Report from Yemen: Dhikr amidst the bombs

Report from a Yemeni friend today in Yemen:

The situation is extremely catastrophic.

We are no longer very disturbed and worried

by the planes, rockets, and bombs

because when death comes

it will not be possible to stop it.

Our true concern is the

wretched and deteriorating economic situation....

I want to thank you

for my memories of the sessions of dhikr

[editor: chanting meditation, the sessions that we used to have at your house].

When the planes circle above us

and we hear the reverberations

of the violent explosions,

I gather my family,

and we begin a session of dhikr.

During it, we forget all that is going on around us,

and we feel tranquility

and indescribable peace.

(Translated from the Arabic by Alan Godlas)

[Note: For a good general article on the conflict in Yemen see "Yemen Crisis: Who is Fighting Whom?" from BBC News 14 October 2016]

On the OSU shooting: A Sufi News Editorial

Our hearts go out to the victims hurt by Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the Somali OSU criminal. And to the victims, their famlies, to all non-Muslim Americans, and to all Muslims in the US and over the world who are suffering on account of this criminal's action: we who are following the Sufi way of Islam are with you in your grief; and we are with you in your rage.

 We urge you to use whatever resources you have in your cultures (such as counseling and psychotherapy) and in your religions (such as the contemplative, meditative, or devotional dimensions of religions) to heal the wounds now aching, wounds that for some are even seething inside you.

If you do not know how to access such resources, find out before it is too late. To the degree that you are successful at healing such wounds in your heart, you will decrease the likelihood that you too (like the criminal Artan) will one day become deluded into thinking that in order to acheive your goal, it is necessary for you to hurt or even kill innocent people.

 In contrast, this criminal and those who influenced him, one of whom is reported to have been the criminal Anwar al-Awlaki, only knew Islam as a set religious doctrines, behaviors, and prohibitions. They were not aware of how to practice Islam in such a way as to heal the wounds of the heart.

 We pray that this tragedy will not be a cause of hatred but rather that it will be a cause of healing, a wake-up call for everyone to regain and actualize the healing wisdom that the human race has often lost sight of but which it fortunately possesses.

Amin/Amen

Outrage on Sufism

Statesman News Service |

November 16, 2016 | 12:39 AM

Under attack in Mosul and Aleppo, the Islamic State  of Iraq and Syria has renewed the extension of its tentacles in the subcontinent. As much is the sinister message of Saturday's suicide attack, said to have been carried out by a 14-year-old, on a Sufi dargah in Baluchistan. There are a couple of facets to the outrage. One, the Caliphate has extended the conflict beyond the Shia-Sunni confrontation. It was an attack on tolerant Sufism, indeed the manifestation  of the conflict within Islam. Dargah Shah Noorani stands today as an awesome symbol of the calculated malevolence. The other is the surge in the attack on Sufi artistes, notably singers, in parallel to the accumulation of arms by the Islamist militants. As recently as June, the  qawwali singer, Amjad Sabri, was shot dead in Karachi, a killing for which  the Taliban had claimed responsibility. Pakistan has reached a stage where the label of the terrorist is of lesser moment than the grim reality of innocents being done to death with fearsome regularity.  Less than a month ago, cadets of the Baluchistan Police College in Quetta were killed by the Taliban, a disaster that followed  the bombing of a hospital in the Baluch capital.

The tragedy at Dargah Shah Noorani would seem to be still more poignant as the targeted innocents had assembled for the weekly songs and prayers, notably when the worshippers were performing the dhamal, a ritualistic dance of profound importance in the Sufi tradition. It was, to use contemporary jargon, a surgical strike  not merely on the sect but on the tolerant and liberal culture that it has propagated over time. In death, the 52 victims have conveyed the chilling message, and not to the Muslim bloc alone. Amidst the mushroom growth of militant hubs across Pakistan, the shrine culture still prevails. And there is little doubt that the offensive of the hardliners, who strike to kill, is directed against any modern, let alone liberal, interpretation of Islam. Notably, the song-and-dance  religious culture of the Sufis has palpably turned out to be an anathema, perhaps even heretical. Direly alarmist must be the fact that its religious philosophy of tolerance is perceived as anti-Islam through the fundamentalist prism. Indeed, the contribution of the Sufi saints to Pakistan's social development has been no less significant than that of the ulema  and clerics.

Till the emergence of mortal fundamentalism, more Pakistanis are said to have visited Sufi shrines than they did mosques. Saturday's mayhem is an affront to a noble tradition. Aside from the Shias, the Sunni Caliphate has widened its targeted flank. The terrorist, whatever the label, will find it difficult to digest that Sufism, a tolerant, mystical practice of Islam, has millions of followers in Pakistan. And it shall not be easy to obliterate the groundswell of support.

Bhitshah conference demands teaching of Sufism at all academic levels [in Pakistan]

BHITSHAH (from The Dawn (Pakistan) THE NEWSPAPER'S STAFF CORRESPONDENT — UPDATED Nov 15, 2016 08:29am: Inclusion of sufis’ teaching in the syllabi right from the primary to university level was among several demands made through the resolutions adopted at the first ‘Shah Latif Aalmi Tasawwuf Conference’ organised under the aegis of the Pakistan Mashaikh Ittehad Council (PMIC) within the courtyard of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s shrine on the eve of the 273rd urs of the great Sufi saint on Monday.

 Syed Waqar Hussain Shah, the custodian (Sajjada Nashin) of the Bhitai’s shrine, heads the council that organised the conference titled ‘Dehshat gardi ka jawab – sufia-i-karam ka nisab’.

 The conference was attended by custodians of different shrines in the country. Benazir Income Support Programme chairperson Marvi Memon, Adviser to the Chief Minister on Auqaf Syed Ghulam Shah Jilani, Saira Peter from London were prominent among those who attended the conference.

 Condemning Saturday’s suicide bomb attack at the Shah Noorani shrine in Khuzadar (Balochistan), the conference called for appropriate measures for the safety and security of all shrines and the devotees visiting them. It demanded immediate reopening of the Noorani shrine, which was sealed after the carnage. It said the PMIC would launch a movement if the shrine was not unsealed.

 Through another resolution, the conference stressed that custodians of all shrines be taken on board by the Auqaf department as far as their [shrines’] supervision was concerned. The revenue generated at each shrine in the shape of donations be spent in consultation with the custodian concerned and a reasonably big chunk be spent on the teaching of sufism.

 The conference called for the setting up of a committee for better coordination between government and Mashaikh. Sufism be taught through the syllabi right from the primary to university level. It urged the government to set up institutions for research on all important shrines.

 It also urged the chief minister to form a committee that should devise a comprehensive strategy for security of shrines and devotees. Action be taken against all immoral activities and the rituals that were contrary to the tenets of Islamic and were being resorted to by people at shrines. It called for the appointment of pesh imams, khateebs and muazzins, for mosques at shrines, from the Sufi school of thought.

 It demanded that international mashaikh conferences be held at the important shrineson the occasion of urs and a recognised scholar of mysticism be appointed as the vice chancellor for the Sufi university at Bhitshah.

 It said shrines should be given representation on universities’ syndicates and senates. The conference demanded lifting of the ban on the urs of at the Luwari Sharif shrine in Badin and ensure preservation of rare books present there. It also demanded allotment of land for the establishment of the ‘Sindh PMIC secretariat’.

 ‘Shrines victims of neglect’
 Sajjada Nashin Syed Waqar Hussain Shah of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai shrine has expressed his disappointment over the state of shrines in Sindh, especially the Bhitai shrine, and said they were victims of ‘deliberate neglect’ on the part of government. “That’s why, the philosophy of Sufism is not begin carried forwarded,” he observed.

 “They [government] are using shrines for commercial purposes,” said a dejected Shah speaking to visitors at his residence on Monday. Waqar Shah became the 12th Sajjada Nashin of the Bhitai shrine after the death of his father, Syed Nisar Hussain Shah, last year.

 “What is the logic behind the sealing of the Shah Noorani shrine in the wake of the suicide attack there?” he asked, and argued that which military or civilian installation in the country was sealed after such an attack? Mr Shah observed that the Bhitai shrine did not get the official attention it deserved.

 “If rally of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is organised in Karachi, the present chief minister and Sindh IGP personally ensure that proper security measures are taken. It is the question of priorities on the part of government. But in our case, if I raise security issue for the shrine in the wake of the Shah Noorani tragedy, the DIG says I know nothing about security,” he said.  It was the level of seriousness that was shown by the authorities to the Bhitai shrine, he added.

 “Government representatives do attend urs celebrations only for a photo session,” he claimed, and said that millions turn up to attend the three-day urs celebrations and they were provided basic amenities including drinking water, food and toilets.

He said that some sort of security was seen around the shrine but only for three days of urs. Then everyone in government remained least concerned about it, he said. “Our shrines are being commercially used by government which is not the case in India,” said Waqar Shah, who also heads the Shah Latif Foundation.

 He said Bhitai’s shrine was the real face of Islamic Republic of Pakistan which was frequented even by people from religious minorities. “Our government is disowning shrines,” he said.

 Published in Dawn November 15th, 2016

ICCR's International Seminar on Bedil, Sufi Poet, to Keep Pakistan Out

by Eram Agha | News18.com

First published: November 5, 2016, 6:41 PM IST  Delhi: 

The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) is gearing up for a grand international celebration of 17th century Persian-Urdu poet Mirza Abdul Qadir Bedil, but the guest list has an obvious exception: Pakistan.

Around 60 scholars from Uzbekistan, Kazakastan, Kyrgystan, Afghanistan and Iran will take part along with their Indian counterparts in celebrating the poet whose birthplace is in Azimabad near Patna and grave Bāġ-e Bīdel (Garden of Bīdel) in Delhi.

"We are organizing academic exchanges of international nature on eminent Asian personalities in India bringing countries, intellectuals and writers together. Bedil is huge in name," Amarendra Khatua, Director-General ICCR, told News18.

Although there is no official mention why Pakistan is kept out of the list, News18 learns it is part of the larger government plan to isolate Islamabad internationally. ICCR comes under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs.

"In Central Asia Bidel is as big a rockstar as Michael Jackson. Afghanistan has Bedil Studies in their curriculum. Though in India and Pakistan he is not so much celebrated in popular discourse. Having said that wherever Urdu etymology is taught Bedil makes an entry," writer Rakshanda Jalil said.

Urdu activist Kamana Prasad who has earlier been a cultural coordinator of Tehran Festival by ICCR said Bedil is loved in Afghanistan and countries in Central Asia and is known for his free-thinking.

"Maybe ICCR is concentrating only on Persian speaking countries, which Pakistan is not,” she said,

Sufi Music Festival of Mumbai, Nov. 11 -13th

MUMBAI: National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai is back with the eighth edition of its annual Sufi Music Festival- ‘Sama’a: The Mystic Ecstasy’. The three-day long festival will comprise a cinematic representation of the journey of Sufia Kalam, Rajasthani Sufi Folk music, whirling dervishes and contemporary Sufi songs.

 According to NCPA Programming (Indian Music) Dr. Suvarnalata Rao said, “Sama’a has been an attempt by NCPA to celebrate Sufi music traditions from across the world on one stage. It is a festival of spiritual ecstasy complete with songs, dances and music that allows the audience to experience the true mysticism of Sufism. Sufi music is practiced in different regions of the world through myriad genres. Through Sama’a, we endeavor to bring to our audiences varied and truly immersive experiences.”

 Sufi music is based on the mystical branch of Islam, which attempts to unite listeners with the Divine. Practiced across different parts of the world, this music has an array of genres, yet it is based on the common philosophy of staying one with the Creator by transcending into the spiritual realm with Samara, the practice of listening to music, chanting and whirling culminating into spiritual ecstasy.

 The first day of Sama’a will open with a 50-minute documentary called Mann Faqeeri by M.K Raina, the renowned theatre actor and director. The film explores the evolution of Sufiyana Kalam. It unfolds a story of a multi-cultural exchange among Central Asia, Persia and India with the advent of Islam in Kashmir. These exchanges in turn created a new cultural fabric weaving in the essence of Islam, Shaivism and Buddhism, leading to the development of Sufiyaana Kalam as a sophisticated classical music genre with complex rhythms and Maqams.

 This will be followed by an energetic performance of Rajasthani Sufi- Folk music by the Manganiyars, led by Mame Khan and Group (GIMA Awardees). Manganiyaar means “those who ask for alms”. These hereditary caste musicians traditionally performed for kings and lords on various occasions ranging from weddings to festivals to even mourning events. Their music fuses elements of Hindustani classical music with the Sufi music; the lyrics are mostly centred around life and the love for God. The presentation will include works of Sufi poets from Sindh and Rajasthan, including Mira Bai, Kabir, Bulleh Shah and Baba Ghulam Farid, in their own mesmerizing style called ‘Jangra’ with native musical instruments like kamaicha, khadtal and morchang.

 Mame Khan hails from a family of singers based in Jaiselmer region and gained popularity with his super hit renditions in Hindi films like No one Killed Jessica and Luck By Chance. Day two, will see a riveting performance of Sama Ayins, (whirling prayer ceremonies) in its original form by the Semazen, whirling dervishes. The performance is an attempt to feel one with God through three stages which include knowing God, seeing God and uniting with God.

This musical performance will be brought to life by an ensemble of 20 artists belonging to the illustrious Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble using instruments like ney (reed flute), kudum (small double drum), bendir (big size tambourine without bells), tanbur (long-necked plucked lute), kemenche (bowed lute) and kemancha
kanun (box zither) followed by the prayer ceremony. Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble was established 1991 by the Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism with the intention to preserve and promote the 700 years old traditions of Turkish Tasawwuf music and traditional Sama Ayins (Whirling Prayer Ceremonies) in their original form.

 The third day is a rendition of contemporary and popular Sufi songs by the versatile Rekha Bhardwaj, which will transcend the artificial boundaries of religion, caste, country etc. The core idea of love, longing and union with the beloved, as espoused in the Sufi songs has an evergreen appeal with people from all of walks life. Today, besides the traditional repertoire a large number of songs are sung under the Sufi label.

These compositions show a marked influence of contemporary idioms and expressions, and are widely popular with the masses. Rekha Bharadwaj’s presentation will include a bouquet of sufiana compositions from traditional repertoire and also songs based from Bollywood. The artist is a very popular singer who has trained with several stalwarts like Vasant Thakar, Vinay Chandra Mudgal and Amarnath ji of Kirana gharana. She has lent her voice to Hindi cinema in films like Delhi 6, 7 Khoon Maaf and Ishqiya which won her two Filmfare awards and a National award.

 Schedule: Date Performance Venue Time Friday, 11 Nov 2016 Mann Faqeeri: A Documentary GDAT 6.30 pm Rajasthani Sufi-Folk with Mame Khan & Group The Experimental Theatre 8.00pm Saturday, 12 Nov 2016 Sama Ayins: Whirling Prayer Ceremonies by Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble Tata Theatre 6.30 pm Sunday, 13 Nov 2016 Sufiana songs by Rekha Bharadwaj Tata Theatre 6.30 pm

Dr. Alan Godlas to conduct sessions of Islamic Sufi contemplation and to discuss contemplative practice and social justice

Announcement: Dr. Alan Godlas ('Abd al-Haqq), will conduct three sessions involving  contemplative practice in Islamic Sufism, will make a brief presentation on contemplative practice and social justice in Islamic Sufism, and then will participate in a panel discussion on this topic at the International Symposium for Contemplative Studies in San Diego organized by the Mind and Life Institute. This will take place at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, 2016.

Dr. Godlas is an Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Georgia and is authorized to teach in the Shadhili and Naqshbandi Sufi orders.

Nov. 11, Friday, 3:15-3:45 Engaged Contemplative Practice in Islamic Sufism: Vocal Emphasis

This workshop will involve beginning instruction in two methods of engaged contemplation in Islamic Sufism, consisting of silent and vocal forms of "remembrance" (dhikr). The ultimate purpose of these methods is to retrain the individual's consciousness to respond — at each moment in one's daily life — toward one's consciousness and whatever appears in it, responding with an engaged contemplative stance consisting of a continual re-embrace of unconditional gratitude. Structurally, this workshop will involve alternating periods of contemplation and instruction with discussion. It will include both vocal and silent dhikr, but this workshop will emphasize seated vocal dhikr.

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Nov. 12, Saturday 8:00-8:25 Engaged Contemplative Practice in Islamic Sufism: Silent Emphasis

This workshop will have the same format as the previous workshop session, including both vocal and silent dhikr; but this workshop will emphasize seated silent dhikr.  

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Nov. 12, Saturday 4:00-4:30 Engaged Contemplative Practice in Islamic Sufism: Vocal, Silent, Living

This workshop will involve three methods of engaged contemplation in Islamic Sufism, consisting of silent and vocal forms of "remembrance" (dhikr) and "remembrance in life." In addition to the previous two workshops' vocal and silent forms of contemplation,  this workshop will involve "remembrance in life" (consisting of short, non-strenuous periods of walking dhikr). For this workshop, a smartphone with an alarm or a watch is recommended. Also, for anyone with a physical disability, the walking "remembrance in life" practice can be modified according to individual needs.

Contemplative Practice and Social Justice: Panel Discussion  

2:45-3:45 Saturday, Nov. 12

Presenters:

Beth Berila, Professor, St. Cloud State University

Alan 'Abd al-Haqq Godlas PhD, Associate Professor, University of Georgia

Rev. Takafumi Kawakami, Deputy Head Priest, Shunkoin Temple & Zen Center

John Makransky PhD, Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology, Boston College

Erin Jien McCarthy PhD, Chair and Professor of Philosophy , St. Lawrence University

Location:

Nautilus 5

Description:

Inspired by questions arising out of Rhonda Magee’s keynote address earlier in the day, this roundtable brings together contemplative faculty to discuss pressing issues in the area of contemplative practice and social justice. This panel will discuss key questions in the field including: How can contemplative practices — as individuals and communities — help us more deeply unlearn privilege and internalized oppression, allowing us to engage in more compassionate and just dialogues across difference? How are contemplative practices sometimes used to "spiritually bypass" an accounting of systematic oppression and our various roles in them? What kinds of things go wrong when social justice activity lacks a contemplative discipline to inform it? What kinds of things go wrong when contemplative practices are offered to people as a solution to their problems without enough awareness of the social and institutional systems in which those people are embedded?  

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to:1) Define how contemplative practices can help us--as individuals and communities-- more deeply unlearn privilege and internalized oppression;2) Explain how contemplative practices sometimes used to "spiritually bypass" an accounting of systematic oppression and our various roles in them;3) Evaluate what goes wrong when social justice activity lacks a contemplative discipline to inform it;4) Identify the kinds of things that go wrong when contemplative practices are offered to people as a solution to their problems without enough awareness of the social and institutional systems in which those people are embedded.

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To register and for more information on the conference and Dr. Godlas' sessions see https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/iscs-2016/

"Spiritual benefits, economic losses go together" [ed. note: A critique of the state of affairs at Data Darbar, the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh, Hz. Ali Hujviri]

By Amraiz Khan, in The Nation, October 25, 2016, LAHORE - One way or the other, almost every visitor gets robbed at Data Darbar - the shrine of famous Sufi saint Hazrat Ali Bin Usman Al-Hajveri [in Lahore]. Tens of thousands of devotees from across the country visit the Lahore’s historic shrine daily. But they are virtually robbed by the food sellers, contractors, and mafias who in fact enjoy the administrative control of the shrine.

 In addition to fleecers and fraudsters, the populous Data Darbar locality is among the worst crime-hit areas of the provincial metropolis. Crimes like pick-pocketing, child abuse, and robberies are quite common around the holy site. Runaway children from all across the province prefer staying at the shrine because of free food and petty jobs.

 Devotees from across the country visiting the shrine take sigh of relief when they pay homage to their spiritual leader buried here. About 40,000 to 50,000 pilgrims daily visit the shrine of Hazrat Ali Hajveri widely known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, according to Data Darbar manager Mr Jahangir.

 Due to poor administration of Auqaf department which is also custodian of the shrine, security, janitorial and administrative issues are not up to the mark. When a devotee enters in the Darbar limits, he has to face swindlers, pickpockets and kidnappers roaming around the premises in guise of beggars, food sellers, addicts, and flower sellers.

 Food (Lungar) sellers not only sell substandard food but also in lesser quantity than declared. A devotee, Muhammad Salman said, “I bought a Daigh of rice of 10 kg to distribute among the poor but when I checked, there was hardly 5 kg food in ‘Daigh’. The irony is that one cannot countercheck the weight at the Data Darbar. ” Another regular visitor told The Nation that some food sellers only receive money from the rich devotees to distribute food among the people but after distributing minor chunk of the food, they put the food again at their counter for sale.

 Similarly, many devotees coming from far flung are deprived of their money through pickpocketing when they enter in the rushy area of the shrine. Police say 106 cases of pickpocketing have been registered with Police Station Data Darbar since the start of this year; however, there was not even a single case of kidnapping of any male or female children. “Rather we rescued children and sent them to Child Protection Bureau around the Darbar premises,” the area SHO said, further claiming that number of swindling and deception cases have also touched zero.

 The station house officer added since CCTV cameras have been installed everywhere in Darbar premises, swindlers have shifted to other areas of the city like Lorry Adda and Railway station.

 Another grave concern of Data Sahib devotees is overcharging by the contractors of Auqaf for shoes-keeping. The department has fixed Rs5 for each pair of shoes when a devotee goes inside the Darbar he has to put his shoes off and hand them over to the Darbar staff. But in ‘normal’ practice, the contractor charges Rs100 to 150 per pair of shoes keeping in view the dressing and financial position of the devotee. Jabbar Ahmad, a resident of Bahawalnagar, who was there with his family, complained to the Darbar manager that the shoes-keeping staff had charged Rs100 from his wife and also misbehaved with her. The manager called the shoe-keeping staff and enquired about the issue. The matter was then ‘settled’ at the official rate. To a question about punishment for overcharging by shoes contractor, the manager said: “We have displayed a board near the shoes counters inscribed with warning not to pay excess charges than Rs5. ” “We are also making announcements in this regard repeatedly but even then they don’t spare the people visiting the holy shrine,” the manager told The Nation. He added that Auqaf department was thinking on these lines to finish the contract system, and shoe-keeping service will be free of cost in future. However, the administration has no clear mechanism to check the overcharging, let alone taking any action against the violators. According to the area police, only two cases of overcharging were registered against the shoe-keeping staff during past ten months.

 Almost 40,000 to 50,000 people visit Data Darbar daily, and on Thursday and Friday more rush is witnessed. People from every school of thought like Sunni, Brailvi, Shia, Ahle Hadees and Ddeobandi, visit the shrine. During Raiwind congregation, rush increase at Data Darbar. Similarly, Shia devotees visit Darbar during Muharram when they visit Bibi Pak Daman shrine, and Karbala Gamay Shah.

 Published in The Nation newspaper on 25-Oct-2016

Govt neglects 700- yr old shrine in Saujiyan

By Ishrat Butt, Poonch (Mandi), Published in Greater Kashmir, Publishing Date: Oct 26 2016 1:01AM. Locals, while talking to Greater Kashmir, said that this shrine is seven hundred years old and is named after a great Sufi saint, who reached this area from Kashmir.

 A shrine located at Guntar village of Saujiyan, only eight kilometres from Mandi tehsil headquarter, here in Pir Panchal region is craving for government attention. The shrine of Peer Sayeed Sadiq Shah is located very close to Line of Control in Saujiyan.

 Locals while talking to Greater Kashmir said that this shrine is seven hundred years old and is named after a great Sufi saint, who reached this area from Kashmir. They informed that the Minar [i.e., minaret] of this shrine was constructed 80 years ago and is repaired after every couple of years by locals on their own.

 “So far government has not even bothered to pay attention to this shrine which is a centre of religious values of the people of the area,” he added. Locals said that a road to this shrine was constructed by them a few months ago.

We spent Rs eight lakhs but Rural Development Department is still to clear the payment. They also informed that a temporary bathroom was constructed by locals of the area on their own. "We appeal authorities to show some concern towards this shrine and to ensure that basic facilities remain available to devotees visiting here," locals said.

Women to Get Access to Inner Sanctum of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai

Women to Get Access to Inner Sanctum of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai  IANS Updated Oct 24, 2016, NEW DELHI – Women devotees will have access up to the sanctum sanctorum of Sufi saint Haji Ali in Mumbai, the Haji Ali Dargah Trust Oct. 24 informed the Supreme Court. The trust told the apex court that it is going to create a separate way to facilitate women devotees' access to the Dargah.
 As senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam appearing for the Haji Ali Dargah Trust sought two weeks' time to create the way, the bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice L. Nageswara Rao, describing the development as positive, said: "You can have four weeks' time if you are going to strictly comply with the (Bombay) High Court order."

 Subramaniam took the court through the map of the Dargah to tell it that the trust has decided to relocate the treasury boxes in which the offerings by the devotees are kept. He also told the court that in the past, women were allowed access to the sanctum sanctorum of the Dargah, but for some logistical problems, the restrictions were imposed.

 "The Trust in 2012 prohibited women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine." The Haji Ali Dargah Trust had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order that directed the trust to allow women devotees full access to the sanctum sanctorum of the Dargah.

 The Bombay High Court had on Aug. 26 permitted the entry of women right up to the restricted grave area of the famous Saint. However, the Bombay High Court, while ruling that women can go up to the sanctum sanctorum of the Dargah, had put the operation of its verdict on hold, giving time to the Haji Ali Trust – managing the shrine affairs – to approach the Supreme Court.

 The High Court verdict had come on a public interest litigation filed by Noorjehan Niaz, Zakia Soman and others. This shrine of the Sufi Saint in Mumbai was built in 1431.

Reviving Sufi News

Salam 'alaykum, Dear Friends, It is time to get Sufi News up and running again. For a while we were at another site, www.sufinews.org, but I am more comfortable with this site. So I will start it up here again. wa-s-salam, 'Abd al-Haqq