A Spiritual Beggar

By Faheem Ruhani, *AR Rahman: I’m a fakir* - Filmfare.com/The Times of India - India; Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Despite the fame, AR Rahman remains a spiritual beggar. Filmfare discovers why

AR Rahman is now set to collaborate with Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones’ front man) in a super group called Super Heavy. Rahman has also joined hands with Michael Bolton for the American music icon’s new album titled Gems. Closer home, his fans await the music of Rockstar, expected to bust the charts this year. Excerpts from a chat fest…

You must be tired of signing copies of your hit biography AR Rahman: The Spirit of Music…

If it means something to people, it’s definitely worth the pain. But after a while, it’s better to ease off. Sometimes you’re jet lagged, half asleep, half in a mess and someone wants to click a photograph with you. At such times, I politely refuse saying, ‘I can’t do it, I’m sorry’.

You will be composing for the first time for a Yash Chopra directed film. What does the association mean to you?

Yashji is a legend in Indian cinema and it’s a great thing to be working with him. I'm looking forward to it.

Which of Yash Raj Films’ songs are your favourite?

I loved the song Tere Liye... from Veer Zaara because it had been composed by the legendary Madan Mohan. Lataji’s (Mangeshkar) voice in it is magical.

Music director Ismail Darbar recently accused you of having bought the Oscar Award for Slum Dog Millionaire and even said that Jai Ho was composed by someone else.

As director of KM Musiq which produced the Slumdog Millionare soundtrack, we wanted to sue Ismail Darbar for 50 million dollars for having spread unacceptable slander about things he is naive about.

What made you change your mind about suing him then?

It’s the aspiring Sufi in me. My answer to them is, “Dear Friends, who stab me in my back, I will always love you and pray for you. Amen!’’

What unknown aspect about yourself have you revealed in the biography?

There are many things that I haven’t spoken about earlier. Readers seem to be moved by my admission of how I sold my mother’s jewellery to buy equipment.

Do you know where the book Teach Yourself Mandarin mentioned in your biography is now lying?

It’s lying in a special music research room, which I never used because after that I happened to travel a lot.

As a composer do you go through a ‘composer’s block’ sometimes?

Good question! See, the primary job is conceiving a tune. So when something is not working out on one song, I sit on the next one. That opens up your mind and the block disappears. That’s the advantage of doing a lot of work. When you’re working on a single project you could fall into this rut. But it does get stressful with looming deadlines.

Which is your favourite musical instrument?

That would be an instrument owned by an extraordinary instrumentalist – say a mandolin player like U Srinivas. Or the great violin player like Ganesh Kubereshwar in the South.

You’ve maintained that you’re not a good teacher. Why?

Teaching is something finite. I can only teach when I’m 100 per cent sure that I’ve got something to teach (Laughs). I’m constantly learning and trying to unlearn things.

People close to you maintain that international acclaim hasn’t changed you. Are you incorruptible in that sense?

Don’t say that! Everyone has corruption in them. It’s mainly because of an inherent selfishness that you are tied to.

Shekhar Kapur was the first one to whom you said, ‘I want to do your movie (Elizabeth – the Golden Age).’ Who were the second and third?

It ended there! (Laughs) I always believe that when I ask for something, it gets jinxed. I get things which I deserve and those I don’t deserve, I don’t get.

How do you balance the dichotomy of following Sufism and the materialism which comes with success?

Well, one is material richness and the other is spiritual richness.
I maybe rich moneywise but I’m spiritually poor. I’m a fakir in a way.

Is there a Sufi saint you want to compose a song for now?

Yeah, there’s always that thought. It can’t be dictated by commerce. Like Khwaja mere Khwaja (Jodhaa Akbar) was genuinely composed for myself and later given to Ashutosh (Gowariker).

Music is supposedly banned in Islam. Your take.

I embraced Islam through Sufism. I’m steadfastly following that path. That is serving religion through Sufism.

Do you credit yourself for inspiring Indian musicians to make a mark in rock and rap, R&B and other Western music forms?

All that already existed but was underground. The Indian population comprises 60 per cent youth. Some musicians do fantastic stuff with Indian classical music. That’s the positive thing about our country. People can do anything they want and have the time of their lives.

What’s the major difference when composing music for films in the South and the North?

It’s like if I give idli sambhar to a North Indian, he’ll say, ‘What is this? I need my roti!’ And if you give a roti to a South Indian, he’ll say, ‘I need my idli sambhar, pongal and dosa’. Some people have gone beyond that but most haven’t.

Which are the Hindi songs you grew up on?

I grew up on Subhash Ghai’s Hero (Laxmikant-Pyarelal) and then what’s that tara ra ra ra (hums the Suhana safar tune from Madhumati)! I’ve not grown up much on Hindi music. But I used to like the music of Sholay (RD Burman).

Why do you work at night?

I’ve explained this a million of times. Earlier, I used to work from 9 am to 9 pm for commercials and other assignments. After pack-up, I’d do my own creative work from 11 pm to 5 am in the morning. So for practical reasons, all my creative work was done at night. When I started composing for films, this became a habit. I’d begin around 11 pm.

How do you maintain a balance between being a private person and a public figure?

There are lots of things which are personal, which is best not let out.
I love keeping it that way (Laughs). I don’t tweet, ‘I’m going to the bathroom’. Or, ‘I’m having lunch with someone’. I don’t post such tweets and bore people. I tweet only if I have something important to say.

Bibi Baria

By Nafeesa Syeed, *Kashmiri women find a spiritual space of their own* - The Guardian - London, UK; Tuesday, September 6

Although women can pray on the grounds of other holy spots in Srinagar, at this shrine they aren't sidelined

At the shrine of Bibi Baria in Kralpora, a few miles outside of Indian Kashmir's capital of Srinagar, men are barred from entering the tomb of the 14th-century saint. It's a rare chance for Muslim women here to engage in a spiritual space that is all their own. It also feels far removed from unrelenting political tensions in the region that have included occasional strikes and protests this summer.

In downtown Srinagar stands a shrine dedicated to Baria's father-in-law Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, a Persian saint who locals credit with spreading the Sufi-oriented Islam that took hold in the valley of Kashmir. (He's buried in Tajikistan.) Women are allowed to pray outside the sanctuary, but if they try to step inside they are immediately reprimanded.

Here, however, the opposite holds true. Men are permitted in the tiled courtyard of Baria's shrine, but Zoona Malik, an elderly voluntary caretaker, shoos them away if they want to enter. In the past, Malik says, men who went inside became blind.

Atop the brown-brick shrine sits the pagoda-like layered roof and pointed pillar characteristic of Kashmiri architecture. Devotees lower their heads to the steps at the entrance, and some then kiss the ground.

The wrinkly and bespectacled Malik, who doesn't know her exact age but is a long-time visitor to the shrine, says women often come to ask from God – through the saint – with help conceiving a child or curing an illness.

"I come here to serve her," Malik says of the saint.

In addition to the well-maintained tomb, there are two large structures the religious organisations responsible for the complex have built exclusively as women's prayer halls.

At midday in early August, in the first week of Ramadan, about 10 women line up in a row for the congregational prayer service. They follow the imam, or prayer leader, whose voice is carried through a loudspeaker from an adjacent mosque, which is separated from the Baria compound by a brick wall. The setup runs counter to most mosques in south Asia that usually do not have accommodations for women or even allow them to enter the worship site.

Although women can pray on the grounds of some other holy spots and mosques in Srinagar, here women aren't sidelined to the periphery, but rather act like they own the place.

There are at least a few other shrines scattered in the valley where ladies are buried. The tradition of having a female religious guide also is not foreign to Kashmir, where some living women pirs, who act as spiritual advisers to individual disciples, still exist.

Inside Bibi Baria's resting place, women sit barefoot on green carpets, raising their hands and crying their woes and wishes, with the refrain, "Ay maeni khudaya!" (Oh, my Lord!) to punctuate their orations. Dozens of multi-coloured threads and ribbons are tied to the door handle, representing the prayers they hope are answered.

If they attain what they seek, then they will have to return, unknot the amulet and offer thanks.

Picture: A Kashmiri Muslim woman prays outside the shrine of Sufi saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani during Ramadan in Srinagar. Photo: Fayaz Kabli/Reuters.

Islam in Indonesia

By Lydia Tomkiw, *Islam in Indonesia: A Scholar’s View* - The Jakarta Globe - Jakarta, Indonesia; Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Historian, author and professor Michael Laffan studied Indonesian in high school in Australia before going on to study Arabic in college. Laffan wanted to connect the two topics and found himself “drawn into a necessary attempt to understand the religion that links so many people across the world today.”

His first book, “Islamic Nationhood and Colonial Indonesia: The Umma Below the Winds” (2002), examined the role of Islam in the Indonesian nationalist movement. Laffan recently spoke with the Jakarta Globe about his newest book, “The Makings of Indonesian Islam: Orientalism and the Narration of a Sufi Past,” due to be released this month.

How did you pick the topic of this book?

The topic for this book emerged out of my last [book] on the contributions of Islamic actors to the conception of Indonesian nationalism. It was then a step back across the colonial divide to consider just what Dutch scholars and officials made of the faith that so challenged them by the opening of the 20th century.

You’ve said that the Dutch encouraged Islam for their own purposes. What influence do you think the Dutch interaction had on shaping Indonesian Islam?

I have argued that Dutch colonial scholars encouraged certain Muslim reformers whose programs they sympathized with. In their minds, the historical presence of Sufism was a useful explanation for why Indonesians were who they were, but in its contemporary manifestations, Sufism was not held up as a form of faith for the modern future. Rather, they hoped that Indonesians would detach themselves from the various gurus and sheiks and seek out an education that empowered them to make their own individual readings of religious texts.

What do you think will surprise your readers most about the makings of Indonesian Islam?

Perhaps some people may be surprised to learn just how long Indonesians have been actively engaged in Islamic discourse and traveling across the Indian Ocean, and indeed that what we so often see as a traditional form of religion has itself been profoundly shaped in those encounters.

I think some specialists might also be surprised at how shallow the roots of certain mystical orders are, being more the product of very modern connections made in the 19th century, [rather] than ancestral ones in the 13th.

What do you think is the biggest historical misconception about the establishment of Islam in Indonesia?

I think the biggest misconception is that Indonesian Islam must have roots in the teachings of itinerant mystics belonging to what we imagine to be something like monastic orders. While not entirely discounting this possibility, we have to be aware that Islam was spread in many ways and that what now constitutes Indonesia is a web of societies with many different identities and experiences. We also need to accept the idea that Indonesians were themselves present in the ports of South and West Asia too, and that the impetus need not have come solely from holy wanderers in the archipelago.

What year, based on your research, do you think Islam first came to Indonesia?

I am not sure that I actually try to offer a date in my book, which concentrates on the later colonial imaginings of the wheres and whens of Islam in the archipelago. Again, we are all too often limited to suppositions about dates.

Many Indonesians would like to imagine that their ancestors converted soon after the passing of the Prophet, while some scholars limit themselves to the study of inscriptions that point to the 13th century. The definition of what constitutes ‘conversion’ further muddies the picture. Does the presence of one Muslim on Java mark Islamization? Or are we to await the first funerary stone of a 13th century king of Sumatra?

How would you describe Cairo’s influence on Indonesian Islam?

Although it was long known as an authoritative center, with there being evidence of Indonesians seeking juridical opinions from Al-Azhar in the 17th century at the latest, Cairo really only became a scholarly destination in the 19th century.

While many were attracted to the modernist offerings of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida at the turn of the 20th century and then the revised curriculum of Al-Azhar in the decades thereafter, it is perhaps fair to say that there is as much diversity among Indonesians in Egypt as there is at home, so it is too easy to overstate Cairo’s influence.

Certainly, the expanding network of Azharite graduates is having an influence in the country today, but they tend to find a place alongside graduates of other distinguished centers abroad, and indeed at home.

What do you think about the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) and the historical place this body will have in Indonesia, especially that the MUI has gone to Cairo and then come back to participate in Indonesian politics?

I am not so sure that reception in Cairo is anything for MUI other than a source of validation. This body, which now takes in thinkers from a variety of perspectives, has rather successfully reinvented itself over the past decades from being a state-sponsored body that was required to sanction the decisions of the regime to one seen by increasing numbers of Muslims as one that carries authority in its own right.

That said, the various fatwas and edicts that it releases are only effective when people choose to heed them, though time will tell as to whether the state continues to back up or counter its influence depending on the question of the day. Certainly, the recent persecution of [religious minority group] Ahmadiyah is an example of how far things can go when those accused of deviance have little popular support and less state protection.

You’ve spoken about Indonesian Islam as a form that many outsiders view as an ideal form. In recent years, do you think this idea has influenced Islam within Indonesia?

I think that some Indonesian thinkers and outsiders have often chosen to see a sunny future for Islam in Indonesia. Certainly, the democratic developments here seem to offer great promise to other countries undergoing the sorts of radical changes that wracked Indonesia in the late 1990s.

Yet at the same time, the openness of the public sphere, in which all manner of views about tolerance and acceptable practice are put forward, now makes it plain that one cannot rest on a stereotypical view of Indonesians as being somehow more relaxed and open to some sort of Western-dictated modernity.

The influence, in any case, of the view of Indonesian Islam as being distinct has been held up domestically against the influence of groups that, rather like the colonialists themselves, take an outside perspective and view Indonesian Muslims as deficient, and thus seek to impose a more standardized form of daily praxis that some Indonesians label as ‘Arab.’ The truth is that Islam in Indonesia has long reflected currents of thinking and behavior that are subject to as much change beyond the archipelago as within it.

What do you think the trajectory of Indonesian Islam will be?

Given I am more a historian than a soothsayer, I won’t make any predictions beyond saying that Indonesians are ever more aware of the latest trends in Islamic thought and politics abroad and will make their own decisions as to what suits their own needs in years to come.

Picture: Historian Michael Laffan’s new book explores the influences of trade, travel and traditions on the spread of Islam in Indonesia. Photo: courtesy of Princeton University Press.

A Clean Party

By Noha El-Hennawy, *Egypt's Sufi-dominated party aims to counterbalance Salafism in politics* - Al-Masri Al-Youm - Cairo, Egypt; Monday, September 5, 2011

As the fall of Hosni Mubrak’s rule encouraged Salafis to tap into politics, it also enticed their Sufi foes to form their own political party. Last week, the Sufi-dominated Egyptian Tahrir Party acquired official status, presenting itself as the first manifestation of a heavy Sufi involvement in politics.

This party is meant to act as a counterweight to the Salafi influence in politics and to protect Sufi interests, Mohamed Alaa Eddin Abul Azayem, its main founder, told Al-Masry Al-Youm in an interview.

“Salafis hold whoever does not subscribe to their ideas as a nonbeliever. For them, Sufis, Shia and unveiled women are nonbelievers,” said Azayem, leader of the Sufi Azmeyya order. “Hence the need for a moral party that would make people feel safe.”

The Sufi doctrine stands as the antithesis of Salafi Islam, given its high level of tolerance and mysticism. Salafis have always been vocal in questioning Sufis' faith and accusing them of spreading bida’ or un-Islamic practices, such as sanctifying shrines and celebrating the birthdates of the prophet’s family members and Sufi saints.

Fears of Salafi hostility have intensified since the revolution due to the rising influence of Salafi groups. So far, they have formed at least three political parties to compete for power. In the meantime, they have spearheaded a campaign to ensure that the post-Mubarak political order will be compatible with their understanding of Islamic Sharia.

Abul Azayem could not hide his fears that Salafis might abrogate Sufi orders and indeed dismantle the Supreme Council of Sufi Orders if they reach power.

In this case, he said, “Sufis will end up with no organization.”

“Hence, there should be another organization for Sufis. This Sufi party should act then as an umbrella for all Sufi orders,” he said, adding that 70 percent of the party’s 5200 founding members belong to the Azmeyya order.

Established during the second half of the 19th century, Azmeyya is one of at least 70 Sufi orders in Egypt. There is no official record of the number of Sufis in Egypt, but Sufi leaders estimate their followers at more than 10 million. For decades Sufis have remained aloof from politics, an attitude related to their belief in asceticism.

Yet the engagement of the Azmeyya order in party politics comes as no surprise for some experts.

“The Azmeyya was the most politicized order in terms of opposing the old regime,” said Rabha Allam, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

“Its opposition was not so flagrant, but its leader has a loud voice. He [Abul Azayem] had stances against Egypt’s policy towards Israel. He opposed the construction of a steel wall between Egypt and Gaza. He believed Egyptian-Israeli relations were more friendly than necessary," Allam said.

Due to this critical tone, Mubarak’s police apparatus spread rumors about the order, accusing it of receiving funds from Iran and serving as a backdoor for Shia influence in Egypt, added Allam.

Last month, Abul Azayyem made headlines by announcing that his followers would participate in a demonstration alongside youth-led secular and Coptic groups in reaction to the Islamist rally of 29 July. In a defiant tone, he vowed that his followers - whom he estimates to be in the hundreds of thousands - would fill up Tahrir Square and outnumber the Salafi rally held in the same spot two weeks earlier. Yet not all leaders of Sufi orders supported the call.

The protest ultimately failed to show Sufis' strength, as the turnout was far lower than that of the Salafi demonstration.

Abul Azayem, 68 and a geologist by training, blamed the low turnout on media reports that claimed the protest was canceled and bad timing, as the rally took place at the same time a crucial football match was aired.

However, Allam said Sufi orders might still be incapable of mobilizing the masses behind political pleas.

“The ability of Sufis to mobilize people is restricted to mawalid [religious street celebrations of saints' and the prophet’s family members' birthdates] but not in Tahrir Square. … They still need time until they can play politics,” she explained.

The Egyptian Tahrir Party identifies itself as a social democratic party. Its platform envisages a political system based on pluralism, peaceful alternation of power, genuine democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of association, respect for human rights, and renunciation of violence and intransigence. The party also preaches social justice, expects the state to play a role in the economy, and stresses people’s rights to housing, education, healthcare and employment.

But what could distinguish the Egyptian Tahrir from other parties with social democratic agendas?

For Ibrahim Zahran, the party’s president, the answer is simple: It is the party’s “moral” identity that will make it stand out.

“A big percentage of the existing parties do not believe in the role of morals in politics,” said Zahran, adding that the party will promote morals and thus establish itself as a "clean” party arising in a “polluted” political environment.

Although he admitted that the majority of the party's founders belong to the Azmeyya order, he refused to label his party Sufi.

“The party is completely independent from the Azmeyya order and other orders,” said Zahran, who admits his own Sufi leanings but affirms he does not belong to any Sufi order.

To prove that the party is for all Egyptians and not just Sufis, Zahran says 10 percent of its founders come from minority groups, including Copts and Nubians.

In a confident tone, he said his party will run for 150 out of 504 contested seats in the upcoming People’s Assembly poll, slated for November. Yet the party is still undecided on who to back in the presidential poll.

According to Amr Ali Hassan, author of the colossal work “Political Socialization of the Sufi Orders in Egypt,” Sufis still lack political expertise.

“The party can become significant and effective if it manages to establish internal democracy, develop a comprehensive platform, and make up for its lack political expertise by recruiting [political] experts and political activists,” he said.

If the party succeeds in proving its strength, it could help tone down the political polarization between secularists and hardline Islamists that has been brewing since the fall of Mubarak, said Hassan.

“This party can help liberals and leftists find a moderate religious trend that they ally themselves with and hence diffuse allegations that liberals are averse to religion,” he said.

Picture: Mohamed Alaa Edin Abouel Azayem. Photo: Noha El-Hennawy.

Sufi Values

By Staff Writer, *Vohra for revival of literary activities* - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, J&K, India; Monday, September 5, 2011

The Governor, N N Vohra has called for revival and promotion of literary activities in a big way to restore the Sufi traditions and pristine glory of Kashmir as an abode of literary discussions and philosophical, intellectual and religious debates and discourses in the past centuries.

The Governor was addressing a gathering after releasing a book, “Progressive Literary Movement in Kashmir”, written by noted poet, writer and journalist, Ghulam Nabi Khayal, at a function held at Kashmir University.

The Governor observed that all the stakeholders need to take all required initiatives for the promotion of art, culture, languages and literature for which Kashmir was known in the centuries past.

He added that many renowned explorers, travelers, historians, philosophers, intellectuals and authors who were merely passing through chose to stay in Kashmir for long periods, being attracted by its enchanting beauty, serenity and a society embedded in Sufi values.

Referring to Khayal’s book, “Progressive Literary Movement in Kashmir”, the Governor said it marks an important new chapter in the revival of Kashmir’s glorious past and rich literary history.

He congratulated Khayal for his book and hoped that the young writers would draw inspiration from his valuable contributions as a journalist, poet, author and commentator and also endeavour to add to the literary treasure trove of the State.

He wished Khayal many more books in the coming years.

The Governor presented the Umar Majid Memorial Award to Khayal on the occasion, which comprised a shawl and a memento.

Dr. Abdul Wahid, Vice Chancellor, Central University, Kashmir, presented a critical appreciation of Khayal’s book.

Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, Kashmir University, threw light on the multi-dimensional personality of Mr. Khayal and the books authored by him.

In his address, Hamidullah Bhat, Director, National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, New Delhi, gave details of the activities of his organization and those aimed at the promotion of literary activities in the State.

Dr. Farooq Fayyaz of the Department of History, University of Kashmir, presented a paper regarding Khayal’s book.

While speaking on the occasion Ghulam Nabi Khayal dwelt on his literary career and 27 books authored by him so far and, besides, those to be published shortly.

Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, in his welcome address, spoke about the activities of the Academy and the publications brought out by it during the past two years.

[Picture: N. N. Vohra. Photo: Kashmir University.]

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ 2:156

By Staff Writer, *Sufi researcher Ahmadul Huq dies* - BDNews24.com - Dhaka, Bangladesh; Monday, September 5, 2011

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un; Qur'an 2:156
'Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return'

Dhaka: Noted Sufi researcher Syed Ahmadul Haq has passed away. He was 93.

He died of old age in a Chittagong hospital on Monday. He left two sons and six daughters to mourn his loss.

His janaza will be held at Jamiatul Falah Mosque on Tuesday after the Zohr prayer.

Born on Sep 1, 1918, at Jaynagar village under Padua union council of Rangunia Upazila in Chittagong, Haq did his MA in English from Dhaka University in 1942 and MA in Public Administration from American University of Beirut.

Haq started his career as a teacher at Chittagong College and later joined in government service. He was secretary of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), deputy director of the Education Department and director of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

He wrote a number of books including "Tales from Masnavi by Jalaluddin Rumi & their inner thoughts", Prabandha Bichitra.

He also founded Alamma Rumi Society in Chittagong.

Love All, Malice None

By DA Staff Writer, *Divine Abode further collaborates with Kashmir Society, International center for Kashmir Sufism* - Your Story, The Free Press Release Resource - London, UK; Friday, September 2, 2011

Divine Abode is pleased to announce its further collaboration with Kashmir Society, International center for Kashmir Sufism along with the existing Interfaith Foundation, India.

Dr. Farook Renzu Shah, the chairman of Kashmir Society, says: "It is a honour to be a part of this great progress. We are indeed very happy to collaborate with Divine Abode. The festival will be a grand platform for bringing together all the community around the globe conveying the message of the true Sufi spirit of peace, harmony and oneness".

The first edition of the International Sufi Festival India 2011, will be held in Ajmer on the 21-27th Oct with the mission and aim of spreading the message of "Love All, Malice None".

The chairperson of Divine Abode, Ms. Gulshaa Begum, says: "The festival is free for all. This festival does not belong to any organisation or any individual, the festival belongs to all the people who are a part of this grand mission".

"You can avail the passes by sending us a email at festivals@live.in.

We would request each one interested to attend the festival to kindly make an effort to be a part of the festival and support us in making the event a great success.

[Visit the Festival's Blog]

Libyan Sanusis, Libyan Citizens

By Igor Cherstich, "A Brief Note on the Sanusiya Sufi Order in Libya" - SOAS - London, UK; Sunday, September 4, 2011

A Brief Note on the Sanusiya Sufi Order in Libya

The Sanusiya had a fundamental political role in Libyan modern history.

More specifically, the tariqa consolidated an important position within the tribal system of Eastern Libya, and as a consequence, a prominent role in leading the anti colonial struggle against the Italians.

There is a debate on whether the role of the Sanusiya was the consequence of an intrinsic political vocation of the order, or the result of historical circumstances that pushed the brotherhood to develop into (and to be recognised as) a political entity.

What is certain, nevertheless, is that the brotherhood had an important role in freeing Libya from the Fascist occupation, so that the head of the order was appointed as first (and last) king of unified Libya after the liberation.

After Khadafi's coup in 1969 the Sanusiya was practically disbanded, at least officially. The reasons for this are clear: the order was perceived as a source of support for the king.

Although it could be argued that, regardless of the fact that the king was a Sanusi, the order was already losing energy before 1969, it is pretty obvious that the regime actively attempted to eradicate it. During the Khadafi regime the Sanusi order practically disappeared from the public, but it did not die out.

The brotherhood still counts a number of members in the country, many of whom take their membership to the order only as a spiritual matter, and not as a political affiliation. As recently reported by some media, members of the order have publicly stated they do not wish for the monarchy to be restored, but for Libya to be a free and democratic country.

This should not come as a surprise. Even though a number of commentators have erroneously attempted to reduce Libya to a conglomerate of tribes and religious groups, Libyans have a strong sense of national identity. The fact that Sanusis speak out against a regime that has oppressed them should not be taken as the trace of a monarchist sentiment.

Libyan Sanusis are, amongst other things, Libyan citizens. Like many other Libyans today they envision a democratic future for their country.

Mr. Igor Cherstich is a PhD Student at SOAS, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London, UK.

[Picture: Map of Libya. Photo: Wiki.]

***
[Editor's note: Given the past importance of Libya to Italy we are translating this article into Italian. / Nota del redattore: considerata l'importanza che la Libia ha avuto per l'Italia, traduciamo questo articolo in italiano.]


Una breve nota di Igor Cherstich sulla confraternita Sanusiya in Libia.

La Confraternita dei Senussi ha assunto un ruolo politico fondamentale nella storia moderna della Libia.

Più precisamente, la tariqa ha ottenuto una posizione importante all’interno del sistema tribale della Libia orientale, e per conseguenza ha assunto un ruolo prominente nel guidare la lotta anticoloniale contro gli italiani.

Non è chiaro se il ruolo dei Senussi sia stato la conseguenza di una vocazione politica intrinseca all’Ordine o se la confraternita si sia sviluppata come entità politica (e abbia quindi assunto tale ruolo) spinta dalle circostanze storiche.

Quel che è certo è che la confraternita ha avuto un ruolo importante nella liberazione della Libia dall’occupazione fascista, tanto che dopo la liberazione il Gran Maestro dell’Ordine divenne il primo (ed ultimo) re della Libia unificata.

Dopo il colpo di stato del 1969 -che portò Gheddafi al potere- la Sanusiya fu disciolta, perlomeno ufficialmente. Le ragioni sono chiare: l’Ordine era percepito quale fonte di appoggio al re.

Appare ovvio che il regime abbia tentato in ogni modo di sradicare l’Ordine, sebbene esso stesse comunque perdendo energia ben prima del 1969, e questo nonostante il re fosse un Senussi. Durante il regime di Gheddafi l’Ordine Sufi dei Senussi scomparve dalla scena pubblica, senza purtuttavia estinguersi.

La Confraternita in Libia conta ancora un considerevole numero di membri, molti dei quali vi si affiliano esclusivamente per scopi spirituali, senza alcun fine politico. Alcuni media hanno recentemente diffuso le dichiarazioni di membri dell'Ordine, secondo cui essi non desiderano la resturazione della monarchia, ma vogliono che la Libia sia una nazione libera e democratica.

Questo non dovrebbe sorprendere. Per quanto alcuni commentatori abbiano cercato erroneamente di ridurre la Libia ad un conglomerato di tribù e gruppi religiosi, i Libici hanno un forte senso di identità nazionale. Nella critica dei Senussi al regime che li ha oppressi non può essere rintracciato alcun sentimento monarchico.

I Senussi libici sono, fra le altre cose, cittadini libici. E come molti altri libici oggi, i Senussi immaginano per il loro paese un futuro democratico.

Igor Cherstich è dottorando al SOAS, l’Istituto di Studi Orientali e Africani dell’Università di Londra; Londra, UK.

[Immagine: Carta della Libia. Foto: Wiki.]

'Allah, Allah, Allah.'

By Dr M Aamer Sarfraz, *The Sufi method* - The Friday Times - Karachi, Pakistan; September 02-08, 2011 - Vol. XXIII, N° 29

Dr M Aamer Sarfraz gives an overview of the centuries-old Pir-Murid relationship

Sufi literally means 'someone with wool' but in reality it is a person who aspires to union with God through mystical contemplation. When someone seeks union with God, he travels the spiritual path that has seven stages (lata'if): the quest, love, understanding, detachment, unity, astonishment, and poverty and annihilation. During the spiritual journey (suluk), the seeker (salik) tries to conquer his Nafs (ego, self) by transformation of consciousness. He starts with nafs al-ammara (animal self - governed by greed and instincts) and progresses through the seven stages under the supervision of a shaykh (Pir, Murshid) to the level of nafs al-kamila (wholesome self - total union of God with the individual). The Pir is responsible for giving instructions, and then supporting, monitoring, and appraising the spiritual progress of Murid (disciple).

In order to become a Murid, one needs to do bayyat - an oath of allegiance taken by putting one's hand on the hand of Pir and repeating a prescribed oath. A Murid needs to have certain attributes (adab) including a belief that his Pir is the best and the Murid will follow his Pir's command. Each Murid's spiritual journey is different; therefore, he hands over his will to the Pir. The spiritual work given individually to Murids to meet their specific spiritual needs is called wird (plural - awrad). Wird (such as saying, 'Allah, Allah') is described as a unit of dhikr constructed to contain certain patterns of knowledge and self-awakening. The initial goal is to gradually improve concentration by learning to stop the flow of thoughts - 'living in the moment'.

Murid utters 'Allah, Allah' a number of times a day and at a specific time while keeping the Pir in tasawwer (view). The Murid attracts baraka (blessings of God) through the practice of dhikr. He is encouraged to live out in the world but also to do dhikr in solitude. Later he is directed to perform dhikr with each breath; soon realising that he cannot even breathe without dhikr. If progressing successfully, in due course, dhikr al-qalbi which operates automatically becomes activated. The Murid now notices that sitting in his office or on a prayer mat he is immersed in the remembrance of Allah. Once activated, dhikr may manifest as a beating of the heart which is so pronounced that it appears to beat on the outside of the body. Awrad become increasingly 'heavy' and it depends upon the himma (yearning, strength) of the Murid how quickly he can perform the prescribed awarad at specific times and in certain number daily while struggling against the body's desire to sleep, eat and take rest.

If dhikr takes place in the presence of the Pir, the Murid focuses his gaze on the Pir's face, relaxes and then concentrates on eliminating all distracting thoughts. Naqshbandis perform only silent dhikr, a practice that makes them unique among the orders. Mujaddidis employ two basic dhikrs; the first, dhikr-i ism-i dhat, entails pronouncing one of the names of God alone, "Allah," or "Hu," (He). The second, nafi wa ithbat, is an advanced practice in which the Murid sits cross-legged, hands joined together with his left hand clasping the right wrist. The optimum position is to sit directly in front of the Pir and gaze at his visage while repeating 'Allah, Allah, Allah.'.

Dreams are of great value on the Sufi Path. They are indicative of spiritual states and are kept secret only being relayed to the Pir who interprets them. The dreams may increase as the Murid struggles to wake up for Tahajjud (dawn prayer) and sit for dhikr. Frequently, the Pir appears in his dreams to clarify, admonish or praise. Murid is always alert to the ishara (signs) from Pir because teaching and signposting takes place through constant focus. Sometimes, Murids get stuck. The Pir uses different methods to move them to the next stage; these include fasting, whirling, change of milieu and exercises to improve concentration. If these methods do not work, they become stationary - this is the limit of their qualification. However, they continue to draw baraka from their attachment to the order.

The Murid gradually understands the reality that the Pir is his key to reaching Allah. The face of the Pir grows to become the most beautiful, powerful and penetrating. His is the face that the Murid wants to see everywhere and always. The intensity of feelings towards the beloved Pir grows - jealousy, possessiveness, and ambivalence are experienced. The Murid is not sure whether these feelings are a blessing or curse and tries to approach the Pir for clarifications. The Pir will sometimes meet but on other occasions avoids the Murid. On meeting, the Pir does not say much, which inflames these feelings more. The Murid ponders, meditates and eventually finds his own meanings. The profound love that the Murid has for his Pir reaches such a level that he perceives the Pir standing in front of him when he needs him. The Pir also searches in his visionary dreams whether the Murid with his soul and spirit has reached where they are bound to his own; fana fi-shaykh - self-annihilation in the shaykh.

When the seven stages (lata'if) have opened through dhikr and the heart is completely cleansed, with Pir's permission, the Murid undertakes the last stage of Sufi method: the Muraqabat. The muraqabat are advanced contemplative exercises to lead the Murid through the higher realm of wahdat (unity). They are performed usually after 'asr (afternoon prayer) in the presence of Pir or alone at night. The Murid is cautioned about the pitfalls of falling asleep during this exercise when alone. These continue for a number of days determined by the Pir, and the Murid cannot proceed to the next without permission. At each stage, he is obliged to inform the Pir regarding his experiences. In the first muraqaba, the Murid contemplates oneness (ahadiyya), and then proceeds to contemplate other specific attributes of God. In contemplating the various qualities and attributes of wahidiyya, the Murid's task is to invite baraka from the source of each latifa. The objective is to return each latifa to its origin, thereby achieving annihilation in it.

When the first four lata'if are returned to their origin, Murid enters the stage of wilayat alsughra or lesser sainthood. It is here in the 'unity of being' that the Sufi temporarily loses interest in the manifest world and experiences the annihilation of the ego or fana'. Following the remaining akhfa' latifa, being annihilated in the unity of being, he enters the stage of wilayat al-kubra or unity of essence. The state of wilayat al-kubra is one of calm and quiet union with God's unity of essence (baqa'). This is the maqam (station) of 'the expanded breast' (shar-i-sadr), indicating the perfection of the akhfa' latifa which means total elimination of bad habits and desires from the nafs.

A sense of calm and tranquility along with an immense feeling of power rests with the Pir when he qualifies. He believes he can achieve anything (tasarraf) with the reality he has experienced. At this stage, some go quiet while attempting further progress; others go out and provide moral and spiritual guidance to the community. In line with his pre-Sufi traits, the Pir may heal, solve problems, predict the future or try to modify outcomes through the power of his prayer. He would only find his niche after trial and error in good time. When the Pir eventually leaves this world after a lifetime of public service, the anniversary of his physical death (wisaal - union) is celebrated as urs (wedding - with Reality) by his Murids who also continue to get his faiz (blessings) by visiting him (his grave).

Dr M Aamer Sarfraz lives in London

Colours of Harmony

By Staff Reporter, *Devotees flock to Jannati Darwaza at Ajmer dargah* - The Times of India - Jaipur, India; Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Ajmer: The city of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti here wore colours of harmony on Wednesday with people from various communities celebrating Eid-ul-fitr.

Devotees flocked to Idgahs in and around the city but it is the shrine of the Sufi saint where a large crowd was seen from early morning to enter the Jannati Darwaza, which was opened for the devotees on the occasion.

In Ajmer, Eid is celebrated not only by the Muslim community but also by different communities offering prayers and greeting each other with 'Eid Mubarak'.

"Before offering namaz [prayer] in a masjid [mosque], we have to see that no poor is left hungry and it is the duty of every devotee that he should ask them for their needs," said S F Hussein Chishti, a khadim [custodian] at the dargah.

Many people were seen giving out 'firka', a tradition to give food and money to the poor.

People from Hindu, Jain and Christian faiths went to the dargah in their best clothes to offer prayers and wish their Muslim colleagues. "Since time immemorial, it is a regular tradition that people of our area came out, gather near the dargah to welcome and celebrate Eid with our Muslim friends," Avinash Kane of Kaserganj sabji mandi said.

P K Shrivastav, a resident of Nala bazaar, said, "It is a custom that we all wear new clothes and went to the homes of our Muslim friends along with our families to wish them a happy Eida. My five-year-old son is liking his new cap for the occasion."

A special attraction for kids is the traditional toy shops outside different masjids where items made from clay and woods are sold. "The bazaar which came up for a day, made us remember our old days when we ask our father after the namaz to buy these toys," Mohammad Ayub of Ramganj said.

On the occasion, most houses and shops were decorated with lights and different colour of paints. The dargah was illuminated with decorative lights in the evening.

[Picture: The Jannati Darwaza (Gate to Paradise). Photo: Dargah Ajmer Sharif.

Takbir Could Be Heard

By SMN Staff Reporter, *Eid Celebrated in Ahlu Sunna Administrated Central Areas* - Shabelle Media Network / All Africa - Mogadishu, Somalia; Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Dhusamareb: Under the order of Somalia's moderate Sufi group, people in parts of central Somalia on Wednesday celebrated the festival of Eid Al Fitr.

The carnival Ahlu Sunna marking the end of fasting holly month of Ramadan comes a day after Muslims in many regions of Somalia and around the Muslim celebrated yesterday.

In the districts of Dhusamareb, Abudwak and other areas in Galgudud region under the control of moderate Sufi group, Takbir (Allah Is The Greatest, Allah Is The Greatest, Allah Is The Greatest) to mark the first of Eid Al Fitr could be heard echoing from the mosques there.

With glee and dressed in new pretty colthes, people mainly children and women could be seen the streets in parts of central Somalia.

After performing the Eid prayers, the newly elected Ahlu Sunna chairperson, Pro. Hirsi Mohamed Hilowle congratulated all Somalis and those in central Somalia in particular in celebrating the carnival of Eid Al Fitr.

Picture: Muslims in Mombasa say prayers for Eid (file photo). Photo: Gideon Maundu/Nation.

Breathing Freedom

By Larbi Sadiki, *Egypt: On Sufis and 'Political Dervishes'* - Al Jazeera - Doha, Qatar; Monday, August 29, 2011

Egypt’s political landscape can be likened to tectonic plates: constantly shifting.

The aftershocks of the country’s political tsunami continue to be felt in the alignments, re-alignments and coalition building unfolding day by day.

The latest to enter the foray are the Sufis - at the invitation of the country's fragile liberal forces struggling to make an impact against the more solidified religious forces.

How is the grab for power and short-term gain corrupting the quest for genuine and substantive long-term institution building?

Religious Egypt

There is no escape from religion in Egypt - in this regard post-revolution is more like pre-revolution. Copts and Muslims are equally spiritual and take the religious experience very seriously. It is difficult to imagine Egypt without the Nile. Likewise, it is impossible to imagine Egypt without religion and religiosity.

In theory, liberal and secular recipes might have some value in them as templates of political correctness and modernising veneer. In practice, they are not enabling enough, at least not as yet, for forces and voices espousing them to bite into the body politic.

Stay tuned for the coming battles over what kind of constitution, namely the status of Islamic law in legislation, the country should develop after the November parliamentary elections - if not postponed again.

The battle lines are already drawn between the liberal and secular forces on one side and the Islamists (Muslim Brotherhood [MB] and the Salafists) on the other. What complicates matters is the sympathy by the Prime Minister's office and the Military Council for such tenets, and the - Freedom & Justice Party (MB-FJP) does not wish to sabotage the excellent relations they have thus far maintained with the Military Council.

The Immutable and Mutable in Egypt

Largely, historical pedigree and institutionalisation will provide the political pivots around which politics is organised, informed and shaped in the Arab World's leading state.

One is the army which is a professional institution par excellence and is a major stakeholder in the state. Even under Mubarak it has remained autonomous, which like in Tunisia explains its non-use of force against the civilian population. It will remain a mover and shaker of politics, however.

The Wafd's historical role and aura, especially under Saad Zaghloul, and its role in recruitment during state-formation and de-colonisation provides it with a political repertoire for rebuilding itself into a key political party. Today's Wafd is riddled with problems, with internecine fighting dimming its previous shine.

Like the Wafd, the Muslim Brotherhood, now licensed and empowered through having a political arm is a formidable force, versed into the politics of Egypt from the time of the monarchy till present. Its wealth, cadres, resourcefulness, global ties, networks amongst Egypt's religious and non-religious elites, grassroots struggles and welfarism, and popular following endows it with unmatched weight in the current political topography in Egypt.

Closeness and affinity with the Azhar, which is not in any way institutional, is a bonus, but they do not always see eye to eye on numerous matters of national importance. In the post-revolution period, the Azhar will inevitably become more embroiled in politics, and it already is. Short of fielding candidates to parliament, its say in politics will be of import to all.

The above three forces are chief political pivots.

The Sufi brotherhoods are ubiquitous in Egypt. But unlike in neighbouring Sudan and Libya their political role has been negligible. Like the Salafis, they will need time to be coached into the mastery of the art of politics.

The 6th of April Movement, which has divided after the revolution, and the National Movement for Change have lots of potential, and their political instinct to engage the current phase through coalition-building is judicious. This gives the old and new small parties political texture and a margin of existence. Trade unions remain weak and their role will in the foreseeable future remain limited.

The above forces represent the new face of post-revolutionary Egypt, and their role in politics is bound to solidify, either by coalescing within and without, by drawing on the weight of existing pivotal actors.

Emergence of Excluded Religion

The Salafis probably outnumber the MB in terms of popular reach. They have been functioning underground and the the Alexandria-based so-called 'Tanzeem 2' (apparatus 2, on the right of political Islam’s spectrum) has been lying low but not idle. Today they want a place in post-Mubarak Egypt and have either formed political parties (e.g. Al-Adl, Al-Nour) or have parties under construction, as it were.

What they lack now is the civic continuity, visibility and political know-how of the MB. The MB is weighty today because it has invested so much capital in struggles against the state, competition for power in local and parliamentary elections, and networked widely, nationally and globally. Whether in Gaza or Bosnia they have had a role to play, no matter how minimal.

To raise the banner of 'khilafa' (Islamic Caliphate) in today's world, as does Hizb al-Tahrir in London, is political bankruptcy in a country like Egypt. This is a language not found within the MB, but integral to many Salafi groups politico-religious template. No wonder the liberals and the secular forces, including many Copts, were petrified by such banners the day the Salafis descended on Tahrir Square on the 29th of July.

Some of the current re-alignments happening today are reactionary, seeking to respond to the Salafis' call for Sharia'h, Islamic law, by dragging into politics the Sufis, supposedly and theoretically the soft, moderate and accommodating face of Islam.

The Al-'Azmiyya Brotherhood Shaykh, Alaa Al-Din Abu Al-'Azayim tried to oblige, promising what is named here a 'malyuniyya' (one-million people) to gather in Tahrir Square on the 12th of August for a Friday 'for the love of Egypt’ show of force. The Sufis never came, either for disagreement, which is the view of most Sufi Brotherhoods, or for inability to recruit enough people for the malyuniyya of patriotic 'love'.

Plus, the timing is bad: the Military Council is banning all 'malyuniyyas', and future ones will be held in conjunction with it, including the one planned for August 19. All arteries to Tahrir Square are heavily policed with security forces trucks flanking streets in and out of Tahrir.

In politics, the liberals and the secularists, despite the best of intentions, are looking like political dervishes. They are overwhelmed by the power of religion in a country where they will for some time to come be dwarfed by Islamists of all kinds.

The penny has finally dropped. The liberals and secularists may have just realised that in politics they, too, might need the mysterious hand of the Lord to forge their inexistent political careers and breathe some life into their causes.

Where does that leave liberalism? And secularism? All long they have maintained that a key tenet of their political philosophy to be separation of religion and politics! They are entitled, in my view, to adapt to the local reality whose sensibilities and sensitivities differ from the birthplace and context of Western liberalism.

The MB has been adept at seeking coalitions with secular parties, including the Wafd these days, even if there are differences threatening a split between the two. Copts are becoming visible in the FJP and will join its electoral lists in November. The Wafd itself is flirting with the Salafists, as an insurance policy should their coalition with the MB-FJP come unstuck. Most likely, if the debate about the constitutional tenets heats up, the Salafists and MB-FJP would form joint lists for the November elections, with or without the Wafd.

Post-Revolutionary Egypt

Egyptians are brilliant people. They are just facing the travails for democratic reconstruction and the challenges of coming together to re-imagine political community.

They are entitled to differ, to make mistakes, and even act clumsily. There are benefits to this: it is a democratic learning curve they must measure up to.

In describing the coalition building and the battle lines, I am not naively stating that Egypt is in a state of crisis. I am saying exactly the opposite: that I am optimistic about how this great nation is learning to parley, rely on its own resources instead of importing democratic moulds from without. All this I do this in the knowledge, as a committed student of Arab democratic transformation, that the road to democratic Egypt has just begun; may be the revolution has just begun.

As for the labels, MB, FJP, Salafis, Sufis, liberals, secularists or the followers of Shaykh Imam, the 8th of July or the 'poverty first' campaign, they are just the political capillaries to pluralism and pluralisation, some keys of how to open up the Pandora’s box of the struggle for good government in Egypt.

Egypt is finally breathing freedom.

Dr Larbi Sadiki is a Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter, and author of Arab Democratisation: Elections without Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009) and The Search for Arab Democracy: Discourses and Counter-Discourses (Columbia University Press, 2004), and the forthcoming Hamas and the Political Process (2011).

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Chilla Kashi

By TNN Staff Writer, *Doubts over Anna's 12-day fast unfounded* - The Times of India - India; Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Jaipur: Doubts about Anna Hazare's 12-day fast are baseless, feel experts and religious followers even as Anna Hazare has explained to the likes of Lalu Yadav that it is the power of "brahmcharya" [follower of the Absolute] that helps him keep fast for longer durations.

While breaking his fast at the Ramlila ground on Sunday, Anna had said a few politicians who doubt his fast should understand the power of "brahmcharya" that helps him stay without food for several days. Besides, Anna is certainly not to first to observe a long fast. Under various customs and traditions, people are known to observe fast for over a month.

Both the sects of Jain community--Shwetambar and Digambar observe eight-day fast during Paryushan Parva. "During these days, people only take water and that too, in a controlled manner," says Rajendra Bhandari, a follower of the Shwetambar sect, and secretary of Rajasthan Khadi Federation. Throughout the day, the community members perfom bhajan kirtan, and it is only after sunset that they drink water. Bhandari says his sister Chandrakanta, also a Jaipur resident, had once fasted for 30 days.

Followers of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, 12th century sufi saint, are known to fast for 40 days, and survive on just water. The custom is known as chilla kashi. Hazrat Nizamuddin, the famous 14th century sufi saint, used to observe chilla kashi. The chilla, or retreat of Baba Farid is a revered place among Chishti followers at the Ajmer dargah.

"Chilla kashi is observed under the supervision of a peer at a designated place and the followers are given either water or tea depending on the body requirement," says sufi scholar Syed Jazmul Hasan, who has worked extensively on Chishti philosophy.

It's not just religion, but science too backs Anna's fast. Gastroenterologist at SMS Medical College, Dr Subhash Nepalia, says that keeping a long fast by a healthy person is quite possible. "The feedback mechanism in human brain keeps feeding your appetite centres, but once you stop taking meals the mechanism doesn't work, so one can stay without meals. The duration depends on the support system of one's body," he explains.

Nutritionist, Asha Khumgar says that with an Army background, Anna Hazare can easily manage to remain without food for more than 15 days. "Anna Hazare comes from an Army background where men are trained to live without food in war times. Moreover, he is a brahmchari that also helps in revitalizing his body." Besides, it is his immense will power that has helped him stay without food for such a long time, adds Khumgar.

[Picture: Anna Hazare. Photo: Wiki.]

Back to the Freewheeling Days

By Madhusree Chatterjee, *'Sufis of Punjab' - Building bridges across borders* - IANS/Two Circles Net - Boston, MA, USA; Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Book: "The Sufis of Punjab"; Edited by Muzaffar Ali, Anoo C. Nayar and Syeda Bilgrami Imam, Publisher: Rumi Foundation, Price: Rs.1,895, Pages: 208

The birth of the Punjabi literary tradition is built into Sufi mysticism, which dates back to the birth of Shaikh Faridu'd-Din, popularly known as Baba Farid, in the late 12th century.

For the last 800 years, Punjab has prided itself on a spiritual culture that believes in open worship, relying on the "holy book" and the core tenets of Sufism, secularism being its primary plank.

The anthology of essays, "The Sufis of Punjab", traces the evolution of Sufi mysticism in the state in the context of its assimilation from local cultures, references to Sufism in the Granth Sahib and how the Sufi literature conected to the local people with concepts of love, secularism, universality, music, freedom of spirit and one god.

The hefty volume, which released Sunday, is visually opulent. It uses a combination of graphics, line sketches, illustrations, hand-painted portraits, calligraphy , sonnets and photographs arranged on a muted colourscape of beige, brown, black and red.

The volume is engaging and lucid with a festive feel that harks back to the freewheeling days of the early Sufi period when life in the northwestern frontier bustled around shrines and celebrations of faith.

The pages are leaves out of history; embellished with unusual anecdotes and facts linking Sufism to Sikhism. For beginners in the study of religion, the book comes across as a page-turner.

The editors say the book tries to build bridges across the border by highlighting a greater Sufi literary lineage that went beyond geographical boundaries of Pakistan and India.

Sufi mystics and poets then shared common home, stories and music.

Since the early Punjabi poetry was spiritual in nature - it allowed Baba Farid's profound poetics to flower. In the 14th century, Guru Nanak, the first guru of the Sikh religion, distilled the Sufi, Nath and Bhakti traditions - three religious genres that influenced Punjab's spiritual tradition - in his divine verses. Nanak even laid down the 'raag (melody)' in which each of these verses were to be sung. The songs came to be identified as "kirtan"- a pioneering avatar of devotional music.

The book is one of the four volumes published by Rumi Foundation. The first one documents the legacy of Hazrat Amir Khusrau while the second commemorates the 800th anniversary of Jalaluddin Rumi. The third tome, "Sufi & Rishis of Kashmir", is a tribute to the secular Sufi poets of J&K.

"Punjab has been a vital gateway to this enormous sub-continent. It has opened minds to create 'seekers of truth', of those who came in and those who went out," said filmmaker and Sufi revivalist Muzaffar Ali, chief editor of the book.

"Sikhism has gained from Sufism, an older faith. A lot of Guru Granth Sahib has Baba Farid in it," Ali told IANS.

One of the best examples was Sufi mystic Hazrat Mian Mir, who was invited by Arjan Dev to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar. Arjan Dev sent a palanquin and a posse of 100 followers to fetch Mian Mir to Amritsar from Lahore.

The convoy was attacked by local king Chandu Mal, but Mian Mir escaped. He laid the foundation of the Golden Temple Jan 3, 1588.

It was also around that time that "qissa-poetry", the ballad poems of Islamic-Punjabi, became popular among both Sufi story-tellers and the Gurmukhi musicians, who believed in "ishq (love)" both in life and in commune with God.

Love was the central theme immortalised in legendary ballads such as "Hir Siyal" -- the tale of the rebellious Punjabi love born in 1425 AD.

Muzaffar Ali has just completed work on the subsequent volume - "The Sufis of Awadh" -- which will be published by the end of this year.

"Like Kashmiri Sufi mystics, who were influenced by Shaivism, the Sufi poets of Awadh were inspired by Krishna-Bhakti. The 'Sufis of Awadh' will be published by the end of this year. It will be followed by the 'Sufi Saints of Bengal'," Ali said.

Heart-warming

By Rauf Parekh, *Urdu, mysticism and Japanese scholars* - Dawn.Com - Karachi, Pakistan; Monday, August 29, 2011

Last week was not particularly a very pleasant one for Karachi and Karachiites as the fallout of the recent disturbances in the city continued in one way or the other. However, some Japanese scholars and their students dared it out and landed in the city to gather some material for their ongoing research projects.

The visitors included three scholars, two from the Kyoto University and one from the Osaka University. And accompanying them was a PhD student from the Kyoto University and a research student from the Osaka University. It was nice to see that both the young students were very keen to learn more and more about Urdu language and Pakistani culture.

Talking to them — amidst the rare books and manuscripts they were poring over at Prof Dr Moinuddin Aqeel’s huge personal library — was an enlightening experience. Discussions with them on several topics continued as this writer rejoined them later in the evening at an Iftar dinner writer Muhammad Hamza Farooqi had arranged in their honour.

It was a pleasant surprise to know that it is considered quite normal in Japan for a scholar to know several languages and one can expect a Japanese scholar to know as many as ten languages. For instance, one of the visitors, Dr Tonaga Yasushi, a professor of the Study of the Islamic World and the deputy director of the Centre for Islamic Area Studies at the Kyoto University, knows Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, German and Italian, not to mention English and his native Japanese.

In addition to Islamic Studies, he is an expert on the history, cultures and languages of the Islamic world. Another area of study that fascinates him is mysticism and Sufism. When asked how he became interested in Islamic mysticism, he said that he was keenly interested in mysticism since his childhood. Later, he studied Chinese mysticism, Taoism and Sufism and graduated in Islamic Studies from Tokyo University. Here he met and was deeply impressed by Prof Toshihiko Izutsu, an expert on Islamic Studies who had profoundly studied Imam Ghazali’s philosophies and the aspects of Islamic mysticism. Prof Izutsu later supervised his PhD thesis.

Born in 1960 in Japan’s Mie prefecture, considered cradle of Shintoism, Prof Tonaga went to Egypt for higher studies and also carried out research on Ibn-i-Arabi’s theories on Islamic mysticism and ‘tariqat’. His works include a research on ‘Tariqah Movement’. He feels there are many aspects of Islamic Sufism that must be brought before the Japanese people as tolerance is one of the virtues and lures of Sufism. An interesting aspect of Prof Tonaga’s research is that he did not confine himself to sheer academic interest in Sufism and learned different ways of meditation. He practised Islamic Sufism while in Egypt and wanted to be admitted into a ‘silsila’ (order of Sufis).

One of Dr Tonaga’s recent research works is a bibliography of the books written on Ibn-i-Arabi all over the world.

Prof Dr Imamatsu Yasushi is another scholar who has a deep interest in Islamic mysticism. A visiting professor at the Centre for Islamic Area Studies at Kyoto University, he is also an expert on Turkey, its culture, language and history.

Born in Osaka in 1963, he received his early education in Kobe and graduated in Oriental History from Kobe University. Later, he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the same university.

Prof Imamtsu had come to Pakistan some 11 years ago and during his first visit he had been to many Sufi shrines, comparing them with the shrines in Turkey.

Prof Yamane So is not a stranger to Pakistan neither is Pakistan an strange country to him. In fact, we can call him half-a-Pakistani as his impeccable Urdu and fluent Punjabi with a barely traceable Japanese accent make him appear quite at home in Pakistan. A very jolly and vivacious character, Prof Yamane got his diploma in Urdu from the Punjab University Oriental College and MA in Urdu from Osaka University in 1989.

His frequent visits and stay in Pakistan for many years has perfected his Urdu, so much so that he not only appreciates Urdu maxims and the nuances of Urdu idioms but can also enjoy Urdu’s latest slangy expressions and informal parlance. As a result of his huge reading and a deep love for poetry, he composes beautiful Urdu poetry under the penname of ‘Yasir’ and can discuss with you Urdu’s meters and prosody, a rarity even among many native scholars of Urdu.

His dissertation on Urdu short story writer Ghulam Abbas has been published and a mention of his works on Urdu would require a long list. His recent works include some research on Urdu orthography and Urdu script. Another work of his is the first volume on the Islamic history of South Asia, published in a series in the Japanese language, aimed at presenting the history of Islam for common Japanese readers.

Sunaga Emiko is a PhD candidate and a research fellow at the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies at Kyoto University. Having graduated in Urdu from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, she is here to collect some research material for her doctoral dissertation that aims at discovering the impact of print media on Islam in South Asia.

Meeting these Japanese brimming with academic spirit was very refreshing as equally heart-warming was their love and appreciation for all things Pakistani.

[Picture: Karachi with the Mazar-e-Quaid (Jinnah's Shrine). Photo: Wiki.]

Afghanistan Needs a Balance

By Iason Athanasiadis, *Afghanistan: Sufi Mysticism Makes a Comeback in Kabul* Eurasianet.org - Open Society Institute, New York, NY, USA; Friday, August 26, 2011

In a garden in Kabul’s Karte-Seh district, a group of Sufi musicians and poets gather for an evening of mystical melodies. Platters of rice pilau and fruit cover carpets spread across the lawn. This twice-weekly meeting is held at the home of a member of the ancient Chishti Sufi order who gathers together an all-male crème de la crème of Kabul’s Sufi society. Television preachers, renowned qawwali singers and prominent politicians with clandestine Sufi proclivities all flock to the garden to sample the ecstatic music.

Sufism is an ascetic spiritual tradition pioneered by Islam’s early warriors, who pushed outwards from the Arabian Peninsula into Central Asia and lived in all-male bands on the frontiers of the young empire. As they traveled, they adopted local traditions, even some that seemed to go against the mainstream tenants of Islam, including music. The Chishti blended qawwali music, a devotional melody that developed in south Asia, with the Persian whirling dervish dances, and acquired a reputation for being the most musical Sufi order.

As a result, they suffered more than other Afghan Sufis during the rule of the Taliban, who banned music and discouraged the gatherings. Whereas Sufi orders and pilgrimages to the shrines of mystics were long an integral part of Afghan devotional traditions, the Taliban’s harshly orthodox interpretation of Islam banned creative outlets, locking Afghan society into a half decade of spiritual austerity. Recently, Sufism has been on the defense in neighboring Pakistan, where local fundamentalists have killed hundreds in attacks on Sufi shrines.

Lutfullah Haqqparast was one of the few Sufi sheikhs who refused to submit to the Taliban’s restrictions on Sufism. The preacher – a suit-and-tie-wearing sociologist at a Kabul University who dons a white turban and green robe when officiating Sufi gatherings – was arrested for not caving to Taliban demands to stop his followers’ chanting. But when the Taliban tried to transfer him from Kabul to Kandahar, according to legend, there was such an outcry from religious elders that Haqqparast was released.

Today Haqqparast says Afghanistan needs a balance between Sufism’s mystical passion and the western rationality he teaches. “This traditional society needs Sufis to show it a more open-minded path but also the West to teach it logic,” he told EurasiaNet.org.

Haqqparast attends zikrs – devotional Sufi gatherings that often turn ecstatic – at Kabul’s historic Shah-Do Shamshira mosque, a stately yellow building topped by twin navy-blue minarets.

Worship at the shrine is precarious, though. On June 17, for example, suicide bombers targeted a police station in the area and a gun battle raged for hours nearby – another reminder of how confident the Taliban are becoming.

The Afghan government, too, is feeling the pressure. To that end, President Hamid Karzai pays greater reverence to the Ulema Shura (Council of Clerics) whose orthodox Muslim views are often opposed to women’s rights, free speech or mystical Islam. On the other hand, Minister of Information and Culture Sayeed Makhdoom Raheem seeks to use Sufism as a moderating force against the Taliban even as he pressures Sufis to tone down their theatrical devotions ahead of reconciliation talks.

“Raheem is reviving Sufism and restoring khaneqahs [lodges] that encourage mysticism exactly because he believes that it can act as a tool to stop political Islam and the Taliban,” said Nasir Farahmand, a Kabul-based professor of philosophy who is an avowed secularist.

After taking in the qawwali music, Haqqparast gets up and, escorted by a group of disciples, heads to his modest car. A supporter drives him through old Kabul’s twisting lanes to Sufism’s less-effete face.

At the entrance to a charity home, disabled Sufis bedecked with necklaces and hennaed beards cluster around a gate opening onto what was once a basement jail. Amid clouds of hashish smoke, semiconscious men loll against the metal bars of former cells. Others file upstairs into a makeshift temple of interconnected rooms. It is nearly 3 a.m., but the floor is packed with ecstatic dervishes listening to musicians on a raised dais.

Iason Athanasiadis is an Istanbul-based freelance journalist.

Click on the title to the video in the original article.

[Picture: Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque (built 1920). Photo: Wiki. More images of the Mosque at Asian Historical Architecture.]

Happiness and Sadness

By Abdul Sattar, *Alam Lohar a trendsetter in folklore* - The Nation - Pakistan; Thursday, August 25, 2011

Muhammad Alam Lohar was a prominent Punjabi folk music singer of Pakistan. He died in 1979 in an accident. He is also credited with popularising the term and song Jugni.

Alam Lohar was born in the small village of Aach Goach in Gujrat district, in Punjab in a family of blacksmiths. He was gifted with a melodious voice and began singing as a child.

He developed a new style of singing the Punjabi Vaar, an epic or folk tale. He is famous for his rendition of Waris Shah’s Heer, which he has memorised in 36 styles and forms. He recorded his first album at the age of 13 and has outsold all other singers in Pakistan (verified in records kept with HMV Pakistan 1979).

In his childhood he used to read Sufiana Kalaams, Punjabi stories and participate as a young child in local elderly gatherings. Out of the rural background rose a great singer that could influence his audience with elements of joy peace, happiness and sadness.

He started going to festivals and gatherings on regular basis and with these performances he rose to become one of the most listened singers in South Asia. In 1970s, it was the Queen’s Jubilee event in the UK and there was a singing competition between all the Commonwealth Countries in which Alam won the award of best performance and was also presented with a gold medal award.

Throughout the period of 1930’s and until his passing away in 1979, he has dominated folk singing in Pakistan and been a major singer in Punjabi and Sufi singing throughout the entire world. In many rural villages the local traditional people have called him ‘Sher-e-Punjab’ or ‘Heerah’.

With his God-gifted voice and singing in difficult high and low pitches, he made a unique impression in singing with his Chimta [musical tongs].

Other than being a famous singer, Alam Lohar was also a great poet and wrote many of his songs. He also had another quality that he used books of Sufi saints and stories and brought them in song format which gave his songs a great lyrical content which could make people cry and joy at the same time. The word ‘Jugni’ was his creation and he created this term from reading many Sufi writings and represented this word as a spiritual feeling of one’s experience of the world. Furthermore, he was the pioneer of introducing the writings of Saiful Malook and Mirza Shabaan in song format.

Alam Lohar had another quality that he could sing all night long and sometimes without music. In rural Punjab, he used to sing from village to village and without any modern music technology.

Later, he organised a full-fledged theatre with a complete orchestra. His troupe toured all over Punjab for religious and seasonal festivals and was one of the first Pakistani as well as South Asian singers to sing internationally in almost all the countries.

Alam died in an accident near Sham ki Bhaitiyan on July 3, 1979. He laid to rest in Lala Musa. He was given the Pride of Performance award in 1979 by General Ziaul Haq and had also received numerous awards. He is a pioneer in cultural and folk style singing.

He set a benchmark and many Punjabi and other folk singers have greatly been influenced from him. Therefore he has left a great legacy of a unique style of singing which is still followed in Pakistan by Punjabi as well as other folk singers. One of the greatest singers of all time: he is seen and remembered through his son Arif Lohar who has continued in the same tradition.

His famous songs are Dharti Panj Daryavan Di, Dil wala dukhra nahin kisse noon sunayee da, Saiful Malook, Qissa Hazrat Yousaf, Mar ke modha hauly jaye sorry akh gaye, Bol mitti diya bawiya, Jugni, Mirza, Qissa Karbala, Kalam Baba Bulley Shah, Sohni Mahiwal and others.

Peace and Well-being in the Caucasus

By ANS Press Reporter, *Baku to host international Islamic conference* - News.Az - Baku, Azerbaijan; Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A conference on "The Place and Role of Sufism in Islam" has ended in Chechnya with a decision to hold next year's conference in Baku.

Azerbaijan's spiritual leader, Caucasus Muslims Department Chairman Allahshukur Pashazade, was among the religious leaders and theologians from the former Soviet Union and further afield who attended the conference.

This was the third consecutive year that the International Islamic Conference had been held in the Chechen capital Grozny.

This year's conference was dedicated to what would have been the 60th birthday of Chechnya's former pro-Moscow president, Ahmat Kadyrov.

In his address, Sheikh Pashazade proposed expanding the scale of the conference.

“This conference must receive attention not only in Grozny but also in Azerbaijan, Turkey and other countries. It has shown that some trends that run counter or are indifferent to Islam are not on the true path. We also urge them to take the right path,” Pashazade said.

He read out a letter from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev which talks about the development and prosperity of the Chechen Republic in all areas, including religious and moral.

The Chechen Republic's president, Ramzan Kadyrov, son of Ahmat Kadyrov, thanked the Azerbaijani authorities for the letter.

“The attention paid to us by the Azerbaijani leadership is positive and the letter sent by Ilham Aliyev to the international conference is yet further proof. May God forgive all our sins! May he unite us and strengthen us in our faith! May Azerbaijan and Russia be always strong! May there be peace and well-being in the Caucasus! May there be no war and may the economy strengthen!"

During the conference, two mosques and one medrese were opened in Gudermes. Haji Allahshukur Pashazade said prayers together with the Chechen president in one of the newly opened mosques.

Picture: Haji Allashukur Pashazade.

Trying to Resurrect

By Sayed Mahmoud, *Book review: I'll Become What I Want* - Ahram Online - Cairo, Egypt; Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Hamdi Abdel-Rehim's first novel is a narrative, describing events which have taken place in Egypt in the last half-century

As an indication to the content of this work, Hamdi Abdel-Rehim dedicates his first novel to the great novelist Alaa El-Deeb.

The secret behind the dedication only becomes apparent to the reader towards the end of the novel.

The novel itself resembles a photo shoot of the author’s generation, through snap shots of the protagonist’s life.

The hero does not differ greatly from those of El-Deeb’s characters in Lemon Blossoms, Children Without Tears, and Rose-Coloured Days. They all belong to the middle classes and experience the crisis of their intellectuals and contradictions. They all live at the time of the National Project (the Nasserite concept of full mobilisation of resources for achieving a common dream) and its abrupt end, leading to their breaking.

Our hero was born at the same time as Abdel-Nasser’s defeat, his mother explains. He lives his life fighting against this defeat and trying to resurrect the National Project. Thus, although the protagonist is similar to that of El-Deeb’s characters, the time frames in which the authors bring their characters to life differ greatly.

Despite the protagonist’s existentialist crisis, the author tries not to sink into a narration of Abdul-Futouh’s personal problems when describing his experiences. Instead, he tries to draw a map of the transformation of Egyptian society in the last fifty years.

The writer gives the reader a set of keys that unlock his own artistic and political biases, debating each of his characters with his own voice. The story’s hero Mustafa, son of a Sufi Sheikh who is often preoccupied with the celebration of saints, is palmed off on a number of women to be looked after.

Naeema, renowned for being lonely, tries to teach him to sing, while Amaal offers him a warming presence. Through selling old books on the street, our young hero discovers his love of reading and writing.

Through Sawsan, daughter of his father's friend, he is introduced to Radwan, a left-wing intellectual who comes from the heart of the National Project and is opposed to Sadat’s settlement with Israel. Through Radwan he connects with Sheikh Khamis, a calligraphy lover who in turn introduces him to Zainab. At this point Mustafa is left with the library and private papers of Radwan.

The inheritance leaves Mustafa heavy hearted, especially after his parents both passed away, leaving him nothing, and were buried in a cemetery for the impoverished, forcing him to search for his first job.

By working with Takki El-Din, Mustafa and the reader are introduced to the human rights lawyer-model that evolved in the 1980s. He works and lives off foreign aid, is introduced to his new love Ragaa, and his friend Ali who is similar to Radwan. He's only able to get over Ragaa, who is already married, by setting up a publishing house, funded by a French lady who gives him his first physical experience with a woman.

Despite Mustafa's success as a publisher and writer, he's threatened by the Zionist influence that rejects his passion for rebellion. The novel ends in 2007 where Mustafa kills one of the Zionist symbols, and sings a Sufi piece he learnt from his father, confirming that he lived and died as he wanted.

The novel appears to be a cultural autobiography about a man always trying to achieve the unattainable.

The author does not employ any modern techniques, but rather conforms to the usual narrative, originally presented by Naguib Mahfouz in the Realist Stage. Sometimes a link is made between the mentor figure of Radwan and one of the heroes of Mirrors, by Mahfouz.

The writer also switches to a philosophical genre, and touches upon characters from other novels. Our hero’s struggles lead him to learn about the world, mixing the two diverse concepts of Sufism and rebellion.

The Mahfouz spirit can also be felt in the geographical setup: the hero is born and raised in Al-Hussein neighbourhood, and seeks refuge in Alexandria, a favourite pattern for Mahfouz's characters. There's also the love story with Ragaa, similar to the woman who thrives on pain in Bahaa Taher's Doha Said.

The author references other books and authors in order to pass on his experiences with the world, not in order to merely mingle the lives of his characters and those of his favourite novels; Abdel-Rehim wishes to write about all of our experiences.

His work is in honour of friendship, love of life, books and music- the author’s testimony.

Sa’akun kama ureed, I’ll Become What I Want
By Hamdi Abdel-Rehim
Cairo: Dar El-Shorouk, 2011