Unique

By Staff Reporter, *Abida Parveen enthralls audience at Delhi Sufi Festival* - Dawn.Com - Pakistan; Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Abida Parveen enthralls audience at Delhi Sufi Festival

Abida Parveen enthralled the audience with her famous rendition “Lal meri pat rakhiyo bhala jhoole laalan” at end of Jahan-e-Khusrau World Sufi Music Festival here.

“In Sufism there are no barriers, mine or yours, old and new. It belongs to all and connects hearts and souls. Its power unites the singer and listener in a divine communion with the creator” said Parveen who has been participating in the festival since its inception nine years ago.

She said the event is essentially about spreading the message of Sufism which believes in no border and religion.

“Jahan-e-Khusrau is a spiritual call which we all share and join each year to further message of humanism and brotherhood across the world,” said Parveen, who sings in many languages including Urdu, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi & Persian.

“The festival is unique because it has no nationality or religion and is sacred to all of us,” she added.

Picture: Abida Perveen performs during the Jahan-e-Khusrau Sufi Music Festival at Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi. Photo: AP.

Delving into Politics

By Staff reporter, *Event: Sufism and Religious Dialogue* - Ahram Online - Cairo, Egypt; Sunday, March 4, 2012

Sufism - the inner, mystical dimension of Islam - under discussion at Cairo University on 26 March

A discussion of Sufism and interreligious dialogue will take place at Cairo University on Tuesday, 26 March.

Father Josibi Scattolin, professor of Islamic Sufism, and Zeinab Akhodiri, professor of Medieval Philosophy will take part in the discussion hosted by the Centre for Civilization Studies and Dialogue of Cultures.

Sufism is a mystical spiritual dimension of Islam. Ibn Arabi, Rumi and Al-Hallajj were significant Sufis.

The discussion comes at a time when Sufis in Egypt are delving into politics. The growing Salafist movement opposes Sufi teachings.

Programme:
Tuesday, 26 March, 5pm.
Cairo University, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Sawiris Hall.

Between Religion and Life

By Staff Writer, *In India, Call for Recognizing Sufi Ideas of 19th Century Urdu Poet Mirza Ghalib* - MEMRI - Washington, DC, USA; Wednesday, February 29, 2012

In India, Call for Recognizing Sufi Ideas of 19th Century Urdu Poet Mirza Ghalib

The Indian government has recently been urged to recognize the 19th century Urdu poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib by posthumously awarding him Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. Ghalib may not be bestowed with the honor, but his supporters hope that such recognition will advance the Sufi thoughts of Ghalib and strengthen moderate Islamic forces.

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869) was a cosmopolitan poet of Delhi who wrote mainly in Urdu but also in Persian, and lived during the last decades of the Mughal rule in India. In his poetry, Ghalib is known for walking a fine line between religion and life, thereby challenging the orthodox and leaving them without answers on questions of faith and worldly things. February 15th marks the 142nd anniversary of the death of Ghalib, who is recited popularly for the depth of meaning of simple words he regularly uses in his couplets.

The appeal for awarding him the Bharat Ratna was made by Justice Markandey Katju, the chairman of the Press Council of India and a former Supreme Court judge. He has been supported by numerous Ghalib fans, including Asghar Ali Engineer, a renowned Islamic reformist writer in India. Justice Katju was slammed by some critics who argued that such a move could open Pandora's Box and demands could be made to award Bharat Ratna to Hindu gods.

Expressing support for Justice Katju's call, Asghar Ali Engineer argued that Ghalib was not only a follower of Wahdat al-Wujud, a liberal school of Sufism (Islamic mysticism), but also represented the ethos of modern India. In another article, Pakistani writer Dr. Mohammad Taqi argued that Ghalib's Sufi ideas need to be studied, adding that he followed a distinct strand of Sufism.

Following are excerpts from Asghar Ali Engineer's article;[1] following that are excerpts from Justice Markandey Katju's article;[2] and finally excerpts from Mohammad Taqi's article:[3]

Article by Asghar Ali Engineer, January 16-31, 2012

"[Ghalib] was Follower of ... Wahdat al-Wujudi School of Sufism Which is The Most Liberal School among Sufis; It is The Liberal Ethos of Wahdat al-Wujudi Sufis Which Created ... [A] Composite Culture [in India]"

"I think right now we are concerned with modern secular India and our engagement with modernity begins with the British period which is also known as the modern period in Indian history. Modernity created lot of conflict between rigid orthodoxy and liberal modernity. Modern India obviously could not have been built on rigid orthodoxy, though people are free according to our Constitution to believe in orthodoxy and thousands of them believe in it even today.

"But our Constitution and our liberal secular ethos are the essence of our modernity and Ghalib represents this eminently. He was a poet par excellence and his poetry represents modern secular values along with the value of love. Ghalib's poetry is ghazal poetry though he wrote in other genres also but he is mainly known for his ghazals which is basically love poetry. And he was a follower of what is known as the Wahdat al-Wujudi school of Sufism which is the most liberal school among Sufis.

"This school was founded by Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi [1165-1240AD] who says in one of his poems that my Deen (religion) and my shariat [path] is love and love is the very foundation of my philosophy. Most of the Indian Sufis, though not all, belong to this Wahdat al-Wujudi school and it is the liberal ethos of Wahdat al-Wujudi Sufis which created our composite culture and these Sufis whole-heartedly embraced local cultures and mainly wrote in local languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati, and so on.

"What is the implication of the philosophy of Wahdat al-Wujud? Wahdat al-Wujud means Unity of Being i.e. real being is one and we all (humanity) are its manifestations and those who believe in this philosophy do not distinguish between one human being and the other and one religion and the other. Ghalib's entire poetry is representative of this ethos.

"In this respect Ghalib's mathnavi (a form of long poem each verse of which has two lines) Chiragh-e-Dayr i.e. Lamp of a Temple. This mathnavi is about Banaras, the sacred Hindu city through which he passed on his way to Calcutta and he was so enchanted by its beauty that he wrote this poem in Persian which describes its charms so much so that he says that once anyone who saw the flowing Ganges of this city, his/her eyes will never by harmed. Describing its beautiful damsels he writes 'Their dainty and silken touch beats the pearl softness.'

"It is Kashi (Banaras) where springs of the world take refuge be it in hot summer or cold winter i.e. its weather is the most suitable weather in the world. The poem is so full of praise for Banaras that there is no city like this in the world. There is so much poetic exaggeration in describing the charms of Banaras. Not only this mathnavi but Ghalib's entire poetry very eminently represents the cultural ethos of India and particularly its composite culture."

"Ghalib Represents Beautifully the Tension between Tradition and Modernity; He Describes It as Conflict between Ka'ba and Kalisa (Church), Ka'ba Representing Tradition and Kalisa Modernity"

"Ghalib had friends among all communities of India, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and several of his disciples were Hindus. He has addressed several of his letters to his Hindu friends. He was so fond of unity of all human beings that when several of his friends were killed in the war of independence [against the British in 1857] he wrote in one of his letters that they say now we will meet on the day of judgment (Qiyamat) but what kind of meeting it would be? Sunnis will stand separately from Shi'as and Hindus separately from Muslims. Can it be called meeting together?

"Ghalib indeed was precursor of the ethos of our modern secular liberal India, one of its architects. Our Constitution has been based on these values and minus these values our nationhood would be seriously weakened. These are representative values of our nationhood. Even in the 21st century we are fighting among ourselves on the basis of religion, language, caste, region, and so on. Our country is highly diverse, in fact bewilderingly diverse and to create unity in such diversity we have to strive very hard and need persons like Ghalib with their progressive and liberal values.

"Urdu, in which Ghalib wrote, is itself a language of composite culture; it is a product of several languages and dialects, and Urdu is eminently qualified to express such progressive poetry as Ghalib composed. Urdu has been the language of love, not of hatred. Even today its ghazal poetry keeps millions spellbound even if they do not speak that language.

"Ghalib, through his poetry raised it to new heights. [Islamist Urdu poet Muhammad] Iqbal described him as Goethe of Urdu. It is because of Ghalib's poetry that Urdu poetry can be compared with the heights of world poetry. Ghalib represents beautifully the tension between tradition and modernity. He describes it as conflict between Ka'ba and Kalisa (church), Ka'ba representing tradition and Kalisa modernity. It is this tension which troubles Ghalib in the backdrop of the 1857 war of independence which makes his poetry all the more relevant to us."

Article by Justice Markandey Katju, December 20, 2011:

"Ghalib is a Modern Figure, Not a Legendary One Like Lord Rama; Many of His Thoughts were, for His Times, Surprisingly Modern; [He] Often Broke Through ... [Feudal] Tradition on Perceiving the Advantages of Modern Civilization"

"I have been criticized for demanding Bharat Ratna for Mirza Ghalib and [Bengali writer] Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay [1876-1938]. Some even lampooned me by saying that Bharat Ratna should also be given to Lord Rama and Gautam Buddha...."

"In reply, I wish to say that there is nothing wrong in giving awards posthumously, provided they are given to the right persons, and Bharat Ratna has been often conferred posthumously in the past...."

"Moreover, Ghalib is a modern figure, not a legendary one like Lord Rama, or an ancient one like Gautam Buddha. Many of his thoughts were, for his times, surprisingly modern. Though he was steeped in the feudal tradition, he often broke through that tradition on perceiving the advantages of modern civilization.

"Thus, in one sher (couplet) Ghalib writes: 'Imaan mujhe roke hai, jo khenche he muje kufr/ Kaaba merey peechey hai, kaleesa merey aage.' The word 'kaleesa' literally means church, but here it means modern civilization. Similarly, 'Kaaba' literally refers to the holy place in Mecca, but here it means feudalism [orthodoxy]. So the sher really means: 'Religious faith is holding me back, but skepticism is pulling me forward/ Feudalism is behind me, modern civilization is in front.' Thus, Ghalib is rejecting feudalism [or orthodoxy] and approving of modern civilization...."

"Urdu poetry is a shining gem in the treasury of Indian culture. Before 1947 [when India became free from British rule], Urdu was the common language of the educated class in large parts of India — whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Christian. Regrettably, after 1947 some vested interests created a false propaganda that Urdu was a foreign language and a language of Muslims alone.

"Mirza Ghalib is the foremost figure in Urdu, and in our composite culture. He no doubt died over a century back, but our culture, of which Urdu is a vital part, is still alive."

"When I First Appealed for the Award of Bharat Ratna to Ghalib..., My Appeal was Seconded by Many Prominent People; How Many People ... have Read Ghalib...? People are Talking of Giving the Bharat Ratna to Cricketers and Film Stars"

"When I first appealed for the award of Bharat Ratna to Ghalib in the Jashn-e-Bahaar mushaira in Delhi in April 2011, my appeal was seconded by many prominent people in the audience: Meira Kumar, speaker of Lok Sabha [lower house of parliament]; Salman Khurshid, Union law minister; S.Y. Qureshi, chief election commissioner; etc. However, soon after, a journal described my appeal as 'sentimentalism gone berserk.'

"As regards Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, in a recent function in Calcutta I appealed for the award of Bharat Ratna to him. Here was a man who in a feudal society (early 20th century Bengal) launched a full-blooded attack on the caste system, against women's oppression, and superstitions (read Srikant, Shesh Prashna, Charitraheen, Brahmin ki Beti, Devdas, Grameen Samaj, etc).

"In his acceptance speech organized in Calcutta Town Hall in 1933 to honor him, Sarat Chandra said: 'My literary debt is not limited to my predecessors only. I am forever indebted to the deprived, ordinary people who give this world everything they have and yet receive nothing in return, to the weak and oppressed people whose tears nobody bothers to notice. They inspired me to take up their cause and plead for them. I have witnessed endless injustices to these people, unfair, intolerable injustices. It is true that springs do come to this world for some....'"

"How many people in our country have read Ghalib and Sarat Chandra? People are talking of giving the Bharat Ratna to cricketers and film stars. This is the low cultural level to which we have sunk. We ignore our real heroes, and hail superficial ones. I regret to say that the present generation of Indians has been almost entirely de-cultured, and all they care for is money, film stars, cricket, and superficialities...."

Article by Mohammad Taqi, February 16, 2012:

"Ghalib's Biographers from Hali to Russell... Have All Acknowledged His Mystic Aptitude If not Outright Mysticism"

'Ghalib, you write so well upon these mystic themes of Love Divine,
We would have counted you a saint, but that we knew of your love of wine.'

"Professors Ralph Russell and Khurshidul Islam narrate from Altaf Hussain Hali's Yadgar-e-Ghalib (Memoir of Ghalib) that when King [of Delhi] Bahadur Shah Zafar heard Ghalib recite the above ghazal, he commented, 'No, my friend, even so we should never have counted you a saint [mystic].' Ghalib retorted, 'Your Majesty counts me one even now, and only speaks like this lest my sainthood should go to my head.'

"That 19th century connoisseur of wine — and mysticism — continues to fare quite well even today. Several biographies of Ghalib and translations and commentaries on his works have appeared in the past decade, like the 2003 volume by Professors Russell and Islam titled The Oxford India Ghalib: Life, Letters and Ghazals preceded by Natalia Prigarina's Mirza Ghalib: A Creative Biography in 2000.

"A few weeks ago in India, [former judge of Supreme Court] Justice Markandey Katju suggested that Ghalib be awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously and the writer-activist Asghar Ali Engineer started a signature campaign towards that goal. The suggestion and the campaign became mired in a controversy, which is beyond our scope here. What really caught my attention was Mr. Engineer's apt comment that besides, and in, his literary contribution, Ghalib 'was a follower of what is known as the Wahdat al-Wujudi school of Sufism, which is the most liberal school among sufis [Islamic mystics]' and his entire poetry is representative of this liberal, humanistic and all-embracing ethos.

"Work on Ghalib's poetry, letters and life had started in his lifetime, with his close friends and disciples meticulously archiving the relevant materials. Ghalib's biographers from Hali to Russell, and his aficionados — Ghalib Shanasan – have all acknowledged his mystic aptitude if not outright mysticism.

"In biographical sketches his doctrinal inclinations too have been recorded. But while the masters writing on and about Ghalib have elaborated on his ostensibly sectarian persuasion and journeys in Sufism, a particular strand of Sufism that is unique to Ghalib has gone unnoticed. And interestingly this is something that has been hiding not just in plain sight but announced with pride by Ghalib himself."

"Within the Realm of Sufism, Ghalib Apportioned Himself a Niche that Perhaps was Neither Explored before Him nor Expounded on after Him"

"Commenting on Ghalib's faith, Russell and [Khurshidul] Islam, again on Hali's authority, report that his antecedents were Sunni Muslim but at some point in his life he became either a Shia or at least sympathetic to the Shias. Hali himself notes that Ghalib may have been a Tafzeeli — someone who exaggerates in praising [Islam's fourth caliph and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad] Hazrat Ali Murtaza (RA). Other scholars like Sufi Tabassum have made similar observations. This perhaps does not even begin to define Ghalib's creed, which he had himself expressed both in verse and prose.

"For all practical purposes Ghalib was not a religious man and had nothing to do with religious orthodoxies. For example, while his letters provide a great montage of almost all his life, there is remarkably no mention of him having participated in any Twelver Shia ritual at all. The anecdotes about his wine consumption and not observing fast or prayer rituals have, of course, been part of literary lore. Within the 19th century orthodox Muslim society, Ghalib remained an arch unorthodox...."

"I do want to draw the attention of the Ghalib scholars towards how within the realm of Sufism, Ghalib apportioned himself a niche that perhaps was neither explored before him nor expounded on after him. This may actually have to do with Ghalib's well-known desire to remain above the crowd in all his temporal and, indeed, divine quests, thus remaining unorthodox even within the heterodox Sufism.

"Hali's memoir of Ghalib had carried, in its opening, a portrait of the poet captioned with a Persian verse of Ghalib. A similar sketch, along with the same verse, adorns Russell and Islam's aforementioned work. The Urdu journal Nuqoosh had also opened its Ghalib edition with the same lines, which say:

"'Ghalib-e-naam-awaram, naam-o-nishanam ma-purs,
hum Asadullahem-o-hum Asadullahi-em.'

"(I am the renowned Ghalib; do not ask of my name and fame/I am both Asadullah and Asadullah's man.)

"Russell and [Khurshidul] Islam explain it as: 'My name is Asadullah and my allegiance is to Asadullah, 'the Lion of God' — a title of Ali (RA), a cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), and the object of Ghalib's special reverence.' But translating Asadullahi as mere allegiance is quite exoteric and does not do justice to the verse and the nuanced thought therein. On many occasions in his letters Ghalib refers to being the servant of Ali (RA), saying, for example, 'Ali ka bandah hoon, uss ki kasam jhoot naheen khata' (I am the retainer of my lord Ali ... and do not swear by his name in vain)."

"In His Declaration 'I am Asadullah' and Thereby the Annihilation into Ali, Ghalib Distinguishes Himself not Just from the Ordinary Crowd But Also His Strand of Sufism from Other Sufis and Sufi Orders"

"The God-man relationship in the Sufi realm, of course, has many dimensions. The fundamental one is that of Lord (rabb) and His servant (abd), and the more sublime and complex one is an inimitable and divine intimacy (wasl) with the Creator (dhat). Reading Ghalib's above quoted Persian verse, and other Urdu and Persian verses, and parts of his prose together suggest that the intended esoteric meaning of Asadullahi is not as limited as Russell et al had noted — perhaps Ghalib was pushing the envelope.

"Ghalib himself leads us into the second and related dimension of his Sufi realm in another Persian verse, saying:

"'Mansoor-e-firqah-e-Ali-allahiyan manem,
Awaza-e-anaa Asadullah der afganem."

"Translation: (If) there is a sect of those saying Ali [RA] is our lord, (then) I am their Mansoor, For I chant that I am the (lord) Asadullah.

"Mansoor al-Hallaj's claim and fame in mysticism are self-explanatory. But by drawing a parallel between Mansoor and God on the one hand and himself and Asadullah Ali on the other, via equating an-al-Haq and anaa Asadullah, Ghalib appears to have let us in on the crux of his Wahdat al-Wujudi philosophy, and more. In his declaration 'I am Asadullah' and thereby the annihilation into Ali, Ghalib distinguishes himself not just from the ordinary crowd but also his strand of Sufism from other sufis and Sufi orders...."

Endnotes:

[1] http://www.csss-isla.com/arch-January-16-31-2012.htm, accessed February 16, 2012. The text of the articles has been lightly edited for clarity.

[2] http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bharat-ratna-ghalib/889757/0, accessed February 16, 2012.

[3] Daily Times (Pakistan), February 16, 2012.

Peaceful Means

By Staff Writer: *Sudanese opposition slams calls for Islamic constitution* - Sudan Tribune - Paris, France; Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Khartoum: Sudanese opposition parties condemned pressures by Islamists parties and groups to adopt an Islamic constitution in Sudan after the secession of South Sudan last July.

The Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, Salafi Ansar Al-Suna, the far-right Just Peace Forum (JPF) and a number of Sufi groups held a founding meeting for the Islamic Constitution Front on Tuesday. Personalities from some opposition parties and the ruling National Congress Party attended the event.

The Popular Congress Party (PCP) of Hassan al-Turabi was quick to dissociate itself from the radical coalition and its deputy secretary general Abdallah Hassan Ahmed stressed that he was at the launch meeting in a personal capacity.

In a statement released on Thursday the National Consensus Forces further condemned the gathering of Sudanese Islamists and accused the ruling National Congress Party of seeking - through extremists and radical groups - to impose the Sharia laws.

"After more than twenty years of suffering and while the country is experiencing a comprehensive crisis, the National Congress Party seeks to repeat the experience of religious fanaticism, and emergency and inquisition courts through a new alliance with the ‘Takfiri’, and advocates of sedition and fragmentation of the country" on ethnic, religious and regional basis, the opposition said.

The opposition parties further said they are now facing a new coalition of "corrupt tyrants and fanatics" who seek to prolong their survival through the use of religion.

The opposition, which says it is committed to a secular state and the exclusion of religion from political affairs, vowed to use all the democratic and peaceful means to remove the regime and build a democratic and plural regime in Sudan.

The national consensus urged all the Sudanese people to resist the calls of the extremist forces and to work with the national forces to achieve a true democratic transition.

Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir and head of the ruling National Congress Party has pledged at different times that the Islamic law would be the main source of the next constitution. However, he has engaged in a dialogue with the two main opposition forces in the country.

The Umma party of Sadiq al-Mahdi refused to join a coalition government with the NCP asking to form a national government and to reach negotiated settlement with the South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur rebellions. But the Democratic Unionist Party of Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani is participating in the coalition government saying Sudan’s integrity is at risk.

The government, on the other hand, refuses to associate the PCP of Turabi and the Communist party in the consultations accusing them of seeking to topple the regime with the Sudan’s many rebel groups in peripheral areas.

Picture: Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in prayer after winning national elections in 2010. Photo: Reuters.

A Hand of Friendship

By Richard Halstead, *Marin Community Foundation joins effort to foster better relations between Muslims and non-Muslims* - Marin Independent Journal - Novato, CA, USA; Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Marin Community Foundation joins effort to foster better relations between Muslims and non-Muslims

The Marin Community Foundation is joining with several other Bay Area foundations to foster greater dialogue and collaboration among American Muslims and non-Muslims by distributing $230,000 in grant money.

The Bay Area foundations are following a model created by One Nation Foundation, a philanthropic collaborative founded by George F. Russell Jr. of Tacoma, Wash., creator of the Russell 2000 stock index. Russell launched One Nation after seeing an increase in negative and prejudicial attitudes toward American Muslims after 9/11. In 2009, One Nation announced a $3.5 million initiative that enlisted contributions from foundations in New York, Chicago and other cities across the United States.

The Marin Community Foundation has contributed $50,000 to the One Nation Bay collaborative, which includes the San Francisco Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. Two grants of $10,000 each have gone to the International Association of Sufism in Novato and the Marin Interfaith Council in San Rafael.

According to recent estimates, the American Muslim community in the Bay Area includes nearly 250,000 people and an estimated 58 mosques, with the heaviest concentrations in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties. Together they represent one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in September 2010 showed that 49 percent of Americans held an unfavorable view of Islam, a significant increase from 39 percent in October 2002.

"The candid fact of the matter is that for many members of the Muslim community, this has been a really hard time for them in America," said Marin Community Foundation CEO Thomas Peters. "The acts and voices of prejudice have been explicit. So we're trying to reach out a hand of friendship, neighborliness and reassurance that we are a community that welcomes these Muslim Americans."

Nahid Angha, co-director of the International Association of Sufism, said she would use her $10,000 grant to support roundtable discussions among Muslim and non-Muslim students at Dominican University in San Rafael. Angha said the discussions would probably include music and food, elements that facilitate friendly interaction.

Angha said understanding among younger people of different religions and cultures is already growing due to their use of the Internet.

"We are beginning to learn more about each other," Angha said. "That has been a very educational contribution."

The Rev. Carol Hovis, executive director of the Marin Interfaith Council, said her organization's grant will help underwrite its ongoing work with the International Association of Sufism and the Islamic Center of Mill Valley. In May, the council will host a panel of Muslim speakers as part of an educational series that will also include Judaism and Buddhism. And later this year, the council will sponsor a lunch for clergymen to discuss the surveillance of the Muslim community by law enforcement.

"It is important for the religious community to stand with other communities that are feeling pressure, no matter what the issue might be," Hovis said.

The Bay Area foundations' effort to improve relations between Muslims and non-Muslims was applauded by imams at two of Marin's mosques.

"What I've noticed is the more educated people are and the more they know about different religions, the more tolerant they are and the better they interact with Muslims and people of other backgrounds," said Imam Mufti Abdullah Nan, one of two imams at the Islamic Center of Mill Valley.

Imam Mehdi Khorasani, of the Center for Peace and Compassion in Fairfax, said, "We are one nation. We have to put away the war, put away the misunderstanding and live together in this short time that we are living in this paradise, America, the best country of the world."

A Poem by Rumi

By Peter Townson, *Sufi poetry in vertical motion* - Gulf Times - Doha, Qatar; Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Sufi poetry in vertical motion

Audience members were treated to a wonderful display of contemporary dance earlier this week, as Akram Khan’s production Vertical Road was staged at Katara [Qatar Cultural Village].

The show was brought to Qatar in conjunction with the British Council as part of their efforts to promote cultural understanding and display the “best of British.” And those who took the opportunity to see this award-winning production will surely have agreed that this was one of the most exciting and impressive cultural pieces to have been brought to Qatar so far.

Unfortunately Khan himself was unable to come to Qatar for the performances as he is currently recovering from an injury sustained during rehearsal. However, in a video message played before the show, he discussed the inspiration behind the production, a Sufi poem by Rumi.

The poem discusses “the journey from mineral to vegetable, to animal to man and then to the realm of angels.”

This concept of “death and rebirth” and “creation out of destruction” is found in many eastern traditions and religions, and it is this relationship which forms the basis of the entire show.
While life comes to an end, there is a constant flow of energy through the show which suggests “reawakening” and “rebirth”.

And the seven dancers on stage move as if this energy is flowing directly through their bodies, giving themselves wholly to the performance and creating something truly amazing.

Each dancer displayed their individual excellence at various points during the performance, but one of the most striking things about the show was that the sequences featuring the group working together were even more impressive, mainly down to the innovative and inspirational choreography.

The music, composed for the show by Nitin Sawnhey, contributed to the overall intensity of the piece, with the tribal drums used from the opening serving as a reminder of the energy of life running throughout.

This was echoed by the sounds produced by the dancers themselves, whose breathing could be heard at various points of the show. The effect was to evoke a sense of life, but it also highlighted the inner turmoil and conflict between life and death which is part of the inspiration for the show.

Everything about the production worked perfectly, and the spirituality and vertical journey to which its title refers will surely have been at the forefront of audience members’ minds as they stood and cheered in appreciation at the end of both evenings.

Gulf Times spoke to the producer of the show, Farooq Chaudhry, who expressed his excitement at seeing the efforts to promote culture in Katara, and said that he was already looking forward to coming back and bringing more shows to the country in the future.

He said that while a number of countries around the world use their investment in cultural projects to show off in the international arena, he has been impressed by the vision of officials he has met at Katara.

“The people I have spoken to from Katara, they all seem to have a vision,” he said, adding “they are taking risks with their programming which I think wonderful, as they are really challenging people.”

“The key thing to changing anything is people who have vision and I really believe that the people at Katara have vision,” he argued.

Although the show has no central message, Chaudhry said that he hopes people come away having learnt something about themselves by reflecting differently on a part of their lives.

“I always like to think that if they have experienced something that they have never seen before – that is what I want people to do everywhere,” he said.

He also spoke about the significance of art and tradition in helping to break down cultural boundaries.

“It is absolutely important – it probably does more for cultural relations and diplomatic relations in the world than anything else,” he said, adding “art is absolutely essential, it is a great political ambassador without having to work too hard for it.”

“We should never undermine its importance at any stage,” he added.

[Visit Katara online.]

We Are Very Grateful

By Elisabeth Nardi, *Sufi Reoriented worship center project approved * - Contra Costa Times / Mercury News - San Jose, CA, USA; Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Walnut Creek: plan for a large sanctuary center won final county approval Wednesday afternoon, likely ending a long-running battle that pitted religious devotion against neighborhood values.

The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Wednesday to allow the 350-member Sufism Reoriented group to build a 66,000-square-foot worship center in the Saranap neighborhood just outside Walnut Creek.

The Sufis' plans had set neighbors against one another in disagreements over traffic, parking and other effects. Wednesday's hearing drew 400 to the Lesher Center for the Arts in downtown Walnut Creek; more than 700 attended an all-day hearing at the Lesher Center on Feb. 21.

Supervisor Gayle Uilkema, whose district includes the site, listened to the meeting by phone Wednesday but did not vote. She also listened to the Feb. 21 hearing, explaining later to this newspaper that doctors told her to rest as she battled pneumonia.

After hours of public testimony Feb. 21, the supervisors heard more Wednesday. They discussed and added detailed conditions in ultimately deciding to support the project.

"I am as happy as I could be," said Bob Carpenter, a Sufi overseeing the project, which has been in the works for four years. "We are very grateful to the supporters in the community."

Supervisors said that while parking was a major concern for them as well as opponents -- 74 spaces total for the building -- Sufis have proved over several years that they walk and carpool to services.

"I am satisfied that the parking issues have been addressed," Supervisor Karen Mitchoff said. "It is difficult to get citizens to participate in reducing car trips. I want to commend the members of Sufi who have been doing this."

Supervisors added conditions to make sure any change in ownership of the facility or parking availability, or violations of the conditional-use permit would trigger a county hearing.

The sanctuary -- two-thirds of which will be underground -- will house a worship hall, classrooms, offices, a bookstore, a cafe and skylights on 3 acres in the small unincorporated neighborhood of Saranap.

The white-domed structure will be a place of worship for Sufism Reoriented followers who believe in the teachings of Meher Baba and in a core of divine love at the heart of all spiritual systems.

The project also was criticized for the size of the building and its aesthetics, traffic hazards, flooding issues and the overall discontent with the 1,400-page environmental report.

"It's a dark day for unincorporated family neighborhoods in Contra Costa County," said Wayne Fettig, president of the Saranap Homeowners Organization.

Neighbors have worried that their semirural neighborhood will be forever changed by the Sufi sanctuary site, where single-family homes once stood.

"There are so many things that have been shoehorned in -- it's an elephant balanced on a toothpick," Fettig said.

This likely brings to an end a debate that had grown intense in recent months, notably during four public meetings that preceded approval by the county planning commission in November.

Sufis say they plan to start building within a few months and that construction is expected to take 18 months to two years.

A lawsuit could delay or halt that process. Fettig wouldn't comment Wednesday on whether his organization would sue to block the center's construction, and he said he had no control over what his neighbors may do on their own.

Picture: Rendering of the entrance to the Sufi faith center planned for Walnut Creek. Photo: Sufism Reoriented.

Union of Souls

By IANS, *Sufism binds millions of hearts in subcontinent: Abida Parveen* - Zee News - India; Wednesday, February 29, 2012

New Delhi: Sufi legend Abida Parveen Tuesday said that Sufism binds millions of people in the subcontinent and that the forthcoming festival Jahan-e-Khusrau festival is an effort to create a spiritual mood.

The 10th edition of the three-day festival starts March 2 at Humayun`s Tomb.

"Sufism has evolved from the beginning of this universe. It bridges the gap between the hearts. This festival brings different colours together. This is a message from heart to heart. This is a an effort to create a spiritual context for the common people," she told reporters at a press conference to announce the date of Jahan-e-Khusrau, a Sufi festival by Rumi foundation.

Parveen, who is from Pakistan, has a huge fan following here and she has been a part of the festival since beginning, but she couldn`t attend the festival last year due to health reasons.

"Tasawuf (a Sufi term that means focusing on one`s relationship with God) is God`s name. We don`t need any language or identity to understand Allah," added the singer.

Jahan-e-Khusrau 2012 will see performances by Abida Parveen, Ali Zafar, Hans Raj Hans, Andrea Griminelli and will also introduce new faces like Indra Naik, Vidhi Sharma, Rajesh Pandey, Vidhi Lal, and Shivani Varma.

Well-known designer and filmmaker, Muzafar Ali, who is the director of the festival, feels that "Delhi is the city of saints and it calls for the union of souls".

"We have been organising this festival for the past 10 years and each year we present at least 20-30 new and exclusive poems sung by eminent Sufi singers like Abida Parveen," he added.

A Different Face

By TNA, *Philippines Hosts the Islamic Fashion Festival for the First Time* - Ahlul Bayt News Agency - Tehran, Iran; Tuesday, February 29, 2012

The Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF), a Southest Asian fashion event established in Malaysia in 2006, was hosted by the Philippines this year for the first time.

The festival, held in Manila's Hotel InterContinental, featured the collections of eight designers, three of them from the Philippines, namely JC Buendia, Veejay Floresca and Jun Escario. The others were Tom Abang Saufi, Syaiful Baharim and Melinda Looi of Malaysia, Milo Migliavacca of Indonesia, and menswear brand Ya Jameel Homme.

The wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia - who is an IFF patron -- was in attendance with other Malaysian VIPs and royalty.

Launched in 2006 in Malaysia's capitol of Kuala Lumpur, the IFF was a reaction to the Islamophobia that grew after 9/11.

In his speech at the Manila festival, the ambassador of Malaysia to the Philippines Dato Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad said: "9/11has been associated with Islam, violence and intolerance. With [the IFF], we show a different face and point of culture. We want to show that we appreciate beauty and that Islam is a region of tolerance."

Founder and chairman of the IFF, Raja Rezza Shah wanted to counter Islamophobia through a "visual language" that would enable the international community to regard and speak of the religion positively, and break down the negative Muslim stereotype.

Its aim, he said, is to build an updated visual and cultural reference from which Islam can be related to the modern world through the creative arena of fashion divorced from political, economic and social strife.

While Islam does not prescribe a fixed standard as to the style of dress or type of clothing that Muslims must wear, it does call for modesty. In general, women are to cover their bodies except for their face and hands. Some Muslim women cover their entire bodies, including their faces, in the all-encompassing burqa. For men, the minimum amount to be covered is between the navel and the knee.

The show was kicked off by Ms. Saufi's collection dubbed as "Love." Peonies and oriental hues were featured in the collection which was inspired by the universal theme of love.

Her collection included a variety of head wraps included a veil style and headgear that looked inspired by traditional African turbans. Bright blue, orange, red, pink and green dominated.

JC Buendia’s "First Lady" collection followed. Inspired by his favorite style icons Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana, the collection was regal. His pieces, in metallic black, white and silver, were something out of a prim and sophisticated woman's walk-in closet.

Orchids fashioned from the same fabrics and used as corsages added an Asian feel to the collection. The pièce de résistance was a pearl-encrusted coat dress which symbolized the richness of the sea.

Combining animal prints with Indonesian batik, Mr. Migliavacca was inspired by the Hollywood movie Avatar. He showcased fine fabrics embellished with intricate hand embroidery and beading for an elegant and glamorous feel.

Up-and-coming young designer Mr. Floresca also combined elements in his collection. "I was inspired by art galleries with different work of arts displayed. [The collection] is a mixed combination of different patterns and prints. It looks clashing but I like the oddity of it," he said after the show.

"It was very challenging because I’ve never really designed for a specific religion," he added, "but I think, the reason why they added me [in the roster of designers] is because they wanted an element of chic-ness in the outfits which is apparent in the silk turbans, quirky lace glasses and mismatched prints."

He wanted his collection to be conservative but at the same time wearable for young women of all walks of life. "I wanted to be true to myself and make something that I see young women can wear because that's my target market, the younger generation of women," he noted.

The biggest challenge, he said, is being conservative and fashionable at the same time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Baharim layered and combined different fabrics and textures which gave a sense depth to the pieces in his collection. Seen were silks, sheer printed fabric, faux fur, laces, and jewel ornaments.

Aside from being inspired by Sufism mystics and romance, the designer also was influenced by the concept of purity and virtue of an innocent bride.

Adding a shimmer to the show was Mr. Escario, with his subtle glittery pieces. A few had a Cleopatra vibe to them due to the beadwork on the neckline and cuffs.

Ya Jameel Homme — which is soon opening a store in Manila — presented a menswear collection inspired by the various Islamic nations of the world.

Turbans were included in the collection, along with fashion-forward pieces mixed with traditional elements.

Ms. Looi capped off the show with her dramatic headpieces.

"I was inspired by the beaches of Malaysia. Colors are very natural, fabrics are flowy, yet it's edgy at the same time," she said.

She used silk chiffon, embroidered elements, and — her favorite — French lace. Her signature silk chiffon represented the soft waves and the emerald green colors of the deep, clear green waters.

"When I first started out designing [Islamic wear], it was quite a challenge because even though I was born in Malaysia, I am not a Muslim. As a non-Muslim, I had to learn how to design [for them]," she recounted.

The journey, she said, was enjoyable. "I had to speak to my clients and understand the culture. It's not difficult to design but we have to know the rules. It wasn't difficult for me after getting to know and seeing how they dress, and their culture."

Her hope is for women to feel beautiful even when they’re all covered up.

A Long Way Off

By Anthony Campisi, *Major setback for Muslim retirement community plan in Chesco* - The Inquirer - Philadelphia, PA, USA; Monday, February 27, 2012

Major setback for Muslim retirement community plan in Chesco

A Muslim congregation of mostly Main Line converts has been dealt a major legal setback in its effort to build a retirement community for aging members in southern Chester County.

A Chester County Court judge has ruled against the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in a long-standing zoning dispute with the East Fallowfield Township Board of Supervisors.

The 350-member congregation wants to build 43 carriage-style houses clustered on a 108-acre parcel that it bought in the 1980s. The rural property is occupied only by a small shrine, or mazar, that holds the remains of the fellowship's late, enigmatic founder.

Originally from Sri Lanka, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen settled in West Philadelphia's University City neighborhood in 1971 and began preaching a mystical form of Islam known as Sufism. He gained hundreds of adherents, many of them white converts to Islam, before his death in 1986.

Over time, the congregation dispersed - mostly to the inner Main Line, but still close to its mosque in the city's Wynnefield section.

The retirement development had been in the works for years and was moving into the final planning stages in 2009 when the township supervisors filed suit to halt the project.

In just the last decade, East Fallowfield's population has mushroomed 44 percent, to 7,400. The addition of high-density housing on downsize lots would, the board has argued, be another assault on the area's treasured rural charm.

Though smart-growth advocates argue that dense development best preserves rural land by keeping as much open space undeveloped as possible, the supervisors don't see things that way.

Several recently built and similar dense-housing developments have "just ruined the footprint" of the township, which features expanses of rolling hills and farmland, recently elected Supervisors Chairman Chris Makely said.

"One of our jobs was . . . to slow down on cluster developments," he said.

The supervisors challenged a crucial variance the township Zoning Hearing Board granted that would have allowed the project to proceed.

The parcel sits in a special development district designed to accommodate construction of the retirement homes. But, according to John E. Good, the fellowship's attorney, a flaw in the ordinance meant the project couldn't meet existing zoning requirements.

The Board of Supervisors and the fellowship tried for two years to reach a compromise.

In his opinion, Judge Ronald C. Nagle said the zoning board had overreached in allowing the fellowship's development to proceed and had ignored important parts of the zoning code.

In the fall, the fellowship had asked the judge to dismiss the supervisors' suit, contending that the board had decided to file it in a closed meeting in violation of the state Sunshine Act.

Nagle ruled that, though the supervisors had violated state law by deciding to file suit in a private meeting, there "was no harm to the public or Bawa."

Describing the members as "obviously disappointed" by the rulings, Good said the fellowship would file an appeal.

Any final decision in the case is a long way off.

Commonwealth Court, which would hear the fellowship's appeal, could take up to a year to rule.

[Visit the Bawa Fellowship]

Somalia’s Future

By Michelle Shephard, *Somalia’s President: Still the ‘best hope,’ or leader of a failed state?* - The Star - Toronto, Canada; Sunday, February 26, 2012

Somalia’s President: Still the ‘best hope,’ or leader of a failed state?

London: There was a time when Somalia’s future rested on the shoulders of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the trim and bespectacled Sufi scholar appointed president three years ago and the leader busy greeting visitors this weekend in suite 309 of his Park Lane hotel.

Sharif had come to London for Thursday’s conference on Somalia — a gathering of world leaders from 55 countries, hosted by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron — which catapulted the East African nation on to the world stage.

On Saturday night, the lobby of the Grosvenor House where Sharif stayed was crowded with a British delegation of Somalis from Kismayo, a hotly contested port city on Somalia’s southern coast.

They had been there most of the day and were getting impatient, having waited hours to have a word with their president.

By the time Sharif was whisked in with his team of British security agents, there was only an hour left before he had to depart for Heathrow Airport and his flight home. His stressed advisers were keen not to turn the group away without at least a handshake and a nod.

“London traffic,” one of Sharif’s team explained to the group and apologized that our interview, now 2.5 hours late, would have to be cut to five minutes (it lasted 10).

Osman Abdi, a businessman who worked with oil company Chevron in southern Somalia in the mid-1980s, was among those waiting, but unlike the others, he was not here to cheer Sharif on.

“Some people just blame Western powers for the problems of Somalia, but I blame ourselves. It’s our land and we should run it properly,” Abdi said.

“The people who run the country now are not properly qualified. I’m sorry to say that the most corrupt leaders are the ones now. . . not just them, but the people around them.”

It is not an uncommon refrain among Somalis fed up with the ineptitude of the Transitional Federal Government Sharif heads — particularly upset that Sharif was a part of the political squabbling that led to the dismissal of the country’s popular former prime minister last year.

Sharif has been described as everything from a political chameleon who acquiesces to outside pressures from the West, United Nations or neighbouring countries or, alternatively, as a well-intentioned, but hapless leader at the mercy of corrupt Somali backers.

Time will judge his popularity, since one consensus of last week’s conference was that Somalia’s TFG would come to an end in August and the country would prepare for elections.

Sharif confirmed in our brief interview Saturday that he intends to run for the presidency once the TFG’s term expires.

“Why not?” he said in Somali. “Like any other, I have the right to contest.”

But while Sharif was a much-sought figure among Somalis here, he did not figure prominently in last week’s conference, breaking with a past focus on his leadership.

In 2006, as head of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union, Washington regarded him warily, while in southern and central Somalia he was feted for the security the ICU restored. “There is light at the end of the tunnel,” he told me in an interview in Mogadishu just two months before Ethiopia invaded to oust the ICU, plunging Somalia into two years of war.

With Ethiopia’s withdrawal in 2009 and Sharif’s appointment to the head of the new TFG, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared him the “best hope” for Somalia in years.

But what has he accomplished? Allegations of corruption continue to plague the TFG, last year’s famine killed an estimated 29,000 children, and while the Shabab’s power is largely diminished, it is thanks mainly to the presence of an African Union force and offensive led by neighbouring Kenya.

“We came at a really bad time, a hard situation and there have been lots of obstacles,” Sharif said.

Unlike Abdi, Sharif does blame foreign powers for Somalia’s woes.

“We believe that a lot of money has been generated in the name of Somalia, but it never reaches government shores, never comes into the hands of the Somali government, or the people,” he says, to allegations of corruption within his ranks, saying the theft extends back to donor countries.

When asked what he believed what was the most important result of the conference, Sharif replied: “That the Somali process has to be supported (and) the Somali armed forces had to be built, because, ultimately, they’ll have to take over security.”

The African Union force of Ugandan and Burundi troops secured Mogadishu last year and on the eve of the conference pushed the Shabab, the Al Qaeda-linked group, from their stronghold in Baidoa. The mission, known as AMISOM, expanded last week to include Kenyan forces and an increase of troops to almost 18,000.

Sharif, who at first opposed Kenya’s incursion last year, said he supported the initiative since the Kenyans will now be operated under the AU.

“One of the objections we had was that they needed a mandate when they came into the country,” he said.

The battle with the Shabab will drive much of the ensuing peace process.

Shabab leaders were not invited to the conference and the group’s spokesperson said the meeting smacked of colonization, telling London journalist Jamal Osman that “your peace depends on us being left alone.”

Sharif has called for negotiations with some of the group’s members opposed to the recent merger with Al Qaeda, but denied rumours that government officials were involved in meetings purportedly underway in Qatar.

“If Qatar is able to find people within those elements that are going to stop their Al Qaeda ways and are ready to negotiate and be part of the Somali process, then of course, by all means (we’ll be involved),” he said.

“But that is not the case.”

Picture: Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed addressed world leaders this week at the United Nations, asking for international support for his war-torn country. Photo: Michelle Shephard / Toronto Star.

In the Light of the Quran

By Aradhna Wal, *‘First step to counter extremism is to fight poverty’* - Tehelka - India; Saturday, February 25, 2012

‘First step to counter extremism is to fight poverty’

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has been one of the most unreserved voices against terrorism.

The 61-year-old Pakistani Sufi scholar is the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, an NGO, which works for the welfare of Muslim youth the world over and particularly in Pakistan.

In 2010 he decreed the Fatwa on terrorism to widespread attention and international coverage. It was released in India in the form of a book Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombing, last week at the India Islamic Cultural Centre.

Dr Qadri, candid and erudite yet determinedly apolitical, talks to Aradhna Wal decoding the cause of anger among Muslim youth, “true” Sufism and effective ways of combating extremism.

What is the premise of your work?

The problem of extremism and terrorism started in the last decade or two. Statements of condemnation were given, but they were soft statements, containing ifs and buts.

There was not a single book written on this subject in a comprehensive way, consisting of Quranic evidences, juristic evidences from the great Islamic jurists.

There has been no comprehensive, theological, jurisprudential perspective of this subject in the light of the Quran. This is the first book of its nature in the history of Islamic literature.

Who made these statements of condemnation?

Various scholars around the world have been giving these statements. Some were soft, some were very brief. Some were just declarations. They were messages of peace, but none of them contained any evidence.

The youth, who are brainwashed, given distorted versions of Islam, and are exploited for ulterior motives, parrot these teachings and verses with wrong meanings; without any context. So the ones who had made these statements were not in a position to change their minds. They couldn’t refute the teachings these youths were given.

This book not only refutes, but also provides evidences, without any conditions, that any act and manifestation of terrorism is unconditionally forbidden, prohibited and against Islam. That’s the theme.

*Fatwa* was issued in 2010 and hailed by many prominent thinkers. How effective has it been since?

I’ve seen it become very effective. It’s created ample impact. When it was issued in London in 2010 there was a very big resistance on YouTube, on websites.

The story started with massive opposition. The youth, who I am primarily concerned with, was a little shy or weak in responding. But as time passed, the graph changed. The minority became the majority. The supporters of extremism became the minority. And hundreds of thousands of websites and blogs showed support for the Fatwa.

Support came from multiple languages such as Arabic, English, French, Norwegian, Danish, even Chinese. We received a lot of comments from the youth, those who didn’t even belong to our organisation, saying that we had changed their minds, and even saved their lives and their faith.

If the youth were slow to respond, whose was the most immediate positive response?

The youth online was a little hesitant to reply. But within two weeks the response was overwhelming. Now that they had this concrete reference book in their hands they had something to refute extremism with.

The best thing is that in the two years that have passed, not a single scholar among the extremist camp has been able to refute this book or fatwa. Not a single booklet or pamphlet has been written with evidences which could discredit it. This has created a further impact on the youth who were exposed to the extremists.

They have started questioning the ideology and asking for answers from these camps. Their silence on an intellectual, theological, jurisprudential level has caused a great damage to their ideology. I won’t say that the acts have stopped, but this is still big, because ideology is the first thing with which they brainwash the young Muslims.

The softest target group for recruitment is the unemployed Muslim youth, who are angry at their socio-economic situation. This is prevalent in a lot of countries. How do you and the Minhaj-ul-Quran deal with such a problem?

I’ve always maintained that religious extremism is only one aspect of the problem of terrorism. There are others too. I haven’t discussed them in this book as I didn’t want to expand the subject so much so as to dilute the main point. But yes there is anger, there is poverty, there are socio-economic conditions.

Those exposed to them are easily accessible to extremist recruiting camps. The boys are easily picked up because they have nothing to eat, no money, no schools. They have lost their loyalty to the law, to the land and to the system. These groups provide them monthly scholarships and allowances.

he first step to counter extremism is to fight poverty. The most important is reforms in the education system. Minhaj-ul-Quran invests and spends in education. We are recognized as an NGO, we’ve received the special consultative status with the UN. We try to establish schools in various parts. We encourage people to establish schools in their own districts. And we have not established a single Madrasa.

We combine secular and religious discipline, for boys and girls. Duly recognized syllabi of the government and then scriptures are taught as disciplines.

Now we have 600 schools in Pakistan alone, and they are all giving top ranking results. We have established colleges, and technical education and vocational centers to train and provide for jobs. We’ve established the Minjah International University, which is chartered by the government of Pakistan. Its degree is equivalent to a degree from Jamia al-Azhar of Egypt. It has all disciplines.

We’ve also established mass education centres and adult centres in rural areas. They are set up for six months to a year for the local community that couldn’t go to school. We get people of all ages. Then there are our welfare centres, which work with juvenile delinquent boys, trying to reform and integrate them. They work on improving family relations, between parents and children and husbands and wives.

You employ methods of Sufism while working. Could you elaborate?

I believe and practice Sufism. But my Sufism is not what is found commonly in different places. I believe in true Sufism, as taught by Khwaja Muinuddin Ajmeri. Not as practiced by the caretakers now.

I follow the saints, who taught self purity, purity of the soul, mind and heart, to try to do spiritual acts in service of god and mankind.

These are the basic spiritual values that connect the mind with the creator. And these are what I employ in the teachings in our schools. This Sufism teaches love, tolerance, and patience. It counters anger, extremism, frustration—the elements that lead to terrorism.

There has been a growing Wahabi influence in South Asia. In the last few years many Sufi shrines across Pakistan have been under attack. South Asian Islam has primarily been Sufi Islam. How do you ensure that it continues?

I will not comment on Wahabism, or South Asia. As far as Sufi principles are concerned, I will give this message to followers of Sufism. If they practice the true values of Sufism, as I have mentioned, it will never die.

Sufism is not a tradition or a hodgepodge of certain acts. It is just something that deals with the purification of the soul. Traditions and conventions cannot do that. And the spirituality is universal.

Considering how the Islamic community has become dangerously stereotyped in the contemporary world, how do you plan to spread more awareness about the true non-violent nature of Islam?

We have to work with both sides; to teach the Muslim community and also the Western world. Words have to change. We cannot call it Islamic terrorism or Islamic extremism.

Attaching the word Islam or Islamic with these criminal acts provides the perpetuators with legitimacy, to ground their acts within the tenets of Islam. And tell the youth that they really are Islamic. As if terrorism has a place in Islam. We have to de-link terrorism from religion.

How do you plan to reach out to the Western world and other countries?

Wherever I go, my audiences always include non-Muslims. Just last year, on the 24 September, we had a huge conference on Peace for Humanity at the Wembley Arena. It was attended by 14,000 people.

World leaders were on stage in their traditional dresses. We all collectively prayed for peace under a single roof. We try to promote commonalities, not difference, to promote an atmosphere of dialogue. People who promote differences and disputes do a disservice to religion.

How do you reach out to the man on the street dealing with these stereotypes in his everyday life?

It is a slow process. It will take some time. But the more you do the better it is. The practices I have started in certain areas can be adopted in different areas. For example in Pakistan, people from different practices come to Minhaj-ul-Quran and we sit together and have joint functions in our mosque.

We participate in the holy activities of other religions, with the Naulakha Church of Lahore, and the Nila Gumbad Temple, the famous Hindu temple in Lahore. We go to them and they come to us.

If you practice these things at the grassroot level, it will slowly spread awareness among people that different religions are not there to hate one another.

Aradhna Wal is a Trainee, Features with Tehelka.
aradhna@tehelka.com

Picture: Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. Photo: Soumik Mukherjee.

Poetry and Sacred Music Festival

By Hamed Ross, *Poetry and Sacred Music Festival, Mar 16-18* - International Association of Sufism - Novato, CA, USA; Saturday, February 25, 2012

Songs of the Soul 2012:
Poetry and Sacred Music Festival

March 16-18, 2012, Embassy Suites, San Rafael, CA

The International Association of Sufism (IAS) is pleased to announce "Songs of the Soul"
2012 Poetry & Sacred Music Festival.

Join us for a weekend of celebrating poetry, music, and heart-centered conversation.

More info and Registration: http://ias.org/
Pre-register by March 10 and save.

With:

Coleman Barks,
featured Saturday March 17, 4 pm
($20 if registered by March 10th)

Nahid Angha, Ph. D., International Association of Sufism

Albert Flynn DeSilver, Marin County’s very first poet laureate

Renée Owen, award-winning poet, accompanied with singer-songwriter Brian Foster

Shahjada Seyed Saifuddin Maizbhandari from Bangladesh

Sheikha Azima Lila Forest

Musa Muhaiyaddeen

Albert Tenaya, a descendant of Yosemite Valley’s Chief Tenaya

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Ph.D

Sonia Leon Gilbert

Professor (Murshida) Stephanie Nuria Sabato

Shahid Athar, MD

John Fox

Sharon Mijares, Ph. D.

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

Nevit Ergin, MD

Nick Yiangou

Professor Abdullahi El-Okene from Nigeria, Tijaniyya Sufi Order

David Katz, MD

Dr. Ali Kianfar

Reverend Canon Charles P. Gibbs

Tamam Kahn

Pir Shabda Kahn

Taneen Sufi Music Ensemble
Kervan Ensemble, Sacred Music of Turkish origin
Ya Elah: Jewish Sacred Music
Qawali Music with Riffat Sultana

More info and Registration: http://ias.org/
Pre-register by March 10 and save.

Sufism and Indian Mysticism

By W. Rorrkychand Singh, *Book on Sufism and Indian Mysticism Released* - International Business Times - UK/India; Friday, February 24, 2012

Book on Sufism and Indian Mysticism Released

The Vice President of India Hamid Ansari released a book titled "Sufism and Indian Mysticism" edited by Prof. Akhtarul Wasey and Farhat Ehsas (Farhatullah Khan) at a function in New Delhi.

The Vice President said that Sufism in Islamic tradition has for centuries been a source of inner peace, spiritual awakening and enlightenment for millions of human beings.

It has also been a matter of debate among scholars regarding the questions related to its origin, nature and external manifestations, he added.

He applauded the editors of the book for bringing out views of renowned scholars and experts on different aspects of Islamic Sufism and Indian Mysticism.

This volume, which has 29 well-researched papers, seeks to present a wide spectrum of perspectives and in-depth studies on different aspects of Islamic Sufism and Indian Mysticism and their interface that has manifested itself through the history of Islam's interaction with India, spread over a time-frame of more than a millennium.

The contributions in this volume are made by some of the most renowned scholars and experts in the fields of philosophy, Islamic, studies, comparative religions, psychology, sociology, history and journalism.

Picture: The Vice President, Hamid Ansari releases a book titled “Sufism and Indian Mysticism,” edited by Prof. Akhtarul Wasey and Farhat Ehsas, in New Delhi on Feb. 23, 2012. Photo: PIB.

Many Spoke in Favor

By Elisabeth Nardi, *Sufism sanctuary proposal draws passionate debate during all-day hearing in Walnut Creek* - Contra Costa Times / Mercury News - San Jose, CA, USA; Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Sufism sanctuary proposal draws passionate debate during all-day hearing in Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek: A hotly disputed proposal to build a 66,000-square-foot church near Walnut Creek drew accusations of everything from a secret agenda to build a convention center to religious discrimination during an emotional, all-day hearing Tuesday that again pitted neighbor against neighbor.

More than 700 people packed the Lesher Center for the Arts on Tuesday for the special Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors meeting to consider the Sufism Reoriented sanctuary.

Supervisors heard hours of public testimony but made no decision whether the 350-member religious group can build its church just outside Walnut Creek city limits.

The Sufism Reoriented hearing will resume Feb. 29, again at the Lesher Center.

The proposed building -- two-thirds of which would be underground -- would house a worship hall, classrooms, offices, a bookstore, a cafe and skylights on 3 acres in a small unincorporated neighborhood known as Saranap.

The debate has been intensifying in recent months, including four public meetings that preceded approval by the county Planning Commission in November.

Opponents said Tuesday their concerns have nothing to do with religion, but others argued that is precisely what this fight is about.

"The NIMBYism and stall tactics have been well demonstrated today," said Saranap resident Mary Dunne Rose. Sufis, she said, have a "right to religious freedom."

But opponents countered that the building is much too big and its effects have not been adequately studied, said Stuart Flashman, attorney for the Saranap Homeowners Organization. While Sufism Reoriented can afford a big building, it doesn't mean the group should be allowed to build it, he said.

"Just because you want a Mercedes doesn't mean you can't drive a Ford," Flashman said.

Sufis say they need the space for things such as a rehearsal area for their chorus, office space for their spiritual leader and a place to store sacred materials.

"Should we set aside our most sacred religious practices because a few people don't like the idea that we will be using space they will never need to see?" said Sufi Gary Conner.

Religion is also an issue because of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, said Sandy Skaggs, lawyer for Sufism Reoriented. The federal law protects churches from burdensome restrictions, and Skaggs argued that any changes to the size or design of the sanctuary would violate that law.

"We are very prepared to defend this in court," he said.

Many non-Sufis also spoke in favor of the sanctuary, saying it will be beautiful, and championing the Sufis for their neighborhood school and community service.

But some opponents continued to argue that a secret Sufi agenda is the only reasonable explanation for why they need so much space.

Opponents pointed to the 43 planned toilets as proof that the Sufis are trying to build a convention center.

Others criticized the design, a large central rotunda dome encircled by 12 smaller domes. Allen Anthony, a Saranap resident, said it will look like storage tanks or an oil refinery in his neighborhood and that only Sufis will want to live there.

The design reflects sacred religious figures and represents their faith, said Carol Weyland Conner, the murshida, or spiritual leader, of the church.

Sufism Reoriented follows the teachings of Meher Baba, and the faithful believe in a core of divine love at the heart of all spiritual systems.

Supervisors did not talk much Tuesday about their concerns or give opinions. But they had questions on issues, including parking, which will be discussed at the Feb. 29 hearing.

The Sufis' plan calls for 71 parking spaces for the sanctuary. Because of the Sufis' pledge to walk and carpool as much as possible to the center, the county had required fewer parking spaces than normally requested for a project this size.

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, of Richmond, said the parking plan is based on the Sufis saying they will keep their congregation roughly the same size. "That's a big assumption," he said.

Picture: People fill a theater at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, as the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors gather to hear both sides in a fight over a proposed 60,000-square-foot Sufi sanctuary in the Saranap area. Photo: Dan Rosenstrauch/Staff.

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji`un; Qur'an 2:156
'Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return'

Shekhe Azam Syed Maulana Izhar Ashraf died in Mumbai

Chief Patron of All Indian Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) and a great Sufi Islamic Scholar of International repute, Shaykh E Azam Hazrat Sayyedinah Syed Muhammed Izhar Ashraf Ashrafi Jilani Alayhir Rahmah, the eldest son of Sarkar E Kalan Has passed away at 11:45 pm on the Wednesday 22nd February 2012.

His Namaz e Janaza [Funeral prayers] was lead by his elder son and President of Board Hazrat Syed Mehmood Ashraf Kichochawi Al Jilani on 24th Feb 2012 at Kichocha Shareef Ambedkar Nagar U.P. in the presence of thousands of Shaikhs, Ulemas and Murideen.

Hazrat Syed Izhar Mian was getting treatment in Ismailia Hospital in Mumbai and he took his last breathe there.

[Visit the AIUMB website.]

Unknown Hunger

By Saumya Bhatia, *Music and reform from behind bars* - The Asian Age - India; Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Music and reform from behind bars

It was an unusual evening in the Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal in Jammu recently, where the four desolate corners of the prison came alive with the mellifluous sound of the santoor and Sufi qalams.

SaMaPa Alaap 2012 [the premium classical, Sufi and folk music festival of Jammu and Kashmir] was an attempt to make the lives of the jail inmates just a bit easier with the soothing strains of classical music.

At the function, legendary santoor maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori enthralled inmates and police personnel alike, and joining him was Sufi diva Ragini Rainu, who mesmerised the audience with her soulful renditions. He was accompanied on tabla by Sarit Das and tanpura by Poushali Dutta.

The function was a testament to the fact that music knows no boundaries and doesn’t distinguish between its listeners. Not only did Pandit Sopori perform, he also made the inmates and staff sing along with him. It was a rare sight to behold at the first ever concert inside the Central Jail, as the music struck a chord with the inmates, who were visibly overwhelmed, acknowledging their hitherto unknown hunger for music.

SaMaPa intends to take it beyond just a function for the inmates, and there are plans to impart training in musical instruments to inmates.

“I am always interested in playing for a cause like this. It’s all about whom I am playing for. The programme here was organised with a motive to provide emotional support to the prisoners and to help them psychologically with music therapy in an effort to make them better human beings,” Pandit Sopori said.

The maestro interacted with the inmates as well during the function. “I am sure some of you know how to write. It will be good to see you express yourself through poetry, ghazals or whichever medium you like,” he told them. He requested the police staff in the jail to allot the inmates some free time, which would allow them to devote time to writing.

“You can send your write-ups to me. We can improvise on it if necessary and I can compose it into a song, which will be known by your name. Let this be your gateway to expressing yourself and pave the way for a sound foundation for your future,” he told the enthralled prisoners.

For Rajni Sehgal, senior superintendent, Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal, it was a proud moment when the convicts’ band performed at the concert.

“Most of the inmates here are militants, and some are from across the border. But music has brought them together,” she said. Has she ever been fearful of them? No, she says.

“I am one among them. If I have to die at their hands, nobody can stop it? But I am really happy to see all of them engaged in some kind of activity or another — be it embroidery or cooking or the music band. It is gratifying to see them put their hearts into it.”

Also speaking on the occasion was Naveen Agarwal, IPS, DG Prisons, who termed the concert a major breakthrough by SaMaPa and stressed on the need for such creative avenues to help inmates express themselves through writing and even learning music instruments.

He said, “Music is the best medium to reach the soul of a person. One of the reasons for this concert was to provide mental peace to the prisoners, which would help in reforming them. It will also help relieve some of the tension that they face everyday from being inside a prison.”

Interestingly, Pandit Sopori went to the prison the very next day after the concert and sat with prisoners while they sang and played instruments.

When Rajni asked how many of them want to learn the tabla, guitar or santoor, several hands went up!

Pandit Sopori later shared, “We want to seek affiliation with a university so that these prisoners can get a degree and manage to get secure jobs once they’re out of the prison. I hope the Jammu and Kashmir government extends help so that the inmates can stand on their own feet. After all, what is a life that’s not lived for others?”

[Click here to an article about the SaMaPa Alaap 2012]

Well-being, Autonomy, Responsibility

By Tariq Ramadan, *Contemporary Muslims are in need of spirituality* - Gulf News - Dubai, UAE; Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Contemporary Muslims are in need of spirituality: Islamic societies are bereft of serenity, coherence and peace. The time has come for a religious emancipation

As far as Islam is concerned, it must be noted that Arab and Muslim majority societies are seriously lacking in spirituality. There is not a deficit of “religion” but of spiritual life. It can be encountered among Islamists, as well as among secularists and ordinary citizens.

Religion refers to the framework, to the structure of ritual, to the rights and obligations of believers and, as such, lies at the heart of social and political debate. In the classical Islamic tradition, framework, reference and practices can — like all religions and spiritual traditions — be best seen in the light of their relation to meaning (here, to the Divine), to a conception of life and death, to the life of the heart and mind.

Contemporary Islamic discourse has, however, too often lost its substance, which is that of meaning, of understanding ultimate goals and the state of the heart. Increasingly, it has been reduced to reactivity, preoccupied with the moral protection of the faithful, based on the reiteration of norms, rituals and, above all, prohibitions. But spirituality is not faith without religion; it is the quest for meaning and peace of heart as the essence of religion.

Viewed in this light, Muslim majority societies are profoundly bereft of serenity, coherence and peace. The time has come for a spiritual and religious emancipation.

The decline of Islamic civilisation, followed by colonialism, has left its mark, as has the experience of political and cultural resistance. The way in which religion, and the Islamic reference, are understood was gradually adapted to the requirements of resistance: for both traditional Muslim scholars (ulama) and Islamist movements (which often began with mystical aspirations) moral norms, rules pertaining to food, dress and strict observance of ritual have come increasingly to the fore as means of self-assertion, in direct proportion to the danger of cultural colonialism and alienation perceived and experienced in Arab societies.

Caught up in political resistance, Islamist movements have gradually focused their attention on questions of a formal nature, setting aside the spiritual core of religious practice. Between the rhetoric of traditional religious authorities and institutions, and that of the Islamists, whether narrowly rigorous in outlook or hypnotized by political liberation, ordinary citizens are offered few answers to their spiritual pursuit of meaning, faith, the heart and peace.

A yawning void has opened up; mystical (Sufi) movements have re-emerged, some of them respectful of norms, some fraudulent, in what is often an approximate answer to popular aspirations. The Sufi movements or circles are diverse, and often provide a kind of exile from worldly affairs, in contrast to ritualistic traditionalism or to Islamist activism. Focus upon yourself, they urge; upon your heart and inner peace; stay far away from pointless social and political controversy.

A specific feature of mystical circles is that they bring together — though in physically separate groups — educated elites in quest of meaning as well as ordinary citizens, including the poorest, who feel a need for reassurance that verges on superstition. Their teachings are, more often than not, general and idealistic, far removed from the complexities of reality; politically, they sometimes voice passive or explicit support for ruling regimes, even dictatorships.

Furthermore, a substantial number of Sufi circles yield to the double temptation of the cult of the personality of the shaikh or guide (murshid) and the infantilisation of the initiates (murîd): the latter may be highly educated, hold high rank in the social hierarchy, yet at the same time place their hearts, minds and even their lives in the hands of a guide who, it is claimed, represents the ultimate path to fulfillment.

This culture of disempowerment strangely echoes the fashions of the day: a combination of withdrawal from the world and living in a kind of existential confusion between emotional outpouring (the spectacle of effusiveness towards and reverence for Sufi elders can be disturbing, disquieting and dangerous) and a demanding spiritual initiation. Such initiation should be liberating, open the door to autonomy through mastery of the ego and lead to coherence between the private and public life. But what emerge instead are parallel lives: a so-called Sufi spirituality allied to egocentric, greedy, self-interested and occasionally immoral social and political behavior. Arab elites and middle classes find such behavior to their advantage, as do socially fragile sectors of the population.

Between the overbearing ritualism of official religious institutions and the obsessive politicisation of Islamist leaders the thirst for meaning, which finds its expression in cultural and religious references, seeks for ways to express itself.

Mysticism sometimes provides the solution. But careful thought should be given to the real-life impact of such phenomena as they relate to the crisis of spirituality and therefore of religion. In every case, the teachings propounded do not encourage the autonomy, well-being and confidence of human beings in their everyday individual and social lives.

In their formalism and concentration upon norms, the traditional institutions that represent or teach Islam reproduce a double culture of prohibition and guilt. The religious reference is transformed into a mirror in which the believers are called upon to judge themselves for their own deficiencies: such rhetoric can generate nothing more than unease. The Islamist approach, which seeks to free society from foreign influence, has in the long run brought forth a culture of reaction, differentiation and frequently of judgment: who is a Muslim, what is Islamic legitimacy, etc. It sometimes casts itself as victim; even in the way it asserts itself against the opposition. Social and political activism prevails over spiritual considerations; the struggle for power has sometimes eclipsed the quest for meaning.

By way of response to this void, the majority of mystical movements and circles have called upon their initiates to direct their attention inwards, towards themselves, their hearts, their worship and their inner peace. Around them has arisen a culture of isolation, social and political passivity and loss of responsibility, as though spirituality were somehow necessarily opposed to action.

Still, it must be noted that a large number of Sufi circles do speak out on social and political issues, and actually encourage their followers to speak out on social and political matters, and to become actively involved in society. Between the culture of prohibition and guilt and that of reaction and victimisation, between abandonment of responsibility and isolationism, what options remain for the Arab world to reconcile itself to its cultural, religious and spiritual heritage? What must be done to propound a culture of well-being, autonomy and responsibility?

There is a need to rediscover and reclaim the spirituality that permeates Eastern cultures, and that lies at the heart of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, a consideration that today’s social and political uprisings can ill afford to neglect. For there can be no viable democracy, no pluralism in any society without the well-being of individuals, the citizens and the religious communities.

Tariq Ramadan is professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University and a visiting professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Qatar. He is the author of Islam and the Arab Awakening.

Picture: Illustration by Ramachandra Babu/Gulf News