By Pub - Associated Press of Pakistan - Islamabad, Pakistan
Monday, February 26, 2007
Pakistan Muslim League Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed Monday said Maulana Rumi still serves as an intellectual connection between Islam and the West.
Addressing a ceremony held in connection with the 800th birth anniversary of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, he said writings of Maulana Rumi are considered one of the most popular intellectual pieces even in the Western countries.
Mushahid said sufis, saints and poets in Pakistan and Turkey created an intellectual and historical connection between the peoples of both the countries.
He said there is a symbolic grave of Allama Muhammad Iqbal adjacent to the tomb of Maulana Rumi, which was a symbol of great love.
The PML secretary general said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation has declared 2007 as a year of Rumi, adding that Pakistan Sufi Council and Sufi Forum will organize mega events and conferences to pay homage to this great sufi poet.
Mushahid said songs based on the poetry of Allama Iqbal will be available on CDs to promote the true message of love, brotherhood, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
He said an international conference will also be organised on April 21 this year to hold a dialogue on civilizations in the light of the teachings of Allama Iqbal.
A Pakistan delegation will attend an international conference to be held on May 3-7 in Istanbul to show love and affection Pakistani people have for great sufi poet Maulana Rumi, he said.
Mushahid said Pakistan and Turkey shared common social, cultural and religious values, adding, word ‘Urdu is itself a Turkish word and one of the main roads was named after the name of Kamal Attaturk.
Director General, Ministry of Culture, Turkey, Erjan Uslo said Pakistan and Turkey has an effective people-to-people contact based on love and affection for each other.
Mayor of Konia Usman Gurbaz said the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Turkey is one of the rare examples ever seen in the history of world.
Director, Institute of History and Culture, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Prof. Dr. Riaz Ahmad said Pakistan is a land of sufis and so is Turkey where message of love and tolerance was spread by great sufi poets.
Chairman of Rumi Forum Haroon Arkan said Pakistan is a country which is close to the heart of Turkish people and both countries enjoy wide-ranging bilateral relations.
Dr. Ghazanfar Mehdi said sufi saints projected true image of Islam all over the world and disseminated a message of love, togetherness and brotherhood among all the people irrespective of race and religion.
Dr. Inan Muhammad, an educationist, said Pakistan and Turkey always extended support to each other at any point of critical time and sufi saints and poets brought the people of both the countries closer to each other.
[picture: Allama Muhammad Iqbal http://www.allamaiqbal.com/]
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