A Timeless yet Timely Culture of Peace

By Sana Aftab Khan - UN Chronicle - New York,NY,USA
Thursday, July 12, 2007

Rumi was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the United Nations on 26 June 2007.

The event, held at UN Headquarters in New York on the occasion of his 800th birthday, was jointly organized by the Permanent Missions of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey-countries that revere Rumi as a saint, poet, philosopher and cultural treasure.

Maulana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, known in the West simply as Rumi and deeply admired for his poetry and philosophy, was born in the region of Balkh, which is now Afghanistan, but lived in the Khorasani region of Persia.

He died in the Turkish region of Konya, leaving behind a rich body of work in Persian and sowing the seeds for the tremendous following he gained after his death in areas far beyond the Asia Minor.

The marvel of this Asian poet is that his work remains relevant to our world today, even though he lived eight centuries ago. This is perhaps most evident in the religious culture emerging among today's youth, who are increasingly drawn to spiritual movements, such as a secular humanism based on Rumi's philosophy.

As a historical figure, Rumi has come to embody "universality", although he belonged to the Asia Minor region, and his way of thinking, as documented in his poetry and retold through generations of followers, displays interconnectedness and universal unity.

The commemoration began with a panel discussion featuring renowned academics and representatives such as Prof. James Morris, Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, and Dr. Hossein Nasr, Chairman of George Washington University's Islamic Institute, along with other Rumi specialists of Persian, Afghani, and Turkish background, who highlighted the relevance of Rumi's work to today's world.

The panel discussion was followed by recitation, with translation, of some of Rumi's most famous poetry, a musical performance, and a "Sama" performance by 'whirling dervishes'.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa were present during the cultural performances, with Mr. Ban making official remarks regarding the relevance of Maulana Rumi to present-day issues and in motivating the work of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.

While some Rumi specialists discussed how Rumi's words revealed an undeniable relevance to current international politics and regional sociocultural debates, others highlighted how he was remarkably universal and yet keenly particular in his self-exploration, and how his work foreshadowed the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Dr. Nasr pointed out that even though Rumi's work is often treated as universally applicable, making him widely perceived as beyond national and ethnic boundaries, it remained solidly rooted in Islamic mystical thought, as evident in the traditional title "Maulana" and references to his divine being in accordance with Islam.

The duality of Rumi's poetry, understood as firmly grounded in Islamic thought but simultaneously seen as universal by diverse societies, is proof of the possibility of strong religious values and secularism coexisting harmoniously. The conflicting cultural, political and religious divisions in today's world promise to be reconciled through an open communication, similar to the kind of approach applied by Rumi, focusing on tolerance, compassion, commonality and beauty in diversity.

While the Secretary-General acknowledged that "Rumi's poetry is timeless", he pointed out that "its celebration at the United Nations is extremely timely", noting that it underscored the Organization's efforts to promote a culture of peace through the Alliance of Civilizations and to bridge divides and promote understanding.

Indeed, Rumi's celebration of love for humanity, life, the divine and universality offers solutions to problems we continue to struggle with even today.

[related article: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=ban+ki]

Unable

By Joel Brinkley, *Opinion: Somalia's failed state victimizes world* - Global Post - Boston, MA, USA
Friday, June 4, 2010

A nexus of extremist training camps, pirates off the coast and 20 warships on patrol. It isn't just Somalis who suffer.

Palo Alto, Calif. — “Failed state” is a glib phrase thrown around in foreign-policy discussions. Diplomats roll their eyes, shake their heads and earnestly hope they aren’t assigned to one.

As generally defined, a failed state is one that does not control all of its territory, provide public services, exercise authority over the state or represent it competently in international relations. Given all of that, the shorthand definition of a failed state is, Somalia.

Late last month, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, staged a conference on the Somalia problem and urged delegates from 55 nations to work with the Somali government “in its reconciliation effort and its fight against extremism.”

Why the concern right now? Ban realizes that a truly failed state isn’t a problem just for its people. No, failed states victimize the world. Look at North Korea, Pakistan, Haiti or Sudan. Each of those nations meets most if not all of the criteria. Think of the money, time, effort and trouble they cause.

Still, Somalia remains the archetypal failed state. Right now, pirates hold “the highest number of vessels ever at the Somali coast, and the U.N.-led Somalia-process has completely failed and has collapsed,” declared ECOTERRA, an Australian organization that monitors Somali piracy. As of June 2, it added, pirates held 23 foreign ships plus one barge and 436 victims, “including an elderly British yachting couple.”

In the last two years, foreign-navy warships have captured 1,090 Somali pirates, killed 64 and wounded 24 others. In fact, an unprecedented and undeclared war is underway off the Somali coast. At least 20 warships are on patrol — a naval armada from the European Union, NATO, Russia, China, the United States and Arab states, including Iran.

At the same time, Somalia is exactly the sort of place where Al Qaeda and other extremist groups love to set up their training camps. Now one watches what they do. Al Shabaab, Somalia’s principal fanatic group, has pledged its allegiance to Al Qaeda and is intent on taking control of the state — giving Al Qaeda a nation of its own. Already, Somali diplomats are warning that Al Shabaab is trying to send extremists into the U.S. through Mexico. How many ways can one state inflict its chaos and criminality on the rest of the world?

But some of Somalia’s neighbors say that is not really the point.

“There is rising concern that” Somalia’s problems “pose a threat to regional and international peace,” wrote Boubacar Gaoussou, who is the special representative for the chairman of the African Union’s Commission for Somalia. “But we need to keep in mind that the bigger threat is first and foremost to the Somali people, who now live under constant threat to their lives.”

Gasussou’s op-ed column was widely published across Africa on May 31. “The extremists’ menu for the people of Somalia,” he added, “keeps unfolding like a horror film” — a film that few people outside of Africa ever watch. Can you imagine an Islamic group so extreme that it would forbid schools to ring the bell to end classes because some miscreant worried that somebody, somewhere, might confuse the sound with a church bell? That happened in the town of Jowhar, just 55 miles from Mogadishu, the capital.

About the same time, a different group of group ordered the state’s Somali radio stations to stop playing music and threatened to kill any station manager who did not comply. Music, of course, “is un-Islamic,” the group averred, adding that they wanted to purge the influence of Western culture and ideology. (Pol Pot said more or less the same thing before he massacred 2 million of his countrymen in Cambodia 35 years ago.)

The Somali government, such as it is, ordered the radio stations to keep playing music. But then the government controls just a few blocks around its own office buildings, and even that is tenuous. Last month, insurgents attacked the parliament building while the parliament was in session, killing 16 people.

The radio stations went off the air, and then back on again — with no music.

Ban Ki-moon, Gasussou and many others continue to urge the world “to show the Somalia leadership that we are ready to talk with them in partnership,” as the secretary general put it. Yes, but what does that high-tone language mean? Send troops to Somalia? That’s been done. Remember America’s 1993 misadventure in Somalia? No one in the world wants to take on still-another war against dug-in Islamic militants.

Train the Somalia military to manage the problem itself? That’s been tried. Last month, hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with American funding deserted because they had not been paid — and then joined the insurgency, the Associated Press reported.

Another characteristic needs to be added to the failed-state guidelines. As unfortunate as it seems, in Somalia, just like North Korea, Pakistan, Haiti and Sudan, the world’s best minds have been unable to find solutions.

Picture: A Sufi fighter stands guard behind a tree outside their military base near Bakara market in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, May 15, 2010. Photo: Feisal Omar/Reuters.

We Should All Recognize Our Essential Interdependence

RM/MA - Mehr News - Tehran, Iran
Saturday, June 30, 2007

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes that by understanding and putting into practice the teachings of the poet Molana Rumi the work of the United Nations alliance of civilizations will ultimately be successful.

Following is the text of remarks by the UN secretary-general delivered at the commemoration ceremony of the Persian philosopher and poet Molana Rumi in New York on June 26:

“I am delighted to join all of you today for this very special commemoration. Let me welcome the distinguished scholars and artists who have traveled long distances for this event. Let me also thank their Excellencies, the Permanent Representatives of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey for hosting this gathering at the United Nations.

“I must admit that I have been a bit unsure of where to begin. Many of you are dedicated disciples of Molana Rumi. Others have just participated in a panel discussion on the significance of his poetry led by leading academics. For such scholars to be followed by a mere student of Rumi is a tall task, even for a Secretary-General!

“Of course, just by looking around this hall, I can claim confidently that, eight centuries after his birth, Molana Rumi lives on. This event is a wonderful opportunity to reaffirm our devotion to his humanist philosophy and to highlight the principles of tolerance, understanding and compassion, which suffuse his compositions.”

He continued, “As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I hope to carry out my duties cheerfully and with humility, just as our moderator suggested. I know this is a big task, but I would like to accomplish it with the same tolerance, understanding and compassion that Rumi teaches.

“Rumi’s poetry is timeless. But its celebration at the United Nations is extremely timely. Events of recent years have created a growing gulf between communities and nations. They have led to a worrying rise in intolerance and cross-cultural tensions. Reversing these trends has become vital to long-term peace and stability in our world.”

Ban Ki-moon added, “These goals demand that every one of us look beyond our narrow short-term self-interests. As Rumi teaches, we must be mindful of the people around us, and love them as human beings and God’s creatures. In doing so, we should all recognize our essential interdependence and place the well-being of our communities and of all humanity on par with our own interests.

“This commemoration draws attention to this urgent need in a most engaging fashion. Indeed, by bringing together people of diverse backgrounds to celebrate Rumi’s universal philosophy, today’s gathering contributes to the UN’s own efforts to promote a culture of peace through the Alliance of Civilizations. The successor to our earlier Dialogue among Civilizations process, this initiative responds to the clear need for action by the international community to bridge divides and promotes understanding. The Alliance has identified several priority areas for action and is developing a strategy to promote better understanding between the world of politics and religion. Commemorations like this one can help inspire and motivate its important work and ensure the project’s ultimate success,” he concluded.

Later, Professor James Morris, Prof. Mahmut Erol Kilinc from Turkey, the first Culture Minister of Turkey Professor Talat Sait Hamlan, Chairman of George Washington University’s Islamic Institute Professor Hossein Nasr and Professor Waliahmedi from the University of California participated in the panel discussion.

Prof. Hossein Nasr made a speech and referred to the fact that Rumi was born in Iran.

He explained the reasons for the present popularity of Rumi’s works, which were written 800 years ago, and introduced and reviewed various dimensions of his philosophy.

Prof. Nasr referred to the theory of inner attachment of Rumi to the world, and called him the exponent of humanistic thoughts.

In the section arranged by Iran’s Permanent Representative Office at the UN, a poem by Rumi was read in Persian and afterwards in English.

Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN noted that he was pleased that his country had been able to collaborate with Iran and Turkey on arranging the event. He added that Rumi’s philosophy is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The part of the program arranged by Turkey included a performance of a sama by whirling dervishes.

Harmony

Tehran Times - Tehran, Iran
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Asia Society honors Shahram Nazeri with Lifetime Cultural Heritage Award

Iranian vocalist Shahram Nazeri received the Lifetime Cultural Heritage Award at the Annual Dinner of the Asia Society of New York on November 6. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of cultural and political figures and entrepreneurs attended the event.

In his acceptance speech, Nazeri expressed hope that music would bring all the people of the world together in harmony.

He also gave a special performance at the ceremony, accompanied by his son Hafez Nazeri and the Rumi Ensemble.

“Shahram Nazeri is a musical icon. I am delighted that he will be performing with the Rumi Ensemble this evening,” Ban Ki-moon said.

In recognition of the work Nazeri has done on the musical vocalization of the lyrics of the Iranian poet Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi, the French government presented Nazeri the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur medal during a ceremony in Paris on September 29.

No Immediate Claim

By AFP / Agencies, *Pakistan suicide bombers may be a new force* / *Crowd protests Taliban attack* - The Age - Australia

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Lahore: Two suicide bombers have killed 42 people and injured more than 170 at the shrine of a Sufi saint in what could be the work of a dangerous new militant group, out to avenge a deadly army assault on a mosque in the nation's capital, Islamabad, three years ago.

Thousands of people were present at the shrine, dedicated to Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, at the time of the attacks on Thursday night.
''It was a suicide bombing and we have found the heads of two suicide bombers,'' said Lahore police commissioner Khusro Pervez, adding that ''we are looking into the circumstances around how the bombers penetrated the area despite strict security''.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but Pakistan has been hit by a wave of deadly attacks since its military started operations against Islamist militants in the country's north-west last year, along the Afghan border that Washington calls al-Qaeda's global headquarters.
There are now fears that deeply religious Pakistanis may also have been radicalised by the July 2007 decision to storm Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and that this new ''Ghazi Force'' may be behind several major attacks previously blamed on the Pakistani Taliban.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban denied any role in the attack.

''We condemn this brutal act. Our target is very clear and we only attack police, army and other security personnel,'' Azam Tariq, a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan said, speaking from an undisclosed location.

''We are not responsible for these attacks … you know we do not attack public places.''

The Lahore attack was the second assault on the tomb of a Sufi saint, after militants blew up the Rehman Baba shrine in Peshawar in March 2009.

In May, militants wearing suicide vests burst into two prayer halls of the minority Ahmadi sect in two neighbourhoods of Lahore and killed 82 worshippers.

On January 1 more than 100 people were killed at a volleyball game in Bannu, in Pakistan's north-west.

''Before the Lal Masjid, militants hadn't yet declared war on the state of Pakistan. That changed with Lal Masjid,'' said Zahid Hussain, author and terrorism expert.

The new group is said to be made up of relatives of students who died in the Red Mosque assault.

Private television stations broadcast vivid scenes of the 2007 assault, stunning the nation. Perhaps as a result, the Pakistani government is considering restricting media coverage of suicide bombings and military operations.

Under the changes, TV journalists could be jailed for up to three years and fined up to 10 million rupees ($A140,000) for broadcasting ''anything defamatory against the organs of the state''.

***

Crowd protests Taliban attack

Angry protesters have taken to the streets in Pakistan, burning tyres and condemning Taliban extremists, after two suicide attacks killed 43 people at a shrine in the eastern city of Lahore.

The carnage at the Sufi shrine on Thursday was caught on camera in dramatic CCTV footage showing the bombers and the blast which sent hundreds of panicked worshippers fleeing in all directions engulfed in clouds of white smoke.

Thousands of protesters in Lahore and other cities demonstrated on Friday against the attack on the shrine dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh.

Close ally the United States said the "vicious" attack showed militants' disregard for Pakistani people.

"This senseless act of violence demonstrates the terrorists' blatant disregard for the lives of the Pakistani people and their disrespect for the sanctity of Pakistan's places of worship," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

The United Nations said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "strongly condemns the attack", adding: "The deliberate targeting of a crowded place of worship makes this particularly vicious."

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government is "committed to eradicate the menace of terrorism at all costs".

Lahore's administration chief Sajjad Bhutta told AFP that the death toll stands at 43 with 112 people in hospital.

Protesters burned tyres outside the shrine before noon prayers and more than 5000 people, mostly followers of the saint, later staged a rally in Lahore, while similar demonstrations were held in other cities across the country.

Participants at a rally in Multan wearing green caps and turbans accused Taliban militants of trying to destroy religious harmony in Pakistan.

Pakistan's Taliban, which has been instrumental in a wave of bloody attacks blamed on Islamist militants over the past three years, denied it was involved in the bombings.

The Sunni Tehreek movement announced a nationwide general strike for Saturday in protest against the attacks.

"It will be a complete and peaceful strike," senior party leader Hanif Tayyab told reporters after a rally in Karachi attended by more than 1000 people.

Most bazaars and markets remained closed on Friday and large numbers of police were on patrol in Lahore, considered a playground for Pakistan's elite and home to many top brass in the military and intelligence community.

More than 3400 people have been killed in a three-year bombing campaign by Islamist extremists to avenge Pakistani military operations and the government's alliance with the US over the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Thousands of people were at the centuries-old shrine when the bombers blew themselves up, engulfing the site in a huge cloud of smoke and leaving the white marble floor splattered with blood, body parts and people's belongings.

"I saw dead bodies and injured people lying on the floor in pools of blood," said one witness.
Authorities said they had found the heads of two suicide bombers, who wore the green turbans of Sufi followers, and were investigating how they had managed to penetrate the area despite strict security measures.

The CCTV footage showed a guard chasing one of the bombers just moments before he set off his explosives belt.

"We were searching everyone walking through the gate. One bomber crossed the gate and a security guard ran to catch him because he was suspicious but in the meantime he blew himself up," Rao Fazal-ur-Rehman, an administrator at the shrine, told AFP.

After escaping much of the bloodshed in other parts of Pakistan in recent years, Lahore has increasingly suffered, with around 265 people killed in nine attacks since March last year.

In May suspected Sunni Muslim militants wearing suicide vests burst into two Ahmadi prayer halls in Lahore and killed 82 worshippers.

Sufism is a mystical movement, which includes both Shi'ites and Sunnis, that spreads the message of Islam through music, poetry and dancing. Radical groups consider it un-Islamic.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague branded the attacks a "vicious and inhuman act".
"Britain stands alongside the people and government of Pakistan against those who commit such appalling atrocities," Hague said.

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said the incident showed the scale of the extremist threat in Pakistan.

Picture: Pakistani Sunni Muslims shout slogans during a protest in Karachi against the suicide bomb attacks on the shrine of Muslim Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri. Photo: AFP

Love as Food

By Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi - Payvand News - Iran
Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Many literary, cultural and spiritual organizations have organized events to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth in 2007.

UNESCO organized an international seminar, performance and exhibition from 6-14 September in Paris, and issued a Commemorative Medal in honor of Moulânâ Rumi.

On 26 June, the United Nations Organization hosted a gathering in New York (with the participation of representatives from Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey), and the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon commented:

"Rumi's poetry is timeless. But its celebration at the United Nations is extremely timely. Events of recent years have created a growing gulf between communities and nations. They have led to a worrying rise in intolerance and cross-cultural tensions … As Moulana teaches, we must be mindful of the people around us, and love them as human beings and God's creatures."

Rumi's poetry reaches our heart and mind seven centuries after his death and in various lands and among different peoples because Rumi sees the Divine love shining everywhere and in all ages.

His path and poetry is based on love. In the very beginning of his great work Masnawi Ma'nawi Rumi says that his poetry of love is the "root of the root of the root of all religions."

He thinks of love as food ("Mâ eshgh khoreem: we eat love"); he sees love as a creative force in the fabric of the universe; he considers God as a friend (doost or yâr) and beloved (mahboob or ma'shoogh) on earth and in our heart.

(...)

Rumi's poems (98% in Persian and about two percents in Arabic) are collected in two great works:

(1) Diwân Shams ("The Poetry Book of Shams") or Diwân Kabir ("The Great Book of Poetry") which contains some 3500 lyric odes (Ghazal) and nearly 2000 quatrains (Rubâi'yât) and is dedicated to Shams Tabrizi.

This book is full of ecstatic love poems and in many of the poems Rumi addresses himself with the pen-name of Khamoosh ("Silent") in many poems.

(2) Masnawi Ma'nawi ("Rhymed Couplets on Spiritual Matters") is a six-volume book of didactic poetry (stories and parables) which Rumi recited to Husâm Chelebi during the last decade of his life. Many of the Rumi translations in English available on the market today (and with varying quality) are all selections from these two works.

Rumi died on 17 December 1273, aged 67. People from diverse religions and ethnicities – Muslims, Christians, Jews, Persians, Turks, Arabs and Greek, the rich, the poor, the elite and the illiterate, women and men – all came to his funeral and mourned the loss of their great spiritual master.

Buried in Konya, Rumi's tomb (called "Ghobat al-Khidhra" the Green Dome, or "Yashil Turbe" in Turkish) has become a shrine for thousands of visitor and pilgrims each year.

17 December is celebrated as Sheb-i Arus ("Wedding Night" symbolizing reunion with the Divine) in Konya in the spirit of Rumi's will that those who come to his tomb should not cry and grieve but rejoice in prayer, poetry and contemplation.

It is interesting to note that Rumi was born on Sunday and this year 30 September (his birthday) also falls on Sunday. Rumi died at sunset on Sunday.

This symbolism of his birth and death on a day named after the Sun is beautifully consistent with the place of Moulânâ Rumi's personality and poetry among us.

For seven centuries, his art and vision has shined like a bright, warm sun upon our minds and hearts. Master Rumi is an enlightening poet for all ages and peoples.

About the Author: Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi is director of the Rumi Poetry Club at Salt Lake City, Utah: he can be reached at rumipoetryclub@earthlink.net

For further readings the Author recommends:

Annemarie Schimmel (2001)
Rumi's World
Shambhala Dragon Editions

[read Editorial and Customer Reviews and/or buy the book at
The Sufi Store
http://astore.amazon.com/wilderwri-20/detail/0877736111/105-1791904-0645206].

Indo-Pak Sufi fest enthralls Valley

By Nikhat Kazmi - The Times of India - India
Saturday, June 17, 2006

SRINAGAR: The litmus test seems to be over for Kashmir. It's time to bring back music, song and dance to the violence-scarred Valley. The five-day ICCR-sponsored Indo-Pak Sufi festival not only ran to packed houses in Srinagar, but managed to find an audience in the more intemperate climes of Baramulla and Pahalgam too.

While young boys swayed and danced in the aisles of Srinagar's Sher-e-Kashmir auditorium to notes of 'Mast Qalandar' and the young girls swayed in their seats — Pakistan Sufi exponent Bundu Khan was surprised by the response he elicited in Baramulla, a town which has been more in the news for terror attacks than for things that could be termed as rooh ki giza (food for the soul).

For Pakistani artists, the Kashmir experience has been an unforgettable one. As Bundu Khan explains: "Our age gets a 10-year extension when we perform in India.

You ask him why and he is candid enough to tell you that Pakistan has generally frowned upon music and dance. "Aam taur par, gane-bajaane ko haraam kaha gaya hai Pakistan mein (Generally, music and dance has been considered un-Islamic in Pakistan).

This is strange because Prophet Mohammed himself has given his sanction to music," he says. According to him, when Hazrat Omar objected to two girls who were singing in the presence of the Prophet and told them to stop singing, the Prophet urged them to continue.

"Everyone has a day of Eid. It's Eid for these girls today, he reportedly said. So any ban on music and dance is essentially un-Islamic," explains Bundu Khan.

He however adds that the atmosphere in the current regime is more conducive to culture and the Pakistan government regularly sponsors classical music programmes.

For the younger Naeem Abbas Rufi, who peppers his Sufi with the bongo, the drums and the electric guitar, the Kashmir experience was unusual too.

"I loved the mausam and mahaul here, he said, hinting at a non-literal interpretation of the weather and atmosphere. According to him, it's time to open up all boundaries between India and Pakistan in the field of art and culture because "Fan ki koi seema nahin hoti. Hamari zameen ek hai. Culture ek hai. Insaaniyat ki nazar se hum ek hain. Phir yeh deewar kaisi? (Art has no boundaries. We have one land. One culture. One humanity. Then why these walls?)"

The Path of Syncretism

By Kunal Ghosh, "Ideological and Development War Ahead" - Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 23 - New Delhi, India
Saturday, May 23, 2009

Attack on Mosques/Dargahs of Sufi-oriented Sunni Muslims

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Abdullah Haroon made a link in the UN between Darul Uloom Deoband in India and terrorism in Pakistan’s NWFP and FATA areas where the Al-Qaeda and Taliban ideology flourishes. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind protested to the MEA, Pak High Commission and UN Secretary-General against Pakistan opening this new front. (Ref: ‘Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Protests Pak Link’ The Times of India, Kanpur, New Delhi, December 19, 2008)

In the aftermath of the Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack, when India put forth incontrovertible evidence that the terrorists were trained in and came from the Pakistani soil, there was a debate in the UN General Assembly and Abdullah Haroon said:
Some of you may not be aware that how this matter has taken root in a deep way, led entirely by Mullahs in India in Deoband. I am not pointing a finger. I am coming up with a very good suggestion. It is for the clerics in Deoband, who wield great influence in the North West Frontier territories of Pakistan and in FATA, to come to Pakistan, get together and embed, offer a Fatwa in Pakistan against suicide bombing.

Haroon’s was a sincere attempt to draw attention to the need for an ideological offensive against terror. The Government of India, petitioned by the Mullahs, misunderstood and thought it to be a red herring for diverting attention toward India. Facing a lot of criticism in India the Deoband seminary responded by organising conferences and rallies against terrorism and the first such conference was in February 2008. However, the pronouncement in the conference was that ’unjust violence’ is un-Islamic. It stopped far short of naming specific outfits or actions. Why cannot the Deoband clerics go to the Taliban controlled areas of the NWFP in Pakistan and organise such a conference?

Arif Mohammad Khan, who had been a Cabinet Minister in Rajiv Gandhi’s government in the 1980s and resigned on the issue of the regressive stand taken by the government on the infamous Shah Bano legal/judicial case, wrote a scholarly article, ‘Sending a Wrong Message: There’s a Disconnect between the Clergy and the Common Muslims’ in The Times of India, September 30, 2008, New Delhi. He examines the syllabus of the Darul Uloom seminary of Deoband on the question of jihad and forcible conversion to Islam and shows that the syllabus prescribes the sword even when the infidel is not the first aggressor and is at complete variance with the Holy Quran; in fact the syllabus is based on Hedaya, a 12th century text. He mentions that he wrote to the Deoband authorities pointing this out but received no reply.

He further says: This syllabus is not confined to Deoband, the seminary that was established in 1866, but is prescribed in more than 5000 of its affiliates across the country (India) and thousands of madrasahs in Pakistan, run by former students of Deoband. It is curious that for admission into these madrasahs no formal application is needed; instead madrasahs send recruitment teams to very poor and backward areas emphasising that the education, food, lodging and clothing provided by the madrasah are all free.

Further, Arif Mohammad Khan cites a published case study by a Pakistani psychologist, named Sohail Abbas, based on personal interviews of 517 arrested jihadis, which concludes that almost all the jihadis belonged to the Deobandi school of thought.

Development and Education on War Footing
The recruitment strategy of the madrasahs, as mentioned by Arif Mohammad Khan, should be an eye-opener for the political leaderships of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Boys from very poor half-starved families, not getting any form of education whatsoever, are being targeted by a certain group of madrasahs that seem to be flushed with finance. Therefore the first task before the governments is to provide development and free education to the poor all over the Indian sub-continent. Extremism in any form, be it of the religious or Naxalite variety, flourishes only in dire abominable poverty. The situation in Pakistan’s North West frontier is fast spinning out of control and there is no time to lose. We need development on war footing, and that is why I call it a developmental war. If we lose the developmental war, we are sure to lose the ideological war to the extremists.

Attack on Shrines of Sufi-oriented Sunni Muslims
Muslim Extremism: In the last one month two important mosques have been attacked and bombed by the Taliban in the NWFP of Pakistan.

The Rahman Baba mosque in Peshwar was bombed because of its Sufi connection. A famous Sufi Dervish, called Rahman Baba, had established this mosque and the complex includes his mausoleum where thousands of devotees offer obeisance everyday. Even now most of the people of the NWFP are of Sufi-Islam persuasion, but that is sought to be changed at the point of the gun. The Taliban attacked the Jamrood mosque at the Khyber Agency of the NWFP soon after they attacked the aforesaid Rahman Baba mosque.

Initially I was puzzled as to the reason for this attack because, according to newspaper reports, that mosque is an ordinary Sunni mosque and contains no mausoleum of a saint. I found a clue in a recent article by Syed Salim Shahzad, Asia Times Online’s Pakistan’s Bureau Chief. Shahzad, in his article, ‘US Strikes at Taliban’s Nerve Centre’ (Thursday, April 2, 2009 7:55 am (PDT)), talks of drone attacks by the NATO in Orakzai area and says:
Orakzai is important for another reason. The Taliban chose it as a base from where to send fighters into Khyber Agency to attack NATO supply convoys. The Taliban don’t have roots in Khyber Agency, where the people are mostly traders and being Sufi are not religiously like-minded with the Taliban, so the militants have been unable to set up bases.

So the mosque was attacked because people of the area are of Sufi-Islam persuasion. In Shahzad’s statement it is also implied that the Taliban are anti-Sufi. We observe that Pakistani spokesmen and Indo-Pak writers are repeatedly drawing attention to an ideological fault-line in Sunni Islam and are pointing fingers at Deoband. It is well known in Pakistani circles that the Taliban and their associates, such as Lashkar-e Tayaba, Sipah-e-Salar, Jaish-e-Mohammad etc., follow the Deobandi interpretation of Sunni Islam and are against veneration of Sufi saints and the Sufi institutions such as Dargahs and Khanekas. Deobandis also hold the Shia and the Ahmadiya to be un-Islamic. True to their ideology the Taliban have been attacking Sufi-oriented Sunni mosques and Shia mosques in the NWFP.


Incidentally, I have come across several Muslim gentlemen, who are good citizens of India in every perceptible way, who candidly admit that they follow the Deobandi interpretation of Islam and hold Sufi practices such as visiting saints’ Dargahs and offering flowers or Chadar there as un-Islmaic. So all Deobandis are not terrorists, but all terrorists seem to be Deobandis. The connection between Deobandi and Wahhabi thoughts are given later in this article. The Al Qaeda, head-quartered in the secret hideouts of the NWFP, is an avowedly Wahhabi organisation led by a Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden. Since the Deobandi Taliban is aligned with the Al Qaeda, there must be some ideological affinity between the two.

In 1996 Aruna Asaf Ali (awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously) wrote in her article titled, ‘An Agenda For National Renewal’ (published in Mainstream, New Delhi, September 26, 1996, pp. 13-17):
Fanatical indoctrination imparted over the years in hundreds of schools run by the Jamaat-e-Islami in Kashmir is widely believed to have been a potent factor in the growth of fundamentalist and secessionist forces in that state.

The Jamaat-e-Islami is a well-known political party of Deobandi persuasion, founded in Lahore by Maulana Maudoodi. The Jamaat in Bangladesh or India is a sister organisation of the Pakistani Jamaat and the madrasahs in Kashmir are manned by former students of Deoband. So it is no wonder that the militants of Hizbul Mujahideen, who had been indoctrinated by the Jamaat and been fighting a secessionist war in Kashmir against the Indian Army, occupied and eventually burned down the Dargah of Saint Nuruddin Noorani at Chrar-e-Sharief. Separating Kashmir from India is not their only aim. They also aim to destroy the Sufi-oriented Sunni Islam of Kashmir. (It should be recalled that the Bangladeshi Jamaat sided with the Pakistani forces and took part in the genocide during the liberation struggle in 1971.)

Hindu Extremism: The story of the attack on Sufi Dargahs will remain incomplete unless we mention what happened during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Tens of Dargahs in Ahmedabad alone were destroyed or vandalised. These Dargahs were the symbols of Hindu-Muslim syncretism where the two communities mingled in harmony and where on occasions vegetarian food was prepared by Muslims to be served to Hindu devotees. It is often said that it is only the Hindus who visit (Sufi) Muslim shrines and there is no reciprocity vice-versa. This simply is not true and here are a few examples.

During the recent Gujarat riots, a Hindu mob burned down the tomb of noted classical singer Ustad Faiaz Khan near Ahmedabad. It is well known that Faiaz Khan Sahab used to start all his recitals by saying “Om Ananta Narayana Hari”. He obviously believed in the philosophy of “Ishwara Allah tere naam (Ishwara and Allah are thy two names)”. He was a religious person and known to maintain all the observances of a good Muslim. Among India’s musicians there are many like him. Late Ustad Alauddin Khan, father of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and guru of Pandit Ravi Shankar, often visited a Masjid and a Mandir on the same day. The Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan used to play in a Banaras temple and has repeatedly talked about his gaining a spiritual experience while performing there. Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote poetry on the goddess Kali. Noted classical singer Pandit Ajay Chakraborty and many other Hindu singers of Bengal sing a song written by the same poet in praise of Prophet Mohammad, “Noor Nabi Mohammad”. The list is endless.

The purpose of mentioning all this is to urge both Hindus and Muslims not to abjure the path of syncretism which is so rooted in the culture of this land. Muslim Indians of eminence should work for upholding the Chishtiyya tradition and in particular for restoring the kalashes on the spires of the Chishti dargahs of Ajmar and Fatehpur Sikri; these kalashes had been present for more than six centuries as symbols of Muslim-Hindu syncretism and have been removed between 1975 and 1997, a span of 22 years. As a gesture of friendship the Hindus of Ahmedabad should re-build the tomb of Ustad Faiaz Khan and all vandalised Dargahs.

We shall now focus attention to another significant political formation concerned mainly with security in Central Asia.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO
Vladimir Radyuhin in his article, ‘SCO: Towards a High-profile Role in Afghanistan’ (ref: www.hindu.com/2009/03/31/stories, re-printed as ‘Stage Set for a High-Profile SCO Role in Afghanistan’ in Mainstream New Delhi, April 10-16, 2009), says:
The Special Conference on Afghanistan, held in Moscow last Friday…. was organised by the SCO…..It was remarkable for a broad range of participants from outside the organisation. They included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Secretary-General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mark Perrin de Brichambaut; US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon; and NATO Deputy Secretary-General Martin Howard. There were also representatives …from the European Union and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Afghanistan was represented by Foreign Minister Rangin Dagdar Spanta…….

The Moscow Conference call for adopting a comprehensive approach to Afghanistan was consonant with Mr Obama’s new emphasis on diplomacy, economic assistance, the building of a strong Afghan army and security forces and on shutting down the Pakistani safe haven for extremists. If anything, the Moscow Declaration came harder on Pakistan demanding that it find effective means to combat terrorism, including denying sanctuaries and dismantling the extremist and terrorist network and ideological centres.

The last sentence of Radyuhin’s summary calls for dismantling of ‘ideological centres’ in Pakistan. He might as well have widened his net to include ideological centres in the whole of the Indian subcontinent. It should be noted that India was represented in the Moscow conference and has an observer status in SCO.

Wahhabi Deobandi Connection: The Anti-Sufi Stand
Wahhabism sprang in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century and started a challenge to traditional Sunni Islam worldwide. Muhammad Ibn Abd-el Wahhab was a scholar in 18th century Saudi Arabia and is the father of Wahhabism. Later an Indian scholar, called Maulana Maudoodi, nourished this stream of thought and is widely respected in the Wahhabi circles. Maudoodi’s writings influenced the scholars of Al Azhar university of Egypt. Abd-el Wahhab held that Sufi practices of building mausoleums or dargahs around the burial chambers of saints and veneration of these saints amount to idol worship and hence must be eradicated.

The clerics of Deoband agree with Wahhab’s thesis and they aggressively preach against Sufism in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Wahhabis destroyed Sufi dargahs and Khanekas and killed Sufis wherever they came to power in the Middle East. Yet Sufism has always been a part of traditional Sunni Islam right from the days of Prophet Mohammad. Sufi orders are to be found from Morocco to Indonesia everywhere. Sufism derives from certain chapters of the Holy Quran.

There are more than a hundred Sufi orders in the world, and all except one, the Naqshbandiyya order, [!] preach universal love and believe in the Quranic concept of Wahdat ul Ujud or Unity of All Existence. Sufis offer a path of spiritual training under a Murshid (a teacher or Guru) which lead to direct realisation of God. In other words, the Wahhabis wish to eliminate the spiritual dimension of Islam altogether. Traditionally there has always been a sectarian tendency among the Ulema of Islam, but it was held in check by the Sufis because the Ulema usually deferred to the Sufi Peers or Dervishes. There was a bipolar balance between the two arms of traditional Sunni Islam, the Sufi and the Ulema. This balance has been disturbed by the rise of Wahhabism.

Yet it must be said that for nearly two centuries Wahhabism could not manage to create dent in traditional Sunni Islam till the formation of OPEC in 1973 and the rise in the petro-dollar power of Saudi Arabia. This Wahhabi state has financed thousands of Wahhabi madrasahs all over the world and Deobandi ones in South Asia to enhance its political influence. The Deobandis do not openly admit to being Wahhabis. But their attitude toward Sufism is the give away. One suspects that the thousands of Deobandi madrasahs of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh which offer free board and lodge to poor students are bank-rolled by the Saudis. Intolerance is the inevitable result of the spread of Wahhabism, and extreme intolerance leads to terrorism.

Sufism and World Peace
The importance of Sufism for world peace and harmonious co-existence needs some elaboration. A great musician of India, Amir Khusro, was a Sufi spiritualist and a realized soul. He wrote,

Khusro rain Suhag ki jaagi piya ke sang,
Tan mero man piyu ka, dono bhayo ek rang.

(Khusro remains awake with his beloved in the night of union, the body is mine but the mind belongs to the beloved, the two fuse to become of one colour.)

His language is medieval Hindi and not Urdu. His imagery is of love, but this love is spiritual and not physical. The great Turkish [!] Sufi Maulana Jalal Uddin Rumi (fondly called Maulana Rum) wrote:

I knocked on the door and the voice called ‘who is it’?
I said it is me, Rumi, but the door did not open.
I knocked again and the voice asked ‘who is it?’ once again,
I answered, “It is you my friend” and then the door opened.

This poem describes an experience akin to what is known as ‘monistic mystical experience’ in Catholic and Orhtodox Christian literature and as Nirvikalpa Samaadhi in Hindu literature. The purpose of quoting these two poets is to show the similarity in spiritual thoughts of different religions and different climes. It is this which offers a basis for universal love which all Sufi orders practice.

Relentless assault on Sufism by Wahhabi fanatics is destroying the foundation of peaceful co-existence of different religions. The latest is the recent destruction of the mosque-dargah complex of the revered Sufi Rahman Baba in the town of Peshawar. Even now most of the people of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan are followers of traditional Sunni Islam and hold Sufis in reverence. But they are unarmed and unorganised and have no chance to defend their faith against the organised might of the armed-to-the-teeth Taliban, often backed by the Pakistani state.

People of the Swat valley were traditionally following Sufi Islam and the traditional law which is based partly on tribal customs and partly on Shariah. So restoration of this law is not so dangerous in itself, provided they stay in the traditional Sufi path and the ruling Awami National Party can reverse the Wahhabi/Deobandi trend. But that is unlikely, because the ruthless Taliban have killed an enormous number of tribal elders all over the province, including in the Swat valley, so that a link with the past is broken and the traditional Sunni leadership is now in disarray.

The latest flogging of a 17-year old girl for stepping out of home with a male companion, who was not father or brother, holds ominous portents. Incidentally in this case what the Taliban has enforced is Salafi Law that is practised in Saudi Arabia; the traditional law of the Swat does not prohibit a woman from stepping out with a non-relative male companion. Once again we observe that the Taliban prefers the Saudi law to the traditional one. Saudi Arabia is now trying to pacify some of the Taliban by offering monetary allurement and mediation in order to help their American allies. But this is hardly likely to work.

Conclusions
Development and alleviation of poverty are the primary necessary conditions for fighting Islamic extremism, but they are not sufficient, in my opinion. An ideological offensive is also imperative. Only a war that combines developmental and ideological measures would be sufficient.
Is the Saudi state prepared to eschew Wahhabism and return to traditional Sunni Islam? That perhaps is too tall an order. The least that they can do is to stop financing the spread of Wahhabism abroad and allow a space of legitimacy to traditional Sunni Islam and Shia Islam at home. This amounts to granting religious freedom within the Islamic fold.

Again calling for religious freedom for non-Islamic faiths would be too tall an order at this juncture. Instead of bank-rolling madrasahs, the Saudi state and its businessmen should provide development aid to Pakistan and Bangladesh. They should stop financing madrasahs in India. But there is still no evidence of any dawning of this kind of wisdom among the rulers of Saudi Arabia.

Indian and world policy-makers must wake up to the need for waging an ideological battle at the global level. The SCO seems to be have woken up to the need for an ideological offensive inside Pakistan. Surely that is not enough, because it leaves the source-spring (Saudi Arabia) of the ideology intact.

Dr Kunal Ghosh is a Professor, Aerospace Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

Power and Beauty

By Staff Reporter, *Sufiana traditions at Arab-ki-Sarai* - Deccan Herald - India; Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Delhi’s very popular Sufi Music festival ‘Jahan-e-Khusrau’ held to commemorate the death anniversary of Hazrat Amir Khusrau - was held recently and enthralled lovers of the tradition.

Designed and directed by filmmaker-turned-painter Muzaffar Ali, the festival is held in the lawns of Humayun’s Tomb, where Khusrau is said to have started the qawwali tradition in AD 13th century.

In its 10th year now, the festival has become the world’s biggest confluence of Sufi artistes and in keeping with tradition, it hosted the biggest names Abida Parveen (who has been returning to this festival every year); actor Ali Zafar and the well-known Hans Raj Hans.

“Sufism has the power and beauty to lead us towards a global family where traditions and religions blend in love. ‘Jahan-e-Khusrau’ is an attempt to integrate all voices in a collective prayer for peace and sacred oneness,” notes Ali, the brain behind the festival.

Notably, Ali has selected each and every composition that was rendered by artistes.
Singer Vidhi Sharma flagged off the festival with a beautiful recital of Amir Khusrau’s poems, Jab yaar dekha nain bhar and Yaar ko hamne ja baja dekha.

She was followed by Shivani Varma and Vidha Lal who performed Kathak to Rajesh Pandey’s renditions of Sakal ban phool rahi sarson, Nizam tori soorat ke Balihari and Chal Khusrau aapne saanjh bhai chaudes. The last act of the day saw Hans Raj Hans deliver powerful compositions Raakho mori laaj Gharib Nawaz, Garaj baras, Dil mein sanam kada tha and Lab par khuda khuda tha, among others.

The second evening was begun by vocalist Indira Naik who enchanted the audience with Man kunto Maula and Main aapka deewana hoon Mehboob-e-Ilahi. As she sang Chhap tilak sab chheen li re all those present erupted in joy and danced to the beats of the accompanying musicians. Muzaffar Ali’s son, Murad Ali gave a superb recitation of Rumi poetry in Italian, accompanied by renowned Italian flautist Andrea Griminelli.

Actor and singer Ali Zafar whose compositions Husn par tere fida hoon kya karoon, Daastan-e-ishq, Mai ni me, Allah hu and Ni mai jaanaan, among others, drew thunderous applause.

The best it would seem is always reserved for the last. On the third day, dancers Zia Nath, Ankur Ballal, Dilip Tambe and Sanatan Chakravarty first presented ‘Sufi Splendour’, a confluence of Odissi temple dances and the tradition of Whirling Dervishes.

The last performance of the three day fest was reserved for Abida Parveen, the world renowned Pakistani singer, who has been an integral part of Jahan-e-Khusrau since its inception and weaves her magic year after year at this gathering.

This year Abida sang numerous compositions like Na alfaz pahonche, Aashiq hoon tera taalib-e-deedar and Mulk-e Khuda, among others. Accompanying her were renowned sarangi maestro Murad Ali Khan and Aakash Daf from India and Karam Hussain (Dholak), Manzoor Hussain (Harmonium) and Nazir Khan (Tabla) from Pakistan.