By Faheem Aslam, "SASB’s Sufi festival" - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Saturday, June 21, 2008
A “Sufi Dance” performance by a group of girls from Uzbekistan on concluding day of the Sufi festival organized by the SASB drew flak from experts who described it as a “mockery of Sufism.”
The group named SABA gave a number of performances on Saturday evening at the Sher-I-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake here. The band of nearly 15 girls from Uzbekistan danced to the tunes of music.
An authority on Sufism, Professor Muhammad Ishaq Khan, said that the dance by girls or women had no relevance with the real spirit of Sufism.
“Such performances make a mockery of Sufism,” he told Greater Kashmir. Describing the festival as “politics and nothing else”, Prof Khan said: “Such functions have nothing to do with the pristine spirit of Sufism,” he said.
“The dance performance by girls can be taken as a cultural aspect of any nation, but in any case it has nothing to do with Sufism as is being portrayed.” Prof Khan said such performances were aimed at distorting the true message and spirit of Sufism, and deviate the attention of Kashmiris from their real problems including the true spirit of the mystical dimension of Islam.
“They want to dramatize polarity between Shariah and Sufism when Sufism itself is rooted in Qur’an and Sunnah,” Prof Khan, who holds the Sheikh-ul-Alam Chair at Kashmir University, said.
The 3-day festival is being organized jointly by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages. Departments like Information, Tourism and Doordarshan are collaborating in its holding.
It is being organized to commemorate 50 years of the establishment of the Cultural Academy.
Prof Khan said the music played in such function was not the “actual” Sufi music. “Sufi music is a divine music,” he said. “It brings the devotee of a particular Sufi more closer to reality, truth and Shariah.
It is in no way related to Sama which was performed in the Chisti Khanqaha’s of the sub-continent during the medieval period. Such things are a later-stage developments and are mere aberrations and distortions.”
Grand Mufti, Mufti Bashir-ud-Din Ahmad, has similar views on the issue. “The true spirit of Sufism is to get closer to Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Dance has no relevance with Sufism. It is an unlawful activity,” he told Greater Kashmir.
“No dance whatsoever is permissible in Islam. People should refrain from participating in such functions.”
The festival was already criticized by cultural activist, who accused the Shrine Board of “poking its nose into cultural affairs of the state.”
Saturday, June 28, 2008
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
No Dance Whatsoever
Saturday, June 21, 2008
A “Sufi Dance” performance by a group of girls from Uzbekistan on concluding day of the Sufi festival organized by the SASB drew flak from experts who described it as a “mockery of Sufism.”
The group named SABA gave a number of performances on Saturday evening at the Sher-I-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake here. The band of nearly 15 girls from Uzbekistan danced to the tunes of music.
An authority on Sufism, Professor Muhammad Ishaq Khan, said that the dance by girls or women had no relevance with the real spirit of Sufism.
“Such performances make a mockery of Sufism,” he told Greater Kashmir. Describing the festival as “politics and nothing else”, Prof Khan said: “Such functions have nothing to do with the pristine spirit of Sufism,” he said.
“The dance performance by girls can be taken as a cultural aspect of any nation, but in any case it has nothing to do with Sufism as is being portrayed.” Prof Khan said such performances were aimed at distorting the true message and spirit of Sufism, and deviate the attention of Kashmiris from their real problems including the true spirit of the mystical dimension of Islam.
“They want to dramatize polarity between Shariah and Sufism when Sufism itself is rooted in Qur’an and Sunnah,” Prof Khan, who holds the Sheikh-ul-Alam Chair at Kashmir University, said.
The 3-day festival is being organized jointly by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages. Departments like Information, Tourism and Doordarshan are collaborating in its holding.
It is being organized to commemorate 50 years of the establishment of the Cultural Academy.
Prof Khan said the music played in such function was not the “actual” Sufi music. “Sufi music is a divine music,” he said. “It brings the devotee of a particular Sufi more closer to reality, truth and Shariah.
It is in no way related to Sama which was performed in the Chisti Khanqaha’s of the sub-continent during the medieval period. Such things are a later-stage developments and are mere aberrations and distortions.”
Grand Mufti, Mufti Bashir-ud-Din Ahmad, has similar views on the issue. “The true spirit of Sufism is to get closer to Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Dance has no relevance with Sufism. It is an unlawful activity,” he told Greater Kashmir.
“No dance whatsoever is permissible in Islam. People should refrain from participating in such functions.”
The festival was already criticized by cultural activist, who accused the Shrine Board of “poking its nose into cultural affairs of the state.”
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By Faheem Aslam, "SASB’s Sufi festival" - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, IndiaSaturday, June 21, 2008
A “Sufi Dance” performance by a group of girls from Uzbekistan on concluding day of the Sufi festival organized by the SASB drew flak from experts who described it as a “mockery of Sufism.”
The group named SABA gave a number of performances on Saturday evening at the Sher-I-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake here. The band of nearly 15 girls from Uzbekistan danced to the tunes of music.
An authority on Sufism, Professor Muhammad Ishaq Khan, said that the dance by girls or women had no relevance with the real spirit of Sufism.
“Such performances make a mockery of Sufism,” he told Greater Kashmir. Describing the festival as “politics and nothing else”, Prof Khan said: “Such functions have nothing to do with the pristine spirit of Sufism,” he said.
“The dance performance by girls can be taken as a cultural aspect of any nation, but in any case it has nothing to do with Sufism as is being portrayed.” Prof Khan said such performances were aimed at distorting the true message and spirit of Sufism, and deviate the attention of Kashmiris from their real problems including the true spirit of the mystical dimension of Islam.
“They want to dramatize polarity between Shariah and Sufism when Sufism itself is rooted in Qur’an and Sunnah,” Prof Khan, who holds the Sheikh-ul-Alam Chair at Kashmir University, said.
The 3-day festival is being organized jointly by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages. Departments like Information, Tourism and Doordarshan are collaborating in its holding.
It is being organized to commemorate 50 years of the establishment of the Cultural Academy.
Prof Khan said the music played in such function was not the “actual” Sufi music. “Sufi music is a divine music,” he said. “It brings the devotee of a particular Sufi more closer to reality, truth and Shariah.
It is in no way related to Sama which was performed in the Chisti Khanqaha’s of the sub-continent during the medieval period. Such things are a later-stage developments and are mere aberrations and distortions.”
Grand Mufti, Mufti Bashir-ud-Din Ahmad, has similar views on the issue. “The true spirit of Sufism is to get closer to Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Dance has no relevance with Sufism. It is an unlawful activity,” he told Greater Kashmir.
“No dance whatsoever is permissible in Islam. People should refrain from participating in such functions.”
The festival was already criticized by cultural activist, who accused the Shrine Board of “poking its nose into cultural affairs of the state.”
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