Overshadowed

By Dawn Editor, *Poor Planning* - Dawn.com - Karachi, Pakistan
Friday, August 21, 2009

The annual urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalandaer in Sehwan concluded on Wednesday with certain government officials claiming that the arrangements this year surpassed those in earlier years.

If that is so, we wonder just how abysmal the situation used to be. Consider the fact that for the gathering of hundreds of thousands of devotees, the local administration saw fit to establish only six medical camps.

These camps supplemented the services offered by the taluka hospital, Sehwan, where just three doctors and 10 paramedical staff were available. And while these meagre measures were bolstered by a further three medical camps set up by private humanitarian organisations, the arrangements were nevertheless grossly insufficient for the needs of the over 25,000 patients who sought medical aid during the three-day festival.

Most of these patients suffered from dehydration, heatstroke and various forms of water-borne illnesses. This is hardly surprising since little effort had been made to cater to the predictable basic needs of the gathered thousands: clean drinking water, hygiene and a functioning sewage system.

There was reportedly a breakdown of cooperation between the taluka municipal administration staff, the district administration and the mela committee. As a result, the celebrations were overshadowed by continuously overflowing drains and a severe shortage of clean water. Additionally, there were complaints of drug abuse, gambling and devotees being fleeced at police checkpoints.

The Sehwan urs and other such festivals are regular annual occurrences and the massive number of devotees they attract is well-known. It does not take much to predict the scale of arrangements required.

With a little planning on the part of the area administrations, such gatherings could become a source of revenue, in addition to celebrating the spirit of Sufism.

At the moment, however, they constitute breeding grounds for illness, criminality and delinquency.

Picture: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah laying chaddar on the mazar of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar on the concluding of 757th urs celebrations. Photo: APP.

The Night of Separation Is Long

By Brig A. R. Siddiqi, *Book review: Of ecstacy and devotion* - Dawn.com - Karachi, Pakistan
Monday, August 10, 2009

Amir Khusro
By Sheikh Saleem Ahmad
Nigharshat Publications, Lahore
ISBN 969479538-9
439 pp. Rs 320

The book makes a valuable addition to the scant literature available on the life and times of the musician, poet and scholar Amir Khusro (1253-1325).

It features excerpts from the writings of literary luminaries like Mohammad Hussain Azad, Maulana Shibli Noumani, Hafiz Mahmood Khan Sherwani, Professor Mohammad Habib, Dr Tara Chand and several others.

Dr Tara Chan’s ‘Khusro and India’ stands out as an incisive analytical study of the times of the royal poet, his personality and place as the herald of latter day Indian nationalism. However, Dr Tara Chand warns that the sentiments and philosophy of today’s nationalists are not to be mistaken for the love of the land, its people and the sheer joy of a sense of belonging without any doctrinal or political underpinnings.

Comparing Khusro’s love for India to modern nationalist theory and practice would be a gross injustice to the poet.

Politics of the medieval period was drawn on caste, familial/tribal ties, sectarian networking and of course, personal equation. The societal norms in that era were totally different from the contemporary values ‘therefore the quest for the present in the past would be an exercise in futility, almost like trying to reverse the course of the Ganga’.

Amir Khusro’s love for the land and his attachment to India was the same as that of an oak or a banyan tree to mother earth.

Today’s India’s, nationalist and secular, wealth in terms of language, art, culture and literature originated in the great genius of Khusro. His India lay in the fertile plains between Ganga and Jumna; its music and its finest flowering — the Urdu prose and poetry — reflect the soul of Hindustan.

Call it Urdu, Hindustani or Hindi; Urdu remains the lingua franca of Hindustan. This is not to deny the plethora of other regional languages spoken and written across the subcontinent.

Khusro’s experiment in intermixing Hindi/Urdu with Farsi without compromising the true essence and beauty of either remains a class by itself in linguistics. The following duha (couplet) should illustrate the point:

Shaban-i-Hijran daraaz chun zulf
Wa rooz-i-waslat chun umr kotha
Sakhi pia kou jou maay na dekhon
Tou kaise katoun andheri ratyan!

(The night of separation is long as his/her tresses while the spell of the union is as short as life itself.)

Khusro’s genius had a happy versatility which was without parallel; he could be playful as a child or as sombre and soulful as a Sufi saint.

His love for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and devotion to Allah Almighty, while absolute, defied the soulless literalism of the orthodoxy. It was embedded in his soul like the very air he breathed.

Closer to the Chishtia school of Sufism, Amir Khusro and his guide and mentor Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya were two remarkably emancipated souls. Dedicated to the Islamic shariah they abhorred the orthodox making a fetish out of doctrine and reducing it to drab ritualism minus its euphoric devotional content.

Music as a form of hymn and ecstatic love for the Almighty remains an integral part of the Chishtia creed.

If read outside of its mystical context, some of the verses he devoted to Hazrat Nizamuddin almost touch the fringe of the carnal. Casting himself in the role of a maiden, he exchanges glances with ‘Nijam’ and returns as a woman consummated.

In chapter 11 of the book the compiler narrates the story of Khusro being taken with a handsome young baker. The boy responded, got close to Khusro and was initiated in the intricacies of Sufi lore. Yet another noted example is that of Shah Hussain of Lahore falling in love with a Hindu boy with the name Madhu Lal, and changing it to Madhu Lal Hussain.

Besides Urdu, Khusro gave Hindustan classical Khayal music, the sitar, and an immense wealth of folklore in poetry and prose.

His life was an exquisite floral bouquet of the spiritual and the temporal; of ecstasy, love and devotion.

When his guide and mentor Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya passed away Khusro happened to be away from Delhi. On his return, after offering fateha at his mentor’s mazaar, he ad-libbed the following couplet which is expressive of his immense sense of loss:

Gauri sove saij pe mukh pe daare kais
chal khusro rone ghar apne sanjh hoi chaundes

(Here lies the maiden, her locks streaming across her face/It’s nightfall, Khusro and time to go back home).

He died shortly afterwards.

Picture: Closer to the Chishtia school of Sufism, Amir Khusro and his guide and mentor Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya were two remarkably emancipated souls. — File photo

Intellect Can

By Luke Baker, *"Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism* - Reuters - UK
Monday, August 10, 2009

Coventry, England: Like any rousing Islamic preacher, Muhammed Tahir ul-Qadri's voice rises to a shout and his index finger jabs as he hammers home a point.

But rather than angry calls for jihad (holy war) or a vitriolic denunciation of the West and its aggressions against Islam, Qadri's message, equally forcefully delivered, is about moderation, peace, inclusion and understanding.

Addressing a packed auditorium from a raised platform, his words beamed on to large screen behind him, more than 1,000 young followers hang on his every word, even as his lecture moves into its fourth uninterrupted hour.

"Islam is not a religion of seclusion, it is not a religion of detachment," he thunders from the dais, occasionally pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow or adjust his spectacles.

"Any killer of a non-Muslim citizen, he will go to hell. Those who are committing terroristic acts from Pakistan and Afghanistan and claiming it is jihad -- they do not know what jihad is. It is forbidden. There will not be janna (paradise) for them," he hollers, to shouts of approval from his listeners.

Qadri, 58, who was born in Pakistan but now lives in Canada, is a renowned scholar of Sufism, a long tradition within Islam that focuses on spirituality, emphasizing peace and moderation.
The author of more than 400 books on Islamic scholarship and law, Qadri travels the world delivering sermons to Sufis, while his organization, called Minhaj ul-Quran, has spread to 80 countries, from Greece to Fiji, since its founding in 1981.

In Britain, he is the main draw at a three-day retreat for young Muslims called "Al Hidayah" (Guidance), which over the past five years has grown into the biggest spiritual camp of its kind, with more than 1,200 attendees from a dozen countries.

Qadri believes camps like his, which attract teenagers -- girls and boys wearing traditional dress who sit separately in the auditorium -- as well as their parents and children as young as six, can play a part in combating extremism within Islam.

For Britain, that has been particularly important since 2003, when the country joined the invasion of Iraq, and 2005, when four young British Muslims carried out suicide bombings on the London transport network, killing 52 people.

"I feel it is my duty to save the younger generation from radicalization," Qadri said quietly over lunch on Sunday, shortly after finishing the second of several lectures and question-and-answer sessions, which concluded on Monday.

"We need to prepare them mentally and academically, intellectually and spiritually, against extremist tendencies and radical and terrorist attitudes. We need to provide them with an awakening of the true picture of Islam," he said.

TACKLING EXTREMISM
Around the world, and particularly in the United States, there has been a steady increase in adherence to Sufism in the past decade. Governments keen to tackle the spread of more radical branches of Islam in their countries have worked with Sufi scholars and tried to emphasize their teachings.

In Britain, home to around 1.7 million Muslims, the bulk from Pakistan, the government at first worked to promote Sufism, supporting the creation in 2006 of the Sufi Muslim Council, a group that took a strong stand against Islamist extremism.

But since then, it has moved away from explicit support, saying that working via the Sufi community -- whose exact number in Britain is not known -- is just one element of a wider approach to countering Islamic radicalism.

"It's part of a broader engagement. We don't want to isolate any one group over another," a government spokeswoman said.

Supporters of Qadri, though, are adamant about the benefits of his teachings, with students coming from as far as Denmark and Canada to hear him speak during the three-day retreat. Women in particular like his emphasis on female equality within Islam, an element not always touched on by other Islamic scholars.

"What he says is mind-opening, it makes you feel good as a woman," said Sofia Saeed, 27, a legal assistant who traveled from Manchester to attend the retreat with a friend.

"There's no discrimination here. It makes you feel like a stronger believer, a stronger person," she said, comfortably mixing designer sunglasses with her full hijab head covering.

Qadri, a former minister in Pakistan and close associate of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated former prime minister, does not believe his teachings can change radical minds overnight, but he is a believer that intellect can ultimately defeat extremism.

"If the terrorists are 10 people and the peaceful are 1,000, then they are more powerful than us with their arms, even if we are 5,000," he said. "But the point is that we have to make the 5,000 more powerful not with arms, but by the communication of the right message of Islam."

Picture: Muslims listen to a speech at Al Hidayah, a youth camp at Warwick University in Coventry, central England, August 9, 2009. Photo: REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

[Visit Minhaj ul-Quran website http://www.minhaj.org/english/index.html]

To Live with Love

By 'Pakistan Times' Wire Service, *757th Urs of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar [RA] Begins* - Pakistan Times - Islamabad, Pakistan
Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Sehwan Sharif: Sindh is the land of mystics and saints who not only preached the message of Islam but also guided the people to live with love, peace, affection and brotherhood and there is the need to spread over the guidance of these mystics and saints in every nook and corner of the country.

The Governor of Sindh, Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan said this while talking to medial men after inaugurating the 757th three day annual Urs celebrations of Hazrat Syed Usman Marvandi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar [RA] on Monday.

Tens of thousands of the devotees from the country and abroad have converged in this small but historic town of Jamshoro district to pay their homage to great mystic and saint Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The Governor said that these are the blessings of the saints that Pakistan particularly Sindh always come out from the crisis, however, there is need to promote the message of these mystics and saints. By following it, the country could move towards rapid progress and prosperity, he said.

The Governor was accorded warm welcome by Sindh Auqaf Minister Abdul Hasseb Khan, Secretary Sindh Auqaf Department Younis Khan, District Coordination Officer Samihuddin Siddiqui and other officers of the District Government, Jamshoro on his arrival, laid floral wreaths and offered fatha at the Mazar of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar [RA] and inaugurated the Urs celebrations.

Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar [RA] (1177 - 1274) was a great Persian Sufi Saint, philosopher, poet and Qalandar. He belonged to the Suhrawardiyya order of Sufis and was close contemporary to Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya [RA] Hazrat Shaikh Fariduddin Ganjshakar [RA], Hazrat Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari Surkh-posh [RA] of Uchch and Hazrat Shah Shams Tabrizi [RA]. Some also add the name of Hazrat Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi [RA].

Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar [RA] travelled around the Muslim world and had settled in Sehwan (Sindh, Pakistan) and was buried there. He preached religious tolerance. Thousands of pilgrims visit his shrine every year, especially at the occasion of his Urs.

Hazrat Shahbaz Qalandar [RA] was born in Marwand to a dervish, Syed Ibrahim Kabiruddin whose ancestors migrated from Bagdad and settled down in Mashhad, a center of learning and civilization, before migrating again to Marwand. His dedication to the knowledge of various religious disciplines enabled him to eventually become a profound scholar. During his lifetime, he witnessed the Ghaznavid and Ghurids rules in South Asia. He became fluent in many languages including Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Sindhi and Sanskrit.

His mysticism attracted people from all religions. He was titled Lal (Red) for his usual red attire, Shahbaz due to his noble and divine spirit, and ‘Qalandar’ for his Sufism and saintly attitude.

Qalandar Lal Shahbaz [RA] lived a celibate life and, did not marry. Evidence shows that he was active in Sindh before 1196, when he met Pir Haji Ismail Panhwar of Pat; it is believed he entered Sehwan in 1251. He established his Khanqah in Sehwan and started teaching in Fuqhai Islam Madarrsah; during this period he wrote his treatises Mizna-e-Sart, Kism-e-Doyum, Aqd and Zubdah.

A Qawwali by Abida Parveen and many other singers of sufi songs, 'Lal Meri Pat Rakhiyo ...' is in honour of Hazrat Shahbaz Qalandar [RA], as is the one sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan named Mast Qalandar. This famous mystic often quoted the teachings of Maulana Jalal ad-Din Rumi. A book detailing his life is called "Solomon's Ring" by Gul Hasan.

The shrine around his tomb, built in 1356, gives a dazzling look with its Sindhi kashi tiles, mirror work and two gold-plated doors - one donated by the late Shah of Iran, the other by the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

His annual Urs (death anniversary celebration) is held on the 18 Sha'aban - the eighth month of the Muslim lunar calendar. Thousands of devotees flock to the tomb while every Thursday their number stands multiplied especially at the time of his ‘Urs’ being a carnival as well a religious festival and celebrated every year.

The Governor went around different portions of the Mazar was also briefed about the work being carried out under renovation project of the mazar. Sindh Minister Abdul Hasseb Khan presented traditional gifts of Ajrak and Sindh Cap to Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan.

Like Any Other Lover

By Andalib Akhter, *Advani eulogizes Urdu at release of his book ‘Mera Watan Meri Zindagi’* - TwoCircles.net - Jupiter, FL, USA
Friday, August 7, 2009

New Delhi: Despite the fact that BJP could not get support of Muslims in the last general elections, the party’s efforts to woo the community are going on.

The release of Advani’s book in Urdu on Thursday evening is another attempt in the direction.

The senior BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Lal Krishan Advani praised Urdu like any other lover of the language in the country.

At function to release his book ‘Mera Watan Meri Zindagi,’ the Urdu edition of ‘My Country My Life’, Advani said that Urdu occupies a special place in India’s linguistic bouquet, which charms everybody with its hues and spreading its aroma far and wide. He said that the language was not confined to any particular state or region. “Just as Hindi is spoken or at least understood in most parts of the country, the same is true of Urdu also”, he said.

The book was released by the eminent journalist M J Akbar in the presence of several Urdu editors and BJP leaders, including party president Rajnath Singh.

Seeing a good market of his book in Pakistan Advani said that Urdu-speaking people in general, not only in India but in neighbouring Pakistan as well, would be able to read his autobiography in their own tongue. “I hope that the book will help them know me better and also know more about my party and the many socio-political issues and developments that I have witnessed in my six-decade long public life”, he hoped.

He said that India was a nation of rich diversities and linguistic diversity was a very unique and proud feature of our national identity. “There is simply no other country in the world that has accorded the status of “scheduled language” to 22 languages as India has done in the Eighth Schedule of its Constitution. As far as dialects in India are concerned, their number may well run into thousands” he said.

Advani hoped that the book would help Urdu readers to sift the truth from many misconceptions that have been spread about the ideological underpinning of the BJP. “Is Cultural Nationalism a religious concept? No. Is it anti-Islam and anti-Muslim? No,” Advani said.

He said that Cultural Nationalism holds that India’s national identity is defined by its unifying and integrating culture, which transcends its religious and other diversities.

“I was born and grew up in an environment of Cultural Nationalism. In the first phase of the book, which deals with the first 20 years of my life that I spent in Sindh, I have described how the social and cultural ethos of Sindh was informed by a remarkable harmony and peaceful coexistence between Hindus and Muslims”.

“I have illustrated in my book the best traditions of Sindhiyat by referring to the teachings of Shah Abdul Latif ‘Bhitai’, who is universally regarded as the greatest Sindhi poet of all times. He composed poems in praise of Rama. I have also referred to Sachal Sarmast, who described himself as a “Jogi” and advocated brotherhood among Hindus and Muslims under one single benevolent God” Advani said .

I have described how the Sufi tradition is deeply ingrained, even today, in my wife Kamla’s family. Her mother was a devoted follower of the famous Sufi saint, Sain Qutab Shah, whose dargah in Hyderabad she regularly visited. She used to sing Sufi kalaams, gurbani and songs about Ram and Krishna with equal piety. My wife’s sister Sarla and her husband visit Pakistan almost every year to pay obeisance at the dargah of Sain Nasir Faqir, another widely respected Sufi saint.

He appealed to the Muslims to understand Cultural Nationalism in the right perspective. “The tragic partition of India in 1947, on the basis of the spurious ‘Two Nations’ theory, created problems in Hindu-Muslim relations in India, besides engendering problems in the relations between India and Pakistan. It is time to remove prejudices and rebuild unity based on our common cultural heritage” the leader of opposition said.

In veiled threat he asked Muslims to abandon their claim on Babri Masjid. “The best and the most enduring solution to a sensitive issue like this is to arrive at an amicable settlement through dialogue between leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities. I would also like to reiterate another belief of mine : nothing can contribute to Hindu-Muslim harmony better than a positive gesture by the Muslim community on this emotional issue close to the hearts of millions of Hindus”, he said .

On the occasion Advani also said that his party was firmly committed to secularism. “We chose to support and join the Ayodhya movement only because of the prevailing atmosphere of pseudo-secularism. If secularism had not been perverted to subserve the interests of vote bank politics, I am sure the course of the Ayodhya movement would have been significantly different”.

“Votebank politics has not helped you. It has helped its practitioners, but not you. It has kept a large section of your community backward, economically and educationally, as the Sachar report has shown”, Advani contended.

In his speech M J Akbar said that no party can rule the country by ignoring 15 percent of its population. He also said that Urdu has not yet got its right status in the country after the independence. He said that the tendency of conflict creation was increasing in the country while there was need to resolve conflicts amicably.

The editor of urdu rashtruiya sahara Aziz burny said that what Advani has written about killing in Karachi in his book similar thing has been mentioned as what happened in Delhi in Maulana Azad’s book ‘India Wins Freedom’. He appealed the BJP not to create problem in peaceful relation with Pakistan. Maualana Wahiduddin Khan praises the Advani personality as dynamic.

Interestingly the book was to be released before the general elections. But no known Urdu publisher was ready to publish the book. After much persuasion a publisher agreed to publish it but that too by not its original name.

The Urdu edition of Advani’s book was published by some Khan Publications.

On the Road of Music

By Rajiv Vijayakar, *Moonlit melody* - ScreenIndia Weekly - India
Friday, August 7, 2009

His newest album Chaandan Mein, says Kailash Kher, is about melody on a mission.

The Sufi singer discusses making music for the soul as well as his more commercial assignments

What was the thought behind your latest album, which is your third one as Kailasa?
Kailasa, besides me, comprises Paresh and Naresh Kamath, whose expertise is in sound and arrangements and they are responsible for the treatment of my compositions. Kailasa as a band was introduced in the album of that name, followed by Kailasa - Jhoomo Re and now Kailasa - Chaandan Mein.

Obviously, if I am coming up with an album only once in two years it’s important for me not to churn out something run-of-the-mill. In this case mera ek khaas maqsad tha. I gave a lot of thought to what I should do next. I was averse to anything shallow, run-of-the-mill again. I never did such work when I had yet to make a name, why would I do so at this stage?

There is so much music happening all around that the other issue before me was “What can I give that is new, refreshing and interesting and stands out in the crowd?” And then I had a thought - our country has so many dialects and languages. This is our invaluable and limitless treasury that has never been explored. On the contrary we have taken this very lightly in our progress and speed towards a global culture. We are over-eager to try out something that comes from outside.

The title itself, Chaandan Mein, is one step in that direction, right?
Absolutely. I did not want the routine words that you hear almost unconconsciously jaise behti nadi mein nahaa liya karte hain log (like taking passing dips in a flowing river). I wanted people to pause the current of the stream, think and ask “What does this beautiful word or phrase mean? What can it mean?” and savour the beauty of such terms.

From childhood, I was never attracted to the easy way out - mujhe easy, routine cheezon ka shouq nahin tha. And mind you, the idea isn’t to impress anyone. But this depth and lyrical beauty gives me some strange internal joy. It was of course God’s blessing that I could collect such words and string an invaluable garland of such wonderful words that are rooted in our cultural soil.

What is Chaandan Mein but “in a moonlit night?”. I chose the title for its romantic connotation since I realised that all my songs, which I had written and composed so spontaneously, were love songs.

But in a way Paresh-Naresh’s sound is not really contemporary.
Haan, sound mein hum backward gaye ! (Laughs) Once again, we did something bold for our own satisfaction - we chose instruments that were either not in use or are almost, to use a term, extinct. Among them are instruments that even many contemporary musicians are unaware of.

Could you give us some examples?
There is dhons, which is a drum many times bigger than even a nagada. We have used a dutara, a custom-made 2-string instrument, the chimta and taasha. We put in a lot of effort to trace these instruments and musicians. Then there were slightly more common instruments like rabab, oud, dilruba, vichitra veena, rudra veena, ravanhatta, israj and bagal baccha.

Our percussionist Sanket acquainted us with the South African instrument called kalimba, which is similar in looks and tone to something described in our Vedas. I am attracted to such instruments too - we have used the kalimba in the song Jaagu main saari saari raat. We had our goal very clear - to revive forgotten words and rarely-heard or almost unknown instruments.
The entire album has an organic feel because it is completely acoustic.

This is quite a bold decision, given current trends.
Dekhiye, we took a lot of feedback from people and we still get their reactions. I am happy to know that the reactions are very positive.They have conveyed clearly that they want good music and more - they want freshness and purity. They do not want just to listen to a song, they want to be able to hum it or sing it. Unnko gaana sunna bhi pasand hai aur gungunana bhi.

You write, compose and sing your own songs. What comes first - the words or the tunes?
That’s not the way I make my music. For me, a song and a thought come spontaneously - and I am almost in a trance when this happens. A song that comes deep from within can be of any genre - because it is not planned or premeditated. I have not made a single song in my album because Sony-BMG ka paisa aa rahaa hain mujhe!

I am a traveller on the road of music and for me music is a sadhana, akin to meditating or worship. For example, the eighth track Kar kar main haara happened unplanned at the last moment. I was in a state of near Nirvaan. You must be aware that I was practically brought up by saints.

Is that how you approach films as well - we mean the films that have music by Kailasa?
Yes.

But film songs have situations that have briefs attached to them.
I try and choose films wherein my music will have something different from the routine. Kailasa’s songs in Dasvidaniya were truly liked and the music that we composed for Chandni Chowk To China were highly appreciated. Pranali’s songs also got good reviews.

As a singer, I have been very lucky too, whether it was Vishal-Shekhar’s Allah ke bande, which became an anthem, Aadesh Shrivastava’s Rang deeni from Dev, O sikander from Corporate, Chak de phatte from Khosla Ka Ghosla and now Fatak from Kaminey.

Are you doing films now as composer?
I am doing something very different for Fruit & Nut and talks are on for some films of Percept Picture Company.

They In No Way Deserve

By Patrick Goodenough, *Administration Dumps ‘Jihadist’ Term* - CNSNews.com - Alexandria, VA, USA
Friday, August 7, 2009

President Obama does not see the terrorism challenge as a fight against “jihadists” because that conveys an undeserved religious legitimacy and risks reinforcing the view that the U.S. is at war with Islam, his counterterrorism adviser said Thursday.

“Describing terrorists in this way, using the legitimate term ‘jihad’ – which means to purify oneself or to wage a holy struggle for a moral goal – risks giving these murderers the religious legitimacy they desperately seek but in no way deserve,” John Brennan said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In a broad address on the administration’s counterterrorism vision, Brennan also noted that Obama does not describe the battle as a “war on terrorism.” And in another swipe at the Bush administration, Brennan said, “Rather than looking at allies and other nations through the narrow prism of terrorism – whether they are with us or against us – the administration is now engaging other countries and peoples across a broader range of areas.”

In a challenge to governments around the world, President Bush famously said during a press conference with his French counterpart two months after 9/11, “You’re either with us or you're against us in the fight against terror.” (Brennan did indirectly compliment the previous administration: “After years of U.S. counterterrorism operations and in partnership with other nations, al-Qaeda has been seriously damaged and forced to replace many of its top-tier leadership with less-experienced and less capable individuals,” he said.)

Experts on Islam questioned the repudiation of the term “jihadist.” “The unspoken assumption is that the United States has the power or prestige in the Islamic world to confer or deny Islamic legitimacy,” said Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch. “This is, however, sheer fantasy.”

Mideast specialist Walid Phares of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies called the shift the “mother of strategic mistakes.” “The secular government of the United States has no business declaring what term is legitimate and what term is not in religious affairs,” he told the conservative Radio America network.

Phares said the new lexicon would discourage forces of democracy in the Islamic world who were struggling against jihadists. “There are Muslims fighting the jihadists in several countries,” he said. “These are our allies, this is our hope. We’re not going to be able to win that war of ideas within the Muslim world – only the anti-jihadist movement can do it. They’ve done so, and we’ve seen in on the street of Iran, of Algeria, and Iraq, and Darfur in Sudan and Lebanon.”

Phares said by supporting such Muslims the U.S. would be fighting for freedom in the Islamic world. “But if the U.S. will start saying ‘jihad is legitimate’ what will be the argument for these Muslims – who are with us – to fight with?”

Muslim scholars continue to debate interpretations of jihad.

Georgetown University Islamic studies Prof. John Esposito speaks about jihad being a struggle within one’s soul, also known as the “greater” jihad. “Jihad as struggle pertains to the difficulty and complexity of living a good life: struggling against the evil in oneself – to be virtuous and moral, making a serious effort to do good works and help to reform society,” he wrote in What everyone needs to know about Islam in 2002.

The “lesser” jihad is a fight against oppression, to defend one’s land or religion, through preaching or, if necessary, violence. While some argue – as Brennan appeared to do Thursday – that jihad’s main thrust is a spiritual rather than militant struggle, others dispute this. In his book Understanding Jihad, published by University of California Press in 2005, Rice University scholar David Cook wrote that Muslim literature offered negligible evidence supporting the idea that “spiritual” jihad was the primary expression of jihad.

“Today it is certain that no Muslim, writing in a non-Western language (such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu), would ever make claims that jihad is primarily nonviolent or has been superseded by the spiritual jihad,” Cook contended.

“Such claims are made solely by Western scholars, primarily those who study Sufism and/or work in interfaith dialogue, and by Muslim apologists who are trying to present Islam in the most innocuous manner possible,” he said. “Presentations along these lines are ideological in tone and should be discounted for their bias and deliberate ignorance of the Muslim sources and attitudes towards the subject,” Cook said.

Newspapers in the Islamic world freely and regularly use the term “jihadist” (or, in South Asia, “jihadi”) in their news reporting and editorializing – and without suggesting necessarily that the term has been misappropriated.

A search through newspapers’ online editions finds the word used frequently in outlets in Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.

The Naqshbandi Army?

By Emily Esfahani Smith, *How Peaceful Is Pacifism?* - The Wall Street Journal - USA
Thursday, august 6, 2009

As troop levels go down in Iraq, the U.S. is still facing a tough insurgency in that country. But the threat this time is not as much from al Qaeda as it is from the Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order, which seems to be operating recently in the Diyala and Kirkuk provinces.

The Naqshbandi Army takes its name from an order—or path—of Sufism, what some call the spiritual aspect of Islam. During Saddam Hussein’s reign, Sufism was tolerated in Iraq for precisely the reasons that make the Naqshbandi Army’s behavior puzzling today. As a pacific spiritual path that shied away from politics, Sufism hardly constituted a threat to Saddam’s Ba’athist regime—or any regime for that matter.

In the U.S., the peaceful image of Sufism still prevails. In a meeting house in New York’s Greenwich Village, Sufis sit cross-legged on the ground, their eyes closed in meditation. Traditional Iranian Sufi music plays in the background, and its chants remind the Sufis that their path to God does not involve violence, politics or self-aggrandizement—but a complete annihilation of the ego.

As a school of thought based on love, Sufism has influenced Catholic and Jewish mysticism and the transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In the U.S., Sufi teachings have attracted a wide swath of followers. In the music video for Madonna’s 1994 song “Bedtime Story,” whirling dervishes dance to Madonna’s Sufi-inspired verse, “Let’s get unconscious.” To Stephen Schwartz, a convert to Sufism and the author of “The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony,” the faith’s emphasis on achieving internal peace can fill the “great spiritual hunger in this country and in the West in general.”

“In Sufism, the focus is on fixing the self rather than fixing others. That concept is inherently pacific, not political,” says Hedieh Mirahmadi, a Sufi practitioner. Ms. Mirahmadi is the general counsel of Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, the popular deputy master of the orthodox Naqshbandi order. In Sufism, many paths lead to God. Other orders include the aloof Nimatullahi, whose meeting house was described above, the progressive Bekstashi and the militant Qadiri.

The problem arises when the spiritual path to God is blocked with violence. Do Sufis, inherently peaceful, take up arms in the name of the very complicated and controversial notion of jihad, or holy war? Ms. Mirahmadi says no, emphatically. She and her Sufi master, Mr. Kabbani, condemn the behavior of the Naqshbandi Army in Iraq.

Prof. Kevin Reinhart, who has been teaching Sufism at Dartmouth College for more than 20 years, notes that Sufis have not always behaved as pacifically as their teachings suggest they should. “Sufis took up arms to resist the Russians in Chechnya. They resisted the Italians in Libya. They resisted the French in Algeria.”

Most Sufis define jihad internally—as a struggle against the ego, the part of the soul that tempts one into corrupt behavior. Mr. Schwartz, though, does not shy away from discussing Sufism’s relationship to armed struggle. “We support a defensive jihad . . . for instance, to defend innocent people in Chechnya, Algeria and Bosnia.”

But to Ms. Mirahmadi, the Chechens, the Algerians, the Libyans and the Naqshbandi Army in Iraq fight for “nationalistic reasons. They’re not fighting because they’re Sufis.” In an interview with the Iraqi satellite channel, Al-Zawra, the official spokesman of the Naqshbandi Army in Iraq confirms this: “We will fight for the integrity and unity of Iraq, land and people, to maintain its Arab and Islamic identity.”

That Sufis are fighting at all is a problem. According to a Nimatullahi sheikh, the former master of the Nimatullahi order, Javad Nurbakhsh said that if a Sufi kills anyone, no matter what the reason—even in self-defense—he will never reach the perfection required to achieve union with God. Ms. Mirahmadi expresses a similar sentiment: “I was there during conversations between the former president of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, and Sheikh Kabbani. He called Sheikh Kabbani begging for advice on how to react to the Russian invasion. Sheikh Kabbani said stop fighting.” Period.

Though Mr. Schwartz does not see jihad and Sufism as necessarily opposed, he is bewildered by the behavior of the Naqshbandi Army in Iraq. “It is counterproductive for them to fight the coalition forces. Those Sufis are either fanatical or there is some miscommunication.”

Miscommunication might be part of the problem, but fanaticism is a more likely explanation. The Naqshbandi Army seems to be a front organization. Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, one of Saddam’s former top aides and a former Ba’athist, has strong connections with the group.

Ms. Mirahmadi claims that the group has been hijacked by former Ba’athists and jihadists. “They are not real Sufis,” she says. Since the invasion in 2003, jihadists have publicly killed Sufis in Iraq, while Ba’athists, as secularists, are only nominally religious, if at all.

Bernard Lewis once called Sufis peaceful but not pacifists. Ultimately, such a view reconciles Sufi teachings with Sufi behavior—but it doesn’t resolve the fact that Sufis must be both if they are serious about their spiritual pursuits.

—Ms. Smith is a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the WSJournal this summer.

3rd Chicago Turkish World Festival

Staff Report, *Chicago to get a taste of the Turkic world* - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The third annual Chicago Turkish World Festival will take place at the city's Navy Pier Aug. 15-16, giving Chicagoans a chance to experience a celebration of lands thousands of miles away and offering a peek into the historically rich Turkish, Balkan, Mediterranean and Central Asian cultures.

This two-day event features a variety of activities that represent the heritage of countries including Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Participants will have the opportunity to experience different flavors, sounds and smells that will invade the pier in the form of fresh Turkish delicacies, Ottoman-era marching bands, whirling dervishes and world-famous Turkish coffee.

“The festival offers Chicagoans a unique opportunity to experience an infusion of rich culture from seven countries without leaving the city,” said Süleyman Turhan, spokesman of the Turkish American Society of Chicago (TASC) and the Niagara Foundation, which are sponsoring the event. “Our guests will be able to see, smell, taste and fully envelop themselves in each element of these countries, which have thousands of years of history and have been home to hundreds of civilizations.”

Entertainment will include time-honored folk dancing and live concerts from performers including a mehter, or Ottoman janissary band. Mehter bands were founded several centuries ago and has played a significant role in shaping music and tradition in Europe and Asia.

Mehter was the source of inspiration for many European musicians, including Mozart, whose “Rondo Alla Turca” was inspired by mehter. The yearly mehter performance at the festival is a rare treat for attendees, who are able to witness one of the world's oldest musical traditions brought to life.

The Turkish traveling troupe “The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi” will also put on captivating demonstrations of the mystic religious ceremony known as sema, which features dervishes majestically whirling to the sounds of flutes and drums. The tradition, which dates back to the 13th century, is a well-known aspect of the Mevlevi order, a branch of Sufism.

The festival will also feature a vast array of handcrafted artwork and souvenirs, most of which are not typically available outside of Europe and Asia. Exhibitions will include hand-woven textiles, handcrafted tiles and ceramics, detailed stone and wood carvings, ebru (water marbling) and hand-drawn calligraphy.

Guests can savor some of the extraordinary cuisine the region has to offer, including traditional recipes that date back more than 1,000 years. Partner organizations such as the Black Sea Exporters' Union, the Hazelnut Promotion Group and the Aegean Exporters' Union will be distributing samples of regional agricultural products.

Turkey is known for producing some of the finest coffee and tea available, and guests at the festival will have the opportunity to try these world-famous beverages.

An interactive portion of the festival will include two cultural tents replicating an Ottoman imperial tent and a Kyrgyz tent. Festivalgoers will have the opportunity to sit inside and take pictures wearing traditional Ottoman-era costumes.

The Chicago Turkish World Festival is free to the public and will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15 and Sunday, Aug. 16.

More information is available at www.TurkishWorldFestival.com.

In Openness and Acceptance

By Mouna Sadek, *Sufi celebration of Tariqa Alawiya centennial spotlights tolerance, peace* - Magharebia.com - USA
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Around 6,000 people flocked to the Algerian city of Mostaganem this July for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Tariqa Alawiya, whose Sufi followers prize tolerance, unity, peace and ecology.
Tolerance and "green" living were among the themes highlighted at the centennial celebration of the Tariqa Alawiya, a Sufist spiritual lineage, which gathered 6,000 people in the Algerian city of Mostaganem on July 24th-31st.
The celebration highlighted the spiritual contributions of the Tariqa Alawiya, which is believed by its brotherhood of faithful adherents to trace its roots directly to the Prophet Mohammed.

Sheikh Khaled Bentounès, the brotherhood's current spiritual guide, said the event, which included researchers and cultural figures from over 40 countries, carried a "message of hope for a better future".

"In the face of the major challenges facing humanity and the global emergencies confronting us, the Sufi route of Alawiya proposes some profound reflection that will lead to concrete plans," said Bentounès.

Mostaganem, which lies in the western part of Algeria, showcased Tariqa Alawiya thinking on several main themes, including "The Earth", "Globalisation", "Revelation", "Spirituality and Sufism" and "The Future".

The festivities started on January 29th with a "Caravan of Hope" that rolled away from the Algiers Palace of Culture. It then travelled more than 8,000km, passing through 30 towns and making connections with different peoples and cultures. The caravan arrived in Mostaganem on July 24th for the centennial celebrations.

Sufism, a mystical movement within Islam that arose after the death of the Prophet Mohammed in 632 AD, seeks divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. The event organisers underscored the importance of Sufism in sowing tolerance and virtue to promote a culture of peace and to manage modern society's problems.

Dr. Abdellah Boukhalkhal, President of El Amir Abdelkader University, told those in attendance that spiritual education according to the precepts of Islam can instil the values of love, tolerance, brotherhood and peaceful co-existence preached by the Qur'an and the Hadith.

Boukhalkhal cited more than 170 verses of the Qur'an to support the idea that Islam accords a strategic dimension to the values of tolerance and reconciliation, in order to guard against disagreements and acts of sabotage.

The university president also recalled the upheaval through which Algeria had lived in the previous decade, with "its cargo of destruction and funeral processions, blood-letting, loss of confidence, including between brothers, due to this separation from the culture of peace and tolerance preached by the Muslim religion".

Dr. Ahmed Boussenna of Ferhat Abbas University in Sétif, meanwhile, said society needs this spiritual heritage to free itself from all forms of extremism and intolerance, which are sources of society's destruction.

Other participants struck a "green" note, calling for national tree-planting campaigns. They also reflected on the spread of modern technology in agriculture, the need for teaching programmes on sustainable development in schools, and the establishment of a university-level body to examine the processing of waste and water.

Other green topics included the risks of environmental damage and the role of small farmers in guaranteeing food security and fighting poverty.

At a press conference after the event, Sheikh Bentounès said the celebration fulfilled part of the brotherhood's service to humanity and the mission of Islam by allowing debate on current issues ranging from science and culture to ecology and spirituality.

"Each person can only define himself or herself in relation to the community of humanity, in openness and acceptance of the other," he said. "For this, we need to return to the spirit of unity, to a symbiosis between spirit and reason."

Picture: Sufi Sheikh Ahmed Ben Mostefa Al-Alawi (1869-1934) is considered a harmoniser of tradition and modernity. Photo: File/Magharebia.com

Inner Silence

By John Pitcher, *Famous dancers engaged in religious ritual* - Omaha World-Herald - Omaha, NE, USA

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Legend has it that the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi chanced by a goldsmith shop one day and began whirling to the rhythm of the hammers. The order of the Whirling Dervishes was born.

Next week, some of the great Islamic poet’s spiritual descendants — the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi — will appear at the Rose Theater. The group, sponsored by the Niagara Foundation of Nebraska, will perform in several Midwest cities. The tour will culminate with an appearance at the Turkish World Festival in Chicago later in the month.

The dervishes, with their long, twirling, umbrella-shaped skirts, are among the most famous dancers in history.

Yet their famed movements are not theatrical performances. They are part of an elaborate religious ritual. Applause, therefore, is discouraged at the end of a Whirling Dervish performance.

“The whirling is strictly an expression of religious ecstasy,” said Bridget Blomfield, an assistant professor of Islamic studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Blomfield, who will give a short lecture on Rumi’s poetry before the performance on Wednesday, said the Whirling Dervishes are practitioners of Sufism. They are the mystics of Islam. Among other things, they emphasize peace and tolerance. And they are ecumenical in their faith — they believe all religions offer valid paths to God.

“Sufism is like Buddhism,” Blomfield said. “If you make a mistake, a Sufist or Buddhist will chuckle and ask what you’ve learned. They don’t talk about punishment.”

Rumi’s poetry is an expression of love and ecstasy. The Whirling Dervishes express those same sentiments in movement.

The performance is divided into two parts. The first opens with a prayer and includes performances from a drummer and flute player. In the second part, the dancers begin to whirl. They keep their arms crossed at first, but as the speed increases, the arms are raised and the palms are turned upward.

Blomfield said she has whirled and found the experience unforgettable.

“You do achieve a real inner silence, which allows you to hear and see the chaos of the world around you.”

[Picture: Prof. Dr. Bridget Blomfield. Photo: http://www.unomaha.edu/religion/Blomfield.htm]

Flowers

By Vaivasvat Venkat, *Sartaaj rules over people's hearts* - The Times Of India - India
Sunday, August 2, 2009

Ludhiana: Saturday night became a delight for Punjabi music lovers, intellectuals and people from different walks of life, as emerging Punjabi singer Satinder Sartaaj left the august gathering in the jam-packed hall of Guru Nanak Bhavan mesmerized with his Punjabi poetry delved into Sufi music.

A bouquet of his self-written and composed 'nazams' (poetic composition) enriched with various experiences of his life, ranging from flowers in the fields of his village to the time spent in Punjab University, Chandigarh, and other stages of his life, had people sway their heads to the music.

Sartaaj, who has attained a doctorate degree in Sufi music and teaches postgraduate classes at PU, started his interaction by reciting 'Si harfi' - a forgotten part of Persian tradition where 30 'shers' on the same number of alphabets are recited. It was the invocation of the almighty in the form of a song 'Sai Meri Fariyad Tere Tain' which marked the beginning of the Mehfil-e-Sartaaj.

After this rendition, there was hardly any pause and Sartaaj gave a non-stop performance of various nazams, including Motia, Chameli, Bela, Ketaki, Ful Tara Meera and Saron Te Falain De Tere Layee Hee Khetan Ch Ugayee De, saying that it was his tribute to all flowers that grow near fields and have escaped the eyes of the poets till now.

No less enchanting were numbers like 'Main Parson Amb Te Baithiyan Chiriyan Bula Layian' (I talked to sparrows sitting on a mango tree and then talked to them like a bird itself).

The entire audience was left spellbound by his performance as he made them sing along with him. He also sang some numbers requested by some in the gathering.

His songs, related to life in the university, could not stop college students and youngsters from PU to dance to them. One such number was -- "Pyar Toldi Kataban Rehndi Foldi Te Sade Naal Gal Na Kare. Adhi Kick Te Start Mera Yamaha Nee Hor Das Kee Bhaldi."

What is amazing about this young artiste, who is yet to release his album but has gained popularity, is that he has already been declared the torch-bearer of the rich tradition of Punjabi culture. Sartaaj has also performed in 32 stage shows in countries, including Canada and Dubai. The clippings of his songs can be seen all over the net and are a hit with people.

The event was organized under the auspices of the Alive Artist Group, Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation, Punjabi Sabhyachar Academy, Sobha Singh Memorial Foundation and Sabhyacharak Sath Punjab.

DC Vikas Garg, SSP Dr. Sukhchain Singh Gill and eminent writers like Dev Threekian Wala and Gurbhajan Gill were also present on the occasion.

A Sensitive Issue

TNN, *Maulanas examining Raza's statement* - The Times Of India - India
Monday, August 3, 2009

The Committee of Ulemas has asked the nazim and the khadims of the dargah of Khwaja Garib Nawaz Chishti not to raise any issue which may hurt the feelings of any community. It also requested them to follow the teachings of the Sufi saint and maintain peace.

The committee, comprising maulanas from different parts of the country, said that the CD, which contains the controversial statement of nazim Ahmed Raza, is being examined. Raza has been accused of speaking against Islam and the Khwaja.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Sayeed Mohammad Jillani Ashraf, president of Sufi Federation of India, said, "We have not reached at any conclusion as the ulemas are still verifying the text of Raza's speech recorded on the CD. We have heard every group and will decide on it soon. We request people to keep calm as this is a very sensitive issue."

"We have to verify the objectionable part of the text regarding Islam or against Khwaja Garib Nawaz," said a maulana.

The objections of the khadims against the statement of the nazim have also been registered. Meanwhile, Raza has sent a written explanation to the committee. The committee also met different communities and talked to the district administration over the episode.

The committee consists of Ashraf, Prof Sayeed Shamimuddin Munami of Dargah of Munamiya of Bihar, Ammah Asif Mulana of Bareli, chief mufti Mualana Farooque Ahmed of Bareli, Maulana Allahuddin Ashrafi of Kota and Sayeed Aslam Vakim of Bareli.

A fortnight ago, a CD was released in market showing Raza speaking about Islam and the Khwaja. Anjuman, committee of khadims, alleged that Raza has stated objectionable things against Islam and the Khwaja. They protested and registered a case with the Dargah police.

The nazim was even beaten up by a few khadims in his office and had to be admitted to hospital. Police arrested three khadims for the assault.

The issue is hanging fire and the khadims are adamant on removing Raza from the post. They have even talked to the Prime Minister on the issue.

A Clash On "Kanduri"

By P.K. Balachandran, *Lankan police hunt for Muslim preacher from TN* - Express Buzz/The New Indian Express - India
Monday, August 3, 2009

Colombo: Sri Lankan police are looking for Kovai Ayoob, a controversial Islamic preacher from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
The hunt assumes significance in the context of a clash on July 24 between fundamentalist Tawheed Jamaath and moderate Sufis in the western coastal town of Beruwela in which two persons were killed.

Immigration Controller P. A. Abeykoon told The Sunday Times that he had asked the police to catch Ayoob. As per Ayoob’s visa he is a tourist, but violating the rules he was propagating, through public speeches, the ideas of the radical Wahabist Tawheed Jamaath in Sri Lanka and creating tension between the fundamentalists and the traditional sufis.

Ayoob’s plan to be present at a religious gathering in Kalmunai in the Eastern Province last Friday was called off because of the police hunt. But his speech for the occasion, delivered over the phone, was broadcast with loudspeakers.

In 2006, another radical Islamic preacher from Tamil Nadu, P. Jainulabdeen, popularly known as PJ, was deported for creating sectarian tension in Colombo. Recently, in Ottamavadi in the eastern province, the moulvi of one sect had the moulvi of another sect abducted.

In Beruwela on July 24, the moulvi of the Tawheed/Wahabi Masjidur Rahman mosque publicly dubbed the moulvi of the Sufi Bukari Thakkiya mosque and his congregation as kafirs (rejectors of Islam) because the latter were holding a “Kanduri” feast in honour of a Muslim saint. In the clash that followed, two persons were killed. More than 130 are currently under detention for rioting.

The Wahabis condemn the deification of human beings, however saintly they might have been. They also consider holding feasts, with music and other forms of merriment, in honour of saints as utterly un-Islamic. However, most Muslims in Sri Lanka, being under the influence of South Indian Islam, believe in the worship of saints and observe their anniversaries with feasts.

Surrender Arms: The DIG of the Eastern Province, Edison Gunatilleke, extended the deadline for the surrender of arms by Muslim militants. He believes that there are about 300 Muslim militants in Sri Lanka, most of them operating in the Eastern Districts of Batticaloa and Amparai.

Police believe that some of these militants have links with Saudi Arabia-inspired young Islamic scholars. They could also be part of the underworld in Colombo and also be working for Muslim political leaders.

[Picture: Beach Resort in Sri Lanka. Photo from http://www.beachresortssrilanka.com/index.html]

Advocate of Peace

By Najiya O., *Kerala mourns Muslim League leader; CM, ministers pay homage* - TwoCircles.net - Jupiter, FL, USA

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Kochi: Cutting across all sorts of affiliations, Kerala today is mourning the death of veteran Muslim League leader Shihab Thangal as CM, his colleagues and central ministers are paying their homage to the departed leader who was president of state unit of Muslim League for three decades.

Muslim League Kerala state president Panakkad Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal died at a private hospital in Malappuram yesterday. He was 73. The funeral will take place at 4 pm today at the Panakkad Juma Masjid. The body will be kept in the Malappuram Town Hall till 3 pm for the public to see.

Shihab Thangal was admitted to a private hospital in Malappuram early on Saturday morning after he fell down at his residence. He felt some physical discomfort at around 8.30 pm and was immediately shifted to the Intensive Care Unit. The great leader of the Muslim community departed this world within 15 minutes. The body was taken to the ancestral residence (‘Kodappanakkal Tharavadu’) at Panakkad in Malappuram by 9.30 pm.

Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and central minister Vayalar Ravi were among the many that came to Malappuram to pay final homage to the leader. The CM reached Malappuram Town Hall at around 10.30 am today. State ministers and other socio-political leaders also came to Malappuram to see the leader for the last time. People from different parts of the state are also flowing to Malappuram to have a last glimpse of the dear leader.

Thangal was the president of the state Muslim League for more than three decades. But he never opted for a parliamentary position and never even once contested elections to parliamentary bodies. The unexpected demise of Thangal, regarded as spiritual leader by Keralites irrespective of religion, was a great shock to the people. People began to flow to Panakkad at night itself on hearing the news.

Shihab Thangal was born on May 4, 1936 as the son of PMSA Pookoya Thangal and Ayisha Beevi. After completing religious and formal education in the state, he went to the Al Azhar University in Cairo for higher studies. He studied there from 1958 to 1961. He then joined the Cairo University and studied there for five years. He learned Arabic and did a three-year course in Sufism. He had good mastery over Arabic language and literature. Thangal began writing articles when studying in Egypt.

Shihab Thangal who was a great lover of books and literature took up the leadership of the Muslim League after the death of his father in 1975. Since then he was the state president of the party. He led the Muslim League from the front in achieving great heights in its political career. But he was much more than a party president to the common people. People, irrespective of religion and political orientation, loved and respected this staunch advocate of peace and communal harmony.

Thangal married Shareefa Fathima Beevi, daughter of Abdurahman Bafaqi Thangal who was the president of the Muslim League, in 1961. Shareefa Beevi died in 2006 when Thangal was in the USA for a medical treatment. They have five children – Shareefa Zuhra Beevi, Shareefa Fairoos Beevi, Shareefa Sameera Beevi, Basheerali Shihab Thangal and Munawarali Shihab Thangal. After the demise of Shareefa Fathima Beevi, Thangal married Ayisha Beevi.

Picture: Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal. Photo by Malayamma.

To Thrive against the Odds

By Ha Hellyer, *An Islamic history is a vital part of Ethiopia's richness* - Ethiopian Review - Washington DC, USA

Friday, July 31, 2009

"We are sorry if you get woken up by the Muslim call to prayer in the morning.” Those were some of the first words I heard at my hotel when I arrived in Addis Ababa, on my first trip to Ethiopia. I confess – I was a bit confused.

Call to prayer? In the capital of a “Christian country in a sea of Muslims”, as Ethiopia is sometimes called? Perhaps I was in a Muslim quarter of Addis Ababa that had been recently established?

No, the situation was far more complicated than that, and one about which I had a surprisingly limited awareness. Most non-Ethiopians, including the immediate neighbours of Ethiopia, also believe that Ethiopia is predominantly Christian. The more sophisticated might believe that there is a Muslim minority – and it was to learn about that population that drew me to Ethiopia in the first place. But it is not a minority. About 55 per cent of Ethiopia’s parliament is Muslim and representatives from the country’s Islamic community insist they are at least 50 per cent of the population.

While the US State Department estimates that this number is a bit lower, Islam might actually be the religion with the most adherents in Ethiopia.

If there is any “Muslim quarter” in Addis, it must be an old one. Christianity was the first religion to arrive in Ethiopia – but only in the north of the country. Where the capital, Addis Ababa, is located, the area of Shawa, was the domain of a Muslim sultanate in the early 8th century. Most historical narratives portray Ethiopia’s as a Christian story. If Islam is even mentioned, it is associated with disconnected tribesman in the lowlands who battled Christian kingdoms in the highlands. But history is written by the powerful and now academics are rediscovering the Muslim history of this country of such noble heritage.

As I met people from Ethiopia’s Muslim community, I was struck by their diversity. Most Ethiopian Muslims are influenced by Sufism, and follow the same Sunni rites as their neighbours in Yemen, Somalia and Djibouti (the Shafi’i rite) – but there are also adherents of other Sunni rites, and a significant Salafi movement within Ethiopia. There are dozens of ethnic and linguistic groups among Muslim Ethiopians, from all areas of the country.

But what they share is a long history of discrimination against them. Early Christian-Muslims relations in Ethiopia were very good – the Prophet of Islam sent several Muslim refugees to live among Christians in Ethiopia, who had a very high opinion of the king at that time, who later became Muslim. In the medieval era, Christian Ethiopians under the Zagwes refused to be drawn into the European crusades against the Muslim world, which led to Saladin giving the Ethiopian Orthodox Church a monastery in Jerusalem. In the same era, Muslims and Christians lived in separate kingdoms and sultanates in Ethiopia, but in peaceful coexistence – and their example proves that deeply religious and pious people of different religions need not be at war with one another.

But with the rise of the Solomonic dynasty in 1270 that came to an end. That dynasty, like many others of its age, was expansionist and aggressive, leading to a great number of conflicts with Muslim sultanates over a period of hundreds of years in Ethiopia. The length of the Solomonic dynasty is staggering – Haile Selassie was its last Emperor, and his reign ended in 1974. He saw the establishment of a modern Ethiopia, but not a modern educational system – at least, not for Muslim Ethiopians.

The historians and educators I interviewed in Ethiopia bemoaned the standard of education among Muslim Ethiopians, explaining to me that during Haile Selassie’s tenure, Muslim regions did not receive the same attention as Christian regions and few modern educational institutions were established. Haile Selassie had a formula for Ethiopia: one country, one people, one religion. Muslims were not part of that equation. The revolutionary regime that overthrew Haile Selassie, the Derg, introduced education for all, but as a communist movement, Muslim communities still suffered discrimination.

Many of those whom I met were from that generation – a generation that had access to education, and began to learn about their religion in a modern sense. With the establishment of a more democratic constitution in 1994, Muslim Ethiopians began to try to build more institutions for themselves.

Much of the contemporary analysis surrounding Ethiopia’s relationship with the Muslim world revolves around Somalia, and Ethiopia’s invasion of that country in 2006. I saw quite a different face, however, to the nation. I saw a huge number of Muslims speaking excellent Arabic (perhaps more than any non-Arabic speaking country I had ever been to), proud of the history of this ancient land that had never been conquered. On the other hand, I also saw the sadness of many Muslim Ethiopians, who were frustrated that while rich Muslim countries might provide funds to build mosques, or provide food during Ramadan, they would not contribute to provide for the institutions needed to improve the capacity of this thriving community. And it’s not hard to see why – many simply do not believe there is a community there to support in the first place.

But there is an Ethiopian Muslim community there: a community that has learnt to thrive against the odds, and one that teaches lessons about identity in a diverse society and the role of religion in the modern world. It is a community that deserves to be known.

H. A. Hellyer is a Fellow of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick, UK, and director of the Visionary Consultants Group

[Picture: Shaded relief map of Ethiopia from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia]

Against the Evil Acts

By Isambard Wilkinson, Foreign Correspondent, *Moderates targeted in ideological crossfire* - The National - Abu Dhabi, UAE

Lahore: Pakistani militants have developed a potent method for protecting their ideology: killing off moderate religious rivals. On June 12, a young man entered the sparse office of the Jamia Naeemia madrasa in Lahore. He stood in the doorway and, after verifying that it was Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, a renowned religious scholar and principal of the madrasa, seated six feet away at a desk, he detonated explosives concealed beneath his salwar kameez.

Naeemi was killed in the blast. His son, Raghib Naeemi, pointed to the spot where his father had sat before the attack.“I heard about the attack in a phone call while I was driving. I realised that I would have to be very calm. So I ordered all of my father’s students not to harm anyone, not to start fires, not to kill anyone,” he said. Less than two months after the murder, the office has been redecorated and Mr Naeemi has taken over his father’s job as head of the madrasa founded by his grandfather.

The only remaining signs of the attack were a police guard at the main door and the blue paint of the office’s wooden shutters, which are adorned with ornate images of the Prophet Mohammed’s shoe, showing signs of having been peppered by shrapnel.

“It is a saying of the Prophet that a love for one’s country is part of Islam. My father was a real picture of that saying,” said Mr Naeemi, seated in the office. “In his words and his writings he spoke against the evil acts of terrorists and called upon people to morally support the government and army against them.”

His father had been part of small religious wave that has surged against militants after being encouraged by unprecedented popular support for military action against the Taliban in Swat valley three months ago. Emboldened by a rare unanimity among the military and the two main political parties, he joined a band of Islamic scholars who convened several meetings and rallies at which he criticised suicide attacks and the beheading of innocent Muslims as un-Islamic.

The loosely knit alliance, belonging to Pakistan’s majority Barelvi school, was encouraged to stand up to the militants and to expound an alternative, moderate religious view.The foreign minister, Mahmoud Shah Qureshi, who comes from a family with strong religious ties to the Barelvis and is part of the hierarchy of Sufism in Pakistan, was the most senior official to articulate a common desire to see the country’s majority view of Islam standing up to its minority militant rival.

The fundamentalist Deobandi groups, some of which are associated with the Taliban, originally opposed the creation of Pakistan in 1947, which they saw as a roadblock to the creation of a global ummah. Mr Naeemi said that once again the Barelvis are fighting for Pakistan and it is the militants who want to “break it into pieces”. Mr Naeemi said the peaceful group of clerics to which his father belonged had not been deterred by his slaying. “They thought by assassinating my father that the movement would cease, but this week a meeting was held in Haripur [near the capital, Islamabad] and the same message against terrorists was given.”

The Barelvis are almost totally unarmed in comparison to their militant counterparts who have supported ideologies and political causes which won them guns and funds since the CIA-backed jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. And yet the militants have crisscrossed the divide and killed on both sides whenever they have felt threatened by a religious figure who has opposed their views.

Maulana Hassan Jan, a highly regarded Deobandi cleric, was assassinated in 2007 after he had condemned suicide attacks. The elder Naeemi was not pro-West. He worked for the cause of Sharia enforcement and was known for taking a bold stance on global issues like victimisation and suppression of Muslim movements and the invasion of Muslim countries. He spoke out against the former military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and his decision to provide “logistical support” to the US-led coalition in the “war on terror”.

For this he was first removed from his job as an official in a government department that oversees religious property and was briefly detained. He was again arrested for protesting against “blasphemous” cartoons published in Denmark.“Since the assassination, people are realising which is the right path. People’s eyes have been opened. We don’t want confrontation, as we made sure by calming people after the murder, but we must contain this hatred and terrorism,” he said.

Mr Naeemi is well aware of Pakistan’s swelling population, its poverty, its high levels of illiteracy and the poor prospects that most of its 100 million young people face. Such frustration, he admitted, could drive young men to take desperate actions, but he said that whatever the causes of terrorism, the culprits should be tracked down. “I heard through the media that the Taliban accepted responsibility for the assassination. But the police has so far not told us who is responsible. What are the links between the bomber and the mastermind? We want to know,” said Mr Naeemi.

In the madrasa’s large courtyard, pupils had hung banners. “Dr Sarfraz was like a solid rock and a light”, read one. Another demanded: “The terrorist network should be brought to justice.”

Picture: Raghib Naeemi took over his father’s madrasa after the scholar and antiterrorism advocate was killed by a suicide bomber in his office. Photo: Muzammil Pasha for The National.

A Treasure

By Schezee Zaidi, *World needs ‘sufi’ message of peace to counter extremism* - The News International - Pakistan
Friday, July 31, 2009

Islamabad: The world earnestly needs the message of great Sufi poets like Waris Shah, who promoted the concepts of love, unity, brotherhood and equality among human beings. The challenges of extremism and parochialism can be pushed back with the force of the mystic messages of love and peace of the Sufi poets of this region.

The great Sufi poets of this land always preached humanism and their message should be spread to counter inimical forces, Speakers participating at the Waris Shah National Literary Seminar organised by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) here on Thursday expressed these views.

Along with literati from the twin metropolis, the delegation of writers and Intellectual from Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan visiting Punjab also participated in the seminar. PAL Chairman Fakhar Zaman presided over the ceremony, while Sarwat Mohyuddin shared views on the mystic messages of Waris Shah and the litro-social importance of his valuable works.

A 15 minutes documentary on Waris Shah produced by Allama Iqbal Open Univeristy was also screened on the occasion.

The verses of Waris Shah are a treasure trove of Punjabi phrases, idioms and sayings. His minute and realistic depiction of each detail of Punjabi life and the political situation in the 1700’s, remains unique. The amazing poetic mould that Waris Shah worked within has not been bettered by any of his successors to date. Waris Shah is not only the great poet of Punjab but also of the entire region.

The manner in which Waris Shah touched the harsh realities with sincerity of narrative is unmatched and his poetry bears the characteristics of protest and furore. It is indeed a tragedy that very little research has been done on our great mystic poets and it is high time that the new generation should research on his poetry and life and highlight its salient features, which would be the precise way to give Waris Shah his poetic right that he deserves.

Waris Shah enjoyed unparalleled glory in Punjab and the subcontinent for his deep perception and knowledge of human nature. His poetry has the elements of seriousness, romance and pathos at the same time. Undoubtedly, Waris was a great poet who has reflected all the aspects of human life in his poetry. His ‘Heer’ is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature that carries the perfect reflection of our society.

Speaking on the occasion PAL chairman said that PAL has been working since long on different projects for promotion of writings of Sufi poets and has translated Sufi poetry into seven different international languages. He underlined the need for more research into the poetry of Sufis to find fresh and new perspectives of their thoughts.

He said that PAL is acting as a bridge between poets and masses and plans to hold a number of programmes to familiarise public with the poetry of Sufis.

[Picture from http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Waris%20Shah]

The Values of Tolerance

By Boualam Ghimrassa, *Algeria Using Sufism to Stem Jihadist Ideology* - Asharq Al-Awsat - Algiers, Algeria
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Algerian authorities have been trying to propagate Sufism in Algeria to contain a strong Salafi movement in the country, espoused by most members of the armed Islamist groups.

An event was officially launched last Saturday, organized by the Zaouia [religious confraternity] Alaouia, with the participation of 5,000 people from 34 countries. The event featured lectures and seminars calling for moderation and shunning hardline behavior, and Sufi chants.

As part of a fierce war that has been going on with the extremist Islamist groups since the early nineties of last century, the authorities have found a different way of stemming the influence of the Salafi jihadist ideology which is espoused by the armed hardliners. This new approach consists of propagating the Sufi thought through bodies that have thousands of followers inside and outside Algeria.

In this respect, the Mostaganem Governorate, 250 km to the west of Algiers, has been the scene of festivals commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Allaoui religious confraternity, under the slogan: "Let us sow the seeds of hope in the minds of people."

The organizers of this week-long event say that it is aimed at "encouraging people to return to traditional Islam, the Islam of tolerance and open-mindedness." Its aim is also to "revive the spiritual and cultural heritage."

The event's launching ceremony was marked by a parade of folklore troupes, with the participation of scout groups from several countries. The Algerian news agency said that 5,000 people would be watching the planned spiritual activities, including 2,200 coming from 34 countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, some European countries, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Japan and Indonesia.

According to the event's program, the week-long lectures and seminars will go beyond broaching the spiritual aspects of Islam to include discussions on current world issues such as the environment and communication technology. This will be in parallel with lectures on "revelation," "Sufi spiritualism," and "awareness-raising education."

For their part, the organizers of the event say that the Alaouia-Dargaria-Chadhilia religious confraternity dates back to the time of the descendants of Prophet Muhammad, God's prayers and peace be upon him, and is strongly inspired by the ideas of the man who revived it early in the 20th century, namely Cheikh Allaoui. The latter succeeded his master, Cheikh El Bouzidi, in 1909. The Cheikh Allaoui confraternity is known for associating traditions to modernity in Islam, and its current Cheikh is called Adlan Khaled Ben Tounis. He is a writer and lecturer on Sufism and Islam.

These celebrations are sponsored by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika personally, and call for brotherhood, tolerance, fighting hatred and spreading the values of tolerance. They are keenly used by the Algerian authorities to confront the activity of the propagators of Salafia jihadi ideology, which is infiltrating society through mosques, books and compact discs distributed to the young in various places, including schools. The Salafia jihadist ideology is also propagated through films inciting combat, which are shown on the Internet. Investigations indicate that a large number of armed groups' members have espoused this ideology as a result of the propagation of a discourse calling for war against the state.

Moreover, the Algerian gendarmerie announced over the weekend that border gendarmes had seized four tons of drugs, two weapons, ammunition, and a mobile telephone in the small town of Oued Ritma, Bechar Governorate, 965 km to the south west of the Algerian capital Algiers.

In this respect, an Algerian source stated that border guards in Oued Ritma ambushed and opened fire on a convoy composed of four vehicles belonging to drug smugglers; the gendarmes arrested four and seized 4,060 kg of treated drugs and an automatic weapon.

As Having a Role

By David Loyn, *Pakistan arts-lovers defy Taliban stage fright* - BBC News - Islamabad, Pakistan
Monday, July 27, 2009

It would cost a million dollars to stage the Lahore International Arts Festival - not much to restore a sense of hope in a city that sometimes feels under siege.

The last festival was bombed in November last year, so even without the global economic downturn, the big sponsors would have shied away from connection with the event this year.

The Taliban have staged their most spectacular attacks in Pakistan recently on five-star hotels - the Pearl Continental in Peshawar and the Marriott in Islamabad - but it is the Punjab province capital, Lahore, that has faced the most constant attention.

Since the festival bombing, targets have included a cafe belonging to the Peerzada family who stage the festival, and theatres across the city in co-ordinated overnight raids.

Cultural frontline
Salman Shahid, who has a popular TV chat show, says that every time people go out for the evening, there is a danger that was not there a couple of years ago.

"Somewhere at the back of your mind there is a thought that you are taking a bit of a risk," he says.

To go backstage in one of the theatres that was bombed, I climbed a steep and narrow metal staircase, squeezing along stained walls in a side street in Lahore.

On stage, some of Pakistan's biggest screen stars are playing parts amid the poor lighting and makeshift scenery. Their industry has failed to keep up with Bollywood in recent years.

The theatre's owner Bilal Ahmed said: "The cinema of Pakistan has been facing a lot of crisis. There was a time when Pakistan and India were going neck to neck.
"We do not have the state of the art equipment our neighbour does. It is just hopeless in Pakistan."
Windows broken in the bomb attack have still not been repaired at the front of the theatre, but Mr Ahmed was not giving up. Like everyone I spoke to on this cultural frontline, he saw his theatre work as having a role beyond mere entertainment.

Bawdy shows
Being able to put on vulgar bawdy shows about Punjab family life was in some way standing up for a civilisation in peril from the Taliban.

Although his dancers were clothed from head to foot, their gyrations miming to Bollywood movies have to be passed by the censor, and the police do come and check.
It is as if the theatre is on a tightrope, and could fall off any time. TV in contrast does not face censorship, and Pakistan has seen fierce competition in recent years. One of the most successful channels, Geo TV, like many institutions in the country, has taken a far harder line against the Taliban this year than before.

The tolerance for brave Islamic fighters was fine when they were fighting foreign wars in Afghanistan and in Indian-controlled Kashmir. But now that Pakistan faces an internal Islamist threat, the real nature of the kind of life the fundamentalists want has brought a new unity against them.

Younis Butt has launched a comedy show specifically to respond to the Taliban threat, including a spoof Taliban TV channel, complete with a woman singer who sits in silence with her back to the camera, and time-checks made by bullets striking a bell.

Mr Butt says: "It is the best form of fighting terrorism to expose them, so that normal people will have no sympathy for them. That is only way we can isolate them, then we can fight them."
He says his lampooning of US policy has caused complaints from Americans, too.

Mainstream v mullahs
"Americans say if this truth is by Jon Stewart or by David Letterman then that is good, but if you are doing it in Pakistan then you are not doing good work," he says.

But he believes that if he is getting strong protests from both the US and the Taliban, then he is fulfilling his function as a safety valve for a society that needs to laugh.

The Peerzada family, still hoping against the odds to stage their international festival, stress Pakistan's Sufi Islamic traditions as a counter to the Taliban.

Usman Peerzada said: "This is the moment people need the arts, need music to relax. This is the moment that people need to see drama."

Lahore is full of shrines remembering Sufi saints - a type of religion that the Taliban detest.
Faizan Peerzada has been on a long tour of Sufi areas, collecting stories, music and poetry.

'Total war'
And he has promoted a Sufi singer, Sain Zahoor, now internationally famous.

Sain Zahoor sings ancient poetry that tells of past conflicts between the Sufi mainstream and mullahs who wanted a more restrictive vision of Islamic life - a reminder that the Taliban represent an old viewpoint, appearing in a modern guise.

All of these artists are striking back with the only weapons they have - drama, music and above all humour. And the public are responding.

The day after the arts festival was bombed last year, the open-air theatre was packed.
Lahori people walked through the debris, some bringing babies and small children, in defiance of the threat. Those who were there said the atmosphere was electric.

Sadaan Peerzada said: "It is a total war. They are trying to choke and discourage. They are bold. We have to do the same and keep doing it."

Pakistan feels like a country on a hinge of history. This year for the first time it has turned on the extremist version of Islam that it nurtured for so long.

But the decisive battles in its war with the Taliban might not turn out to be on the North West Frontier Province, but on this cultural frontier of hearts and minds, as a nation struggles with its identity in the world.

Picture: "Taliban TV" pokes fun at the militants.