Let's keep crossing the border

By Ali Waqar - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Nirmala Deshpande, chairperson of the Association of Peoples of Asia and founder of Indo-Pak Parliamentary Forum for Peace, said on Tuesday that India and Pakistan had come a long way in making truce and their efforts were irreversible because people of both sides strongly wanted peace.

Deshpande returned to India on Tuesday by walking through Wagah border.

She was in Lahore and Kasur for three days with an Indian delegation of 50 peace activists. The delegation comprising social and political activists, academicians and parliamentarians, especially came to Pakistan to attend the three-day urs (death anniversary) at Kasur of Baba Bulleh Shah, renowned Sufi saint and Punjabi poet.

Bulleh Shah International Forum invited the delegation.

Deshpande was staying at the house of Brig (r) Rao Abid Hameed, a peace activist. Talking about the visit, she said this was the second visit by big Indian delegations to Pakistan in the last three years for attending the urs.

She said the poet was an international legend, and his work was praised everywhere, especially in India, where his poetry was translated to more than 20 regional languages.

She said Bulleh Shah was a universal saint and that so was every other Sufi, as each of them had a universal peace message. She said during a Bulleh Shah seminar at Kasur that the Indian delegates were thinking of launching Bulleh Shah International Foundation in India also.

She said setting up Bulleh Shah University was also under consideration, and if the idea materialised, Sufi saints' messages could be imparted much more effectively.

She said all the delegates were very pleased with the hospitality they were given by the various Pakistani hosts that had offered them places to stay. She said that the urs was also so well organised and that she and the delegates were overwhelmed by warm treatment they were given.

She said a wreath of flowers was laid on the grave of the saint on behalf of Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit, deputy speaker of Lok Sabha Charanjit Singh Atwal and deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rehman Khan.

Deshpande said that in India, it was the Rakhi festival day on Tuesday. She said that for the festival, the delegates had brought a lot of sweets and Rakhies with them.

She said about Indo-Pak peace that the progress was slow, but would expedite if people of both countries kept crossing the border.

Regarding role of Association of Peoples of Asia, Deshpande said it was working on enhancing contact amongst people. She said the association had also planned a seminar on peace in September in which parliamentarians of both countries could participate.

Striving for Goodness

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Berlin, Germany/Tashkent, Uzbekistan
August 14/15, 2007

Opinions of the participants of the international practical-scientific conference "Uzbekistan's contribution to the development of Islamic civilization"

Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director-General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO):
The Republic of Uzbekistan, which has a great place in the development of Islamic civilization, has symbolized the universal and Islamic values. The reconstruction of cultural and architectural monuments in such historical cities as Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva is a shining example of it.

At the same time Uzbekistan is famous for its great scholars who left rich legacy in Islamic enlightment. They, with their knowledge and legacy, are widely known as great scholars of science.

The author of “Jome’ as-Sahih” (“Sahih Bukhari”) Imam Muhammad ibn Ismoil Bukhari, the creator of “Al-Kashshaf” – the commentaries on the Koran - Umar az-Zamakhshari, physician, physicist, philosopher and the author of valuable treatises such as “The Rules of Diagnosis”, “Disease treatment and rare plants”, “On India” Abu Rayhan Beruni and many other scholars are considered as prominent ancestors of this great nation.

Halit Eren, Director-General of the Center of Analysis of Islamic history, art and culture, the Organization of Islamic Conference:
Uzbekistan, as a country that have had an essential role in many development processes of and made a great contribution to the formation of Islamic culture in four continents, requires special attention.

During the process of the spreading of Islam, since early centuries, the cities of Transoxiana (Ma Wara'un-Nahr) and especially Bukhara was the center of gathering and keeping of Islamic manuscripts. These books (manuscripts) were brought from this land to Europe by trade routes.

From IX-X centuries on science began developing with fast pace in this territory. Known as “Alfraghanus” in Europe, a scholar named al-Farghani was born in modern city of Ferghana and lived in IX century. He wrote “Elements” on astronomy, which was translated into Latin and studied with great interest in European countries of XII-XIII centuries.

Another famous scholar of this region, Abu Ali Ibn Sino, lived in Bukhara in XI-XII centuries and was famous in European countries as Avicenna. His greatest contribution to the development of science was his work “Al-Konun fi-tib” or “The laws of Medicine”. In this work, Avicenna was able to combine the knowledge that was available in medical science of his time.

Avicenna’s book - “Kitab al Shifa”, consists of information on all disciplines beginning with philosophy and includes not only theoretical knowledge i.e. physics, mathematics and metaphysics, but also some practical knowledge on ethics, economics and politics.

At the same time he was also considered an astrologist, physician and encyclopedic scholar.

A well-known scholar and philosopher of VIII century Abu Nasr al Farabi was educated in Bukhara. He tried to make a synthesis of psychology with the works of such scholars as Plato and Aristotle. As a result of his scientific research he made a big contribution to the development of science and became famous all over the world as “the second mentor” after Aristotle.

Throughout its history Uzbekistan has been a center of culture and science and played the role of a bridge in the spreading of knowledge. All this resulted in the wide recognition of modern Uzbekistan, which possesses a unique cultural and architectural heritage, by the international community. Its cities are included in the list of the cities that are considered as global heritage.

Many books and manuscripts edited in this region are considered of high value and are being kept as distinctive works.

Saleh Hashem, Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Universities:
For centuries the territory of modern Uzbekistan has been regarded as a crossroad of different cultures and civilizations. The territory of Uzbekistan has been a center linking West and East for a long period of time. Famous scholars of Islam lived and worked in the territory of olden Tashkent.

One can point out among them such names as Khaffol Shoshi – he made a huge contribution to the Hadith and the Kalam (research on Koran), Khoja Akhror Vali and Khoja Zayniddin - founders of a Sufi movement and some others.

The greatness of this city can be proven by the fact that Usman’s Koran, written off in the VII century, is being kept there. Bukhara is one of the well-known cities of the Muslim world.

A great scholar Imam al Bukhari was born there. His work “Jami as-sahih” made a big contribution to the development of the Islamic civilization.

Scientists of Transoxiana, creating a unique cultural and scientific bridge between Central Asian countries and the Arab world, played a unique role in the development of the Muslim civilization and created a strong foundation for stable interstate relations that was suitable for the interests of all nations living in this region.

The Islamic World highly regards the preservation and development of a cultural and historical legacy and the efforts aimed to celebrate the birthdays of our great ancestors by the leadership of Uzbekistan.

Dr. Ahmad Manzoor, Rector of Islamabad International Islamic University:
Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara are famous all over the world as pearls of Islamic culture. The scholars of the Islamic world have recognized these cities as the centers of science since ancient times and enhanced their knowledge with the help of their great mentors from Transoxiana (Ma Wara'un-Nahr).

The Islamic world owes much to the Central Asian countries, and especially to Uzbekistan, which has managed to keep and develop Islamic tenets, contributed a great deal to the spread of Islam around the world.

Today, when there is much debate over the clash of civilizations, like other Islamic states, Uzbekistan could also, on the basis of its rich experience, propose the appropriate way that is not based on eastern or western radicalism but reflects faith and secularity.

Yoshiaki Sasaki, Senior academician in Tokyo Foundation, expert on the issues of Islam and the Middle East:
In the 1990s I visited Uzbekistan and I developed an idea about the greatness of the masterworks of Uzbek architecture and historical monuments and witnessed the beauty and grandiosity of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Tashkent.

I was deeply impressed by the fact that despite facing different challenges in their history, the Uzbek people have been able to fully preserve their history, culture, architectural monuments and scientific legacy.

In the times when different organizations and forces are trying to undermine the Islamic values based on humanitarian spirit and to use its holy symbol to achieve their self-seeking goals, the efforts of the government of Uzbekistan to restore the peace-loving and tolerant nature of Islam requires special attention.

Islam, by its nature, is a very peace-loving and tolerant religion. However, it is unfortunate to see Islam being linked to violence and terror by the western world. One of the main reasons for this is that most people lack sufficient knowledge about Islam. This serves the interests of some forces.

On this occasion, I would like to express my trust in the capacity of Tashkent Conference to contribute to the spreading of the genuine essence and aims of Islam, to come up with and present to the world community new ideas, in the example of Uzbekistan, on the civil society regarding Islam as a peace-loving, tolerant, enlightening and progressive religion.

Akber Ozgen, President of the Pakistan-Uzbekistan cultural society:
Today the capital of Uzbekistan – wonderful Tashkent proudly bears a title – the capital of Islamic culture in 2007. I have pleasure to realize the fact that how Islam used to be and still remains the basis of moral and spiritual outlook of the Uzbeks.

Indeed, the Islamic religion helped that the Central Asia preserved its spiritual uniqueness, remaining to be the major cultural and shopping centre throughout centuries.

The first period of prosperity of Maverannahr coincided with the time of Abbasids khalifat in VIII-IX centuries. At that time Bukhara became the leading centre of education, science, culture and art of the Muslim world. In the sense of its magnificence this city ranked with such cities, as Bagdad, Cairo, Cordoba.

The great encyclopedic scientists, religious statesmen of the Islamic world were born, lived and did creations in Bukhara.

The second "golden age" of Maverannahr coincided with the time of governing by Amir Temur – outstanding commander and statesman who was able to create one of the most powerful empires of the middle period. The names of Amir Temur and its descendants are reflected on socio-political, cultural and economic development of medieval Maverannahr. Amir Temur who defined Samarkand as the capital gathered in his state the most skilful masters, architects, the best scientists and poets, rendering his support in every possible way.

Amir Temur’s grandson Mirzo Ulugbek was the greatest astronomer of that period. Indeed, during time of temurids Turkic became the literary language in Turkestan. Outstanding Alisher Navoi did his works in this language, proving that by its beauty and richness it can compete with others. Having got independence of Uzbekistan – passing only sixteen years – hundreds of mosques and religious schools – medresa were constructed and restored in the country.

And the most pleasant thing is that along with Moslem communities the other religions confessions peacefully co-exist in Uzbekistan.

Ilza Lauda-Sirtautas, professor, Washington University (Seattle):
«The Uzbek people are famous for their magnanimity and tolerance, and the Uzbek soil for the richest cultural heritage».

These lines were written by the American scientist Edward Alvord in 1989. He is not the only foreigner who admired “the magic reference of Uzbeks” during a short stay in Uzbekistan. Uzbeks can call it «Uzbekchilik» (“Uzbekity”). These words include not only customs, but also the norms and standards of behavior among Uzbeks.

It is important to know, that these norms are based on century wisdoms, which allowed keeping national and spiritual identity of the people, despite notorious «national policy» of CPSU.

Muratali aji Jumanov, Mufti of Kyrgyzstan Muslims:
The territory of Uzbekistan is considered as one of the ancient cradles of civilizations. Great scientist-ancestors of Uzbek people had left after themselves priceless masterpieces - theological and scientific works, treatises and works of art.

They were included in the number of geniuses of the world forever.We owe to Maverannahr land, because this land has given the world many great “muxaddis” (“muhaddiths”) (collectors of Hadis’s of the prophet Mohammed), who made great contribution to the rising and development of the humanitarian sciences. Among them, first of all, we should mention the main collector of Prophet’s Hadis’s, great scientist Abu Abdullah ibn Ismail al-Buhari.

We should also mention the outstanding scientists, such as Al-Xafiz Abu Isa at-Termizi, Al-Hafiz Abu Abdurahman Ahmad ibn Shuayb an-Nasai. Great encyclopedic scientists, poets and statesmen of Maverannahr – Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Abu Ali ibn Sina, Alisher Navoi, Mirza Ulugbek, аl-Xarezmi, аz-Zamaxshari and others made incentives to the development of philosophy, psychology, sociology, ethics, economy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, geography, philology, a history.

Scientists of the Muslim world unanimously support the opinion that religious and scientific works of Maverannahr’s theologians and scientists, which were created in VII-XII centuries, are serving as the main sources for Muslims of the entire world to this day.

In this land the books with religious values were highly appreciated at all times. In ancient times these kind of books carried information about religion, theology and history, which was of great importance to society.These treasures of spiritual culture were very appreciated, that books were kept together with gold, silver and jewels.

The careful attitude to the invaluable manuscripts, created during ancient times by great scientists, thinkers, poets, historians, who lived in territory of present Uzbekistan shows our deep respect to their contribution to development of a world civilization and reflects our aspiration to spiritual enrichment.

As it is said in the Sacred Koran: «He grants wisdom to whom He wants. Who has wisdom He blesses too, but only wise men can realize this».

Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pasha-Zade, Chairman of Muslims Department of Caucasus:
Today independent Uzbekistan headed by outstanding political leader - President Islam Karimov, demonstrates fine example of magnificent prospects opened before the country that promptly develops and at the same time carefully preserves richest spiritual heritage.

I speak about it with pride because I consider this blessed ground as my second fatherland. I am happy that exactly here lived and created great Muslim scientists and thinkers Ismail al-Bukhari, at-Termizi, al-Khorezmi, al-Farabi, al-Beruni, Avicenna.

I comprehended Islamic sciences, have received high religious education. Under the recommendation of my great master Ziyouddinkhan Ibn Ishan Babakhan I have been chosen 27 years ago as Chairman of Muslims Department of Caucasus.

The contribution of Uzbekistan to history of the Islamic civilization, formation and development of Muslim culture is so great that any, even the most representative conference could not reveal it in all wholeness.

Islam came to present territory of Uzbekistan with will of the Allah in second half of VII century. New religion has met here not cultural backward region, but on the contrary - one of most ancient centers of world culture. Islam has ability to extend its ideology quickly and become promptly consolidated in this territory only with continuity of cultures.Through cultural synthesis Maverannahr has brought the incomparable contribution to treasury of Muslim culture in areas of science, poetry, architecture, public and political thoughts.

The first significant name both in Mathematics and Astronomy was the name - al-Khorezmi that is known to the European scientists as Algorithmus. From his name became the term "Algorithm".

Today Uzbeks have the full right to be proud that their soil has given the world outstanding scientists and theologians such as Abu Rayhon al-Beruni, Said Sharif Dzhurdzhani, Muhammad Ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, Abu Ali Ibn Sino (Avicenna) and others.

The brilliant representative of medieval Central Asian science Avicenna has been recognized not only in the Muslim East, but also in Europe as greatest philosopher and outstanding physician that nicknamed by the coreligionists as «Emir of all sciences».

Hu Zhenhua, professor of the China National University:
Uzbekistan made a big contribution to the wide dissemination and development of Islamic culture by its ancient history and rich cultural traditions.

It is well-known that Bukhara, Samarkand, Khorezm, Tashkent and other historical cities situated on Uzbek land played an important role for development of Islam civilization in Central Asia. As of development of Islamic culture Uzbekistan is much advanced than other countries of Central Asia.

Indeed, this is acknowledged not only in Asia but also in the entire world.Uzbekistan’s soil brought up scientists who contributed to flourishing of Islam culture and preserving humankind heritage by creative activity.

In China, scientists like Abu Raykhan Beruni and Abu Ali Ibn Sino are valued highly by their work to development of science and medicine.

“Canons of Medicine” by Abu Ali Ibn Sina was translated into Chinese and has been being widely used for enriching Chinese ancient medicine.

Hai Shuying, associate professor of the China National University:
While looking at development of the history of Islam in China, we can come to the conclusion that: the motherland of the science about Islam and place for its preserving generation by generation is Transacsonia - the current territory of Uzbekistan. And the cradle of theological education was Bukhara.

Bukhara Muslims made a big contribution to dissemination and development of Islam in China. Uzbekistan is important in the history of Islam civilization in China.

Hee-Soo Lee, professor of Korean Hanyang University:
Having important cultural and geographic position in Great Silk Road Uzbekistan became pivotal centre humankind civilization and history. Since ancient times, high level science and technology together with rich cultural heritage and methods of commerce came from Central Asia to Korean Peninsula.

The history of relations between Maverannahr Muslims and Koreans of Korean Peninsula were well reflected in 20 Muslims books wrote in IX-XVI centuries A.D. by famous historians and geographers like Ibn Hurdabiy, Suleyman at-Tajir, Masudiy. In particular, Ibn Hurdabiy was the first among Muslims scientists who wrote the information about living of Muslims population in United Kingdom of Silla.

Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand were mentioned a lot of times in the history of Korean by historical facts. For instance, Samarkand was recognized as the country where high quality emerald had been produced.

Islam astronomy, medicine, architecture, weaponry and other spheres foundations were widely used in Korean Peninsula. Most of the scientific and cultural achievements of Korean Peninsula of the medieval times were possible because of inventions and studies of Uzbek scientist- encyclopaedists.

Shirin Akiner, professor of Oriental and African studies at the London University:
Central Asian scientists were traveling all around Moslem world. They’ve studied and had given lectures in the leading educational centers like Baghdad, Damascus, Nishapur, Basra and Kufa.

Many of them contributed enormously to Islamic philosophy and law, as well as to the development of applied and theoretical sciences (mathematics, astronomy, medicine). They are well known in history with their Arabic like names.

The place of their birth is a good evidence of their Central Asian origin. Among them such prominent persons like Al-Beruniy, Al-Bukhariy, Al-Fargoniy, Al-Horezmiy, Al-Maturidiy. At-Termiziy, Shamsuddin As-Samarkandiy and Najibuddin As-Samarkandiy.

During centuries, notwithstanding all difficulties of political and economic overturns, that major tradition of art and learning has survived and continued to develop. Today the government and people of preserved that rich heritage, which is a source of pride.

For a young state it was not easy to find resources for the projects on restoration the ancient monuments. Many historical monuments that in different times of the past were despised or even deliberately destroyed, which were almost on the edge of disappearance, now again exist in its magnificence. That process of reopening and restoration is a gesture of respect towards great heritage.

In the beginning of the 21 Century we see in Uzbekistan a bright, multisided, interdisciplinary rebirth of historical Islamic heritage of the region. We are the witnesses of repeated reunion of people with their cultural roots.

Achievements of the past serve as an inspiration similarly as a source of pride for the present generation. It is important not only to Uzbekistan but also for the entire Muslim world because Islamic heritage of that country is an integral part of our common spiritual, cultural and scientific traditions that cover entire Muslim world.

Therefore, the fact that the Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture have announced Tashkent as a capital of Islamic culture in 2007 that in accord with ongoing process in Uzbekistan of spiritual and cultural renaissance.

Amanullo Nematzoda, mutfiy of Tadjikistan:
The Soil of Uzbekistan is the cradle of statehood of the peoples of Central Asia.

Cities as Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Marghilan and others are the most ancient centres of Islamic civilization. Many ulemas (scientist) and great theologians as Bukhariddin Marghilani, Khodja Akhrar Vali, Mukhammad al-Bukhari, Bakhouddin Nakshband havd been living and buried on that holy land.

It is pleasant fact that ancient monuments and holy mausoleums are ennobled and protected by the state and people. All these noble deeds are done personally under the leadership of the President Islam Karimov.

Sheikh Ahmad Tamim, Chairman of the Muslims Committee of Ukraine:
In Muslim world Uzbekistan is famous with its ancient history, rich and unique culture, as well as contribution to the development of world civilization.

Tashkent could be named not only as a capital of Muslim world, but also a center of enlightenment. We highly asses measures taken by the leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan in person of the President of Islam Karimov, aimed at preserving that invaluable spiritual heritage.

Tashkent Islamic Institute which’s aim is to teach religious and secular sciences is an important part in wide popularization and preserving knowledge about Islam.

Enlightenment activity, preserving of the ancestors’ heritage, deep learning, enriching disseminating Islamic culture and spiritual values are the guarantee of preserving and passing invaluable spiritual heritage of Uzbekistan to the future generation on the basis of deep knowledge that have become a contribution to the Islamic civilization.

That is why a rare and the only copy of Koran Osman, which had been rewritten in 7 Century A.D., is kept in Tashkent.

We highly asses the role of Uzbekistan in the development of Islamic culture, and would like to extend our support to the initiative of the Leadership of Uzbekistan aimed at enhancing the comprehensive relations with Islamic world.

We hope that the international conference will serve to the improvement idea of the international community of Islam. One of the main purpose of that project is to deliver to the international community the view that Islam is a religion of a high culture and morality, which has nothing to do with such concepts as “abhorrence” and “violence”.

Dr. Kenneth L. Honerkamp, professor of University of Georgia, Athens (the USA):
For 14 Centuries the ethic norms make the basis of Islamic world’s religious thinking. That thinking was not originated in a separate region or specific period time, but throughout several centuries being developed and supplemented common heritage of peoples and cultures comprising Muslim world.

Sufism has an important place in religious and historical heritage of Uzbekistan. That teaching is considered as a system of religious ethics and knowledge related to the development of internal world of a human being and his spiritual purification.

During several centuries Sufism played an important contribution in forming and developing ethnic norms in Islamic society. Sufism has become the result of the evolution of notions of famous Islamic scholars Imam Al-Buhari and Abu Mansur Al-Maturidi.

Later on, by the effects of spiritual teachers like Bahouddin Nakshibandi, Khodja Ubaydulla Ahror and Alisher Navoi, it had eventually transformed into the religious moral teaching.

Tashkent, where that conference will take place, is the hometown of Khodja Ubaydullo Ahror (1404-1490), one of the outstanding scholars of Sufism. He posses significant place not only in the history of history of preaching, but also in the history of Islamic religion at all. From the very outset, Islam has set as its final destination - building society, which would strive for goodness and exterminate the evil.

Principles of spiritual education and clearance of spirit and body had played and are playing a very key role in this process by being a core that inspires followers the Islamic religion and strengthens their believe.

Sufism with its great scholars, who on their example having demonstrated the way spiritual power of human being is suppose to be, created in the Islamic society the axis that rolled the process of spiritual orientation based on specific principles of religious attitude and serving for the sake of exciting inner human power and strengthen his faith.

At one with God

By Nadia Al-Sakkaf - Yemen Times - Sana'a, Yemen
Monday, August 27, 2007

Mohammad Ahmed Warsi devotes his life to Sufi music. So have many members of his family for many generations. They perform all over the world.

The group, who are based in India where Sufi music is prevalent, came to Sana’a on Friday (and Aden on Saturday) to give Yemenis the opportunity to hear a musical form that is becoming rare.

They were invited by the Indian embassy in Sana’a as part of 60th anniversary of Independence celebrations.

Mohammad Warsi’s group of seven musicians include four of his brothers, two of his cousins and his son, who one day will take over the leadership from his father.

“It’s been in my family over seven generations and I intend to maintain this profession in the family for many more generations to come,” said Warsi.

Qawwali pronounced as Kavali, is a form of devotional music of the Islamic mystics also known as Chisti Sufis of the Indian subcontinent. Performers use dhol or tabla (type of drums) harmonica and vocals of different levels.

The group, which is usually between 6 to 8 members, sits on the ground in two rows and start chanting and using the drums and clapping to regulate the singing pace.

Warsi plays the harmonica while he sings passionately, swaying his head every now and then completely overwhelmed with the music and the words.

Like any other art, Qawwali has gone through transformations to suit modern taste.

The central themes in traditional Qawwali are love, devotion and longing for the divine. The poetry is implicitly understood to be spiritual in its meaning, even though the lyrics can sometimes sound widely secular, or outright hedonistic.

An example of this is the Ghazal, which talks about the joys of drinking and the agony of separation from the beloved.

Warsi's son, Mohammad Warsi Nawaz, barely 18, has been playing the tabla since age five and has made it a full time profession since long ago. Although he managed to go to high school, he is not interested in college like the rest of his siblings.

“I am strongly passionate about Qawwali and hope to fill my father's shoes when the time comes. I travel with the group around the world and don’t feel I am sacrificing nything by taking this line of work,” the young Warsi said.

(...)

Listeners, and often artistes themselves are transported to a state of Wajad, a trance-like state where they feel at one with God, generally considered to be the height of spiritual ecstasy in Sufism.

The music starts off slowly with soothing rhythm and gradually builds up to an exciting frenzy.

Naseem Urrehman is a UNICEF officer from Pakistan was clearly moved at the Qawwali evening.

“It takes you out of your surroundings and overwhelms you with spiritual feelings that I cannot describe,” he said. “ It touched me deeply because I am away from home. But I did not reach a state of trance on Friday because the environment could not allow this. The performers were on the stage far from the audience. Usually the audience surrounds the performers.”

The group is on a tour of Gulf countries, sponsored by Indian Council of Cultural Relations.

In Yemen, Arif Ali, an Indian national is the organizer of the local sponsorship for accommodation and local transport from the Indian community in Yemen.

Sufism, the soul of existence

By Emad Al-Saqqaf and Mohammad Al-Lutaifi - Yemen Times - Sana'a, Yemen
Monday, August 27, 2007

Mohammed Al-Nadhari was born in Bani Ghazi in Al-Hujariah district of Taiz governorate. He received his primary education in Aden and transferred to Zabeed for his preparatory and secondary schooling.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Islamic University of Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah and a master’s degree from Umm Al-Qura University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1986. He also obtained his Ph.D in Um Darman University in 1990.

Al-Nadhari is married and the father of three boys and two girls. His studies and travels ultimately landed him in the United Arab Eremites, where he currently serves as senior mufti of the Supreme Committee of Ifta.

He defended Sufism, considering it the soul of existence; an attribute he claimed protects it from corruption that pervades political parties. He made courageous statements on casual marriage – known as “tourist marriage” commonly done by rich tourists – and divorcing via SMS.

He also deplored the current situation of Yemeni women in villages. He considered the issue of Hijab, and female circumcision.

Disputes often take place in the Islamic world when deciding the first day of Ramadan. How can this be solved?
The disputes take place because in many Muslim countries the scholars refer to texts of Hadieth – prophet’s teachings – where two respectable adults must concur to have seen the moon and hence declare the beginning of the month.

There is no point these days is maintaining this method because more accurate ways of detecting the moon have been invented. Scholars must make use of modern technology such as telescopes to solve such disputes. The moon may disappear in some places of the earth and appear in other places.

(...)

Talking about different conceptions and interpretations in Islam, don’t you think that many different sects, such as Sufism have emerged?
Let me correct your understanding, Sufism is not a sect, is a level of practicing religion. It is a spiritual attainment that comes with sacrifice and to abstain from many of the earthly attractions.

Sufism actually protects the essence of religion and the purity of Islam as a concept and belief. It cannot be compared to the other sects and religious divisions you are mentioning.

What do you say of the state’s attempts to limit the influence of Sufism?
I would like to say to anyone who wants to demean Sufism that they can’t because it comes from within the soul and not from the outside. And if they feel that they can oppress Sufis and their rituals the Sufis will only get stronger and more popular.

(...)

What is your advice to Yemeni men and women?
I advise them to always turn to Allah. If we all do not turn to Allah and pray to Him we will then have no good.

Bulleh Shah da Zehni Virsa’

Staff Report - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Famous Sufi poet and saint Bulleh Shah has conveyed message of secularism and to understand his message one needs to understand history, culture and civilisation of the time, said Academy of Adbiyat director Qazi Javed in a seminar organised by the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture on Monday.

The seminar titled ‘Bulleh Shah da Zehni Virsa’ (Bulleh Shah’s heritage) was held to celebrate Bulleh Shah’s 257th anniversary.

Javed said Bulleh Shah belonged to the ultimate Unity of Being (wahdat-ul-wajood) school of thought and that his objectives were to fight against sectarianism, introducing free expressions of mysticism and promoting interfaith harmony.

He said his poetry emphasised to avoid sensitive religious issues that could cause disharmony. Javed said the philosophy of ultimate unity of Being was rejected during Bulleh Shah’s time but he remained an ardent adherent of it.

He said the cornerstone of his philosophy was self-recognition and the promotion of humanitarianism instead of praying and ceremonial rituals. “Knowledge is not the solution of the problem but it creates problem. Only ishq (love) can help find God and if any person, belonging to any religion, sincerely searches for God, he will find Him,” said Javed.

Javed said mysticism had no link with orthodoxy and that for this reason mystic saint Mansoor Hilaj had been killed in 980. He said Data Gunj Baksh had been born the year Hilaj had been killed. He said Data Gunj Baksh and Imam Ghazali had initiated moderate mysticism which had been acceptable to the orthodox rules of the time.

He said Data Gunj Baksh had built dialectical relation between the orthodoxy and mysticism. He said after these mystic saints, the Chistian order had been introduced in the Punjab by Moinud Din Chishti and Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki. In this sequence, he said, was saint Baba Farid Ganj Shakar who united all sects and religions.

He said afterwards Shah Hussain and Sultan Bahu from the Qadri Sufi order had propagated mysticism in the Punjab.

Javed said Shah Aniyat Qadri had been the mentor of Bulleh Shah who adhered to three Sufi orders – Qadri, Malamti and Shattari – and that Bulleh Shah had also adhered to these three Sufi orders’ philosophy.

Javed said, “The history of the Punjab reveals rich Sufi heritage in this area and it is our duty to preserve the teachings and traditions of these Sufi saints.”

Sir Baghit Singh, who had come from India, said, the heritage of the Punjab was its Punjabi language which was written in India in two scripts – Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi.

[picture: logo of Pilaac (the Punjab Institute of Language, Art & Culture)
Visit the Pilaac at http://pilaac.punjab.gov.pk/#]

Fighting prejudice, with the pen

By Musa Igrek - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey

Monday, August 27, 2007

Literature may serve as antidote for prejudice, Turkish writers say

Turkish literature will make a good showing in Europe in the coming days, not in terms of quantity, but with its quality.

Three important writers who have become popular in recent years -- Hasan Ali Toptaş, Elif Şafak and Aslı Erdoğan -- will represent Turkey at the 7th International Literature Festival Berlin to be held Sept. 4-16.

The festival, which will host a large number of international poets and writers, is likely to attract attention with the issue of "the difficulties of European societal understandings of Islamic culture," which it will focus on in particular.

The Berlin festival will also be a rehearsal for Turkey, which will be featured as a guest country at next year's Frankfurt Book Fair.

Saying that the interest in Turkish literature should be lasting, the writers agree on the idea that the talks to be held on "the difficulties of European societal understandings of Islam," would be a good start to the elimination of Western prejudices.

Şafak says that there exists a "Turcophobia" in Europe in addition to Islamophobia, while Toptaş notes that it is an issue that must urgently become a topic of discussion. Erdoğan stresses that interest in Turkish literature has grown in recent years, adding that this interest is also subject to the dangers of "otherization."

At the festival, Erdoğan will participate in the World Literature category, and Toptaş and Şafak will be featured in the section titled Kaleidoscope.

The festival will last for 13 days and 150 writers from around the world will participate in 250 events, where they will speak about their books, literary understandings and the literary projection of their countries.

The places where the writers will read passages from their books include prisons and churches.

(...)

Elif Şafak: "I will speak particularly about Sufism, women and the sense of belonging at this conference. It [the conference] will be widely attended and more focused on culture and religion.
'The difficulties of European societal understandings of Islam' is therefore a very important section. I have always tried to write about this.

I believe that people have prejudices. Not only Islamophobia, but also Turcophobia. When Islam is mentioned, they understand a whole, which is also a prejudice. And you can feel this more intensely when it's 'women and Islam' in question".

[picture: Elif Şafak, Aslı Erdoğan and Hasan Ali Toptaş (from left to right)]

[read also: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=feminine
(scroll down to the second article)]

[Link to the International Literature Festival of Berlin
http://www.literaturfestival.com/index.php?changelang=3]

Australian publisher releases Attar

NAT/HGH - Press TV - Tehran, Iran Sunday, August 26, 2007

An Australian publisher has released a translation of lyrics and poems by the great 13th century Sufi Persian poet Farid al-Din Attar.

Iranian-born poet Ali Alizadeh and Australian Iranologist Kenneth Avery have collaborated on the project which brings Attar's poems to an English-reading audience in a book titled Fifty Poems of Attar.

Dealing with themes of love, passion and mysticism, Attar is a renowned author of Persian short lyrical poems. The translations are accompanied by the original Persian poems and explanatory notes.

An original analysis of Attar's poetic language and thought has also been offered. Attar's ideas range over the whole spectrum of Persian mysticism and theosophy, and his writings paved the way for the triumphs of Mowlavi and Hafiz.

Farid al-Din Attar, the son of a prosperous chemist, was born in the city of Nishapur, in Iran's Khorasan province. He received an excellent education in Islamic studies and medicine and traveled widely before returning to his hometown to promote Sufism.

Attar is one of the most famous mystic poets of Iran, and was believed to have been killed during the Mongol invasion.

[Buy at The Sufi Store http://astore.amazon.com/wilderwri-20]

Fire of Love

MNA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran

Sunday, August 26, 2007

An international conference focusing on the Iranian poet and mystic Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi is to be held at the University of Maryland in the United States by the university’s Center for Persian Studies (CPS) from September 28 until 30.

The event will bring together over twenty leading scholars of Rumi and notable artists from all over the world. Particular attention will be given to Rumi’s major works, the Masnavi and the Divan.

The conference will be divided into six sessions in which the participants will contemplate and discuss the historical and aesthetic background of Rumi, his poetry and the visionary and mystical aspects of his work.

Michael Beard, Amin Nabati, Baqer Moin and Safura Nurbakhsh will be making speeches on various facets of Rumi’s life and work during the event.

In the concluding session the renowned Iranian scholar Abdolkarim Sorush will be making a speech on “Poetics in Rumi’s Masnavi and the Divan of Shams”.

A musical performance led by Hossein Omumi entitled “Fire of Love” will be given on the sidelines of the event.

Commemorating the 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birth, this international conference has been organized to explore Rumi’s poetry and vision and his continued relevance to today’s world.

[For more detailed informations, click the link below
http://www.languages.umd.edu/persian/C-Rumi-state.php]

"Ishq dawa hai har ek dard ki, Zanjeer ishq hai har ek rishte ki"

By Amit Ranjan - Outlook India - New Delhi, India
Magazine issue September 3, 2007

A decade after his death, the qawwal's fame is conquering continents

"Ishq dawa hai har ek dard ki, Zanjeer ishq hai har ek rishte ki"(Love is the medicine for all pain/Love is the chain that links all relationships)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sang these lines for A.R. Rahman’s album, Vande Mataram, dedicated to India in its 50th year of Independence. But all the outpourings of love from millions of fans worldwide couldn’t heal the legendary qawwal’s own terminally ill body.

Ten years ago, as India celebrated its golden jubilee, 48-year-old Nusrat battled for his life in a London hospital. He lost the battle on August 16, one day after India’s Independence day, and two days after his native Pakistan’s.

However, death has only strengthened the intoxicating power of Nusrat’s music. A decade after he passed away, he is the subcontinent’s most internationally famous singer, with a huge fan following and a long chain of imitators.

He is in the Guinness Book of Records for having recorded a staggering 125 albums. And, according to the US National Public Radio website, he has sold more albums than Elvis Presley.

The singer’s legacy lives on through his nephews Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rizwan and Muazzam (following in Nusrat’s footsteps, the latter two have collaborated with British musician Peter Gabriel), and his students Salman Ahmad and Naeem Abbas Rufi.

Salman went on to found the popular Pakistani rock group, Junoon. Indian Sufi singers Kailash Kher, Hans Raj Hans and Rabbi Shergill all claim Nusrat as their inspiration. Kailash, who is sometimes dubbed Chhota Nusrat [Little Nusrat], has been approached to sing with Eddie Vedder at a tribute concert for Nusrat.

The currency of Sufi music—partly a felt thing, and partly fashion—and Bollywood’s recent fondness for qawwalis, seen in Maqbool, Haasil, Corporate and Pyar Ke Side Effects, can also be traced back to Nusrat’s magic.

(...)

Indeed, improvisation was one of Nusrat’s greatest strengths, and one of the reasons why his music lives on. He was rooted in tradition but always ready to extend its boundaries. As Junoon’s Salman Ahmed told Outlook, "He inspired me to see with the heart and think beyond borders...."

Nusrat’s first innovation was to dramatically reinforce the Hindustani classical element in the often rough-and-ready aesthetics of qawwali. During his concerts, audiences would join in as he and his group began the customary chanting. But then, the singer would first baffle them and later send them into a trance by breaking off into a sargam interlude at a breathtakingly fast tempo.

Nusrat sang the poetry of Khusro, Bulle Shah and Iqbal, but always added his own touches. He would sing in Persian, Urdu, Punjabi and Awadhi in the same song. His voice would rise to a crescendo, the movements of his hands matching the beats.

He was like a man possessed when singing. Dildar Hussain, who played the tabla in his group, remembers Nusrat’s total immersion in his music by describing his performance at Rishi Kapoor’s wedding in 1979. "We started at ten in the night," he recalls, "and finished at seven in the morning. He sang Halka Halka Suroor for two-and-a-half hours at a stretch."

(...)

In his ’98 film, Nusrat Has Left The Building...But When? (the title echoes the phrase "Elvis has left the building", always announced after an Elvis show), Pakistani filmmaker Farjad Nabi implies Nusrat’s talent had got diluted towards the end.

Says Farjad: "Nusrat had been singing for decades before Peter Gabriel discovered him. The sudden recognition and money must have affected him. I felt deeply disappointed at the change."

It isn’t hard to see why the purists prefer the simple arrangement of harmoniums and tablas dominated by Nusrat’s indomitable lung power over his singing along with the techno instruments of the West.

Yet, when you hear the jazz musicians, Senegalese jembe and the dub beats jamming with his voice, you also know he wasn’t just a musician but a veritable ambassador of love and music.

Nusrat has not yet left the building.

[Photo by Prashant Panjiar]

"It’s crying to be made into a film"

By Saibal Chatterjee - Newindpress on Sunday - India
Saturday, August 25, 2007

His long, eventful career has been built on a steady flow of films. Shyam Benegal isn’t, ergo, accustomed to protracted inaction.

His last release, Bose: The Forgotten Hero, was completed all of two years ago. “I am getting extremely restless,” the veteran director says. “I have never had such a long fallow period in my career.”

It isn’t, however, just the forced hiatus that has had him a tad on the edge of late; the lackadaisical manner in which the distributors treated the Netaji biopic, a pure labour of love, still rankles.

“That film would have had a fair chance hadn’t it been so poorly exploited,” he laments. “Imagine running a three-and-a-half-hour film at 11 at night or at 10.30 in the morning. It had to sink.”

But that setback is now behind him, and the septuagenarian filmmaker is moving on, with not one, not two, but three ventures looming on the horizon. First up is the tentatively titled Mahadev, which is scheduled to roll in September.

“The idea has been with me for a long time,” he says of the comedic film that will star Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao. “It is about a young villager who is the only literate man in his community and aspires to be a writer. He ends up becoming a letter writer to the unlettered.”

Mahadev will see Benegal return to the rural Indian terrain that has yielded some of his best films. From his very first directorial outings, the epochal Ankur (1974) and Nishant (1975), to the more recent Samar (1998), his cinema has frequently explored the hinterland of a complex, constantly evolving nation grappling with debilitating divides at various levels of existence — caste, gender, history, modernity versus tradition…

Also on the Benegal anvil is what promises to be by far his most ambitious film to date — an international spy drama about the real-life Noor Inayat Khan, a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan.

Her courage is still commemorated in the UK and France, but she isn’t even a footnote in Indian history. “I hope that will change once the film gets made,” says Benegal.

Noor’s story is indeed the stuff that riveting cinema is made of: during World War II, she laid down her life working as a British agent in Nazi-occupied France. The upcoming film is being scripted by economist Lord Meghnad Desai and his wife, Kishwar, who have bought the film rights to journalist Shrabani Basu’s critically acclaimed book, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan.

“It’s an outstanding story,” says Benegal. “It has everything: human drama, heroism, intrigue, war…The book is the first authoritative biography of Noor Inayat Khan, very well researched and reconstructed. It’s crying to be made into a film.”

The scriptwriters, the director reveals, are currently on the third draft of the screenplay. “They are now in India for a month-and-a-half. By the time they return to London, the draft will have been wrapped up. It’s flowing quite nicely,” says Benegal.

Noor, who was betrayed by double agents and shot by the Nazis in Dachau in 1944 (she was only in her 20s), was a “strikingly pretty” woman endowed with multiple creative skills. She was a singer, broadcaster and writer of children’s stories.

Says the director: “She was as unlikely a war martyr as you can ever get. She was very quiet, gentle and vulnerable, a woman who believed in the tenets of the Sufi order set up in Paris by her father, sitar player and dhrupad vocalist Inayat Khan (in 1909, he was the first Indian classical musician to settle in the West). Subterfuge and violence were anathema to Noor. But she was required to resort to both once she volunteered to be an underground radio operator in France during the war.”

The screen adaptation of Noor’s tale of bravery and sacrifice, to be shot entirely in Europe sometime next year, will be an English-French-German film with a smattering of Urdu.

“The cast and the funding will obviously be international, but the film will have a strong Indian involvement in both respects,” says Benegal. Has he homed in on an actress for the character of Noor? “We will get to that only after the script is ready,” he says. “The character can be played by anybody from the younger lot of Mumbai actresses, but I am open to an European, somebody like Monica Bellucci, for the part.”

Closer home, Benegal is still nurturing an idea that is all set to roll but for the problems he has had with prospective producers — Chamki Chameli, a musical adaptation of Georges Bizet’s famed opera, Carmen. He plans to shoot the film on the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan.

“I haven’t abandoned that project. A. R. Rahman has already done a lot of music for Chamki Chameli,” he reveals. “It needs a producer who is willing to be patient and involved. It’s not the sort of film for which you can go the location and start shooting.”

Talking of Rahman, wouldn’t he be the right man to score the music for Spy Princess given his strong Sufi moorings? Benegal acquiesces: “Indeed, it has to be somebody who has an instinctive feel for Sufi thought as well as a developed sense of world music.”

Imagine that the world is a green dome...

By Jeremy Tredinnick - Time - U.S.A.
Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry has got it all wrong. Instead of threatening to sue comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for his fictitious portrayals of Kazakh culture, officials should be presenting him with some minor decoration for services to tourism.

In the aftermath of Cohen's big-screen spoof, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, interest in the Central Asian country has blossomed. At the end of last year, Hotels.com, for one, reported a 300% increase in enquiries.

What will visitors find when they get to Borat's supposed homeland? Hardly anything from the movie, but lots of steppe, mountains and desert, as well as a multiethnic population with a rich nomadic culture and historical treasures that date back millenniums.

Foremost among these is Kazakhstan's most revered monument, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. It should certainly top your must-see list.

Located in the southern town of Turkestan, the mausoleum was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2003, and is an important pilgrimage destination in the Islamic world.

The building was constructed on the orders of Mongol Emperor Tamerlane between 1389 and 1405, in honor of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, the 12th century Muslim mystic.

Tamerlane apparently had a personal hand in the designs for this masterpiece of Islamic architecture, which was used as a template by the Persian builders of similar structures in Samarkand and Bukhara.

It's clear why they chose to emulate it. The mausoleum is a thing of beauty, and presents hugely differing aspects when observed from different angles: the enormous brickwork portal (or peshtak) that looks to the southeast is impressive and particularly enjoyable in the golden light of sunrise; the shining majolica domes and the lavish, intricate form of the mosaic borders on the side walls are exquisite, with the northwest façade radiating gorgeous colors as the sun dips toward the horizon.

Like other great Islamic constructions, such as the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum intrigues from a distance, bewitches and beckons from the outer walls, and from up close dazzles the eye with the beauty and scale of its detail.

Getting there isn't easy, however. The usual way is to fly into Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, from Beijing or Bangkok on Air Astana, www.airastana.com, and then take the train or a domestic flight to Shymkent, a few hours' drive southeast of Turkestan.

Or, you can visit Turkestan on a day or weekend excursion from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. Turan-Asia Ltd. (www.turanasia.kz), Central Asia Tourism (www.centralasiatourism.com) and Komek (www.komek.nets.kz) can make all arrangements for you, including visas.

Don't be afraid to mention Borat, by the way. These days, every customer does.

[About Borat see http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=borat

then scroll down and click on the title "The trouble with Borat" to read the full article]

[Read also: http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismorders.html#Yasawi
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Yesevi]

[picture: the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, UNESCO's #1103.

More at http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1103]

Parolario [Lario word(s)] Festival

[from the Italian language press]:

Dal 25 agosto al 9 settembre torna a Como "Parolario" il festival all'aperto con 110 appuntamenti, 130 scrittori, una decina di filosofi, mostre, proiezioni e la fiera del libro su bancarelle.

Corriere della Sera, Milano, Italy - giovedì 23 agosto 2007 - di Severino Colombo

From August 25th [today] to September 9th returns to Como “Parolario” (Words on the Lario lake) the open air festival with 110 appointments, 130 Writers, about ten Philosophers, exhibitions, movies and the Book's Fair on stalls.

Of absolute relief it is the cycle of philosophical conversations “Between the Sacred and the Profane” with, among others, Gabriele Mandel Khan, deep expert of the Qur'an and Sufi master (among his students, the folk singer Franco Battiato), who will speak of "Sufism, the Way to Knowledge and Peace" (Friday, August 31st, 6.30 pm, Piazza Cavour).

Then, on September 4th in Piazza Cavour the former Rabbi of Milan, Giuseppe Laras, will speak about love in the Hebrew thought at 6.30 pm, while the patriarch of Venice Angelo Scola with the philosopher Giovanni Reale will discuss "The value of the contemporary man" at 9 pm.

All events of the Parolario Festival are free and open to the public.
More infos and full program at: http://www.parolario.it/calendario2007.htm

[picture: Como, piazza Cavour by night. Photo: http://www.larioonline.it/lagodicomo/immagini.asp]

We are more in need of Sufi poetry

By Javaid Malik - Greater Kashmir - Srinigar, India
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - Shaban 9, 1428

Budgam, Aug 22: The annual Samad Mir festival was observed today with thousands thronging the shrine of renowned mystic Sufi poet Samad Mir at Nambalhar here.

The festival organized by Samad Mir Trust Budgam at Nambalhar Krimshore was marked by participation of thousands of people from Nambalhar Khansahib, Budgam, Chadoora.

Writers and poets enlightened the participants about the Sufiyana background of Samad Mir and his contribution in Kashmir poetry. Shahid Budgami, Namthali, and other poets and writers and various literary luminaries were also present and spoke on the occasion.

The function was presided by the District Development Commissioner of Budgam, Mr Farooq Renzu.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner of Budgam, while highlighting the importance of the Sufi poetry of the legendary poet, said: “Today we are more in need of such Sufi poetry as a directly address to our spiritual needs. It is because of Sufi thought that Kashmiriyat is floundering in the sub continent.”

Shahid Budgami, while highlighting the works of Samad Mir, said: “We need to preserve the valuable works of this Sufi Poet so that our posterity is aware about our rich cultural and literary heritage.”

A book on “Naat” [poetry that specifically praises the prophet Muhammad --pbuh] by the revered Sufi Poet was also released by the Deputy Commissioner of Budgam, on the occasion.

[picture from: http://kashmirdivision.nic.in/office/budgam.htm]

Cities of Light at 9PM

By Michael van der Galien - The Moderate Voice - U.S.A.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Cities of Light, the documentary about Islamic Spain will be aired today (Wednesday, August 22nd), at 9PM on PBS in the U.S.A.

What follows is an excerpt from the interview with Michael Wolfe, the Executive Producer.

You can read a review of Cities of Light by the same Author at this link: http://tinyurl.com/34wn6z

You can visit Unity Productions Foundation and read more about the documentary at this link: http://tinyurl.com/34efd5

MvdG: Is what’s known as “Mevlana” (or Sufism) - the peaceful almost Buddhist like Muslim philosophy taught by Rumi influenced by the culture of Al-Andalus?

MW: Not directly, that I know of. Religions of all kinds, and particularly the mystical variety, tends to share a lot of common ground. The Peace That Passeth Understanding is as much a part of Judaism as Christianity and Islam, in the form of Sufism.

But the person Rumi was a Persian, not a Spanish Muslim, who relocated to the west of his father’s country, and worked in a cultural style that was quite different from the Andalusian.

That said, there are many giants of Sufism who happened to hail from Muslim Spain, including Ibn Arabi, whom many consider, intellectually speaking, the Giant of them all.

MvdG: A question about poetry. In the documentary poetry plays quite an important role: every now and then a part of a poem about Al-Andalus is read by the narrator and important poets of Al-Andalus are highlighted in the documentary as well. This led me to conclude the following: if one wants to know whether a given society is progressing (and civilized) one needs to look at the level and importance of poetry. Do you agree with that and if so, what does this tell you about Western and Middle Eastern civilizations / societies today?

MW: Poetry is important in Middle Eastern societies today. Many people can recite their favorite works, by their favorite poets, and there are some poets writing in Arabic and Urdu and many other languages who are both Muslim and gifted poets.

I think the same is true of poets in the West, though our “society” appears to give them less weight and importance. I don’t know how the future will judge western or middle eastern cultural production. Good poets speak to eternal themes while speaking of their times.

MvdG: When watching Cities of Light, one gets the impression - as the experts said as well - that society can only flourish if it is open and open-minded. Isolated societies, on the other hand, stagnate. Could you explain that a little bit more?

MW: Societies and civilizations go down for different reasons. Greece disappeared under Alexander, because he literally took off, spreading its culture from Ionia to Egypt to Baghdad to Persia and India but in the process dissolving the borders of a very tiny, integrated geography of inventive city states.

Self-Isolating societies, on the other hand, cut themselves off and, as you say, stagnate. Spain in the end committed a kind of act of schizophrenia, divesting itself of two-thirds of its cultural and spiritual psyche at just the moment when it became a unified “nation.”

In a sense, this is what Cervantes is writing about and making fun of—a society steeped in old codes of chivalry that no longer apply, with a tradition it no longer understands, and a dilemma it can no longer define because its cultural basis—Judaeo-Islamo-Christian—had been willfully shattered. For the sake of ethnic Purity, Catholic Spain cast two-thirds of being to the winds.

MvdG: Lastly, a reasonably negative question two actually: you do not address in Cities of Light how to behave (tolerance wise) when one of the religious groups falls hostage to fundamentalists and grows, therefore, increasingly intolerant.

Furthermore, one can also wonder whether any multicultural society can last. When we look at history, we see examples of multiculturalism, and Al-Andalus is a prime example of it, but if we look at the fate of these societies and especially Al-Andalus, is it not fair to conclude that perhaps – sadly – multicultural societies are doomed to failure because, in the end, man becomes intolerant since intolerance (evil) is in our nature?

MW: Got me! The institutions of our society today are so very different from the institutions of Spain under Abdul Rahman I, or III, or again under Ferdinand and Isabella…

Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain
Producer / Director: Robert Gardner
Executive Producers: Alexander Kronemer & Michael Wolfe
Narrator: Sam Mercurio

Soaring

By Don Heckman - Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Monday, August 20, 2007

Shahram Nazeri's astonishing voice soars over a mix of Iranian and Western sounds

Iranian singer Shahram Nazeri has been described, with some hyperbole, as "The Persian Nightingale" and "Iran's Pavarotti."

But his performance Friday night at Disney Hall suggested that neither label provides an accurate depiction of the length and breadth of either his art or his voice.

The program featured a pair of ensembles -- five players in the first half; seven in the second -- performing compositions by Nazeri's son, Hafez, incorporating combinations of Western and Iranian instruments. At the center of the music, driving it, illuminating it, enhancing it, was Shahram's Nazeri's voice.

Terms such as "Nightingale" and "Pavarotti" are inadequate because they are far too simplistic as references. Nazeri is indeed as mesmerizing as a nightingale, but his interpretive range -- even for listeners who have no understanding of his language -- reaches beyond night music into the full gamut of emotional expressiveness.

Nor is he a tenor, like Pavarotti, singing a familiar repertoire. Nazeri's vocal range reached from whisper-soft, utterly intimate chest tones to ringing, high falsettos, sometimes sliding with astonishing ease from one to the other.

What he sang -- much of it based upon poetic Rumi lines such as "I have returned, returned from my beloved. . . " -- was spontaneously invented. Like a jazz artist, Nazeri's improvisations were delivered within specific musical frameworks. And the genius of Nazeri -- like that of, say, John Coltrane or Charlie Parker -- is his capacity to create, on the spot, extraordinary aural visions.

At one point, Nazeri came onstage alone, accompanying himself on a lute-like setar, singing a tune familiar to the many Iranians in the full house. Unlike the soaring impromptus, its simple, repetitive melody had the instant familiarity of pop songs from every culture.

Yet even here, Nazeri brought a transcendent quality to every note he sang.

The compositions by Hafez Nazeri -- the "Rumi Symphony Project: Cycle I" -- reached beyond the iconic Persian poet-philosopher to find inspiration from Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis," as well.

The younger Nazeri's goal has been to find a common ground between instrumental cultures without having to distort the essential elements of each. For the most part, he succeeded in doing so.

The opening "OM" segment, for example, featuring the brilliant playing of cellist Ben Hong, moved from a meditative beginning into a Western-like cadenza, subtly combing qualities of East and West.

Other segments took similar tacks, with well-crafted playing from bassist David Moore, cellist Dennis Karmazyn, violists Louise Schulman and Liuh Wen Ting, and dramatic displays of daf drumming from Hussein Zahawy and Indian tabla playing from Salar Nader.

A few passages, especially in the premiere performance of "Eternity," could clearly have benefited from additional rehearsal time. But that's a small complaint for a program that allowed Shahram Nazeri's voice to soar over an ambitious collection of cross-cultural music.

[picture from http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/ict/AAA/forest.htm]

It’s a not a career, it’s a calling

By Alaka Sahani - Express India - Mumbai, India
Friday, August 17, 2007

M. G. Vassanji was half-way through writing a novel on a Sufi saint who came to Gujarat in the 13th century when riots broke out in the state — changing its course and that of the nation.

The Assassin’s Song, which the Indian-Canadian writer had started in 2000 and took the shape of a heartbreaking ballad of life tainted by the bigotry, was released here in Mumbay on Friday.

“The book about the Sufi saint taking refuge in Gujarat from Mongolian invaders was in a slightly different form earlier. But after the 2002 violence, I decided to begin the story in Gujarat,” the Indian-Canadian author says. Gujarat has seen the worst kind of violence with fascist elements creeping in, he adds.

This could be the reason why the Nairobi-born writer doesn’t feel at ease in Gujarat. “For the last few years, I’ve been visiting Porbunder, Jamnagar and Kathiawad. But Pirbaag, the shrine of the Sufi saint Nur Fazal, around which the story revolves, is set close to Ahmedabad,” says Vassanji, the author of six novels.

The Assassin’s Song oscillates between the ancient, when Nur Fazal came to Gujarat, and the present with Pirbaag, the dargah in Haripir, destroyed, and its heir Karsan Dargawalla caught between filial responsibility and personal yearning. His father, Pir Saheb, is killed and brother, Mansoor, turns radical.

The author sees a reflection of himself in Karsan. “Like me, he has literary sensibilities, can’t take sides and is caught in middle,” Vassanji says.

Akin to The Assassin’s Song taking different shape mid-way, Vassanji’s foray into the world of literature happened after working as a nuclear physicist for more than a decade after a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania.

He moved to Canada in 1978 to work at a nuclear laboratory in Ontario. In 1980, he moved to Toronto to begin his writing career and, a year later, Vassanji and his wife Nurjehan Aziz founded The Toronto South Asian Review with some friends.

The 57-year-old writer went on to receive a Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for his debut novel The Gunny Sack in 1987. This was followed by both The Book of Secrets and The In-between World of Vikram Lall receiving the Giller Prize.

“Almost once a day I’m asked why I chose writing. But it’s a not a career, it’s a calling,” Vassanji says. “And I’m no longer a nuclear physicist.”

[A different review at: http://tinyurl.com/2zwcac]

[Buy at The Sufi Store http://astore.amazon.com/wilderwri-20]

"We are peaceful People"

By Sean Thomas - Sunday Telegraph - U.K.
Sunday, August 19, 2007

I'm in a community hall, on the outskirts of Celle, a north German town. On the walls are pictures of dark blue peacocks. Sitting at various tables around the room are dozens of Devil worshippers.

At least, that's what some people call them.

Though we don't know it yet, right now several suicide bombs are going off near Mosul in Iraq, killing maybe 400. The victims belong to the same faith as those gathered here today.

They are Yezidi. And I'm here to unearth the reality of their fascinating religion. Why do they have such troubled relations with outsiders? Do they really worship the Devil?

The Yezidi of Celle are one of the largest groups of their sect outside the homeland of Kurdish Iraq. There may be 7,000 in this small town. Yezidi across the world number between 400,000 and 800,000.

Today the Yezidi in Celle don't seem keen to talk. I'm not surprised: I have been warned about their wariness of strangers, born of centuries of appalling persecution.

Eventually a dark, thickset man turns to me. He points to one of the peacocks on the wall: "That is Melek Taus, the peacock angel. We worship him." He sips his tea, and adds: "Ours is the oldest religion in the world. Older than Islam; older than Christianity."

After this cryptic statement he returns to his friends.

Luckily there is another Yezidi organisation in Celle that is said to be more forthcoming. On the way to meet its spokesman, I go through the bizarre beliefs of the Yezidi.

It's an impressive list. The Yezidi honour sacred trees. Women must not cut their hair. Marriage is forbidden in April. They refuse to eat lettuce, pumpkins, and gazelles. They avoid wearing dark blue because it is "too holy".

They are divided strictly into castes, who cannot marry each other. The upper castes are polygamous. Anyone of the faith who marries a non-Yezidi risks ostracism, or worse. Some weeks ago a young girl was stoned to death by her Yezidi menfolk in Iraq; she had fallen in love with a Muslim and was trying to convert. The sickening murder was filmed, and posted on the internet, adding to the Yezidis' unhappy reputation.

Yezidism is syncretistic: it combines elements of many faiths. Like Hindus, they believe in reincarnation. Like ancient Mithraists, they sacrifice bulls. They practise baptism, like Christians. When they pray they face the sun, like Zoroastrians. They profess to revile Islam, but there are strong links with Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam.

It's a remarkably confusing picture. And I still haven't got an answer to the main question: do they worship "Satan"?

In the centre of town I am greeted by Halil Savucu, a westernised spokesman for the Yezidi. Also with us is Uta Tolle, a German scholar of Yezidism.

In Halil's Mercedes we drive into the suburbs. On the way, the two of them give me their view of the faith. "Yezidi is oral, not literary," says Uta. "This is why it is sometimes hard to pin down precise beliefs. There are religious texts, like the Black Book, but they are not crucial. The faith is really handed down by kawwas, sort of musical preachers."

And who is Melek Taus? Halil looks slightly uncomfortable: "We believe he is a proud angel, who rebelled and was thrown into Hell by God. He stayed there 40,000 years, until his tears quenched the fires of the underworld. Now he is reconciled to God."

But is he good or evil? "He is both. Like fire. Flames can cook but they can also burn. The world is good and bad."

For a Yezidi to say they worship the Devil is understandably difficult. It is their reputation as infidels - as genuine "devil worshippers" - that has led to their fierce persecution over time, especially by Muslims. Saddam Hussein intensified this suppression.

But some Yezidi do claim that Melek Taus is "the Devil". One hereditary leader of the Yezidi, Mir Hazem, said in 2005: "I cannot say this word [Devil] out loud because it is sacred. It's the chief of angels. We believe in the chief of angels."

There are further indications that Melek Taus is "the Devil". The parallels between the story of the peacock angel's rebellion, and the story of Lucifer, cast into Hell by the Christian God, are surely too close to be coincidence. The very word "Melek" is cognate with "Moloch", the name of a Biblical demon - who demanded human sacrifice.

The avian imagery of Melek Taus also indicates a demonic aspect. The Yezidi come from Kurdistan, the ancient lands of Sumeria and Assyria. Sumerian gods were often cruel, and equipped with beaks and wings. Birdlike. Three thousand years ago the Assyrians worshipped flying demons, spirits of the desert wind.

The Yezidi reverence for birds - and snakes - might also be extremely old. Excavations at ancient Catalhoyuk, in Turkey, show that the people there revered bird-gods as long ago as 7000BC. Even older is Gobekli Tepe, a megalithic site near Sanliurfa, in Kurdish Turkey (Sanliurfa was once a stronghold of Yezidism). The extraordinary temple of Gobekli boasts carvings of winged birdmen, and images of buzzards and serpents.

Taking all this evidence into account, a fair guess is that Yezidism is a form of bird-worship, that could date back 6,000 years or more. Over the centuries, new and powerful creeds, such as Islam and Christianity, have swept through Yezidi Kurdistan, threatening the older faith. But, like a species that survives by blending into the landscape, Yezidism has adapted by incorporating aspects of new religions.

We've reached Halil's house. "Look at this," he says, showing me a picture of the peacock angel, and a copper sanjak - another representation of Melek Taus.

When I have taken some photos, we all sit down to spaghetti bolognaise, with Halil's wife and their chatty kids. It suddenly seems a long way from the weirdness of Devil-worship, and the violence of the Middle East.

"We Yezidi are not saints," says Halil, "but we are a peaceful people. All we want is tolerance. We do not worship evil, we just see that the world contains good as well as bad. Darkness as well as light."

His words are timely. While we eat our pasta, the news comes through from Iraq of the bloody slaughter of Yezidi near Mosul. Halil is deeply distraught. "I feel absolute shock and horror, I feel sick to my stomach. All Yezidi are my family. But we are so alone in the world. We need friends. Many Yezidi would like to leave Iraq, but no one will give us visas."

He sighs, and adds: "The Yezidi have been persecuted for thousands of years, we are used to it. But we thought the new Iraq would protect minorities. We thought that things would get better when the Americans came…" And then he turns, and stares at the serene blue image, of the great peacock angel.

[picture: Yezidi women from where north-western Iraq borders Syria. The faith may go back 6,000 years. Photo: Getty/AFP]

[Read also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi]

Too marvelous to ignore and too mysterious to comprehend

By Mirella Hodeib - Daily Star - Beirut, Lebanon
Friday, August 17, 2007

The Pyramid Texts, which evolved into the Book of the Dead, are the oldest religious writing from ancient Egypt that are known to us today.

A collection of spells and legends, the texts form the basis of much Egyptian religious theology and literature.

The oldest of the Pyramid Texts were found, in the form of funerary inscriptions, on the walls inside the Pyramid of Unas in the region of Saqqara.

In myriad, diverse ways, they describe the resurrection and ascension of the pharaos to the afterlife. What binds them together is their emphasis on the eternal existence of the king and their tendency to equate the sky with the realm of the afterlife.

Gamal al-Ghitani's "Pyramid Texts" was first published in Arabic as "Mutun al-Ahram" in 1994. An English edition, by award-winning literary translator Humphrey Davies, was published earlier this year by The American University in Cairo Press.

Ghitani uses the ancient texts as a point of departure, interpreting them, extrapolating from them and twisting them into fiction in a volume that is more a collection of stories than a novel. His take on the original Pyramid Texts is as intriguing and mesmerizing as the spells that are thousands of years old. They are, as Ghitani writes, "too marvelous to ignore and too mysterious to comprehend."

The great secret of the pyramids and the mystery of man's place in the universe are recurrent themes in the book.

Ghitani's volume demands a slow, ponderous read. But the subject matter crackles with controversy. Readers who are genuinely interested in (and relatively knowledgeable of) mystical and spiritual writings will consider Ghitani's book a gem; those who prefer their literary texts more concrete and grounded will probably find themselves flipping through the pages in frustration.

Yet Ghitani, considered by many to be Egypt's "cultural guard," plays on the slippery nature of the original spells to build his story, putting forth a series of meanings, disciplines and theories about life and death, and intertwining them all to form an engaging, at times magical tome.

Before he was a major contemporary novelist and an accomplished literary critic, Ghitani worked as a craftsman. He designed intricate carpets, and the influence of that labor permeates his writing, which exudes both serenity and a wild imagination.

As with the Pyramid Texts found in Saqqara, Ghitani's tales are not easily deciphered. They raise numerous questions about the quest for knowledge, death, resurrection and the afterlife.

Ghitani was born in 1945, into a poor family from Sohag inUpper Egypt. When he was a child, he and his family moved to the infamous Al-Hussein neighborhood of Old Cairo, where he trained as a carpet maker. Later, in 1969 he joined the editorial team of the daily newspaper Akhbar al-Yawm, a leading Egyptian newspaper.

A prolific writer, Ghitani is now the force behind the weekly supplement Akhbar al-Adab, Egypt's leading literary publication. He has published 13 novels and six collections of short stories. "Zayni Barakat" is probably his best-known novel in English translation.

In structure, Ghitani's "Pyramid Texts" follows the architecture of the pyramids themselves. The 14 spells that make up the book, each more abstract than the one that came before, grow shorter and shorter from beginning to end, eventually tapering into thin air. The last page of the book reads: "Nothing. Nothing. Nothing."

History and personal consciousness are the pillars of "Pyramid Texts." Even the most mystical of images carry strong social, political and psychological content. Ghitani's writing is, in fact, deeply entrenched in the traditions of Sufism and mystical Islam, all filtered through a fascination with ancient Egyptian civilization.

At times, echoes of Khalil Gibran sound in the text. At others, the shadow of Ibn Arabi's pantheism crawls across the page. Similar to ancient Egyptian mythology, where the pharaos and gods merge into singular entities, the author explores a thing and its opposite, such as knowledge and ignorance, and immortality and transience.

Davies' translation succeeds in rendering the author's meticulously crafted and notably sensual accounts. Responsible for translating Naguib Mahfouz's "Thebes at War," Elias Khoury's "Gate of the Sun" and Alaa al-Aswany's "The Yacoubian Building" Davies conveys Ghitani's prose with clarity and elegance. He captures the author's intricate meanings and symbols.

[Buy at: http://astore.amazon.com/wilderwri-20]

Shams in the Palace

MNA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Iranian band “Shams” accompanied by several dervishes from Konya will be giving a performance at the Sadabad Palace on August 28-30.

In a press conference held at the House of Music on Tuesday conductor Keikhosro Purnazeri gave details about the concert.

He said, “The program will be divided into two sections and will include some new pieces and a selection of our previous works. Dervishes from Konya will also be performing the ritual sama dance during the concert.”

“Since UNESCO has designated 2007 "The Year of Rumi" to mark the 800th birth anniversary of this mystic and poet, we felt the necessity to hold a concert to echo Rumi’s thoughts in his birth land, Iran,” he added.

He went on to say that two musicians from Armenia, a cellist and a harpist, have also been invited to accompany the band.

Vocal pieces based on Rumi’s poetry along with the musical compositions “For You”, “Rain”, “Sareban” (Camel Driver)” and “Saqi” will feature in the concert.

[picture: Ceiling in Kakh-e Mellat, Sad Abad Complex, Tehran, Iran. Photo: Fabienkhan 2005

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sad_Abad_Ceiling.jpg

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

Literary dough to play with

TE/HGH/KB - Press TV - Tehran, Iran
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

In a bid to familiarize Iranian children with the country's mythological figures, Tehran is hosting the first play dough sculpture festival.

Children aged 4-11 years will create play dough sculptures of figures from the Persian literary masterpieces, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and Mowlana's (Rumi) Masnavi.

The organizers of the festival have arranged lectures on the necessity of familiarizing the younger generations with the country's cultural heritage.

The one-day festival will be held in Tehran on August 27.

[picture: A scene from Shahnameh]

[Shahnameh Ferdowsi homesite: http://www.shahnameh.com/

Shahnameh on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahnameh]

I'm not a poet: go beyond

By Don Heckman - Los Angeles Times - CA, U.S.A.
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Iranian composer takes Rumi's poetry to new heights
The words "Rumi" and "Disney" may not seem to belong in the same sentence -- or even the same location.

But they'll be together tonight, Friday, when Iranian composer Hafez Nazeri presents the world premiere of his Rumi Symphony Project at Disney Hall, celebrating the 800th birthday of the Persian poet and mystic.

Nazeri is the son of vocalist Shahram Nazeri, an icon of Persian music -- described as the "Persian Nightingale" and "Iran's Pavarotti." The elder Nazeri will be featured in the Rumi Project.

"My father was the first Iranian singer to set Rumi's poetry to music, 35 years ago," Nazeri says. "And I grew up studying, learning so many things about Rumi's life."We consider Rumi not just a poet, but a philosopher. And what we wanted to do, especially since he has become so popular in the West, is show his reality in our music."

"You know, in one of his poems, Rumi says, 'I'm not a poet. Poems are just an excuse for me to say what I want to say. Go beyond my poetry.' "

Nazeri's composition for a seven-piece ensemble combines Western instrumentation (violas and cellos) with Iranian setar daf and Indian percussion.

"We've tried to portray Rumi's philosophy of life, the message of love, the message of peace," Nazeri says. "And that's my challenge, especially when the media is full of war and fighting. Here I am, a 28-year-old Iranian guy, coming to Disney Hall with a music that tries to bridge West and East, that tries to be the sound of the billions of people who are calling for peace, not war.

I like to think that's something Rumi would have understood."

--"In the Path of Rumi," Disney Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday. $35 to $150. (323) 850-2000.

[read also: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=nazeri]

[picture: Hafez Nazeri --composer, musician and artistic director Rumi Simphony Project. Photo Nick Saglimbeni/LATimes]

The seeds of a ‘new enlightenment’

By Suroosh Irfani - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

While the lawyers’ movement may be a long way from the Jungian concerns of totalitarianism and Taj Mahal, it reflects the seeds of a ‘new enlightenment’ that might yet rescue Pakistan from the regressive forces undermining it in the name of Islam

Responding to my article Islam, Dreams and Jung (Daily Times, 27 July, 2007) [*link at the end of the article], Brijen Gupta asserts that it “ignores Jung’s view that Islam was a totalitarian movement and the putative mother of Nazism”.

He concludes, “to Jungians, a symbiotic relationship between Muslims and Christians appears unlikely” (Daily Times Letters, 28 July). Like many thinkers, Jung is as much known for his original ideas as the controversies some of his ideas have spawned. However, regarding Islam, it goes to Jung’s credit that he acknowledged his own limitations as a human being brought up in a western milieu, where prejudice against Islam had rubbed on him as well.

During a seminar on dream analysis in Zurich, Jung candidly acknowledged that as with many westerners, he was unable to consciously reconcile within himself “the irreconcilable nature of Islam and Christianity” — and yet affirmed that reconciling these opposites was the challenge of a ‘new enlightenment”.

In fact, Jung believed that Islam was misrepresented by prejudiced teachers: “It is represented by our theologians as dry and empty, but there is tremendous life in it, particularly in Islamic mysticism, which is the secret backbone of Islam” (C. G. Jung, Dream Analysis. Princeton, 1984. p.336).

He seemed overwhelmed by a brush with Islam when he visited India. As he wrote about Hindu temples, gods and goddesses in “the dreamlike world of India”, Jung notes: “in comparison, Islam seems to be a superior, more spiritual, and more advanced religion.”

He lauds the Taj Mahal as “the secret of Islam”, a monument of love where the “perfume of Islamic culture still lingers in the air”. Indeed, the Taj symbolised an incredible flowering of the “delicate secret of the rose gardens of Shiraz and the silent patios of Arabian palaces... in the rich Indian earth”. (C G Jung. C W vol. 10. p, 519-520).

Clearly, Jung’s poetic description of Taj Mahal is more than a homage to a Mughal emperor’s love for his Persian queen, Mumtaz Mahal — Jung also alludes to a synthesising Indo-Persian culture that historically shaped Muslim identity in the subcontinent.

This makes one wonder whether Jung had a case for his double-take on Islam: as a force of totalitarian domination a la Nazism on the one hand, and an energy of eclectic spirituality a la Taj Mahal, on the other.

Veteran historian K. K. Aziz notes that while Jama’at-e Islami leader Maulana Maudoodi shunned democracy and freedom of thought, he admired the Nazi and Fascist parties for having achieved power “through deep faith in their principles and blind obedience to their leaders” (Pakistan’s Political Culture p.265).

After independence, the Jama’at supported military dictator General Zia in promoting an Islamic state, where “no one can regard his affairs as personal and private because an Islamic state is a totalitarian state” (p.261).

Such totalitarian thrust took a triumphal turn when US arms and Saudi petrodollars fuelled the Afghan jihad under Zia’s stewardship and religious parties’ patronage, giving rise to a complicit culture of violence in the name of jihad. Consequently, with the advent of the “Arab-Afghans’ and Taliban, the synthesising impulse of Indo-Persian culture was largely eclipsed by an ‘Arabist shift’- the tendency to view the present in terms of an imagined Arab past with the Arabs as the only “real/pure” Muslim, and then using this trope of purity for exorcising an “unIslamic” present.

Small wonder that in Pakistan’s imaginary today, Taj Mahal has been displaced by Lal Masjid, and the Persian Mumtaz Mahal by ‘Arabist’ Umme Hassan, Principal of Jamia Hafsa believed to be the moving spirit behind Lal Masjid radicalism.

The wife of Lal Masjid leader Maulana Abdul Aziz, Umme Hassan’s reported renunciation of her Pakistani name, Majida, for a primordial Arab identity was emulated by many of her students. Indeed, the Lal Masjid debacle shows the extent to which the distinction between ‘terrorist’ and ‘mainstream’ religiosity has gotten blurred in today’s Pakistan. For example, if security forces arrested Al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh from a Jama’at-e Islami nazima’s house four years ago, security forces cornered the top Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud last month in the house of a JUIF leader, where he blew himself up.

Likewise, the Lal Masjid complex thrived and expanded because of a complicit religious culture shared by various shades of Islamist militants, government functionaries and religio-political groups.

The unmistakable strain of fascism in this culture is borne out by researcher Farhat Taj’s account of her visit to Jamia Hafsa last January, where she found the students, teachers and the charismatic Umme Hassan more than eager to tell what they were up to: the madrassa was “grooming wives and mothers for jihadis, female suicide bombers and female foot soldiers who will clash with the law enforcement agencies of Pakistan, if necessary” to enforce their version of Sharia- first in Islamabad, and then the rest of Pakistan.

The generic affinity of Hafsa women and Nazism was summed up by a student who told Taj, a liberal Muslim, “we will bring you all into the fold of Islam or eliminate you from the face of the earth, Inshallah”. (Daily Times, 2 Feb, 2007).

Even so, Pakistan’s Indo-Persian legacy seems much too pervasive to be subsumed by an ‘Arabist’ shift. The legacy goes back to the eleventh century, when the Persian Ghaznavid rulers made Lahore their capital and the Persian Sufi mystic Ali Usman Hajwiri (d.1077) wrote the first Persian treatise on Sufism entitled Kashf-ul-Mahjub (The Unveiling of the Hidden).

As Persian became the administrative language of India’s successive rulers, it also became the medium for a new cultural force symbolised by Sufism.

With its extensive network of hospices, khaneqahs, teachers and devotional qawwali music concerts, Sufism reflected the lived experience of a spiritual humanism that cut across a multiethnic and multi-religious society.

Ironical as it may seem, the political expression of such spiritual pluralism was summed up by Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his speech of 11 August, 1947: the historic speech affirms that religion is a personal matter which has nothing to do with the matters of the state.

Indeed, the French Revolution, the American Bill of Rights and the Westminster parliamentary traditions have been adopted to serve Pakistan’s aspirations as an Islamic Republic also reflect the assimilative impulse of Indo-Persian culture in Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution — where the democratic ethos of modernity spurred.

A graphic expression of such aspirations was the lawyers’ movement this summer for the restoration of the Chief Justice, a movement in which religious, ethnic and secular identities were subsumed by an overarching struggle for justice and democracy, led by male and female lawyers in unisex black coats and white shirts.

While the lawyers’ movement may be a long way from the Jungian concerns of totalitarianism and Taj Mahal, it reflects the seeds of a ‘new enlightenment’ that might yet rescue Pakistan from the regressive forces undermining it in the name of Islam.

Suroosh Irfani teaches Cultural Studies at National College of Arts, Lahore

*[link to the article mentioned above:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\27\story_27-7-2007_pg3_6]

[picture: Ali Usman Hajwiri's shrine in Lahore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Hujwiri]

His diction appealed to all

By Syed I. R Kazimi - The Rising Nepal - Kathmandu, Nepal
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints.

Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher.

He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. The Shah is synonymous with Sindh.

He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh.

One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare' Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.

The Shah's poetry is his tool for preaching Islam - the religion of man's peace, within and without. That is the Sufi thought - divine love.

Love, driven by a surge in man's longing for return to his Creator, with qualifications to earn His bounties in the hereafter.

The modern West is familiar with Sindh's Sufi culture and history, largely from the enormous studies written by the late Prof. Dr. Annemarie Schimmel, but that is not the only German connection with our living Sufi heritage.

Shah Abdul Latif's poetic works were first compiled and published at Leipzig under the title "The Risalo" by Ernest Trumpp in 1866. Its second edition, of course, was published in Bombay by Kazi Ibrahim. Since then, the Risalo has been researched and republished by many admiring scholars - Muslims, Hindus and Christians.

The Culture Department of the Government of Sindh has made commendable contributions to making published materials available to an ever-widening readership.

The Shah's teachings, dressed in poetry and music, constitute the real soul of Pakistan.

The all-pervading theme of his poetry is divine love. That, of course, is common with all Sufi saints, but what singles out and perpetuates the Master's work is the allegorical presentations of his teachings.

His diction appealed to all - the literate and the illiterate, the rich and the poor - and he wrote in that Sindhi which was then the language of the commoners, while Persian was the language of the officials and elite. The commoners understood him readily, for he also employed, as characters in his poetry, the peasants, weavers, fishermen, sailors and iron smiths - all the professions prevalent then in this land.

Drawing from the different folklore and ballads popular in his times, the Shah used those stories and the teachings of Islam as warps and wefts, weaving them into exquisite fabrics of thoughts and delivering them in his own music, which attracted and engrossed those who converged around him.

He fascinated and captivated his generation, thus spreading Islam far and wide, from Sindh in its south to Punjab and beyond in its north. The large following, which the Shah's teaching command, can be gauged from the fact that The Risalo has been translated into several languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic and Bengali.

All his life he fought like a ghazi, as against being a martyr, urging his followers to work: against hatred with love; against self aggrandisement with benevolence; against lust with grace; against parochialism with pluralism; against violence with peace; against fanaticism with Quranic commands: present day thinkers recognise the Shah's message as that of pluralism and universalism and many scholars have researched - and continue to research - one or the other aspect of his poetry and music.

One of his translators, H.T. Sorely, has said that "No one can read his poetry without being conscious at once that here is something really great; here is beauty expressed with utter frankness of sincerity, without conceits, elaboration or pomposity. In Shah are set forth, in sheer simplicity, the feelings of reverence, adoration and humility - feelings that are the base of all religions and are essential to the highest qualities of poetry."

Shah Abdul Latif was born in a Syed family in 1690 AD. His childhood was spent in Soi-Qandar, a few miles east of Bhit. His adolescence was spent in the village Kotri Moghul where, historians say, his ascetic nature firmed up.

The Risalo contains the complete works of The Master. It is divided into 36 chapters called sur {which, in classical music of the subcontinent, means the mode of singing}. Five of these chapters are not his poetry.

For each of his baits and waiis, he specified the raags in which they have to be sung. His music and his poetry go hand in hand, both adding to the value of each other, thus driving home his teachings.

Music was his constant companion, and he was basking in it when he was breathing his last on the 14th day of Safar, the second month of the Muslim calendar in 1754 at the age of 63.

Of his last moments, the Shah was proceeding on a pilgrimage to Karbala when one of his devotees reminded him of his stated desire to be buried at Bhit, and he returned to his abode. Here he put on black clothes and sang from his Sur Kedaro for 20 days in his solitude.

Emerging thereafter, he took a bath and, covering himself with a white sheet of cloth, called upon the assembled fakirs to sing. This they did devotedly for three consecutive days until they found the Great Master had crossed the bridge.

His tomb, of a remarkable graceful architecture, ordered by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, was the work of Eidan, the then most eminent artisan. Here, some of the Shah's relics are preserved for ardent devotees to venerate his turban, his long walking stick and the beggar bowl from which he used to eat and drink.

[picture: Kalri Lake, the burial place of Noori Jam Tamachi. Noori Jam Tamachi (Sindhi:نوري ڄام تماچي) is a mythical Sindhi folk tale. It is a tragic love story, similar to Romeo and Juliet, between King Jam Tamachi and a Noori, belonging to community of fishermen (Muhanas).
According to the legend, Noori was buried in the Kalri Lake. Today there is a mausoleum in the middle of the lake for Noori that is visited by hundreds of devotees daily.
The legend has been retold countless times, and is often presented as metaphor for divine love by Sufis. One of its most famous renderings is in Sindhi poetry by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in his Shah Jo Risalo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noori_Jam_Tamachi]

The Indian nightingale

By Kavita Charanji - The Daily Star - Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Music can be a great healer for the dispirited or grieving.

Almost five years since she lost her well loved daughter Saumya in a senseless accident, Indian classical singer Shanti Sharma has discovered the therapeutic qualities of her medium.

"I see my daughter everywhere. My art has pulled me out of the morass of despair and given me solace. I have also learnt that though women are outwardly fragile, they possess great inner strength."

Shanti's vocal skills were much in evidence sometime back at a concert in New Delhi. The singer captivated the audience with her rendering of the traditional Raga Marwa and Raga Madhukauns.

The evening was dedicated to her late guru Amarnath ji on the occasion of his 86th birth anniversary. Shanta's depth and intensity was remarkable as she paid homage to her guru with the lyric Guru bin gyan na pawe.

A long standing teacher of Hindustani classical music at the Delhi-based cultural organisation Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Shanti's first visit to Bangladesh was organised by Chhayanat in 1993. Since then she has made three stopovers in Dhaka, once under the aegis of the Indian High Commission and twice at the invitation of the Bengal Foundation. The latter also released two of Shanta's CDs, titled Contemplation and Celebration respectively.

Her last visit to Dhaka was in August 2002 when she conducted a three- week workshop. Recalling her Dhaka sojourns, Shanti says, "Dhaka has so many talented classical singers and students who were keen to learn classical music from me. I really admire the versatility of Bangladeshi singers who can sing Tagore, Nazrul and classical equally well. One promising classical singer in my view is Khairul Anam Shakil."

Going down memory lane, she says that in 2002 she discovered that while many Bangladeshis were enthusiastic as listeners, the concert scene was not particularly lively. "This could be due to government policies. In India the government plays a big role in promoting classical music. Also there are numerous organisations which are key instruments in boosting this genre," says Shanti.

She adds, "The Bangladeshi students have a very respectful attitude to their guru and are dedicated to their art."

Acknowledged as one of the finest vocalists in India, Shanti is a classical singer from the Kirana and Indore gharanas. Blessed with a mellifluous voice and sensitivity, she has received intensive talim from master vocalists such as Shri Sangameshwar, Pandit Amarnath and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan.

Over the years she has frequently performed in music festivals in India. She is also the recipient of the Indira Gandhi Pridyarshini Award. A great support to her musical career, she says, is her husband Dinesh Sharma who runs a real estate business.

Lastly, Shanti hopes to make visits to California to conduct workshops, teach students and also give performances. Through her links with Sufi music, Shanti has attained equilibrium in her personal life.

"The Sufi philosophy propagates harmony and how to accept sorrow, grief and look at new possibilities of using one's gifts," she concludes.

The fire that burnt heart and soul

By Divya Unny - Daily News & Analysis - Mumbai, India
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Not everyone knows about the long-abiding friendship ex-cricketer Imran Khan shared with Sufi maestro Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

But, it was one of Nustrat Saab’s initial performances at Imran Khan’s Lahore home that is till date credited as his gateway to stardom.

Today [August 16th], on Nusrat’s 10th death anniversary, Imran Khan revealed a few priceless anecdotes.

“To me, Nusrat Saab was a singer par excellence long before that particular performance. He was very happy to receive my invitation and when I reached out to welcome him he seemed to me drenched in childlike simplicity and innocence,” recounts Imran.

Interestingly, his respect and admiration for Nusrat’s music was most evident when the Pakistan cricket team won the World Cup in 1992.

“There was quite a buzz when I attributed much of the 1992 World Cup success to the spiritual help I got from Nusrat’s voice. We all (the cricket team) did listen to his cassettes to derive spiritual uplift — from his qawwalis, especially. Nusrat saab’s voice and the composition of music was really what Ameer Khusro has termed the “fire that burnt heart and soul”.

However, it was not a relationship bound just by exchange of musical notes and words of admiration, but a bond that helped provide aid to many across the globe.

“Nusrat helped me out in a great way when I was out on a global tour to raise funds for my Cancer Hospital Project. He performed for several hours in the fund raising concerts. If it really is the question of complimenting and adding to the public image, I guess we both somehow did it for each other,” he says.

[picture: A Voice from Heaven (1999). Directed by Giuseppe Asaro. (This 75-minute documentary, available on VHS and DVD, provides an excellent introduction to Nusrat's life and work.) Buy at http://astore.amazon.com/wilderwri-20]

[Read also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusrat_Fateh_Ali_Khan]

Jerrahi in Milan

[From the Italian language press]:

La confraternita Sufi dell'Ordine Jerrahi è presieduta in Italia da Gabriele Mandel Khan.

Classe 1924, in Italia dal 1954, plurilaureato e ceramista di fama mondiale, in questa breve intervista parla della tekké (abbazia) in viale Piceno dove si svolgono regolari sessioni di zikr e incontri per interessati, dei suoi rapporti con l'Imam della moschea principale di Milano (viale Jenner) e di quella di via Padova, dell'Islam e dell'Italia.

Il Giornale, Italy - lunedì 13 agosto 2007 - di Paolo Bianchi

The Sufi Brotherhood of the Jerrahi Order is presided in Italy by Gabriele Mandel Khan.

Born in 1924, in Italy from 1954, a scholar and a ceramist of world-wide reputation, in this brief interview he speaks about the tekké (which he equates to an Abbey) where regular sessions of zikr are carried out, along with meetings for interested people; of his relationship with the Imam of the main mosque of Milan (viale Jenner) and of the mosque in via Padova, about Islam and Italy.

Halveti-Jerrahi Sufi Order of Italy: viale Piceno, 23/A
20190 Milano, Italy
phone: +39+2-719439

The Italian website: http://www.sufijerrahi.it/

The main site of the Halveti-Jerrahi Sufi Order: http://www.jerrahi.org/

A Sufi Thorn among Batik Roses

By Grace Chen - All Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sunday, August 15, 2007

A master batik artist believes that the art of batik can be taught in a short time and good batik artists can be produced in six months.

Master batik artist Abdul Kareem Khadaied reasons that the best way to learn about colour preferences is to go back to the roots of teaching batik painting.

The airy sunlit studio located at Mt Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, where Abdul Kareem Khadaied presides as teacher bears the unmistakable whiffs of boiling wax and pigment dyes as he holds a ‘canting’ (wax applicator) delicately in his hands.

Over a yard of white cloth stretched horizontally like a hammock across the studio, fluid and swirly patterns emerge from his deft hands and there is no doubt that his students – all 25 ladies from the expatriate community – are mesmerised.

Abdul Kareem Khadaied may not be a familiar name in the local fashion scene, like Carven Ong and Bill Keith, but in the world of batik, he is regarded as one of its masters.

“The first thing you must know is batik is a methodology, not a design. The word originates from Indonesia. It means dropping the wax onto cloth,” explains Kareem.

The 53-year-old master batik artist certainly knows his stuff as he is the head of Khadani, a 25-year-old batik textile design house with one main retail outlet at The Mall, KL.
He is also a member of the World Batik Council and has steadfastly insisted that he is the inventor of the men’s batik silk shirt which he began making in 1983.

“Don’t believe me? Just mention my name to some of the master tailors like Robert of Lord’s and Wong of Figure Fashion. You can also ask the owners of Wardrobe and Profimo,” he challenges.

And mind what you say about batik with this artist, who makes no bones that this art form has not been given its due recognition. He is also unapologetic about his traditionalist stand on how batik should be worn. In his opinion, the current batch of contemporary batik wear from local designers carries questionable issues of modesty.

“Batik must never lose its ‘Malaysianness’. Why do we have to be ‘ang moh’ (Westernised) all the time? Why can’t we see the beauty in baju kurungs, sarees and cheongsams?” he once questioned hotly.

It is a statement which has prompted another batik designer, Kartini Illias, to opine that such views will only restrict the batik industry.

While Kareem will not give in to his stand on modesty, it looks like even a traditionalist must learn the art of adjustment if he wants to go global.

At present, the house of Khadani has only a 30% stake in their export sector and Kareem is eager to see this grow. And thus, this answers the question of why this artist, who already has a RM2.5 million annual turnover, has gone back to teaching when he could have spent his mornings playing golf.

“The class is my way of laying the building blocks for business in the overseas market. I admit that I’ve never gone really far because I’ve never understood the colours of the export market,” he says.

Colours, explains Kareem, do not speak a universal language. For example, the accepted shade of red in Malaysia will not find the same favour in New York. What is accepted as Earth tones or soft pastels in Japan will not be the case in South Africa.

The logical explanation is: Colour is the product of light. In some places, due to the sun’s intensity, the colours will be very strong.

Where there is more cloud cover, the colours will be more subdued. So, the taste for colours will coincide with how people from different regions see it in their daily lives.

Back to the batik painting class, Kareem will have no shortage of feedback on international colour palettes where his students are concerned. Of the 25 students in his class, only two are Malaysian. The rest are made up of diverse nationalities – from India, South Korea, Argentina, South Africa, Europe, Australia and Spain.

Inviting me to look closely at his students’ canvasses, he points out to the myriad characteristics of their colour preferences. For example, the red and purplish cosmic swirls of Sunandhini Pattabhiraman from India is a contrast to Korean Kim Gui Young’s pink, red and yellow hues.

Australian Karen Bakerho and South African Heide Jones may have the same design but there is a marked difference in their preference of shades. Indonesian Monique Batuna’s rainbow combination of colours is a reminder of the tropics while Kim’s piece has more the semblance of a wintry feel with hues of blue.

So what is the master batik artist like in class, considering he is the only thorn among the roses?

Straight, strict and definitely no nonsense best describes Kareem’s demeanour.

“In addition to studying the colours, I also want to make a point to the industry that the art of batik can be taught in a short time and good batik artists can be produced in six months.

“The secret to achieving this is to teach with passion,” he says.

And one can expect Kareem to be very particular with things like how the tools are held and the onus on the student to feel their colour and understand why it might please them and not others.

There is the expectation that after three months of weekly classes, each lasting for four hours, a student will have a good command of technique application in their work. The duration of the course is six months.

But what if you’ve always been lousy with art? Won’t this be seen as a major handicap in Kareem’s class?

“See this?” says Kareem pointing to Kim and Sunandhini’s work. “These ladies had no artistic background but they have managed to come up with these pieces,” he says proudly.

And considering that Kim has only been under Kareem’s tutelage for one and a half months, the effect, in this writer’s opinion, was not bad at all.

To sign up for Kareem’s class, you can contact the master batik artist himself at 019-241 3494 for a student assessment.

[More on Batik: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik]

[picture: Batik Master Abdul Kareem Khadaied introducing salt crystals to a student’s work, a technique used in batik painting. Photo by Grace Chen]

"Recovery symptoms": involving communities

ENS - Express India - Pune, Maharashtra, India

Monday, August 13, 2007

Pune: Soon, addicts will be able to overcome their weaknesses within 24 hours, according to de-addiction expert Narendra Chitte who plans to start around 1,000 centres all over the State as part of his ‘Tobacco, alcohol chale jao’ campaign.

He was speaking at a press conference here on Monday.

The centres will offer free de-addiction programmes for the poor, while others will be required to pay a nominal fee.

Chitte runs a de-addiction programme for alcohol, gutkha, nicotine and drug addicts in Pradhikaran, Nigdi. He describes a four-step process for tackling addiction. “Lack of self-confidence and motivation push an addict towards substance abuse. These centres will provide counselling, psychological techniques, a herbal programme and detox consultation that relieve a person of his substance abuse within a day,” he said.

While Chitte agreed that those who undergo de-addiction programmes always have a risk of relapse, he argued, “Around 76 per cent males and 64 per cent of females in the state are substance abusers. The right kind of counselling is to strengthen the addict’s mind against the urge to consume addictive substances. There are no such things as withdrawal symptoms. They are ‘recovery symptoms’ which an addict faces once he stops consuming the substances and is beginning to overcome his addiction.”

Chitte plans to involve communities which are against addictive behaviour in this endeavour. “The Warkaris, Jain, Buddhist and Sufi communities staunchly preach against consumption of any addictive substance. Their co-operation along with the other NGOs who share the same goal, will help widen our base.

“The centres will create around 4,000 jobs for counsellors, doctors and social workers who will get training,” said Chitte. While rave parties and drunk driving incidents have blamed the addict, no one questions the substance providers,” he added.

Chitte has organised a de-addiction workshop at ‘Radhakrishna’, Aaher Garden Road, Shevantiban Colony, Chinchwad, at 11 am on Wednesday and Thursday.

[Also, visit: http://www.recoveryhelper.org/]

[picture: Hotels in Pune http://www.indiahotelszone.com/pune/index.html]

Beijing, XUAR, Sufism and Summer Olympics

Jane's Information Group - Coulsdon, Surrey, U.K.

Monday, August 13, 2007

China is nervously looking forward to hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, and is ensuring that nothing spoils the global publicity surrounding the event.

As such, an incident in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on 11 May does not bode well for those hopes. A protester threw an incendiary device at a large portrait of Mao Zedong hung over the gate leading to the Forbidden City. The last time the portrait was defaced was during the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.

Police immediately arrested the culprit; Xinhua news agency reported that the protester, Gu Haiou, was a 35-year-old unemployed man from Urumqi, the capital of China's restive Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

The Chinese government consistently portrays protesters in Xinjiang as terrorists. The province is increasingly important to China's ambitious economic plans; however, the government has yet to devise a policy to deal with nationalist aspirations among the province's 8.5 million Uighurs, an ethnic Muslim Turkic population and one of China's 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities.

The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) was established in 1955, four years after Beijing established its control over the territory; nevertheless, it has resisted incorporation into the People's Republic.

Chinese control put paid to the brief period of an independent 'East Turkistan Republic', based in Gulja, which lasted only from 1941-45, when China was fighting for survival against Japan.

While Beijing's official stance is that China has had sovereignty over Xinjiang 'since ancient times' (zigu yilai), most specialists acknowledge that China has exerted at least marginal sovereignty over the region since 1759, despite periodic uprisings.

The province, comprising one-sixth of China's territory, is larger than the UK, France, Italy and Germany combined and, in a major security concern for Beijing, has frontiers with neighbouring Central Asian states Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, as well as southern Asian states Pakistan, India and Eurasia's dominant state, Russia.

For years, China has pursued a relentless public relations campaign vilifying nationalist-minded Uighurs in Xinjiang as terrorists, a charge disputed by human rights organisations, which allege that China cynically abuses international willingness to counter terrorism in order to continue its efforts to suppress Uighur nationalism. In August 2006, Chinese police officials announced that since 1990 they have seized 41 tonnes of explosives from Xinjiang separatists.

The uncomfortable fact for Beijing is that the Uighur are ethnically Turkic and converted to Islam from the 10th century. The prevalent form of Islam in Xinjiang is Sunni, with widespread Sufi practices. Local authorities have banned Sufi zikr ceremonies as well as books by Sufi authors, while Chinese scholars maintain that Sufism is a degenerate form of Islam.

During the 19th century, the Sufi brotherhoods strongly resisted Chinese and Russian encroachment into Xinjiang and Central Asia. In marked contrast to Chinese policy, in the post-Soviet Central Asian states Sufism is frequently encouraged by the government, as the indigenous Sufi forms of Islam are seen as effective alternatives to fundamentalism, particularly Salafism.

It was the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the US that greatly strengthened Beijing's hand in dealing with its restive Uighur population, allowing the Chinese government to link them to Al-Qaeda. While on 1 September 2001 Abdulahat Abdurixit, Chairman of the XUAR regional government, said in Urumqi: "By no means is Xinjiang a place where violence and terrorist incidents take place very often."

Two months after the 11 September attacks, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said that "several hundred Uighur separatists" had been trained in Al-Qaeda-affiliated camps in Afghanistan.

Beijing asserted, while advancing no real evidence, that more than 1,000 Uighurs had travelled to Afghanistan to train with Al-Qaeda while Amnesty International reported in March 2002 that "thousands" of Uighur in Xinjiang were rounded up in the aftermath of the attacks in the US.

[This (old --April 2005) article from The Jamestown Foundation is also of interest for a better understanding:
http://www.jamestown.org/news_details.php?news_id=108]

[picture: Ted Rall's book *Silk Road to Ruin* provides a wide, crude -and sometimes humorous- updated overview of Central Asia's "state of the arts"
http://astore.amazon.com/wilderwri-20]

Mashad - Konya non-stop

By Soudabeh Sadigh - Cultural Heritage News - Tehran, Iran

Monday, August 13, 2007

Focusing on spiritual tourism, Mr. Mehmet Kaya, the cultural attaché of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran, announced the launching of religious ideological tourism in Mashhad-Konya axis.

“A number of meetings have been held so far between Iranian and Turkish cultural and tourism authorities in this regard. In a near future the executive basics for bringing this project into force will be compiled. Based on this project, launching direct flight between Mashhad and Konya is under investigation,” said Kaya.

According to Turkish cultural attaché in Tehran, 12 experts of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization attended in a 3-day meeting which was held in this regard in Turkey to see the approaches for promoting tourism industry in Mashhad-Konya axis.

“Both cities have a prominent role in religious ideological tourism, Konya for hosting the tomb of Rumi, great philosopher and poet, and Mashhad for being the city where the shrine of Imam Reza, the eight Shiite Imam, is located,” added Kaya.

Mentioning the importance for launching Mashhad-Konya direct flight, Rohani, manager of tourism board of Khorasan Razavi province, said: “During past two decades, Turkey has succeeded in causing some fundamental developments in its tourism industry. Holding joint projects with Turkey in tourism industry would be a very good experience for both countries.”

He further explained that the number of Turkish inbound tourists to Iran is very little compared to Iranian tourists who visit Turkey every year and some approaches must have been made to make a balance in these statistics.

Born in 1207 in city of Balkh, then as a part of Iran’s Empire, Jalaluddin Rumi died in 1273 in city of Konya, situated in today’s Turkey, where he spent most of his life.

A testament to Eternal love

ANI - Daily India - Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the world-renowned monument Taj Mahal, was remembered on his 352nd death anniversary on Saturday.

Agra: Thousands of people visited the mausoleum to offer prayers. The congregation is called "Urs".

Prayers for peace and love and a 170-meter [185 yards] long multi-coloured chaddar (holy cloth) was offered on the occasion.

"We prayed for peace in the country. And, as the Taj Mahal is a symbol of love, we hope and pray that in coming times there is harmony between various religions," said Premji Lal Suman, a lawmaker.

Sufi-Din Mohammad Shah, a Sufi shaykh, said: "This is a world famous monument. Shah Jahan is the Guru (teacher) to people of all religions -- Hindu, Muslims, all."

Security was beefed up at the monument to control the huge crowd and prevent any untoward incident.

The white marble mausoleum was built by Shah Jahan as a testament to his eternal love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth. The Taj Mahal stands on a marble platform surrounded by ornamental gardens. White minarets grace each corner and two smaller red sandstone buildings balance the postcard-perfect image on the banks of the Yamuna River.

Recently, the monument was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

A masterwork produced at the peak of the Mughal dynasty that ruled India for more than three centuries, the edifice took 22 years to be construct and needed an army of 20,000 workers drawn from as far as Europe and Central Asia.

The monument has a rich lore, including the story that the bereaved emperor who commissioned it was deposed and imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in the Agra Fort. Shah Jahan spent his final days gazing wistfully at his creation.

[picture: The Emperor Shah Jahan standing upon a globe; mid-17th century Hashim Mughal dynasty; Color and gold on paper. H: 25.1 W: 15.8 cm (H: 9.8'' W: 6.2") India. Source: Smithsonian Institute - Freer and Sackler Gallery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shahjahan_on_globe.jpg]

Dance's sprouts

By Rupashree Nanda - IBN Live - India

Sunday, August 12, 2007

New Delhi: When this Kathak dancer danced to sufi music, she broke tradition and raised a storm, but thirteen-years on her mystic dance has a growing audience and many imitators.

Any definition would be dangerous for an art form so young.

Kathak performed to Sufi music symbolizes love and longing for the almighty, a complete surrender and loss of the self. The yearning for the beyond, unpredictability and formlessness in the performance lies at the heart of Sufi kathak.

"I went to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and discovered the form,” says Manjari.
Today, sufi Kathak has many disciples who are drawn equally to the courageous artist and her nascent art. “I really admire her performance, would like do it myself,” says dancer Meenal Mehrotra.

It has also touched a chord among artists of the older generation. "It is a divine dance,” says musician Fahimuddin Dagar. Clearly the artist who started out as a rebel has sown the seeds of a new tradition.

The whirls, reminiscent of whirling dervishes in Rumi’s poems are one defining gesture.

The Elephant in the Dark

MNA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Iranian Artist Yasmin Sinai is currently making a sculpture inspired by Rumi’s story “The Elephant in the Dark”.

She is undertaking the work with help from young members of the Children’s Book Council of Iran (CBCI).

She said that the CBCI had proposed that the elephant should be made for installation at the Iranian Artists’ Forum to mark “The Year of Rumi” as designated by UNESCO, commemorating the 800th birth anniversary of this great Persian poet and mystic.

“We chose Rumi’s story ‘The Elephant in the Dark’ but in this version a series of events happens inside the elephant’s stomach. The 1.50 [5 feet] tall elephant statue is made out of papier-mache,” she added.

She went on to say that the council has assigned three sessions in which to complete the project, however, she added, “I think I need one or two extra sessions with the children in order to complete this huge task.”

The sculpture will probably be ready in December and will be unveiled during the ceremony which the Iranian Artists’ Forum has planned to hold in commemoration of Rumi.

Rumi’s story “The Elephant in the Dark” is about some Hindus who brought an elephant for exhibition and placed it in a dark house. Crowds of people went into the house but were unable to see the beast because of the lack of light inside the room. Each person felt a different part of the animal’s body with his hand with the result that everyone came to varying conclusions about the physical reality of the elephant.

Sinai, who is a sculptor and a painter, is famed for the workshops she holds for children.

She mentioned, “I usually write about the experiences I have in each workshop and I also prepare films and photos. I am planning to publish some of these works in a book.”

Sinai hopes to hold one or two workshops each month to train children and their teachers.

She has recently held a children’s painting workshop during the First Imam Ali (AS) International Painting Symposium which was held at Tehran’s Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum in late July.

[Visit the Artist's web site www.yasminsinai.com/
http://tinyurl.com/2cqv6p

Read more about the story of "The Elephant in the Dark" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Men_and_an_Elephant]

[Picture: "Blind monks examining an elephant" by Itcho Hanabusa, 1888.
United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID cph.3g08725]

For Sisters only

TN/HAR - Press TV - Tehran, Iran

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Exclusive female singers event

A female singing group will stage a concert exclusively for women in Niavaran Culture House on August 23rd using verses from Iranian poets.

Ofelia Parto, the famous Iranian pianist and the head of the group, broke the news to Mehr news agency and added that pieces composed by Morteza Mahjoubi will be sung along with some of the works of Iranian poets such as Hafez, Rumi, Saadi and Hatef Isfahani.

The concert will start at six in the afternoon on Thursday 23rd of August.

Interested participants can get in touch with Niavaran Culture House to reserve tickets.

Assocham celebrates I-Day the Sufi way

Hindustan Times - New Delhi, India

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Top corporate honchos of India were captivated by soothing Sufi music as they celebrated 60 years of India's Independence through a spiritual and melodious evening in New Delhi.

An open-air concert in humid weather was perhaps not the best venue for a Sufi concert. But as the mellifluous strains of Ustad Miraz Ahmed Nizami, the famed qawwal of Nizammudin dargah, and his 12-member troupe stirred the still night, the jaded audience sat up electrified.

'Sham-e-Afreen', as the concert was called, was organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on Friday night at their Prithviraj Road office in the heart of the capital city.

Raman Roy, chairman and managing director of Quatrro BPO Solutions, was one of those mesmerised by the enchanting rendering.

"These days people are too busy to take out time for such leisurely evenings. What's even more wonderful is that this evening combines the spirit of independence with the love of music," Roy said.

Delhi Urban Development Minister Ajay Maken, who was the evening's chief guest, said he was an old admirer of the qawwali maestro's renditions.

"I have been to his concerts before and it is always a privilege. I look forward to many such occasions," he said.

[picture: Mr Raman Roy, Chairman & Managing Director of Quatrro
http://www.quatrro.com/]

To serve is better than to be served

By Dr Amir Farid Isahak - The Star - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Saturday, August 11, 2007

Some people talk about love and kindness, but real masters walk the talk. They are embodiments of what they teach.

I have mentioned many masters in my articles, and in my search for knowledge, healing and wisdom, I continue to meet many more.

This weekend I will be involved in a Spiritual Transformation & Healing workshop conducted by two Sufi teachers: Dr Suriyakhatun Osman and Professor Alan Godlas.

Professor Alan Godlas is from the Department of Religion at the University of Georgia, US. He is a scholar of Arabic, Islam, Sufism and comparative religion. He embraced Islam in 1974 and entered the Sufi spiritual path soon after, and is now the co-moderator of the most comprehensive websites on Sufism.

He has written many papers on Islam and Sufism, and is the preferred expert by many governments and organisations when they need advice or inputs on Islam. He will be teaching us spiritual transformation in our daily lives by means of gratitude, remembrance and love.

Dr Suriyakhatun Osman is a medical colleague who has also ventured beyond the restrictive borders of medical science. She is a Reiki master, a homoeopathic practitioner and a Sufi-healing teacher, among other things.

Seeing some similarities in the energy concepts of Reiki and Sufi-healing, she and several other Sufis who also practice Reiki have blended the two into Sufi-Reiki. She is an authorised teacher of the Sufi Healing Order, a branch of the Sufi Order of North America, which was started by Pyir Inayat Khan, a well-known and well-respected Sufi shaykh who was entrusted to bring Sufism to America.

Perhaps the most famous Sufi-healing master is Shaykh Moinuddin Chishti, author of The Book of Sufi Healing. He is a friend of my shaykhs, and, like many other Sufi masters, is based in the US.

It is apparent that the Sufis are all over the US, and Sufism is partly responsible for the rise of Islam there. For example, through my Naqshbandi Order shaykh, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani Al-Haqqani, more than 10,000 Americans have embraced Islam after accepting the Sufi teaching of love, compassion and gratitude.

It is no wonder that even presidential-hopeful Hillary Clinton acknowledges that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the US.

If Islam is the misunderstood religion, then Sufis are the misunderstood Muslims. All Sufi masters preach love, compassion and gratitude as healing for the soul, but the physical body cannot be ignored even by those who seek only spiritual fulfilment.

To have a healthy body is a spiritual requirement, because much of the religious and spiritual duties require a healthy body for them to be executed to the best possible level. To serve is better than to be served.

A healthy body means you can help others. A sick body means you need help.

My grandshaykh is Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Al-Haqqani, the grandmufti of Northern Cyprus, and father-in-law of Shaykh Muhammad Hisham. He was the one who described the qi or life-force that I was gifted with when I had my first audience with him over 15 years ago.

And his description matched what my wife could see (she is gifted with the ability to see energy and auras), and that of the aura photograph taken of me by Reiki Master Yongi (a Malaysian based in Australia). All the other aura photographs taken at crystal shops were not accurate.

Here is the teaching of Shaykh Muhammad Nazim about healing:
“In the name of GOD, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.

“Real healing is to be able to send rays of power through your hands to the body of the patients who must be ready to receive the healing. Most people are closed and it is impossible even for prophets to reach them. A closed socket cannot transport electricity. On a patient like that you must try to crack open a weak point of their shell where you can enter.

“Since the beginning of time people have been in need of healing, physically and spiritually. Authorised healers will always be on earth. Many of them are totally hidden and you would never imagine them having such powers. If someone is seriously looking for them, they will find. It is not something you will find in books...”
Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani an-Naqshbandiyya

The healing of the soul and the healing of the body are very much intertwined. Thus it is common to see many natural healers becoming inclined to spiritual practices. Conversely, many seekers on the spiritual path find that they are given the gift of healing for the physical body.

In both, the most important organ is the heart. On the physical plane, heart disease is the most common chronic, debilitating disease (even though cancer is gradually taking over as the top killer because of poor success in treatment, while heart disease can be managed by modern medicine).

On the spiritual plane, the diseases of the spiritual heart are what rob us of inner peace, which in turns translates to fear, worry, uncertainty, pride, greed, ingratitude, apathy and stressful living.

So to those of you who are not yet on the healing path, of spirituality or physical health, I would encourage you to consider starting the journey, so that you may start healing yourselves, and hopefully help heal the world too.

May your lives be filled with inner peace, happiness and good health.

[About the Author: Dr Amir Farid Isahak is a medical specialist who practises holistic, aesthetic and anti-ageing medicine. He is a qigong master and founder of SuperQigong
http://www.superqigong.com/ ]

[Visit Dr Suriyakhatun Osman's website:
http://holisticleaders.com/]

Wingin It, Attunement

By Paul Schultz - The Trades - Adair Village, OR, U.S.A.
Friday, August 10, 2007

A record that provides a handy guide for your listening mood is either a shrewd marketing ploy, or a sign that the songs are so convoluted that you need a road map to figure it all out.

Wingin It is comprised of the duo of Robert Halim Friedman and Vakila Marjo ter Veld, and after hearing their debut album, Attunement, I have to say the former is true.

Still, it seems like a needlessly pigeonholing exercise in what can simply be enjoyed in its entirety as reggae-meets-America-meets-Neil Young.

Hearing the reggae beat backing everything, one would naturally assume a Bob Marley influence and -- in this instance -- you would be absolutely correct. Combined with the couple's maturation in their spiritual quest in Sufism, the result sprouts music thematically intertwining spiritual and romantic love. Throw in a little social justice and nature observances, and you get the complete picture.

The laid-back set features mostly high vocals which sound sweet in small doses, but verge on annoying after extended exposure. The pair have participated in country music and bluegrass jam sessions in the past, and that taints the material favorably in some places. They have also recently played in internationally acclaimed Sufi qawwali singer Sukhawat Ali Khan's touring band, and that world music influence can be heard as well.

"Playing With Fire" is probably the most representative tune forwarding Wingin It's philosophy, with its repeated plea to "remember, never give up on love/However big or however small/Practice forgiveness, realize unity/And do your best for the good of all".

The connection to Marley manifests itself in two covers of his compositions, "Natural Mystic" and "Redemption Song". Additionally, Kate Wolf appears to be another favorite, as versions of "Brother Warrior" and the excellent "Give Yourself To Love" ("Give yourself to love/If love is what you're after") find inclusion here.

Attunement is a pleasant journey toward enlightenment that uses hi-lo harmony to accentuate the folk and reggae groove. The interchanging of "God" and "Jah" and "Allah" can prove somewhat confusing to those not familiar with their faith, but the intent of the songs are clear enough.

The clean production offers crisp acoustic strums amidst the mystic mix, with Robin Livingston providing drums, percussion, bass and keyboards to the recorded effort.

As the CD packaging informs me, these songs "define the Northern California sound", and who am I to disagree?

Release Date: July 24, 2007
Label: Megawave Records

[Lyrics at: http://www.spacewavemusic.com/JN99101.htm]

1 million pilgrims to Mussa al-Kadhim

Earth Times - U.S.A.

Friday, August 10, 2007

The pilgrimage to the Shiite Imam Mussa al-Kadhim shrine ended in Baghdad without any security breaches, Voices of Iraq reported Friday, citing military spokesman for the Baghdad security plan.

Iraqi security forces had "learned from the mistakes of past years," he added.

The exact number of visitors this year could not be accurately determined, but officials and clerics estimated the figure at 1 million pilgrims.

A curfew had been imposed across Baghdad Wednesday, with security including a ban on weapons, children and mobile phones as thousands arrived on foot from southern and central provinces.

In 2005, more than 1,000 people were killed and 300 injured when rumours of an attack prompted a stampede on the Jisr al-Aiema (Bridge of Imams) leading to the shrine.

Imam al-Kadhim was the seventh of the 12 most holy figures for Shiite Muslims. He was born in the year 128 of the Muslim Hegira calendar (750 AD) in Medina city in what is now Saudi Arabia, and died in Baghdad in the year 183 HC (805 AD).

[picture: Shiites pray at the Moussa al Kadhim shrine in the Kadhimiya neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, June 11, 2004. The shrine is the holiest Shiite site in Baghdad. (Photo: Stefan Zaklin/EPA/AP Wide World) from http://tinyurl.com/39bh3r (www.teacher.scholastic.com)]

Sufi heads and Bikaner sweets: mystical fineness with an ephemeral savour

By Aveek Sen - The Telegraph - Kolkata, India
Friday, August 10, 2007

The attempt to use traditional techniques and modes of representation to create an individual vision of the ‘modern’ unites the two accomplished artists reviewed here.

In each case, there is a skilled and loving engagement with a particular craft, naturally inherited or consciously mastered. The work that comes out of that mastery, in its self-conscious wit, playfulness or stylization, is necessarily contemporary.

But questions arise about how this modernity could evolve. Where will the work go from here, if the artist chooses to remain faithful to the demands of his or her chosen craft or tradition?

Miniatures (Gallery Sanskriti, until August 15) brings together the work of Mahaveer Swami and Ariane Mercier. Each artist revives, and plays with, in his or her own exquisitely fine way, the Bikaner and the Mughal/Persian schools of miniature painting.

Swami’s little paintings fall into two groups. First, a series of Sufi heads, and of single or grouped Sufi figures. Their upturned eyes, delicate hands and long beards, done with astonishing virtuosity, create an effect of mystical fineness that evokes the spiritual and aesthetic ambience within which such an art is perfected and savoured.

Then there are the figures of workers, craftsmen and social types, either plying their trade or invoked through wonderfully detailed depictions of their tools: goldsmiths, ironsmiths, carpenters, musicians, thakurs, doctors, accountant, bhistis and khajanchis.

There is also a series of toys and tiloniya (hanging birds made of stuffed cloth). Perhaps what inspires these finely done images is a kind of love — for the mystics and the spirituality they practised, for the ordinary people and the crafts they plied, and for the art of miniature painting itself and the bits of history it beautifully depicts.

There is also a series of toys and tiloniya (hanging birds made of stuffed cloth). Perhaps what inspires these finely done images is a kind of love — for the mystics and the spirituality they practised, for the ordinary people and the crafts they plied, and for the art of miniature painting itself and the bits of history it beautifully depicts.

Ariane Mercier’s delicate pictures (natural pigments on paper, of the same size as Swami’s images) are another kind of sophisticated and subtle-souled homage to Bikaner miniature-painting.

Her “Bikaner Sweets” series — each depicting an intricately confected sweetmeat in paper-foil — savours the delicious and the ephemeral.

So does her “Ice-Candy” series — ice-lollies and shaped granitas, creatures of a curious, nonhuman mildness and innocence, who seem to be touchingly oblivious of the shortness of their lives.

She also paints, in sharp and loving detail, fragments of Bikaner walls of bricks and of stones, their tops lined with broken glass.

Then there are the maps — topographical surveys, with rivers, hills and temples, creating patterns and arabesques that look like fantastical flowers, leaves and mushrooms. This, too, is an art of diminution, bringing out a tenderness that we must feel, with the artist, for the ordinary, the fragile and the small.

[pictures: Sufi Head 14, by Mahaveer Swami (left); Sweetmeat 02, by Ariane Mercier (right).

Visit the exhibition at Gallery Sanskriti, 5C, Alipore Park Road, Kolkata 700 027, until August 15; see all the paintings on line at http://www.gallerysanskriti.com/Current_Exhibition_Mahaveer.php]

Why should I seek? I am the same as He

ZHD/SG/KB - Press TV - Tehran, Iran

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Why should I seek? I am the same as He.
His essence speaks through me.
I have been searching for myself!


Iran's VP and Head of ICCHTO, Rahim Mashaie, has laid an organizational plan for a celebration to honor Molana's (Rumi) 800th birthday.

Iran will honor the Persian poet and the Sufi sage, Molana Jalal ad-Din Mohammed Balkhi, in hope to pay great respect to his memory before the end of 2007.

The decision was finalized following the UNESCO resolution calling for a commemoration on his behalf in observing the 800th anniversary of the world-renowned philosopher's birth.

In accordance to President Ahmadinejad's decision, Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICCHTO) is responsible for planning the grand events and programs in this regard which will shortly take place across the country, Mashaie stated.

Molana advocated tolerance, reason, and access to knowledge through love. His mystical relationship to Islam produced masterpieces, which still find relevance in today's world.

He is remembered for his beautiful and famous poems dealing with his eternal preoccupation with mysticism.

Turkey's Kurds opt for Islam

By Gareth Jenkins - Eurasia Daily Monitor - The Jamestown Foundation - Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007

The results of the Turkish general election of July 22 suggest that Turkey’s Kurdish minority is looking increasingly to Islam rather than the secular nationalism of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

(...)

Turkey’s eastern and southeastern provinces have traditionally been not only the most underdeveloped in the country but also the most devout.

The PKK was founded as an explicitly Marxist organization. In recent years it has downplayed its communist credentials in favor of secular Kurdish nationalism. But to the majority of Turkey’s Kurds it is regarded as being, at best, indifferent to Islam and, at worst, anti-Islam.

(...)

In recent years, other non-violent Islamist organizations, such as the Sufi brotherhoods known as tariqah, have also stepped up their activities in eastern and southeastern Turkey. The most active has been the Naqshabandi, which, like Hezbollah [the Turkish Hezbollah, which is unrelated to the Lebanese organization of the same name], has been vigorously conducting propaganda activities and social work in the region, including soup kitchens, free Koran courses and scholarships and subsidized housing in dormitories for students wishing to attend university in western Turkey.

Although there are no organic links between the Naqshabandi and the AK Party [the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party], many of its leading members, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have close ties with the order.

In conversations with Jamestown, leading Naqshabandis have never made any secret of their support for the AK Party. In comparison, the PKK and its close associate, DTP [Kurdish Democratic Society Party, founded in 2005 as a successor to the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP), which was closed by the Turkish authorities], lacks both the financial resources and the ideological appeal of either militant organizations like Hezbollah or the Sufi orders.

The DTP’s brand of secular nationalism is a very new phenomenon for Turkey’s Kurds. The results of the July 22 election suggest that it is already losing ground to Islam.

"Ismini Melek Koydum” (I named her Angel)

By Hasan Kanbolat - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Nefin Dinç is a young woman devoted to the art of documentary film-making. A documentary she watched during her first year at the School of Political Science at Ankara University had such an immense influence over her that she decided to become a documentary film director.

Her years of apprenticeship on the backstage of the “32nd Day” TV news program were followed by a professional career involving commercials and movies shot in İstanbul, with a master’s degree and a Ph.D. acquired in the United Kingdom and the United States on shooting documentaries.

Every documentary she makes carries traces of Turkish culture and history, often highlighting the modern and humanitarian face of her home country.

The third and latest documentary from Dinç is "Ismini Melek Koydum” (I named her Angel), where she tells the story of a little girl, 12-years-old Elif, who desires to be initiated into the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, and focuses on how she learns about the basics and rules of the Sufi order of “Mevleviyya.”

It is a 30-minute documentary which hints at the strong sense of humanism in Anatolian history and culture.

The camera follows Elif for a year, showing the viewer how the whirling ceremony is performed and what it means, the teachings of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, the founder of the order, the meaning of the ceremonies held every December to commemorate him, what the special outfit of a whirling dervish symbolize and how and why foreigners follow and endeavor to internalize his teachings.

The documentary, screened at many foreign festivals, was also screened in Turkey at the “İstanbul 1001 International Documentary Films.”

Nefin Dinç has won deserved fame in the United States with “I named her Angel,” as well as receiving the Special Recognition Award in the world cinema category at the Washington, D.C., Independent Film Festival. Dinç’s acclaimed documentary was screened by national US TV channels many times and attracted the media’s attention.

The documentary now takes on a higher significance given that it has coincided with the 800th anniversary of the birth of the internationally renowned Sufi scholar and poet Mevlana Rumi, with UNESCO also declaring 2007 the “Year of Rumi” to honor the occasion.

Director Dinç is currently working on a new documentary film on Turkey and Greece. It is focused on how Turks and Greeks have developed the present impressions they have of one another. It will be finished in 2008.

[picture from Tiburon International Film Festival http://tinyurl.com/ysakxb]

Wondrous Words

By Soudabeh Sadigh - Cultural Heritage News - Tehran, Iran

Monday, August 6, 2007

On the occasion of 800th anniversary of Muhammad Jalal al-Din Rumi’s birthday, Iran Heritage Foundation in conjunction with the British Museum have organized the conference of “Wondrous Words: The Poetic Mastery of Jalal al-Din Rumi”.

The conference, which will be held on September 13-15 in London, is supported by Altajir Trust, the American Institute of Iranian Studies, Julius Baer (Middle East) Ltd., and Targetfollow Group Limited.

It will focus on the poetic origins, quality, and impact of Rumi’s writings, its sources of inspiration, and its effect in Persian speaking parts of the world.

During the conference of “Wondrous Words: The Poetic Mastery of Jalal al-Din Rumi”, the poetic art of Rumi and the various ways in which it has interacted with the literary tradition from his own time to present time, will be the other top agendas in this conference.

Rumi’s spiritual effect on the works of contemporary artists in eastern and western countries will also be revised during the conference. Thirty lecturers from seven countries will present their latest research on this topic.

During the conference of “Wondrous Words: The Poetic Mastery of Jalal al-Din Rumi”, the poetic art of Rumi and the various ways in which it has interacted with the literary tradition from his own time to present time, will be the other top agendas in this conference.

Rumi’s spiritual effect on the works of contemporary artists in eastern and western countries will also be revised during the conference. Thirty lecturers from seven countries will present their latest research on this topic.

The conference of “Wondrous Words: The Poetic Mastery of Jalal al-Din Rumi” will be held at Clore Education Center of British Museum located at Great Russell Street, London.

Islamist sympathizers or spiritual seekers?

By Gareth Jenkins - Eurasia Daily Monitor - The Jamestown Foundation - Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Monday, August 6, 2007

On August 4th the Turkish military officially announced the expulsion of ten serving officers for alleged Islamic fundamentalist activities.

The announcement came one day after the end of a three-day meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS), which traditionally meets at the beginning of August to decide on the annual round of promotions and appointments in the Turkish military. Another 13 officers were expelled for disciplinary offences (Anadolu Ajans, NTV, August 4).

In recent years the expulsion of officers suspected of Islamic activities has become a regular occurrence at YAS meetings.

Since the early 1990s, identifying Islamist sympathizers in the armed forces has become one of the primary objectives of Turkish military intelligence. Although the expelled officers are usually accused of Islamist “activities,” suspected intent rather than action is usually sufficient to ensure their expulsion.

The expelled officers are rarely allowed access to the evidence gathered against them and, under Article 125 of the Turkish Constitution; there is no right of appeal against YAS decisions. Expelled officers automatically lose all their pension rights and frequently have difficulty finding alternative employment.

Introducing the right of appeal against YAS decisions is one of several constitutional amendments currently being considered by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Although they signed the latest YAS decision, both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul noted their objections to the lack of a right of appeal (Hurriyet, Milliyet, August 5). Nevertheless, the TGS has opposed the introduction of a right of appeal, arguing that it would force the military to disclose classified information.

Until relatively recently, the TGS’s primary fear was infiltration by supporters of Mr Fetullah Gulen, a spiritual leader who is currently residing in the United States. However, in recent years the TGS has also become concerned by the activities of the Naqshabandi Sufi brotherhood, which is one of the oldest and largest orders in Turkey.

Although all Sufi brotherhoods are theoretically illegal in Turkey, in recent years they have begun to operate increasingly openly.

In conversation with this Jamestown correspondent, leading Naqshabandis freely admit to trying to cultivate serving members of the military, although they insist that they are solely concerned with the officers’ spiritual well-being and have no ambitions either to influence the internal workings of the TGS or erode its traditional rigorous commitment to the principle of secularism enshrined in the Turkish constitution.

Ya Shams!

MNA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran
Sunday, August 5, 2007

The renowned Iranian calligrapher Esrafil Shirchi is to hold an exhibition of seventy works at the Niavaran Complex in the near future.

The works include many of his latest creations which were inspired by the poetry of Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi and which have previously been displayed in Britain, France, and Bahrain.

Shirchi has not held an exhibition in Iran since 2000 and he is planning to publish a collection of his works simultaneously with the exhibit. The 300-page book will be published in Persian and English.

He is also scheduled to hold an exhibition of his works in the United Arab Emirates in December.

[picture: Shams-e Tabrizi from Esrafil Shirchi's Ten selected calligraphy at

http://www.iranonline.com/Art/index-IOL.html]

"I can hardly say that I am a Sufi singer"

By Pragya Paramita - Kolkata Newsline, City Express - India

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Kolkata: Kailash Kher’s rags-to-riches story is the kind of tale that can motivate other singers like him to board the train towards an uncertain future in Mumbai.

In many ways, the railway station was where Kher first started singing, where for the first time crowds gathered around his singing.

That was after Kher had undertaken an ambitious journey from Delhi for Mumbai, penniless but not short of verve. Today, Kher admits that his journey, where being one of the most sought-after playback singers in Bollywood has been an important milestone, has been a long one.

Stardom, though, he takes in his stride. In the city to promote Jhoomo Re, his band Kailasa’s second album, throwing his arms around to include the expanse of five-star luxury offered by his hotel room in Kolkata, Kher says: “I never imagined that I could become a successful playback singer. I wanted to be a singer and make albums, but never in my wildest imagination could I have imagined this”.

Often referred to as a Sufi exponent, he says that while many of his songs have an obvious Sufi influence that does not make him a Sufi singer.

“It’s just that Sufism has suddenly become a brand now and I have been slotted in it. Someone like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a great exponent of the form, but I can hardly say that about myself. But it’s nice to hear people refer to me as a Sufi singer. I take it as a compliment,” admits Kher.

From Balkh to Konya

Cultural Heritage News - Tehran, Iran

Saturday, August 4, 2007

CHN Calls for a Group Travel from Balkh to Konya
Concurrent with 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birthday (29th of September), Cultural Heritage News has announced a recall for holding a symbolic movement for holding a tour from Balkh to Konya.

In commemoration of 800th anniversary of great Persian poet, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, in an initiative measure, CHN is determined to hold a tour from birth city of Mevlana in Balkh located in today’s Afghanistan, to Konya, Turkey, where the tomb of Rumi is located.

It will mean getting acquainted with Sufism atmosphere of Rumi’s thoughts, getting familiar with common cultures of Persian language countries and countries who share the common heritage of Nowruz tradition...

It will be passing thorough a large path of the ancient Silk Road, visiting historical monuments and getting familiar with geographical diversity of Iran, and visiting the tombs of a number of great Iranian Sufis and poets such as Bayzid Bastami, Sheikh Abolhasan Khareghani, Alaoldoleh Semnani, and others...

It will bring listening to live folkloric music, holding picture exhibitions, holding a number of lectures and poem citing nights in different cities including Tehran, Mashad, Balkh, Khoy, and Konya, and providing the chance for those who are interested to write their itinerary...

These are among the main aims for holding this tour.

Participants will visit 6 countries during this 25-day tour; however, those who are not able to accompany the team all these 25 days will have the chance to take part in some schedules of the tour which will be held as follows:

- Flying from Tehran to Mashad during which they will visit cities of Mashad, Marv, Bokhara, Samarghand, Doshanbeh, Balkh, Badghis, and Harat.

- From border city of Mashad in Khorasan province to border city of Maku in Azarbaijan province during which passengers will visit cities of Mashad, Neishapur, Sabzevar, Shahrud, Damghan, Semnan, Tehran, Qazvin, Zanjan, Tabriz, Khoy, and Maku.

- From Tehran to Konya, during which the cities of Tehran, Qazvin, Zanjan, Tabriz, Khoy, Maku, Van, Alazigh, Gheisarieh, and Konya will be visited.

The concept of Sufism and Kashmiriyat

By Arif Shafi Wani - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, India

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Saluting Kashmiris for their hospitality, Member Parliament and senior BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] leader Shahnawaz Hussain made [today Saturday] a passionate appeal to them to stop the non-Kashmiri laborers from moving out of the state in the wake of ultimatum by some groups.

“Kashmiris are known for their communal harmony and hospitality. I have not come here to play politics but appeal to them to stop the non-Kashmiri laborers from moving out,” Shahnawaz Hussain, flanked by BJP State president Nirmal Singh, told Greater Kashmir.

Shahnawaz who is also president of All India Minority Morcha, is heading a three member BJP delegation to Valley in the wake of migration of non-Kashmir laborers, mainly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, following a hideous crime involving two non-local laborers.

“Name any project or house in the Valley in which non-local laborers have not worked. Over the decades they have toiled hard on meager amount as gardeners, helpers and labourers, rather Khadims [servants- also a boy's name] of Kashmiris. Islam teaches us to respect those who serve us irrespective of caste, creed or religion. Why this much hatred against them now. They don’t deserve such treatment,” he said.

Referring to communal riots during partition in India, Shahnawaz said when whole India was burning in the fire only Kashmir remained calm.

“Kashmir has remained abode of saints where Mandir [Hindu temple], Masjid [mosque] and Gurdwara [Sikh house of worship] are situated at one place. I believe if the rest of the country adopts the concept of Sufism and Kashmiriyat all its problems will be solved.”

[About BJP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party

Official site: http://www.bjp.org/]

El Hadj Mouhamadou Ndieguene (1891-1997)

[From the French language press]:

Pour faire revivre la mémoire de leur défunt père et guide spirituel, les héritiers d’El Hadj Mamadou Ndiéguène organisent, tous les ans, une journée de prières et de lecture du Saint Coran.

Sud Quotidien, Sénégal - vendredi 3 août 2007 - par Serigne Mour Diop

To revive the memory of their late father and spiritual guide, the heirs to El Hadj Mamadou Ndiéguène organize, every year, one day of prayers and reading of the Holy Qur'an.

The disciples of Sheik Al Islam El Hadji Mouhamadou Sakhir Ndiéguène, dubbed as Mame Aladji, celebrated the 10th birthday of the reunion with God of the famous religious chief, this Saturday, August 4th, in Dakar, under the direction of his son and spokesman of the family, El Hadj Amadou Cissé Ndiéguène, a former Arabic professor and retired civil servant at UNESCO.

Mame Aladji, who was the spiritual guide of the Tijaniya, and who passed away on August 14, 1997, in Thiès, is not less present in spirit, and his thought continues to guide his faithfuls.

The Sound of the Billions calling for Peace

By Michele E. Buttelman - The Signal - Santa Clarita, CA, U.S.A.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Persian musician Hafez Nazeri has a vision where music can bridge the gap between cultures and a new form of music -one that equally melds old and new with a world view - can inspire people of all ages and cultures.

Nazeri, one of Iran's most influential young composers, will lead a performance of his large scale Rumi Symphony Project with the world premiere of the project's Cycle Number One at a single performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, on Friday, Aug. 17 at 8 p.m.

"I think it is a phenomenal concert hall, the acoustics are wonderful," Nazeri said.

Nazeri's original compositions will be performed by a nine piece ensemble featuring both Persian performers and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, including Nazeri's father - Shahram Nazeri, the internationally acclaimed vocalist from Iran.

The second part of the concert features all new compositions that have never been performed before.

The ensemble includes Liuh-Wen Ting, viola; Louise Schulman, viola, viola d'amore; Ben Hong, cello; Dennis Karmazyn, cello; David Allen Moore, double bass; Salar Nader, Indian Percussion; and Hussein Zahawy, daf, dohol, percussion.

Hafez Nazeri will also perform on the setar (a-four-stringed lute), during the concert.

"I am very delighted to have these magnificent musicians in my group," he said. "They are kind and very generous toward my project as well, they do whatever they can to help the project."

Nazeri said it is an honor to have his father perform his music.

"I cannot even put it in words how important my father is to me and how important it is for this group," he said. "He has a 1,000 years in his voice he is the perfect musician himself. He is like the Pavarotti of Iran, he is amazing."

Nazeri said his compositions reflect a new language of music.
"This is not just Persian music, it has elements of classical Western, American Jazz, Indian Ragas and African rhythms melded into a whole. It takes the tradition of Persian music, but makes it something more," he said.

In addition to his music, Nazeri wanted to share the philosophy of Rumi - the 13th century Persian poet, jurist and theologian. The Rumi Symphony Project celebrates the 800th anniversary of Rumi, who is known as the most popular Sufi poet in history.

"My father was the first person to set Rumi to music in Iran," Hafez Nazeri said.

Shahram Nazeri (who has been dubbed the Persian Nightingale) first set Rumi's Divan-e Shams to Persian music 35 years ago - which established a new tradition of Sufi music.

"Growing up in my family, I learned so much about Rumi, most important we learned about his philosophy of life. He was a philosopher, not just a poet. His poems are not just pieces of literature - but a philosophy of life."

"I have tried to portray a little bit of his philosophy in my music," Hafez Nazeri said. "Anyone can repeat his poem, what it is important is to create something that can convey his universal message as well - so I have tried to portray his ideas of life in my music. Rumi is an important figure in my music. Rumi's poetry talks about unity and love and peace and I have tried to send this message through my music."

Nazeri said he feels his music is able to connect people to each other.

"If you come to my concert there will be nine musicians coming from five or six different countries, with different languages, different musical backgrounds, sitting next to each other and creating music," he said. "It shows how we are all connected to each other and how we can all be united together."

Nazeri said he feels his music is needed at this time in history.

"When you listen to the news, you hear about war and you hear about people attacking each other, what you don't hear is the billions of people calling for peace. And my music is the sound of those people and where this can be heard," he said.

In addition to the message, Nazeri said his music is also about tradition and effort to create something entirely new.

"I wanted to create something new with this 7,000-year-old treasure that I had in my background and take that diamond - a deep and beautiful and ancient music - and take it to the 2st century," Nazeri said.

Nazeri said the Rumi Symphony Project will be an ongoing effort.
"I plan for this to continue for 20 to 30 years," he said. "I'm going to present new music and have different projects."

Nazeri also has released a new CD "The Passion of Rumi."

"Rumi Symphony Project cycle Number One," 8 p.m. Aug. 17, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Tickets: $35-150, plus VIP seating. (213) 227-9291 and available through TicketMaster.com or (213) 365-6500.

Visit www.musiccenter.org/wdch/
www.myspace.com/hafeznazeri
http://rumandhumble.com/

Mevlana in Australia (on August 6th)

The New Anatolian - Ankara, Turkey
Saturday, August 4, 2007

Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry will hold a series of activities in Australia to mark Jalal ud-din Rumi's (Mevlana's) 800th birthday, it was reported on Friday.

In a written statement released by the Ministry, it was recalled that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared 2007 as the "International Year of Rumi".

The statement said that the activities will be held in Sydney and Melbourne.

Within the scope of the activities, two special soirees would be organized in Sydney Town Hall and in Danas Booke Hall in Melbourne, on August 6th.

Marmara University Prof. Ali Kose will give a conference on "Mevlana- His Life, Philosophy and Sema".

Mevlana
Mevlana was born on September 30th, 1207 in Balkh in present day Afghanistan. He died in Konya on December 17th, 1273.

He was laid to eternal rest beside his father and over his remains in a splendid shrine was erected in Konya.

Though centuries have passed, many people from around world come and visit Mevlana. Mevlana devoted himself to the pursuit of Sufi mysticism, in which he was justly regarded as the supreme master.

He was the spiritual founder of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes.

His most important work, composed during the last ten years of his life, is the Mathnawi-i Manawi (Mesnevi). This comprises about thirty thousand 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.

"Come, come again, whoever you are, come!
Heathen, fire worshipper or idiolatrous, come!
Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times.
Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are"

This is his most famous motto that has been seen as a symbol of tolerance and love for centuries.

Alevis (in Turkey)

[From the Italian language press]:

Gli aleviti turchi. In Europa pochi li conoscono, eppure sono in molti.

Dal punto di vista statistico essi rappresentano una porzione importante della popolazione turca. In mancanza di dati ufficiali possiamo fare affidamento solamente su stime approssimative secondo le quali gli aleviti sarebbero circa 10-15 milioni su di una popolazione totale di circa 70.000.000.

Dal punto di vista etnico e linguistico essi sono per la maggior parte turchi ma è consistente la presenza di curdi, 15%-20%, e di rom.

Osservatorio sui Balcani, Italia - mercoledì primo agosto 2007 - di Fabio Salomoni

The Turkish Alevi. In Europe they are little known, nevertheless they are many.

From the statistical point of view they represent one important portion of the Turkish population. In lack of official data we can only rely on guesstimates by which the Alevis would be approximately 10-15 millions on a total population of approximately 70.000.000.

From the ethnic and linguistical point of view they are for the greater part Turkish with a consisting presence of Kurdish, 15%-20%, and of Rom.

The Alevis seem to represent a version of Islam peculiar to the historical vicissitudes and the cultural complexity of the Anatolian geographic space.

A peculiarity on the doctrinarian, ritual and sociological plan that is particularly highlighted in comparison with Sunni and Shi'a orthodoxy. A theology that insists on the religious experience understood as individual, inner search, and which shows tight ties with the mystical tradition of Sufism.

And it is precisely to a Darvish Saint, Hacıbektaş Veli, original of Khorasan -one of the cribs of Muslim mysticism- who lived in Anatolia during the 13° century, that goes the unconditioned devotion of the Turkish Alevi.

A devotion testified by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who every year visit the shrine of the Saint.


[Further readings: http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismorders.html#Balkans
http://www.alevibektasi.org/xabiva.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bektashi]

[picture: Alevis in Turkey
This picture shows the Turkish provinces with a higher rate of Alevis (blue-levels) and other provinces inhabiting a lower rate (<10%)>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Alevis.png]

"Education is as indispensable as water and air"

Guardian Unlimited, U.K.

Thursday, August 20, 2007

Books - the Authors: Taha Hussein (1889-1973)

Birthplace:Izbet el Kilo, Egypt

Education: Al-Azhar University, Cairo University, and the Sorbonne

Other jobs: University professor, journalist, cultural critic, translator, Egyptian minister of education.

Did you know? He was left blinded by botched eye surgery at the age of two.

Critical verdict: It is difficult to overstate Taha Hussein's contribution to the intellectual renaissance in Egypt during the 20th century. His research and writings looked back to ancient Egyptian culture, but also drew heavily on classical Greek thought.

He attracted accusations of heresy after the publication of *On Pre-Islamic Poetry*, which called into question the historical accuracy of the Qur'an.

He was acquitted, but the book was temporarily banned. It later reappeared with some minor changes.

He was progressive in dealing with themes of social injustice, and was a pioneer in using classical forms to address modern issues including female emancipation.

Recommended works: His most striking and widely read work (outside the Arab world, at least) is his three-part autobiography *The Days*, with its vivid recreations of village and city life in Egypt.

*The Future of Culture in Egypt*, meanwhile, emphasises the shared Mediterranean heritage of Egypt and Europe and is essential reading for those interested in the region.

Influences: Rifa' al-Tahtawi's An Imam in Paris was a key inspiration. Tahtawi's description of post-Enlightenment Europe led to Hussein's desire to forge stronger links with the West.

An important influence on his early spiritual thinking was Sufism - particularly the mystic poetry of Ibn Farid, whom he writes about in *The Days*.

Now read on: Naguib Mahfouz (for his realistic portrayal of Egyptian city life) or Nawal El Saadawi (for her themes of social justice, especially feminism).

For a bleaker view of the British colonial connection, try Tayeb Salih's masterpiece *Season of Migration to the North*, in which Hussein's optimism about relations with the West is seen as a sinister struggle for influence.

Criticism: Apart from his own masterly autobiography, try *Ma'ak*, the memoirs of his French wife.

Order will be impossible without changes in the very heart

By Serghei Markedonov - Russia Profile - Moscow, Russia

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The threats and political challenges in the Russian North Caucasus are changing rapidly at present. Similarly, the geography of the political instability is also changing.

Now, the main opponent of the Russian state--and therefore the main challenge to security and stability in the region--will not be "defenders of a free Ichkeria" or secular nationalists, but participants in the "Caucasian Islamic International."

Today it is not Chechnya, but Dagestan that is the hotspot in the region. Reports from the area's largest republic now recall the "counterterrorism operation" in Chechnya. What is striking, however, is the ideological and methodological inability of those in the government who have created the strategy for the Caucasus.

The events of 1999 in Chechnya and around the "rebellious republic" were categorized as a "terrorist threat" and the struggle against it was dubbed a "counterterrorist operation"; it's also frequently termed "the fight against international terrorism."

The Russian authorities at least attempted to place the Chechen crisis within a defined system of coordinates. What is now happening in Dagestan, however, is not explained through any kind of framework, not even an inadequate one.

In the first half of 2006 alone over 70 terrorist acts were carried out. And, unlike terrorist acts in Chechnya, the majority of those in Dagestan are not anonymous in nature. Thus, an understanding of what is happening in the largest republic in the North Caucasus should become the top priority for Russia's leadership.

At the beginning of the 1990s, during the period of the so-called "parade of sovereignties," ethno-nationalism and the idea of ethnic self-definition dominated in the North Caucasus. In practice, this resulted in the implementation of the principle of ethnic domination in politics, administration and business. Radical ethno-nationalists actively used terrorist methods in their struggle, and it would be wrong to say that the outbreak of terrorism in Dagestan began only recently.

Between 1989 and 1991, over 40 politically-motivated attempted murders were carried out. The number dropped to just under 40 in 1992, but in 1993, there were around 60 attempted murders and armed attacks. There were also key terrorist acts in the early 1990s.

In June 1993, gunmen of the ethnic Avar Imam Shamil People's Front and the ethnic Lak "Kazikumukh" movement seized personnel of the regional military commission in Kizlyar and demanded that the Russian Interior Ministry remove its special forces units from the city. Unlike the terrorist acts of 2005-2007, the attacks committed during this period were not ethno-political in character and not driven by religious justifications.

The same motivation lay behind the actions of the Chechen separatists who, from 1991, were fighting for an "independent Ichkeria." After 2000, however, the ethno-nationalistic slogans lost their former attraction and began to give way to those of religious radicals. Dagestan became the distinctive leader in the political struggle for the "purity of Islam."

It was this republic that evolved into the distinctive intellectual center for religious radicalism in which the "Wahhabis" carried out their most stubborn acts of armed resistance against the official authorities--both those in the republic and on the national level. What caused this change in events?

The Role of Religion
In Dagestan, the replacement of the nationalist discourse with the discourse of religious radicalism was made easier because the republic is the most multiethnic in Russia. Until the recent reforms to the Dagestani administration, the State Council, the executive body of power in the republic, was formed on the basis of ethnic parity and comprised 14 different ethnic groups.

It's also worth noting that certain ethnic groups in the republic weren't considered separate during the compiling of censuses; both during the Soviet era and during the preparation of the All-Russian Census of 2002, for example, the Botlikh were recorded as Avars and the Kubachins were recorded as Dargins. Due to this diversity, ethnic nationalism simply has no future in Dagestan.

The groups living in the republic seemed to realize this: At the beginning of the 1990s, Dagestan was the only republic in the North Caucasus not to adopt a declaration on independence and sovereignty.

During those years, there was only one "separatist party" in the republic--the Party for the Independence and Revival of Dagestan. Almost from its foundation in June of 1992, however, it was a marginal party.

At the same time, Dagestan is the most heavily Islamic region of the Russian Federation. Over 90 percent of the population of Dagestan is Muslim. Ninety-seven percent of Dagestan's Muslims are Sunni, with Shiites making up the remaining 3 percent. The non-Muslim population is split between the Russian Orthodox and Armenian churches and a small minority of Mountain Jews (Tats).

At the same time, unlike the other republics, Dagestan has strong theological traditions that sometimes manifest as religious radicalism. The penetration of the republic by "renovationist Islam," whose adherents are called Wahhabis in the media, dates back to the 1920s and 1930s.

Traditionalism versus Radicalism
At the beginning of the 1990s, Islam was regarded as an integrating force that could bind together the ethnic mosaic of Dagestan. According to Zagir Arukhov, a leading expert on the study of Islam in Dagestan, who was killed in a terrorist attack, "It was expected that the all-out nature of the Islamic system of regulation, the limited nature of Islam as a socio-cultural system, and flexible interaction with the state authorities would give Islam important advantages in the conditions of the socio-political reconstruction of society."

However, the transformation of Islam into a factor of stability and unity failed to occur. In the process of the "rebirth" of Islam in Dagestan, fundamental contradictions between the followers of traditional Caucasian Islamic traditions--Sufis--and the Wahhabis became evident. In the opinion of expert Dmitri Makarov, "Wahhabism and Sufism occupy different positions with regard to the existing social-political order in Dagestan, which is founded on clan ties. Sufi Islam is structurally incorporated into those ties. In rejecting Sufism, Wahhabism also rejects the social order that is sanctioned by it."

Dagestan's Wahhabis made criticism of the republic's authorities the keystone of their propaganda and promotional efforts. Widespread misuse of official positions by bureaucrats, corruption, social differentiation and, as a result, high levels of unemployment, the lack of transparency among the authorities and their insensitivity to the needs of the population lay behind the successes in recruitment achieved by the Wahhabis who were able to offer an alternative: True "Islamic order," a radical rejection of communism, democracy and "false Islam" as political models incapable of providing social harmony and ethnic peace.

This desired "order" could only be achieved through the path of the struggle for the true faith--a jihad. Wahhabism appealed not to the clans, but to values of equality and brotherhood that were higher than clan links. As communist values collapsed, the universal, inter-ethnic principles of Wahhabism, focused on social justice, filled the ideological vacuum. In these circumstances, the Wahhabis created their social foundations in the republic.

The Role of the State
But the rise of Wahhabism in Dagestan also resulted from a loss of Russian influence in the republic and the regionalization of authorities. The political elite in Dagestan has, in effect, not changed since the early 1990s. It proved to be effective in the struggle with ethnic extremism during the "parade of sovereignties," the "Chechen revolution" and at the time of Basayev's raid in 1999.

But to counteract religious extremism, a more subtle adjustment to the administrative system is required. But what are the options facing the Russian state in this context? The first immediate goal is to bring the power of the federal authorities to Dagestan and to the Caucasus as a whole.

The remoteness of Moscow from the region's problems can no longer be endured. The ignorance of the Russian community--both expert and political--should also no longer be tolerated. Additionally, Russian ideology--the idea of a Russian nation--needs to be spread actively and, in the best possible sense of the word, aggressively.

Many Dagestanis are not yet ready for a radical break with Russia in favor of an Islamic state.

Consequently, the Russian project, universal and supra-ethnic, should win out if handled correctly. The assertion of Russian state institutions in the Caucasus is not just an anti-terrorist struggle, which would in itself be ineffective. It is the normal regulation of internal migration.

Dagestan is densely populated, and the movement of its working-age population into the rest of Russia is a timely goal. But that movement into the country's internal regions is impossible without a sense that Dagestanis are citizens of a united nation--as well as some efforts to combat xenophobia among ethnic Russians.

Without that sense, such a movement will merely provoke a new wave of inter-ethnic tension. As early as 1993, in an interview, Magomedsalekh Gusayev, who was at the time the chairman of the committee on national policies and external relations of the Republic of Dagestan, maintained: "Migration is very active among the peoples of Dagestan; 400,000 Dagestanis are living beyond the republic's borders. Returning to Dagestan, often embittered, having lost their housing and property, they become a sort of detonator for the migration of the Russian-language population of Dagestan."

Unfortunately, over the past 14 years, little has changed. The number of migrants has merely grown, as has the extent of dissatisfaction with the corruption of the authorities. Today, in light of ever-increasing terrorism in Dagestan, it should also be acknowledged that bringing order to this republic will be impossible without changes in the very heart of Russia. Dagestan is merely a specific case in the general crisis of Russian internal politics.

Regional elections held in early March showed again how dangerous it is to introduce change into the power structures of Dagestan. These elections, the first held under new rules requiring representatives to the local parliament to be elected on party lists, resulted in the marginalization of the Communist Party, which traditionally played a popular and positive role in the republic.

Unlike in central Russia where the Communist Party is an archaic, nationalist force, in Dagestan, the Communist Party is the only political movement not structured around ethnic groupings or clans. It is a secular force that cites ideas of social justice. It promotes the virtues of science and education as well as the "friendship of peoples."

The United Russia party, which won a crushing victory on March 14, will not bring political stability to the region. The local branch of United Russia suffers from internal power struggles between bureaucratic clans led by Mukhu Aliyev, the republic's current president and Said Amirov, the mayor of Makhachkala [Capital city].

Party list voting in regions like Dagestan that have no multi-party tradition will only weaken local power structures and leave the door open for Islamic extremists to act outside the system if they feel their concerns aren't being addressed.

Sergei Markedonov is head of the Department for International Relations at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis

Visit also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagestan
http://www.eurasianet.org/

[picture: Portrait of a Dagestani Couple in region of Gunib on the north slope of the Caucasus Mountains (nowadays Dagestan Republic of the Russian Federation). An early color photograph from Russia, created by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii as part of his work to document the Russian Empire from 1909 to 1915.]

Rumi’s “Fihi ma Fih” translated into Pushtu

MNA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Afghanistan’s Information and Culture Ministry announced on Sunday that the mystical work “Fihi ma Fih” by Molana Rumi has been translated into Pushtu.

Habib Hossa, Nazanin Halim, and Haroon Hasan were members of the team that translated the work from Persian.

Afghan Information and Culture Minister Abdul Karim Khoram said that the ministry is determined to continue translating Rumi’s works into Pushtu, which is one of the country’s two main national languages.

He went on to say that the people of Afghanistan want to enhance their culture.

He expressed hope that the book would be warmly received by the literary figures of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ceremonies for the 800th birth anniversary of Molana Rumi were held in Kabul and Balkh in May.

Rumi was born in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan) and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey).

[picture: Geographic distribution of Pushto (purple) and other Iranian languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashto]

Promoting Kashmir’s rich Sufi heritage

INF - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, India

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Governor Lt. General (Retd) S. K: Sinha has lauded the efforts being made for promoting Kashmir’s rich Sufi heritage, saying that the endeavour will further cement the bonds of brotherhood, amity and harmony.

Inaugurating a musical night at Pari Mahal, in the backdrop of mesmerizing setting of this magnificent monument with moon emerging from Zabarwan Hills, the Governor said holding of this event at this site is an added feature to the architectural grandeur built by Dara Shiko.

The Governor highlighted the importance of the monument by elaborating that Pari Mahal was a Buddhist monastery with a beautifully laid out garden, which was converted to a school of astrology.

Founded by Dara Shiko, the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, for his Sufi teacher, Mulla Shah, the Mahal emerged as a centre of learning where Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit were translated into Persia.

He regretted that the numerous springs, which used to enhance the beauty of Pari Mahal, are now dried up. General Sinha also referred to Pandrethan, a temple in the nearby Badami Bagh cantonment and said this used to be the capital of Ashoka the Great, who founded the Srinagar city.

Mesmerized by the beauty of the place, he said one can have a panoramic look of the fairy land around.

The Governor congratulated the performing artists and hoped that they will enthrall the Srinagar audience by scintillating music. He quoted famous couplet “Music in our heart we bow, long after it was heard no more.” He also complimented Srinagar Doordarshan and Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department for organizing the event.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tourism Minister, Mohammed Dilawar Mir and Deputy Director General Doordarshan, Ashok Jailkhani also spoke on the occasion. Director, Doord arshan, Shahzadi Simon presented the vote of thanks.

Mir assured Doordarshan that the Department of Tourism will continue to extend all possible support in organizing such programmes.

Prominent among those present on the occasion were the former Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, legislators, senior officers and music lovers besides tourists and travel agents from Malaysia. Pandit Bhajan Sopori, Abhey Rustum Sopori, Mohammed Yaqub Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Dar were among the artists who left the audience spell bound by their performances.