many leading Salafis reject violence, and others have renounced it since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. But some militant groups still claim Salafism as their ideology.
Hard-line Islamists say Sufi practices such as visiting the tombs of Sufi saints to seek benediction amount to idolatry.
"Sufism is negative. It doesn't seek change. It promotes charlatanism," said Sheikh Abdelfatah, an influential Salafist imam based in Algiers.
"Salafism is good and combats harmful ideas. We encourage our youth to follow the rules of Islam and get away from the western way of life," said the bearded imam dressed in a Kamiss.
The predecessor organisation to al Qaeda's North African wing was influenced by the movement, calling itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.
Since 2001 however, several Salafist clerics have issued religious decrees condemning violence.
The influential Algerian Salafist cleric Abdelmalek Ramdani, who lives in Saudi Arabia, called on his followers a year ago to keep away from politics and stop using violence.
But to Mouloudi Mohamed, an independent Algerian expert on Islamic issues, the best way to combat extremism is by going back to traditional Islam, not the Salafism that was imported from Saudi Arabia.
"I don't believe we should import solutions but rather use the Islam of our fathers to live in peace," he said.
(Additional reporting by Catherine Bosley; Editing by Tom Heneghan, Dominic Evans and Sara Ledwith)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Algiers: After using police raids, arrests and gun battles in its fight against Islamist insurgents, Algeria is now deploying a new, more subtle weapon: a branch of Islam associated with contemplation, not combat.
The government of this North African oil and gas producer is promoting Sufism, an Islamic movement that it sees as a gentler alternative to the ultra-conservative Salafism espoused by many of the militants behind Algeria's insurgency.
The authorities have created a television and radio station to promote Sufism and the "zaouias" or religious confraternities that preach and practise it, in addition to regular appearances by Sufi sheikhs on other stations. All are tightly controlled by the state.
Sufism, found in many parts of the Muslim world, places a greater focus on prayer and recitation and its followers have tended to stay out of politics.
In Algeria it has a low profile, with most mosques closer to Salafism -- though not the violent connotations that sometimes carries.
Exact numbers are hard to come by, but George Joffe, a research fellow at the Centre of International Studies, Cambridge University, estimates there are 1-1.5 million Sufis in Algeria, out of a total population of 34 million.
Salafism has its roots in Saudi Arabia and emphasises religious purity. Adherents act out the daily rituals of Islam's earliest followers, for example by picking up food with three fingers and using a "Siwak" -- a toothbrush made out of a twig.
Officials believe Sufism could help bring peace to Algeria, a country still emerging from a conflict in the 1990s between government forces and Islamist rebels that, according to some estimates, killed 200,000 people.
"I disagree with the Salafi ideology because it doesn't take into consideration the particular nature of Algeria," said Mohamed Idir Mechnane, an official at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
"We are doing a lot to encourage people to come back to our traditional Islam: a peaceful, tolerant and open-minded Islam. And thanks to God, people are much more attracted by our message than by the Salafi message," he told Reuters.
Invocation
To give the Sufi "zaouias" a more central role in society, they are encouraged to arrange marriages, help take care of orphans, teach the Koran and distribute charitable donations.
Followers of Sufism focus on the rituals of "Dhikr" or "Hadra" -- "invocation" or "remembrance" -- which feature sermons, reciting the Koran, praising the Prophet Mohammed, requests for intercession and rhythmic invocations of Allah.
During one "Dhikr" ritual at a Sufi zaoui just outside Algiers last month, about 60 men sat in a circle in a large room and began chanting. After a few minutes, some of the elders rocked from side to side, deep in what appeared to be a trance.
"For over 14 centuries, Islam has been present in this country," said Hadj Lakhdar Ghania, a member of the influential confraternity, Tidjania Zaouia.
"We used to live ... in peace and in harmony. But the day the Salafists said we should implement a new Islam in Algeria, problems and troubles started," he told Reuters.
Though the violence has tailed off sharply, insurgents affiliated with al Qaeda still mount sporadic attacks on government targets, posing a challenge to stability in a country that is the world's fourth biggest exporter of natural gas.
Deploying Sufism against radical Islam is not a new idea. A 2007 report by the U.S.-based Rand Corporation think tank, said Sufism could be harnessed to help promote moderate Islam.
"Traditionalists and Sufis are natural allies of the West to the extent that common ground can be found with them," it said.
Algeria's promotion of Sufism could also have implications for countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, which also have Sufi traditions and where Western governments are struggling to counter the influence of Islamist radicals.
Follow The Rules
"A Sufi should connect with Allah through invocation and prayer. For example, on Fridays we spend several hours ... chanting and reciting the Koran. We repeat 1,200 times the name of Allah, and 1,200 times the name of his Prophet Muhammad," Hadj Lakhdar Ghania said.
The Salafists are a more visible presence in Algeria because while the Sufis do not wear any distinguishing dress, most Salafists have beards and in the street wear the "Kamiss", a long white robe, and white skullcaps.
For some militants, the Salafi puritanism leads to a strict interpretation of religion that justifies violence against non-Salafis.
Many leading Salafis reject violence, and others have renounced it since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. But some militant groups still claim Salafism as their ideology.
Hard-line Islamists say Sufi practices such as visiting the tombs of Sufi saints to seek benediction amount to idolatry.
"Sufism is negative. It doesn't seek change. It promotes charlatanism," said Sheikh Abdelfatah, an influential Salafist imam based in Algiers.
"Salafism is good and combats harmful ideas. We encourage our youth to follow the rules of Islam and get away from the western way of life," said the bearded imam dressed in a Kamiss.
The predecessor organisation to al Qaeda's North African wing was influenced by the movement, calling itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.
Since 2001 however, several Salafist clerics have issued religious decrees condemning violence.
The influential Algerian Salafist cleric Abdelmalek Ramdani, who lives in Saudi Arabia, called on his followers a year ago to keep away from politics and stop using violence.
But to Mouloudi Mohamed, an independent Algerian expert on Islamic issues, the best way to combat extremism is by going back to traditional Islam, not the Salafism that was imported from Saudi Arabia.
"I don't believe we should import solutions but rather use the Islam of our fathers to live in peace," he said.
(Additional reporting by Catherine Bosley; Editing by Tom Heneghan, Dominic Evans and Sara Ledwith)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
To Blame Outsiders
By Michael Dillon Historian on Islam in China, *Uighur resentment at Beijing's rule* - BBC News - Asia-Pacific, UKMonday, July 6, 2009
The violence in Xinjiang has not occurred completely out of the blue
Its root cause is ethnic tension between the Turkic Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese. It can be traced back for decades, and even to the conquest of what is now called Xinjiang by the Manchu Qing dynasty in the 18th Century.
In the 1940s there was an independent Eastern Turkestan Republic in part of Xinjiang, and many Uighurs feel that this is their birthright.
Instead, they became part of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and Xinjiang was declared one of China's autonomous regions, in deference to the fact that the majority of the population at the time was Uighur.
This autonomy is not genuine, and - although Xinjiang today has a Uighur governor - the person who wields real power is the regional secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang Lequan, who is a Han Chinese.
Inward migration
Under the rule of the Communist Party, there has been considerable economic development, but life has been made more difficult for the Uighurs over the past 20-30 years by the migration of many young and technically-qualified Han Chinese from the eastern provinces.
These new migrants are far more proficient in the Chinese language than all but a few Uighurs, and tend to be appointed to the best jobs.
Not surprisingly, this has created deep-seated resentment among the Uighurs, who view the migration of Han into Xinjiang as a plot by the government to dilute them, undermine their culture and prevent any serious resistance to Beijing's control.
More recently, young Uighurs have been encouraged to leave Xinjiang to find work in the rest of China, a process that had already been under way informally for some years.
There was particular concern at government pressure to encourage young Uighur women to move to other parts of China in search of employment - stoking fears they might end up working in bars or nightclubs or even in prostitution, without the protection of family or community.
Islam is an integral part of the life and the identity of the Uighurs of Xinjiang, and one of their major grievances against the Chinese government is the level of restriction imposed on their religious practices.
There are far fewer mosques in Xinjiang than there were before 1949, and they are subject to severe restrictions.
Children under the age of 18 are not permitted to worship in the mosques, and neither are officials of the Communist Party or the government.
Madrasas - religious schools - are also strictly controlled
Other Islamic institutions that were once a central part of religious life in Xinjiang have been banned, including many of the Sufi brotherhoods, which are based at the tombs of their founders and provided many welfare and other services to their members.
All religions in China are subject to control by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, but the restrictions on Islam among the Uighurs are far harsher than against most other groups, including the Hui who are also Muslims but are Chinese speakers. This severity is a result of the association between Muslim groups and the independence movement in Xinjiang, a movement that is absolute anathema to Beijing.
There are groups within Xinjiang that support the idea of independence, but they are not allowed to do so openly because "splitting the motherland" is viewed as treason.
During the 1990s - after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of independent Muslim states in Central Asia - there was an upsurge in open support for these "separatist" groups, culminating in huge demonstrations in the city of Ghulja in 1995 and 1997.
Beijing suppressed those demonstrations with considerable force, and activists were either forced out of Xinjiang into Central Asia and as far away as Pakistan or were obliged to go underground.
'Climate of fear'
Severe repression since the launch of a "Strike Hard" campaign in 1996 has included harsher controls on religious activity, restrictions on movement, the denial of passports and the detention of individuals suspected of support for separatists and members of their families.
This has created a climate of fear and a great deal of resentment towards the authorities and the Han Chinese.
It is surprising that this resentment has not erupted into public anger and demonstrations before now, but that is a measure of the tightness of control that Beijing has been able to exercise over Xinjiang.
There are a number of emigre Uighur organisations in Europe and the United States; in most cases they advocate genuine autonomy for the region.
In the past, Beijing has also blamed an Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement for causing unrest, although there is no evidence that this ever existed in Xinjiang.
The authorities in Beijing are unable to accept that their own policies in Xinjiang might be the cause of the conflict, and seek to blame outsiders for inciting the violence - as they do in the case of the Dalai Lama and Tibet.
Even if Uighur emigre organisations wished to provoke unrest, it would be difficult for them to do so and there are, in any case, sufficient local reasons for unrest without the need for external intervention.
Michael Dillon is the former director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham. He is also the author of a book entitled Xinjiang: China's Muslim Far Northwest.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
A Dangerous Gamble
By Huma Yusuf, *The Somali example* - Dawn.com - Karachi, Pakistan
Monday, July 6, 2009
If pre-military operation Swat has a global counterpart, it’s Somalia. Exchange the Taliban for Al-Shabab, a radical Islamic group, and events in the unstable African country will seem eerily familiar to Pakistanis.
In recent months, Shabab militants have killed government ministers, beheaded innocents, attacked Sufi imams, arrested shrine caretakers and destroyed Sufi shrines across southern Somalia.
The group’s activities are sanctioned by Sharia courts under Shabab’s influence. (Interestingly, these courts sprang up in Somalia about a decade ago to promote law and order in a stateless society with no efficient judicial system — sound familiar?) Shabab first emerged as the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, which used to control Somalia.
After 2006, the extremist group launched an insurgency against Somalia’s transitional government and the Ethiopian forces that were stationed around Mogadishu to help preserve the weak government’s writ until January this year. Since 2007, Shabab has claimed links with Al Qaeda and, fuelled by foreign support, recently adopted an expansionist agenda: militants have swept central and southern Somalia recruiting fighters and striking deals with tribal clan leaders to establish Shabab’s control across the country.
Indeed, the similarities between Pakistan’s northwest and Somalia are so intense that, as military operations in Swat and Fata gained intensity, dozens of Al Qaeda fighters fled the tribal belt and relocated to Somalia. There, they will join the ranks of Shabab, which is currently recruiting hundreds of foreign ‘jihadis’ in an effort to topple the six-month-old moderate Islamic government of President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
Given the parallels, it would be worthwhile for the Pakistan government to analyse developments in Somalia to make more informed decisions about how to eradicate militancy from within our borders in the long term. This process could begin with a close look at the role Sufism is playing in the weak Somali state’s struggle for survival.
As is the case with Pakistan, the West is banking on the devotees of Sufi saints — who comprise the majority of Somali Muslims, enjoy grassroots support and unite people across tribal factions — to push back against Shabab. US-based think tanks like Rand and the Heritage Foundation are counting on the Sufi message of love to counter Shabab’s ever-brutal violence, for tolerance to stem hatred and for music and dancing to triumph over coercion.
But that’s not how things are playing out in Somalia.
In December 2008, Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama, an umbrella group of previously peaceful Sufis with loose allegiances to Mogadishu, took up arms against Shabab militants and drove them out of the central Dusa Marreb region. Several gun battles for control of central Somalia — where Sufis are predominant — have ensued, leading to the death of at least one senior Shabab commander. By resorting to violence, Somali Sufis have maintained control of their territory. In fact, Sufi militias are the only force to have confronted Shabab and won.
The clash between Sufis and Wahabi-influenced extremists of Shabab is unprecedented in Somalia. The country has always witnessed clan warfare, which is usually limited to two tribes. The Sufi-Shabab showdowns, which have explicit ideological and sectarian proportions, mark a new era in African instability. Since religious sects provide a banner under which different tribes can unite, religious warfare in Somalia threatens to be widespread, extended and bloody.
The fact that Somali Sufis resorted to violence should give Pakistan pause to think. After all, a protracted war between Sufi devotees and extremists is no better than the battle between the military and militants or lashkars and Taliban recruits. And yet, that could be Pakistan’s future if active steps are not taken to prevent it.
Consider two separate incidents: in February, the provincial government in the NWFP announced a $40m fund to provide arms to anti-Taliban villagers. The idea was to equip an elite force with weapons seized from militants so that villagers could tackle the Taliban on the latter’s terms. The decision was criticised for further weaponising an arms-ridden part of the country and casting Pakistan’s fight against the Taliban as a do-or-die battle, rather than a long-term attempt to alter mindsets through education and provide alternatives to careers in militancy by creating jobs.
Separately, in June, the government announced the formation of a seven-member Sufi Advisory Council (SAC), which will aim to counter extremism by spreading Sufism instead. This move, too, was criticised. Not only does the council’s existence suggest that one version of Islam is preferred in Pakistan over others, but it casts the fight against terrorism as a religious war, rather than a democratic government’s crackdown against those operating beyond the law and undermining the constitution.
Now put the two together. If, in the coming months, armed Sufi adherents — emboldened by the rhetoric of the SAC — take up arms against remnants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in the Frontier province, our country will boast yet another similarity to Somalia — and that can never be a good thing.
The fact is, both Pakistan and Somalia should realise that propping up Sufism as a counter to spreading militancy is a dangerous gamble. It breeds a culture of coercion, in which one interpretation of Islam is imposed on all citizens. Moreover, deepening the spiral of religious warfare will only result in years more of bloodshed and instability.
True democracies are invested in promoting the freedom to practise whichever religion, and however, a person chooses.
Learning from Somalia, Pakistan should be making every effort to minimise the space given to religion in the public sphere.
Monday, July 6, 2009
If pre-military operation Swat has a global counterpart, it’s Somalia. Exchange the Taliban for Al-Shabab, a radical Islamic group, and events in the unstable African country will seem eerily familiar to Pakistanis.
In recent months, Shabab militants have killed government ministers, beheaded innocents, attacked Sufi imams, arrested shrine caretakers and destroyed Sufi shrines across southern Somalia.
The group’s activities are sanctioned by Sharia courts under Shabab’s influence. (Interestingly, these courts sprang up in Somalia about a decade ago to promote law and order in a stateless society with no efficient judicial system — sound familiar?) Shabab first emerged as the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, which used to control Somalia.
After 2006, the extremist group launched an insurgency against Somalia’s transitional government and the Ethiopian forces that were stationed around Mogadishu to help preserve the weak government’s writ until January this year. Since 2007, Shabab has claimed links with Al Qaeda and, fuelled by foreign support, recently adopted an expansionist agenda: militants have swept central and southern Somalia recruiting fighters and striking deals with tribal clan leaders to establish Shabab’s control across the country.
Indeed, the similarities between Pakistan’s northwest and Somalia are so intense that, as military operations in Swat and Fata gained intensity, dozens of Al Qaeda fighters fled the tribal belt and relocated to Somalia. There, they will join the ranks of Shabab, which is currently recruiting hundreds of foreign ‘jihadis’ in an effort to topple the six-month-old moderate Islamic government of President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
Given the parallels, it would be worthwhile for the Pakistan government to analyse developments in Somalia to make more informed decisions about how to eradicate militancy from within our borders in the long term. This process could begin with a close look at the role Sufism is playing in the weak Somali state’s struggle for survival.
As is the case with Pakistan, the West is banking on the devotees of Sufi saints — who comprise the majority of Somali Muslims, enjoy grassroots support and unite people across tribal factions — to push back against Shabab. US-based think tanks like Rand and the Heritage Foundation are counting on the Sufi message of love to counter Shabab’s ever-brutal violence, for tolerance to stem hatred and for music and dancing to triumph over coercion.
But that’s not how things are playing out in Somalia.
In December 2008, Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama, an umbrella group of previously peaceful Sufis with loose allegiances to Mogadishu, took up arms against Shabab militants and drove them out of the central Dusa Marreb region. Several gun battles for control of central Somalia — where Sufis are predominant — have ensued, leading to the death of at least one senior Shabab commander. By resorting to violence, Somali Sufis have maintained control of their territory. In fact, Sufi militias are the only force to have confronted Shabab and won.
The clash between Sufis and Wahabi-influenced extremists of Shabab is unprecedented in Somalia. The country has always witnessed clan warfare, which is usually limited to two tribes. The Sufi-Shabab showdowns, which have explicit ideological and sectarian proportions, mark a new era in African instability. Since religious sects provide a banner under which different tribes can unite, religious warfare in Somalia threatens to be widespread, extended and bloody.
The fact that Somali Sufis resorted to violence should give Pakistan pause to think. After all, a protracted war between Sufi devotees and extremists is no better than the battle between the military and militants or lashkars and Taliban recruits. And yet, that could be Pakistan’s future if active steps are not taken to prevent it.
Consider two separate incidents: in February, the provincial government in the NWFP announced a $40m fund to provide arms to anti-Taliban villagers. The idea was to equip an elite force with weapons seized from militants so that villagers could tackle the Taliban on the latter’s terms. The decision was criticised for further weaponising an arms-ridden part of the country and casting Pakistan’s fight against the Taliban as a do-or-die battle, rather than a long-term attempt to alter mindsets through education and provide alternatives to careers in militancy by creating jobs.
Separately, in June, the government announced the formation of a seven-member Sufi Advisory Council (SAC), which will aim to counter extremism by spreading Sufism instead. This move, too, was criticised. Not only does the council’s existence suggest that one version of Islam is preferred in Pakistan over others, but it casts the fight against terrorism as a religious war, rather than a democratic government’s crackdown against those operating beyond the law and undermining the constitution.
Now put the two together. If, in the coming months, armed Sufi adherents — emboldened by the rhetoric of the SAC — take up arms against remnants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in the Frontier province, our country will boast yet another similarity to Somalia — and that can never be a good thing.
The fact is, both Pakistan and Somalia should realise that propping up Sufism as a counter to spreading militancy is a dangerous gamble. It breeds a culture of coercion, in which one interpretation of Islam is imposed on all citizens. Moreover, deepening the spiral of religious warfare will only result in years more of bloodshed and instability.
True democracies are invested in promoting the freedom to practise whichever religion, and however, a person chooses.
Learning from Somalia, Pakistan should be making every effort to minimise the space given to religion in the public sphere.
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