Mesnevi translated into 15 languages

ANA/Turkish Daily News - Ankara, Turkey

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Konya: Mathnawi-i Manawi or Mesnevi, one of the most important works of Jalal ad-Din Rumi, also known as Mevlana, has been translated into 15 languages, said Mayor of Konya Tahir Akyurek last Thursday.

Akyurek told the Anatolia news agency that eight of these translations were already printed. Stating that UNESCO announced this year as Mevlana Year, Akyurek said the book was translated and printed in English, German, Italian, French, Persian, Arabic and Urdu.

"Printed editions in these languages were sent to several ministries and organizations in foreign countries," Akyurek said. He said Mesnevi was also translated into Bosnian, Japanese, Spanish, Albanian, Turkmen, Swedish and Kazakh, but had not been printed yet.

"Moreover, Mesnevi will soon be translated into Greek, Dutch, Russian, Tajik, Chinese, Hindi, Azerbaijani, Malay and Korean," he added.

Mesnevi – by Mevlana, spiritual founder of the Mevlevi order who devoted himself to the pursuit of Sufi mysticism – comprises about 30,000 couplets in six books, a vast compendium of Sufi lore and doctrine, interspersed with fables and anecdotes.

It is especially remarkable for its insight into the laws of physics and psychology.

[picture: Mesnevi's manuscript from the Milli Kütüphane National Library, Ankara.
www.mkutup.gov.tr ]

"No force from our side"

IANS/DNA - Daily News & Analysis - Mumbai, India
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Srinagar: Kashmir's Grand Mufti, Mufti Muhammad Bashir-ud-Din, has issued a 'fatwa' against accepting money or help from the Indian Army in rebuilding mosques and shrines.

In a statement here, the Grand Mufti said: "The Shariat (Islamic) law does not allow any person or persons other than the Muslims to do such an act."

The Grand Mufti, according to Islamic law, has an authority to issue legal opinions and 'fatwa' (edicts) on interpretations of Islamic law.

"In my capacity as the Mufti Azam of Jammu and Kashmir, I declare that this shall be treated as a verdict within the purview of the Shariat that no person or persons, organisation or organisations other than Muslims can construct, renovate any mosque or shrine."

The fatwa further said any help from non-Muslims in the construction of mosques would be construed as interference in the religious affairs of Muslims.

The army has been lending support and financial assistance in Kashmir under Operation 'Sadbhavana' and so far over Rs.1 million has been spent for the construction and renovation of 11 shrines in the Kashmir Valley.

Reacting to the fatwa, the spokesman of the army's 15th corps, Lt. Col. A.K. Mathur said: "We only help construction/renovation of religious places if there is a request from the people.
"If the people don't want our help, there is no force from our side."

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the valley's chief priest, who is also chairman of the moderate group of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, has also criticized the army for "interference in the religious affairs of Muslims of Kashmir".

Shrine damaged in Baghdad

[From the French language press]:

Au moins 18 Irakiens ont été tués et 28 autres blessés dans un attentat à Bagdad. L'attaque s'est produite dans un quartier commerçant et a notamment endommagé une mosquée sunnite.

ATS/Romandie News - Genève, Suisse - lundi 28 mai, 2007

At least 18 Iraqis were killed and 28 others wounded in an attack in Baghdad. The attack occurred in a shopping area and in particular damaged a sunni mosque.

The mosque shelters the mausoleum of a medieval sufi, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (ra), died in 1166.

[Picture: 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (ra) shrine in Baghdad, Iraq.

Visit the home site of 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (ra):
http://www.al-baz.com/shaikhabdalqadir/]

When the magic takes over

By Azera Rahman, IANS - The Mangalorean - Mangalore, India

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

New Delhi: It's Thursday evening, and walking down the narrow alley in south Delhi en route to the Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin can be quite a challenge.

Jostling through the heavy crowd and resisting hordes of persistent beggars, you just might get tempted to change your mind. But as you draw closer, the faint sound of the 'qawwali', the eternal Sufi song, reaches your ears. And the magic takes over.

After passing through the labyrinth of lanes, both sides of which are huddled with numerous shops selling rosaries, flower trays, incense sticks, prayer mats and prayer books, one reaches the Dargah's premises.

Even in the ocean of voices and fevering prayers of people from every caste and creed who come to the Dargah, the sound of the qawwals or Sufi singers stand out and makes one take a seat and be enthralled by it.

Sitting with their harmoniums in the central courtyard of the Dargah, the qawwals sing with passion and whole-heartedly, creating an euphoric ambience. As their voices rise and fall, the heat, the sweat or any other discomfort that one might have, simply evaporates.

People gather in hundreds, some standing and others sitting cross-legged. No one is complaining; no one is pushing. Probably it's because of the spell that the singers create; even in the sweltering heat with no fans, people enjoy the music in peace.

Qawwali began when the founder of the Chishti order of Sufism, Moinuddin Chishti, came from Baghdad to Ajmer, Rajasthan, in the 13th century. A century later, the artistic genius Amir Khusrau, who also is popularly recognized as the creator of the tabla and the sitar, organized what Moinuddin began, and qawwali was born.

One of the most popular stories the qawwals like to tell is of the 'Qawwal Bachche'. Hazrat Amir Khusrau wanted to do something special for his 'sheikh' (spiritual mentor) Nizamuddin.
So he found 12 especially talented young boys and trained them to perform the ragas he had composed. The sheikh was very pleased with their performance and these 12 boys became to be known as the 'Qawwal Bachche'.

The qawwals in Nizamuddin's dargah refer to themselves as Qawwal Bachche because they trace their lineage back to one of those 12 children.

Qawwali has been passed from father to son through the generations, with an emphasis on the children remembering the poetry and correct pronunciation of the words because many of the songs are in Persian. But the style has been allowed to adapt to the changing times in order to make the music appealing to each new generation. Changes include incorporating new rhythms and new instruments, such as the harmonium, introduced in the early 19th century and now synonymous with the qawwali sound.

As the qawwals at the Dargah sing tirelessly, people come and put crisp currency notes near their feet. It doesn't really matter how much one donates because no one asks for it. Those who give do it on their own will.

The trance breaks as the qawwals take a break for namaaz. As you walk back through the same alley the noise seems much subdued, the aroma of the biryani and the haleem seems to fill the place and you don't mind the tugging and the pulling.
The spell is broken but not before leaving a smile on your face.

[picture: Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in Delhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizamuddin_Dargah]

A great example of communal harmony

By Gunjana Roy/IANS - New Kerala - Ernakulam, Kerala, India

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Bhagalpur (Bihar): For eight long years, a 65-year-old Hindu man has been managing with care and devotion a Sufi shrine after Muslims hit hard by the 1989 communal violence gave it up.

Suresh Bhagat, who has virtually deserted his family in the process, says he enjoys every minute he spends at the 300-year-old shrine of Bazid Dargah Pahalwan, a revered Muslim preacher, in Amapur village some 20 km away.

The last of the Muslim families left the village in 1999, a decade after Bihar's worst communal riots killed hundreds and marked the end of Congress dominance over Bihar.

Bhagat sleeps on an elevated platform supported by bamboo poles near the shrine, close to a cremation site on the bank of the Ganga, a river of great religious significance for Hindus. "No sense of fear has crossed my dreams even once," Bhagat told IANS.

The villagers decided to take care of the historical shrine after Kamo Miyan, the last Muslim caretaker of the dargah, shifted to Bhagalpur town in 1999. Bhagat was ready to take up the task. There was initial resistance from his wife and their three sons but the man had his way.

Amapur village had 12 Muslim families, of which seven perished in the 1989 riots. The surviving families moved to Bhagalpur and Kahalgoan town over the years. "They left the village because of a high sense of insecurity among them," said RamPrasad, a villager.

Bhagat does not know how to follow Muslim rituals. He knows how to put the ceremonial 'chadar' on the 'mazaar'. He offers the remains of burnt incense sticks to Hindu and Muslim devotees who throng the shrine from Ekchari, Bhagalpur and Ghogha areas and from even Kolkata and Lucknow.

Illiterate Bhagat wishes he could offer prayers but he prefers to internalize his respect for Islam.
"Though I do not know the nitty-gritty of any religion, every religion talks of love and peace," he says.

Every evening, Anil, the rickshaw puller son of Bhagat, comes to see his father at the shrine and hands over a lunch box to him.

Bhagat has one dream: "I wish there is such love among Hindus and Muslims that when Hindus fast, Ramzan should fall on the very day."

Says Wasi Alam, a Muslim resident of Bhagalpur town: "What Bhagat does is a great example of communal harmony. God loves all and accepts everybody's offer and prayer."

[picture: Mangifera indica, India's national fruit.

Mangoes have been cultivated in India from time immemorial. The poet Kalidasa sang its praises. Alexander savoured its taste, as did the Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang.

Akbar planted 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga, known as Lakhi Bagh.
http://www.tourindia.com/htm/homepage.htm]

We shall overcome

Staff report -Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Saturday, May 26, 2007

Lahore: Prominent artist and social activist Jimmy Engineer has called for national unity and integrity at this critical juncture of the Pakistan’s history.

In a press statement, Jimmy Engineer said that everyone irrespective of political affiliations should work for the progress of the country.

He said that Pakistan belongs to more than 160 million people and is not just for a particular community, group or class. He said the national interests have to be safeguarded and promoted and not to be sacrificed and brushed aside for petty interests, prejudices and biases.

He said that he is great admirer of the teachings of popular saint Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh and follower of Sufi Barkat Ali of Risalewala near Faisalabad and by adhering to spiritualism and Sufism, Pakistanis could overcome all our problems, avoid bloodshed, violence and arson.

[picture: "In the Name of Allah" - sculptured calligraphy on black marble, 13 x 19 feet (3.96 x 5.79 metres) 1993 http://www.jimmyengineer.com/index.html]

Embroiled faith?

Times Now -Mumbai, India

Friday, May 25, 2007

It is an integral part of Kashmiri culture – Sufism or the Sufi tradition -- evident in the hundreds of shrines that dot the valley with followers that run into hundreds.

But in the volatile valley, faith is embroiled in a confrontation between the men who are caretakers of the shrines and the men in uniform who have almost become the other prominent feature of the valley -- the army.

Muslim leaders are angry after the army helped renovate a mosque claiming Islam does not permit any non-Muslim to do so and allege the move has political motives. “If the army does not stop interfering, a severe agitation will be led against them,” threatened Hurriyat Conference Leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.

However, the army insists there is a misunderstanding and says it was just an attempt to improve contact with the locals.

[picture: Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq]

[read also:

http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=army]

Sister cities meet through Sufism

Staff report - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The cities of Cologne (Köln) and İstanbul are marking the 10th anniversary of their being declared sister cities with a series of cultural events due to take place in both cities in May and June, the organizers announced in a written statement this week.

The first leg of the activities, organized by the Greater İstanbul Municipality's culture entity Kültür A.Ş., is currently under way in Cologne through June 1, with famous Turkish musicians Fazıl Say, Burhan Öçal and Kudsi Erguner performing concerts for Cologne audiences.

A folkloric dance show by Anadolu Ateşi (Fire of Anatolia) and an Ottoman janissary band show are among events in the lineup in addition to an exhibition of panoramic photographs of İstanbul; Turkish movie screenings; a traditional sema performance by whirling dervishes and a conference focusing on the teachings of Sufi saint and poet Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi by Sufi history expert Mahmut Erol Kılıç.

The second leg of the activities will take place June 1-4 in İstanbul with support from the Municipality of Cologne.

The event, which is in a way a preparation for the 2010 European Culture Capital activities, will help the residents of the two cities develop a better mutual understanding, the statement said.

The organizers said the program would later be featured in other important cities of the East and the West.

[picture: Prof. Dr. Mahmut Erol Kiliç, Marmara University, Istanbul]

Nurpur Shahan: annual Urs of Barri Imam begins

Associated Press of Pakistan -Islamabad, Pakistan

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The scenic Nurpur Shahan at the foothills of Margalla in the federal capital bears the nonpareil honour of being the resting place of an eminent and great Sufi saint Syed Abdul Latif Kazmi, popularly known as Barri Imam.

During the five-day annual Urs of great Sufi Saint - commencing from Sunday, May 27- the devotees from across the country will not only offer obeisance but will also invoke Allah's blessing to get their wishes answered.

With traditional beat of drum, folk dances and multi-coloured flags, the devotees -including some of them bare-footed- have started pouring in the town to express their devotion and reverence to the great Sufi saint.

Brisk arrangements have been put in place by the Islamabad Territory Administration, Capital Development Authority, Islamabad Police and Auqaf Department to welcome devotees, coming for this bustling event.

Renovation of the shrine of Barri Imam is in full swing amidst future plans to re-build a befitting shrine with revised estimated cost which may exceed Rs 600 million [USD 9,910,361.--].

All possible arrangements are underway to facilitate the devotees and the roads leading to the shrine of Barri Imam have been widened to ensure smooth flow of traffic during the Urs.

Vehicles, carrying special permission will ply between Nurpur Shahan and its adjoining areas from key points in Rawalpindi-Islamabad, along with private buses, wagons and Suzuki pickups, to facilitate the devotees to the shrine.

Dancing, gambling and use of loud speakers will remain banned during the `Urs'.

A local holiday is a usual feature to be announced by the administration every year to commemorate the Urs and to facilitate the devotees. Auqaf Department plans to distribute free food among the devotees daily throughout the `Urs'.

A tent village of devotees, emerged on the eve of Urs can be seen around the dried-up stream along with burning candles. The adjoining hills of the shrine will bustle with life as arrangements for illumination have also been finalised.

Brisk shopping in a narrow but colourful bazaar adjoining the shrine adds beauty to the event. Most of shopkeepers are seen selling `Nokuls (white sugar coated sweets), dry dates, bangles and bracelets with sacred words engraved on them.
Sweets, traditional halwa-puri, flowers and garlands remain cardinal feature of festive ambience on the occasion. These are also taken by the devotees as sacred gifts for nears and dears.

The real festivities of Urs take a boost with the arrival of the traditional Daali from Peshawar, which was started by Hazrat Shah Muhammad Ghous (buried in Lahore).
The crowds (Daali) keep growing as an annual recurrence with the accompanied rituals becoming more colourful and fascinating. Participants of the "Daali" (offering) proceed on foot, covering over 100 miles journey in a week. The devotees march towards the shrine of the Great saint through specific routes.

The long awaited procession swells as more and more devotees join it on way. They
carry the Daali, called `Takht-e-Rawan' (Floating Throne), entailing eighteen bottles of rose scent and Henna (Mehndi).

It presents a memorable sight when devotees reach the shrine Hazrat Shah Nazar Diwan amid slogans of Barri Barri-Sarkar Barri and Ya Ali, Ya Ali, enroute Saddar Garhi, Tarru Jabba, Nowshera, Akora Khattak and Khariabad.

The devotees start their toughest and non-stop journey to shrine of Hazrat Barri Imam through Hattain and ultimately, the Daali reaches the capital via Burhan, Golra Sharif, Margalla hills and Pir Sohawa, where it is accorded warm welcome by masses and officials of the Auqaf Department.

Born in 1026 Hijra (1617 AD) in village Karsaal (Chakwal), Barri Imam attracted both Muslims and non-Muslims. His piety, revolutionary ideas and simple way of life earned respect and honour for him among his people. He adopted those rejected by the society as outcasts.

His father, Syed Mahmood Badshah (whose mazar is visited daily by hundreds of people near Aabpara), shifted his family from Karsaal to village Bagh-e-Kalan (now Islamabad) when Barri Imam was 10 year old. He was the eldest son. He had only one sister, who died soon after her marriage. His father taught him at home.

Later, he was sent to Ghour Ghashi (Attock) where he studied "Fiqah" "Hadith" and Mathematics. He travelled extensively including Kashmir, Badkhshan, Mashhed, Najaf-i-Ashraf, Karbala, Baghdad, Hijaz, Egypt, Damascus, Madina Munawara and Mekka Mukarama to bag knowledge and wisdom.

His ancestral tree is traced to Great Imam Hazart Moosa Kazim (AS). He had uncanny knack for picking and retaining things since childhood. Barri had full command over Holy Quran, Hadith, Fiqah, Logic and Arithmetic.
He adopted four caliphs--Inayat Shah, Shah Hussain, Mithay Shah and Deen or Dang Shah. Three of them are buried in Nurpur Shahan while Inayat Shah is buried in Sindh.

Several non-Muslims embraced Islam due to Barri Imam' spiritual preaching and exemplary character.

He passed away in 1117 Hijra (1708 AD) at the age of 91 years after having spread the light of truth and simplicity which transformed the village Churpur into Nurpur.

The best way to pay befitting homage to Hazrat Barri Imam is that his message and teachings may be followed in letter and spirit. A public Trust, comprising the sincere, honest and educated devotees, may be set up to monitor and regulate the income and expenses of the Barri Imam's shrine in a transparent manner.

[picture from http://www.tourism.gov.pk/index.html]

Sacred Music festival to start June 1st in Fez

[From the French language press]:

De grands artistes parmi lesquels l’Américaine Barbara Hendricks et le Sud-Africain Johnny Clegg vont se produire à Fès à l’occasion du 13e Festival des musiques sacrées, qui démarre le 1er juin.

L'Economiste -Casablanca, Maroc - mardi 22 mai 2007

Great artists among whom American Barbara Hendricks and South-African Johnny Clegg, will perform in Fez during the 13th Festival of Sacred Music, which starts on June 1st.

During ten days the city will be in effervescence. Four concerts are programmed daily at various places of Fez while many cultural activities- almost uninterrupted- will animate the city.

For this 2007 edition the organizers chose to pay homage to Jalaleddine Roumi (one of the foremost Masters of Sufism), whose 800th of birthday is celebrated this year.

Half of the programs are free and accessible to all.

[picture: Fez, Morocco http://www.visitmorocco.org/]

Miniatures, abstracts exhibition opens

Staff report - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Islamabad: A curious amalgam of traditional miniature art and innovative abstract art is on display in a painting exhibition at the Alliance Francaise d’Islamabad.

Nine National College of Arts students have exhibited their masterpieces in the exhibition.

They have painstakingly used Mughal and Persian figurative drawing techniques to understand miniature painting composition. They have used the techniques called ‘pardakt’ and ‘gadrang’ (using squirrel hairbrush) in landscapes, architecture, pattern designing and floral and geometrical patterns.

(...)

The work of Aakif Sauri, inspired by Sufism, attempts to capture the essence of love, beauty and spirituality. He has tried to spread the massage of Sufi poets among the new generation.

Kauser Iqbal has wonderfully portrayed different rural norms and customs in Pakistan by showing women busy in their routine chores.

(...)

Nauman Ghauri’s work is a visual voyage of Egyption religious rituals and mythology.

Jalalluddin Babar’s paintings explore the concept of faith by depicting the night of ‘Shab-e-Miraj’.

M Saleh tries to remind his people through his work that they were not always inferior to the West and that they should not waste their energies and talents on imitating the West.

The exhibition will conclude on May 28.

Islam at home

[From the Italian language press]:

“La carovana dell’amore, la saggezza dei Sufi, musica e racconti" sarà realmente una opportunità per dedicarsi, almeno per una sera, alla conoscenza dell'altro e di noi.

Infoportale Giovani Firenze - Firenze, Italy - 24 maggio 2007

“The caravan of love, the wisdom of the Sufis, music and tales” will be a real opportunity to dedicate oneself, at least for one evening, to the acquaintance of the other and of us.

Tonight, May 25, 9.15 pm, third appointment of a series of three, “Islam in casa” (Islam at home) is organized in order to approach the East and the West, in collaboration with the township of Fucecchio (Florence) and various Interfaith Groups.

Some elements of the Sufi tradition are music and the tales, which act on various levels. Music has a deep and positive effect on the spirit. The Sufi tales are, instead, anecdotes and episodes, much simple and often apparently conflicting.

Fucecchio (Firenze), Sala del Poggio-Poggio Salamartano (beside the famous church Chiesa Della Collegiata di S. Giovanni il Battista) Friday, May 25, 9.15 pm

Iranian Sufi Leader at home after detention

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - Prague, Czech Republic

Thursday, May 24, 2007

New details are emerging concerning the detention in Iran this week of a prominent Sufi leader.

Nurali Tabandeh (aka Majzub Ali Shah), the leader of the Nematollah Gonabadi order, was detained on May 21 and forcibly taken from the northeastern city of Gonabad -- where the leaders of the order have lived and been buried for centuries -- to Tehran.

A representative of the order told RFE/RL today that the 80-year-old Tabandeh was released in Tehran after being detained for about 10 hours.

Authorities had earlier called on Tabandeh to leave Gonabad, but Tabandeh had refused to leave his city of birth. In October, 300 security forces surrounded Tabandeh's Gonabad residence in an effort to force him to leave the city.

Pressure on the Gonabadi order has increased

[Picture: Dr. Nurali Tabandeh]

Army is not just meant for war

By Muzamil Jaleel - Kashmir Live/Express India -Srinagar, India

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The Army in Kashmir is no longer restricting its role to military operations. The latest in its war “for hearts and minds” is the construction and renovation of Sufi ziyarats (shrines) and mosques across the Valley.

So when the Army talks of kills, arrests and recoveries, its counter-insurgency operations will now also include a new page in its report card:

• Construction of washing place for mosque in Safapora (north Kashmir): Rs 2 lakh.

• Construction of a public place at Ziyarat Kamil Sahib, Barsu (north Kashmir): Rs 8 lakh.

• Donation of solar lights to eight mosques in Warwan Valley (South Kashmir): Rs 2.40 lakh.

• Donation of solar lights to 12 mosques in Kandi (north Kashmir): Rs 3.60 lakh.

• Renovation of Bona Devsar mosque (South Kashmir): Rs 1.50 lakh.

• Construction of a boundary wall of Ziyarat at Larnoo (South Kashmir): Rs 0.50 lakh.

• Repairing of boundary wall of holy shrine Doot Reshi Baba at Arwah: Rs 2.90 lakh.

• Renovation of Ziyarat at Budgam (two phases): Rs 18 lakh.

• Renovation and construction of boundary wall of Katienwali mosque (north Kashmir): Rs 5 lakh.

• Construction of one bore well for mosque at Magray mullah Dragmulla (north Kashmir): Rs 4.20 lakh.

• Construction of two toilet blocks and eight bathrooms at Magra mosque Kupwara (north Kashmir): Rs 8.10 lakh.

“This effort is part of our Operation Sadbhavana. We wanted to send out a message that army is not just meant for war, it also provides help to people,” said Defence spokesman Lt. Col A K Mathur.

Although the Army stresses that the aim behind this move is only to help people, the material support for Sufi ziyarats has an underlying interest in the Sufi school of thought which the government believes is “more accommodative and apolitical”.

And when Governor Lt. Gen. S K Sinha inaugurated the renovated complex of Ziyarat Ayatullah Aga Syed Mehdi at Budgam, he said that though the Army is a secular institution and has respect for all religions, “We revere the Sufi strain of Islam, especially of the Reshi order in Kashmir”.

The Army put the cost of the entire project at Rs 18 lakh and termed the Ziyarat in Budgam, as a symbol of the “spirit of Kashmiriyat and tolerance of all faiths.”

[picture: Mughal Gardens, Srinagar
http://www.indiatourism.com/srinagar-tourism/index.html]

[One lakh is equal to a hundred thousand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh]

The presence of the Arab Letter

[From the French language press]:

Nous remarquons que dans vos écritures, il y a un dialogue, un brassage de cultures…
En effet, un dialogue entre les civilisations orientales, mésopotamienne, phénicienne et arabo-musulmane…

J’aime que toutes mes écritures seront tirées de l’œuvre de Tawhidi, ce grand penseur arabo-perse.

El Watan, Algérie - mardi 22 mai 2007 - par C. Berriah

We notice that in your calligraphies there is a dialogue, a mixing of cultures…
Indeed, a dialogue between Eastern civilizations, Mesopotamian, Phenician and Muslim-Arabic…
I like that all my calligraphies are drawn from the work of Tawhidi, this great Arabic-Persian thinker.

Algerian artist Yazid Kheloufi (b. 1963), who will soon exhibit in Paris, interviewed by C. Berriah for Algerian Daily El Watan about his materic art and his relationship to calligraphy and sufism.

It is not a secret that your works feel mysticism?!
Certainly not, as you know, my painting is based on the great sufi repertory and the illuminative philosophy which was founded by famous Chihab Eddine Al Suhrawardi.

It is true that you cannot do without calligraphy?
For me, Islamic calligraphy remains an interior topography of oneself. The presence of the Arab letter is very strong in the imaginary of a Muslim, much more than the image.

I give you an example: the image cannot serve the divine message, whereas the letter is abstract and the divine one is abstract. Allah, the name of God in Islam, cannot be represented in image, whereas the letter and the alphabet can serve the divine one…

[picture: voyage d'amour et de mort (journey of love and death), calligraphy on textile, cm 80 x 400 (31" x 157") http://www.artmajeur.com/yazid/]

[About Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. ah 414/ce 1023 visit http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H046]

In the blink of an eye

By Elis Kiss - Kathimerini English Edition - Athens, Greece

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

New production by avant-garde director Robert Wilson set to premiere in Athens next week.

What do you see when you blink? A piece of reality? A fragment of a dream? Avant-garde director and playwright Robert Wilson has come up with a few answers and is about to unveil them to the world next week.

The world premiere of “Rumi: In the Blink of the Eye” is scheduled to take place in Athens as the final part of the Attiki Cultural Society’s spring theater festival at the Pallas theater on May 28, 29, 30 and 31.

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273) the poet considered the greatest of Sufi mystics, became the founding father of the Mevlevi Order, otherwise known as the Whirling Dervishes.

Discovered by Western travelers in the 19th century, the Whirling Dervishes have long fascinated international audiences. In this new work featuring Turkish and Farsi texts, Eastern traditions are combined with contemporary Western creation. With UNESCO billing 2007 as International Rumi Year, the production is the first installment of a three-year “Rumi Project,” celebrating 800 years since the poet’s birth.

Featuring vocalists, musicians and dancers, “Rumi: In the Blink of the Eye,” is part of Wilson’s universe of images, movement and sound – or no sound at all.

“Stillness and what we hear in silence,” said Wilson as he described parts of the production, at a recent meeting with the press in Athens. “Being silent we become aware of sound.”
On stage, Wilson shows a penchant for slow movement and austerity. What the French define as “silent operas,” he calls working on “structured silences.”

The new show focuses on “interior visual screens” versus “exterior visual screens.” According to the director, we often forget about how we perceive things and focus on the information we receive from the outside world.

This is one of the reasons why Wilson takes a twofold approach to his work. First he directs the work silently, without text and music. Then he goes through it adding the audio score. In the end, the two versions come together, not necessarily reflecting each other.

“It’s similar to listening to drama on radio, you’re free to imagine the visual side,” said Wilson in explaining the process. “Or when watching a silent movie, you can hear the sound.”

Time also remains a fundamental aspect of Wilson’s explorations on stage. For one, he has used time as a defining and often defying element: He has gone from plays lasting seven days to creating works of 30 seconds. In between, there have been works presented during 24 hours or even 12 – next week’s premiere lies in the 70-minute range.

Directed and designed by Wilson, “Rumi: In the Blink of the Eye” is based on an original score by Turkish composer Kudsi Erguner.

For Wilson, it is also a journey back in time, to when he was preparing “Ka Mountain and Guardenia Terrace” in 1972. The play, which was staged for seven consecutive days on seven different hills in Iran, was followed by six-hour daily stagings in New York. Rumi’s poetry re-entered the director’s life in 1998, for his work in “Monsters of Grace,” in tandem with Philip Glass. This time round, Wilson stayed with Erguner in Istanbul, attending Sufi ceremonies and talking to local teachers and artists.

Brushing aside the intellectual aspect of his work, Wilson aims to keep his productions accessible to all: children, educated or uneducated audiences. The mystery, he says, is in the surface.
“The most important thing is to experience,” he said. “If you know what it is that you’re doing, don’t do it.”

Pallas Theater, 3 Voukourestiou, tel 210.321.3100 (credit card reservations 211.1086050). Also visit www.ticketshop.gr and Fnac at The Mall. Shows: May 28, 29, 30, 31.

[picture: Young actor Kayra Ermenkul is surrounded by dancers during rehearsals for ‘Rumi: In the Blink of the Eye’]

Iran arrests prominent Sufi leader

AFP/Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Tehran: Iran has arrested the leader of one of its largest Sufi sects as well as other members of his order in the northeast of the country, the reformist Etemad daily reported on Tuesday.

Noor Ali Tabandeh, also known as Majzub Ali Shah, is the leader of the Nematollahi order which is based in the northeastern province of Khorasan but has followers all over Iran.

“On Monday morning, Dr. Noor Ali Tabandeh, the head of Gonabadi Dervishes and a group of other dervishes were arrested in Aliabad village near Bidokht, Gonabad,” the report said. It added that another member of the sect - known as Nematollahis or Gonabadi Dervishes - was arrested in the clerical capital of Qom for refusing to pay a fine for February 2006 riots in the city.

Sufi worship is not illegal in Iran but the practice is frowned upon by many conservative clerics who regard it as an affront to Islam.

Several dozen Sufi mystics were sentenced to lashes and a year in jail for public disorder in connection with the riots in Qom, pitting the Sufis against security forces and hardline supporters of the official brand of Shiite Islam.

Nasreddin Hodja goes to Rotterdam

ANA / Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey
Monday, May 21, 2007

The world-famous Turkish satirical folktale character Nasreddin Hodja will this year take to the streets of the Netherlands, where he will add yogurt culture to the Meuse River, in an annual reconstruction of one of the most famous Nasreddin Hodja tales.

The event, organized for the second year in the Netherlands by Konya's Akşehir Municipality in collaboration with the Netherlands Mosaic Culture and Art Foundation, will take place May 25-27, reported the Anatolia news agency.

The event, held annually in Konya's Akşehir, where Nasreddin Hodja is believed to have lived, is a call for universal tolerance as the symbolic Hodja adds the culture of tolerance to Akşehir Lake.

Last year's event in the Netherlands drew huge interest from both Dutch and Turkish population in the Netherlands, said Akşehir Mayor Mustafa Baloğlu, adding that they handed out 5,000 books of Nasreddin Hodja tales to the public.

This year's event is scheduled to take place in Rotterdam, where the symbolic "Nasreddin Hodja will be welcomed [by the organization committee] on Schiedamseweg Street. From there we will walk to the banks of the Meuse River, where Hodja will pour the culture of love and tolerance into the river's waters. We will also be handing out 5,000 books of Nasreddin Hodja tales to spectators. The books are in four languages: Turkish, English, Arabic and Dutch," he said.

"We want Nasreddin Hodja to become known by all children," he added. The event will also feature Sufi music performances.

Nasreddin Hodja is a satirical Sufi figure who is believed to have lived during the Middle Ages -- around the 13th century -- in central Anatolia. His legendary sense of humor and stories are thought to be based on the words of a well-known imam.

Numerous historical sources claim Nasreddin was born in 1208 near Sivrihisar. In 1237 he moved to Akşehir, where he died around 1284. His tomb is also in Akşehir.

As many as 350 anecdotes have been attributed to the Hodja, as he is most often called.

Today his stories are told in a wide variety of regions and have been translated into numerous languages. In many regions Nasreddin is a major part of the culture and is quoted frequently in daily life.

[picture: Nasreddin and his friendly donkey
Abdulwahid van Bommel (text), Ybed (art)
Moela Nasreddin
Stitching Uitgeverij Oase / Den Haag
ISBN 90-74792-01-4]

Hard work and training is a must

Express India - Ludhiana, India
Monday, May 21, 2007

City sways to Sufi music: Singers from Pakistan delight Ludhianvis

Ludhiana: The hovering communal tension in the air took a backseat last night as Ustaad Badar-uz-Zaman and Ustaad Qamar-uz-Zaman began the process of healing souls through Sufi music. Hailing from Pakistan, these two singers took the audience through a journey of Sufi kalams interspersed with commentary, to help the people understand this genre.

The Sufi evening, titled Sada-e sufi was a presentation of Sufi Foundation, headed by former DGP Punjab Dr A A Siddqui.

The Lahore-based brothers began unraveling their magic with a Punjabi rendition of Kasur Gharana bandish. The brother duo had the audience mesmerized with their next kalam, Sadi gal sundaja ve sohneiya. Post this, Baba Bulleh Shah ruled the night with the audience sending in their list of demands.

The trained and experienced singers, after pointing that “Sufism is not just belting out kalams It is a direct connection with the Almighty” had a piece of advice for the aspirants in their field.

“Hard work and training is a must. The knowledge of sur, taal, laay, lyrics is all very important, and above all, learn to identify your area of expertise. One person cannot do it all - pen lyrics, compose music and sing too.”

In the land of melody I have lived and loved

ST/MR -Press TV - Tehran, Iran

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Tajik university has held a conference on Rumi and Goethe to compare views of the two poets on the interaction between the East and the West.

Titled "Dialogue among Cultures", the international event was held at Khujand State University, south of Tajikistan on Wednesday and Thursday.

A number of scholars and intellectuals from Iran, Germany, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Tajikistan attended the ceremony which was held to mark the 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth.

The Secretariat of the conference said a total of 110 articles, reports and research papers on the linguistic, literary and societal dimensions of Rumi and Goethe were submitted to the event. The participating countries also decided to host similar events as part of an initiative to boost cultural ties.

Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi, known in the West as Rumi, was born in 1207. His major works are "Mathnavi" and "Divan-e Shams". UNESCO has named 2007 as the year of Rumi. Numerous conferences and literary forums have been held all over the world to celebrate the poet known as "the poet of nations".

Persian literature has influenced many writers and cultures outside its boundaries. One of the best examples is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German poet, dramatist, novelist, theorist, humanist, scientist and painter whose most enduring work is "West-Ostlicher Divan" (The West-Eastern Divan).

The West-Eastern Divan, and Goethe's collection of poetry in general, gradually came to function as a leading model for religious and literary syntheses between the west and the east.

Goethe has put enchanting and voluptuous customs into poetry, and his verses are so perfect, so harmonious, so tasteful, so soft, that it seems really surprising that he should ever have been able to have brought the German language to this state of suppleness.

Spirit let us bridegroom call,
and the word the bride;
known this wedding is to all
who have Hafis tried.

Hafis, straight to equal thee,
one would strive in vain;
though a ship with majesty
cleaves the foaming main,

feels its sails swell haughtily
as it onward hies
crush'd by ocean's stern decree,
wrecked it straightway lies.

Tow'rd thee, songs, light, graceful, free,
mount with cooling gush;
then their glow consumeth me,
as like fire they rush.

Yet a thought with ecstasy
hath my courage moved;
in the land of melody
I have lived and loved.

Prominent Iranian Sufi leader arrested

By Golnaz Esfandjari - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty - Prague,Czech Republic

Monday, May 21, 2007

Prominent Iranian Sufi leader Nurali Tabandeh (aka Majzub Ali Shah) was detained today by security forces on the outskirts of the northeastern city of Gonabad.

Tabandeh loyalists claimed that several of his supporters were beaten and detained along with him.

The reason for the arrest of Tabandeh, the leader of the Nematollah Gonabadi order, is unclear.

In October, 300 security forces surrounded Tabandeh's Gonabad residence after he refused to leave his city of birth. Gonabad is the birthplace of the leaders of the Nematollahi Gonabadi dervish order, many of whom lived and were buried there.

Tabandeh's arrest has upset many supporters, who have said they will peacefully protest his arrest and call for his release.

One of Tabandeh's loyalists in Tehran who asked not to be identified told RFE/RL that this arrest followed calls by authorities for him to leave Gonabad.
"Some time ago, intelligence officials in Mashhad said [Tabandeh] should leave [the city], but he said, 'I will remain in Bidokht' -- because there was no legal reason for him to leave the city and go to Tehran and because they had asked to do that forcefully and illegally," the supporter said.
"It's been 15 days now [since the warning] that he had stayed in Bidokht. But they acted like thieves -- they arrested him on the road [to Aliabad] -- they didn't come to Bidokht."

The same source said some supporters have considered far more serious acts to draw attention to what they regard as official persecution.

"By tomorrow, all the [dervishes] will depart for Bidokht -- they're going from different provinces to Bidokht," the source said. "Two of the dervishes had wanted to immolate themselves in front of the governor's office because none of the officials have provided a response. But other dervishes prevented that from happening because it could have a negative impact. But they cannot end this story like this. What the government has done is illegal."

Increasing pressure on religious minorites high-profile cases like Tabandeh's suggest that pressure on minority religious groups, like Sufis and dervishes, has increased in Iran.

Last year, a Sufi house of worship was destroyed in Qom, and hundreds of Sufis were detained.

The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom said in a May 2 statement that an already "poor" government record on religious freedom had deteriorated in the past year -- particularly for religious groups like Sufi Muslims and Evangelical Christians.

Critics are likely to claim that Iranian authorities' latest move against the leader of the Nematollahi order is another sign of intolerance toward those who do not practice Islam as it is promoted by the political and religious establishment.
Several conservative clerics have in recent months described Sufism as a danger to Islam.

Tabandeh's Nematollahi Gonabadi order is reportedly among the largest Sufi groups in Iran.

The Clever Wife (a folktale from Pakistan)

By Amy Friedman - UPS/Biloxi Sun Herald - Biloxi, MS, U.S.A.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Once upon a time a poor woodsman and his wife had three sons, and though they struggled, they had one great gift. The woodsman's wife was the cleverest woman in the land. People said she could solve any problem.

The king had heard of this woman and wanted to know more about her, so he called all his wise men to court. "If there is a woman who is this wise, I want to reward her," said the king. "But if this is untrue, we must punish her and her family. We cannot have these rumors flying."

The wise men came up with a plan. They sent a poor fakir, a Sufi mystic, into the forest near the woodsman's home and announced to all that the fakir in the forest would read anyone's future.

The woodsman at once sent his eldest son. "Go find out your future," he said. "Find out if you shall always be poor."

The oldest son walked into the woods until he reached the fakir. "I wish to know my future," he said. "I can tell you," the fakir answered, "but first you must explain something I will show you," and he magically caused a scene to appear. A vast field filled with stalks of grain was surrounded by a fence made of sticks. As the boy watched, the sticks turned into reaping tools and cut down every stalk. Soon there was only a barren field, and then it vanished.

"What does this mean?" the fakir asked the first son.
"It means nothing," said the young man. "It is only magic."

"Now I can tell your future," the fakir said. "You are destined to be stone," and he turned the young man into stone.

When his first son did not return home, the woodsman sent his second son into the forest. "Find your brother and learn your future if you can."
Before long the second son came upon the fakir. "Can you tell me where my brother has gone?" he asked.
The fakir said nothing.
"Well," said the second son, "can you tell me my future?"
"That I can," said the fakir, "but first you must explain something," and this time he conjured up a scene of a calf and her mother, a healthy cow. But the calf was not drinking from her mother. Rather, the cow was drinking milk from her calf. Then the scene magically vanished.

"Explain this scene," the fakir said.
"It's meaningless," said the second son.
"I know your future," said the fakir, and he turned the second son to stone.

At last the woodsman sent his youngest son into the woods. When he reached the praying man, the boy asked for his brothers, but the fakir did not say a word. The boy looked at the two stones, and after a moment of silence he asked, "I wonder, can you tell me my future?

"That I can," said the fakir, "but first explain what you are about to see," and he magically revealed an old man carrying a huge load of wood. Still the old man walked along, bending to pick up every stick he saw. Then, just as quickly this scene vanished, and the fakir said, "Tell me, what does this mean?"
"Nothing," said the third son, and he too was turned to stone.

Worried for his sons' well-being, the woodsman at last ventured into the woods, and when he reached the fakir he said, '"I am looking for my sons. We all wish to know our future."

"I can tell you," said the fakir, "but first tell me what this means," and he revealed a scene of a large, overflowing pond spilling water into smaller ponds surrounding it. Soon the largest pond was dry, and the scene disappeared.

"What does this mean?" asked the fakir.
"Who knows?" said the woodsman, and naturally the fakir turned him to stone.

Now the woodsman's wife walked into the woods to find her family, and before long she came upon the fakir. "Have you seen my husband and my sons?" she asked. "I am searching for them. They came here to ask you their future."

"I silenced them," said the fakir. "Rumors of your cleverness have caused too much talk among people. If you are as clever as you claim, you would find them."

"I see them," said the woman, and she pointed to the stones. "You have turned them to stone. Why would you mistreat those who have made no trouble?"
"They could not answer my riddles," said the fakir, "but if you can, I shall return them to you."

"I shall try," said the woodsman's wife, and the fakir called up the scene of the stalks of grain and fence of sticks. Again those sticks turned into reaping tools and cut down the grain. The woodsman's wife smiled. "This is about a person asked to look after money. The rightful owner comes to ask for its return, but the caretaker has used it up and has nothing remaining."

She finished speaking, and her eldest son reappeared.

Then the fakir conjured up the cow and calf, and the woodsman's wife smiled again. "This reminds me of a lazy woman who lives off her child," she said, "like a neighbor of ours."
And the second boy reappeared.

The fakir revealed the old man carrying a load of wood; as he gathered sticks, the woodsman's wife bent her head and said softly, "Ah, the image of someone never satisfied with what he has," and so the third child reappeared.

"One last riddle," said the fakir, and he called up the pond emptying its water into the smaller ponds around it until it was completely dry.

The woman sighed. "Sadly, this is the way of the world. Often one person gives all that she has and receives nothing in return until she is empty and has nothing more to offer."

And the woman's husband reappeared.

Now the fakir said: '"I can foretell something more of the future. If you had failed to answer my riddles, five stones would be standing here, five stones upon which future woodsmen would sharpen their axes. But the king will be pleased to know that such a clever woman lives in our land, and so he shall reward you."

When the king learned that the woodsman's wife was clever indeed, he sent her a big bag of gold. The family lived happily ever after, grateful to their king for his reward, but most grateful all to the cleverest woman in the land.

[picture: Arthur's Stone, Cfn Bryn, County of Swansea, U.K.
http://tinyurl.com/3abua2 ]

In the Spirit of Truth

By M. Ashraf - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, India

3 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1428 AH / Sunday, May 20, 2007

Islam was introduced in the Valley of Kashmir not by conquest but by gradual conversion effected by Muslim Missionaries.

Islam is essentially a missionary religion and the Muslim Missionary, be he a Pir (a spiritual guide) or a preacher, carries with him the Message of Islam to the people of the Land he enters.

A Missionary has the spirit of truth in his heart which cannot rest till it manifests itself in thought, word, and deed.

The Muslim Missionary who had entered the Valley in the spirit of truth influenced its people by his example, his personal methods of preaching, and his persuasion. The first missionary to visit Kashmir in the time of Raja Suhadeva was Bilal Shah or Bulbul Shah; a well travelled Musavi Sayyid from Turkistan.

G.M.D Sufi in his history of Kashmir, “Kashir”, mentions that the original name of Bulbul Shah was Sharaf-ud-Din Syed Abdur Rahman Turkistani and he was a spiritual disciple of Shah NimatullahWali Farsi, a Khalifa of the Suhrawardi School of Sufis founded by Shaikh-ush-Shuyukh Shaikh Shihab-ud-Din Suhrawardi.

The simplicity of faith of Bulbul Shah impressed Rinchan, (the ruler of Kashmir who was originally a Ladakhi); so much that he converted to Islam and became the first Muslim Ruler of Kashmir as Sultan Sadar-ud-Din. After the conversion of Rinchan, his brother-in-law who was the Commander-in-Chief converted, and according to one tradition, ten thousand Kashmiris adopted Islam.

For new converts a place of gathering was set up on the banks of River Jehlum called Bulbul Lankar ( a distortion of word Langar) and a mosque was constructed which is probably in ruins now.

The arrival of a host of other Sayyids gave a big boost to conversion of people of Kashmir to Islam. The prominent among these were Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din of Bukhara, Sayyid Taj-ud-Din (cousin of Shah-i-Hamadan), and Sayyid Hussain Simanani. Sufi’s “Kashir” gives a very detailed account of the spread of Islam in Kashmir as well as mentions about the arrival of various Muslim Missionaries. However, according to Sufi, the greatest missionary whose personality wielded the most extraordinary influence in the spread of Islam in Kashmir was Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani also known as Amir-I-Kabir or Ali-I-Sani and popularly called Shah-i-Hamadan.

He belonged to the Kubrawi order of Sufis founded by Shaikh Najm-ud-Din Kubra of Khwarizm who died in 618 A.H (1221 A.D.). The Kubrawis are a branch of the Suhrawardi Sufis. The great Sayyid Ali Hamadani was born on 12th Rajab 714 (1314 A.D.) in Hamadan, Iran. He was son of Sayyid Shihab-ud-Din bin Mir Sayyid Muhammad Hussaini and his mother’s name was Fatima. His genealogy can be traced to Hazrat Ali through Imam Hussain, he being sixteenth in direct descent from Ali Bin Abi Talib.

Sayyid Ali Hamadani became Hafiz-I-Qur’an in his very early boyhood and studied Islamic Theology. His maternal uncle Sayyid Alala-ud-Din Simnani taught him Tasawwuf or Sufi mysticism. He became a disciple of Shaikh Abul Barakat Taqi-ud-Din Ali Dusti and after his death of Shaikh Sharaf-ud-Din Mahmud Muzdaqani who desired him to complete his education by extensive travel in the world.

In pursuance to the desire of Sayyid Muzdaqani, he journeyed for 21 years and visited several countries. According to Amin Ahmad Razi, Shah-i-Hamadan travelled three times all over the world and met 1,400 saints with whose association he gained extensive knowledge. After completing these travels he returned to Hamadan but the rise of Timur made him to leave for the valley of Kashmir with 700 Sayyids in the reign of Sultan Shihab-ud-Din 774 A.H. (1374 A.D.).

The Sultan had gone on an expedition against the ruler of Ohind (near Attock) and his brother Sultan Qutub-ud-Din was acting for him. Shah-i-Hamadan stayed for four months and then went to the scene of the battle and persuaded the belligerents to come to peace. Shah-i-Hamadan then left for Makkah and came back to the valley in 781 A.H. (1379 A.D.) and stayed for two and a half years. He then went to Turkistan via Ladakh in 783 A.H. (Near Leh in Shey there is a mosque attributed to him where he had prayed.)

The third visit of Shah-i-Hamadan took place in 785 A.H. (1383 A.D.) but he had to leave Kashmir on account of ill health and stayed with the ruler of Pakhli, Sultan Muhammad at his personal request for ten days. He then retired to the vicinity of Kunar where after a short stay he had a relapse on 1st Zilhijja 786 (1384 A.D.) and ate nothing for five days. On Tuesday, the 5th of Zilhijja, he drank water several times, and on the night of the same day he breathed his last at the age of 72.

On his death-bed Bismilla-hir-Rahim Nir Raheem was on his lips, and this, strangely enough, gives the date of his demise. The Sultan of Pakhli wished to bury the Sufi Saint there but his disciples wanted to carry him to Khatlan for burial. To decide the issue they invited the Sultan to move the bier with the corpse over it. However, he could not even stir it from its place. But a single disciple of his was able to lift it and bear it away on his head.

A shrine was erected at the honoured place of his death which now falls in Tehsil Mansera of District Hazara of North West Frontier Province.

(The actual burial place of Shah-i-Hamadan is a popular Shrine in the Khatlan province of Tajikistan. Last year a colleague had gone there from Kashmir. At the moment there is no direct flight from India to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. One has to fly to Sharjah and then take a flight to Dushanbe. The other alternative is to fly to Tashkent in Uzbekistan and then go by road. From Dushanbe it is a three hour drive to the town of Koolab where the Shrine is located. It is quite well maintained and well kept. Once Srinagar Airport starts functioning as an International Airport, it will be possible to visit the Shrine of Shah-i-Hamadan in a matter of few hours.)

The presence of Shah-i-Hamadan was a major factor in the spread of Islam in the valley of Kashmir. His co-workers included Mir Sayyid Haidar, Sayyid Jamal-ud-Din, Sayyid Kamal-i-Sani, Sayyid Jamal-ud-Din Alai, Sayyid Rukn-ud-Din, Sayyid Muhammad and Sayyid Azizullah. These Sayyids established Shrines with lodging and langar at many places in the valleywhich served as centres for propogation of Islam.

The local Hindu ascetics are said to have challenged Shah-i-Hamadan for trying their supernatural powers and after being humbled by him accepted Islam.

The present Ziyarat of Shah-i-Hamadan also known as Khanka Maula is the Chillah-Khana built by Sultan Qutub-ud-Din for the Sayyid at the place where the contest of supernatural powers was held and is not his tomb, which is in Khatlan, Tajikistan.

Sultan had great admiration for the Sayyid and at his instance divorced one of his two wives who were sisters as marriage to two sisters is against Shariat. He adopted Islamic dress and always wore a cap given by the Sayyid, under his crown. The cap was passed on to succeeding Sultans and was buried with the body of Sultan Fateh Shah as per his request. Some one had prophesied that the burial of the cap would end the dynasty and curiously the dynasty came to an end with the rise of Chaks.

Shah-i-Hamadan was the author of several books and also a poet. Two of his works are very well known, Zakhiratul Muluk and Muwwadatul Quraba. Zakhiratul Muluk is based on his political ideas. It is in itself significant that a Sufi should write a book on the nature of the Islamic State, the duties of rulers and the rights and obligations of the people.

There are a number of other books written by him on different religious and spiritual aspects. Awraad -ul-Fathiyah gives a conception of the unity of God and His attributes.

Shah Hamadan's ghazals or odes are naturally Sufistic. The Chahlul Asraar, is a small collection of religious and mystical poems. Shah-i-Hamadan laid emphasis on justice and fought against the rigidities of the caste system and prepared the people to work.

The preaching Institutions (Khankas and Mosque) associated with him are situated in different countries i.e. Yarkand (China), Kunar (Afganistan), Bukhara, Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Island of Philippines, Sarai Kaubchou (Russia), Iskardu (Baltistan), Ladakh (Jamia Masjid), Khanka Maula (Srinagar, Kashmir).

He also introduced the different handicrafts besides teaching of Islam. As a result the handicraft industry received a fillip in Kashmir. He laid greater emphasis on earning legal livelihood and so rejected all other means for the support of the Sufis. He earned his livelihood by cap making.

This impact of Shah-i-Hamadan continues to be felt after six hundred years of his death. In fact, the modern Kashmir has the spiritual inputs of Shah-i-Hamadan but unfortunately we have drifted away from the spirit of truth in thought, word, and deed, which was his basic philosophy.

The so called “Kashmiriyat” does not represent the true and the realistic Kashmir but the spirit of Shah-i-Hamadan does! Kashmir is at present in the utmost need of the revival of the spirit and teachings of this greatest missionary and saint who can be truly termed to be the “Apostle of Kashmir”!

[picture: Khanqah Shah Hamadan, Srinigar

http://tinyurl.com/27mmpe
www.jktourism.org]

Peermade, Kerala: a quiet and blissful Sufi resort

By Susheela Nair - Deccan Herald - Bangalore, India

Saturday, May 19, 2007

The air is chilly and mist falls over the plantation town of Peermade in the evenings.

At times nothing can be seen around, except the whiteness of mist and the next moment the mist would vanish unveiling the richness of the land.

Once, the erstwhile summer retreat of Travancore Maharajas and the British planters, its present claim to fame are the tea plantations, the British bungalows and the mausoleum of a Sufi saint.

It is off point the usually trodden tourist track and in the shadow of Munnar. Most tourists pass this town by. This, in some ways, is Peermade’s USP. We dropped anchor here for a truly blissful quiet weekend to explore the rest of the district’s highlights like Thekkady, Vagamon and Idukki.

Peermade engages the senses not just on the strength of its natural beauty but also because of the charming tales spun around its most favoured points.

A short trek up the Peeru Hills took us to the mausoleum dedicated to Peer Mohamed, a Sufi saint who is believed to be the first trader of spices in the region.

Overgrown with weeds and creepers and surrounded by deep, endless gorges and waterfalls, it stands sans any epitaph. This quaint little hill station is also known as Peermedu (‘Peeru medu’ in local parlance means Peer’s valley) after him. When the British made it their summer station in the 1800s, the name was later anglicised to Peermade to suit their tongue.


[picture: Peermade, Kerala: www.hillresortsinindia.com/peermade.html]

No dress code yet

Daily News and Analysis - Mumbai, India
Saturday, May 19, 2007

Jaipur: No dress code yet in Ajmer sufi shrine, but in the backdrop of a controversy over a dress code for pilgrims visiting the Sufi shrine in Ajmer (following the Katrina Kaif episode), the Nazim of the shrine's Dargah committee on Saturday said he has only given some suggestions for maintaining decorum at the world famous pilgrim centre.

The Nazim Khawaji Moinuddhin Chishti Ahammed Raza on Saturday clarified no final decision has been taken on a dress code for the 'ziareens'( devotees) but only gave some proposals to the Anjuman committee of the shrine.

"I have just sent some proposals to the Anjuman committee where I had just sought their consent over maintaining certain dress code in the shrine for the male and female devotees. But the dargah khadims(servers) and their Anjuman committee has blown the issue out of the proportions without reasons," he said.

"No final decision has been taken yet," he added.

The Nazim was responding to media reports that he has started the process of putting a dress code notices on board. "There is a need to maintain decorum in the shrine after the controversies where foreigners, tourists and even a film actress Katrina Kaif came here in absurd dresses," he said.

"I mean I have just asked for rumaal or dupatta to be used by women devotees to cover their heads, and for males a shirt up to elbow and pants or trousers up to the knees. I don't find anything wrong in it," Raza said.

The khadims and some devotees have reportedly voiced resentment over the move for a dress code in the shrine saying measures are already in place and that the dargah committee does not have to come up with a dress code.

Wishes and Dreams

By Carolee Walker - US Info - Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Contemporary Iranian Art mixes Persian symbols with a modern approach: "Wishes and Dreams" exhibit scheduled to tour nine U.S. cities

Washington – Young Iranian artists incorporate traditional Persian symbols in many of the abstract, minimalist or even digital and video works of art currently on exhibit at the Meridian International Center in Washington.

The symbols help Iranian viewers connect to the artwork in “Wishes and Dreams: Iran’s New Generation Emerges” and to their heritage. But even for American viewers, the symbols add depth, contrast and interest. The collection of modern works – approachable and aesthetically pleasing – introduces Americans to contemporary Iran.

Exhibit co-curator Nancy Matthews of the Meridian Center said she and co-curator A. R. Sami Azar, former director of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, set out to gather a sampling of the artwork being done by emerging artists in Iran's capital, Tehran.

The exhibition, co-sponsored by the Meridian Center and the Tehran University Art Gallery, runs in Washington until July 29 and then will travel to eight other American cities through 2008. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the artwork of the Iranian artists for creating a bridge between Iranian and American culture.

Among sweeping white brushstrokes on Rhythm 1, a black-painted diptych, are calligraphic forms. Artist Golnaz Fathi told USINFO that she enjoys the “tension” created by the calligraphy – a traditional Iranian art form – that “dances along the canvas without speaking.” Fathi uses music to inspire her; then she paints calligraphic shapes without concern for any particular letters or words.

(...)

Two Parrots Picking on a Bowl of Cherries by Rokneddin Haerizadeh “is full of Persian symbols,” co-curator Matthews said. From the wall fabric to the parrots to the cherries, the artist uses an impressionist technique to tell a story. “Persian painting has always been narrative,” Haerizadeh writes in the exhibition notes, “and I am searching for a modern narrative.” Iranians will understand the meaning of the symbols, Matthews said, and Americans will enjoy the painting because of its intimate perspective and use of everyday objects.

Bird in Flight is inspired by Forough Farokhzad’s poem “The Bird Was Only a Bird,” but the expressionist painting is about “feeling,” artist Nargess Hashemi told USINFO. Hashemi said she does not use traditional symbols in her canvas, which requires viewers’ “emotions, not brains” to connect with the work.

Matthews said many of the artists have been inspired by the 13th-century Iranian poet Jelaluddin Rumi, including Dream of a Woman by Afshin Pirhashemi. “I love Rumi’s poetry and make extensive use of its enigmatic meanings in my work,” Pirhashemi said.

(...)

[picture: Golnaz Fathi, Rhythm 1 (detail), acrylic on canvas, 2006. (Image courtesy of Golnaz Fathi)]

Sema performance at the Vatican

ANA - Turkish Daily News - Ankara, Turkey

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Mevlevi Sema dance, the spiritual whirling dance of the Sufis, will be performed at the Vatican on June 5 as part of the “Dialogue Between the Religions.”

Organized by the Pontifical Culture Council and Turkish Embassy in Vatican, the event will be attended by pope Benedict XVI, cardinals as well as top officials from Vatican and Italy.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Ömer Faruk Belviranlı, Konya Turkish Sufism Music Ensemble Director, said the promotional activities were scheduled abroad by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Foreign Ministry to mark 2007 Mevlana Year, declared by UNESCO.

“Sema dance performances have so far been performed in Pakistan, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of activities for Mevlana Year. On June 5, we will this time perform in the Vatican as part of ‘Dialogue Between the Religions'.

In this event we will gift an Italian language ‘Mesnevi,' a masterpiece by 13th century Turkish philosopher and poet Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, to pope Benedict XVI,” he said adding, “I believe that the event will be a significant and concrete one in the world especially at a time in which dialogue between religions is in focus.”

Sema performance at historic palace:
Deniz Kılıçer from the Turkish Embassy in the Vatican said the Konya Turkish Sufism Music Ensemble would perform a Sufi concert followed by a Sema dance performance in the historical Renaissance period Palazzo della Cancelleria or Chancellery Palace.

He added, “a Sema performance will be held for the first time in the Vatican. The program will be under the auspices of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry as well as the Foreign Ministry celebrating Mevlana Year in 2007, which also marks the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, spiritual leader of the Islamic Sufi order.

The whirling dervishes will perform Sema at the 300-person capacity ceremony hall of the historic Chancellery Palace, the largest and most majestic historical palace of the Vatican. The program is expected to be attended by pope Benedict XVI, cardinals as well as top level bureaucrats from Vatican, Italy and Turkey.”

Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek said that in addition to the international activities by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the municipality had also held several promotional activities abroad.

“In all these activities, we gifted Italian, German, French, English and Urdu versions of Mesnevi to foreign top level officials. This time, an Italian language Mesnevi will be given to the pope as a gift. I believe that he will be impressed with the masterpiece, which addresses all humanity,” he noted.

[picture: Rome, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Inner Courtyard by architect Donato Bramante d. 1514]

The Ambient Beauty

By A. Romero - World Music Central - New Delhi, India

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Lisa Gerrard was the breathtaking female voice behind Dead Can Dance. She is back after a few years of recording silence with an ambient CD titled The Silver Tree.

Gerrard sings and plays most of the instruments on the CD. Her solo style and very ethereal, combining minimal percussion at times, exquisite layers of gliding keyboards and her majestic vocals treated with reverb effects.

Her singing style is influenced by Turkish Sufism, Gregorian chant and Persian mysticism.

The use of electronic drones and orchestrations is superb. One can only wonder what Lisa Gerrard would sound like if she collaborated with ambient music master Steve Roach.

The last piece on the CD is very percussive, suggesting echoes of Dead Can Dance.

http://tinyurl.com/273hp6

Building places for prayers

[From the Italian language press]:

Molti viaggiatori che in passato hanno parlato dell'Albania si sono concentrati sulle confraternite Sufi, soprattutto sui Bektashi, che in Albania rappresentano circa il 15% della popolazione, musulmana al 70%.

Osservatorio Balcani, Rovereto, Italy - mercoledì 16 maggio - di Francesca Niccolai

Many travellers who in the past have reported about Albania focused on the Sufi Brotherhoods, especially on the Bektashis, who in Albania represent approximately 15% of the population, which is made up of 70 % Muslims.

Therefore the myth of a Shi'ite presence in the country has been created, although the identification between Bektashis and Shi'is is improper.

These travellers of the past felt a great predilection towards the Bektashis, a predilection shared by various contemporary scholars, which was and is due to their syncretistic attitude, to the western foundation of their guidelines and lifestyle and to the consequent separation from the tradition and "uneasy" aspects of Islam.

Seen with a Western eye, we could say that the Bektashis are the “presentable relatives”, while the Sunni muslim seem to be the “rustic relation”, those that you prefer not to invite to your wedding.

The fact remains that the architectonic symbol of Albanian Islam is the mosque of Ethem Bey, started in 1792 by the famous Bektashi poet Ethem Bey and completed by his son in 1821: it is the proof that, beyond syncretism and western lifestyle, the Bektashi Brotherhood was also interested in building places for prayers.

From an interview (about Youths and Islam in Albania) to Ervin Hatibi, Albanian poet, painter and journalist, former editor-in-chief of "Drita Islame" (“The Light of Islam”)

[picture: Tirana, Ethem Bey mosque]

Politicians need Shaykhs

By Souad Ziane - EChorouk Al Yaoumi - Algiers, Algeria

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Zaouias (Sufi spiritual schools) are guiding people in their daily life.

People seek advice and guidance from the Shaykhs of these schools before they get married, when they want to embark on any change in their lives.

When people face a disease which doctors cannot cure, the Zaouias are solicited.

One of the Shaykhs we met in this region of Tlemcen, namely Shaykh Sari who told us a fantastic story about one of the most famous folk music singers in the region, El Ghafour, who was very ill in the 1990s but he met Shaykh Sidi Benaouda Ibn Nemamcha who advised him of isolating himself from the others and do the Secret Dhikr (Supplication to God.)

The Singer did and he recovered from his disease. “Go and meet the singer, he is Tlemcen’s Nightingale, as Bouteflika said, told Sheikh Sari, who was a witness when President Bouteflika met the Shaykh and Commander of the Hibri Sufi Path, Sidi Belkaid.

The Hibri Sufi path is one of the most famous paths in western Algeria. There are other “sub-paths” like the Mencahoui and the Ben Yeles paths.

Locals say the Hibri is the mother of all the Sufi paths in the region.

The traditional hidden Zaouias have changed as the network is now represented by an association called “The Algerian Association of Zaouias” and Shaykh Sari who has been accompanying us all along the trip is the Secretary General of the regional sub-office.

He said “our task is hard as we are a intermediary between the administration and the citizens,” “We receive so many complaints that we created reception days for citizens who wants a referee in issues related to housing, labour etc..” said Shaykh Sari.

“The local authorities received ten requests from citizens to open 10 Zaouias” said Mr. Sari who added “The role of the zaouia is important that opening one institution of this kind means the closure of a prison” Shaykh Sari continued speaking about the very “tolerant Islam preached in zawias,” “It is far from the Salafi Djihadi way”.

The salafi way to teach Islam has been very popular during a period of time, when the salafi preachers accused us of being the state’s religious representatives in the area.

“We have been through hard times and we could not speak”. Now the mureeds (followers) are so numerous that Shaykh Sari said the Sufi paths would be a tool in the “fight against the Salafi Djihadist” said Shaykh Sari.

Speaking about the national figures on the zaouias, Shaykh Sari said “There are at least 9,000 zawias” and more than “4 million mureeds - or followers”. Other Zaouias don’t request an official activity agreement form the Religious Affairs Ministry, and you can count them among us path-wise” said Mr. Sari.

About politics and the legislative elections, Shaykh Sari told us the Zaouias decided to back the National Liberation Front (FLN) because in this “We are supporting a humble man,” “And humbleness is part of the Sufi traditions, because the Sufi thinks power is only in God.”

Backing the FLN is backing President Bouteflika for the Zaouias.

“Backing President Bouteflika is backing the son of a former Moqadem or leader of the Hibri path.” “I remember when President Bouteflika was young, Shaykh Al Hibri put him on a special stone and told his father the young boy will be an important man in the future” said Shaykh Sari.

The Zaouias have become powerful in political decisions since President Bouteflika has been touring the country and visiting every Zaouia in any area he visited.

The spiritual role of this religious institution is so strong among citizens and mureeds that every politician who wants to go on a successful election race needs to have the benediction of the Shaykhs.

During our tour of the region, we covered the Labour Minister Tayeb Louh’ campaign in the Tlemcen area. The men payed a visit to the Al Achaachi Zaouia, one of the sub-paths in the Hibri Sufi tradition.

[picture: Shaykh Sidi Belkaid (on seat), Commander of the Hidri Sufi Path ]

[More than 18 million Algerian citizens are expected to go to the polls on Thursday May 17 to participate in the legislative elections. ]

The Theatre Royal welcomes the world premier of an opera by the Algeciran composer, Sánchez Verdú

From the Spanish Press
El Teatro Real acoge el estreno mundial de una ópera del algecireño Sánchez-Verdú
Lavozdigital.es
‘The Journey to the Simorgh’, which is being performed next Thursday, is a free adaptation of the novel ‘The Virtues of the Solitary Bird’ by author Juan Goytisolo. The work is billed to run on alternate days from the 4^th May until the 17^th of the month.

LA VOZ/CÁDIZ

The composer, José María Sánchez-Verdú (Algeciras, 1968) will be living through one of the most anticipated days of his professional career next Thursday. The Theatre Royal extends a welcome to the world premiere of his work, ‘The Journey to the Simorgh’ whose libretto is based on a free adaptation of the novel, ‘The Virtues of the Solitary Bird’ with poems and text from St. John of the Cross, Ibn al-Farid, Fariduddin al-Attar, the Song of Songs (in the translation of Fray Luis de León) and Leonardo Da Vinci.
(…)
An inner journey
In the words of its author, “the work describes a displacement, an exodus, a search in which the places, times and personages of the novel of Juan Goytisolo constitute the stages or gardens that the birds of the Sufi story of Attar cross on their way toward the Simorgh, the mystical bird, the sought after king. In the final mystical union the plenitude produces the revelation; each one of the birds has carried the Simorgh within themselves, the journey was an inner journey in the fullness of Sufi communion.“ Along the way it is the poetry of St. John of the Cross, the great Sufi poet of the Christian West, that co-exists with the poetic voices of other great poets of the Persian and Arab traditions”, explains Sanchez-Verdú. As far as the composition goes, the work makes reference to certain elements of sixteenth century Spanish music (using the viola da gamba) and to music of the Islamic tradition; all this with the intensity and the elements that constitute the musical language of the composer. The total use of the architectonic space, in addition to dance and movement, are also substantial and essential elements in this journey.

(…)

Commencement of the First World Festival of Sufi Meetings and Music

From the Spanish Press
Comienza el primer festival mundial de encuentros y música sufíes
El Faro: Ceuta y Melilla
by M.A.P.

The first edition of the world festival of Sufi meetings and musicians takes place today in Marrakesh (321 km to the south of Rabat) through the initiative of the association “The Muniya for the conservation and the revitalization of Moroccan heritage”

During a press conference for the event the organizers affirmed that the ambition of the festival is to value the cultural and spiritual identity of the country through meetings and evenings of Sufi music.

The programme of this first event includes amongst other things, lively music by Moroccan and Arab groups, and discussions on the principal theme, “Sufism: The Tree of Knowledge and of Love”. There will also be exhibitions of manuscripts of the Qur’an and of Sufi libraries.

The musical evenings which will take place in the shrines (zawiyyas) and the historical palaces and gardens of Marrakesh will be enlivened by such prestigious groups as Al-Kindi of Syria, ‘Sayed Imam’ of Egypt and Moroccan groups like ‘Al-Abasiya’ of Marrakesh and El Dakirin of Rabat.

Benegal to direct film on Noor Inayat Khan

By H. S. Rao/PTI - Daily News and Analysis - Mumbai, India

Monday, May 14, 2007

London: Noted Indian director Shyam Benegal will undertake a major international film on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of Tipu Sultan who was a secret agent in the Second World War and was awarded the George Cross for her bravery.

Based on the best-selling and critically acclaimed book 'The Spy Princess' by journalist-cum-writer Shrabani Basu, with a screenplay by Lord Meghnad Desai and Kishwar Desai, the film will be the first Indian movie where the language will be English, French, German and Hindi.

Benegal, nephew of the legendary actor-director Guru Dutt, produced artistically superior yet commercially viable films -- Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) -- which were super hits.

Tapping fresh talents like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri, Benegal has made several sensitive films.

Noor's amazing story of courage and sacrifice will be brought to celluloid by an international cast and will be shot entirely on location in Britain and France. It will be the first Indian film to be set during the Second World War.

Noor Inayat Khan, the courageous Indian woman, was the daughter of the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan and his American wife. Born in Moscow, she was brought up in France and Britain.
Noor was the first woman to be infiltrated into occupied France as a radio operator and worked undercover in Paris helping the French Resistance.

She was betrayed and captured and brutally murdered in Dachau Concentration Camp. She was awarded the George Cross by the British government and the French honoured her with the Croix de Guerre.

Lord Meghnad Desai said, "The story of Noor Inayat Khan transcends nations and cultures. It is an intensely human story of a woman brought up to tell the truth and eschew violence. Yet she fought as a spy and died in a Nazi concentration camp with the word 'Liberate' on her lips.

Noor was Indian, French and British, a Sufi and a fighter, a gentle musician and a brave soldier. This is why her appeal is cosmopolitan."

Christians and Muslims visit Holy Sites in Turkey

By Maria Mackay - Christian Today - London, U.K.
Monday, May 14, 2007

Ten Muslims and 10 Christians from within the Diocese of Leicester returned last Saturday from a pilgrimage to holy sites in Turkey.

The visit is part of an ongoing effort to build closer ties between the two faith communities and during their time in Turkey they took time to share ideas and thoughts on the significance of the holy sites they visited from their own faiths' perspective.

Stop-offs included historically important sites such as Istanbul, Ephesus, Konya -the place of the Sufi saint Rumi- and Cappadokia, and the group were also given the opportunity to learn more about modern day Turkey.

The pilgrimage brought together mostly members of Muslim-Christian dialogue groups, which have been meeting at the St Philip's Church and Centre every six weeks for the last seven years.
A reporter from BBC Radio Leicester also accompanied them on their journey, which was their boldest yet. Previous journeys had only been as far afield as Bradford, Burnley and Manchester.

The trip was organised and hosted by a Muslim dialogue organisation in Turkey.

Mevlana in Brazil

By Ayse Karabat - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Ankara: Brazilian Ambassador Cesario Melantonio Neto looks forward to THY’s [Türk Hava Yollari] direct flights to Brazil, hoping that not only will this increase trade, but that there will also be more cultural exchanges between Brazil and Turkey.

Mr. Ambassador is so excited about direct flights between Turkey and Brazil which “will hopefully start at the beginning of next year.” These will not just be passenger flights but also cargo ones, so trade and tourism will increase. He hopes that more Brazilian football clubs will come to Turkey, as well as music groups, exhibitions and so on.

There are already a number of Brazilian music groups regularly coming to Turkey, this means there is a direct link between the musicians of the two countries, he says.

Mr. Ambassador likes Sufi music and he says he is not unique in this matter in Brazil. He says that recently he met with a Brazilian professor who is an expert on Sufism. The professor told the Ambassador that, “It is a trend in Brazil to be interested in Sufism and the Brazilians are really reading about it.”

He explains: “This mix of Sufism or religion with a cultural approach, dance and music is very special and interesting. I am very interested in sharing this part of your culture. We are working on a project, a Mevlana exhibition in Brazil.”

[picture: Mr Cesario Melantonio Neto, Brazilian Ambassador to Turkey]

Spirituality & Aging fifth installment: The Path of the Heart

By Trevis R. Badeaux - The Daily Advertiser - Lafayette, LA, U.S.A.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Spiritual Care: The Path of the Heart is the title of the fifth installment in the ongoing Spirituality & Aging series set for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday [May 18] at Immaculata Center, 1408 Carmel Drive, Lafayette, LA.

J. Adam Milgram, recently retired executive director of the Sam and Rose Stein Center for Research on Aging at the University of California in San Diego, will be the speaker.

Milgram practiced psychology in Pennsylvania for more than 20 years. His presentation will focus on "awakening in life and conveying this psycho-spiritual process through a variety of methods," according to a press release.

Spirituality and Aging is an eight-part series that seeks to fit those who care for and counsel seniors with the tools necessary to help seniors begin to fulfill their spiritual needs.

Each installment to date approached the central topic from a variety of perspectives. This segment again offers a new perspective, one from an experienced psychologist and practitioner of Sufism, said Mike Blanchard with Hospice of Acadiana.

The mystic tradition encompasses various beliefs and practices dedicated to Allah, divine love and the cultivation of earth.

It includes The Six Subtleties, or Realities of the Heart, drawn from Quran verses. Each is a spiritual center of perception dormant in an individual.

"Previous workshops approached the topic from the medical and physiological perspective. This one is more philosophical," Blanchard said.

Sufism inhabits everything

By Fares Anam - Yemen Observer - Sana'a, Yemen

Saturday, May 12, 2007

German author Anna Platsch was growing increasingly alarmed by the rising tide violence and extremism occurring in Muslim world, when she stumbled on something she thought might contain the antidote: Sufism.

She details her journey toward Sufism in her new book, Open Seal, My Journey to Sufis and Muslims. Platsch gave a reading from the book at German House in Sana’a on Sunday, in German with Arabic translation.

Platsch said that Sufism is dynamically supreme, inhabiting everything, and that it is the silence when it comes to the minds of the people.

“Sufism is evident in the rhythm of each human in the orbits of the world,” she said. The real Sufism came from Yemen, said Platsch. And Yemen has many Sufis.

She wrote about Sufis and other Muslims because the extremist ideas and terrorism are increasing. The solution for the people is Sufism, she believes, because it preaches tolerance and peace for the whole world.

Anna Platsch is an author, psychotherapist and traveler. Her book deals with ideas and the spirituality of Sufis and other Muslim sects. In the last chapter of her book, she pays special attention to Yemen, which she calls a country of a magical fascination, which is also shocking.

(...)

Platsch came to Yemen after an invitation from the Dar al-Salam Organization, which works to control weapons and encourage peace. “Dar al-Salam attracted me through research on the Internet, and I reached out to Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Marwani, the director of the organization. He is a Sufi who has established this organization because he gave up on the corrupt judiciary and self-censoring justice,” she said.

“I wrote to him and immediately I received a response from him. He said that he would allocate to me all the time that I needed, and that I could come to Yemen at any time,” Platsch said.

“Work for peace seems like an appeal from the sages,” Platsch said when she was talking about Dar al-Salam and its manager. “Sheikh Abdul-Rahman believes that the establishment of the culture of tolerance is a prerequisite for the deployment of global peace. Terrorism and violence in all their forms and manifestations jeopardize the safety of human beings and hinders the progress of civilization,” she said.

(...)

Amah al-Razzaq Gahaf, Director of the Women’s Development Center and Director General of the Yemeni Traditional Houses, said that Platsch mentioned the pain that is going on in the world in the place of peace, and that we really suffer from a lack of peace and a fear of terrorism rampant in the world.

Gahaf also said that she started thinking from a Sufi point of view, and regarding Sufism as an invitation to peace in the world. “Sufi thinking, albeit distorted in recent years, was supremely humane thinking,” she said.

[picture: Platsch reads her story of discovering Sufism, and its relation to other Muslim groups.]

"A Saint in the City" continues through May 20

By Elisabeth Kirsch - Kansas City Star - MO, U.S.A.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

In “A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal,” clothes, murals, glass paintings, books, posters and calligraphic healing devices — stacked floor to ceiling in room after room — introduce viewers to a vibrant lifestyle called the Mouride Way.

This Senegalese Sufi movement, embraced by 4 million Muslims in Senegal and thousands more worldwide, is inspired by the spiritual teachings of Sheikh Amadou Bamba (1853-1927).

The installation at the Spencer Museum intends to transport us to the crowded streets of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, where reproductions of Bamba’s portrait and visual artifacts of the Mouride Way are everywhere present.

A Muslim mystic, Bamba became known for his non-violent resistance to French colonial oppression. The only known photograph of him — in which he is dressed head to toe in white with eyes, nose and feet barely visible — was taken in 1913 while he was under house arrest by the French authorities in Djourbel, Senegal.

Almost 100 years later, variations of this image are reproduced and reinterpreted throughout Senegal. Since Bamba’s legacy emphasizes the dignity and sanctity of work, businesses frequently render his portrait on shop walls, among other venues.

The show is as much an anthropological display as an art exhibit. There is even the interior of an “imajorium,” a meditation space of devotional power complete with talismans, a montage of images depicting Bamba and a calligram (calligraphic shape) of the footprint of the prophet.

Installations of art by contemporary Mouride artists, whose works may imbibe batin, or hidden knowledge, are accompanied by text interviews with each artist.

As visually rewarding as anything in this densely packed exhibit, however, are the dozens of reverse glass paintings that are Senegal’s most recognizable form of art. The earliest-known Senegalese glassworks date from 1900. They include everything from “imagetext,” which related to Sufi secret languages and which empowered those who owned or looked at them, to paintings that document the life of Amadou Bamba. These are vibrant and highly original artworks.

Senegalese women are less prominent in the visual arts than the men, but there is a rich tradition of Mouride women singing songs in praise of Mame Diarra Bousso, Bamba’s mother.
Some of their joyful voices reverberate through parts of “A Saint in the City.”

“A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal”
Where: Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Mississippi St., the University of Kansas, Lawrence
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday. The exhibit continues through May 20.
How much: Free
For more information: (785) 864-4710 or spencerart@ku.edu

Choosing the Best Horse

By Rajaque Rahman - The Financial Express - Bombay, India
Sunday May 13, 2007

The trend of people flocking to learn breathing techniques is not a fad, but a long overdue revival of an ancient wisdom

An ancient Arab wisdom of choosing the best horse makes for an interesting testimony to how cultures and civilisations have recognised breath as the expression of life. For the best horse, Arabs used to look for the one whose nostrils were fully open and whose breath fuller. They could read the depth of a horse’s breath by looking at its expression in the eyes.

No surprise, breathing exercises have been a vital part of virtually every mystical order from the yogis to sufis to the ancient mystery schools. “A man who has not gained power over his breath is like a king who has no power over his domain,” wrote a Sufi saint hundreds of years ago. Poojya Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living, whose breathing technique Sudarshan Kriya has found universal acceptance, calls breath the forgotten secret of life.

In Bhagvada Gita (Chapter 4 Verse 29) Shri Krishna reveals to Arjuna how spiritual knowledge is received through breath. Shri Krishna says, “Some offer the outgoing breath to the incoming breath and the incoming breath to the outgoing breath; in this way checking the flow of both the incoming and outgoing breaths they arduously practice breath-control.”

Islam also lays a lot emphasis on the spiritual importance of breath. Renowned Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan writes, “Man’s health and inspiration both depend on purity of breath and to preserve this purity, the nostrils and all the tubes of the breath must be kept clear.”

“This order is built on breath,” says Shah Naqshband of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. “So it is a must on everyone to safeguard his breath.” In certain Sufi gatherings, it’s a practice for members to take turn and make the assembly conscious of their breathing. They call aloud ‘Hosh bar dam’, meaning ‘keep conscious of the breath’.

Virtually equating breath to life, Guru Nanak writes in Guru Granth Sahib, “A man is useful as long as he has breath in his body. When the breath departs, the body becomes useless. No medicine works after that.”

The Bible defines life as breath in several passages, including the story of Adam’s creation in Genesis 2:7. “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Or take the tale running through John 20:22. “Jesus has come back to visit the disciples and tell them that he is sending them out to forgive or not forgive the sins of the world. “Then he (Jesus) breathed on them, saying, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”

It’s not just the scriptures that equate breath to life itself. Nearly all words now used to mean ‘soul’, ‘spirit’ and ‘life’ trace their origins to words meaning ‘breath’. For example, prana in Sanskrit, ruach in Hebrew and ruh in Arabic are loosely used to mean different aspects of breath.

Even the English word ‘spirit’ comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning ‘breath’. In the Greek and Hebrew Bibles, the words used to mean ‘soul’ and ‘life’ have ‘breath’ as their literal meaning. For example, in the King James version, the Hebrew word neshamah (literally meaning breath) is twice rendered as ‘spirit’, once as ‘soul’ and ruach is rendered 240 times as ‘spirit’ and six times as ‘mind’.

The derived meanings are probably the most authentic commentary on how our ancestors saw and honoured the intimate connections between breath and life. In almost all spiritual traditions, breath is seen as the link between the outer life and the inner life.

“The rhythm in breath can help us get in touch with the depth of our self, our soul, our consciousness, our being and make us feel connected with everybody, with everything in the world,” explains Sri Sri Ravishankar.

Breath is like a swing with a constant motion and whatever is put in the swing, swings with the movement of the breath. “Breath has a great lesson for us. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath. Just as emotions affect the patterns of breathing, the mental and behavioural patterns can be changed by altering the rhythm of our breath,” he adds.
Confusion, depression, or any other psychological disorders often arise because of irregularity of breath. For instance, if a person comes running or is hurried for a moment, he loses the regularity of his breath and at that moment he is incapable of thinking rightly.

“When one cannot handle the mind directly, it can be handled through breath. The mind is like a kite and breath, the string. You don’t have to take Prozac if you can attend to the breath,” says Sri Sri Ravishankar.

In a study conducted by National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, researchers found that Sudarshan Kriya was as effective as drugs in treating depression and the result came without any side-effects.

After practicing the Kriya, brain wave patterns were found to stabilise and there was an increase in serum prolactin count.

Another study conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, concluded that regular practice of Sudarshan Kriya and pranayama invokes positive emotions, replacing anger, frustration and jealousy. Conversely, people become impulsive or irritable, impatient and get fits of anger because of improper breathing.

The physician has no remedy for these tendencies and modern psychology is still debating the link, but the mystics of old have long known that the balance of mind entirely depends on regularity of breath.

If administrators and lawmakers knew this, many who are put in prisons for some crime committed during moments of irregular breathing, would have been sent to breathing schools rather than to jails. The knowledge of this link is the core of the Art of Living’s immensely successful PrisonSMART programme. By teaching them breathing techniques, it has altered the lives over 200,000 inmates in jails all over the world.

Apart from the influence on emotions, breath is also the means of receiving all intuitive knowledge from every direction of life. The AIIMS study recoded significant increase in beta and alpha activities among Sudarshan Kriya practitioners, indicating a state of relaxed and heightened alertness.

Channelling of the breath into a certain direction is the essence of almost all ancient Indian practices such as yoga asanas. Every direction the breath takes has a different result. Every posture of the body induces certain patterns of breath and yogis use them to attain control not only over emotions but also physical health.

We breathe nearly 16 to 17 times a minute. It may go up to 20 when one is upset and up to 24 when extremely tense and angry. On the other hand, it will come down to 10 when one is calm and happy and to two to three breaths while in meditation.

Deep meditation reduces the number of breaths one takes and when one breathes deeper, the heartbeat reading also slows down to about 65 per minute as against around 90 when breathing in a shallow fashion, like most of us does.

Ancient wisdom has it that the human heart would beat about a billion times. Now scientists have also reinforced that this ‘machinery’ is designed to go up to that point and break down. The secret to make that quota of a billion last longer is in learning to breathe properly and deeper.

Truly, breath is the forgotten secret of life.

Poet Mohamed Benamara passed away

[From the French language press]:

Oujda: Le poète marocain Mohamed Benamara est décédé à l'âge de 62 ans, samedi après-midi à Oujda, suite à une longue maladie.

Atlas Vista, Casablanca, Maroc - samedi 12 avril 2007 - par MAP

The 62 years old Moroccan Poet Mohamed Benamara passed away on Saturday afternoon in Oujda, following a long disease.

Benamara, which counts to his credit several collections of poems such as "le soleil, la mer et la tristesse" [sun, sea and sadness] (1972), "le chant des étrangers" [the singing of the foreigners] (1981) and "le royaume de l'esprit" [the kingdom of the spirit] (1987), is regarded as one of the most distinguished poets on the national scene.

The Union of the Writers of Morocco (UEM) paid homage to the memory of Mohamed Benamara remembering his cultural contribution and his scientific research into the impact of Sufism on Arab and Moroccan poetry.

Royal Gifts

[from the French language press]:

Le chambellan de SM le Roi, M. Brahim Frej a remis, mardi, des dons Royaux aux chorfas des zaouia Kadiriya et Seddikia et aux chorfas descendant des saints Sidi Ahmed Ben Ajiba et Sidi Bouaarakia.

Atlas Vista, Casablanca, Maroc - mercredi 25 avril, 2007 - par MAP

Mr Brahim Frej, chamberlain of HM the King gave, on Tuesday, some Royal Gifts to the chorfas [ Moroccan Sharifs] of the zaouia [Qur'anic school/Brotherhood] Kadiriya and Seddikia and to the chorfas descendant of the saints Sidi Ahmed Ben Ajiba and Sidi Bouaarakia.

A religious ceremony was organized on this occasion at the mausoleum of Sidi Ahmed Ben Ajiba (20 km /12.5 miles from Tangier).

The saint man, who was known as one of the great Sufis in the area, devoted his life to the fiqh [jurisprudence] and bequeathed a vast work of reference in the fields of theological sciences and Sharia.

[picture: a view of Tangier, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier]

Charmed by Sufism

[From the French language press]:

Les convertis ont tous des histoires différentes mais, généralement, ce qui les attire vers l’Islam, au-delà de l’appartenance à une même Umma, ce sont les préceptes universels et intemporels et les règles de vie individuelles et communautaire, claires et élémentaires, proposés par la religion musulmane au quotidien.

Meknès Jeunes - Meknès, Maroc - samedi 21 avril 2007

Each convert has a different story but generally what attracts them towards Islam, beyond the [feeling of] belonging to one Community, are the universal and timeless precepts and the rules of life -both individual and communal- clear and elementary, proposed by the Islamic religion.

A religion based on a simple system of belief (only one Creator, no intermediary) and where the collective interest takes precedence over that of the individual.

Some among new converts are charmed by Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam.

Every year hundreds of new converts come to enlarge the rows of the roughly 60.000 followers of the tariqa Qadiriya-Butshishiyya and go on pilgrimage to Madagh, a village ten kilometers [6,2 miles] from Berkane (Oujda).

Jaïme, a thirty years old Spanish soufi, financial director of a textile unit in Moulay Rachid, a district of Casablanca, is still upset by the recent blessing received -shortly after Aïd El Mawlid- from the hands of the octogenarian spiritual Master of the brotherhood in Morocco, Shaykh Hamza.

Whatever the reason for converting, Analysts agree on one fact: it is shortly after September 11, 2001 that the greatest number of conversions to Islam among the Westerners was recorded.

[picture: Shaykh Hamza http://www.sufiway.net/ar_SidiHamzaQadiriBoutchichi.html

visit also http://www.tariqa.org/qadiriya/index.html]

"When there is faith, there is no fear"

By Satyajit - Eye TV India Bureau Smash Hits - India

Friday, May 11, 2007

Music Review for Aap Ka Surror

Music director, singer and now actor Himesh Reshammiya makes big news as he is back with his biggest musical bang of the year in his first solo performance in 'Aap Ka Surror - the movie' (Movie with double "e").

It is considered to be the biggest musical presentation of the year as it comes out with 20 original soundtracks. It's a Vijay Taneja presentation and also marks the directorial debut of Prashant Chaddha and comes out with tagline "When there is faith, there is no fear".

Assasalam Vaalekum (3 versions) : The album triggers off with a sure short chartbusting feast "Assasalam Vaalekulum" (meaning salutations in Urdu) and grips the musical passion where one could anticipate the climax or grand finale to all the hot "n" happening events of the film.

Undoubtedly, this will be Himesh Reshammiya's biggest rocking hit of the year as it succeeds in producing and delivering different beats and tunes.

The rip-roaring hip-hop and intimidating violin work melted in a spirited Sufi rock base sets a powerful prelude to the soundtrack. Himesh Reshammiya delivers a rollicking super hit number when he needed it the most as he was panned for being overtly repetitive.

Reshammiya's oozing nasal twang forms a brilliant concoction with haunting drumming and penetrative and expressive lyrics.

This expression of salutation to the Lady Love should promise to be a big thrust in giving the album a deserving promotion and if it meets the technical standards of this glossy film, then it can be a big rage among pop genre listeners.

Mind Blowing!!!

(...)

Jhooth Nahin Bolna (2 versions) : A contemporary Bollywood feel good romantic track "Jhooth Nahin Bolna" comes with a nostalgic 70's and early 90's musical feel embellished in a typical Sufi "Qawaali" format.

It reminds of one of the finest works of great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and even Sameer's lyrics make effective display with momentous verses.

The song is all about a promise of life time bonding and to be truthful to your beloved and comes straight with a typical Bollywood musical feel with no big histrionics.

Reshammiya has managed another bright and happening number when the listeners were expecting something significant or ground breaking. The titillating "shehnai" notes along with synchronized keyboard work give it a situational feel of marital bond culminating out of eternal love.

Sameer's poetic flamboyance sparks effectively and can be counted as one of his finest works in contemporary Bollywood lyrical format.

(...)

Ya Ali (3 versions) : Himesh Reshammiya sticks to his ground rules of success as he incorporates the strong blend of Sufi elements in lyrics and music arrangements in the effective soundtrack "Ya Ali".

Unfortunately, it comes with a set of repetitive tones and notes as similar tracks were heard before in albums like 'Red', 'Dil Diya Hai' etc.

Sunidhi Chauhan's soft and shimmering vocals build the tempo of a promising emotional track but thereafter it's Reshammiya's repetitive loud vocal performance with recurring rendition of "Ya Ali". It fails to create any major impact and the singer-cum-composer demands different tonality for sad and depressed emotional tracks to revamp his magic.

(...)

Himesh Reshammiya returns with a bang as he fulfills promise in his ambitious venture 'Aap Ka Surror - the movie'. The album's biggest plus points are "Assasalam Valekuum", "Tanhaiyaan", "Tere Bina" and "Tere Mera Milna". There are above average numbers like "Ya Ali", "Kya Jeena" but there is sense of thrill and delight in the Akbar Sami DJ work in bunch of remixes soundtrack. It will be one of the top ten music albums of the year and will be the biggest treat for Reshammiya's fans.

Good Show!

You can't have them both

Dr. Andreas Braun - Sebastian Sun -Sebastian, FL, U.S.A.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Judy complains, "My mother doesn't love me." Ralph's big problem is that his boss doesn't respect him. Mary hurts because she feels her husband doesn't pay enough attention to her.

When we have problems like that, we naturally try to change the people and situations we feel are the cause of these problems. But stop for a moment and ask yourself this: Where am I experiencing my problem? Where is it? Where exactly is the location where it takes place?

I know this may sound like strange questions, but bear with me. Where do you experience your problems? Of course the answer is: Inside of you. In your thinking, your emotions and in your body.

This reminds me of a story of the crazy-wise Sufi character Nasrudin. Late one night, after many hours of visiting the local taverns, Nasrudin was seen by his neighbor looking for something under the streetlight. The neighbor joined him and said, "Hey Nasrudin, have you lost something?"

"Yes," Nasrudin replied, "I've lost my house key and I can't get in the door."
So they both looked under the streetlight for the key. They couldn't find a thing. Finally the neighbor asked, "Do you remember where you dropped your key?"

"Yes," Nasrudin said, "I lost it over there by my door. But it's so dark over there I couldn't see a thing. So I came over here because it's much easier to search here under the streetlight."

So, isn't that what we are trying to do?

We feel unloved or disrespected, we don't get enough attention, or anything else that creates tension or discomfort inside us. And then we're trying to fix it out there; we're trying to fix the person or situation that we blame for our stress.

We don't ask ourselves the simple question, "Where does my discomfort take place?"
If we would ask that then we would know very clearly where it needs to be fixed. If the problem is experienced inside of us, it needs to be fixed there. This is so simple, and so obvious, that we usually overlook it.

It's as if we want to blame the other person. It makes us look okay in our own eyes. Then we can feel that we are misunderstood, hurt, treated unfairly by the world. Oh how sweet it is to be a victim of other people's shortcomings.

And what has it ever done for you? It brings you nothing but more pain.

At one point we get tired of being victimized by people and situations. Then it's time to realize that we've been looking for a solution under the streetlight. And then maybe we can start looking for the key to our peace where it actually is.

Only then do we have a chance for success.

If you really want to fix what's hurting you, fix it inside of you. If you want love, there is a wealth of it available right in your heart. Find it there. If you want respect, respect yourself fully and completely; then, what your boss does or doesn't do will affect you much less. If you're lacking for attention, give yourself some.

You can be the master of your life, if you choose that. Or, by blaming, you can continue to be a victim of circumstances or other people's lack of caring.

Which one is more appealing to you? You can't have them both.

Return of the Turkish maestro

By Gavriel Fiske - The Jerusalem Post - Jerusalem, Israel

Thursday, May 10, 2007

One of the world's best-known Turkish musicians, Omar Faruk Tekbilek brings his ensemble here this week for three concerts.

A child progidy in his native land, Tekbilek quit school as a teenager to pursue music and study Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam.

He became an in-demand studio musician in Istanbul, and toured the US with a traditional Turkish music ensemble in 1971 at the age of 20.

By the time he returned to the US in 1976, this time for good, he was already married and a father. Settling in upstate New York, he took a job in a clothing factory to make ends meet and continued playing music in New York City on the weekends.

This all changed in 1988, when he met producer Brian Keane. The two began a fruitful collaboration that continues to this day, and their signature brand of synth-heavy, accessible Near Eastern music enabled Tekbilek to return to making music full time while introducing Western ears to the beauty of Turkish melody.

Tekbilek, besides being an accomplished singer in Turkish, Greek, Arabic and Persian, is a master of traditional instruments, especially the saz (a long-necked Turkish lute) and the nay (reed flute). His ensemble is a shifting arrangement of the best Middle-Eastern fusion players.

Tekbilek has been to Israel many times and has developed deep friendships among the ethnic music community here, so his shows will be packed with good vibes. His most recent album, the richly textured Alif (co-produced with studio wizard Steve Shehan) features a duet with Zahava Ben, and Tekbilek has worked for years with Yuval Ron, the Israeli composer based in Los Angeles whose ensemble is scheduled to play at the next Jerusalem Oud Festival.

Wednesday and Thursday (May 16 and 17) at 9 p.m. at Tzvata in Tel Aviv. Tickets: (03) 695-0156; (03) 695-0157; May 18 at 9:30 p.m. at Heihal Tarbut in Petach Tikva. Tickets: (03) 912-5222.

This (shrine) is a house for every individual

IANS - Mangalorean Com - Mangalore, India

Thursday, May 10, 2007

As the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya reverberated with Qawwalis towards the end of the 703rd annual Urs, thousands of milling devotees - Muslims, Hindus and other faiths - were lost in a world of their own.

The ambience, called Mehfil-e-Sama, demanded so. Qawwali singers, tunefully shouting "Moula Ali Moula Moula", compelled every visitor to erase the concept of time from the minds and experience the spiritual ecstasy.

That is what precisely defines the goal of Sufism - a mystical belief and practice seeking the truth of divine love and knowledge.

Dargah Nizamuddin is thronged by tens of thousands from all over India and abroad too, particularly from South Asia. The shrine houses the graves of 13th century Muslim saints Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir-e-Khusrau - one of the greatest Sufi poets.

Thousands of devotees paid obeisance at the shrine in the just ended annual Urs - to earn the "blessings and peace of mind". The festival started May 5 and finished Tuesday evening.

"This (shrine) is a house for every individual. People come here from cross cultures and beliefs to get peace of mind," says Mohammed Hasnain Nizami, one of the priests. "The shrine, an abode of Sufism, metaphors for god's abode - where everyone is treated equal."

Nizami ridicules claims that Sufism isn't what "pure Islam" teaches.

"Sufism is a path that leads to Absolute Truth through divine love and wisdom," he explains. "And that is what Nizamuddin Auliya taught humanity."

"The central message of the Sufi saint is peace with all. Tell me, is the message of harmony and amity outside of Islam?" he asked.

"The orthodox want to interpret Islam in a literal way and the Sufis expand the boundaries of their faith to include all humanity."

While Nizami recited his prayers on the lawns of the mausoleum, on the other end Mohammed Ismail Qawwal of Ghaziabad and his team enthralled the devotees with a mystical combination of music and devotional lyrics.

"Barde Joli Meri Ya Mohammed - Laut Kar Main Na Jaaoonga Khali" (Fill my basket O Prophet Mohammed - Never Will I Leave Empty Handed) were the words sung by Ismail.

Narendra Kumar, 35, and his wife from Jaipur were all in tears - lost in meditation and seeking the Sufi saint's blessing. Despite the lyrics punctuated by liberal Persian being incomprehensible for him, Kumar was engrossed in the "supernatural ambience".

"I don't know what the words mean but it takes me closer to the god," Kumar later told IANS.
"I have come here to be blessed with a child," he said, after laying a traditional 'chadder' and flower wreath on the grave of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

While Qawwali drew the faithful, so did the 'langar' or common kitchen where devotees were served sweetened rice and halwa for free. At one time, there was a near stampede.
But truly in Sufi style, peace finally reigned.

[picture: http://www.chishti.ru/sufi_photos_p2.htm]

The Secret History of a Hat

By Jenny Oyallon-Koloski - Carleton College News - Carleton, MN, U.S.A. Thursday, May 10, 2007

Carleton Professor to Lecture on Iranian Sufism on Tuesday, May 15

Shahzad Bashir, associate professor of religion, will present a lecture entitled “Pursuing the Secret History of a Hat: Visions and Discourses of a Sixteenth-Century Iranian Sufi” on Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at Carleton College’s Gould Library Athenaeum.

The event is free and open to the public.

Bashir will explore the religious history of Iran during the sixteenth century. The lecture will focus on a text that eulogizes a specific kind of hat that was worn at the time to discuss the political and religious legitimacy of the ruling elites in Iran.

Bashir’s talk is part of Carleton’s Mid-East connection series, a set of lectures that aim to raise the profile of Middle East studies on Carleton’s campus. Previous talks were given by Stacy Beckwith, associate professor of Hebrew, and Louis Fishman, visiting instructor in history.

The Mid-East connection series is sponsored by the Dean of the College.

At Carleton, Bashir teaches courses in Islamic studies and the comparative study of religions. Islamic studies is his main area of interest, with focuses on Sufism, Shi’ism, and the intellectual and social history of the Islamic East.

Professor Bashir is currently working on two books: “Bodies of God’s Friends: Corporeality and Sainthood in Sufi Islam” and “Baha’ad-Din Naqshband: Hagiographic Portraits of a Sufi Saint from Bukhara.”

For more information and disability accommodations, call the Carleton library at (507) 646-4260.

This philosophy has many shades

Staff Report - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Karachi: “Aey logon tumhaara kia, mein janoo mera Khuda jaaney,” (Oh people, what is it to you? Anything that I do is between me and my God) sang the legendary Abida Parveen in the last performance of the five-day International Sufi Mystic Music Festival at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, to a crowd that went in raptures over her message at a time when civil society is trying to stem the tide of extremism.

“Aey mullah, janaaza parh, meiN janooN mera khuda jaaney” (Oh mullah, lead the Janazah prayers. The power of judgement lies not with you, but with God alone).

This line too elicited wild applause from the audience that included diplomats, foreigners, sleeping babies, bright-eyed young girls and chain-smoking ruffians.

While there were performances by other talents such as Nighat Choudhry, Sohrab Fakir and Jamaluddin Fakir, the Muqam Ensemble from Baghdad and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s nephew Moazzam Ali Khan and Goonga Saeen, the crowd waited for Abida Parveen.

When she came on at around 2:00 a.m. the house was full and stayed that way until her last note. One man respectfully went up to her dais after taking his shoes off and paid homage to the great singer, much to the pleasure of the audience. And when she finished a crowd gathered at the stage and she shook hands with some of her fans.

The earlier performances included the moving Muqam Ensemble from Baghdad including lead singer Farida. The audience was moved by their request for prayers for Baghdad and the stirring rendition of the word ‘Baghdad’ sung in a lamenting wail in their performance.

The singers from the Eastern Bloc did not strike as rich a note with the audience primarily because of the language barrier. But they did give Karachi a glimpse into their particular phonetic culture.

The female ensemble from Egypt who are a rare example of women in Sufi music also sent out the message that this philosophy has many shades that we are not all perhaps aware of.

Sufi festival captivates crowd

Lo Corr - The International News - Karachi, Pakistan
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

The third day of Sufi Festival continued as a large number of people showed up in the audience because of the weekend.

In performances by the artistes from both Pakistan and foreign countries, the audience stayed captivated, and applauded each performance in a flood of clapping.

The international bands of artistes came from Egypt, Morroco, Bosnia, and from Australia. From Sindh came Fakir Abdul Wahid Jamali and his group Naseeruddin Saami, while Sher Mian Dad and others participated from Punjab.

The local artistes belonged to their respective dargahs, but for the international artistes, this was alien, as they had themselves turned towards Sufism by their own will.

Finding Partners in Islam

By Lorenzo Vidino - Counterterrorism Blog - Medford, NJ, U.S.A.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

As the United States battles insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan while fearing the next terrorist attack on our shores, it has become apparent that the solution to the struggle against radical Islam is neither military nor diplomatic, but rather, ideological. Only by tackling the ideology that motivates potential jihadis from Baghdad to London can the United States hope to win what will undoubtedly be a generational conflict.

During the Cold War the West supported various pro-democracy and anti-Communist voices throughout the world, and the same can be done today. Why not empower moderates within the Muslim world? Why not intervene in what is often defined as a civil war for the soul of Islam in support of those who espouse positions that are compatible with our national interest?

A recent report published by the RAND Corporation suggests that is the strategy we should adopt. The report states that Saudi financial support has promoted "the growth of religious extremism throughout the Muslim world," and that more moderate voices have been often overshadowed given their relative lack of financial backing. Only by correcting this resource imbalance can we defeat extremists.

And even though they have been often overlooked, the potential partners throughout the world abound. In some cases the ideal solution is to revamp traditional forms of Islam that over the last few decades have suffered the aggressive competition of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabism.

From Central Asia to Morocco, from Indonesia to Somalia, Sufi Islam has traditionally influenced hundreds of millions of Muslims with its mystical, moderate, and tolerant message. Today various organizations such as the Carolina-based Libforall Foundation or the Michigan-based Islamic Supreme Council of America are helping spread the thought of progressive Sufi thinkers through a network that reaches many countries in the Muslim world.

But also within Sunni Islam many progressive voices can be heard. Naser Khader, a Syrian-born member of the Danish Parliament, has become one of Europe's best known Muslim leaders, thanks to his organization's pro-integration message and grassroots activism. In the wake of the cartoon crisis, Khader created the Democratic Muslims Network, which aims to combat radicalization among young Danish Muslims with concrete efforts.

Last year, he organized a job fair through which hundreds of young Muslims were hired by Danish companies, a remarkable achievement considering the levels of unemployment -- and consequent disenfranchisement -- that plague European Muslims.

At the same time, his organization attempts to overcome various difficulties, including constant death threats, and spread its pro-democracy message, which is epitomized in the "Ten Commandments of Democracy," a document all members must sign.

Shah Jewna — spiritual generations

By Chaudhry Ghulam Raza - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Every year on 10th of May, people from all over the country throng a place in Jhang known as Shah Jewna to witness “Rasm-e-Chiragh” a pure spiritual ceremony in which the descendants of Shah Jewna family hoist a burning oil-lamp in the presence of a huge crowd.

The annual celebrations at shrine of Pir Shah Jewna are held to commemorate the services rendered by great Sufi to the mankind. Pir Shah Jewna was a source of spiritual strength for humanity. He had firm belief in the injunctions of Holy Quran and was emotionally attached to Holy Prophet (PBUH).

His love for Holy Prophet (PBUH) can easily be gauged from the fact that he made Surah Muzammil the centre of his life.

Researchers have failed to find another saint who attached himself so strongly to one Surah. Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi says that Surah Muzammil describes the activities of a Sufi. It seems Pir Shah Jewna had imbibed the ways of living from this Surah.

He always used to wear green cloak and used to offer late-night prayers. But there is one thing to be noticed in the teachings of Pir Shah Jewna – he always rejected monasticism and never preached renunciation of this world. He urged people to work hard during daytime and earn their livelihood.

Pir Shah Jewna used to recite Holy Quran ubiquitously. Daily, on his way to River Chenab from his abode, he continuously recited verses from the Holy Quran. The rustics were impressed by his recitation abilities. Not only did the villagers listen to his beautiful recitation from Holy Quran but birds and animals used to encircle him during recitation.

Habib, son of Shah Jewna, was also a saint and fasted whole of his life. Habib is also known as Sakhi (Generous) Habib because he arranged meals at his house twice a day for the poor. He used to eat one chapatti (bread) a day.

It is a much told story that once a local chieftain, out of sheer jealously asked the rich of his area not to contribute in Langar (daily meal) of Sakhi Habib. Habib learnt of this and said that the quantity of Langar be increased and recited some verses from Holy Quran. A few days later chieftain inquired about the Langar and to his disappointment he was told that it is now prepared in a quantity twice to the original one. He felt ashamed and said it is divine Langar (meal) and it cannot be stopped.

People come to the shrine of Shah Jewna for the fulfillment of their dreams, to get cure of their diseases and some for spiritual insight only. The spiritual-heir to shrine is said to be blessed with power to cure. Current spiritual-heir, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat when prays for people also urges them to offer their prayers regularly.

(From Chaudhry Ghulam Raza’s book Al Sadeqain)

*Saints and sanctuaries of Fez*

[From the French language press]:

Maroc, pays des marabouts: à l’occasion du 1er festival de la culture soufie, Faouzi Skali édite *Saints et sanctuaires de Fès*. S’inspirant de la plus importante œuvre hagiographique sans doute jamais écrite en langue arabe, de Salwat al-Anfas (1902), d’Al-Kattani, Skali suit un parcours en spirale à partir du mausolée Moulay-Idriss-II, pour citer les différents sanctuaires qui se situent dans chaque quartier.

L'Economiste, Maroc - mercredi, 9 mai 2007 - par Youness Saad Alami

Morocco, country of the marabouts: on the occasion of the 1st festival of the sufi culture Mr Faouzi Skali publishes *Saints et sanctuaries de Fès* (Saints and sanctuaries of Fez). Taking as a starting point the most important hagiographic work undoubtedly ever written in the Arab language, the Salwat Al-Anfas (1902), by Al-Kattani, Skali follows a spiral-shaped path starting from the Moulay-Idriss-II mausoleum, to quote the various sanctuaries which are located in each district.

A chapter is reserved for “holy” women with exceptional spiritual destinies, in Islam generally, and in Fez in particular. An occasion to put in perspective the place of the woman and the female personality in the spiritual culture of Islam, far from the prejudices usual in this field -which proceeds from an ignorance which is often also that of the Muslims themselves.

In short, by the smoothness and the relevance of its analyses, this book of Faouzi Skali on the Saints and sanctuaries of Fez contribute an essential share to this field of studies.

According to Faouzi Skali, "it is interesting to establish the way in which Sufi spirituality can become, in the current forms of social or entrepreneurial action, a particularly fertile factor of the human development".

Reshism and Sufism in the Postmodern Age

By Dr. Maroof Shah - Greater Kashmir - Srinigar, India
Thursday, Rabi-Us-Sani 22 AH / May 10, 2007

Reshism and Sufism in the Postmodern Age - III

[To read # I and # II click on the link below, then scroll down:
http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=silence+not+speech ]

God is Hidden treasure (this oft quoted Prophetic tradition even if not authentic expresses something which plainly follows from the Quranic emphasis on divine transcendence). And hidden He remains even now.

Absolute in itself has really never manifested and can’t manifest. It remains unknowable. The Absolute in its absoluteness is Nameless and It has no signs by which It can be approached. It is beyond all perception, conception and imagination.

No qualification or relation (even such a category as existence) can be attributed to It for It even transcends transcendence though that doesn’t reduce It to nullity or void as certain critics of mysticism like Jalalul Haq think). No linguistic category can describe It. It lives in permanent abysmal darkness and is ‘‘the most unknown of all the unknowns.” It is Gayyibul-gayyib. None can have, in principle, access to It.

No linguistic category can describe It. It lives in permanent abysmal darkness and is ‘‘the most unknown of all the unknowns.” It is Gayyibul-gayyib. None can have, in principle, access to It. The Pure Absolute or Essence (Dhat) in its fundamental aspect is beyond the insatiable human quest and all attempts to reach It, track it, pinpoint it, catch It in the net of language or realm of the finite or time, to conceptualize It, to imagine It, to speak about It, to affirm anything of It are doomed.

Before the Ipseity or Dhat one can only be bewildered as Khaja Gulam Farid says:

“Where to seek! Where to find You Friend. All the fiery creatures, human beings, forces of Nature and the entire world is amazingly drowned in the sea of bewilderment.

The Sufis, devotees, men of wisdom and learning have ultimately lost. Arshi and Bistami while embracing each other cry in vain…saints, prophets, mystics, poles and even messengers and deities incarnate proclaim weepingly that He is beyond the reach of vision.

Scientists, erudites, gnostics and professionals in all humility have admittedly resigned. Ask Farid naive and simple: where do you find.”

Absoluteness in its absolutenss, the highest metaphysical stage of Reality, is undifferentiated. It is Infinite. So nothing from the world of relativity, no categorization, no definition, no conceptualization is relevant. Wahdatul wajud (Oneness of Being, the most misunderstood doctrine of Sufism though almost all traditional authorities from Abdul Qadir Jeelani (whom Ibn Arabi translates in metaphysical terms) and Rumi to Shah Waliuallah and Maulana Thanvi subscribe to it.

Sheikh Sirhindi’s critique of it is well appropriated by Shah Waliuallah, Maulana Thanvi and others envisages the idea that the Supreme Reality is both absolute and infinite. The absolute allows of no augmentation or diminution or of reality or division. “The infinite as another fundamental aspect of the Real is limitless for it isn’t determined by any limiting factor. It has no boundary. The true infinite is the metaphysical “Whole” which can in no way be limited. There is nothing outside it for then it would not longer be the whole. The metaphysical “Whole” is “without parts” for these parts of necessity being relative and relative have no existence from its point of view. This true Infinite or the metaphysical “Whole” under a certain aspect is understood as universal possibility.

“There are no ‘distinctive’ or ‘multiple’ aspect existing really in the Infinite, it is our limited determinate and individual conception which makes us conceive like that.

That limitation comes from the human side to make the Infinite expressible. The imperfection of a definite and conditioned existence mustn’t be transferred to the unlimited domain of universal Possibility itself.”

Postmodernists are right in emphasizing these limitations and denying rational knowledge of the whole. In fact whole can’t be spoken at all. The doctrines of Infinite and universal possibility in Sufi metaphysics appropriate all postmodern critique. By definition they are all inclusive and totally total conceptions. The Sufi denies reason’s totalizing view and say that to intuition only is vision of God given and nothing, no linguistic formulation or conception, can problematize revelations of intuition because they aren’t of the order of finite, of relative, of time, of this world (or even in a way, of next world)”.

“Gnosis is the realization of thy ignorance when His knowledge comes” as Junaid has said.

Postmodernist only sees the fact of our ignorance and nothing dispels his darkness because he chooses to be blind by denying that we can go outside language and history or discourse and thus intuition is denied especially by Derrida. Since all contradictory truths are unified in the Truth as al-Jili says one needn’t despair and be a skeptic. Postmodernist rightly sees the fact that logic or reason (Aristotelian) is wooden legged and bedevilled by contradictions.

But the Sufi though acknowledges this would unify all contradictions in Truth and celebrate life’s contradictions, its mystery, its transcendence of logic and reason.

The Aarif sees by means of God Himself as Sarraj says and since God by definition is Truth so the Sufi sees Truth (or our inability from human perspective to see the Truth) and sees it whole, undiluted, directly.

The Quran denies man as long as he remains man true knowledge of Truth. Exclusivist totalizing attitude is thus rejected by the Quran.
“Over every possessor of knowledge is one more knowing.” So we must all acknowledge our ignorance and let other speak as postmodernists would have it.

Whoso sees God transcends both speech and silence, as Niffari has said.
Since “All are one, both the visible and the invisible” as Shabistari says charges of dualism, binary thinking, marginalization, exclusivism can’t be labelled on Sufism.

Oneness and undifferntiatedness of Being and emphasis on subject’s inability to know the highest Principle or Absolute appropriates all possible problematization by deconstructionist is taken care of. Sufi is one who has put dual way of seen two worlds as one.

One he seeks, knows, sees and calls as Rumi tells us.
Even binary of truth and falsehood, good and evil are transcended in Sufi vision.

“Since I have known God, neither truth nor falsehood has entered my heart” as Abu Hafs Haddad said.
This is because the Sufi is in a state where neither good nor evil entereth as Ba Yazid says.
This metaethical transcendence of mystic has been misunderstood by its critics as implying rejection of law and ethics while as the fact is that mystics alone in the history of religion have shown exemplary moral character as they have transcended desiring self or nafsi amara which incites one to evil.

Only good comes from the mystic because he has transcended the plane of mind, of desiring self which chooses and is caught up in the net of time or desires. His hands have become God’s hands and God acts through him, so to speak.
The binary of time and Eternity too is transcended as one term of the binary (time) though acknowledged at its own level is nevertheless transcended.

“Eternal and temporal are not separate from one another/For in that Being this non-existent has its being”.

The Sufi’s place is placeless and his trace traceless. So what can you say of him. “When contemplation is firmly established, there is no difference between this world and the next” as Hujwiri says.
The Sufi’s tongue flaggeth after irfan.
As Rumi says, “Be silent that the lord who gave thee language may speak”.
Bistami has made similar point “The furthest from God among the devotees are those who speak the most of him.”

The Sufi’s place is placeless and his trace traceless. So what can you say of him. “When contemplation is firmly established, there is no difference between this world and the next” as Hujwiri says. The Sufi’s tongue flaggeth after irfan. As Rumi says, “Be silent that the lord who gave thee language may speak”. Bistami has made similar point “The furthest from God among the devotees are those who speak the most of him.”

The Sufi is extraordinarily ordinary man and celebrates mystery of existence.
The concept of negative divine in mysticism is expression of the fact that Existence refuses to be demystified. God or existence can’t be known. Thus we see Sufism transcending postmodern position while appropriating its critique of philosophy, reason and the like. He sees God in an age where conventional theology knows nothing of Him and postmodern theology declares him dead.

Sufism and Reshism could be never be so relevant as now when finality of interpretation, intolerance, exclusivism, dogmatism, and totalizing metanarratives have plagued the world.

Because of the denial of intellectual intuition and revelation any nontextual supralinguistic knowledge postmodernists are unable to transcend the relativistic plane of language and thus be a mystic and thus are denied the deliverance by truth or self realization as understood in Sufism.

Postmodernists are unable to know or envision the possibility of that state where speech comes without words. Derrida rightly passes for an atheist so the station of a Sufi is not his prerogative.

The following prayer of Rumi is needed for postmodern man to proceed beyond skeptical nihilistic relativism. May God grant it for all those who are duped by secular or pagan deconstructionism.

O God grant me the station
where speech comes without words
with the soundless sound of existence
Ameen
that captures the silence that was before the Word

And with the following vakh of Lalla I conclude.

Search thy vain imaginings of thought:
let thy costly learning be destroyed:
meditating on the Self of Naught,
find the void that sinks, and lo! The Void
(Lalla)

--Concluded

(Dr M. Maroof Shah can be mailed at marooof123@yahoo.com)

Ragas, Raginis, Sufis and Sants*

UCLA Asia institute - Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Ragas, Raginis, Sufis, and Sants: Reading North Indian Music History in a Sufi Epic of 1503.
A lecture by Allyn Miner, Visiting Professor from the University of Pennsylvania* *

The Mrgavati is an epic written in the colloquial language of the Jaunpur area in central north India in 1503. Its richly imagined depiction of a court music performance is the starting point for this paper, which follows a web of references in Sanskrit, Hindi, and Persian sources relating to emerging developments in performance practice at the time and place.

This initial exploration of courtly, Sufi, and Hindu devotional milieus traces developments in raga and genre formation that would help shape later north Indian music culture. In a broader sense it is an exercise in reading music history in a moment of the distant past through the framework of contemporaneous sources.

Dr. Miner received a Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University for her work on the early history of the sitar and sarod. She began a performance career at that time, appearing in a number of cities and on All India Radio before her return to the U.S. In 1985 she began performance training under Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

She joined the Department of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania as a Lecturer in 1988 while pursuing a Ph.D. in Sanskrit. She received her degree in 1994 from the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies for her dissertation on a 14th-century musicological text from Gujarat.

Miner has pursued an active teaching, research, and performance career. She teaches a roster of popular courses on South Asian classical and regional music and dance at Penn and has been visiting faculty at a number of other institutions including the University of Washington, New York University, and Temple University.

** Dr. Miner’s appointment at UCLA is made possible through funding provided by the Mohindar Brar Sambhi Chair in Indian Music.

Date: Friday, May 11, 2007
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Gamelan Room1659 Schoenberg Music BuildingUCLALos Angeles, CA 90095

Special Instructions:
Parking in UCLA Parking Lot 2: $8 (corner of Hilgard Avenue and Westholme Avenue).
Tel: 310-206-3033 www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant_Mat

Keeping Muslim tourists in mind

By Manisha Sharma - Hindustan Times - New Delhi, India

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

After promoting the Buddhist circuit to woo international tourists, the Uttar Pradesh government has now picked up a novel theme — ‘Chasing the Monsoons’ — to invite tourists from the Arab countries.

This is part of the Indian Tourism Ministry’s ‘Incredible India’ campaign that was launched as Integrated International Media Campaign in Arabian Travel Market Convention concluded in Dubai on May 7.

The media campaign was launched to promote India as a must-see tourist destination and focuses on both generic and niche areas to convert the country into a destination all year long.
In this campaign, Uttar Pradesh has invited tourists from Arab countries to UP to enjoy lush green environment and its unique circuits during the monsoon season.

(...)

In order to overcome the shortage in accommodation, efforts are on to build more hotel rooms in the next four years under the new state hotel policy, said Om Prakash, Tourism Principal Secretary. The new ‘Bed and Breakfast’ scheme has been launched to cater to the requirements of more tourists.

Besides infrastructure, the major destination for all tourists is Taj Mahal.

Keeping in mind Muslim tourists, importance has been given to the Sufi Circuit. The circuit includes Fatehpur Sikri, Rampur, Badaun, Bareilly, Lucknow, Kakori, Deva Sharif (Barabanki), Bahraich, Kichocha Sharif, Kade Shah - Kada (Kaushambi), Allahabad, Kantit Sharif (Mirzapur).

All these places have shrines (mazars) or birthplaces of famous Sufi saints. These places are being developed by the UP Tourism department.

[picture: The perfect symmetry of the Taj Mahalis reinforced by its reflection in a still pond. From: Humphrey & Vitesby
Sacred Architecture
Thorsons - ISBN 0-00-766240-8
p. 150]

God alone is really a witness

By Dr. M. Maroof Shah - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, India
Wednesday, 21 Rabi-Us-Sani 1428 AH / May 9, 2007

Silence not speech is the medium by which or through which we can experience the reality

It is acute awareness of God’s death that distinguishes postmodernity from modernity. God’s death means Truth is dead. Meaning is lost. Centre doesn’t hold. With the disappearance of true world which is the unseen world, the visible word also dies so to speak. It loses its meaning. Alienations, absurdism is the logical outcome Immanentism takes over. Finitude now suffocates man, Spirit dies.

The question is how can this God be reborn? Not the rhetoric or sophistry of theologian for the reign of conventional theology is almost over. Postmodern age saw the birth of negative theology and the death of God theology. When grand narrative of theology has become incredible how God as the Ground of Being can be still felt as living reality, as the Ground of our being? We are living in post-religious though post-secular age. Personal Godism doesn’t work. Nietzsche’s reading of recent history isn’t easily dismissible. God is really felt as dead (Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus) absent (Heidegger), on leave (Kafka), irrelevant (Sartre), absent (postmodern theologians).

This has culminated in the death of man as a logical corollary in postmdoernity. Meaninglessness, absurdism, relativism, scepticism – these are more characteristically post-modern phenomena.

It is Sufism that recovers Meaning, Truth, knowledge, certainty by denying all of them at the relative, phenomenal plane. It is interpretation of la illa all the way.

Ordinary Muslims or average believers of other religions that post a personal God have hardly ever realized the depth and significance of denial of gods. It is only through kufr that one can reach iman. One has to encounter darkness at the heart of existence, encounter the dark night of the soul and then only will the phase of affirmation come. Ahad Zagar has beautifully put it “kafir sapdith karum aqrar” (I believed after first disbelieving).

Iqbal has also emphasised this point. Those who don’t know darkness of doubt can’t fully appreciate God who is the Light of the World. God is realized after one realizes one’s nothingness, fana. Seeker of God, or subject must be extinguished in fana to reach baqa (subsistence in God).

God’s utter transcendence or even transcendence of transcendence demands rejection of all idolatry-idolatry of all words, all signifers or symbols, or subjects, of even God as Being who isn’t Absolute. Tawhid is so difficult for realization and that is why most people don’t believe or are kafirs and thus in hell in the Quranic parlance. Tawhid, especially the tawhid of the Elect or tawhid of Elect of the Elect is so rare and so hard to come by. “There is no god but God”, this statement of Islamic shahadah could be translated as “ There is no truth or reality but Truth or Reality.” There is no beauty but Beauty”.

Thus all relative truths are denied/ transcended in tawhidic perspective as it centres on the Absolute. God has to be seen as Absolute and non-God as relative so that one rightly understands Islamic shahadah. Sufi reading of tawhid also makes one subtle point which states that God alone is really a witness, shahid i.e., alone can say shahadah.

In Unitarian perspective since only one exists absolutely to and all else is strictly nothing and there is no duality of knower and knower, subject and object, I and thou so affirmation in the deepest sense of the word can come only from God Himself. It is Spirit in us which recognizes and thus becomes witness to the Spirit that is the essence of everything, that alone is absolute (it being Pure Consciousness).

For Nietzsche, the forefather of postmodernity there can’t be two gods – man and God. So either of them has to go, has to be killed. And he opted for the latter (killed God) so that man may live, so that his freedom his sovereignty could be affirmed. He said that man can’t afford not to be God and mangod has to be there when God is gone. And he posited the conception of Superman. And history is witness (history of postmodernism especially) that by killing God he paved the way of death of man. No Superman has arrived on the scene but only the devil or Superdevil. If God isn’t there who is the Ground of our being now can being be there?

Sufism squarely faces nihilism that is implied in the rejection of idolatry, in denying all relative truths, in denial of self or ego that exists in its own right. It denies the world. It denies all knowledge of the world. It denies self. It denies speech. It denies that there is any meaning in the world, any bliss in things finite, any beauty in the phenomenal or the perishable.

Vanity of vanities, all is Vanity in Sufi perspective. Everything perishes. All relative meanings, relative truths are denied as only Absolute is absolute. The Sufi transcends all the worlds all time and infected thought constructions. Postmodernism can’t go any farther. The Sufi denies that both God and non-God (man as self as ego) as independent “I” can) exist simultaneously.

It too recognizes the fact that Freedom and Knowledge are attributes of God only. But it proceeds beyond nihilism. It proceeds beyond God-man duality. It proceeds beyond the realm of the phenomena finitude or immanence or relativity to rest in Infinite transcendence, Absolute. He proceeds beyond all thought constructions to see Truth face to face, to live truth and be truth, Intellect perceives things without any distortion, any filtering medium in between because it is identical with Universal Intellect. Spirit getting purified from all that is not Spirit. Spirit perceives Spirit that alone really is.

All gods are denied but then the only God is affirmed. Indeed gods don’t exist. It is only our ignorance that posits them. When our perception is cleansed of all conditionings the truth of God appears with dazzling brilliance. In fact everything, all phenomena partake of the Truth, manifest Truth. God is the Light of the World and as Ghazali said the light of our eyes that perceives the world. The Aarif sees none but God. Thus he basks in the Truth. He finds only Beloved’s face everywhere. All creation, every atom, every leaf of grass praises Him. Cosmos becomes theophany, a revelation. Truth of that Supernal Sun gives truth and meaning to everything. There really exists nothing but Self and universe in its exteriorization.

Gnostic traces everything to Source. God is perceived also as Al-Zahir. So life becomes celebration, a feast as it is dance, play of God. There is no other but Self perceiving Self. To be true to Self is to be true to God. Sufism substitutes perfect man or Godman for Superman. And perfect man appropriates God/or is appropriated by God. So dualism disappears (though not the duality at the Creator/created axis which however is itself situated in the Divine Relativity rather than the Absolute doesn’t and can’t disappear at that plane. Man remains man and God remains God; they can’t become one. But this duality needn’t be absolutizes as dualism that subsists even in the Suptraformal Essence).

One can easily declare (though it isn’t declaration of self or man but really God who is declaring this as He alone is ) “I Am,” “I am the Truth,” “Glory to Me.”

One discovers God within Self in its own beloved. God perceives Himself in the mirror, Love celebrates itself. Nothing exists save Self. The Aarif sees with the eye of certainty. As realm of time and thought is transcended only pure perception, pure awareness, awareness of what is remains.

Infinite appears, Unknown dawns. Everything becomes blissful.

One is joyous with the whole of existence. Every beautiful thing expresses Beauty of the Beloved. By surrendering our self we get liberated by the Infinite. By overcoming subject-object duality knower known duality utter certainty is achieved.

One becomes what one knows. So postmodern critique of knowledge obtained by a subject through reason is bypassed though acknowledged at its own level. The Sufi agrees with postmodernist in his distrust of reason (aql-i-juzyi) and thought or language. But the Sufi sees everything in the light of Eternity, Time thus becomes moving image of Eternity. Meaning and purpose can be only in Eternity, not in time.

Postmodernist can’t step outside time. Time is the unceasing haemorrhage of existence in postmodern world of Beckett. If Eternity doesn’t appropriate/ground time it becomes intolerable, meaningless. Time couldn’t be vilified if it is from God. The question of meaning and purpose doesn’t arise from the perceiver of Absolute and Eternity. The Sufi is ibn al waqt [son of the moment].

But thereby he is also outside time. He is innocent of becoming. Question of future doesn’t arise for him. All he sees is God or Truth because he has disappeared as a seer; only God sees through him.

He lets Reality overcome reality and thus gets dealienated. Grounded in the infinite he can’t be other than Infinite. Part of the infinite is also infinite. Infinite is Truth as seeker of Truth has disappeared and truth isn’t something out there but our very subjectivity, our deepest Self. So scepticism has no room in the Sufi perspective.

The Sufi grants that one can’t know the Truth in its absoluteness by the signs. He denies the seeker so only Truth remains. Both knower and known disappear and only the pure experience of knowing remains. The Sufi is a watcher or pure witness. He allows existence or Reality or Truth (Real is equated with Truth in East and Islam though not in West and Truth isn’t reduced to property of propositions also in the East) to speak, having surrendered/transcended himself. He becomes a hollow bamboo, a flute on which God plays the notes.

In silence is revealed the treasure that God is. He becomes void, (kahyni) to live the Void (negative divine or transcendence appears as void or nothingness to conceptual intellect though not to the intuition for which it is Zahir, the most Real) This silence is because one can’t speak with human tongue of the Ineffable, of the Unconditioned. “Absolute has never been defiled by human speech”. How could it be?

Since nothing answers the question what is It as al-Jili says one has to be silent. One has to let the sound go, the mind go, the imagination go as Lalla says.( At the level where speech comes without words sectarian denominations are denied by both Saivism and Reshism, so Lalla’s theological position need not here concern our argument). Of what one can’t speak one should be silent.

We will focus on the Reshi/Sufi perspective (if one could at all say perspective in case of Sufism because Sufi vision) which transcends all seeing, all imagining, all visualising, all constructions of thought and thus all perspectives on Reality. The Sufi doesn’t talk about Reality or God but talks Reality or God. He transcends the realm of “about” which theology is unable to do. That is why the Sufi doesn’t need to interpret and wrangle about the question of interpretation. He isn’t caught up in textual world at all. He lives truth, is truth.

He doesn’t need mediation of language. He is pure awareness, prereflective prelinguistic awareness.

He has become a mirror as mind and separating principle of thought has disappeared. Seer and seen has disappeared and only seeing is there. Language doesn’t enter. No metaphysics of presence is there. No centralism.

The Sufi is cantered in God and thus in Nothingness or Void. God being not the name of a thing, a person, an entity and substance, a being, among other beings. God is Reality, Is-ness in wahdatul wajudi (which is not synonymous with pantheism pace what certain shuhudi critics and orientalists think as it emphasises transcendence of God unequivocally) perspective. He is Pure Consciousness. He eludes all apprehension.

One can well say He is not because Nothing is naught, blank, void to the conceptual intellect.

Nothing is like Him. He signifies, in a way, impossibility of all signification. Nothing can describe Him.

We shall elaborate this theme of unknowability of Absolute and vanity of all reasoning to show how Sufism escapes (and corrects in turn) postmodern agnosticism and critique.

II--To be concluded

9,380-item Mevlana's bibliography on a CD

Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

National Library marks Year of Mevlana

The Turkish National Library in Ankara has prepared a Mevlana bibliography to mark the 800th anniversary of the birth of 13th-century Sufi saint and poet Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, celebrated throughout the world as the Year of Mevlana.

The 9,380-item bibliography is featured on a CD and consists of Mevlana's own writings as well as books and articles on the life and works of the Sufi saint.

International Symposium on Mevlânâ Celâleddîn Rûmî

Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Culture and Tourism - Istanbul, Turkey
Tuesday, May 8, 2007

1. GÜN / FIRST DAY
8 MAY 2007

10.00 – 12.30

Açılış Konuşmaları / Opening Ceremony
(Atatürk Kültür Merkezi / Atatürk Cultural Center) İSTANBUL

Esin Çelebi Bayru (Hz. Mevlânâ’nın 22. Kuşaktan Torunu )
Atilla Koç (Kültür ve Turizm Bakanı)
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Başbakan)

Açılış Tebliğleri / Keynote Speakers
Prof. Dr. Kenan Gürsoy
Prof. Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr

************************************
14.00 – 15.30
The Etap Marmara Hotel

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Hilmi Yavuz

WILLIAM CHITTICK İhtiyaç ihtiyacı / The Need for Need
JAMES WINSTON MORRIS; Aşk Denizine Açılmak: Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevî’sinde “Kader Sırrı” / Navigating the Sea of Love: The “Secret of Destiny” in Rumi’s Masnavi.
İBRAHİM KALIN; Mevlânâ ve Çağdaş Felsefe / Rumi and Contemporary Philosophy.
ANDREY SMIRNOV; Şeytan ve Yokluk; Mevlânâ’nın Ahlak Düşüncesi İçin Bir Ontoloji Arayışı / Evil and non-existence: in search of an ontology for Rūmī’s ethical reasoning.
PABLO BENEITO; Yorumlama Yolculuğu: Tasavvufî şiir ve hermönetik ilmi arasında mütekabil sözcükler / The Journey of Interpretation: Lexical inter-reference in Sufi poetry and hermeneutics.

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Kenan Gürsoy

LEYLİ ANVAR ép.CHENDEROFF; Mevlânâ’nın Hoşgörü Tavrı : Musa ve Çoban Hikayesini Okuyuş / Rumi and the notion of tolerance: a reading of the story of Moses and the Sheperd.
MOHAMMAD FAGHFOORY; Aşk Peygamberi: Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevi ve Divan-ı Kebir’inde Hz. İsa / Prophet of Love: Jesus in the Masnawi and the Divan-i Kabir of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi.
ADNAN ASLAN; Mevlana’da Çoğulculuk / Pluralism in Rumi.
NURİ ŞİMŞEKLER ; Mevlana’nın Öğretileriyle Zıtlarla Yaşamayı Öğrenmek / With Rumi’s thought to learn how to live together with opposites.
İSMAİL TAŞPINAR; Mesnevi’de Erken Dönem Hıristiyanlık ve Pavlus / Early Christianity and St.Paul in Rumi’s Masnawi.

SALON 3
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Mahmud Erol Kiliç

MUSTAFA TAHRALI; Ahmed Avni Konuk’un Mesnevi-i Şerif Şerhinde İbn Arabi / Ibn Arabi in Ahmed Avni Konuk’s Commentary on Masnawi.
STEPHEN HIRTENSTEIN; Manevi Fakr ve İlahi Gına: Mevlana ve İbn Arabi’nin Öğretilerinin Mukayeseli Diyalektiği / Spiritual Poverty And Heavenly Riches: A comparative dialectic in the teachings of Rumi and Ibn ‘Arabi.
MUHAMMAD SUHEYL UMAR; Mevlânâ ve Vahdet-i Vücûd: Müşehedât ve Teemmülât / Rumi and Wahdat al-Wujud: Observations and Insights.
EKREM DEMİRLİ; Mevlana’yı İbnü’l-Arabî Gözüyle Yorumlamak: İbnü’l-Arabî ve Mevlana’da Bazı Ortak Kavramlar / Interpreting Rumi From Ibn Arabi’s Perspective: Common Concepts.
MÜFİT YÜKSEL; Mevlana-Sadreddin-i Konevi İlişkileri Bağlamında Konevi’nin Mevlana’ya Yazdığı Arapça Takriz / Qonevi’s Arabic Preface to Rumi’s Work.

SALON 4
Başkan / Chairman : Doç. Dr. Ahmet Arı

GHOLAMREZA AAVANI; Mesnevi’de Aşk / Love in Mathnavi.
İBRAHİM EMİROĞLU; Mevlânâ’da Aşkı İfade Etme İmkânı ve Aşk Betimlemeleri / Possibilities of Expression of Love in Rumi.
ASHK P. DAHLÉN; Mevlânâ’nın Aşk Anlayışı / Rumi’s Concept of Love.
ADNAN KARAİSMAİLOĞLU; Bilgin, Arif, Âşık ve Şair Mevlânâ / Rumi : As a scholar, areef, lover and poet.
DİLAVER GÜRER; Mesnevî’nin Son Hikâyesi Işığında Aşkın Sonsuzluğu Ya Da Anlatılmazlığı; Mesnevî Neden Sonlandırılmamıştır? / In the Light of Last Story of Masnawi The Eternity of Love or It’s Unspokenness.

Ara / Coffee Break

15.45 – 17.15

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Bakri Alauddin

AHMET YAŞAR OCAK; Mevlânâ’yı doğru anlamak üzerine / On the true understanding of Rumi.
STEFFEN STELZER; Mevlânâ’yı Anlamak: Fihi Ma Fihi’den Dersler / Understanding Rumi: Lessons from Fihi Ma Fihi.
OSMAN NURİ KÜÇÜK; Günümüzde Mevlânâ’yı Anlama Sorunu / The Problem of Undestanding Rumi Today.
ALAN GODLAS; Mevlânâ’nın Dünya Görüşünün Sistematik ve Tutarlı Bir Anlayışına Doğru / Towards a Systematic and Coherent Understanding of Mevlana’s World View.
H. NUR ARTIRAN; Mevlânâ’yı Anlamak / Understanding Rumi.

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Abdulkarim Soroush

ERKAN TÜRKMEN Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevi’sinin Evrenselliği / Universality of Rumi’s Masnavi
KABIR HELMINSKI Mânevî Algılama: Dinin Aslının Aslı / Spiritual Perception: The Root of the Root of Religion
AFFAN SELJUQ Mevlânâ ile beraber mânevî âlemi gezmek / Visiting the Spiritual World with Rumi
CAMILLE HELMINSKI Cennet Müşâhedesi / Witnessing the Garden
NAHID SHAHBAZI Simyacının Aşkı / Alchemist Love

SALON 3
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Arif Naushahi

SALIM HOTLANI; Mevlânâ’nın Şiirlerinde Ney İmgesi / The Image of Flute in Rumi’s Poetry
NECİP FAZIL DURU; Mevlevi Şairlerde Ney Metaforu / The Metaphore of Nay in Mawlavi Poetry
IRAJ DADASHI; Mevlânâ’da Sanat ve Şiir Teorisi / Theory of Art and Poem in Mevlana
CANER DAĞLI; Mevlânâ’nın Şiirlerinde Sûret ve Mânâ / Form and Meaning in the Poetry of Rumi
SYED REZA FEIZ; Mevlânâ’nın Eserlerinde Öz ve Suret / The substance and the form in Rûmî’s works.

SALON 4
Baskan / Chairman : Prof. James Morris

AVID IQBAL; Mevlânâ’nın `Muaviye ve İblis” hikayesi ile İkbal’in “Şeytan’ın Parlementosu”nu mukayeseli bir inceleme / A Comparative Study of Rumi’s “Muawiya and Iblis” with Iqbal’s “Satan’s Parliament
CARL ERNST; Çoğa İşaret Eden Az: Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevî’sinin Dîbâcelerinin Yapısı ve Mânâsı / A little indicates much; “Structure and meaning in the prefaces of Rumi’s Masnavi”
MUHAMMAD ISA WALEY; Mesnevî’nin 6 Defterinin Dîbâceleri: Muhteva ve Mesaj / The Prefaces to the six Daftars of the Masnavi: their content and message
SEYED SAFAVI; Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevî’sinin 3. Defterinin Yapısı / “The Structure of Book Three of Rumi’s Mathnawi”
HURMETJAN ABUDUREHEMAN; Mesnevî-i Mânevî’den Mesnevî-i Harabâtî’ye / From The Mathnawi Ma'nawi to The Mathnawi Harabati

II. GUN / SECOND DAY
9 MAY 2007

09.00 – 10.30

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Dr. Mohammad Faghfoory

PAUL BALLANFAT; Mesnevî ve Kur’an / Masnavi and Qur’an
OMID SAFI; “Bizler Nûr-ı Muhammedî Vârisleriyiz”: Mevlânâ’nın Hz. Muhammed ile İrtibatının Tabiatı üzerine / "We are the Inheritors of the Light of Muhammad": On the Relationship of Mawlana Rumi to the Prophet Muhammad (S).
MARIANA MALINOVA; Mevlânâ’nın Hz. Muhammed İmajındaki Dinamizm: Nübüvvetten Müşahede Makamına / The dynamics in the image of Muhammad in the writings of Jalal ad-Din Rumi: From the prophesy to the station of seeing
DENIS GRIL; Mevlânâ’nın Yedi Meclis’ine Göre Sünnet-i Nebevî Kavramı / The Concept of Sunna, according to Rûmî’s Majâlisi-sab‘a
DERYA ÖRS; Mevlana’nın Eserlerinde Bir “İnsan-ı Kamil” Örneği Olarak Hz. Muhammed / Prophet Muhammad: As a model of Perfect Man in the works of Rumi.

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Baha Tanman

HAŞİM KARPUZ; Evliya Çelebi’nin Ziyaret Ettiği Mevlevihaneler / The Mawlawi Lodges that Awliya Chelebi Visited
OMAR TADMORI; Trablus Mevlevîhânesinin Tarihi / The History of the Mawlawiyya Takiyah of Tripoli/Lebanon
KHALED TADMORI; Trablus Mevlevîhânesinin Mimarisi ve Restorasyon Projesi / The Architecture of the Takiyah al-Mawlawiya in Tripoli and Its Restoration Project
SAWSAN AGHA KASSAB; Yabancı Tarihçi ve Seyyahlar Gözüyle Trablus Mevlevîhânesi / The Takiyah al-Mawlawiya of Tripoli in the Memory of Foreign Historian & Visitors

SALON 3
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. William Chittick

FLEUR NASSERY BONNIN; Mevlânâ’nın Şiir Denizinde İnciyi Aramak / In Search of the Pearls in the Ocean of Moulana’s Poetry
VASIM MAMMADALIYEV; Bir Sufi Şiir Ansiklopedisi Olarak Mesnevî / Masnavi is a poetic sufi encyclopedy
GIUSEPPE SCATTOLIN; Sufi Metinleri Okumak Üzerine: İbn Farız ile Mevlânâ’nın Mistik Tecrübeleri / Reading Sufi Texts: Between Ibn al-Fârid's and Rumi's Mystical Experience
PILAR GARRIDO; Her nesnenin kökeni: harfler, kelimeler, sözler / The root of all things: letters, words, speech

SALON 4
Baskan / Chairman: Prof. Zeren Tanındı

MANDANA BARKESHLI Mesnevî Yazmalarının Tesbit, Tasnif ve Dijitalleştirme Projesi / Project of Identification, Cataloging and Digitization of Manuscripts of Rumi's Masnavi
TEVFIK SUBHANI; Divan-ı Kebir`in Mühim Bir Nüshası / An Important Manuscript of Dîwan-ı Kebîr.
SEYYED MOHAMMAD ALI ABHARI İran Meclis Kütüphanesi’nde Mevlânâ’nın Eserlerinin Yazma Nüshaları / The manuscript copies of works of Maulana in Majles Library I.R.Iran
AKBAR IRANI GHOMI Abdüllatif-i Abbasî’nin Nüshasının Tanıtılması / Introducing of Noskheye Nasekhey By Abdol latife Abbasi
KAZIM HADZIMEYLIC Bosna Hersek’te Nadir Mevlevi El Yazmaları Some Rare Mawlavi Manuscrıpts in Bosnia.

10.45 – 12.15

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Dr. Burhan Köroğlu

CLARA JANES NADAL Yıldızların Dönüşünden Kelimelerin Dönüşüne / From the Spinning of the Stars to the Spinning of the words
NASROLLAH POURJAVADY Mevlânâ’nın Neynâmesi / Rumi's nay-nama
MOHAMED SAID AL MAWLAWI Mevlânâ’nın Düşünceleri ve Dönmenin (sema) felsefesi üzerine şahsî yorumlarım / A personal interpretation of Rumi’s Teachings and the Philosophy of rotation
IRA FRIEDLANDER Mevlânâ: Gizli Hazine / Rumi, The Hidden Treasure (Bir filim)

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Pablo Beneito

GHASEM KAKAEI Vahdet-i Vücûd’a Dair Bir Mesnevî Beytini Muhtelif Okuma Arayışları / Surveying Different Readings of a Verse of Mathnavi on "Unity of Being" (Wahdat al-Wujud
VICTOR PALLEJA DE BUSTINZA; Mevlânâ ve İbn Arabî: Bir Ortak Doktrin ? Eşyânın Tabiatı üzerine Husbaniyye ve Sofistler / Mevlana Rûmî and Ibn 'Arabî: A shared doctrine? The “husbaniyya” and the “sofists” on the nature of reality
MOHAMED MESBAHI Mevlânâ’nın Tevhid Fikri / The idea of unity in Jâlâleddin Rumi
MULYADHI KARTANEGA Mevlânâ’nın Evrim Teorisi (Molla Sadra, Darvin, Bergson ve Ian Barbour ile Mukayeseli Olarak) / Rumi's Theory of Evolution (in comparison with Mulla Sadra, Darwin, Bergson, and Ian Barbour
SAFER AKHTAR ______________

SALON 3
Baskan / Chairman : Prof. Ali Köse

ERIC GEOFFROY Éva de Vitray-Meyerovitch (Havva Hanım) (1909-1999), Mevlânâ’nın Bir Fransız Şârihi / Éva de Vitray-Meyerovitch (1909-1999), Rûmî’s French interpreter
GRAY HENRY-BLAKEMORE Haylazlıklar ve Ümid: Hayatın Lütufları İçerisinde Mevlânâ’nın Gösterdiği Hakikatler / Self-Naughting and Trust: Truths Rumi Conveys Gradually Demonstrated through Life's Graces
PETER HANS CUNZ Avrupa Bağlamında Mevlevî Tarikatı / The Mewlana Order in an European Context
AMINA TESLIMA AL JERRAJI & MARIA DEL CARMEN NOZAL México’da Mevlânâ Kokusu / Scent of Mevlana in México
NATALIA CHALISOVA Rusya’da Mevlâna: Tercüme Öyküsü / Rumi in Russia: the story of translation

SALON 4
Başkan / Chairman : Doç. Dr. Necdet Tosun

NUR SARALAEV Mevlana’nın Orta Asya’daki Tesirleri / The Influence of Rumi in Central Asia
THIERRY ZARCONE Orta Asya ve Dogu Türkistan’da Mesnevi-yi Şerif / Masnawi in Central Asia and Eastern Turkistan
IBROHIM HAKULOV Mevlânâ’nın hayatı ve eserlerinin Özbekistan’da tetkik edilmesi / The Study of Rumi’s Life and Works in Uzbekistan
JAMAL KAMALOV Mesnevî’nin Farsça’dan Özbekçe’ye Tercümesi Üzerine / On the translation “Masnavi-i Manawi” from Farsi into Uzbek.
NODIRKHON KHASANOV Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevi’si ve Babarahim Meşreb'in 'Mebde-i Nur' isimli eseri / Masnawi and Babarahim Mashrab’s “Mabda-i Nur”


14.00 – 15.30

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Dr. Thierry Zarcone

SACHIKO MURATA Çince İslam’da Sûret ve Mânâ / Form and Meaning in Chinese-language Islam
MUSTAFA ZAMAN ABBASI Bengal Tasavvuf Geleneğinde Mevlânâ’nın Görüntüsü / Rumi Viewed in Bengali Sufi Tradition
NATALIA PRIGARINA Mevlânâ’nın Mesnevîsinin Dîbâcesinin Bir Devamı Olarak Gâlib’in “Surme-i Çeşm” Mesnevîsi / Mirza Ghalib’s Mathnavi “Surma-i chashm” as tatabbu‘ (“following”) to the Mevlana Rumi’s Introduction to Masnavi
SHAHZAD QAISER Bilginin Metafiziği (Mevlânâ, İkbal ve Hace Gulam Ferid) / Metaphysics of Knowledge (Jalaluddin Rumi, Iqbal and Khawaja Ghulam Farid)
SAFİ ARPAGUŞ Ahmed Avni Konuk’un Mesnevî-i Şerif Şerhi’nde Hint Şârihleri / Masnawi Commentators from the Subcontinent in Ahmad Avni’s Commentary

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Doç. Dr. Halil İbrahim Sarıoğlu

MOHAMMAD KHAJAVI; Muasır İnsan Üzerine Mevlânâ’nın Çalışmaları / Rumi’s Work on Modern Man.
SEYED MOHSEN EMADI Bir Buluşmanın İmkanı ve İmkansızlığı (Şems ve Mevlânâ) / Possibilities and Impossibilities of a meeting (Shams and Molana)
KERIM ZAMANİ; Mevlânâ’nın İrfanı / Mysticism of Rumi
MOHAMMAD ALI MOVAHHED Makâlât-ı Şems-i Tebrîzî’de bulunan bir Mektub Üzerine Yeni Bir Teklif / A New Suggestion Concerning a Letter Contained in Maqalat-i Shams-i Tabrizi.
JANIS ESOTS Şems ve Mevlânâ: İki Çeşit Fenâ Bulma / Shams and Mawlana: Two kinds of Annihilation

SALON 3
Baskan / Chairman : Prof. Nasrollah Porjavady

RUSMIR MAHMUTCEHAYIC Hâlidî Hikmette Aşk / Love in Perennial Philosophy
JAWID MOJADDEDI Tasavvuf Geleneğinde Mevlânâ’nın Yeri / Mawlana’s Place in the Sufi Tradition
ABU SYED GOLAM DASTGIR Dünya Barışı İçin Mevlânâ’nın İlahî Aşkı / Mowlana Rumi’s Divine Love for World Peace
KONUL BUNYADZADA Mevlânâ’nın Işığında Muasır İnsan / Modern Man in the Light of Mawlana
MUSTAFA AŞKAR Hz. Mevlânâ’da İnsan Anlayışı ve İnsanın Kozmik Âlemdeki Yeri / Rumi’s Understanding of Man and His Place in Cosmos

SALON 4
Başkan / Chairman : Doç. Dr. İbrahim Kalın

ABDULKARIM SOROUSH Mevlânâ: Adalet ve Cömertlik / Rumi; Justice or Generosity
SHARAM PAZOUKI Kılıçsız Öldürme: Mesnevi’de Manevi Cihad / Killing without sword; the concept of spiritual Jihad in the Mathnawi
JOSEPH LUMBARD Mevlânâ’ya Göre Cihad / Jihad According to Rumi
GERHARD BOWERING Klasik Tasavvufî Metinlerde Ahd-i Misak Günü / The Day of Covenant in Classical Sufi Writings
SYED FARID ALATAS Mevlânâ ve Aşırılığa Karşı Muasır Mücadele / Rumi and the Contemporary Struggle Against Extremism

15.45 – 17.15

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Dr. Barihuda Tanrikorur

AMIR HOSSEIN ZEKRGOO; Semâ’ ve Mandala: Ezoterik Bir Yaklaşım / Sufi Sama and the concept of Mandala: An Esoteric Approach
WALTER FELDMAN; Mevlevî âyininde mistisizm, hafıza ve tarih / Mysticism, Memory and History in the Mevlevi Ayin
MUSTAFA ÇIPAN; Mevlevîliğin “Çile”li Şehrâhında Vücut Bulan “Üç Selîm”in Saltanat, Edebiyat ve Mûsıkîmizdeki Tezâhürleri (III. Selim-Şeyh Gâlib-Dede Efendi) / Three Selim in Mawlavi Way and Their Impacts on Government, Literature and Musics (III. Selim, Sheikh Ghalib and Dede Effendi)
NURİ ÖZCAN; Mevlevi Ayinlerinde Beste ve Güfte Özellikleri / The Charecteritics of Compositions and Texts of Mawlavi Ceremonies

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Doç. Dr. Reşat Öngören

ARIF NAUSHAHI Sevâkıb-ı Menâkıb: Mevlânâ Üzerine Nâdir Bir Kaynak / Savakeb Almanaqeb: A Rare Source About Mevlana
OMAR BENAISSA Câmî’nin Nefehâtü’l-üns’ünün Mevlânâ Kısmı / The entry Rumi in the Nafahât al-Uns of Jâmî”
SAYFIDDIN RAFIDDINOV Mevlânâ ve Alişîr Nevâî / Mevlana Rumi and Alisher Navoi
ANNABEL KEELER Mevlânâ ve Beyazıd-ı Bestâmî: Mesnevî’de Menkıbevî Anlar / Rumi and Bayazid: hagiographical moments in the Masnavi-yi ma’navi
H. KAMİL YILMAZ Rûhû’l-Beyân’da Mesnevî / Masnawi in Bursevi’s Ruh al-Bayan

SALON 3
Başkan / Chairman : Doç. Dr. Süleyman Derin

HOTAM ASOEV Mevlânâ’nın Aşk Öğretisi ve Seyyid Ali Hemedânî Üzerine Tesiri / Mawlawi's Teaching on Love and Its Influence on Seyyed Ali Hamadani
ALICE HUNSBERGER Mevlânâ’da ve Nasır-ı Hüsrev’de Akıl Kavramı / The Concept of Reason (`Aql) in Rumi and Nasir Khusraw
ALADDIN BAKRI Mevlânâ ve Abdülganî Nablûsî / Mevlana in the Abdal Gani Nabulsi
CİHAN OKUYUCU Aşık Paşanın Garipnamesinde Mesnevi Tesirleri / Masnawi’s Impact on Ashik Pasha’s Garibnama.
RASHID JUMAEV Mevlânâ ve Peyvendi Rızâî / Mawlana Rumi and Payvandi Rizai

SALON 4
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak

AHMET ARI Mevleviliğin Kütahya’dan İstanbul’a Yolculuğu / The Journey of Mawlaviyya from Kutahya to Istanbul
EKREM IŞIN İstanbul’da Mevlevilik / Mawlaviyya in Istanbul
MEHMET AKKUŞ & NESİMİ YAZICI Mevlânâ Muhibbi Sultan V. Mehmed Reşad’ın Konya’ya Gönderdiği Mevlevî Heyetinin Günlüğü ( 4-12 Haziran 1912) / The Diary of Mawlavi Delagation sent by a Rumi Lover Sultan (V. Rashad) to Konya
SEZAİ KÜÇÜK Ortak Kader: Osmanlının Son Yılları Ve Mevlevilik / A Common Destiny: Last Days of Ottoman Empire and Mawlavi Order
MEHMET DEMİRCİ; Mevlânâ’nın 20. yüzyıl Türk fikir ve sanat adamlarına etkisi: Yahya Kemal Örneği / Rumi’s Impact on Contemporary Turkish Thinkers and Artists: The case of Yahya Kemal

Ara / Coffee Break

17.30 – 19.00

SALON 1
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Cihan Okuyucu

İSMAİL YAKIT Mevlana’da Aşk Ahlakı / Rumi’s Ethic of Love
ROBERT FRAGER Mevlânâ: 21. Yüzyılın Mânevîyât Rehberi / Mevlana: Spiritual Guide for the 21st Century
SÜLEYMAN DERİN Mevlana’nin Mesnevi’sinde Psikolojik Yaklaşımlar / Psychological Aproaches in Rumi’s Masnawi
MICHAELA OZELSEL Mevlânâ’nın Felsefesinin Psikolojik Yönleri / Psychological Aspects of Hz. Mevlana’s Philosophy
NEVAD KAHTERAN Dönüşen İslam Çağında Mevlânâ’nın Aşk Felsefesi / Rumi's philosophy of Love in the era of U-turned Islam

SALON 2
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Adnan Karaismailoğlu

HÜSEYİN HATEMİ Mevlânâ Düşüncesinin Evrenselliği ve İslâmîliği / Universality and Islamity of Rumi’s Thought
SYED REZAUL KARIM Mevlânâ’nın Küllî Akıl Kavramı / Rumi’s Concept of Universal Intelligence
YUSIF RUSTAMOV Mevlânâ’nın Düşünce Dünyası / The World of Thinking of Rumi
ADEM ESEN Mevlana’da İktisada Dair Görüşler / Rumi’s Thought on Economy
MEHMET DALKILIÇ Teolojik Sorunların Ele Alınmasında İyi Niyetlilik İlkesi -Mevlana’nın Bazı Klasik Kelam Sorunlarına Yaklaşımı- / The Principal of Good Intention in Aproaching to Theological Matters: Rumi’s approach to Classical Kelam Problems

SALON 3
Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Hasan Kamil Yılmaz

REŞAT ÖNGÖREN Mevlânâ’nın Osmanlı’ya Etkileri / Rumi’s Impact on Ottomans
NECDET TOSUN Mevlana ve Mevleviliğin Nakşbendi Kültüründeki İzleri / Rumi’s and His Way’s İmpact on on Naqshbendi Culture
MUSTAFA TATÇI Şabani Kaynaklarında Mevlana ve Mevleviler / Rumi and Mawlavis in Khalwati-Shabani Sources
MAHMUD EROL KILIÇ Ussakiler ve Mevlana / Rumi and Mawlavis in Khalwati-Ushshaqi Sources
NEZİH UZEL Son Mevleviler / Last Mawlavis

SALON 4
Başkan / Chairman : Dr. Omar Benissa

ERDOĞAN EROL Mevlevilikte Zikr Tesbihi / Rosary of Zekr in Mawlavi Order
BEKİR ŞAHİN Mevlevilikte Evrad Ve Dua / Awrad and Prayers in Mawlavi Order
ULDIS BERZINS Bizim Meclisimizde Birleşmek? / United ‘at our summits’?
ARIN ERMATOV Mevlana’nın Eserlerinde İnsan Düşüncesi / The Concept of Man in the Works of Rumi.
NASIR TAMARA; _____________


KONYA
MEVLÂNÂ KÜLTÜR MERKEZİ
11 MAY 2007

09.00 – 09.30

Protokol Konuşmaları

09.30 – 11.00

Başkan / Chairman: Prof. Mustafa Tahralı

YAKUP ŞAFAK Mesnevi tercüme ve şerhlerinin Türk kültüründeki yeri / The Place of Masnawi and Its Commentaries in Turkish Culture
SEMİH CEYHAN; Mesnevi’de Mana Düzeyleri: İsmail Rüsuhi Ankaravi’nin Mesnevi Tahkiki / The Degrees of Meaning in Masnawi: Anqaravi’s Commentary
BİLAL KEMİKLİ Mesnevi ve Türk İrfanı: Mesnevihanlık Geleneği Üzerine Bazı Değerlendirmeler / Masnawi and Turkish Gnosis: Some Thoughts on the tradition of Masnawi-Readers (Masnawihanlık).
AHMET GÜNER SAYAR Mesnevi Şarihi: Ahmet Avni Konuk” / Ahmad Avni Konuk: A Masnawi Commentator
CEMAL KURNAZ Ahmet Talat Onay’ın Eski Türk Edebiyatında Mazmunlar ve İzahı İsimli Ansiklopedik Eserinde Mevleviler ve Mevlevilik Kültürü / Mawlavis in Ahmad Talat Onay’s book called Enclopadia of The Names and Thoughts in Classical Turkish Literature

Ara / Coffee Break

11.15 – 12.45

Başkan / Chairman: Dr. Khaled Tadmori

NACİ BAKIRCI Konya Mevlevi Dergahı / Rumi’s Dergâh in Konya
GIUSEPPE FANFONI Semahane Mimari Tipolojisinin Tarihsel Evrimi / Historical evolution of the Sama'khana architectural typology
BARİHÜDA TANRIKORUR Mevlevi Sema’ının Bugün İhya Edilmesinde Unutulan Bir Temel Unsur: Semâhâne / The Major Missing Element in the Present Day Revival of the Mevlevî Semâ Ceremony: The Semâhane, Its Function and Architecture
İSMAİL KARA Hanya Mevlevihanesi / Mawlavikhana of Iraklio / Create
GÖKALP KAMİL Kıbrıs’ta Mevlevilik / Mawlaviyya Order in Cyprus

Öğle Yemeği / Lunch

14.00 – 15.30

Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Mehmet Demirci

MUSTAFA KOÇ Osmanlı’nın Son Döneminde Sultan Veled Üzerine Yapılan Bir Şerh: Halid Efendi’nin Işknâmesi / Khalid Affendi’s Ishqnama: A Late Ottoman Commentary on Sultan Valad.
HÜLYA KÜÇÜK Sultan Veled’in, Teozofik Tasavvuf Anlayışı ile Karışık Popülizmi / Sultān Walad’s Populism Mixed With a Theosophical Understanding of Sufism
İSMAİL GÜLEÇ Mesnevî’den bazı beyitlere tahmis yoluyla yapılan şerhler Commentaries on Some Masnawi’s Verses As Fifth Lines
HALİL İBRAHİM SARIOĞLU Mevlânâ’nın Rubâîlerinde Ölüm Teması / The Theme of Death in Rumi’s Quatrains

Ara / Coffee Break

15.45 – 17.15

Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Paul Ballanfat

HİCABİ KIRLANGIÇ; Divan-ı Kebir’de İmge ve Sembol / Symbol in Divan-ı Kabir
TURAN KOÇ ; Mevlana’nın Şiirinde Güzellik Tecrübesinin İfadesi / Expresions of The Experience of Beauty in Rumi’s Poetry
ERDAL BAYKAN Mevlana’da Aklın Sınırı ya da Cebrail ve Sidretül-Münteha / The Limits of Reason or Gabrael and Sidra al-Muntaha
EMİNE YENİTERZİ Mevlâna’nın İnsan, Melek ve Şeytan Üçgenine Dair Görüşleri / Rumi’s Thoughts on Man, Angel and Satan

12 MAYIS 2007 / 12 MAY 2007

10.00 – 11.30

Başkan / Chairman : Prof. Shams Freidlander

GÖNÜL AYAN Fihi MaFih’deki İktibasların Bir Değerlendirilmesi / An Evaluation of Some Quatations in Fihi Ma Fihi
MUSTAFA ÇİÇEKLER; Mevlana’nın Gazellerinde Bazı Mazmunlar / Some Implications in Rumi’s Lyrics
AYDIN ABBASOV; Mefkureciliğimizde Mevlânâ / Rumi in our Idealizm
METIN İZETİ; Hazreti Mevlana’nın Mesnevî‘sinde Hikmetin Kabul Edicisi olarak Kalb / The Heart: As a Receiver of Wisdom in Rumi’s Masnawi

Ara / Coffee Break

11.45 – 12.30

KAPANIŞ OTURUMU / FINAL SESSION

Başkan / Chairman : Mahmud Erol Kiliç

Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Ahmet Yasar Ocak
William Chittick
James Morris
Ekrem Işın
Nezih Uzel

Silence not speech

By Dr. M. Maroof Shah - Greater Kashmir - Srinigar, India
Sunday, May 6, 2007

Let go thy Books and the Sound retain:
Let go Sound— thy mind still undestroyed:
Let go thy Mind, and be naught thygain—
Just a void, that melts, and lo the Void
(Lalla) *

Remembering Reshism and Sufism in the Postmodern Age (I)

Silence not speech is the medium by which or through which we can experience the Reality.

Postmodernism could be and in fact has been interpreted/appropriated/implicated in diverse and often contradictory ways. Its contours are indefinable by definition. It resists all categorising attempts. It stands for nothing and everything.

(...)

The question now is how Sufism and its Kashmiri adaptation Reshism become relevant to postmodern world. To start with we shall first focus on the term Reshi (more broadly a Sufi) so as to argue that Reshism as Sufism is trans-historical nonexclusive all inclusive consciousness. It is not an interpretation (in propositional, conceptual, representational ideological format) of truth or reality but very truth or reality itself. He doesn’t advocate any doconstructable linguistic construct or ideology or theology but lives in the supraformal truth of Unitarian nondualistic consciousness of the reality or God. Reshi transcends all ages, all divisive sectarian ideologies.

He being a Sufi is son of the Moment (ibnul waqt) He no age could afford to be incredulous towards the truth that he lives by. He has no metanarrative to tell but the truth of God who is above all signification, who is Real, the Infinite or Existence (Wajud in Ibn Arabi’s sense) in its totality, both transcendent and immanent.

A few remarks on Kashmir and Rishi follow that will later be subsumed under the broader term Sufi. Heaven is the abode of saints and the abode of saints can’t be but beautiful. If there is any land where the order of eternity and the order of time, the heaven and the earth, intersect and overlap, where celestial lights illumines everything it is Kashmir. Kashmir is the garden of Reshis and Reshis’ garden is the Edenic garden.

Human soul knows no chronology and the Sufi’s journey is from preeternity to posteternity. Reshi, the sage, the self –realized one, the inspired poet, is the image of primordial man, the Adam. He has no history because he transcends history. The Light of Muhammad was there before the heavens and the earth were there. And the first Reshi was Ahmad Reshi(SAW). And Ahmad, from metaphysico-mystical viewpoint is Logos, the Pole of Existence, the Principle of Manifestation. He brings into consciousness the archetype of God.

Thus the term Reshi should be seen as a “perspective, a standpoint, an archetype of certain dominant historical personalities and even dominant images, a way of looking at experience as a whole, a way of interpreting certain fundamental features of human existence.”

Shiekh-ul-Alam Shiekh Nuruddin (RA) has used the term Reshi in this universal transhistorical or metahistorical and transempirical sense. This is evident in his famous eulogiazation of the ‘legendry’ Reshis. He wants to convey something more valuable than an elementary historical definition of the term. Mystical quest is perennial. In this sense one could well argue that Reshi movement didn’t originate in the 14th century but has been always there. Consciousness has no beginning in time, rather it creates time and history. The Reshi is name of this consciousness.

Reshi lives in eternity, in timeless moment. The writer of this essay strongly disagrees with traditional historical approach to phenomenon of Reshism which belong more to metahistory than history and it is only metahistoric or transhistoric dimension of the Reshi movement that makes it perennially relevant. Origin and evolution of Reshi movement should be discussed in terms of its metahistorical archetypal image rather than in purely historical terms.

The Reshi lets his self go so that the Absolute speaks. He is not in time and sees from the perspective of eternity. He lives God not as a proposition of belief but as living consciousness.

In fact for a Sufi only God is; he is not (as a separate self, a subject). So Nietzsche’s infamous declaration of the death of God that is a defining feature of postmodern consciousness has no meaning for him. He is dead before God or Reality or Truth. And he finds ground of his freedom and life (that Nietzsche wanted to safeguard against exoteric dualist theology’s God) in Infinite Divine Spirit that is not his but that is in him.
(To be concluded)

* About Lalla (d. aft. 1353): http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/lalla.html

"Sufism is nothing but Love" and "Sufism is the essence of Shariah"

By Xari Jalil - The International News - Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday, May 5, 2007

For Kenan and his band, the Choir Hazrati Hamza, there was no dargah where he started from, with his sufi music. Instead, they got in touch with Sufism during the Bosnian War in the mid-90s, to seek inner peace and relief from the terror that had been spread in their country.

“We were forlorn during that time and we were teenagers. We started singing sufi music, and it was then that we got in touch with our inner self and understood the real meaning of Sufism,” says Kenan. The rest of the band nods is concurrence, and smile wistfully at their individual memories of that time.

The third day of the Mystic Music Sufi Festival went well, as more people showed up to listen to the delightful music being played by each and every one of the carefully selected artistes, both local and international.

Organised by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, this is the sixth consecutive sufi festival. Most have been held in Lahore and this is the first being held in Karachi, much to the appreciation of sufi music lovers here. The festival is to continue for a total of four days.

Fakir Abdul Wahid Jamali and his friends from Nawabshah have come from the mazar of Fakir Mohammad Fakir Kathian. Dressed in their bright orange robes adorned with the typical beads around their necks, the Jamali group sang kaafis during their performace written by Kamtil Fakir and Sachal Sarmast. But this is not their first performance. They say they have been to Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, Thailand, Maldives, New York and other European countries, and they immensely enjoyed performing there.

And as far as their opinion concerning Sufism is concerned, they say it is above all religions, because the message is of love, truth, and respect for life, whether the other is an animal or a human, and it does not matter whether another belongs to a religion different from one’s own.“The ‘head’ of a human is the ‘head’ of God,” he says metaphorically, “and Sufism is nothing but love, which should be held above everything else.”

Naseeruddin Saami and his sons, who excellently performed Nizamuddin Aulia’s work, along with Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s kalaam, claim to be part of the direct lineage of Khwaja Nizamaddun’s dargah. They say anyone else is either a student, or a student of a student or a fraud, because no one else has any mastery of khayal singing the way the Saami family does.

They belong to the Qawwal Bacha gharana and hold an individual style of classical music blended with the sufi qawwali style. Saami says that Sufism is the essence of Shariah, and that sufi music is the voice of pure love, and expression. The culture of vocalling is difficult and not everyone has managed to master it.

They also term commercial music nowadays as mere ‘noise’.
“Your voice is not to sell, or to buy,” says Saami. “It should be used to spread the message.”

Just as the Bosnian band agrees on their idea of Sufism as the elements of unity and peace combining together, Farouq Abbas from Morocco say that it is the emptying of one’s self of all material pleasures and to fill oneself instead with the beauty of spirit and soul.
His band is called Issaova or the Aissaoua Brotherhood.

Sufism is not for sale

By Shahid Shah - The International News - Karachi, Pakistan

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Mysticism or Sufism should not be a commodity for sale. Nor should this philosophy be confined to one religion.

It is a philosophy against the concept of religious extremism, which makes a person free from religious slavery and narrows the path between the Creator and creation, research scholars on Sufism told The News in regards to the Sufi Festival in the city.

Touted as the biggest event of its kind, the International Mystic Music Festival 2007 at Bara Dari has failed to attract Karachiites as well as mystic music lovers from other parts of the region.

The mystic music lovers in Sindh hold such events, pay the artistes, but still do not charge the audience. The annual ‘Urs’ of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Sachal Sarmast in Sindh attract hundreds of thousands devotees who pay nothing for listening to the spiritual music.

Despite the Rs20 million-grant announced by the Sindh Culture and Tourism Department for the event, charging Rs300 per ticket per day is considered commercialisation of spiritual philosophy. Every thing, including the schedule, is for sale over and above the Rs300 entry fee.

There are several technical mistakes too. Sufism and mysticism are two separate words with the same meaning. The name of the event should either have been Mystic or Sufi music festival. Similarly, the name of the Sindh province, its capital Karachi, and the second largest city, Hyderabad, have been separately mentioned on the printout available for Rs5.

The document should have either mentioned the origin city or the origin province of the artistes.

Although Sufism has no religious bounds, the event management failed to address this very essential spirit of the mystic philosophy. With exception to a few local non-Muslim artists (who also presented “kalam” of the Muslim poets), one would hardly find a non-Muslim name in the event. Even the only group from India is based on Muslim artists; Mazhar and Jawad Ali Khan.

Although ‘Hamd’ and ‘Naat’ are praise of Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), this type of poetry has nothing to do with Sufism, said Amb Gopang, a research scholar on Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s kalam “Shah-jo-Risalo,” besides other Sufism and religious philosophies.

The philosophy of Sufism originates from the Indus Civilization (in contemporary Sindh) some 4000 years ago, said Yousuf Shaheen, author of 12 books on religious and philosophical history including “Haq Maujood” that provides the pre-religion history of the world.

He said people from the Indus Valley had a concept of the one god, Varuna, who did not demand worship from the people. This thought provides the base for Sufism. Later, this philosophy was transferred to Sumer (today’s Iraq) through the scholars of the Indus Valley. Sargo, a great king and the first emperor of known history, came into the Indus Valley from Sumer and Akkad in 2150 BC. He went returned along with some scholars of the Indus valley.

God was not confined to a single religion then. It was not a bone of contention among the people, either.

The people of the Indus valley opened a centre in Ur, a city of Sumer, where they preached the concept of a single God. In the sub-continent, Buddha (500 BC), was one of the biggest Sufis. He followed the philosophy of four other Sufis called ‘four Wakas’ in history. Buddha tried to bring people out of religious slavery, said Shaheen.

He said the connection between God and humans is the basic spirit of Sufism. There is no role for middlemen and religions. Indeed, Sufism negates religions.

However, among Sufi philosophers born in Muslim families, the name of Hussain Bin Mansoor Hilaj (857- 922 AD) is at the top of the list. He was killed by the religious extremists of that time.

Anb Gopang said there were no boundaries of adopting singing or dancing in Sufism, but that the philosophy and the spirit of Sufism, which was against religious extremism, had the main role.

He said images of intoxicated opium addicts sitting at ‘dargahs’ (shrines of religious saints) was not the true picture of the philosophy.

Sufism is a secular and socialist philosophy, as famous Sufi of Sindh, Shah Inayat Shaheed (the martyr), said the person who sows would eat.

He said any event in the name of Sufism would be exploitation of the philosophy. The event, “should be total free. This (the ticket) is commercialisation,” he said.

Even though the event managers of the Sufi Festival have adopted the theme of religious harmony, can they (the managers) really achieve this theme by making the programme accessible to only a few elites in the city? Karachiites may have no answer.

[picture: Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum in Karachi]

The Lost Wilderness

By Cahil Marduff - Coastweek - Mombasa, Kenya

Issue N° 3018/Saturday, May 4-10, 2007

Each Chapter of "The Lost Wilderness" begins with a quotation from a Sufi master, such as Rumi, Saadi or Khayyam.

In fact Mohamed Ismail has studied Sufism for more than 32 years and often travels to Konya, in Turkey to observe 'The Whirling Dervishes' and to contemplate the transitory nature of human life.

I highly recommend this book, but not just to those with a professional interest in conservation nor a sentimental attachment to the tented safaris of East Africa during the three decades following World War 11, but to a much wider audience.

When still a young man, Mohamed Ismail became aware of the fragility of the wildlife of East Africa.

"The ties that exist between the elements of the earth and its animate and inanimate inhabitants, which have operated continuously throughout evolutionary time, are more apparent in East Africa than anywhere else on earth."

His knowledge concerning animal and botanical life in East Africa is probably greater than that of anyone else alive today. If you are a lover of the outdoors, or even an armchair adventurer who had enjoyed such works as Jack London's "Call of the Wild," Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," or "Gilligan's Last Elephant," by Gerald Hanley, "The Lost Wilderness" is bound to hold you spellbound, for unlike the other books mentioned, this is a true story, and the events described did happen.

In Kenya, the book can be ordered through Text Book Centre, Nairobi, Email:admin@tbc.co.ke and worldwide on line through major book sellers

Sufi Poetry Carnival: call for submissions

Divine Love is the Theme of the Sufi Poetry Carnival.
Deadline for submissions is Tuesday, May 15th.

For details click on the title above or on the links below:

http://tinyurl.com/38z62n

http://tinyurl.com/34q5rr

[picture: art by Sadiq Alam]

International religious dialogue summit starts on Monday

KUNA Kuwait News Agency - Kuwait

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Doha: Fifth Inter-Faith Dialogue will start its activities in the Qatari capital on Monday with participation of more than 150 Muslim, Christian and Jews participants from various countries to discuss interaction among the diverse religions.

The conference will be held in four sessions to review practical suggestions for spiritual communications among religious communities.

The conference discussion will deal with Sufism, with dimensions that are shared by Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Organizers are expected to give equal time for each lecturing participant, with the intention to avoid possible wrangling on the basis of intolerance, sectarianism and extremism.

Establishing a permanent headquarters in Qatar, under Qatar University supervision, for interfaith dialogue will be declared during the conference.

[Picture: Sunset on Doha. Photo: http://www.qatarembassy.net/]

Spectacular night beckons Nagpurians

The Times of India - New Delhi, India
Saturday, May 5, 2007

It promises to be the wildest and most rocking Saturday night party.

Sultan of Sufi Kailash Kher and jaw-dropper Kashmera Shah will give Nagpurians a double dose of high octane entertainment on Saturday evening, 6.30 pm, at Kasturchand Park.

It will be the second big concert organised by The Times of India in Nagpur, after the immensely successful first one in November last year that featured Sonu Nigam, Raageshwari and Ehsaan Qureshi.

If you love soulful singing, Kher is truly 'Allah ka banda.' The rare moving quality in his voice probably reflects the hardships he endured -- and won over -- before becoming one of the most sought-after voices in the industry.

But even when he was young, Kher seems to have had a plan. As a boy, he ran away from his home in Meerut and landed in New Delhi, where he learned Hindustani classical music from as many as 15 different teachers.

His is a virtual raga-to-riches story -- he once lived at Andheri railway station in Mumbai.

Starting out with singing jingles, Kher slalomed to stardom with the raw yet riveting rendition 'Allah ke bande' from the movie 'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part-II.' Since then, whether it's 'O Sikandar' from Corporate or 'Chakde Phatte' from Khosla Ka Ghosla or 'Teri Deewani' from his album Kailasa, Kher has left an indelible mark in the hearts of millions of his fans.

If Kailash Kher is treating for the ears, stunner Kashmera Shah is sure to thrill Nagpurians with her captivating moves.

A successful model, the dusky Kashmera has also acted in several films, prominent among them being Yes Boss and Jungle. Kash, as she is often called, has also featured in drool-worthy item numbers in films such as Vaastav and Aankhen.

She is acclaimed to be one of the best dancers of this generation and is sure to get Nagpurians up on their feet during the concert.

The show promises to be a blockbuster. Are you ready?

Singer murdered

Lo Corr - The International News - Lahore, Pakistan
Saturday, May 5, 2007

Khairpur: Local folk singer Faqir Mushtaque Ali Shaikh was shot dead at a shrine in the Pir Jo Goth town on Thursday midnight.

Faqir Mushtaque used to sing Sufi songs at Abhal Shah’s shrine.

Witnesses said two unidentified men killed him while he was asleep at the shrine.

Police allegedly harassed shrine caretaker Abdul Hakim Shaikh but later said they had no clue to the killer of the singer.

The deceased was famous for his Sufi songs and performed at shrines across Sindh.

Renewing their love of God

By Omar Sacirbey - Seattle Times - Seattle, WA, U.S.A.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Mohammad Nooraee knew exactly what he needed when Brandeis University students asked him to distill the essence of Sufism, an Islamic mystical tradition.

Nooraee, director of the Nimatullahi Sufi order in Boston, needed "Grapes," a poem by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th century poet and mystic. The poem describes an argument among four wise men who all want grapes but don't know it because they speak different languages.

The lesson: People must understand each other or be lost to bickering.

"Sufism is nothing more but love of God and love of other human beings," said Nooraee. "And Rumi is the greatest teacher" of the Sufi Way.

Americans who haven't heard of Rumi probably will soon as the world celebrates his 800th birthday Sept. 30.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has declared 2007 the International Year of Rumi. Fans and followers are organizing readings and concerts, while the legendary Whirling Dervishes, inspired by Rumi, tour the world. Given the tensions between the Islamic and Western worlds, many Muslims and non-Muslims alike welcome an occasion to reflect on Rumi's message.

"He's more than a poet," said Akbar Ahmed, chair of the Islamic studies department at American University. "He's a cultural ambassador for Islam."

Quran interpreter
Rumi was born in present-day Afghanistan into a family of Islamic theologians. He became a respected Islamic scholar, but after a chance meeting with a traveling Sufi dervish, Rumi embraced Islam's mystic tradition. After his death, his followers founded the Mevlevi Sufi order, one of several Sufi orders that hold Rumi in prominent regard.

His best-known work is the Masnavi, five volumes of rhyming couplets in a complex poetic form that incorporate stories, commentaries and prayers. Many consider it the most comprehensive Sufi interpretation of the Quran.

Celebrated for centuries in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and South Asia, Rumi burst onto the American scene in 1995 after poet Coleman Barks translated a collection of his poems into "The Essential Rumi," which has sold more than 500,000 copies.

Simple, powerful message
Rumi's success is no surprise to those who say he presents a simple but powerful message of spirituality and love.

"People in America are renewing their love of God, and Rumi is perhaps the most famous and articulate lover of God," Valerie Noor Karima, who heads the Mevlevi Order of America, wrote in an e-mail. "Rumi speaks in the language of the heart, which is universal and timeless."

Others believe Rumi's appeal is in the accepting and hopeful nature of his poetry.

"Rumi has provided the humanist face of Islam to the West and America," said Louay Safi of the Indianapolis-based Islamic Society of North America. His poems, Safi said, "reflect a larger concern, to have a meaningful life and to pay attention to our spiritual existence. That's lacking in the U.S., where there is so much emphasis on the material."

Karima agrees, writing: "While Islam is often perceived in terms of its extremists, its laws and its veils, Rumi shows us the inner secret of Islam: that we can experience the Divine, transcendent, all-pervading and also immanent. To see the "Face of God": This is the experience we've been waiting for all our lives."

While many Sufi practitioners recognize Rumi's Islamic background, they also say his works transcend religion.

Jem Williford of Chapel Hill, N.C., who started formally studying the Sufi Way 15 years ago, sees an interfaith component in Rumi's legacy. He helps organize an annual "Rumi Fest" in Chapel Hill that draws people of all faiths.

"We're trying to replicate something that Rumi did during his life, which was very ecumenical, and bring people together, and tie it all into one place, which is love," Williford said.

Some Muslims disapprove
Not all Muslims approve of Rumi and Sufism.

In Saudi Arabia, Sufis endured various forms of harassment and had to meet in secret until post-Sept. 11 scrutiny of the country's dominant Wahhabi sect forced the Saudis to relax restrictions.

Some Muslims complain that some Sufi practitioners neglect the central importance of Islam and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

Karima, the Mevlevi leader, acknowledges a liberal view toward Islam, but says it doesn't diminish Sufis' devotion to God.

"Many Sufi schools in the West, like the Mevlevi school, do not push conformity to Islam's Shariah, or rules of conduct," she wrote. "People in the West love mystery stories, and the Masnavi consists of countless interwoven stories that reveal our love of God. The Masnavi illuminates the Quran and other holy books."

In the Gardens of Menara

[From the French language press]:

La première édition du Festival mondial des rencontres et des musiques soufies s'est ouverte mardi à Marrakech, avec au levée du rideau l'inauguration dans les mythiques Jardins de la Menara d'une exposition de vieux manuscrits.

Le Matin, Maroc - jeudi 4 avril 2007 - par MAP

The first edition of the World Festival of Sufi Meetings and Sufi Musics opened on Tuesday in Marrakesh with, at the lifting of the curtain, the inauguration of an exhibition in the mythical Gardens of Menara.

After a visit with this exhibition, which displays sufi books and manuscripts of priceless value (as the Holy Qur'an handwritten by Sultan Abou Al Hassan Al Marini) the whole of the public was invited to a ceremony of samaâ interpreted by the Great Moroccan Unit directed by Mohamed Azzedine.

The festival will continue until Sunday the 6th of May and will include a ceremony to pay homage to Shaykh Abdellatif Benmansour, a central figure of moroccan samaâ and an initiated of the Zouiya of Tamsloht.

[picture: Marrakesh, the "Pearl of the South". From the site http://www.visitmorocco.org/]

“Sufism and the history of Morocco”

[From the French language press]:

Le cycle de conférences sur le soufisme et le développement humain organisé du 28 avril au 2 mai par la société "Par-Chemins Concept" dans le cadre du festival de Fès de la culture soufie s'est achevé, mercredi, par un grand débat sur "le soufisme et histoire du Maroc".

Menara, Maroc - jeudi 3 mai 2007 - par MAP

The cycle of conferences on Sufism and human development organized from April the 28th to May th 2nd by the company “Parchments Concept” within the framework of the Fez festival of Sufi culture was completed, on Wednesday, by a great debate on “Sufism and the history of Morocco”.

“While estimating that spirituality is an education which starts with oneself”, the lecturers determined the place which occupies the Sufism in the world and stressed that it “would be in the heart of Islam”.

They pointed at the revival of Sufism from years 70-80 in the Arab world and in particular in Turkey and Indonesia, noting that in Egypt a Moslem out of six is attached to a Brotherhood whereas in Senegal, some 90 PC follow a tariqa.

For other speakers, Sufism was defined as a kind of individual regulator between what is dogmatic and what is fundamental.

It was also indicated that “Sufism is very well perceived in the Western world because it is against every image of radical Islamism”. “Sufism fits well into modernity, thus easily into a laic space, and that is very important for the Western world ".

It was also said that “Sufism is a body of human values as humility, generosity, tolerance and the acceptance of the other. It is thus only the real interpretation of Islam”.

As for the history of Morocco and its relationship to Sufism, the speakers noted that this relationship is well anchored and articulated around great names like that of Moulay Idriss, founder of the town of Fez.

The curtain drops on a masterstroke

[From the French language press]:

Le Festival de Fès de la culture soufie est teminé mercredi le deux de mai avec le concert -qui a fait le plein- du rappeur spirituel Abd al-Malik. Ce dernier, qui a trouvé sa voie grâce au soufisme après une phase d’errance (délinquance, drogue), se veut comme un ambassadeur des oubliés du surplus urbain.

L'Economiste, Maroc - jeudi 3 mai 2007 - par Youness Saad Alami

The Fez Festival of Sufi culture ended on Wednesday, May 2nd, with a jam packed concert of the noted spiritual rapper Abd al-Malik. A musician who found in Sufism his way out of drugs and juvenile delinquency, he is now an ambassador of the slum dwellers forgotten ones.

Public, journalists, writers, professors, all agree: this [first edition of the festival] was a masterstroke.

The Fez Festival of Sufi culture made it possible not only to discover a spiritual and artistic inheritance of exceptional richness but also to open a reflexion on what could be the contribution of this inheritance in the middle of the contemporary Moroccan society.

Moreover, the Forum, chaired by Katherine Marshall*, who went on throughout the festival at the Madrassa Bouanania, has been itself a clear success.

The rehabilitation of the “zaouïyas” is from now on a priority. This project, in partnership with the Council of the City, will require not less than 4 million DH [487,427.00 USD]. When completed it will bring the visitors of Fez -the spiritual ciy of Morocco- through a circuit of “ziyarate” (visits) of saints and sanctuaries.

In this respect, a programme of lodging at the inhabitant is implemented by the regional Council of tourism. Already 10 houses were selected for the operation.

*http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=17879

Sufi music festival opens in Karachi

APP/Staff - Daily Times / The International News - Lahore, Pakistan
Thursday, May 3, 2007

The International Mystic Music Sufi Festival kicks off today at Baradari at 8:00 p.m.

The five-day festival, being organized by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) in collaboration with the Government of Sindh, will showcase Sufi music from Senegal, Turkey, Syria, Algeria, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan.

As many as 400 artists are expected to perform, while organizers have said that about 150 foreign delegates will also be attending.

The festival will commence with an introductory speeches by the governor and the CEO of RPTW.

The forthcoming International Mystic Music Sufi Festival will be the largest Sufi musical gathering in the metropolis and no such activity has been witnessed in recent past years. This was stated by Rauf Siddiqui, Sindh Minister for Culture and Tourism during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The local minister, talking to the media at Baradari said that there would be countrywide representation of music and culture during the festival which will begin from Thursday (today) and ends on May 7.

He informed the press that an amount of Rs20 million was allocated by the ministry for organising the festival. The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) was also providing their support for the festival. He also said that the budget might be increased if the organisers successfully run the matter and they would also reduce or remove excise taxes, based on their performance and management.

The organisers said entry was charged at Rs300 per person and the programme will start at 8pm on a daily basis. Usman Peerzada - the noted artiste and coordinator of Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop - expressed gratitude to the CDGK for their support and providing facilities within very short time.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=54100

The Moroccan model

[From the French language press]:

Le 1er avril 2007, sous la présidence d’Amir Al-Mouminine, le Roi Mohammed VI, de nombreuses conventions ont été signées entre le ministère des Habous et des Affaires islamiques et plusieurs départements gouvernementaux. C’est une première dans l’histoire moderne du Maroc.

L'Economiste, Maroc - jeudi 12 avril, 2007 - par Hakim El Ghissassi*

On April 1, 2007, under the presidency of Amir Al-Mouminine, King Mohammed VI, many conventions were signed between the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and several governmental departments. It is a first event in the modern history of Morocco.

Often, the religious question is looked at only through the prism of political sciences and the analyses about religious radicalism or political Islam. Thus the legal, administrative, sociological and intellectual aspects of the religious thought are overlooked.

On the religious question, there are today in Morocco three currents which feed the reflexion: the adoption of a pure secularity -which merges sometimes with a violent laicism which has nothing to do with the spirit of the French law of 1905 (which founded separation between the State and the Church); one vision which believes only in the introduction of a State known as “Islamic” and dreams of an original Islam whose contours are not defined, but whose nihilist speech rejects to take into account the existence of the other and the transformations of the modern world; a third current, more representative of Morocco, which consists in placing the religious experiment in its historicity, and it does not reject the plurality of the Moroccan religious tradition through the history of the country.

It is this third current the one promoted today by the State when it insists on the need for safeguarding the Moroccan identity, guaranteed by the institution of Imarat Al-Mouminine and centered on the unicity of the dogma and the Malékite legal school as well as on the sufi and spiritual Morrocan experience.

The return in strength of the State in the management of the religious field will put an end to a certain laxism: religion is a significant question and of too high importance and should not in the least be forsaken.

*Author of *Regard sur le Maroc de Mohammed VI*
Edition Michel Lafon
Paris, 2006 - Euro 16.63
http://tinyurl.com/2gb4rw

Views from a Sufi Festival

By Samir - The View from Fez - Fez, Morocco

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Click on the title above or on the link below to see and read a tasty photoreportage of the Sufi Festival' opening night in Fez.

http://tinyurl.com/3c3fnk

[picture: inside the Mokri Palace]

World Punjabi Conference has declared year 2007 as the “Year of Sufism”

Staff Report - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan

Monday, April 30, 2007

President of the World Punjabi Conference (WPC), Fakhar Zaman criticised the government for not facilitating the establishment of Punjabi University and addressed the need to promote the Punjabi language.

Fakar Zaman said the government’s promotion of Punjabi was a farce and that the WPC will facilitate the promotion with their efforts and donations. He added that Punjabi language and culture has deep roots in social justice as evident from local mystics who had spread the message of love, acceptance and peace between all peoples.

He said that WPC has declared year 2007 as the “Year of Sufism”, and expressed the hope of bringing to light the efforts of Sufis who sacrificed a lot to spread the message of love.

He said that the example of Sufis is sorely needed today, because they never imposed their beliefs and instead emphasised understanding and respect.

Talking about the WPC he disclosed that the 15-18 punjabi congresses will be held in Delhi, Mumbai, Jammu and Chandigarh, while congress 19 will be held in Lahore between December 20-24.

He said the teachings of mystic poets from the four provinces will be brought into light.He added that WPC will hold a national seminar in Lahore on May 11 to commemorate the 150 anniversary of the war of independence in which the Punjabi mystic poets played an enormous role.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_language