Law of Our Land

By Irfan Yusuf - The Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney, NSW, Australia
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Law of our land can never be sharia

I have a confession to make. I have not read the recent speech given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams in which he mentions the nasty "s" word. You know - the word that reminds us all of mass stonings and beheadings and amputations. And because I haven't read the speech, I will not be commenting on the points he makes. But not everyone taking part in this latest flare-up of cultural warfare is behaving as cautiously.

Instead, even respected newspapers are behaving like tabloids, publishing articles that suggest honour killings and other despicable cultural practices not exclusive to Muslims are somehow sanctioned by Islamic sacred law.

Sharia is not the name of a draconian system of legal punishments. Rather, sharia is a legal tradition, a set of legal principles based on certain values that are identical to those contained in the old and new testaments.

Further, legal scholars in the East and West agree the legal traditions of sharia, English common law (from which our legal systems are derived) and European civil law have borrowed from and influenced each other. It is only by ignoring history and present realities that one concludes sharia and Western legal traditions are mutually exclusive.

Many readers will wonder what 360,000-odd Australians who tick the "Muslim" box on their census forms think of sharia. Do we want to establish the Islamic Republic of Australia? Will men be forced to grow beards as majestic as that of Dr Williams? Will the Parliament be moved from Canberra to Lakemba?

Muslims are not the only religious group with an ancient sacred law which they occasionally would like secular law to take account of. On a number of occasions, joint submissions have been made by Jews and Muslims in areas such as ritual animal slaughter, burial and the treatment of bodies in autopsies.

In August 1989, the Australian Law Reform Commission began an inquiry on the topic of multiculturalism and the law. Numerous submissions were received from various ethnic and ethno-religious communities. A submission from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, a peak Muslim body representing the congregations of about half of Australia's mosques, concerned a number of issues relating to family law.

In particular, there was some concern that under the Family Law Act 1975, Muslim women were being forced to wait at least 12 months from the date of separation to file for divorce. Under most interpretations of sharia, the waiting period was much shorter.

But how many Australian Muslims follow sharia when family disputes arise? My experience in legal practice has been that the parties will go for whichever system gives them the most favourable outcome. This usually means following a system which has the force of secular law.

Australian Muslim attitudes to sharia are further complicated by the fact Muslim migrants come from more than 60 countries. Different Muslim cultures understand sharia in different ways.

For instance, Indonesians tend to associate sharia with non-interest banking and ethical investments. In South Asia, where the common law has incorporated sharia codes in family law and inheritance, Muslims view sharia in these terms. Hence, it will be almost impossible to find any consensus among Australian Muslims as to exactly what sharia is. Implementation is virtually out of the question.

Muslim migrants have included refugees from Islamic theocratic regimes. They include the Hazara tribe of Afghanistan, most of whom fled the theocratic regime of the Taliban which claimed to be implementing sharia. I doubt many of these Muslim Australians would want their adopted nation to become a sharia state if it means anything like the laws of Afghanistan or Iran.

The term sharia is also used to refer to the outer manifestation of Islamic worship, as opposed to tariqa (which Westerners would refer to as Sufism) which represents the inner spiritual aspect of worship. In this sense, sharia is liturgy. And liturgy does not need secular law to protect its integrity.

Even in simple liturgical matters, there is little agreement. For instance, imams have yet to agree on a method for determining the beginning of sacred lunar months such as Ramadan. Given the lack of consensus on such basic issues, don't expect to see much sharia anytime before the next ice age.

Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney lawyer and associate editor of AltMuslim.com.
http://www.altmuslim.com/a

Sufi Artist Moore Sets Poetry Reading

Ursinus College News - Collegeville, PA, USA
Monday, February 11, 2008

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, an internationally-famous former Beat Poet and Sufi artist, will read from his work on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. in Ursinus College, Olin Hall, Room 107.

The reading is free, open to the public and no tickets or reservations are need.

Moore published “Dawn Visions,” his first book of poems, in 1964, and wrote and directed ritual theater for his Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company in Berkeley, California.

He became a Sufi Muslim in 1970, performed the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, and lived and traveled throughout Morocco, Spain, Algeria and Nigeria.

His second book, “Burnt Heart, Ode to the War Dead,” was published in 1972.

When Moore returned to his native California in the early 80s, he also returned, after a 10-year hiatus, to “written poetry,” and “The Desert is the Only Way Out” and “Chronicles of Akhira” were published.

A resident of Philadelphia since 1990, he has continued to write and has edited a number of works, including the poetry of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

His work has received both the Ina Coolbrith Award and the James D. Phelan Award for poetry.

Moore’s appearance is sponsored by the Muslin Student Association, the Chaplain’s Office, and the Wright Lectureship in Middle Eastern Studies.

More information on Moore and his work can be found at http://www.danielmoorepoetry.com

Sufi Art in Dubai

By Ola Galal with Paul Casciato - Reuters Life - Dubai, UAE
Monday, February 11, 2008

Senegalese artist Amadou Kan-Si's paintings might not be in the typically distinctive geometric and calligraphic style of most Islamic art but they are meant to capture moments of spirituality in Muslim prayer.

His "Ritual" exhibition brought from Dakar to Dubai shows Muslims in postures of prayer and casts a light on the Islamic tradition of transcendence or Sufism.

"In Sufism, when we're standing in prayer, we're like trees, when we're bending, we're like other kinds of animals; it's like saying everybody in humanity is praying," Kan-Si told Reuters at the opening of the exhibition late on Saturday.

"The exhibition is about ...(the idea that) when we are praying, it's like we are writing on space, because we have different postures. It's about a visual formulation of transcendence by human beings."

A painting titled Nocturne 1 shows beige gown-clad human figures in a row, one standing straight, one half-bent and another bowing --all resembling alphabetical shapes, all praying against a backdrop of black arches and a marine-blue sky.

Born in Kaolack, Senegal, the 46-year-old artist graduated from Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Dakar. He has exhibited his works in cities as diverse as Marseille, Rio de Janeiro and New York.

"Exhibiting in Dubai is an interesting opportunity for me to see how, when I relocate my work to a Muslim country in the Middle East, people interact with this concept that people from my surrounding already know," Kan-Si says.

Religious traditions in countries with Muslim populations -- from Senegal in the west to India in the east -- can vary according to different interpretations of Islam.

In Senegal, for instance, Sufism -- an Islamic esoteric tradition -- is widespread, in contrast with the Gulf Arab region, where a more doctrine-based interpretation of Islam prevails.

But despite presenting a Muslim theme in Ritual, Kan-Si believes, his art is not strictly meant to be appreciated solely by his co-religionists.

"The person who collects this work is not a Muslim and he appreciates it; one of the functions of art is that it talks about humanity from the different points of view," he says.

"After sharing it in France, in Brussels and in America and my country, I want to take it to Egypt, Morocco and other North African and Middle East countries."

Dubai, known more for its mega construction projects than its art scene, is increasingly attracting contemporary artists, especially from neighbouring Iran and South Asia, as exhibition venues multiply.

Kan-Si's works are on display at Total Arts Gallery in Dubai's industrial Al-Quoz area until Feb. 19.

Mufti Mushtaq Tijarvi Awarded Ph.D. on Tasawwuf

Radiance Views Weekly - New Delhi - India
Vol. XLV No. 29; Sunday, February 10, 2008

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, awarded Mufti Mohd. Mushtaq Tijarvi Ph.D. degree on his research work “Shaikh Junaid Baghdadi aur Unka Tasawwuf”.

Mufti Mushtaq, who has been rendering his services as Senior Lecturer at Islamic Academy, New Delhi, completed his work on this great Sufi scholar and his contribution to the development of Sufism, under the supervision of Professor Akhtarul Wasey of Department of Islamic Studies of the Jamia.

In his 5-chapter research work, Mufti Mushtaq has presented Shaikh Junaid Baghdadi as an outstanding Sufi and Islamic scholar of Shafii school, who gave a particular dimension to Sufism and laid such strong foundations as could keep Sufism subservient to the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Shaikh Junaid Baghdadi categorically rejected the un-Islamic elements that had then permeated into the realm of Sufism, and said that Sufism must be practised in strict accordance with the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah.

This dimension of Sufism was accepted by all other Sufis and that is why he is known as Sayyid-ut-Taaifah (Leader of Sufis).

[On Junayd: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junayd_Baghdadi].

Some Good News

Unique Pakistan - Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Friday, February 8, 2008

What did Muslims do in 2007

Here is an excerpt from the "general good news" category: click on the title to read the full list/article

10. GENERAL GOOD NEWS

The "A Muslim a Day" site continues to post a great photo each day, breaking down stereotypes visually.

Film: The film 'Days of Glory' added a Muslim page to the film history of WW II. Prince Among Slaves premieres and wins award for Best Documentary of 2007 at the American Black Film Festival. The U.S. premier of "Rumi Returning" was very well received. "American Ramadan" documentary was released.

Television: Two new sitcoms showing Muslims as just as goofy as everyone else aired on television. Aliens in America began on the CW network, and Little Mosque on the Prairie on Canadian television. Link TV introduced a special section of programs under the heading of "One Nation, Many Voices: Muslims in America, Stories Not Stereotypes".

Humor: We are beginning to see lots more humor and satire coming from the Muslim community. We have groups like Allah Made Me Funny, The Holy Land Comedy Tour, Stand Up for Peace, The Watch List.

Khalil Bendib is considering throwing his fez into the ring to become America's First Muslim President. Shelina Zahra Janmohamed of Spirit 21 has come up with great Eid and moonsighting carols. Ray Hanania's Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour is doing well as are many other Muslim and Arab comedians, for example: Azhar Usman - Maz Jobrani - Shazia Mirza - Dean Obaidallah - Preacher Moss - Ahmed Ahmed - Amro Ali -

We are seeing humorous posts like - Rules for reporting Islam and regular video blogs like Salam Cafe out of Australia.

Even in Iraq Muslims are finding ways to laugh. (see also our collection of articles on satire and humor). There really is such a thing as Muslim humor

Islam-themed comic book "The 99" hits U.S. stands. Each superhero embodies one of the 99 attributes that Muslims ascribe to Allah.

Music: Muslim Country-Western singer Kareem Salama released a new album.

Art: The political cartoonist, Bendib has released a new book of his work.

Books: Some great books came out this year:

The new edition of Muhammad Asad's monumental translation and commentary is now available in England and in the USA. This beautiful new edition, published by the Book Foundation and designed by Ahmed Moustafa, includes completely new typography, art and a complete transliteration of the Arabic text.

Feminism beyond East and West: New Gender Talk and Practice in Global Islam, Margot Badran.
The Holy Cities, The Pilgrimage and The World of Islam: A History: From the earliest traditions till 1925 (1344H), Sultan Ghalib al-Qu'aiti.
Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization, Akbar Ahmed.
The Book of Language: A Deep Glossary of Islamic and English Spiritual Terms (The Education Project series), Kabir Helminski, now available in paperback.
American Crescent, Imam Hassan Qazwini.
Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran, Fatemeh Kashevarz.
Microcredit And Poverty Alleviation, Tazul Islam. Asian Islam in the 21st Century, Esposito, Voll, Bakar.
Christianity and Islam in Spain: Christianity and Islam in Spain, Charles Reginald Haines.

The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition, Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

Sufism: Veil and Quintessence A New Translation with Selected Letters (The Writings of Frithjof Schuon).

God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis, Philip Jenkins.
Islam after Communism: Religion and Politics in Central Asia, Adeeb Khalid.
The Inner Journey: Views from the Islamic Tradition (PARABOLA Anthology Series), Wm. C. Chittick (Editor).
Liberation Theology: Islam and the Feminist Agenda in the Qur'an, Omar Naseef.
Scripture, Reason, and the Contemporary Islam-West Encounter: Studying the "Other," Understanding the "Self", Steven Kepnes (Editor), Basit Bilal Koshul (Editor).
The Sum of All Heresies: The Image of Islam in Western Thought, Frederick Quinn.

(...)

With Faith and a Pure Heart

By Bruce Bennet - The New York Sun - New York, NY, USA
Friday, February 8, 2008

"He who has faith will never get lost," offers the titular Sufi mystic at the center of Nacer Khemir's "Bab'Aziz," a new film opening today at Cinema Village.

Blind and crossing the desert in the company of his game but very young granddaughter Ishtar (Maryam Hamid), and in search of the undisclosed location of a mass spiritual gathering of other dervishes, it would appear that Bab'Aziz (Parviz Shahinkhou) will need all the faith he can muster.

But the venerable holy man has a pure heart big enough to accommodate the varied star-crossed travelers he and Ishtar encounter on their pilgrimage. What's more, he has a memory. When Ishtar asks her grandfather to tell her a story about a gazelle, he begins spinning an allegorical whopper about a prince who becomes obsessed by his reflection on the surface of a well.

The episodic pace of the prince's story matches the two pilgrims' progress, and as they meet and befriend others along the way, echoes of the prince's search for his own soul in a deep pool of water reverberate in the real tales of those they encounter.

Mr. Khemir and cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari spare no effort to turn the natural glory of their location to the film's advantage. Much of the imagery in "Bab'Aziz" — a lamp-lit search for a lost child silhouetted at dusk, the cloth minaret of a royal tent topping a sand dune like a crown — is quite beguiling.

Chock full of lofty god's-eye-views of characters making tracks in the sand and painstakingly composed horizons that seem to recede into the narratively commingled past, "Bab'Aziz" is not a film for home video.

When it does arrive at Blockbuster, employees familiar with the film may be tempted to file it as a musical. With arrangements by Israeli-born composer Armand Amar, "Bab'Aziz" is a treasure trove of non-European traditional Middle Eastern music. Characters sing, Sufi musicians play both on-screen and off, and the ecstatic, spinning dances of the dervishes, whirling around with one hand extended upward to heaven and the other pointing down to the earth, are indeed spectacular.

Written "with the participation of" frequent Antonioni collaborator Tonino Guerra, "Bab'Aziz" seeks to introduce Western audiences to Islamic traditions and folklore having little to do with what's shown on CNN.

Individually, the film's multiple stories are all diverting and attractively peopled. Ms. Hamid adds much as Ishtar, whose curiosity and naïveté help to emphasize that the film's journey is really one long destination.

Messrs. Khemir and Guerra are nevertheless somewhat stingy with all the latent story energy they have at their command. Long and sedate enough to become familiar and elliptical by the end, "Bab'Aziz" is a lovely spiritual meander that keeps a smile on its face and never fails to put its best foot forward.

Sang Raja Jin – Master of the Jinn

MM - Sufi News - USA/CH
Monday, February 11, 2008

The Book Launch Party and Reading for the Sufi novel by Irving Karchmar Sang Raja Jin – Master of the Jinn in Indonesian Bahasa, will be held in the offices of Nun Publisher in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday, February 16th.

Four prominent Indonesian literary figures will read selections from Sang Raja Jin: Nuruddin Asyhadie, a renowned poet and author, Anton Kurnia, a well known literary critic, Siska Widyawati, a Sufi dervish and journalist, and Meithya Rose Prasetya, a writer and lover of mystical works.

The event is free and open to the public

Nun Publisher, Jln. Ampera Raya Gg. Kancil No. 15, Jakarta Selatan, 12550
Telephone: +62 21 78847301 - at Hour: 15.00 WIB – (3:00 pm).

Bicentenary of the Birth of Emir Abdelkader

[From the French language press]:

Algérie : Bicentenaire de la naissance de L’Emir Abdelkader, une commémoration qui s’étalera sur une année

El-Annabi, Algérie - jeudi 7 février 2008 - par Rabéa F.

Algeria: Bicentenary of the birth of Emir Abdelkader, a commemoration which will run for one year

Algeria is preparing to commemorate the bicentennial of the Emir Abdelkader (6 September 1808 - 26 May 1883), the Sufi writer, poet, scholar, philosopher, politician and military leader.

Mr. Mohamed Boutaleb, president of the Foundation Emir Abdelkader, described the Emir as "a humanist in love with Sufism".

Several events will be organized in Algeria as well as in France, Mexico and the United States.

On February the 20th France will issue a postage stamp bearing the effigy of Emir Abdelkader.

A film about the Emir is in preparation. The script is already written by Boualem Bessayeh. The film will be produced by the Algerian Ministry of Culture.

For children, a cartoon on his life is also under preparation.

Two symposiums will be held in Algiers in mid-February.

[Picture: Ange Tissier, "Portrait of Ben ed-Din Abd el-Kader, Algerian Amir", 1852 Oil on canvas, 72 x 59 cm / 28' x 23'; Musée national du château de Versailles, France
Photo from his inspiring biography at Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Qadir].

"The Sufi Enneagram & The Art of Negotiation"

Somerville Journal, MA, USA
Thursday, Febrauary 7, 2008

Jerome D. Maryon, Esq. will lead an innovative workshop on negotiation using the ancient Sufi Enneagram system.

Jerome D. Maryon, attorney, adjunct professor, is St. Paul’s parish council member, and CSPC (Contemporary Spiritual & Public Concerns) Committee president.

Assisting him will be a fellow lawyer, a current candidate for dual doctorates, and also a St. Paul’s parishioner, Olivier Beydon, who has begun to link the challenge of negotiation with the Sufi Enneagram study of human defense mechanisms.

This unique CSPC offering, quite possibly the first of its kind in the world, will include Harvard Law School students.

The event will be held at St. Paul’s Church at 29 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, MA, USA, on Saturday, Feb. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Reservations are required. Contact Dierdre O’Donnell-Griswold, Secretary:
secretary@saint-paul-cspc.org
http://www.saint-paul-cspc.org/

[Picture: The Enneagram. Image from ACSIS, The Australian Centre for Sufism and Irfanic Studies. ACSIS is a non profit organisation established in Australia in 1999 for the purpose of raising the awareness of people to the presence of God in day to day life using the teachings of Sufism/Irfan. Read more about Enneagram at their website: http://www.australiansuficentre.org/enneagram.htm].

A Genuinely Australian Religion

By Irfan Yusuf - The Age - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Thursday, February 7, 2008

This week the ABC screened Jihad Sheilas, the story of two Australian women who became caught up in a whirlpool of religious extremism. They were among a tiny proportion of a generation of Muslim youths and converts radicalised by people linked to past conflicts in Afghanistan.

(...)

Certainly the Afghan jihad was presented by Western media in the 1980s as a just war. I still recall an episode of Channel Nine's 60 Minutes profiling the courageous freedom fighters facing a superpower with First World War weapons. A coalition of right-wing think tanks and Western and Arab governments promoted the jihad.

By the early 1980s, when I entered my teens, the Afghan jihad and the plight of Afghan refugees were causes heavily promoted by religious foundations, imams and spokesmen for various Afghan mujahideen factions. In Sydney and Melbourne, representatives of the competing factions were a regular feature at mosques.

My "home" mosque, the King Faisal Mosque at Surry Hills in Sydney, regularly hosted "Afghan nights" where mujahideen representatives provided updates on the conflict and sought donations for refugees.

Indeed, at a 1987 Muslim youth camp organised by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, a representative of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's faction gave a speech and delivered the Friday sermon. In my mind, this effectively meant the jihad had religious sanction.

(...)

However, it would be wrong to generalise about all converts. Islam attracts people from all walks of life. Prominent Australian converts include former diplomats, prominent sportspeople and a former ABC foreign correspondent.

People turn to Islam and other non-Christian faiths for any number of reasons. They might feel outcasts in conventional society or disillusioned with aspects of mainstream culture. They might be searching for an alternative lifestyle.

Most Muslim Australians treat their faith as intensely personal. The core of Islam is the deeply spiritual tradition, which Sunni Muslims describe as tasawwuf and Shia Muslims describe as irfan, and which is known as "Sufism" in the West.

To this day, translations of Jalaluddin Rumi remain the biggest selling poetry books in the US. Many converts enter Islam after exposure to Sufi teaching for reasons similar to the attraction of Tibetan Buddhism.

Fringe politicised Islam has few followers among migrant Muslims, whose exposure to mainstream Islam means they know a fringe sect when they see one. Australia's radical "thick-sheikhs" tend to attract Muslim youth and converts.

New converts with no family support and on the fringes of Muslim communities can fall into a dangerous twilight zone. Muslim communities need to be more welcoming to converts. Support services should be set up and mosques should break down their cultural and linguistic barriers.

When Islam becomes a genuinely Australian religion and not just a set of foreign cultural artefacts, fringe extremists will look elsewhere for recruits. Perhaps then people can make personal decisions about religion without being sucked into a whirlpool of political hysteria or media frenzy.

Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney lawyer whose book proposal on young Muslims navigating into and out of political Islam won Allen & Unwin's 2007 Iremonger Award.

2nd Fez Festival of Sufi Culture

By Khadija Filali - Agence Par-Chemins - Fez, Morocco
Tuesday, February 5, 2008

The second edition of the Fez Festival of Sufi Culture will take place in Fez from the 17th to the 24th of April 2008, under the title “Orient Occident”.

Topics such as “Women and spirituality” ; “Sufism and dialogue Orient Occident” ; “Sufism and human development” will be discussed.

At the same time Sufi brotherhoods from different countries and cultures will have Dhikr (invocations) evenings open to the public, as well as art exhibitions and spiritual music.

[Visit the Fez Festival's website here: http://www.par-chemins.org/ or click on the title for the projected program in English, Arabic or French and for the Training courses of Moroccan Sacred Music].

A Reality in One’s Life

By Vern Barnet-The Kansas City Star-Kansas City/MO, USA
Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Perhaps no American spiritual movement is more identified with the experience of mystical love than Sufism.

Sufi orders developed in Islam shortly after the death of the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.

Early in the 20th century the Indian musician and Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan came to the West and developed what is called “Universal Sufism.”

His American student Sam Lewis founded the “Dances of Universal Peace,” which use materials from many faiths with chanting and movement as meditation.

I asked Wali Ali, the personal assistant to Lewis, about love.

“Sufism has been called the school of love, but it is not a school where it is particularly important to conceptualize what love is,” he said. “What is essential is to make it more and more a reality in one’s life, to realize it in all one’s relationships.

“Ultimately one may come to feel, as (the Sufi poet) Rumi has said, that the Beloved (God) is all in all, and the lover but a veil over the Beloved. It is a universal phenomenon that pulses through every particle of the universe and connects everything.”

Wali Ali is the head of the esoteric school for the Sufi Ruhaniat order, based in San Francisco.

Sufi orders are important because the teachings are transmitted from master to student through a lineage more than by reading books. Mystical love is an experience more than an intellectual attainment.

Mystical love involves abandoning attachments to ways we identify ourselves that separate us and isolate us from others.

Wali Ali is working with several others on the Wazifa Project, an exploration of the psychological and mystical meanings of the 99 names or characteristics of God traced to the Qur’an, used in meditation practices to experience the dissolution of the false self into the divine embrace.

Of his visit to Kansas City, Wali Ali said: “The workshop will combine dances, walking attunement practices, and sitting contemplation practices on Sufi themes based on classical and contemporary approaches.

We will work a great deal with the 99 names of God as means for uncovering the potentialities in our soul and healing the places of disconnection.

“There will be opportunities for questions and discussion. There is no prerequisite for attending. All are welcome.”

Wali Ali Meyer, the personal assistant and “esoteric secretary” to Lewis, will lead a workshop Feb. 22-24 in Kansas City for the Shining Heart Sufi Community, founded here 25 years ago. Daytime events will be at 3HO Ashram, 3525 Walnut St.; evening events at Body and Soul yoga studio, 649 E. 59th St.

[Visit the Sufi Ruhaniat website: http://www.ruhaniat.org/].

We Belong to the Whole India

PTI - The Hindu - Chennai, India
Monday, February 4, 2008

New Delhi: "We will move forward only if we will remain united. We belong to the whole India," said noted Bollywood director Muzaffar Ali on Monday while releasing a book on 13th century Persian scholar and great Sufi poet Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi in Hindi here.

Condemning the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's stand against North Indians and actor Amitabh Bachchan, Ali said India can only progress if the people of the country remain united.

"What happened in Mumbai is regrettable," he said.

Reminding of the teachings of Persian poet, Ali said Rumi was a poet who taught humans to love each other and live in a manner which brings them closer to God.

The book, written by Trinath Mishra, contains information about Rumi's lifestyle and teachings.

[Picture from Muzaffar Ali website: http://www.muzaffarali.com/html/index.htm].

Between “Dissimilar” People

By A. Rangarajan - The Hindu - Chennai, India
Sunday, February 3, 2008

Elif Shafak is a luminous personality on the contemporary Turkish literary scene. Widely translated, her works have won critical acclaim and wide readership inside and outside Turkey.

One of her novels, The Flea Palace, sold 15,000 copies in three months. She writes mostly in Turkish though two of her novels have been in English. Elif contends that too much should not be made out of the language dichotomy.

Shafak holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and has taught both in Turkish and American Universities. She has lectured in History, Politics and Culture and her courses have included such diverse topics as “Ottoman History from the Margins”, “Literature and Exile”, “Politics of memory”. Besides literature and academia, Elif has been a courageous journalist as well, writing newspaper columns and TV documentary scripts.

(...)

Some of the characters like the protagonists in The Saint of Incipient Insanities seem almost like existentialists and on the other hand your love for Sufi thought and passion for folklore is well explored in your first novel Pinhan. So what is the world view that comes across through the lives of your characters?

There are multiple characters in my novels, from all sorts of walks of life and all types of backgrounds. But none of them are heroes.

I have never believed in creating “heroes” on paper or in life. Brecht used to say “what we need is not heroes but a society that is not in need heroes.” They are full of conflicts, just like us. This is important to me.

I do not see myself as The Creator of those characters. I think as I keep writing, they create themselves. And they have all sorts of flaws, conflicts. I can also say that I am usually more interested in people who are pushed to the margins than those at the centre.

Just as the characters resemble us, the readers, in some sense, become co-creators along with the author. They create the view, making reading such an individual and subjective experience. I would go on to say that the hierarchy implied between the writer and the reader is completely imagined. It never really exists.

As a writer do you try to widen the spectrum of human experience as much as possible, journeying across great many circumstances and realities, and then try to sensitise the reader to the human condition leaving it to her/him to choose the manner in which the creative work affects her/him. Or is there an inescapable activism or politics mingled in there?

One important legacy of feminism has been to demonstrate that “the personal is political”. Politics is everywhere, including our homes and kitchens.

I am interested in politics and activism in this sense of the word. But as a writer I do not want politics to conduct art and literature. Art needs autonomy. So does literature.

Just like Sufism, literature strives to transcend the boundaries of the Self. I do not want to anchor my writing into an identity and situate myself there. Rather I want to keep exploring.

I think writers need to be forever curious and ready to discover. The trouble is today’s identity politics goes on to place expectations on what a writer could produce depending on his or her circumstances. This expectation at first could sound naïve but then you realise it is not such an innocent expectation.

If I am a Muslim woman writer why should I be writing only about Muslim women or why African writers should confine themselves to writing about black people? This pigeonholing of us writers, particularly writers from non-western world is to be resisted. The western literary establishment wants us to tell ‘characteristically eastern stories’ and leave wild imaginations or avant-garde art forms to white, Western writers. Altogether we need to challenge this division of labour.

You have been critical of state-machinated secularism in Turkey that excludes lot of the pluralism. Elsewhere in the Islamic world, you see again excluding viewpoints emerging from religion-based politics. Wearing your academic hat, what is your reading of fundamentalism and the best ways to address the same in the context of engagement with modernity?

I think Islamophobia and anti-Westernism are two opposites that keep breeding one another. Hardliners create more hardliners elsewhere.

One thing that worries me deeply is “mental ghettoes”. It doesn’t matter if you are a progressive liberal or a let’s say a religious person as long as you live in an enclosed space of your own. It’s the same thing.

Many people withdraw into a mental ghetto and do not even realise it. If everyone around us thinks alike, acts alike, is alike… there is a problem there. I believe in this life whatever we will learn we will learn from people who aren’t like us. So I find it very important to increase the channels of dialogue and interaction between “dissimilar” people.

(...)

[Photo: A. Rangarajan].

Compassion: the Voice We Need Today

By Shahina Maqbool - The News International - Lahore, Pakistan
Sunday, February 3, 2008

Islamabad: Politics, coupled with egotism and sectarian attitude, is the evil genius that creates divisions among religions of the world.

It is the task of any ideology — be it religious, liberal or secular — to create global understanding and respect. Islam has a very strong pluralistic element in its scriptures.

Most of the world religions stress the importance of compassion, not just for your own people, but for everybody. And that is the voice we need today, because any idealism that breeds discord, disdain, or contempt is failing the test of our times.

These views came from Karen Armstrong, world-renowned scholar and author of several best-selling works on religions. Born in 1944, Karen is based in London and is currently visiting Pakistan on an invitation from The Aga Khan Foundation.

She is here to deliver a series of lectures as part of the numerous events being organised to commemorate the golden jubilee of the ‘imamat’ of His Highness The Aga Khan — the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims.

In an exclusive interview with ‘The News’ here on Saturday, Karen, who professes to be a freelance monotheist, shared her views on world politics, democracy, sectarianism, Sufism, the commonalities among religions, and the concept of pluralism in Islam.

Although shaken by the news of one of her best friends’ diagnosis with cancer, she was gregarious during the tete-a-tete at the Serena lobby. This is what she had to say:

Question: How would you describe your transition from a Roman Catholic nun to a student of modern literature at Oxford, a broadcaster, and eventually a renowned scholar on world religions?
Answer: Basically, I always wanted to be an academic. I wanted to teach English literature in a university, but that didn’t work out for a variety of reasons so I found myself in television. It was when I went to Jerusalem to make a documentary series on early Christianity that I encountered Judaism and Islam for the first time.

While studying the two religions, I started discovering other resonances that I had not found in my Christian background. There were lot of things about other religions, and from that point onwards, I started developing, what I call ‘triple vision,’ which is looking at those three monotheisms as one religion that went in three different ways.

(...)

Q: Islam has, among others, two widely practiced sects Sunnis and Shiites, each strictly adhering to its own interpretation. Interestingly, while all of them unite shoulder-to-shoulder during Hajj, they restrain themselves to their own mosques. Why is it so?
A: Egotism. Everyone thinks theirs is the right way. It is natural for there to be different sects; we have them in Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism, because a tradition must — if it is a lively one — be flexible and be able to appeal to people in all kinds of loops and abilities.

Until the 16th century, Shiites and Sunnis got along very well. Shiaism was a mystical movement, a private movement, and one that was very close to Sufism in spirit. Politics is the evil genius here. When you have the Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire — one Shiite, one Sunni — and they are in competition for territory, that’s where sectarianism comes in.

Politics also plays a similar role. For instance, in Iraq, Saddam Hussain furthered the divide between Sunnis and Shiites by privileging the Sunni minority. That created antagonism. Politics is usually the course of it, plus the egotism and sectarian attitude which you find in all religions; the concept of ‘we are right, you are wrong’ is responsible.

(...)

Q: How do you see Sufism promoting pluralism and tolerance in a society which is diverse in terms of its religious, sectarian and ethnic composition?
A: Sufism, in the past, has been a very outstanding example of appreciation of other world traditions.

It started getting a bad name in the 19th, 20th centuries because people got involved in showing that we are as rational as the West. Everybody started downplaying their mystical traditions to show that they were just as philosophical minded and rational as the West; that Islam is a rational religion, etc.

But I think not everybody can be a mystic. Mysticism is a talent that some people have; I don’t have it. I have never been able to meditate very well. I am not a mystic.

In fact, I am someone who has been trained for ballet dancing, for example, and failed to get into a ballet company. But when I watch a ballet performance, I can understand what they are doing and appreciate it perhaps.

We need to look at the ideals of the Sufis — they weren’t just people locked in prayer or whirling around in an ecstasy — most of them were working in the society for justice. There was always a social concern too, and that is very important.

Q: Some schools of thought see Sufis and shrine organisations as civil society organisations providing relief to those oppressed by the state or the society while others consider them as manifesting a spiritual phenomenon only? Do you think shrine organisations have a role that transcends spiritual purification?
A: Sufi outreach usually included a very strong social outreach, always in the past. A sufi became a sufi because he was appalled by the injustice in society. So, it is not just a question of making a few social reforms; it has to come from deep within, and mysticism goes right down into the unconscious, if you can really do it.

(...)

“The Sufi Way in Malerkotla”

By Mita Ghose - The Hindu - Chennai, India
Sunday, February 3, 2008

First Proof: The Penguin Book of New Writing from India 3, Penguin India, p.224
First Proof 3 offers us some rare, exhilarating experiences.

Caught between open scepticism and impossibly high expectations, debutant writers sharing space in an anthology often find themselves in a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose kind of situation. That it fails to stifle their creative urge is surely something o f a miracle. It’s a greater wonder still that despite its uncertain commercial prospects, certain publishers remain resolute in their quest to discover and nurture new writing, driven, possibly, by the conviction that in the sea of unheard voices, there are several worth listening to and taking a chance on.
The appearance of First Proof: The Penguin Book of New Writing from India 3 clearly indicates that the faith of its publishers in the idea of giving expression to such voices has remained steadfast since they first took the plunge in 2005. In the latest version, the format remains largely unchanged, with separate sections devoted, as usual, to fiction (including poetry) and non-fiction pieces. Apart from Kriti Sharma, however, all the contributors have either appeared in print before or have works in progress with major publishing houses. Several of them have even won awards.

Strictly speaking, therefore, First Proof 3 does not venture into virgin territory. But it does offer us, insofar as the non-fiction pieces are concerned, some rare, exhilarating experiences: like trailing, in the unforgettable “Chasing Nyima”, its author Sankar Sridhar and his newfound nomad friends into the “vast nothingness” of Ladakh which transforms the city-dweller’s perspective and leads to an understanding of how the most rigorous of living conditions can reinforce man’s resilience and dignity; peeking into the “dodgy Indian restaurant” in Scotland, where the irrepressible Shankar Sharma once served as a waiter and picked up some priceless lessons of life (“My Lovely Restaurant”); visiting Malerkotla in the Malwa region with Nirupama Dutt, whose self-deprecatory wit in “The Sufi Way in Malerkotla” contributes as much to our perception of the place as its Sufi traditions that have honed its unique reputation as “an oasis of calm in conflict-torn Punjab”; or examining — tongue firmly in cheek — with Aman Sethi, author of “Khullam Khulla”, the quirky intricacies of municipal law in India.

Sheer exuberance

In fact, apart from “Father-in-Law Has Pots of Money”, Avijit Ghosh’s well-researched article on the phenomenal rise of Bhojpuri cinema and Ashok Malik’s reflective piece on his interaction in Washington with an Ethiopian cabbie hooked on Mother India (“One Day in DC”), it’s the sheer exuberance of the non-fiction works and their amazing variety of humour — including ex-civil servant Palden Gyalsten’s jet black version in “Musings on a Mobike” and film critic Shubhra Gupta’s wry one in “Can’t Please Anyone” — that distinguish them from the more sombre fiction.

Not that the slices of life offered for contemplation by the fictional pieces in this compilation are all relentlessly “dark and brooding”, like the mother’s face in Jahnavi Barua’s raw and edgy “Next Door”. The utter absurdity of the interrogation conducted by the Inspector in Kishore Valicha’s “Strawberries” and Grandma’s endearing eccentricities in Joan Pinto’s “The Saint of Lost Things” do tease a smile from our lips. Yet, Pinto’s world is suffused with the twilight tones of nostalgia and Valicha’s, for all its surreal touches, is deeply cynical. Despite its many sunny moments, even “The Thief” by the late Shakti Bhatt (to whom this book is dedicated) is laced with pathos and irony.

The other stories in the collection are bleaker still, whether it’s Uma Girish’s beautifully built up offering, “The Lipstick”, whose brutal ending could, perhaps, have been handled with greater finesse by a writer of her sensibilities, Neel Kamal Puri’s “Kailla” that evokes the tragic-comic elements in Saadat Hasan Manto’s “Toba Tek Singh” or even “The Floating Island”, an extract from Parismita Singh’s forthcoming graphic novel, The Hotel at the End of the World, which leaves us contemplating an ominous-looking horizon.

Among the fiction writers, Mridula Koshy, Temsula Ao and Noureen Sarna leave an indelible impression. Despair and fortitude fight an unequal battle in “When the Child Was a Child”, Koshy’s haunting portrait of an impoverished U.S.-based Malayali family coming apart at the seams as it struggles to survive in a squalid tenement building reverberating with “the quiet misery of spoons moving in plates”. Ao, on the other hand, brings a lyrical beauty and her native Naga sensibility to her poems, “Nowhere Boatman” and “The Spear”. As for the 16-year-old Sarna, despite faint traces of self-consciousness in her poems “Mediterranean Siesta” and “Refuge”, “Bouquets” reveals a taut self-restraint and maturity, startling in one so young. Here, evidently, is one of those fresh voices readers look forward to in anticipation of the treasures it will yield when it ripens further. That promise alone makes an anthology of this kind worth waiting for. Year after year.

Breaking Stereotypes

By Kurt Müller - Washington University in St. Louis - St. Louis, MO, USA
Friday, February 1, 2008

Fatemeh Keshavarz, Ph.D., professor of Persian language and literature and chair of the department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages & Literatures in Arts & Sciences, will give the Assembly Series lecture at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13, in Graham Chapel.

Keshavarz, a published poet and writer in both Persian and English, is the author of several books and articles. Her most recent book, "Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran," blends personal memoir with literary analysis and social commentary to break pervasive Western stereotypes of Iranians.

Keshavarz contends that Iranians live in hope rather than fear and that Iranian women are vibrant and teeming with intellectual curiosity and expression.

The American Library Association booklist describes this work as an excellent counterpoint to Azar Nafisi's "Reading Lolita in Tehran." (Nafisi spoke on campus for the Assembly Series in spring 2004.)

In another work, "Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi," Keshavarz analyzes the poetic contribution of the medieval Persian poet and mystic Rumi. Her other literary study, "Recite in the Name of the Red Rose: Poetic Sacred Making in Twentieth Century Iran," addresses expressions of spirituality in present day Iran.

Raised in Shiraz, Iran, Keshavarz earned a bachelor's in Persian language and literature and a master's in library, archive and information studies from Shiraz University and a master of arts and a doctorate in Near Eastern studies from the University of London.

She also takes interest in the broader implications of cultural education for world peace and in May, 2007, spoke on this topic to the United Nations General Assembly.

The talk, in Graham Chapel on Washington University Danforth Campus, is free and open to the public. For more information visit assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call 314-935-5285.

The Green Fire

MNA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran
Saturday, January 2, 2008

A discussion session on the movie “The Green Fire” directed by Mohammadreza Aslani was held on Friday at the Sahra Cinema Hall.

The director and several of the cast and film crew attended the session which was held to review the movie screened earlier that day for reporters at the Sahra Hall. The film is an entry in the national competition section of the 26th Fajr Film Festival.

Aslani made an opening speech, remarking, “I was always interested in the history of my country Iran and I am pleased that I was able to depict part of it in ‘The Green Fire’. There has been a good atmosphere in Iran’s cinema over recent decades and I observed how the viewers were engrossed in the movie.”

On his long absence from the cinematic scene, he explained, “I have made more movies than documentaries but most of them have not yet been screened. I hope this won’t happen to ‘The Green Fire’. I must admit that I still don’t comprehend why my films didn’t obtain screening licenses, but I know that it has not been due to political reasons.”

Aslani went on to say that we are never far from history, and that the story of Iranian cinema is also reviewed in this movie. He also remarked that it is this history which gives us life and that we should learn lessons from it.

On Iran’s national cinema, he remarked, “Our cinema is not limited to national stories. We must seek to create our own style in the narration of stories. Just as we have evolved a special style in our poetry, so must our cinema develop its own form.”

“Narration is important for me and I have tried to invent a new type of recounting in my recent production. A nation without narration is not a live nation,” he added.

Referring to his recent film as a valuable experience, he continued, “This movie is the product of long thought. Thinking about the world and understanding who we are were my major concerns.”

He emphasized that he has been influenced totally by Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi, and referred to Rumi as Iran’s great narrator.

Ezzatollah Entezami, Farrokh Nemati, Ahu Kheradmand, Mahtab Keramati, Mehdi Ahmadi and Pegah Ahangarani are amongst the cast.

Aslani’s other credits include “Hassanlu Cup”, “Chess With The Wind”, “Abu Rayhan Biruni”, “Child & Exploitation”, “Our Cultural Heritage”, “Mash Esmaeil”, “Conference of the Birds” and “Memoirs of a 25-Year-Old Person”.

Sufi Film, Bab 'Aziz (Baba 'Aziz) in N.Y. and other U.S. cities

Baba 'Aziz, a Sufi feature done by a highly acclaimed Tunisian director/screenwriter Nacer Khemir (along with an acclaimed co-screenwriter, composer, and photographic director) will soon be hitting a number of theaters. Baba 'Aziz won first place for feature films ("The Golden Dagger award") at the Muscat Film festival in 2006. Also in September 2007 at the 3rd International Muslim Movie Festival in Kazan (in the Russian republic of Tatarstan), it won the best picture, `Golden Minbar' award.

I have not yet seen it but am scheduled to see it at a film festival at the High Museum in Atlanta on Saturday, February 16 at 8pm. After the film, I have been asked to say a few words and answer questions from the audience about Sufism.

I have seen 9 minute UTube clip and a short trailer, have read the publicity packet and a few viewer reviews at IMDB, and as a result I suspect the film will be excellent and strongly recommend it. The dialog in the UTube clip I have seen is in Persian (Baba 'Aziz also does cite a little Persian accented Arabic) with subtitles possibly in Hungarian. But the film will be shown in the US with English subtitles. As you will see from the publicity packet, it has been subtitled in a variety of languages. The dialogue in the film is apparently both in Persian and Arabic.

The publicity packet contains among other things a high quality interview with the director/screenwriter in which two of the topics he discusses are Islam and Sufism. He makes it very clear that he made the film because of his love of Islam and Sufism in order to try to counteract the horrible image that Islam has in the world today.

You can read the publicity packet and interview here: http://www.typecastfilms.com/babaziz/BAB'AZIZ%20Typecast%20pressbook.pdf

If the above url breaks, try http://tinyurl.com/26tshh .

The 9 minute utube clip ends with qur'anic verses about Sayyidatina Maryam. They are sung extraordinarily well by a professional singer whose voice is familiar to me but whom I cannot identify.

Here is the 9 minute utube url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrcSK0tEP28&feature=related

The first screen has in nicely calligraphed Arabic the early Sufi saying: At-Turuq ila Allah, bi-iq (The paths to God are as numerous as the souls of created beings).

Here is the publicity trailer (with English substitles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYjenA3VFg&feature=related

Mark your calendars, email this note to your friends in the cities where it will be shown, and tell people about it. It will be showing in theaters in the following cities on the following dates:

Cinema Village New York, NY February 8, 2008
High Museum, Atlanta, GA February 16, 2008
Nuart Theatre Los Angeles, CA February 22, 2008
Landmark's Varsity Theatre Seattle, WA March 14, 2008
Landmark Theatres San Francisco, CA April 4, 2008
Landmark Theatres Berkeley, CA April 4, 2008
Starz FilmCenter Denver, CO May 2, 2008

Just in case you cannot access the pdf file of the publicity packet, here is what the director said about Islam and Sufism (the first half of the interview with the director/screenwriter in the publicity packet):

By Nawara Omarbacha

Why this film today?

I would explain it with this allegory: if you are walking alongside your father and he suddenly falls down, his face in the mud, what would you do? You would help him stand up, and wipe his face with your shirt. My father's face stands for Islam, and I tried to wipe Islam's face clean with my movie, by showing an open, tolerant and friendly Islamic culture, full of love and wisdom, an Islam that is different from the one depicted by the media in the aftermath of 9/11. Fundamentalism, as well as radicalism, is a distorting mirror of Islam. This movie is a modest effort to give Islam its real image back. No other mission seemed as urgent to me as this one: to give a "face" to hundreds of millions of Muslims who are often, if not always, the first victims of terrorism caused by some fundamentalist. And although this movie is based on the joyful and love giving Sufi tradition, it is also a highly political film, and deliberately so.

It is a duty nowadays to show to the world another aspect of Islam, otherwise, each one of us will be stifled by his own ignorance of "The other". It is fear that stifles people, not reality. There are nearly 1 billion Muslims in the world, 1/6th of earth inhabitants. To try your best to know your neighbour better is a form of hospitality. Hospitality is not just about housing people and feeding them; hospitality is about listening and understanding. You cannot receive someone in your house, just feed him and ignore him! In my opinion, this is a movie that encourages people to listen to each other and, perhaps further down the line, to really come together. Watching this movie is a way of offering hospitality to "The other one".

Why did you choose the complementary title, "The Prince Who
Contemplated His Soul"? Is it an image of Narcissus?

It is true that the Prince leans over the water, but he does not see
his own face, like Narcissus did, because whoever sees only his
reflection in the water is incapable of love. The prince contemplates
what is invisible, that is his own soul. We are all similar to
icebergs; only one tenth of us is visible, while the rest lies under
the sea. The idea of the "Prince" came to me from a beautiful plate
that was painted in Iran in the 12th century. It shows a prince
leaning over water, and it carries the following inscription "The
prince who contemplated his own soul". This image struck me as
something I had to build upon, which is why it seemed obvious to me
that the movie should be shot in Iran. Making a film as continuity to
a 12th century artist! I don't know if it was a sheer coincidence (or
is it something else?), but we shot parts of the movie in the city of
Kashan, which is the city where this plate was made! Now, concerning
the structure of this movie, I think it helps the spectator to forget
about his own ego and to put it aside in order to open up to the
reality of the world. It borrows the structure of the "visions"
usually narrated by dervishes, and the structure of their spiraling
and whirling dances. The characters change, but the theme remains the
same: Love, under many forms. As the famous Sufi Ibn Arabi said: "My
heart can be pasture for deers and a convent for monks, a temple for
idols and a Kaaba for the pilgrims. It is both the tables of the
Torah and the Koran. It professes the religion of Love wherever its
caravans are heading. Love is my law. Love is my faith".

What is Sufism?

Fundamentalism and fanaticism do not represent Islam, just as the
inquisition did not represent the faith of Jesus. Nowadays one can
feel quite lost and confused in front of this growing wave of
defiance and hatred towards Islam. Sufism stands against all forms of
fanaticism. Sufism is the Islam of the mystics; it is the tenderness
of Islam. But in order to give a better definition, let me use this
Sufi saying: "There are as many ways to God as the number of human
beings on earth." This quote alone is a representation of the vision
of Sufism. One could also say that Sufism is the pulsating heart of
Islam. Far from being a marginal phenomenon, it is the esoteric
dimension of the Islamic message.
Abou Hassan Al Nouri, a great Sufi, once said: "Sufism is the
renouncement of all selfish pleasures", because true Love cannot be
selfish. He also said "A true Sufi has no possessions, and he himself
is possessed by nothing". Love has many shapes in the movie. The
example of Ishtar, the little girl who was born from the sand, like
the Arabic language, is reminiscent of the letter "Waw", "�" which
means in Arabic "and". The Sufis call it the letter of Love, because
without it, nothing can come together. We say "the sea and the
sky", "Man and Woman". The "Waw" is the meeting place, thus it is the
place of Love. It is also the letter of the traveler, because it
gathers together things and beings.

What is a Dervish?

The word "dervish" means "Sufi" in Persian. But with time, it was
used to refer to those who chose poverty and wandering. They put the
world aside and enter into a quest of poverty and Love. There are
many types of dervishes. I did not want to address the different
brotherhoods, but I wanted to give an idea of what seems alive in the
Islamic-Arab culture: this endless quest for the Absolute and the
Infinite. Throughout history, there have been kings who have become
dervishes, like this Prince, who is famous in Afghanistan. As Gibran,
the author of "The Prophet" said: "The Prince of all Princes is he
who finds his throne in the heart of a dervish". The dervishes go
even farther than that. One of them once said: "I no longer visit the
mosque or the temple, I am a servant of Love, I am in Love with Your
beauty". One cannot understand the aesthetics of Islamic Culture
without studying Sufi texts. Dervishes repeat the following quote of
the Prophet Mohammad like a motto: "God is beautiful and He loves
beauty". And here is what dervishes sing to express their state of
Love:

"The butterfly throws itself in the burning fire
If you must love, then you will need that much courage
At each step, the heart is pushed to its limits,
At each breath, it is tested,
If you must love, then you will need that much courage."

By their actions, dervishes free Islam of certain dogmatic
interpretations, just like this auburn dervish in the movie, who is
attracted by the minaret, and tries to clear the "dust" off it with a
broom. In another scene, he is in a mosque half-buried in the sand
and he tries to get it out of its tomb by removing the sand with his
mere basket.

----

You might notice that the film is titled in various places on the web
as "Bab 'Aziz." The American distributors informed me that that is a
mistake that started when the film went into European distribution.
The old blind dervish's name is actually Baba 'Aziz. The word "Baba"
which literally means "father" is also used in various Muslim (and
even non-Muslim South Asian) cultures to refer to a respected elder,
shaykh, saint, or spiritual teacher. Hence we have Sufi names
like "Gul Baba," "Tosun Baba," and "Somuncu Baba," "Baba Afzal-e
Kashani," as well as Baba Ram Das and Meher Baba.

Internalizing the Religion

[From the French language press]:

Cet exemple d’Islam propre à l’Afrique Subsaharienne, cette Islam « soufi » favorise l’intériorisation des préceptes de la religion et des enseignements du Coran des écoles coraniques.

Sud Quotidien - Dakar, Sénégal - vendredi 1er février 2008 - par Ibrahima Diallo

This example of Islam unique to the sub-Saharan Africa, "Sufi Islam" promotes the internalization of the precepts of the religion and the teachings of the Qur'an of the Qur'anic schools.

A symposium on "Islam in society in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and responses", and an international conference on "Islam, peace and human rights in Africa": through this series of events begins the 2008 program of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Senegal.

The international symposium, organized in collaboration with the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar is scheduled for February 4 and 5, and the international conference on Wednesday, the 6th.

A televised debate on Islam in sub-Saharan Africa will also be part of the symposium.

The results of those events, that fall in the wake of preparations for the summit of the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC), will be a contribution to this meeting.