By Kim Ghattas - BBC News, Damascus
Wednesday, 22 February 2006
For centuries, the traditional sound of Islam coming from the northern Syrian town of Aleppo, has been the rhythmical chanting of the word "Allah", as men young and old rock back and forth in a small room in the back of a house.
Beating their drums, chanting faster and faster, the men hope to achieve a trance that will bring them closer to God in the traditions of the mystical or Sufi Islam.
The musical capital of the Arab world in many ways, Aleppo's song and dance have been heavily influenced by Sufism.
But today, it is mostly a very austere call to prayer that can be heard around the city as a growing number of women adopt the full Islamic cover, hiding their hands and faces behind back cloth.
Religion is making a comeback in Syria, where people feel the state's socialist and pan-Arab ideologies have failed for the last four decades.
"We have a phenomenon of radicalisation taking place in schools and university," said Salam Kawakibi, a political analyst in Aleppo.
After ruthlessly crushing a Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in 1982, the Syrian government has found it is unable to contain the rise of religion.
So instead, the authorities have decided to go with the trend and co-opt the symbols of Islam.
"After the clashes of 1980, the state tried to create an official Islam. They encouraged the building of mosques and the creation of religious schools. They think it is a way to control society," Mr Kawakibi said.
Muhammad Habash, the only Islamist MP in the Syrian parliament, says the Baath party has not allowed the emergence of any real Islamist leaders, but pressure is growing.
"Personally, I don't see the need for Islamist parties and I don't think there will be an Islamic state in Syria if there is full democracy," Mr Habash said.
"But conservative Islamists have the right to ask for Islamist parties."
And while the Syrian government thinks it can maintain control over the increasing religious trend, many analysts now believe the Islamists could outsmart the state.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Iranian reformist speaks out against sectarian violence
By Gareth Smyth in Tehran - Financial Times
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Mehdi Karrubi, Iran’s former parliamentary speaker and a veteran of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has criticised Shia Muslim radicals who last week destroyed a religious building belonging to Islamic mystics in the holy city of Qom.
His comments – prominent in reformist newspapers – reflect concern about Shia militants stirring conflict as Iran’s fundamentalist president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, tries to radicalise Islam at home and abroad, and as Sunni militants provoke sectarian violence in neighbouring Iraq with attacks like Wednesday’s on the Askariyeh holy Shia shrine in Samarra.
Mr Karrubi was responding to violence in Qom last week when radicals destroyed a meeting house used by Sufis, an Islamic order viewed with suspicion by some Shia.
The clashes – which led to hundreds of arrests and the use of tear gas by police – arose from a four-year dispute over ownership of the building, where Sufis practised religious rites.
The governor-general of Qom told Jomhuri-ye Eslami, a conservative newspaper, the Sufis were part of a “foreign plot …[by] arrogant powers exploiting every opportunity to create insecurity.”
Some conservative ayatollahs have in recent months criticised the growth of Sufism, which sometimes involves music and dance, as a threat to Islam.
But Mr Karrubi argued the authorities should “find ways to criticise schools of thought … without violating human rights”.
He argued that “real Islam is powerful and broadminded enough to be capable of resolving sectarian disputes”. Mr Karrubi has written to the “sources of emulation” – the most senior Shia clergy – in Qom asking them to “show the reality of religious freedom”.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Mehdi Karrubi, Iran’s former parliamentary speaker and a veteran of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has criticised Shia Muslim radicals who last week destroyed a religious building belonging to Islamic mystics in the holy city of Qom.
His comments – prominent in reformist newspapers – reflect concern about Shia militants stirring conflict as Iran’s fundamentalist president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, tries to radicalise Islam at home and abroad, and as Sunni militants provoke sectarian violence in neighbouring Iraq with attacks like Wednesday’s on the Askariyeh holy Shia shrine in Samarra.
Mr Karrubi was responding to violence in Qom last week when radicals destroyed a meeting house used by Sufis, an Islamic order viewed with suspicion by some Shia.
The clashes – which led to hundreds of arrests and the use of tear gas by police – arose from a four-year dispute over ownership of the building, where Sufis practised religious rites.
The governor-general of Qom told Jomhuri-ye Eslami, a conservative newspaper, the Sufis were part of a “foreign plot …[by] arrogant powers exploiting every opportunity to create insecurity.”
Some conservative ayatollahs have in recent months criticised the growth of Sufism, which sometimes involves music and dance, as a threat to Islam.
But Mr Karrubi argued the authorities should “find ways to criticise schools of thought … without violating human rights”.
He argued that “real Islam is powerful and broadminded enough to be capable of resolving sectarian disputes”. Mr Karrubi has written to the “sources of emulation” – the most senior Shia clergy – in Qom asking them to “show the reality of religious freedom”.
What is problem of Sufis in Iran?
By Bahman Aghai Diba - Persian Journal
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The Islamic-Arabic (sic) [Ed. note: it is Islamic-Persian] government of Iran has recently attacked the center of Sufis in Qom, and arrested a number of Dervishes (Iranian Sufis). Although arresting the Iranian Sufis by the Islamic regime is a new move, bothering the Sufis in the last 27 years is nothing new.
The regime of Iran has always looked with suspicion and sometimes disgust to the Sufis because the Dervishes do not believe in any role for the Mullahs. They believe that people do not need any middleman for contacting God. The Dervishes are very devoted to their way of life. They see the religious zealots as corrupt people. However, these are not the reason of the recent attacks against them
The real reason is that the people of Iran, especially younger generations, out of desperation or any other reason, are welcoming the Sufi gathering more am more. The Sufis had their gathering in the past and they tried to stay away from politics. However, the welcoming of the Sufi ways of life and the Sufi type of approach to the religion (especially towards Islam) has found a new wave during the last years. Every year, more and more people try to have gathering under the name of Sufis.
The new stage of Islamic fundamentalism, after the election of the new president by the Islamic-Arabic regime of the Iranian Mullahs' Mafia, has opened the way for trouble making of the organized street thugs (like Baseejis) and the disciplinary forces for the Sufi gatherings. Although Sufi Muslims strictly observe Islamic practices and beliefs, some conservative Muslim clerics see it as a danger to Islam.
Some even argue that Sufism is a deviation of Islam. "Unfortunately under the years of the rule of the Islamic government we have seen limitations on non-Muslims -- above all, Baha'is, Jews, and also Christians -- and on Sufi groups, and their meetings have been disrupted," says Lahidji Iran's hard-line daily "Kayhan" on 14 February quoted senior clerics in Qom as saying that "Sufism should be eradicated...".
Sufis have always been respected in Iran because of their humble and down to earth behavior. Definitely their approach to life is different from the dictatorial imposition of the special interpretation of Islam by the Mullahs of Iran.
Some of the people in Iran have found a way of getting away from the rulings of the Mullahs through the adherence to Sufi practices. The Sufis are among the most peace-loving and tolerant people in Iran and probably in the world. They are suffering under the Iranian regime and they consider such suffering as part of the duty that they owe to their faith.
Wedded bliss, at long last
By Bala Chauhan - Deccan Herald - Bangalore, India
Saturday, April 8, 2006
They began their journey at an evening at the dargah of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Chishti in Delhi in November 2005. They had come there to offer prayers. “We met each other and exchanged cards. Thereafter, we kept in touch and on February 2 this year, we tied the knot,” says danseuse Pratibha Prahlad.
A single parent of eight-year-old twins Chirayu and Chirantan, Pratibha got married to Congress politician and a Delhiite Sandeep Chandra.
“I have had a very stressful life. I was always lonely and wanted to get married. It’s just that I didn’t find the right person till now. So when Sandeep proposed to me I agreed. I told my sons that I am getting married and they would have a father,” she says.
Saturday, April 8, 2006
They began their journey at an evening at the dargah of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Chishti in Delhi in November 2005. They had come there to offer prayers. “We met each other and exchanged cards. Thereafter, we kept in touch and on February 2 this year, we tied the knot,” says danseuse Pratibha Prahlad.
A single parent of eight-year-old twins Chirayu and Chirantan, Pratibha got married to Congress politician and a Delhiite Sandeep Chandra.
“I have had a very stressful life. I was always lonely and wanted to get married. It’s just that I didn’t find the right person till now. So when Sandeep proposed to me I agreed. I told my sons that I am getting married and they would have a father,” she says.
Say it with sufism
By Mariam Mushtaq - Daily Times - Pakistan
Saturday, April 8, 2006
LAHORE: Sometimes all it takes for decades-old prejudices to melt away is a car ride and an open mind. No one would agree more than Dr Fatima Hussain, eminent Indian scholar, who first visited Pakistan in April last year at the invitation of the World Punjabi Congress.
A perfectly safe drive around the streets of Lahore that deposited her and her luggage intact at her destination was enough to quell such fears. Moreover, finding a noticeable lack of the burqa-clad female forms she had been expecting to see, it did not take long for Dr Hussain to realise how similar Lahore and Delhi really were.
Stereotypes do not sit well with Dr Hussain in any case, which is probably why she found it so easy to discard her own. Born and raised within New Delhi’s Muslim community, she became used to having her progressive outlook challenged by outsiders who expected her to behave a certain way because of her religion. Her choice of attire, often western, her career and her forthrightness became cause for many a raised eyebrow but that did not deter her from building a formidable resumé.
A masters degree in History from the Delhi University was followed by a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, dubbed the Harvard of South Asia by some. Her doctoral thesis was a study of sufism during the Delhi Sultanate. She has also published two books, The Palestine Question: A Historical Perspective and Relations between the Sufis and the Sultanate as well as numerous articles and reviews in international academic journals.
Dr Hussain finds it easy to forgive her detractors because she realises that their biases stem more from insecurity than anything else. “Muslim societies all over the world are susceptible to stereotypical thinking and the major factor for this is the rivalry between the East and the West that can be traced back to the golden age of Islam”.
The unity displayed by the Muslim world can also be a cause of insecurity, says Dr Hussain. “That acts of namaaz and Haj, that bring together Muslims across all divides, are examples of our solidarity and can often cause unease among outsiders.” The answer, according to her, lies in setting minds at ease and tackling mutual insecurities by keeping one’s faith to oneself, and not brandishing it like a sword at the slightest provocation. She heard her views echoed by President Musharraf while attending a conference in Lahore, where he proclaimed that we needed to emphasise the essence of Islam and not its ritualism, and was more than a little impressed.
In town to attend an international conference on the sufi poet Shah Hussain organised by the WPC, she stresses the importance of sufism in bringing about peace between the two countries. The subject is specially pertinent in the context of bridging the gulf between the Muslim and western worlds. “The beauty of sufism is that it transcends formal religion. Islam might be perceived as orthodox and regimented by some but Sufism, despite being a part of Islam, is more open and inclusive. And its message, of love, humanity and peace, is universal.”
Saturday, April 8, 2006
LAHORE: Sometimes all it takes for decades-old prejudices to melt away is a car ride and an open mind. No one would agree more than Dr Fatima Hussain, eminent Indian scholar, who first visited Pakistan in April last year at the invitation of the World Punjabi Congress.
A perfectly safe drive around the streets of Lahore that deposited her and her luggage intact at her destination was enough to quell such fears. Moreover, finding a noticeable lack of the burqa-clad female forms she had been expecting to see, it did not take long for Dr Hussain to realise how similar Lahore and Delhi really were.
Stereotypes do not sit well with Dr Hussain in any case, which is probably why she found it so easy to discard her own. Born and raised within New Delhi’s Muslim community, she became used to having her progressive outlook challenged by outsiders who expected her to behave a certain way because of her religion. Her choice of attire, often western, her career and her forthrightness became cause for many a raised eyebrow but that did not deter her from building a formidable resumé.
A masters degree in History from the Delhi University was followed by a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, dubbed the Harvard of South Asia by some. Her doctoral thesis was a study of sufism during the Delhi Sultanate. She has also published two books, The Palestine Question: A Historical Perspective and Relations between the Sufis and the Sultanate as well as numerous articles and reviews in international academic journals.
Dr Hussain finds it easy to forgive her detractors because she realises that their biases stem more from insecurity than anything else. “Muslim societies all over the world are susceptible to stereotypical thinking and the major factor for this is the rivalry between the East and the West that can be traced back to the golden age of Islam”.
The unity displayed by the Muslim world can also be a cause of insecurity, says Dr Hussain. “That acts of namaaz and Haj, that bring together Muslims across all divides, are examples of our solidarity and can often cause unease among outsiders.” The answer, according to her, lies in setting minds at ease and tackling mutual insecurities by keeping one’s faith to oneself, and not brandishing it like a sword at the slightest provocation. She heard her views echoed by President Musharraf while attending a conference in Lahore, where he proclaimed that we needed to emphasise the essence of Islam and not its ritualism, and was more than a little impressed.
In town to attend an international conference on the sufi poet Shah Hussain organised by the WPC, she stresses the importance of sufism in bringing about peace between the two countries. The subject is specially pertinent in the context of bridging the gulf between the Muslim and western worlds. “The beauty of sufism is that it transcends formal religion. Islam might be perceived as orthodox and regimented by some but Sufism, despite being a part of Islam, is more open and inclusive. And its message, of love, humanity and peace, is universal.”
Monday, October 16, 2006
Amarnath yatra to begin
IANS Indo-Asian News Service - Jammu, Kashmir
Friday, April 7, 2006
The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will begin on June 11 and last for almost two months.
The pilgrimage, which is expected to attract over 500,000 pilgrims, will conclude Aug 9, said a spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
The board has drawn up a detailed programme to raise a temporary environmental-friendly infrastructure to lodge pilgrims, whose number is expected to touch half a million mark this year, the spokesman said.
The cave shrine situated at the height of 13,500 feet above sea level was discovered by a Muslim shepherd more than a century ago. Since then Hindus have been visiting the shrine during summers to pay obeisance at the cave where a natural ice-made 'lingam' (stalagmite), seen as an icon of lord Shiva, is formed.
The yatra will start with the hosting of Sufiana music festivals in Srinagar and some district headquarters. Reputed Sufi artists of the country and Pakistan are likely to participate in the festival.
Friday, April 7, 2006
The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will begin on June 11 and last for almost two months.
The pilgrimage, which is expected to attract over 500,000 pilgrims, will conclude Aug 9, said a spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
The board has drawn up a detailed programme to raise a temporary environmental-friendly infrastructure to lodge pilgrims, whose number is expected to touch half a million mark this year, the spokesman said.
The cave shrine situated at the height of 13,500 feet above sea level was discovered by a Muslim shepherd more than a century ago. Since then Hindus have been visiting the shrine during summers to pay obeisance at the cave where a natural ice-made 'lingam' (stalagmite), seen as an icon of lord Shiva, is formed.
The yatra will start with the hosting of Sufiana music festivals in Srinagar and some district headquarters. Reputed Sufi artists of the country and Pakistan are likely to participate in the festival.
Soorya Dance and Music Festival on April 17
Staff - Times of Oman - Muscat, Oman
Friday, April 7, 2006
MUSCAT — Soorya Stage and Film Society is presenting its first programme of the year, Soorya Dance and Music Festival, at the Le Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel, on April 17. The programme is brought to Oman by Al Falaj Hotel in association with Oman UAE Exchange Centre.
This time the public will be blessed with an opportunity to experience a unique and innovative combination of two of the world’s richest dance art forms — Bharatanatyam and Sufi Kathak. This will be a very rare, perhaps, once in a life time opportunity exploring the natya, bhava and abhinaya of Bharatanatyam and experiencing the sublime movements of Sufi Kathak with its richly poetic beauty of Sufi poems. These mesmerising moments will be brought to the community by two of India’s topmost dancer-choreographers — Priyadarshini Govind in Bharatanatyam and Manjari Chaturvedi in Sufi Kathak.
After her arangettam in 1974 under the auspices of the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Chennai, Priyadarshini Govind has been performing in all the major centres in India.
Manjari Chaturvedi, classical Kathak danseuse and a performing artiste for over a decade, is an extraordinary young dancer, adding subtle innovations to the Kathak repertoire while preserving the tenets of the classical style.
Friday, April 7, 2006
MUSCAT — Soorya Stage and Film Society is presenting its first programme of the year, Soorya Dance and Music Festival, at the Le Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel, on April 17. The programme is brought to Oman by Al Falaj Hotel in association with Oman UAE Exchange Centre.
This time the public will be blessed with an opportunity to experience a unique and innovative combination of two of the world’s richest dance art forms — Bharatanatyam and Sufi Kathak. This will be a very rare, perhaps, once in a life time opportunity exploring the natya, bhava and abhinaya of Bharatanatyam and experiencing the sublime movements of Sufi Kathak with its richly poetic beauty of Sufi poems. These mesmerising moments will be brought to the community by two of India’s topmost dancer-choreographers — Priyadarshini Govind in Bharatanatyam and Manjari Chaturvedi in Sufi Kathak.
After her arangettam in 1974 under the auspices of the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Chennai, Priyadarshini Govind has been performing in all the major centres in India.
Manjari Chaturvedi, classical Kathak danseuse and a performing artiste for over a decade, is an extraordinary young dancer, adding subtle innovations to the Kathak repertoire while preserving the tenets of the classical style.
Iranian Zurkhaneh Sports to be Studied at British Academy
CHN Staff - CHN Cultural Heritage News Agency
Tehran, 6 April 2006
The present condition of Zurkhaneh Sports as Iranian ancient sports will be studied in British Academy with the attendance of experts in Iranian studies. According to British Institute of Persian Studies, on Thursday 29 June 2006 at 5.15 pm, Prof. Lloyed Ridgeon will present his lecture on the topic of “The Zurkhaneh between Tradition and Change” at the British Academy in London.
Lloyd Ridgeon is a professor of Islamic studies who teaches classical Islamic studies, Islamic movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Sufism in Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Glasgow.
He has several researches about Islamic history, theology and politics; classical and modern Sufism; Iranian history and culture; and Persian literature.
Iranians were the first nation in the world who attached great importance to their health, burly figure, and strength; they carried out body building exercises and trained their offspring to practice them as well.
Zurkhaneh (house of strength) is the Iranian traditional gymnasium, in which the national Iranian sport is practiced. It is a covered structure lit by a single opening in the ceiling. The exercise is very formal and the moves are carried out to the rhythm of the drum and a singer reciting traditional verses. Zourkhaneh is not only a place for physical exercises but also a place for learning chivalrous behaviors. The Zourkhaneh-sportsman is first expected to be pure, truthful and good tempered and then strong in body.
The first International Festival of Zurkhaneh Sports of Urbans of the World was held in the city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi province from 11-16 November 2005 with the attendance of 33 countries.
Tehran, 6 April 2006
The present condition of Zurkhaneh Sports as Iranian ancient sports will be studied in British Academy with the attendance of experts in Iranian studies. According to British Institute of Persian Studies, on Thursday 29 June 2006 at 5.15 pm, Prof. Lloyed Ridgeon will present his lecture on the topic of “The Zurkhaneh between Tradition and Change” at the British Academy in London.
Lloyd Ridgeon is a professor of Islamic studies who teaches classical Islamic studies, Islamic movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Sufism in Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Glasgow.
He has several researches about Islamic history, theology and politics; classical and modern Sufism; Iranian history and culture; and Persian literature.
Iranians were the first nation in the world who attached great importance to their health, burly figure, and strength; they carried out body building exercises and trained their offspring to practice them as well.
Zurkhaneh (house of strength) is the Iranian traditional gymnasium, in which the national Iranian sport is practiced. It is a covered structure lit by a single opening in the ceiling. The exercise is very formal and the moves are carried out to the rhythm of the drum and a singer reciting traditional verses. Zourkhaneh is not only a place for physical exercises but also a place for learning chivalrous behaviors. The Zourkhaneh-sportsman is first expected to be pure, truthful and good tempered and then strong in body.
The first International Festival of Zurkhaneh Sports of Urbans of the World was held in the city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi province from 11-16 November 2005 with the attendance of 33 countries.
U.S. decries human rights violations in Iran
Iran News - London
Thursday, April 6, 2006
In its annual report on U.S. efforts at encouraging human rights worldwide, entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2005 - 2006", the U.S. State Department accused Iran of carrying out “summary executions, discrimination based on ethnicity and religion, harassment and arrest of journalists and bloggers, disappearances, extremist vigilantism, widespread use of torture, and other degrading treatment”.
It charged that the hard-line iranian government continued to discriminate against and arrest members of the Baha’i religious community. Other religious and ethnic minority groups, including Jews, Christians, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims faced continued social, political, and economic discrimination, it said.
Thursday, April 6, 2006
In its annual report on U.S. efforts at encouraging human rights worldwide, entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2005 - 2006", the U.S. State Department accused Iran of carrying out “summary executions, discrimination based on ethnicity and religion, harassment and arrest of journalists and bloggers, disappearances, extremist vigilantism, widespread use of torture, and other degrading treatment”.
It charged that the hard-line iranian government continued to discriminate against and arrest members of the Baha’i religious community. Other religious and ethnic minority groups, including Jews, Christians, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims faced continued social, political, and economic discrimination, it said.
Jordan to Host Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit
Royal Hashemite Court, Communication & Information Division
Amman, Jordan - Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, a large number of senior Iraqi religious and tribal leaders - both Sunnis and Shi'is, Arabs and Kurds - will gather in Amman on April 22, 2006 for The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit. The meeting, organized in cooperation between Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and the Arab League, will provide a forum for Iraqi leaders to take a crucial step towards stemming the violence in Iraq.
During the summit, King Abdullah will join the delegates in a call for an end to bloodshed and religious tension in Iraq. The summit is expected to culminate in a signed declaration stating that fighting between Shi'is and Sunnis has no legitimate religious basis.
The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit builds upon The International Islamic Conference on “True Islam and its Role in Modern Society” hosted by King Abdullah in July 2005. In the final conference declaration, over 180 scholars representing 45 countries signed the final declaration condemning the practice known as takfir (calling others “apostates”) that is used by extremists to justify violence.
They were supported by fatwas from 20 of the world's most senior Islamic scholars, including the Shaykh Al-Azhar, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the Muftis of Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Oman and Sheikh Yusif Al-Qardawi.
The declaration also recognized the legitimacy of all eight of the traditional schools of Islamic religious law (madhhabs): the Sunni, Shi'i and Ibadi branches of Islam, as well as traditional Asharite theology, Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and moderate Salafi thought.
This historical Islamic consensus was adopted by the entire Islamic world at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit at Mecca in December 2005. This agreement on religious principles will form the doctrinal basis for the Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit's final declaration.
Amman, Jordan - Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, a large number of senior Iraqi religious and tribal leaders - both Sunnis and Shi'is, Arabs and Kurds - will gather in Amman on April 22, 2006 for The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit. The meeting, organized in cooperation between Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and the Arab League, will provide a forum for Iraqi leaders to take a crucial step towards stemming the violence in Iraq.
During the summit, King Abdullah will join the delegates in a call for an end to bloodshed and religious tension in Iraq. The summit is expected to culminate in a signed declaration stating that fighting between Shi'is and Sunnis has no legitimate religious basis.
The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit builds upon The International Islamic Conference on “True Islam and its Role in Modern Society” hosted by King Abdullah in July 2005. In the final conference declaration, over 180 scholars representing 45 countries signed the final declaration condemning the practice known as takfir (calling others “apostates”) that is used by extremists to justify violence.
They were supported by fatwas from 20 of the world's most senior Islamic scholars, including the Shaykh Al-Azhar, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the Muftis of Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Oman and Sheikh Yusif Al-Qardawi.
The declaration also recognized the legitimacy of all eight of the traditional schools of Islamic religious law (madhhabs): the Sunni, Shi'i and Ibadi branches of Islam, as well as traditional Asharite theology, Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and moderate Salafi thought.
This historical Islamic consensus was adopted by the entire Islamic world at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit at Mecca in December 2005. This agreement on religious principles will form the doctrinal basis for the Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit's final declaration.
Iranian Sufi Muslim protesters still detained
Amnesty International USA News
AI Index: NWS 21/003/2006 - The Wire
April 2006 Vol. 36. No. 03
Hundreds of demonstrators, including women and children, were injured when police and organized pro-government groups broke up a peaceful protest by Nematollahi Sufi Muslims in Qom, Iran, on 13 February.
At the beginning of March at least 173 people were still detained, including lawyer Bahman Nazari, himself a Sufi Muslim, who reportedly travelled from the city of Tabriz in north-west Iran to Qom in order to try and represent the detainees. He was arrested as soon as he approached officials and presented his practice licence. The detainees’ families have been unable to obtain information about their whereabouts, legal status, health or conditions.
There appears to be increasing "demonization" of the Sufi Muslim group in Iran.
AI Index: NWS 21/003/2006 - The Wire
April 2006 Vol. 36. No. 03
Hundreds of demonstrators, including women and children, were injured when police and organized pro-government groups broke up a peaceful protest by Nematollahi Sufi Muslims in Qom, Iran, on 13 February.
At the beginning of March at least 173 people were still detained, including lawyer Bahman Nazari, himself a Sufi Muslim, who reportedly travelled from the city of Tabriz in north-west Iran to Qom in order to try and represent the detainees. He was arrested as soon as he approached officials and presented his practice licence. The detainees’ families have been unable to obtain information about their whereabouts, legal status, health or conditions.
There appears to be increasing "demonization" of the Sufi Muslim group in Iran.
Bollywood cries for little hearts
Staff report - India Daily
Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2006
When Bollywood's Sanjna Kapoor and Kunal Kapoor joined musician Rabbi Shergill on the same dais, anybody could have mistaken it for the launch of a latest video or a preview meet of a new movie. But it was a different afternoon. They were there for a special cause -- a noble one -- to endorse children's education. With a mission to make a difference to the lives of hundreds of children who are unable to access education, CRY (Child Rights and You), India's premier child relief organisation, joined hands with Procter and Gamble (P&G) to participate in ''Shiksha'' -- a programme to help educate children across India.
Rabbi Shergill, the Sufi singer, strongly believes that education is an issue that has to be dealt from a broader perspective. He says, "The initiative by CRY gladdens me as well as saddens me. I just have the pop star's grasp of social activism. Education is an issue that needs to be handled collectively instead of individually."
The versatile theatre personality Sanjna says that corporate groups providing assistance to such missions should make this as their mandate and not an exception. "When little hearts CRY, I''m on the verge of tears. When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world," expresses Sanjna.
Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2006
When Bollywood's Sanjna Kapoor and Kunal Kapoor joined musician Rabbi Shergill on the same dais, anybody could have mistaken it for the launch of a latest video or a preview meet of a new movie. But it was a different afternoon. They were there for a special cause -- a noble one -- to endorse children's education. With a mission to make a difference to the lives of hundreds of children who are unable to access education, CRY (Child Rights and You), India's premier child relief organisation, joined hands with Procter and Gamble (P&G) to participate in ''Shiksha'' -- a programme to help educate children across India.
Rabbi Shergill, the Sufi singer, strongly believes that education is an issue that has to be dealt from a broader perspective. He says, "The initiative by CRY gladdens me as well as saddens me. I just have the pop star's grasp of social activism. Education is an issue that needs to be handled collectively instead of individually."
The versatile theatre personality Sanjna says that corporate groups providing assistance to such missions should make this as their mandate and not an exception. "When little hearts CRY, I''m on the verge of tears. When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world," expresses Sanjna.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Kosovo's Dervishes dance toward salvation
By AFP Agence France-Presse, Prizren (Pristina), Serbia-Montenegro
Kim Info-service, News from Kosovo and Metohija
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Every spring the Dervishes of Kosovo -- among the last in Europe -- dance, chant and push knives into their bodies in a quest for heavenly salvation.
They are shunned by many fellow Muslims as starry-eyed mystics, but the Dervishes who gathered recently in Prizen for a centuries-old celebration do not see themselves as outside the Islamic pale.
"We are the avant garde of the Muslim religion," says Shejh Adrihusejn, a leader of the mystical order, playing down the dramatic extremes to which Dervishes go to attain religious fulfillment. "We do not accept being presented as a Muslim mystic sect or an extreme branch of our religion," says the Shejh, a title given to Dervish community leaders.
A fraternity of Sufi Islam famous for both their asceticism and their hypnotic, trance-inducing dances, the Dervish community in Kosovo is a legacy of the Ottoman empire that once held sway over this Serbian province. While 95 percent of Kosovo's two million inhabitants are Muslim, only a tiny fraction -- some 50,000 -- are Dervishes. There are also Sufi communities in neighboring Albania and Macedonia.
At the end of March the 5,000 Dervishes of Prizen in southern Kosovo celebrate the Spring equinox festival of "Sultan Nevruz," the moment when the sun begins to favor the Northern Hemisphere and day become longer than night.
The ceremony unfolds in the hilly suburbs of this picture-postcard town in special ampitheatre, or "teqe," that bears little resemblance to a traditional Muslim mosque.Some 60 dervishes of all ages dressed in black and white waistcoats and flat hats, including a few children, begin chanting before an overflowing crowd. Women, guests and journalists are kept to the side or observe from a small wooden balcony.
What is about to unfold is so dramatic as to shock the uninitiated, and even shake one's understanding of medical science.
"La-illaha-illallah" ("There is no god but God") the Dervishes intone in a subdued prayer, forming a semi-circle around Shejh Adrihusejn.
Bobbing their heads, they slowly up the tempo and volume of the prayer from a deep murmur into full-throated howl, praying for their past sins to be pardoned.The crescendo mounts for two hours until the Dervishes are swaying in a state of mystical ecstasy. "Allah Hu" (he is God), they chant in perfect unison.
That is when the skewers and knives appear.
The Shejh leads the way, coating 15-centimetre (six inch) long needles with his saliva and then piercing his two young sons. He does the same to three other children.
Miraculously, there is no blood, and the children show no sign of fear or pain, swaying silently as they hold the needles pierced through one side of their mouths.
Next come the blades: Shejh slowly eases 40-centimetre ( 1.3-foot) knives with rounded, pearl-coated stems through both cheeks of the Dervishes, one-by-one.
Driven by the rhythm of kettledrums and tambourines, the entranced worshipers sway in a semi-conscious state, repeating their calls to "Allah" over and over.
Next they begin piercing their necks with knives, proudly displaying the wounds.
"The knives symbolize the healing of all wounds. This is the blessing of God and the power of the order," says an elderly, high-ranking Dervish after the ceremony.
Finally, the intensity subsides into a prayer for the souls of all prophets and believers, as the Dervishes remove the knives and return them to the Shejh, kissing his hands.
Later, the 44-year-old Shejh talks about his flock's esoteric tradition, insisting that it has a place in modern society.
"We propagandize love among people. Belief is, in essence, love towards God, towards others and towards life," he says.
"I am against any extremism. I am a Muslim and a European of the 21st Century -- Internet is an important part of my life," he says.
Kim Info-service, News from Kosovo and Metohija
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Every spring the Dervishes of Kosovo -- among the last in Europe -- dance, chant and push knives into their bodies in a quest for heavenly salvation.
They are shunned by many fellow Muslims as starry-eyed mystics, but the Dervishes who gathered recently in Prizen for a centuries-old celebration do not see themselves as outside the Islamic pale.
"We are the avant garde of the Muslim religion," says Shejh Adrihusejn, a leader of the mystical order, playing down the dramatic extremes to which Dervishes go to attain religious fulfillment. "We do not accept being presented as a Muslim mystic sect or an extreme branch of our religion," says the Shejh, a title given to Dervish community leaders.
A fraternity of Sufi Islam famous for both their asceticism and their hypnotic, trance-inducing dances, the Dervish community in Kosovo is a legacy of the Ottoman empire that once held sway over this Serbian province. While 95 percent of Kosovo's two million inhabitants are Muslim, only a tiny fraction -- some 50,000 -- are Dervishes. There are also Sufi communities in neighboring Albania and Macedonia.
At the end of March the 5,000 Dervishes of Prizen in southern Kosovo celebrate the Spring equinox festival of "Sultan Nevruz," the moment when the sun begins to favor the Northern Hemisphere and day become longer than night.
The ceremony unfolds in the hilly suburbs of this picture-postcard town in special ampitheatre, or "teqe," that bears little resemblance to a traditional Muslim mosque.Some 60 dervishes of all ages dressed in black and white waistcoats and flat hats, including a few children, begin chanting before an overflowing crowd. Women, guests and journalists are kept to the side or observe from a small wooden balcony.
What is about to unfold is so dramatic as to shock the uninitiated, and even shake one's understanding of medical science.
"La-illaha-illallah" ("There is no god but God") the Dervishes intone in a subdued prayer, forming a semi-circle around Shejh Adrihusejn.
Bobbing their heads, they slowly up the tempo and volume of the prayer from a deep murmur into full-throated howl, praying for their past sins to be pardoned.The crescendo mounts for two hours until the Dervishes are swaying in a state of mystical ecstasy. "Allah Hu" (he is God), they chant in perfect unison.
That is when the skewers and knives appear.
The Shejh leads the way, coating 15-centimetre (six inch) long needles with his saliva and then piercing his two young sons. He does the same to three other children.
Miraculously, there is no blood, and the children show no sign of fear or pain, swaying silently as they hold the needles pierced through one side of their mouths.
Next come the blades: Shejh slowly eases 40-centimetre ( 1.3-foot) knives with rounded, pearl-coated stems through both cheeks of the Dervishes, one-by-one.
Driven by the rhythm of kettledrums and tambourines, the entranced worshipers sway in a semi-conscious state, repeating their calls to "Allah" over and over.
Next they begin piercing their necks with knives, proudly displaying the wounds.
"The knives symbolize the healing of all wounds. This is the blessing of God and the power of the order," says an elderly, high-ranking Dervish after the ceremony.
Finally, the intensity subsides into a prayer for the souls of all prophets and believers, as the Dervishes remove the knives and return them to the Shejh, kissing his hands.
Later, the 44-year-old Shejh talks about his flock's esoteric tradition, insisting that it has a place in modern society.
"We propagandize love among people. Belief is, in essence, love towards God, towards others and towards life," he says.
"I am against any extremism. I am a Muslim and a European of the 21st Century -- Internet is an important part of my life," he says.
Indian Islamic schools offer lesson in harmony
By Bappa Majumdar - Reuters - WorldWide Religious News
Monday, April 03, 2006
Kolkata, India - Indian schoolgirl Julita Oraon, a devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school, or madrasa.
Oraon is one of tens of thousands of Hindu and Christian students in the state of West Bengal now attending such schools: in this part of India, madrasas are emerging as beacons of tolerance. While a predominantly Hindu state, a quarter of West Bengal's population of 80 million are Muslims and one percent are Christians.
After a Hindu mob destroyed a mosque in the northern holy city of Ayodhya in 1992 much of India was wracked by deadly communal riots. But in Bengal students from madrasas, both Muslims and Hindus, led processions denouncing the demolition.
"People find it difficult to believe, but our madrasas ... are reflecting modern aspirations and expectations of the community irrespective of religion," Kanti Biswas, the state's education minister, told Reuters.
"We had carefully planned the madrasa reforms to make young minds understand the values of religious tolerance and it is finally paying off."
Monday, April 03, 2006
Kolkata, India - Indian schoolgirl Julita Oraon, a devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school, or madrasa.
Oraon is one of tens of thousands of Hindu and Christian students in the state of West Bengal now attending such schools: in this part of India, madrasas are emerging as beacons of tolerance. While a predominantly Hindu state, a quarter of West Bengal's population of 80 million are Muslims and one percent are Christians.
After a Hindu mob destroyed a mosque in the northern holy city of Ayodhya in 1992 much of India was wracked by deadly communal riots. But in Bengal students from madrasas, both Muslims and Hindus, led processions denouncing the demolition.
"People find it difficult to believe, but our madrasas ... are reflecting modern aspirations and expectations of the community irrespective of religion," Kanti Biswas, the state's education minister, told Reuters.
"We had carefully planned the madrasa reforms to make young minds understand the values of religious tolerance and it is finally paying off."
Alternative Music featured at Moksha Jemal concert
By Scarr - UNM Today - University of New Mexico, USA
April 03, 2006
New England musical ensemble HuDost featuring two core members, singer/songwriters Moksha Sommer and JemalWade Hines, present acoustic-based music on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union ballroom.
Their music includes an ethereal ambience mixed with hints of pop, sacred chant, Sufi poetry, experimental electronic and other world music with lovely layers and beautiful harmonies.
Moksha Sommer, graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, is a well-seasoned vocalist who has studied 12 different vocal styles worldwide. Gainesville, Fla. guitarist, singer/songwriter, percussionist and producer JemalWade Hines has been writing, recording and performing music for 17 years.
HuDost’s original work ranges in style from alternative world music to their own country and eastern fusion, and atmospheric, experimental sound. This is mixed with the rich, eclectic, blending of traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian and Balkan translations, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic and Southern Gospel.
Their debut CD, “In an Eastern Rose Garden,” was released in 2005 to rave reviews. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their first CD of all original material with engineer/producer Gil Morales for a projected June release.
A U.S. tour will follow the release of the new CD in the spring summer and autumn with plans to go international in 2007. See: www.hudost.com.
Joining Moksha and JemalWade for this special evening is Roshan Jennifer Ferraro presenting poetry and sacred dance and Zakir Marc McCamey on frame drum. Ferraro is a poet, author and dancer who performs with the Latif Bolat Ensemble playing frame drum and reciting poetry with devotional dance.
This event is sponsored by UNM’s Turkish Student Association, UNM’s Institute for Medieval Studies, Desert Rose Center, Sufi Order International and the Nur-Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order.
April 03, 2006
New England musical ensemble HuDost featuring two core members, singer/songwriters Moksha Sommer and JemalWade Hines, present acoustic-based music on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union ballroom.
Their music includes an ethereal ambience mixed with hints of pop, sacred chant, Sufi poetry, experimental electronic and other world music with lovely layers and beautiful harmonies.
Moksha Sommer, graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, is a well-seasoned vocalist who has studied 12 different vocal styles worldwide. Gainesville, Fla. guitarist, singer/songwriter, percussionist and producer JemalWade Hines has been writing, recording and performing music for 17 years.
HuDost’s original work ranges in style from alternative world music to their own country and eastern fusion, and atmospheric, experimental sound. This is mixed with the rich, eclectic, blending of traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian and Balkan translations, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic and Southern Gospel.
Their debut CD, “In an Eastern Rose Garden,” was released in 2005 to rave reviews. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their first CD of all original material with engineer/producer Gil Morales for a projected June release.
A U.S. tour will follow the release of the new CD in the spring summer and autumn with plans to go international in 2007. See: www.hudost.com.
Joining Moksha and JemalWade for this special evening is Roshan Jennifer Ferraro presenting poetry and sacred dance and Zakir Marc McCamey on frame drum. Ferraro is a poet, author and dancer who performs with the Latif Bolat Ensemble playing frame drum and reciting poetry with devotional dance.
This event is sponsored by UNM’s Turkish Student Association, UNM’s Institute for Medieval Studies, Desert Rose Center, Sufi Order International and the Nur-Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order.
Muslim march
LET newsdesk/Lancashire Telegraph
Monday, 3 April 2006
THOUSANDS of East Lancashire's Muslims took to the streets of Blackburn to celebrate the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad with a walk through the town.
Police estimated that at least 6,000 Muslim men braved the pouring rain yesterday for the holy march from Oak Street, Bastwell, to the Cutchi Muslim Association Hall at Newton Street for celebration prayers and refreshments.
The march also celebrated the teachings of Khawaja Sufi Mohammad Aslam, a grand spiritual master who moved to Blackburn in the 1980s and died in 1999.
'Lataji can give anybody a complex'
By Vandana Soni Bakshi - The Times of India
Monday, 3 Apr, 2006
Celebrated sufi singer Rekha Bharadwaj shares her mysticism with us.
You would probably expect her to turn up her nose at the mention of Bollywood numbers, but Rekha Bharadwaj likes to spring surprises. The celebrated sufi singer loves to dance to Kajra re..., Dhoom macha le, Pathshala and "all those racy tracks."
"There are songs which you sit and listen to - like Chupke se.. from Saathiya and others which get you dancing and I enjoy both immensely," says the classical singer who is in the city to perform at Daaman-e-Lucknow along with Sufi Kathak exponent Manjari Chaturvedi.
Incidentally, the event which is Manjari's brainchild is slated to become an annual event wherein artists of Lucknow, who've made it big nationally and internationally will be invited to perform.
Rekha rose out of the shadow of her husband Vishal Bharadwaj following the release of a Sufi music album, 'Ishqa Ishqa' whose lyrics were composed by none other than Gulzar. "It was an 11-year-long wait during which the venture witnessed many flips-flops and it was only in 2003 that the album finally saw the light of day," she says. With singing being a childhood passion, Rekha started striking the high notes "soon as I started speaking. Initially my sister tutored me and then I trained under Pt Amarnathji."
With Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hasan being all time favourites, "Ghazals were a passion with me. However, after marriage I did dabble in Bollywood singing. There was Abhay in which I rendered a Lohri, Woh din bhi tha... in Chachi 420, Meri jaan... in Bhaggmati. In fact, I sang with Usha Uthup and Kavita Krishnamurthy for Godmother too but playback singing is a different ball game. The songs have to contribute to making the movie a commercial success and the stress is not on the purity of gayaki." The realisation made Rekha return to the classical fold as she felt she was "Not ready for the Hindi film industry. Now I am singing for Piyush Kanojia and Sameer Tandon."
One wonders why she never thought of singing for Maachis which had music by Vishal? "Lataji can give anybody a complex. I never thought (and still don't think) I could match up to her. Who would listen to me once she started to sing?" she questions with good-hearted laughter. "Besides I never thought of taking advantage of being Vishal's wife," she adds as an after thought.
Ready to cross borders now, Rekha will soon be singing for a Pakistani serial Tere Ishq Mein. "The compositions will be sufiana. This is the form of gayaki which has helped me evolve as a person and connect with God and my loved ones better. Now, it is an integral part of my personality," says the gifted singer who is currently compiling verses of Sultan Bahu and Baba Bulle Shah for her next album.
As far her association with Manjari goes, Rekha says, "When I saw her whirling (a form of meditation) for a particular number, I was awe-struck by the ease with which she glided over the sand. The love for sufi compositions connects us and the bonding has helped us grow as artistes."
Some associations are indeed God made!
Monday, 3 Apr, 2006
Celebrated sufi singer Rekha Bharadwaj shares her mysticism with us.
You would probably expect her to turn up her nose at the mention of Bollywood numbers, but Rekha Bharadwaj likes to spring surprises. The celebrated sufi singer loves to dance to Kajra re..., Dhoom macha le, Pathshala and "all those racy tracks."
"There are songs which you sit and listen to - like Chupke se.. from Saathiya and others which get you dancing and I enjoy both immensely," says the classical singer who is in the city to perform at Daaman-e-Lucknow along with Sufi Kathak exponent Manjari Chaturvedi.
Incidentally, the event which is Manjari's brainchild is slated to become an annual event wherein artists of Lucknow, who've made it big nationally and internationally will be invited to perform.
Rekha rose out of the shadow of her husband Vishal Bharadwaj following the release of a Sufi music album, 'Ishqa Ishqa' whose lyrics were composed by none other than Gulzar. "It was an 11-year-long wait during which the venture witnessed many flips-flops and it was only in 2003 that the album finally saw the light of day," she says. With singing being a childhood passion, Rekha started striking the high notes "soon as I started speaking. Initially my sister tutored me and then I trained under Pt Amarnathji."
With Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hasan being all time favourites, "Ghazals were a passion with me. However, after marriage I did dabble in Bollywood singing. There was Abhay in which I rendered a Lohri, Woh din bhi tha... in Chachi 420, Meri jaan... in Bhaggmati. In fact, I sang with Usha Uthup and Kavita Krishnamurthy for Godmother too but playback singing is a different ball game. The songs have to contribute to making the movie a commercial success and the stress is not on the purity of gayaki." The realisation made Rekha return to the classical fold as she felt she was "Not ready for the Hindi film industry. Now I am singing for Piyush Kanojia and Sameer Tandon."
One wonders why she never thought of singing for Maachis which had music by Vishal? "Lataji can give anybody a complex. I never thought (and still don't think) I could match up to her. Who would listen to me once she started to sing?" she questions with good-hearted laughter. "Besides I never thought of taking advantage of being Vishal's wife," she adds as an after thought.
Ready to cross borders now, Rekha will soon be singing for a Pakistani serial Tere Ishq Mein. "The compositions will be sufiana. This is the form of gayaki which has helped me evolve as a person and connect with God and my loved ones better. Now, it is an integral part of my personality," says the gifted singer who is currently compiling verses of Sultan Bahu and Baba Bulle Shah for her next album.
As far her association with Manjari goes, Rekha says, "When I saw her whirling (a form of meditation) for a particular number, I was awe-struck by the ease with which she glided over the sand. The love for sufi compositions connects us and the bonding has helped us grow as artistes."
Some associations are indeed God made!
'Chhaiyan Chhaiyan' in a Spike Lee film
By Nikhil Kumar - Apun Ka Choice - Berkeley, Ca, USA
03rd Apr 2006 17.30 IST
We have already seen Nicole Kidman jiving to Indian song Chhamma Chhamma in ‘Moulin Rouge’. Now, American independent filmmaker Spike Lee’s first Hollywood project features Chhaiyan Chhaiyan.
Composed by A R Rahman and written by Gulzar for Mani Ratnam’s movie Dil Se, Chhaiyan Chhaiyan had Shah Rukh Khan dancing atop a moving train with Malaika Arora .
The song is basically inspired from a traditional Sufi qawwali called Tere Ishq Ne Nachaya, Thaiyya Thaiyya by the Sufi mystic, Baba Bulleh Shah. Rahman himself is a big fan of Sufi music.
Reports have it that Chhaiyan Chhaiyan appears in Spike Lee’s latest movie ‘Inside Man’. The song appears in the background at the movie’s beginning and its end.
‘Inside Man’ is a heist thriller starring Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. According to reports, after seeing the movie at a recent preview, American audience seemed to have taken a fancy to the song.
03rd Apr 2006 17.30 IST
We have already seen Nicole Kidman jiving to Indian song Chhamma Chhamma in ‘Moulin Rouge’. Now, American independent filmmaker Spike Lee’s first Hollywood project features Chhaiyan Chhaiyan.
Composed by A R Rahman and written by Gulzar for Mani Ratnam’s movie Dil Se, Chhaiyan Chhaiyan had Shah Rukh Khan dancing atop a moving train with Malaika Arora .
The song is basically inspired from a traditional Sufi qawwali called Tere Ishq Ne Nachaya, Thaiyya Thaiyya by the Sufi mystic, Baba Bulleh Shah. Rahman himself is a big fan of Sufi music.
Reports have it that Chhaiyan Chhaiyan appears in Spike Lee’s latest movie ‘Inside Man’. The song appears in the background at the movie’s beginning and its end.
‘Inside Man’ is a heist thriller starring Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. According to reports, after seeing the movie at a recent preview, American audience seemed to have taken a fancy to the song.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Festival of Punjab offers delights
By John Reid Blackwell - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
A Chicago Poet Takes on the Bush Administration
Staff - PRWeb Newswire
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Poet Gugo Veles pays tribute to the great Sufi poet, Rumi, and indicts the Bush administration in Rumiyat, a stellar collection of poems about politics, life and romance, set against metropolitan Chicago.
The parallels between Veles and Rumi are clear and to the point. As Rumi searched for harmony, enlightenment and moral certitude in a world threatened by intolerance and oppression, Veles is acutely aware of our own current challenges.
In poem after poem, Veles limns our longing for inner peace and understanding. He delves into the failure of international human rights. And he points out how our blind adherence to philosophy and religion has led us not into enlightenment, but on to a dark, dangerous and tragic path. Intolerance, bigotry, shifty double standards, force-fed organized religion and fundamentalism, Veles urges, are the road to ruin. Instead of blindly following, we should start to find our own pathways.
Written with the same unexpected imagery that Rumi was known for, Veles’ perfectly pared-down verses shimmer with the capacity to uplift our consciousness. Reading these poems, Veles hopes, will awaken readers to their deeper, more spiritual selves. “To see myself, I open wide my eyes,” he writes, advising readers to think harder, look deeper, and be more aware. What the world needs now is Rumi…and Rumiyat.
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Poet Gugo Veles pays tribute to the great Sufi poet, Rumi, and indicts the Bush administration in Rumiyat, a stellar collection of poems about politics, life and romance, set against metropolitan Chicago.
The parallels between Veles and Rumi are clear and to the point. As Rumi searched for harmony, enlightenment and moral certitude in a world threatened by intolerance and oppression, Veles is acutely aware of our own current challenges.
In poem after poem, Veles limns our longing for inner peace and understanding. He delves into the failure of international human rights. And he points out how our blind adherence to philosophy and religion has led us not into enlightenment, but on to a dark, dangerous and tragic path. Intolerance, bigotry, shifty double standards, force-fed organized religion and fundamentalism, Veles urges, are the road to ruin. Instead of blindly following, we should start to find our own pathways.
Written with the same unexpected imagery that Rumi was known for, Veles’ perfectly pared-down verses shimmer with the capacity to uplift our consciousness. Reading these poems, Veles hopes, will awaken readers to their deeper, more spiritual selves. “To see myself, I open wide my eyes,” he writes, advising readers to think harder, look deeper, and be more aware. What the world needs now is Rumi…and Rumiyat.
Islam is Islam here, there and everywhere
By Ajaz-Ul-Haque - Greater Kashmir
Sunday, 2 April, 2006
'Sufi Islam’ or what they conveniently call as ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is a sweet but deceptive combination of words which blends mysticism with politics such a way that we can’t decipher what is what? As if Islam alone draws a void, so paring it with Sufism widens the canvass of acceptability. Typical to Kashmir only, it has enjoyed a good reception amongst a particular class of scholars who put a history behind their argument to make it sound more philosophical than it actually is. Borrowing ingredients from what they call a Sufi past, their theory is not too beside the point. With components like communal harmony, religious tolerance and universal brotherhood, there is no scope for even a god defying atheists to deny the message. Unity in diversity has been the human quest since ages. That is an urge which transcends all belief and dogma. So once the message is bruited about, we take it unmistakably as the message of humanity which everyone is in dire need of. But in all this we miss a point that Islam comfortably houses the philosophy of Sufism as an indispensable part of it. The mere use of the term Sufi Islam takes Sufism as a separate slice which it’s not.
Islam, surpassing all dogmatic bindings, sees mysticism as a share of spirit. Those who practiced were the real beatified souls who sought bliss and blessings from one God with whom they were in communion with. Their fight against evil was from within and without both. Those mystics, whichever part of the earth they belonged to, had realized the truth of life. Leaving a lesson of self realization for us, the nobility of their mission, is above board. Holding their bodily desires subservient to the quest of their soul, they embarked on the path of salvation. So the life of Sufis itself was a practical example of what Islam exhorts us to be. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
The West worked hard to divorce politics from Islam and succeeded in coining ‘political Islam’ as the brand of religion which aspires for power and authority. Whether this can be put as a blissful ignorance on their part or a malicious intent to mislead the rest of the world about the universal message of Islam, can be debated.
A sustained intellectual and ideological attempt to denounce Islam erupted in many forms which fall a little beyond the ambit of our discussion right now.
Back home, the problem with us is of a peculiar nature. There have been attempts on intellectual plane to justify pure militarisation of a people by drumming about spirituality and other-word-liness. Well that worked sometimes as an effective sedative to lull a battered lot back to sleep. Kashmiriyat, acted an instant therapy for all abnormal behavior of a nation to have it normalised. Islam in Kashmir was presented ‘mystically different’ from Islam elsewhere. A history of pluralism and tolerance which Kashmir has been known for, was hijacked for a pure political interest. Peace has been our love, no doubt. But we weren’t allowed to be at peace. Who denies the philosophy of co-existence, but for that you need to exist first. Lessons of brotherhood are nothing new, but for that you need not take the trouble of axing it out from a bigger whole which it makes a part of. Islam is Sufism included, Kashmir or outside. Subjecting it to an enforced obedience to a geography is inimical to the very spirit which it stands for.
Iqbal’s Iblees suggests a double strength capsule of melody and mysticism which successfully takes away the joy of a real life from the one it’s practiced on.
Hai vohi shair-o-tassawuf is kay haq main khoob tar
Jo chupa dhey is ki aankhoon say tamashay-e-hayaat
The ‘noble endeavor’ of presenting ‘Sufi Islam’ or ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is directed towards the same end. We are slowly but surely losing the wealth of consciousness without which a nation is more dead than alive. Let’s believe in universal lessons of love, peace and amity, but let not those assets be allowed to count against us. Kashmir may be known for its different crop, different weather and different landscape, but Islam as a universal message of peace remains same here as it’s elsewhere in the world.
Sunday, 2 April, 2006
'Sufi Islam’ or what they conveniently call as ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is a sweet but deceptive combination of words which blends mysticism with politics such a way that we can’t decipher what is what? As if Islam alone draws a void, so paring it with Sufism widens the canvass of acceptability. Typical to Kashmir only, it has enjoyed a good reception amongst a particular class of scholars who put a history behind their argument to make it sound more philosophical than it actually is. Borrowing ingredients from what they call a Sufi past, their theory is not too beside the point. With components like communal harmony, religious tolerance and universal brotherhood, there is no scope for even a god defying atheists to deny the message. Unity in diversity has been the human quest since ages. That is an urge which transcends all belief and dogma. So once the message is bruited about, we take it unmistakably as the message of humanity which everyone is in dire need of. But in all this we miss a point that Islam comfortably houses the philosophy of Sufism as an indispensable part of it. The mere use of the term Sufi Islam takes Sufism as a separate slice which it’s not.
Islam, surpassing all dogmatic bindings, sees mysticism as a share of spirit. Those who practiced were the real beatified souls who sought bliss and blessings from one God with whom they were in communion with. Their fight against evil was from within and without both. Those mystics, whichever part of the earth they belonged to, had realized the truth of life. Leaving a lesson of self realization for us, the nobility of their mission, is above board. Holding their bodily desires subservient to the quest of their soul, they embarked on the path of salvation. So the life of Sufis itself was a practical example of what Islam exhorts us to be. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
The West worked hard to divorce politics from Islam and succeeded in coining ‘political Islam’ as the brand of religion which aspires for power and authority. Whether this can be put as a blissful ignorance on their part or a malicious intent to mislead the rest of the world about the universal message of Islam, can be debated.
A sustained intellectual and ideological attempt to denounce Islam erupted in many forms which fall a little beyond the ambit of our discussion right now.
Back home, the problem with us is of a peculiar nature. There have been attempts on intellectual plane to justify pure militarisation of a people by drumming about spirituality and other-word-liness. Well that worked sometimes as an effective sedative to lull a battered lot back to sleep. Kashmiriyat, acted an instant therapy for all abnormal behavior of a nation to have it normalised. Islam in Kashmir was presented ‘mystically different’ from Islam elsewhere. A history of pluralism and tolerance which Kashmir has been known for, was hijacked for a pure political interest. Peace has been our love, no doubt. But we weren’t allowed to be at peace. Who denies the philosophy of co-existence, but for that you need to exist first. Lessons of brotherhood are nothing new, but for that you need not take the trouble of axing it out from a bigger whole which it makes a part of. Islam is Sufism included, Kashmir or outside. Subjecting it to an enforced obedience to a geography is inimical to the very spirit which it stands for.
Iqbal’s Iblees suggests a double strength capsule of melody and mysticism which successfully takes away the joy of a real life from the one it’s practiced on.
Hai vohi shair-o-tassawuf is kay haq main khoob tar
Jo chupa dhey is ki aankhoon say tamashay-e-hayaat
The ‘noble endeavor’ of presenting ‘Sufi Islam’ or ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is directed towards the same end. We are slowly but surely losing the wealth of consciousness without which a nation is more dead than alive. Let’s believe in universal lessons of love, peace and amity, but let not those assets be allowed to count against us. Kashmir may be known for its different crop, different weather and different landscape, but Islam as a universal message of peace remains same here as it’s elsewhere in the world.
Among mystics
By Khushwant Singh - Hindustan Times
Friday, March 31, 2006
Professor Coleman Barks who teaches poetry in the University of Georgia (US) is today regarded as the authority on the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi (1201-1273). When starting on his translations Barks thought it wise to seek the guidance of the best-known Sufi teacher of the time, Bawa Muhaijudeen of Sri Lanka. As he introduced himself, his mentor asked him what his name meant. Barks told him. Whereupon Bawa started howling like a dog and then laughed.
The professor was not in the least offended because he knew that childlike behaviour is part of Sufi character. Howling is both an expression of pain and a cry for help. Rumi had written “the grief you cry out from draws you towards union; your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup. Listen to the moan of a dog for its master, the whining, is the connection. There are love dogs no one knows the name of. Give your life to be one of them.”
I confess I am as out of my depth with this kind of dogma as I am with the writings of our own mystics, the Bhaktas. However, I persisted in my reading of Rumi for two reasons. The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne, was gifted to me by a close friend, Samia Moosa, an attractive Afghan lady who spends her time equally between Kabul and California. And I wanted to know what was so great about Jelaluddin Rumi after whom a cult of dancing dervishes has been established.
I was fully rewarded: there are gems of wisdom strewn in a lot of tales.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Professor Coleman Barks who teaches poetry in the University of Georgia (US) is today regarded as the authority on the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi (1201-1273). When starting on his translations Barks thought it wise to seek the guidance of the best-known Sufi teacher of the time, Bawa Muhaijudeen of Sri Lanka. As he introduced himself, his mentor asked him what his name meant. Barks told him. Whereupon Bawa started howling like a dog and then laughed.
The professor was not in the least offended because he knew that childlike behaviour is part of Sufi character. Howling is both an expression of pain and a cry for help. Rumi had written “the grief you cry out from draws you towards union; your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup. Listen to the moan of a dog for its master, the whining, is the connection. There are love dogs no one knows the name of. Give your life to be one of them.”
I confess I am as out of my depth with this kind of dogma as I am with the writings of our own mystics, the Bhaktas. However, I persisted in my reading of Rumi for two reasons. The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne, was gifted to me by a close friend, Samia Moosa, an attractive Afghan lady who spends her time equally between Kabul and California. And I wanted to know what was so great about Jelaluddin Rumi after whom a cult of dancing dervishes has been established.
I was fully rewarded: there are gems of wisdom strewn in a lot of tales.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Sufism: Fountainhead of India's composite culture
By Pranav Khullar - The New Nation - Bangladesh
Fri, 31 Mar 2006
In India, Sufism has been typically Indian and more typically - Sindhi, both in content and quality. A thoroughly indigenous movement, it absorbed the finest in Islam and Hinduism, thereby laying the foundations of what is today called the composite culture of India to which we, as a nation, are culturally and Constitutionally committed. Sindhi Sufism stood for raising the quality of life through realisation of God, as influenced it was by Vedanta.
Sindhi Sufi poetry is traceable to the seven baits (slokas) of Mamoi saints of the 14th century. There are some baits of Qazi Qadan (died 1551) which talk of Tauhid (Unity of Being). The 16th century produced a great Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Karim 0536-1622), known for his learning and piety. His 92 baits proclaiming the brotherhood of man and the unity of god are recited by the devout even till this day. His son Shah Habib was a perfect man of God who served the sick and the poor. Towards the middle of the 17th century Sind produced another great Sufi saint Shah Inayat 0656-1718). Popularly known as Shah Inayat of Jhok, his baits and boys (verses) enthralled the desert. Through his Sufi hymns he inspired the people to revolt against the unjust Zamindari (land holding) system and asked his fellow beings not to pay taxes. A God-intoxicated man, he was executed by the corrupt Governor of Thatta. Saintmartyr, he is hero of many a Sindhi legend and folklore.
By the end of the 17th century there appeared the greatest Sindhi Sufi poet who infused a new life and gave a new hope to his people. His name was Shah Abdul Latif, meaning the Gracious of the Gracious 0689-1752). Well versed in Quranic traditions and Vedantic thought, the Shah knew seven languages and was called 'Sufi-e-Haft Zaban '. Shah Abdul Latif's greatest contribution to the Sufi thought are his spiritual sermons which have been compiled by his disciples and are called 'Shah Jo Risalo' (The Message of Shah). Risalo is neither a philosophical treatise nor a literary masterpiece, but it transports the readers to new spiritual heights.
Shah Abdul Latif was a Sufi poet in the ancient Vedic traditions where the saints and sages possessed nothing and whom nothing possessed except the name of God, the service of the poor and welfare of humanity. Shah believed that while intellect is bondage, faith is the liberator; while the mystics learn from God, the Ulema learn from books. Shah liked the company of Hindu saints and visted Hindu centres of pilgrimage. At Dwaraka, he danced reciting the name of Lord Krishna. In spite of his vast erudition he found comfort in mysticism than in theology.
In a larger analysis Shah Abdul Latif was a part of Bhakti movement which swept the country from 13th to the 19th century in one form or the other. He adopted the Hindu ritual of 'shaving the head' for every new entrant in the 'Khanqah' (Hospice), offering Sherbet (sweetened water) to every visitor in the monastery. Even the 40-day ritual of suspending the body in a well, known as 'Chillae-Makus' was a Hindu institution known to the 'Ardh-mukhi'sect. Accordingly, Shah Abdul Latif made no distinction between a 'Gurukul' and a 'Khanqah', between a Mandir and a Masjid. His Surs (musical notes) are musical compositions which fit into the Indian classical mould. According to Captain Alexander Hamilton, the Surs of Shah are a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Hamilton was the only European who visited Sind during the Shah's lifetime. As a poet of nature, he was even greater. He wrote of the rainy seasons, the cranes of Sind, of the crows...
And lastly, we have Sachal Sarmast. Kalyan B. Advani, author of a beautiful monograph on Sarmast, said: "He remained throughout his life under the wonderous spell of that great mystic martyr, Mansoor, although he himself did not adorn the gibbet, much as he coveted it. He proclaimed his Master's message to the world, like a Muezzin from a Tower, crying Anal Haq (I am the God/I am the Truth)". He wrote nearly one lakh vesses.
Sachal's tradition was carried on by a number of Hindu Sufi poets, particularly Bhai Chainrai 07431850), popularly known as Sami. He is the first Sindhi Vedantic poet who wrote 15,000 Sufi hymns in the form of Slokas. Bhai Dalpatram 0769-1841) is another Vedantic who remained unsurpassed in devotional poetry.
Rohal was yet another who carried on the tradition of Shah Inayat. He wrote Bhakti verses in Hindi besides in Sindhi and Saraiki. Qadir Baksh 'Bedil' and Mohammad Mohsin 'Bekas' in the late 19th century were also Sufi poets of high order and elegance. Both of them were prolific writers who wrote in Sindhi, Hindi and Persian.
The Sindhi Sufi ghazal compares favourably with the Kashmiri Sufiana Kalam, known for its dulcet music and spiritual notes. In prose, Sindhis translated 'Quran Sharif'in 1746 and the Bible in 1825 into Sindhi - much before the British conqurered Sind in 1843. Sindhi is written both in Devanagari as well as in Arabic script.
Recently even the love legend of Sassi-Punnu was given a Sufi touch when Sassi sings Sachal in gay abandon in the desert before her union with Punnu...
Fri, 31 Mar 2006
In India, Sufism has been typically Indian and more typically - Sindhi, both in content and quality. A thoroughly indigenous movement, it absorbed the finest in Islam and Hinduism, thereby laying the foundations of what is today called the composite culture of India to which we, as a nation, are culturally and Constitutionally committed. Sindhi Sufism stood for raising the quality of life through realisation of God, as influenced it was by Vedanta.
Sindhi Sufi poetry is traceable to the seven baits (slokas) of Mamoi saints of the 14th century. There are some baits of Qazi Qadan (died 1551) which talk of Tauhid (Unity of Being). The 16th century produced a great Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Karim 0536-1622), known for his learning and piety. His 92 baits proclaiming the brotherhood of man and the unity of god are recited by the devout even till this day. His son Shah Habib was a perfect man of God who served the sick and the poor. Towards the middle of the 17th century Sind produced another great Sufi saint Shah Inayat 0656-1718). Popularly known as Shah Inayat of Jhok, his baits and boys (verses) enthralled the desert. Through his Sufi hymns he inspired the people to revolt against the unjust Zamindari (land holding) system and asked his fellow beings not to pay taxes. A God-intoxicated man, he was executed by the corrupt Governor of Thatta. Saintmartyr, he is hero of many a Sindhi legend and folklore.
By the end of the 17th century there appeared the greatest Sindhi Sufi poet who infused a new life and gave a new hope to his people. His name was Shah Abdul Latif, meaning the Gracious of the Gracious 0689-1752). Well versed in Quranic traditions and Vedantic thought, the Shah knew seven languages and was called 'Sufi-e-Haft Zaban '. Shah Abdul Latif's greatest contribution to the Sufi thought are his spiritual sermons which have been compiled by his disciples and are called 'Shah Jo Risalo' (The Message of Shah). Risalo is neither a philosophical treatise nor a literary masterpiece, but it transports the readers to new spiritual heights.
Shah Abdul Latif was a Sufi poet in the ancient Vedic traditions where the saints and sages possessed nothing and whom nothing possessed except the name of God, the service of the poor and welfare of humanity. Shah believed that while intellect is bondage, faith is the liberator; while the mystics learn from God, the Ulema learn from books. Shah liked the company of Hindu saints and visted Hindu centres of pilgrimage. At Dwaraka, he danced reciting the name of Lord Krishna. In spite of his vast erudition he found comfort in mysticism than in theology.
In a larger analysis Shah Abdul Latif was a part of Bhakti movement which swept the country from 13th to the 19th century in one form or the other. He adopted the Hindu ritual of 'shaving the head' for every new entrant in the 'Khanqah' (Hospice), offering Sherbet (sweetened water) to every visitor in the monastery. Even the 40-day ritual of suspending the body in a well, known as 'Chillae-Makus' was a Hindu institution known to the 'Ardh-mukhi'sect. Accordingly, Shah Abdul Latif made no distinction between a 'Gurukul' and a 'Khanqah', between a Mandir and a Masjid. His Surs (musical notes) are musical compositions which fit into the Indian classical mould. According to Captain Alexander Hamilton, the Surs of Shah are a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Hamilton was the only European who visited Sind during the Shah's lifetime. As a poet of nature, he was even greater. He wrote of the rainy seasons, the cranes of Sind, of the crows...
And lastly, we have Sachal Sarmast. Kalyan B. Advani, author of a beautiful monograph on Sarmast, said: "He remained throughout his life under the wonderous spell of that great mystic martyr, Mansoor, although he himself did not adorn the gibbet, much as he coveted it. He proclaimed his Master's message to the world, like a Muezzin from a Tower, crying Anal Haq (I am the God/I am the Truth)". He wrote nearly one lakh vesses.
Sachal's tradition was carried on by a number of Hindu Sufi poets, particularly Bhai Chainrai 07431850), popularly known as Sami. He is the first Sindhi Vedantic poet who wrote 15,000 Sufi hymns in the form of Slokas. Bhai Dalpatram 0769-1841) is another Vedantic who remained unsurpassed in devotional poetry.
Rohal was yet another who carried on the tradition of Shah Inayat. He wrote Bhakti verses in Hindi besides in Sindhi and Saraiki. Qadir Baksh 'Bedil' and Mohammad Mohsin 'Bekas' in the late 19th century were also Sufi poets of high order and elegance. Both of them were prolific writers who wrote in Sindhi, Hindi and Persian.
The Sindhi Sufi ghazal compares favourably with the Kashmiri Sufiana Kalam, known for its dulcet music and spiritual notes. In prose, Sindhis translated 'Quran Sharif'in 1746 and the Bible in 1825 into Sindhi - much before the British conqurered Sind in 1843. Sindhi is written both in Devanagari as well as in Arabic script.
Recently even the love legend of Sassi-Punnu was given a Sufi touch when Sassi sings Sachal in gay abandon in the desert before her union with Punnu...
Konya to be seminar topic in US
Elif Özmenek - New York- Turkish Daily News/Referans
Thursday, March 30, 2006
The University of Utah is hosting a seminar on Konya to study its model of local governance. The mayor of Konya will explain his city to American audiences, adding a taste of whirling dervishes and Sufism to his speech
The Central Anatolian city of Konya, after being listed among the 14 cities in the world that the Financial Times ranked as qualified for direct investment, is now being studied as a role model by an American university. The University of Utah is organizing a seminar titled “Understanding Globalization in Turkish Periphery: The Spirit of Konya” March 29-30.
From the effects of Sufism on urbanization to the role of whirling dervishes in globalization, diverse themes from Konya are to be discussed at the seminar. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek is among 25 speakers invited for the event.
The seminar is aimed at discussing the question of how the Islamic world will adapt to the globalization process in general from a “conservative” model such as Konya. The main reason Konya was selected as a role model is the city's financing of its development model through its own resources. In other words, Konya is being studied because it has succeeded in developing without loans; it has almost no bank debt; 70 percent of its budget is secured for investment; and it has been listed as the top city in intercity performance ratings for producing its own non-Treasury resources.
In 2005 Konya's whirling dervish ceremony was selected for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) cultural heritage list. 2007 has also been declared the “Year of Mevlana.”
Thursday, March 30, 2006
The University of Utah is hosting a seminar on Konya to study its model of local governance. The mayor of Konya will explain his city to American audiences, adding a taste of whirling dervishes and Sufism to his speech
The Central Anatolian city of Konya, after being listed among the 14 cities in the world that the Financial Times ranked as qualified for direct investment, is now being studied as a role model by an American university. The University of Utah is organizing a seminar titled “Understanding Globalization in Turkish Periphery: The Spirit of Konya” March 29-30.
From the effects of Sufism on urbanization to the role of whirling dervishes in globalization, diverse themes from Konya are to be discussed at the seminar. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek is among 25 speakers invited for the event.
The seminar is aimed at discussing the question of how the Islamic world will adapt to the globalization process in general from a “conservative” model such as Konya. The main reason Konya was selected as a role model is the city's financing of its development model through its own resources. In other words, Konya is being studied because it has succeeded in developing without loans; it has almost no bank debt; 70 percent of its budget is secured for investment; and it has been listed as the top city in intercity performance ratings for producing its own non-Treasury resources.
In 2005 Konya's whirling dervish ceremony was selected for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) cultural heritage list. 2007 has also been declared the “Year of Mevlana.”
WPC demands jobs for 10,000 MA Punjabi students
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Thursday, March 30, 2006
LAHORE: The government should create job vacancies for 10,000 Punjabi Master’s degree holders, said World Punjabi Congress (WPC) Chairman Fakhar Zaman addressing the inaugural session of the International conference on Sufi poet Shah Hussain on Wednesday.
Fakhar Zaman said the Punjab Institute of Art was a result of the WPC’s effort and the organisation now aimed to set up a Punjabi University in which students, lecturers and researchers would work for promotion of Punjabi and other languages.
Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood said the Punjab government would take measures to create vacancies for Punjabi students and said new Punjabi newspapers, magazines and TV channels were the result of the government’s policies.
He said the Indian Punjab government’s proposal of setting up a Guru Nanak Punjabi University in Lahore was being considered.
WPC India President Satya Pal said Pakistani students must learn the Gurmukhi script along with the Shahmukhi script, to be able to read Sufi poetry and Punjabi literature of both countries. He said Punjabi was taught in schools from class 1 in the Indian Punjab.
A large number of delegates from India, England, the US, France, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Canada participated in the conference.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
LAHORE: The government should create job vacancies for 10,000 Punjabi Master’s degree holders, said World Punjabi Congress (WPC) Chairman Fakhar Zaman addressing the inaugural session of the International conference on Sufi poet Shah Hussain on Wednesday.
Fakhar Zaman said the Punjab Institute of Art was a result of the WPC’s effort and the organisation now aimed to set up a Punjabi University in which students, lecturers and researchers would work for promotion of Punjabi and other languages.
Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood said the Punjab government would take measures to create vacancies for Punjabi students and said new Punjabi newspapers, magazines and TV channels were the result of the government’s policies.
He said the Indian Punjab government’s proposal of setting up a Guru Nanak Punjabi University in Lahore was being considered.
WPC India President Satya Pal said Pakistani students must learn the Gurmukhi script along with the Shahmukhi script, to be able to read Sufi poetry and Punjabi literature of both countries. He said Punjabi was taught in schools from class 1 in the Indian Punjab.
A large number of delegates from India, England, the US, France, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Canada participated in the conference.
From Brazil To Mongolia, Sun Dances With Moon
By Joanne Omang - Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, March 30, 2006
KONYA, Turkey, March 29-- As the sun went dark here Wednesday, a dervish mystic whirled in a garden, one hand pointing to the earth, the other to the sky. "The solar system turns like the dervish, a cosmic dance," said Bekir Sahin, director of rare books and manuscripts in this provincial center of Islamic study. "Konya today is the center of the universe."
A total eclipse of the sun drew thousands of astronomers, eclipse groupies and tourists to this town for a glimpse of the cosmic dance that began at sunrise in Brazil and ended at sunset in northern Mongolia.
For many people, the journey here was spiritual. This ancient center of scholarship and the Sufi branch of Islam welcomed more than 3,000 foreign visitors to a day of contemplation mixed with science and a picnic holiday.
"We have busloads of people from Egypt, from Germany, from Japan," said Mevlut Bektas, director of tourism and culture. Every hotel room in the city was taken, he said. The Turkish government was expecting more than the 3.5 million visitors who came to the country for another total eclipse in 1999, and special festivals and tours were set up nationwide.
At the tomb of the 13th-century philosopher and mystic Celaleddin Rumi, who is known as Mevlana, villagers peered at the vanishing sun through special glasses distributed free by the local government. A chattering crowd in the garden outside the tomb fell quiet as the warm, clear day slowly turned wintry in thinning sunlight. They gasped as one at the moment of totality: Twilight surged around the horizon, Venus appeared in a midnight sky, and a ring of fire circled the black hole where the sun had been.
Sahin, the manuscript scholar, directed visitors to the nearby museum's display of astronomical equipment and documents dating from the Seljuk empire of the 11th to 13th centuries. "We believe the eclipse has an effect on the human heart, whether we feel it or not," he said.
From Turkey, the total eclipse moved across the Black Sea, then Georgia and southern Russia. In Baghdad, outside the path of totality, residents were briefly diverted from the continuing trauma of war as they looked aloft to see a partial obscuring of the sun, a crescent. In Bangladesh, the moon took a mere bite off the edge of the solar disk. Finally, at dusk over Asia, the sun and the moon parted ways.
Women dance and sing for Madhu Lal Hussain
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: About 6,000 women devotees of Madhu Lal Hussain wore colourful shawls, sang Sufi poetry and did the traditional dhamal to pay homage to the Muslim saint on the final day of his 418th Urs (anniversary).
The day, which was reserved for women, began with a ‘mehfil-e-milad’ from 9am to 1pm during which drums and dhamal were stopped and men were not allowed to enter the shrine. Mrs Abid from Lahore said it was a good idea to reserve the last day for women because it allowed women to show their affection for the saint uninhibited. She said she went to the shrine regularly and she loved to recite poetry.
Heleema Naz, a Rawalpindi resident, said she attended the Urs every year and would continue visiting the shrine for as long as she lived.
A woman from Multan said she had arrived in Lahore the previous night to attend the Urs. She said she had been visiting the shrine on the last day of the Urs for long, as her mother and father were devotees of the saint.
A number of women said shopping was one of the attractions of the anniversary. The ceremony concluded after Asr prayers. Allama Maqsood Ahmed and thousands of devotees prayed for Pakistan’s solidarity. The cleric urged people to follow the saint’s teachings.
Shah Hussain was born in 1538 and is a prominent Muslim saint in the subcontinent.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: About 6,000 women devotees of Madhu Lal Hussain wore colourful shawls, sang Sufi poetry and did the traditional dhamal to pay homage to the Muslim saint on the final day of his 418th Urs (anniversary).
The day, which was reserved for women, began with a ‘mehfil-e-milad’ from 9am to 1pm during which drums and dhamal were stopped and men were not allowed to enter the shrine. Mrs Abid from Lahore said it was a good idea to reserve the last day for women because it allowed women to show their affection for the saint uninhibited. She said she went to the shrine regularly and she loved to recite poetry.
Heleema Naz, a Rawalpindi resident, said she attended the Urs every year and would continue visiting the shrine for as long as she lived.
A woman from Multan said she had arrived in Lahore the previous night to attend the Urs. She said she had been visiting the shrine on the last day of the Urs for long, as her mother and father were devotees of the saint.
A number of women said shopping was one of the attractions of the anniversary. The ceremony concluded after Asr prayers. Allama Maqsood Ahmed and thousands of devotees prayed for Pakistan’s solidarity. The cleric urged people to follow the saint’s teachings.
Shah Hussain was born in 1538 and is a prominent Muslim saint in the subcontinent.
An Unearthly Sufi Novel: Irving Karchmar's "Master of the Jinn"
By Ali Eteraz - alt.muslim
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Irving Karchmar's debut Sufi novel, "Master of the Jinn", heralds the arrival of a fresh literary voice to Islam and America. It also signals the revival of Sufism.
Although initially a bit off-putting due to a narratorial voice that's more Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe), than anything post-modern, this Sufi novel is a subtle creation twelve years in the making. Not a novel; it is layered cake.
For the mystics and the metaphysicians, this story is, through and through, a meditation on Love, the mercy of God, and spiritual discipline. The Sufi Master speaks on matters of the soul with the authority that Zorba the Greek reserved for matters of lust. The journey can be read allegorically, and many secrets meanings may be unearthed in later reads. Occassionally Karchmar gives a hint of the matter being touched upon by dropping quotes from the poetry of innumerable Sufi poets. He also brings in quotations from Plato and the Psalms of David. These quotes were a favorite part of the experience.
The story can also be read as nothing more than an adventure. As such, it can make for interesting bed time reading for children and adults alike. The innocence of Karchmar's writing (his characters sure do weep with joy a lot), suggests that perhaps that there is something important in the adventure worth analyzing.
However, in my opinion, this novel contains far more. I should like to posit that in an age where the primary association of Islam is with rage, Karchmar's novel is a conscious counterbalance to the Zarqawis and al-Sadrs of the world. It seems no accident that the novel is set in Jerusalem, or that the chosen is a former agent of the Mossad (that bugaboo that haunts radical Islam), or that the archaeologist is a holocaust survivor, or that the star of David is a part of the mystery. Karchmar seems to be using theology to open doors.
You can order the book on http://www.masterofthejinn.com or on amazon.com
Malhotra's clothes spell Freedom
By: Sandipan Dalal - Mid-Day Mumbai - India
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
After experimenting with gold coins and coral, designer Manish Malhotra has brought out an all-white collection, titled Freedom, to showcase at the Lakme Fashion Week 2006.
As far as the theme is concerned, the designer says he’s inspired by the soul-liberating philosophy of Sufism.
Says Malhotra, “My clothes celebrate the spirit of the modern woman who does not carry the baggage of accepted norms to look beautiful".
It’s all about tapping the natural world and getting tuned to world music — that’s Malhotra’s mantra this year. “I’m very fond of Sufi music. And I have used a few Abida Parveen tracks for the ramp shows,” he adds.
Conference on Shah Hussain starts tomorrow
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: The World Punjabi Congress (WPC) has announced the schedule of a three-day international conference on renowned Sufi poet Shah Hussain starting tomorrow (Wednesday).
Addressing a press conference on Monday, WPC Chairman Fakhar Zaman said that Sufism was now getting considerable attention from the world, as this was “the only way to identify the roots of every human”. He said that more than 250 delegates from nine countries, including Sweden, the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and India, would participate in the conference. Over 80 scholars, journalists, writers, intellectuals, educationists and artists from India would participate in the conference, he said.
Outlining the schedule, Zaman said that the conference would be inaugurated tomorrow with welcome speeches from heads of visiting delegations followed by a reception and a musical show at the Fountain House. On the second day of the conference, research papers would be read out on ‘Sufi tradition in the subcontinent’, ‘Relevance of the Sufi message in the present global context’, ‘Humanism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’, ‘The life and poetry of Shah Hussain’, ‘Poetry pre and post-Shah Hussain period — patterns and trends’, and ‘Shah Hussain’s poetry and Raagas’. Later, the delegates would visit a farmhouse on Raiwind Road.
Papers on ‘Sufism and peace’, ‘Sufism — a source of enlightenment in South Asia’, ‘Wahdatul Insaan in Sufi poetry’, ‘Woman referent in Sufi poetry’, ‘Shah Hussain’s lyricism’, ‘Recurring themes in Sufi poetry’ and ‘Symbolism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’ would be read out on the third day of the conference.
Zaman would then announce the ‘Lahore Declaration’, followed by a visit by the delegation to the shrine of Shah Hussain.
Zaman said that the speakers from India would include Dr SS Noor, Kashmiri Lal Zakir, Dr Fatima Hussain, Dr Deepak Manmohan, Dr Satish Verma, Dr Vanita, Dr Jagbir Singh, Dr Davinder Singh, Kamlesh Mohan and Dr Ravel Singh. The WPC chairman said that three books written on past conferences would also be launched on the final day. An exhibition on the ecology and architecture of Lahore during Shah Hussain’s time would also be held, he said.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: The World Punjabi Congress (WPC) has announced the schedule of a three-day international conference on renowned Sufi poet Shah Hussain starting tomorrow (Wednesday).
Addressing a press conference on Monday, WPC Chairman Fakhar Zaman said that Sufism was now getting considerable attention from the world, as this was “the only way to identify the roots of every human”. He said that more than 250 delegates from nine countries, including Sweden, the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and India, would participate in the conference. Over 80 scholars, journalists, writers, intellectuals, educationists and artists from India would participate in the conference, he said.
Outlining the schedule, Zaman said that the conference would be inaugurated tomorrow with welcome speeches from heads of visiting delegations followed by a reception and a musical show at the Fountain House. On the second day of the conference, research papers would be read out on ‘Sufi tradition in the subcontinent’, ‘Relevance of the Sufi message in the present global context’, ‘Humanism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’, ‘The life and poetry of Shah Hussain’, ‘Poetry pre and post-Shah Hussain period — patterns and trends’, and ‘Shah Hussain’s poetry and Raagas’. Later, the delegates would visit a farmhouse on Raiwind Road.
Papers on ‘Sufism and peace’, ‘Sufism — a source of enlightenment in South Asia’, ‘Wahdatul Insaan in Sufi poetry’, ‘Woman referent in Sufi poetry’, ‘Shah Hussain’s lyricism’, ‘Recurring themes in Sufi poetry’ and ‘Symbolism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’ would be read out on the third day of the conference.
Zaman would then announce the ‘Lahore Declaration’, followed by a visit by the delegation to the shrine of Shah Hussain.
Zaman said that the speakers from India would include Dr SS Noor, Kashmiri Lal Zakir, Dr Fatima Hussain, Dr Deepak Manmohan, Dr Satish Verma, Dr Vanita, Dr Jagbir Singh, Dr Davinder Singh, Kamlesh Mohan and Dr Ravel Singh. The WPC chairman said that three books written on past conferences would also be launched on the final day. An exhibition on the ecology and architecture of Lahore during Shah Hussain’s time would also be held, he said.
Sufi, so good!
By Rituparna Som - Daily News and Analysis -Mumbai, India
Monday, March 27, 2006
MTV head honcho William H. Roedy grooves to the mystical music form
He’s a self-confessed chronic zapper jumping from channel to channel before you can say MTV, and currently hopelessly addicted to singer Kailash Kher. We would expect nothing less from the chairman, MTV Networks and President, MTV Networks International, William H Roedy. “My biggest priority in India is to get Kailash Kher’s CDs,” he states. “Sufi and Indian fusion - that’s the sort of thing I love. I bring it home, play it until my wife gets tired of it. I get so addicted that it’s hard to get off it.”
Monday, March 27, 2006
MTV head honcho William H. Roedy grooves to the mystical music form
He’s a self-confessed chronic zapper jumping from channel to channel before you can say MTV, and currently hopelessly addicted to singer Kailash Kher. We would expect nothing less from the chairman, MTV Networks and President, MTV Networks International, William H Roedy. “My biggest priority in India is to get Kailash Kher’s CDs,” he states. “Sufi and Indian fusion - that’s the sort of thing I love. I bring it home, play it until my wife gets tired of it. I get so addicted that it’s hard to get off it.”
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Afghanistan: Film revisits destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas
By Andrew Tully - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Five years ago this month, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan blew up the two Bamiyan Buddhas -- one of them more than 50 meters tall and believed to be the world's largest representation of Buddha. The Taliban deemed the effigies offensive to Islam and carried out the destruction despite pleas from leaders around the world -- including UNESCO, the government of neighboring Pakistan and the grand mufti of Egypt. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei has produced "The Giant Buddhas," a documentary about this great cultural loss and what it says about tolerance and cultural diversity.
"The Giant Buddhas" is 95 minutes long, and the destruction of the statues doesn't come until about 35 minutes into the film. Frei says his work isn't about the destruction, but rather it documents the importance of these Buddhist icons and how they figure in the clash of the Western and Islamic cultures.
Frei says it is right for those outside Afghanistan to be angry about the destruction of the statues. But he argues that, in many cases, the Western reaction was to view all Muslims as being as intolerant as the Taliban.
Not Black And White
In fact, Frei says, Islam has many faces. He points to the tolerance of the residents of the Bamiyan Valley, and that of a Sufi, or Islamic mystic, who was interviewed in his film.
"The motivation for me to make a film is always to show that the world is multifaceted and not that simple, not that black and white," Frei said. "Of course, it was an act of ignorance to destroy the Buddhas, but for example in the film I have a Sufi sequence -- you know Sufism? The tolerant Islam. So you get away from the film I think with this information: OK, but it's not all about fundamentalism, in this film there's a lot of beauty."
Information Is The Key
Frei says he hopes his documentary will show audiences around the world -- especially Western audiences -- ways to break out of their cultural shells and realize that they live in a world that is less polarized than they may believe.
"It's always about information," he says. "I think the lack of information leads to preconceptions and stereotypes and ignorance, finally. And the best way to counter it is information and emotion and maybe documentary film, I don't know. I hope so."
"The Giant Buddhas" was presented on March 26 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The showing is part of the Environmental Film Festival, which features 100 productions over two weeks in various settings around the American capital.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Five years ago this month, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan blew up the two Bamiyan Buddhas -- one of them more than 50 meters tall and believed to be the world's largest representation of Buddha. The Taliban deemed the effigies offensive to Islam and carried out the destruction despite pleas from leaders around the world -- including UNESCO, the government of neighboring Pakistan and the grand mufti of Egypt. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei has produced "The Giant Buddhas," a documentary about this great cultural loss and what it says about tolerance and cultural diversity.
"The Giant Buddhas" is 95 minutes long, and the destruction of the statues doesn't come until about 35 minutes into the film. Frei says his work isn't about the destruction, but rather it documents the importance of these Buddhist icons and how they figure in the clash of the Western and Islamic cultures.
Frei says it is right for those outside Afghanistan to be angry about the destruction of the statues. But he argues that, in many cases, the Western reaction was to view all Muslims as being as intolerant as the Taliban.
Not Black And White
In fact, Frei says, Islam has many faces. He points to the tolerance of the residents of the Bamiyan Valley, and that of a Sufi, or Islamic mystic, who was interviewed in his film.
"The motivation for me to make a film is always to show that the world is multifaceted and not that simple, not that black and white," Frei said. "Of course, it was an act of ignorance to destroy the Buddhas, but for example in the film I have a Sufi sequence -- you know Sufism? The tolerant Islam. So you get away from the film I think with this information: OK, but it's not all about fundamentalism, in this film there's a lot of beauty."
Information Is The Key
Frei says he hopes his documentary will show audiences around the world -- especially Western audiences -- ways to break out of their cultural shells and realize that they live in a world that is less polarized than they may believe.
"It's always about information," he says. "I think the lack of information leads to preconceptions and stereotypes and ignorance, finally. And the best way to counter it is information and emotion and maybe documentary film, I don't know. I hope so."
"The Giant Buddhas" was presented on March 26 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The showing is part of the Environmental Film Festival, which features 100 productions over two weeks in various settings around the American capital.
Emotionally charged postcard from afar
Review by Alan Cheuse - San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Camilla Gibb is a Toronto fiction writer who originally trained in social anthropology. If her latest novel, "Sweetness in the Belly," is any evidence, her fieldwork in Ethiopia seems to have paid off in surprising ways. This engrossing book -- the story of Lilly, an English-born nurse who, after the death of her hippie parents in North Africa, is raised by a Moroccan Sufi scholar and then emigrates to Harar, Ethiopia -- seems utterly convincing and authentic.
"Each morning ... we sat in the doorway of the dark room ... and recited quietly for an hour against the rhythmic sounds of Nouria on her knees scrubbing clothes in a big metal basin. ... It was here that we began in earnest. Listen and repeat. Listen and repeat. Line by line, verse by verse, just the way the Great Abdal had taught me."
The glimpse "Sweetness in the Belly" offers into the intimate lives of Muslim women and Ethiopian life and clan and national politics is sharp and moving, an unexpected book-length postcard from a part of the world most of us have never visited.
Camilla Gibb
Sweetness in the Belly
THE PENGUIN PRESS; 352 PAGES; $23.95
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Camilla Gibb is a Toronto fiction writer who originally trained in social anthropology. If her latest novel, "Sweetness in the Belly," is any evidence, her fieldwork in Ethiopia seems to have paid off in surprising ways. This engrossing book -- the story of Lilly, an English-born nurse who, after the death of her hippie parents in North Africa, is raised by a Moroccan Sufi scholar and then emigrates to Harar, Ethiopia -- seems utterly convincing and authentic.
"Each morning ... we sat in the doorway of the dark room ... and recited quietly for an hour against the rhythmic sounds of Nouria on her knees scrubbing clothes in a big metal basin. ... It was here that we began in earnest. Listen and repeat. Listen and repeat. Line by line, verse by verse, just the way the Great Abdal had taught me."
The glimpse "Sweetness in the Belly" offers into the intimate lives of Muslim women and Ethiopian life and clan and national politics is sharp and moving, an unexpected book-length postcard from a part of the world most of us have never visited.
Camilla Gibb
Sweetness in the Belly
THE PENGUIN PRESS; 352 PAGES; $23.95
Dancing to the tune of the poet of love
By Rana Kashif - Daily Times - Pakistan
Sunday, March 26, 2006
LAHORE: The first day of Saint Mahdu Lal Hussain’s Urs, also called Mela Charaghan, was celebrated by people dancing (dhamal) to drumbeats around lit oil lamps. Around 450,000 people are expected to attend the three-day urs, the last day of which is reserved for women.
The Auqaf Department has organised a Mehfil-e-Sama and meetings to highlight various aspects of the saint’s life. Punjab Religious Affairs Minister Sahibzada Saeedul Hassan Shah inaugurated the urs on Friday, saying he was pleased with the arrangements and the government was providing maximum facilities to devotees. He said Sufis had helped promote Islam in the sub-continent and they were a source of guidance for people. Devotees honour Madhu Lal Hussain by lighting oil lamps at his shrine near Shalimar Gardens in Baghbanpura.
Several devotees could be seen dancing around a fire lit in the courtyard of the Sufi’s shrine on the first day. Some people were also singing the saint’s kafees and trying to get as close to the fire because of their belief that prayers were answered more quickly this way. Roads leading to the saint’s shrine were packed with pilgrims and food stalls.
Madhu Lal Hussain, the poet of love, was born in 1538 and his family lived outside Taxali Gate along River Ravi, which flowed near Lahore Fort at that time but some researchers differ with this view and say that the saint was born in ‘Dhadhi Village’ in Pind Dadan Khan (Jhelum). Kalsrai Rajputs, forefathers of Madhu Lal, embraced Islam in Feroze Shah Tughlaq’s reign. He started his formal education at the age of 10 when he was sent to Hafiz Abu Bakar at a mosque and some people say that Madhu Lal had memorised the Quran by heart.
Madhu Lal’s life changed when Sufi Behlol Daryai visited Lahore and met him while searching for water for ablution. Madhu Lal rushed to River Ravi and fetched water for Behlol Daryai, at which he accepted Madhu Lal as his disciple. It is also said that Madhu Lal was a Malamati, a school of Sufi thought that acts against societies’ ethical standards to make societies hate them in their effort to develop self-control.
He believed in love for humanity and his disciples included a Hindu boy Madhu, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s brother and several princes. The Hindu boy had left his family for the Sufi, who loved him so much that he put the boy’s name before his own. He was the first Punjabi Sufi whose Punjabi poetry contained words from other languages like Pothohari, Hindi, Persian and Arabic, but his poetry is extremely easy to understand. The Sufi also called himself Hussain Julaha, Hussain Namana, Hussain Faqeer and Shah Hussain in his verses. The theme of his poetry is Knowing God by Knowing Ourselves. He wrote almost 163 kafees and according to researchers, Madhu Lal was a true scholar and intellectual. Madhu Lal died in 1599 at the age of 63 and was buried in Shahdara, but his body was exhumed and buried at Baghbanpura where the Hindu boy Madhu is also buried. Madhu Lal’s famous kafees include Rabba Meray Hal Da Mehram Toon, Mein Vi Jhok Ranjhan Di Jana Nal Meray Koi Challay, Mahi Mahi Kookdi and Mandi Han Kay Changi Han Sahab Teri Bandi Han.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
LAHORE: The first day of Saint Mahdu Lal Hussain’s Urs, also called Mela Charaghan, was celebrated by people dancing (dhamal) to drumbeats around lit oil lamps. Around 450,000 people are expected to attend the three-day urs, the last day of which is reserved for women.
The Auqaf Department has organised a Mehfil-e-Sama and meetings to highlight various aspects of the saint’s life. Punjab Religious Affairs Minister Sahibzada Saeedul Hassan Shah inaugurated the urs on Friday, saying he was pleased with the arrangements and the government was providing maximum facilities to devotees. He said Sufis had helped promote Islam in the sub-continent and they were a source of guidance for people. Devotees honour Madhu Lal Hussain by lighting oil lamps at his shrine near Shalimar Gardens in Baghbanpura.
Several devotees could be seen dancing around a fire lit in the courtyard of the Sufi’s shrine on the first day. Some people were also singing the saint’s kafees and trying to get as close to the fire because of their belief that prayers were answered more quickly this way. Roads leading to the saint’s shrine were packed with pilgrims and food stalls.
Madhu Lal Hussain, the poet of love, was born in 1538 and his family lived outside Taxali Gate along River Ravi, which flowed near Lahore Fort at that time but some researchers differ with this view and say that the saint was born in ‘Dhadhi Village’ in Pind Dadan Khan (Jhelum). Kalsrai Rajputs, forefathers of Madhu Lal, embraced Islam in Feroze Shah Tughlaq’s reign. He started his formal education at the age of 10 when he was sent to Hafiz Abu Bakar at a mosque and some people say that Madhu Lal had memorised the Quran by heart.
Madhu Lal’s life changed when Sufi Behlol Daryai visited Lahore and met him while searching for water for ablution. Madhu Lal rushed to River Ravi and fetched water for Behlol Daryai, at which he accepted Madhu Lal as his disciple. It is also said that Madhu Lal was a Malamati, a school of Sufi thought that acts against societies’ ethical standards to make societies hate them in their effort to develop self-control.
He believed in love for humanity and his disciples included a Hindu boy Madhu, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s brother and several princes. The Hindu boy had left his family for the Sufi, who loved him so much that he put the boy’s name before his own. He was the first Punjabi Sufi whose Punjabi poetry contained words from other languages like Pothohari, Hindi, Persian and Arabic, but his poetry is extremely easy to understand. The Sufi also called himself Hussain Julaha, Hussain Namana, Hussain Faqeer and Shah Hussain in his verses. The theme of his poetry is Knowing God by Knowing Ourselves. He wrote almost 163 kafees and according to researchers, Madhu Lal was a true scholar and intellectual. Madhu Lal died in 1599 at the age of 63 and was buried in Shahdara, but his body was exhumed and buried at Baghbanpura where the Hindu boy Madhu is also buried. Madhu Lal’s famous kafees include Rabba Meray Hal Da Mehram Toon, Mein Vi Jhok Ranjhan Di Jana Nal Meray Koi Challay, Mahi Mahi Kookdi and Mandi Han Kay Changi Han Sahab Teri Bandi Han.
Energy and aromatherapy
By Dr. Amir Farid Isahak - The Star - Malaysia
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Aromatherapy is a holistic healing method that combines the science of essential oils with the art of listening to the body, and applying the appropriate essences to re-harmonise the imbalances. The oils can be sniffed directly, sprayed, taken as inhalation, or more usually, diffused into the air using a burner or diffuser. They can also be used as direct applications to the body, as massage oil, or incorporated into soaps, body care items and even in household sprays and insect repellents.
Because the resources (mostly flowers, herbs, seeds and spices) are readily available, aromatherapy has been practised for thousands of years. However, very little scientific study has been done until recently.
Being a medical doctor, I was very sceptical of aromatherapy. My attitude changed after learning through Sufi Healing that aromatherapy was first used by Prophet Sulaiman (King Solomon) and that some Sufi healers still use rose essential oil as the mainstay of their treatments.
The rose is a very special flower. Thousands of flowers are used to extract its essence and it remains the mainstay of Sufi essential oils.
Energy healers know that the essential oils have a very strong life-force (qi) that can influence the various energy systems in the body. Since certain plants have high levels of qi, they are more suitable to be used for healing.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Aromatherapy is a holistic healing method that combines the science of essential oils with the art of listening to the body, and applying the appropriate essences to re-harmonise the imbalances. The oils can be sniffed directly, sprayed, taken as inhalation, or more usually, diffused into the air using a burner or diffuser. They can also be used as direct applications to the body, as massage oil, or incorporated into soaps, body care items and even in household sprays and insect repellents.
Because the resources (mostly flowers, herbs, seeds and spices) are readily available, aromatherapy has been practised for thousands of years. However, very little scientific study has been done until recently.
Being a medical doctor, I was very sceptical of aromatherapy. My attitude changed after learning through Sufi Healing that aromatherapy was first used by Prophet Sulaiman (King Solomon) and that some Sufi healers still use rose essential oil as the mainstay of their treatments.
The rose is a very special flower. Thousands of flowers are used to extract its essence and it remains the mainstay of Sufi essential oils.
Energy healers know that the essential oils have a very strong life-force (qi) that can influence the various energy systems in the body. Since certain plants have high levels of qi, they are more suitable to be used for healing.
Sufi Songs at the Bardavon
By Sandy Tomcho - Times Herald-Record
Sunday, March 26, 2006
"Songs of the Sufi Brotherhood," featuring Hassan Hakmoun and Hamza el Din, will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bardavon.
Hamza el Din plays the oud (string instrument) and tar (ancient drum), and his music has appeared in such movies as the "Black Stallion" and "Passion in the Desert."
Hassan Hakmoun plays the sintir, an African bass drum.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
"Songs of the Sufi Brotherhood," featuring Hassan Hakmoun and Hamza el Din, will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bardavon.
Hamza el Din plays the oud (string instrument) and tar (ancient drum), and his music has appeared in such movies as the "Black Stallion" and "Passion in the Desert."
Hassan Hakmoun plays the sintir, an African bass drum.
Devotees stopped from performing rituals
Source: newindpress.com - Southern news- Karnataka
Saturday, March 25, 2006
CHIKMAGALUR: Karnataka Komu Sowharda Vedike leaders alleged that the district administration had restrained devotees from performing rituals as per the Sufi customs during the recently-concluded three-day Urs at the cave shrine Datta Peeta atop Bababudangiri hills.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Komu Sowharda Vedike state secretary K.L. Ashok pointed out that the district administration and State government had not permitted religious head Sha Quadri to smear sandal paste and cover tombs with new green cloth (gilf) as per the Sufi custom. K.L. Ashok complained that the Janata Dal-Secular was systematically attacking minorities with the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The administration had restricted religious performances on the pretext of court direction, he added.
Recalling that the Court had asked the district administration to allow all customs that prevailed prior to 1975, he claimed that smearing sandal paste and covering the tomb with new cloth was the custom earlier too.
Without following these rites the Urs was not complete. So Sha Quadri was forced to postpone the Urs date. Gouse Moiddin clarified that another day for the Urs would be fixed after collecting the opinion of minority community.
Komu Sowharda Vedike leader Ahobalpathi, district secretary Puttaswamy and Mahila Jagarthi leader Shantha were present.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
CHIKMAGALUR: Karnataka Komu Sowharda Vedike leaders alleged that the district administration had restrained devotees from performing rituals as per the Sufi customs during the recently-concluded three-day Urs at the cave shrine Datta Peeta atop Bababudangiri hills.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Komu Sowharda Vedike state secretary K.L. Ashok pointed out that the district administration and State government had not permitted religious head Sha Quadri to smear sandal paste and cover tombs with new green cloth (gilf) as per the Sufi custom. K.L. Ashok complained that the Janata Dal-Secular was systematically attacking minorities with the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The administration had restricted religious performances on the pretext of court direction, he added.
Recalling that the Court had asked the district administration to allow all customs that prevailed prior to 1975, he claimed that smearing sandal paste and covering the tomb with new cloth was the custom earlier too.
Without following these rites the Urs was not complete. So Sha Quadri was forced to postpone the Urs date. Gouse Moiddin clarified that another day for the Urs would be fixed after collecting the opinion of minority community.
Komu Sowharda Vedike leader Ahobalpathi, district secretary Puttaswamy and Mahila Jagarthi leader Shantha were present.
Isabelle Wen the fabric speak
By Jules Quartly, staff reporter - Taipei Times
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Unless It's Value-Added, Religion's a Non-Starter These Days
By Russ Wellen - Freezerbox
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Worshippers are no longer content to take their religion straight anymore. They need a chaser. And that chaser is oppositional defiance.
Building a denomination or congregation today requires rallying it around the forces of evil -usually more imagined than real?
In America, congregations are pitted against other segments of America; the only religions where most of the worshippers commune with a higher power as opposed to raging against sinners are the activist and monastic branches of Christianity and the meditative traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam (Sufism).
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Worshippers are no longer content to take their religion straight anymore. They need a chaser. And that chaser is oppositional defiance.
Building a denomination or congregation today requires rallying it around the forces of evil -usually more imagined than real?
In America, congregations are pitted against other segments of America; the only religions where most of the worshippers commune with a higher power as opposed to raging against sinners are the activist and monastic branches of Christianity and the meditative traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam (Sufism).
Sufism Symposium: Understanding Islam from the Sufi Perspective in San Jose, California
Press release from: IAS
Open PR - 03-23-2006
Learn about Islam at Sufism Symposium
Scholars from around the world will make presentations to promote the understanding of Islam at the International Sufism Symposium at the Hilton Hotel, 300 Almaden Boulevard, San Jose, Friday through Sunday, May 5 - 7.
The weekend will include a Sufi psychology panel presentation on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm offering CEUs for therapists. Workshops and lectures will take place on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9:00 am each day. A Saturday evening prayer gathering will include Sufi zekr. Taneen Sufi Music Ensemble will present an interfaith concert with Ya Elah, Jewish Music Ensemble, on Friday, May 5 at 8 pm.
The Sufi Women’s Organization will bring together women from many countries and the young adult program, “Voices for Justice” will hold an open meeting.
This multi-cultural celebration is sponsored by the International Association of Sufism, headquartered in Novato. The weekend is open to the public with registration available for one, two or three days. Discounts are available for students and seniors and all programs are wheelchair accessible.
Open PR - 03-23-2006
Learn about Islam at Sufism Symposium
Scholars from around the world will make presentations to promote the understanding of Islam at the International Sufism Symposium at the Hilton Hotel, 300 Almaden Boulevard, San Jose, Friday through Sunday, May 5 - 7.
The weekend will include a Sufi psychology panel presentation on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm offering CEUs for therapists. Workshops and lectures will take place on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9:00 am each day. A Saturday evening prayer gathering will include Sufi zekr. Taneen Sufi Music Ensemble will present an interfaith concert with Ya Elah, Jewish Music Ensemble, on Friday, May 5 at 8 pm.
The Sufi Women’s Organization will bring together women from many countries and the young adult program, “Voices for Justice” will hold an open meeting.
This multi-cultural celebration is sponsored by the International Association of Sufism, headquartered in Novato. The weekend is open to the public with registration available for one, two or three days. Discounts are available for students and seniors and all programs are wheelchair accessible.
Pakistani court sentences two militants to death
Bureau Report - Zeenews.com - Quetta, Pakistan
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A Pakistani court today sentenced to death two bomb-makers involved in a sectarian attack that killed 43 people at Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan a year ago, lawyers said.
While receiving life terms for their role in the attack on the shrine near Gandhawa town in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the two men were sentenced to death after being found guilty of a subsequent attempt to assemble a bomb.
The anti-terrorism court in Sibi district, where Gandhawa is located, also sentenced three other men to life in prison for the attack on the shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint.
The convicted men were all members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Pakistan Army of the companions of the prophet) militant organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a radical Sunni Muslim group which opposes Sufism, a mystical version of Islam propagated by saints. The group was banned by the government in 2002 as part of Pakistan's campaign to rein in Islamist militants.
Thousands of people had gathered at the shrine for an annual celebration when the blasts occurred.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A Pakistani court today sentenced to death two bomb-makers involved in a sectarian attack that killed 43 people at Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan a year ago, lawyers said.
While receiving life terms for their role in the attack on the shrine near Gandhawa town in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the two men were sentenced to death after being found guilty of a subsequent attempt to assemble a bomb.
The anti-terrorism court in Sibi district, where Gandhawa is located, also sentenced three other men to life in prison for the attack on the shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint.
The convicted men were all members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Pakistan Army of the companions of the prophet) militant organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a radical Sunni Muslim group which opposes Sufism, a mystical version of Islam propagated by saints. The group was banned by the government in 2002 as part of Pakistan's campaign to rein in Islamist militants.
Thousands of people had gathered at the shrine for an annual celebration when the blasts occurred.
Data’s anniversary celebrations end
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Lahore, Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The annual three-day Urs (anniversary) of Lahore’s patron saint Data Gunj Buksh’s ended on Tuesday. Poetry, music, dance and love for humanity continue.
Thousands of devotees of the renowned Sufi saint, one of the major preachers of Islam in the subcontinent, visited his shrine from all over the country and abroad. Devotees participated in events featuring Sufi poetry, folk music and dance.
The weather remained pleasant and pilgrims were given free food and milk at the shrine.
A large number of visitors shopped at Lahore’s markets and went to parks and most cheap, small hotels and inns in the city were full. Several poor visitors spent the night in the open. The event also featured a large number of beggars coming to the city not only for free food and milk but also to collect alms from thousands of visitors.
The last day of the official celebration began with recitation from the Holy Quran. People laid chadors at the shrine and did the traditional dhamaal late into the night. A number of people spent the entire day at the shrine to pray and recite the Holy Quran. Punjab Religious Affairs and Auqaf Minister Sahabzada Saeedul Hasan Shah distributed prizes among the winners of Qawwali, Qirat and Naat competitions. The ceremony ended with prayers led by Allama Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad Qadri, khateeb of the Data Sahib Jamia Mosque.
Clerics participating in seminars and gatherings stressed the importance of peace and tolerance and said Sufi saints like Data Sahib played a key role in spreading Islam in the subcontinent. Prayers were offered for national security and prosperity. The district government had already announced a local holiday on the last day of the anniversary.
Lahore, Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The annual three-day Urs (anniversary) of Lahore’s patron saint Data Gunj Buksh’s ended on Tuesday. Poetry, music, dance and love for humanity continue.
Thousands of devotees of the renowned Sufi saint, one of the major preachers of Islam in the subcontinent, visited his shrine from all over the country and abroad. Devotees participated in events featuring Sufi poetry, folk music and dance.
The weather remained pleasant and pilgrims were given free food and milk at the shrine.
A large number of visitors shopped at Lahore’s markets and went to parks and most cheap, small hotels and inns in the city were full. Several poor visitors spent the night in the open. The event also featured a large number of beggars coming to the city not only for free food and milk but also to collect alms from thousands of visitors.
The last day of the official celebration began with recitation from the Holy Quran. People laid chadors at the shrine and did the traditional dhamaal late into the night. A number of people spent the entire day at the shrine to pray and recite the Holy Quran. Punjab Religious Affairs and Auqaf Minister Sahabzada Saeedul Hasan Shah distributed prizes among the winners of Qawwali, Qirat and Naat competitions. The ceremony ended with prayers led by Allama Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad Qadri, khateeb of the Data Sahib Jamia Mosque.
Clerics participating in seminars and gatherings stressed the importance of peace and tolerance and said Sufi saints like Data Sahib played a key role in spreading Islam in the subcontinent. Prayers were offered for national security and prosperity. The district government had already announced a local holiday on the last day of the anniversary.
Poetry in every plate
By Charles Perry - Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Sufi dishes are pleasing to the eye, such as a simple lettuce salad ringed with crimson rose petals.
In November Nevin Halici published "Sufi Cuisine," a book about this mystical food tradition, which includes recipes of dishes mentioned in Rumi's poems, of other dishes referred to in a history of the Mevlevis written a century after Rumi's time, and also of more recent dishes from a 19th century collection of Sufi recipes.
A dinner party brought life life to verse: the dishes that were appreciated most were the ones most closely drawn from the poetry: sour spinach and sweet spinach. These closely related one-bowl entrees combine, in the case of the former, spinach, lamb, bulgur and pomegranate molasses. The latter has garbanzos rather than bulgur and the sweeter pekmez rather than pomegranate molasses.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Sufi dishes are pleasing to the eye, such as a simple lettuce salad ringed with crimson rose petals.
In November Nevin Halici published "Sufi Cuisine," a book about this mystical food tradition, which includes recipes of dishes mentioned in Rumi's poems, of other dishes referred to in a history of the Mevlevis written a century after Rumi's time, and also of more recent dishes from a 19th century collection of Sufi recipes.
A dinner party brought life life to verse: the dishes that were appreciated most were the ones most closely drawn from the poetry: sour spinach and sweet spinach. These closely related one-bowl entrees combine, in the case of the former, spinach, lamb, bulgur and pomegranate molasses. The latter has garbanzos rather than bulgur and the sweeter pekmez rather than pomegranate molasses.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Composite culture: India’s mainstay
By Murali Krishna - Deccan Herald - India
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Composite culture has been the mainstay of our society for ages. Experts point out that this is our unity’s raison d’etre. This has made modern India a model nation. While some countries have suffered from the process of balkanization, India has remained on a strong edifice. Of course, before India became a nation-state, partition took place. But that was the result of divisive communal politics that ripped apart our polity, leaving deep scars. Even after this, India's composite culture remained largely intact. A foray into the making of this composite culture reveals its fascinating facets.
Scholars opine that composite culture took a definite and clear shape between 12th and 16th century AD. During this period, there was amalgamation of the Indian, Iranian and Arabian heritages. They represented Hinduism, Zorastrianism and Islam religions and philosophies respectively.
The intermingling of Hindu and Islamic religious beliefs gave rise to Sufism. Sufi saints and poets effectively established a bond among common people of both these communities. They were held in high esteem. Kabir, Sheikh Salim Chisti, Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj-Shakkar, Hazrat Nizam-ud din Auliya are some of the outstanding sufi saints of this period.
The Bhakti movement also endeared itself to large sections of people by questioning some of the obnoxious practices and beliefs prevailing in the society. Down south, the Adil Shahi sultans who ruled from Bijapur did not practice religious bigotry. Many Hindus held high posts in their courts. Ibrahim Adil Shah II was called ‘Jagadguru'. He was a connoisseur of the arts, sculpture, music and culture. Kitab-e-Nauras one of his works on music has hymns in praise of Saraswati and Ganesh. In Karnataka, there are many shrines which signify the religious amity between Hindus and Muslims. Shirahatti’s Fakiraswamy and Bababudan Giri shrines among many and most of the darghas attract devotees of both these communities in good numbers.
Raja Rammohan Roy, the social reformer of the 19th century, had deep knowledge of both Hindu and Islamic scriptures. In addition, he was attracted by Christian charity and European rationalism. The national liberation struggle also had ingredients of composite culture. Many people of various communities rallied around and participated in large numbers braving many odds.
In recent times, concerted efforts were made to topple this edifice of composite culture. They were represented by forces of communalism and fundamentalism. Throwing proper historical analysis to the wind, they distorted facts and incited communal passions for their nefarious interests. We need not see far to know the plight of people in such a state. It is necessary for progressive people to close ranks and combat forces opposed to composite culture. Only then, can our fledgling democracy hope to survive.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Composite culture has been the mainstay of our society for ages. Experts point out that this is our unity’s raison d’etre. This has made modern India a model nation. While some countries have suffered from the process of balkanization, India has remained on a strong edifice. Of course, before India became a nation-state, partition took place. But that was the result of divisive communal politics that ripped apart our polity, leaving deep scars. Even after this, India's composite culture remained largely intact. A foray into the making of this composite culture reveals its fascinating facets.
Scholars opine that composite culture took a definite and clear shape between 12th and 16th century AD. During this period, there was amalgamation of the Indian, Iranian and Arabian heritages. They represented Hinduism, Zorastrianism and Islam religions and philosophies respectively.
The intermingling of Hindu and Islamic religious beliefs gave rise to Sufism. Sufi saints and poets effectively established a bond among common people of both these communities. They were held in high esteem. Kabir, Sheikh Salim Chisti, Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj-Shakkar, Hazrat Nizam-ud din Auliya are some of the outstanding sufi saints of this period.
The Bhakti movement also endeared itself to large sections of people by questioning some of the obnoxious practices and beliefs prevailing in the society. Down south, the Adil Shahi sultans who ruled from Bijapur did not practice religious bigotry. Many Hindus held high posts in their courts. Ibrahim Adil Shah II was called ‘Jagadguru'. He was a connoisseur of the arts, sculpture, music and culture. Kitab-e-Nauras one of his works on music has hymns in praise of Saraswati and Ganesh. In Karnataka, there are many shrines which signify the religious amity between Hindus and Muslims. Shirahatti’s Fakiraswamy and Bababudan Giri shrines among many and most of the darghas attract devotees of both these communities in good numbers.
Raja Rammohan Roy, the social reformer of the 19th century, had deep knowledge of both Hindu and Islamic scriptures. In addition, he was attracted by Christian charity and European rationalism. The national liberation struggle also had ingredients of composite culture. Many people of various communities rallied around and participated in large numbers braving many odds.
In recent times, concerted efforts were made to topple this edifice of composite culture. They were represented by forces of communalism and fundamentalism. Throwing proper historical analysis to the wind, they distorted facts and incited communal passions for their nefarious interests. We need not see far to know the plight of people in such a state. It is necessary for progressive people to close ranks and combat forces opposed to composite culture. Only then, can our fledgling democracy hope to survive.
Kailash Kher singer on his debut album
By Mona Ramavat - The Times of India - Straight Answers
Hyderabad, Sunday, 19 March, 2006
'Popularity is a rather relative term'
Kailash Kehr, your first album is out finally. Will the title track Teri diwani become as popular as your Allah ke bande?
To begin with, popularity is a rather relative term. Allah ke bande was a different product with its own message and Teri diwani is unique in its own way.
You can't really compare the two. All I can say is that the latter is an experimental blend of a tune that will stay in one's mind for a long time and a treatment that will more than satisfy one's aesthetic needs.
Why did you choose Hyderabad to shoot the video?
Hyderabad is a beautiful city wrapped in an aura of the past. My music is tinged with some distinct old-time flavours and a Sufi style. Therefore, there couldn't have been locales better than the Charminar, the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the Tank Bund to shoot them at.
They have added immense value to the song. I am really looking forward to doing more such projects in Hyderabad...
What do you have to say about the growing popularity of the Sufi touch in Indian film and pop music?
Sufism is all about seeing love and romance at a level that is nothing less than divine. Its lyrics and rendition are such that they will make the audience feel spiritually connected to everything around them.
People are finding this genre of music quite appealing and music directors are adapting it to suit the popular Indian taste. I feel that experimental Sufi styles will go a long way.
Tell something about the projects you have lined up for the future?
For the present album, I worked with a band of two artistes, Paresh and Naresh, and plan to work on my next project with them again. It will be distinctly different from the present one.
Hyderabad, Sunday, 19 March, 2006
'Popularity is a rather relative term'
Kailash Kehr, your first album is out finally. Will the title track Teri diwani become as popular as your Allah ke bande?
To begin with, popularity is a rather relative term. Allah ke bande was a different product with its own message and Teri diwani is unique in its own way.
You can't really compare the two. All I can say is that the latter is an experimental blend of a tune that will stay in one's mind for a long time and a treatment that will more than satisfy one's aesthetic needs.
Why did you choose Hyderabad to shoot the video?
Hyderabad is a beautiful city wrapped in an aura of the past. My music is tinged with some distinct old-time flavours and a Sufi style. Therefore, there couldn't have been locales better than the Charminar, the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the Tank Bund to shoot them at.
They have added immense value to the song. I am really looking forward to doing more such projects in Hyderabad...
What do you have to say about the growing popularity of the Sufi touch in Indian film and pop music?
Sufism is all about seeing love and romance at a level that is nothing less than divine. Its lyrics and rendition are such that they will make the audience feel spiritually connected to everything around them.
People are finding this genre of music quite appealing and music directors are adapting it to suit the popular Indian taste. I feel that experimental Sufi styles will go a long way.
Tell something about the projects you have lined up for the future?
For the present album, I worked with a band of two artistes, Paresh and Naresh, and plan to work on my next project with them again. It will be distinctly different from the present one.
Exploring various dimensions of Sufism
By Mandira Nayar - The Hindu
Friday, Mar 17, 2006
After the Capital's annual date with Sufi music -- the newest genre of music to become fashionable -- at Jahan-e-Khusro, it is time to move to more serious aspects of the music: the philosophy. Getting to the heart of the matter, it will give people a perspective on the music.
Celebrating the strong bonds of Sufism is the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature. Bringing together the inheritors and followers of this tradition to debate the philosophical issues at a conference, the Foundation hopes to be able to not only focus on mysticism and Sufism, but also highlight the composite culture of this region.
Titled "Sufi Traditions, Poetry and Philosophy'', the conference is a first ever, non-governmental initiative to explore various dimensions of Sufism. This three-day conference aims to strengthen dialogue between boundaries and people.
Besides looking at the historical perspective of the issue from the influence of the Bhakti movement, the conference also seeks to define the futuristic vision of Sufism. Widening the debate to include countries traditionally not in the Sufism "loop" there will be eminent scholars from France, the United States, Britain, Canada and Italy. There will also be scholars from Iran, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
Like all great debates and deliberations, the conference will be held at in the Capital's intellectual hub -- the India International Centre. Beginning March 18, there will be special guests like, former Prime Minister V.P Singh, Omar Khiladi and Adib Hussain.
While the conference aims to give people a chance to get to know the philosophy involved in Sufism, there is an opportunity to enjoy the music too with a performance of Sufi music by Shanti Hiranand on the first day.
Friday, Mar 17, 2006
After the Capital's annual date with Sufi music -- the newest genre of music to become fashionable -- at Jahan-e-Khusro, it is time to move to more serious aspects of the music: the philosophy. Getting to the heart of the matter, it will give people a perspective on the music.
Celebrating the strong bonds of Sufism is the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature. Bringing together the inheritors and followers of this tradition to debate the philosophical issues at a conference, the Foundation hopes to be able to not only focus on mysticism and Sufism, but also highlight the composite culture of this region.
Titled "Sufi Traditions, Poetry and Philosophy'', the conference is a first ever, non-governmental initiative to explore various dimensions of Sufism. This three-day conference aims to strengthen dialogue between boundaries and people.
Besides looking at the historical perspective of the issue from the influence of the Bhakti movement, the conference also seeks to define the futuristic vision of Sufism. Widening the debate to include countries traditionally not in the Sufism "loop" there will be eminent scholars from France, the United States, Britain, Canada and Italy. There will also be scholars from Iran, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
Like all great debates and deliberations, the conference will be held at in the Capital's intellectual hub -- the India International Centre. Beginning March 18, there will be special guests like, former Prime Minister V.P Singh, Omar Khiladi and Adib Hussain.
While the conference aims to give people a chance to get to know the philosophy involved in Sufism, there is an opportunity to enjoy the music too with a performance of Sufi music by Shanti Hiranand on the first day.
Chico, ex-goat herder, first Arab to top charts
By Talal Malik - Reuters - London, 16/03/2006
(Additional reporting by Omar Younis)
A former goat herder has sold twice as many records as Madonna in recent weeks, to become the first Arab to top the British pop singles chart since records began 44 years ago.
"Mashallah - it’s beyond dreams. To know that I’m the first Arab to do that, it’s a very proud moment," Chico told Reuters in an interview. His debut single, "It’s Chico Time", is enjoying its second week in the top spot.
Chico was raised in Morocco by his grandparents until the age of 13. During his childhood he worked as a goat herder before leaving for Britain. "I lived with my grandparents in Aroubia, in the mountains, and was a goat herder. What a life - I was brought up on a thousand-year tradition."
As well as pop music success, Chico and Madonna share an interest in mysticism -- Chico became a Sufi disciple 16 months ago and Madonna’s devotion to the Jewish school of mysticism, Kabbalah, is well-known.
The pop star says his new-found fame was the result of mentoring from Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi, an 83-year old Sufi mystic living in northern Cyprus. "Until I met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, my whole life was in the wilderness, I was like a moth wondering aimlessly, waiting to be reunited with the Divine Ocean," he said.
To avoid being cast as a "one-hit wonder" like many of his talent-show peers, Chico -- the first Arab at the top spot on the Official UK charts for at least four decades -- said he will release an album with a Middle Eastern flavour.
Prior to becoming a singer, Chico and his brother also produced a short film which gained a British Film and Television Academy Award (BAFTA) nomination, and still harbours ambitions to make films.
"Ultimately, I would like to make spiritual films, such as about the Prophet Mohammed, his companions and people like the Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Whatever I’m going to be doing, it’s going to be spiritually involved."
It is an ambitious leap from "It’s Chico Time", which features the chorus: "Well, you can get delirious, if you take life too serious."
(Additional reporting by Omar Younis)
A former goat herder has sold twice as many records as Madonna in recent weeks, to become the first Arab to top the British pop singles chart since records began 44 years ago.
"Mashallah - it’s beyond dreams. To know that I’m the first Arab to do that, it’s a very proud moment," Chico told Reuters in an interview. His debut single, "It’s Chico Time", is enjoying its second week in the top spot.
Chico was raised in Morocco by his grandparents until the age of 13. During his childhood he worked as a goat herder before leaving for Britain. "I lived with my grandparents in Aroubia, in the mountains, and was a goat herder. What a life - I was brought up on a thousand-year tradition."
As well as pop music success, Chico and Madonna share an interest in mysticism -- Chico became a Sufi disciple 16 months ago and Madonna’s devotion to the Jewish school of mysticism, Kabbalah, is well-known.
The pop star says his new-found fame was the result of mentoring from Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi, an 83-year old Sufi mystic living in northern Cyprus. "Until I met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, my whole life was in the wilderness, I was like a moth wondering aimlessly, waiting to be reunited with the Divine Ocean," he said.
To avoid being cast as a "one-hit wonder" like many of his talent-show peers, Chico -- the first Arab at the top spot on the Official UK charts for at least four decades -- said he will release an album with a Middle Eastern flavour.
Prior to becoming a singer, Chico and his brother also produced a short film which gained a British Film and Television Academy Award (BAFTA) nomination, and still harbours ambitions to make films.
"Ultimately, I would like to make spiritual films, such as about the Prophet Mohammed, his companions and people like the Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Whatever I’m going to be doing, it’s going to be spiritually involved."
It is an ambitious leap from "It’s Chico Time", which features the chorus: "Well, you can get delirious, if you take life too serious."
Ahmed Nadalian, an artist with a unique perspective
By Ershad Kamol - The Daily Star - Bangladesh
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Exhibiting at the 12th Asian Art Biennial is an 'interactive multimedia' display, titled Paradise by Iranian artist Ahmed Nadalian. Artist, art critic, teacher, philosopher -- Nadalian's career makes fascinating reading.
After representing his country Iran in the last Venice biennial, he rose to fame. Since then, through his work Nadalian has communicated themes that he believes are fundamental for humanity: respect for the environment, new technologies and freedom of expression, blending of tradition and contemporary art forms, natural disasters, the vulnerability of humankind and the global issue of terrorism.
In his work Paradise, a viewer can visualise the composition of the flora and fauna of an imaginary heavenly atmosphere on digital system. To quote Nadalian, "Paradise presents the ideal state of the earth. I'm a believer of Sufism. I believe that the essence of Allah can be found in the beauty and harmony of man and nature. And my display represents the theme."
During his short visit to Dhaka, Nadalian has carved a few stones at Shilpakala Academy and later he has dropped them in a pond at Sonargaon, to preserve them in the midst of nature. Nadalian says, "Creative people incorporate elements from nature, while my approach is to enrich nature. This motivated me to carve stones and later hide or bury those in the midst of nature."
"I leave my contact numbers and website address (www.riverart.net) on these stones, yet have no inclination to disclose their exact whereabouts. What I intend is for the spectator searching for the artwork to perhaps discover something more valuable than my stones in nature. I consider myself a partner in the spectator's findings."
Film Fest's Coming Attraction: a Sufi Evening
By Sarah Phelan - MetroActive
March 15, 2006
Fifth annual Santa Cruz Film Festival
Rumi With a View: Filmmaker Tina Petrova's documentary on the mystic poet will be part of a March 24 Sufi celebration at the Rio.
Why did Canadian filmmaker Tina Petrova, who was brought up Roman Catholic and became a Tibetan Buddhist, make a documentary about Muslim mystic Rumi, a man born in Afghanistan at the time of Genghis Khan and whose astonishingly modern poetry continues to outsell Shakespeare, 9/11 notwithstanding?
The answer begins in the Mojave Desert, which is where Petrova was chanting a mantra while driving a mountain road when her car hit black ice in 1997. This confluence of events sent her hurtling off a 6,000-foot cliff--and toward the making of Rumi--Turning Ecstatic. The documentary, which weaves her personal journey into a planetary excursion, screens at the Rio Theatre on May 24 as part of an evening of Sufi music, film, poetry and dance.
Trapped upside-down in her seat belt, her ribs broken, Petrova, who was afraid her gas tank would explode, used her yoga skills to go into a full lotus position from which she was able to crawl through the spiderweb of glass that was once her car's windshield. Though she escaped with her life, rebirth was not easy. In a body brace and suffering pain so debilitating that she could not work, Petrova despairingly did a novena to the Virgin Mary on Dec. 23, 1998.
"That night, Rumi came to me in a dream and told me to bring together a group of world-class performers and create a live event," says Petrova of the odyssey that led her to world-renowned Rumi translator Coleman Barks and, from there, to a successful event in Toronto which Canada's Vision TV urged her to make into a documentary about Rumi and Sufism.
"They saw my personal story as a doorway into Sufism, they told me it was what made it accessible," recalls Petrova, who uses her personal experience as a portal into the poetry of Rumi, the ecstasy of Sufism and the oneness of God.
Along the way, Petrova met many Sufi luminaries, including the Santa Cruz-based Kabir Helminski, who directs the Threshold Society, which works to apply Sufi principles to modern life. On March 24, when Petrova's film screens, Helminski will direct a live performance by Baranka, a Sufi music ensemble, featuring Sonia Drakulic and Gari Haggedus, Hamed Nikpay, Daud Jerrahi and some of the Whirling Dervishes of the Threshold Society.
March 15, 2006
Fifth annual Santa Cruz Film Festival
Rumi With a View: Filmmaker Tina Petrova's documentary on the mystic poet will be part of a March 24 Sufi celebration at the Rio.
Why did Canadian filmmaker Tina Petrova, who was brought up Roman Catholic and became a Tibetan Buddhist, make a documentary about Muslim mystic Rumi, a man born in Afghanistan at the time of Genghis Khan and whose astonishingly modern poetry continues to outsell Shakespeare, 9/11 notwithstanding?
The answer begins in the Mojave Desert, which is where Petrova was chanting a mantra while driving a mountain road when her car hit black ice in 1997. This confluence of events sent her hurtling off a 6,000-foot cliff--and toward the making of Rumi--Turning Ecstatic. The documentary, which weaves her personal journey into a planetary excursion, screens at the Rio Theatre on May 24 as part of an evening of Sufi music, film, poetry and dance.
Trapped upside-down in her seat belt, her ribs broken, Petrova, who was afraid her gas tank would explode, used her yoga skills to go into a full lotus position from which she was able to crawl through the spiderweb of glass that was once her car's windshield. Though she escaped with her life, rebirth was not easy. In a body brace and suffering pain so debilitating that she could not work, Petrova despairingly did a novena to the Virgin Mary on Dec. 23, 1998.
"That night, Rumi came to me in a dream and told me to bring together a group of world-class performers and create a live event," says Petrova of the odyssey that led her to world-renowned Rumi translator Coleman Barks and, from there, to a successful event in Toronto which Canada's Vision TV urged her to make into a documentary about Rumi and Sufism.
"They saw my personal story as a doorway into Sufism, they told me it was what made it accessible," recalls Petrova, who uses her personal experience as a portal into the poetry of Rumi, the ecstasy of Sufism and the oneness of God.
Along the way, Petrova met many Sufi luminaries, including the Santa Cruz-based Kabir Helminski, who directs the Threshold Society, which works to apply Sufi principles to modern life. On March 24, when Petrova's film screens, Helminski will direct a live performance by Baranka, a Sufi music ensemble, featuring Sonia Drakulic and Gari Haggedus, Hamed Nikpay, Daud Jerrahi and some of the Whirling Dervishes of the Threshold Society.
Call Of The Mystic from Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor
OpenPR - Amsterdam - 03-14-2006
Imagine this: 35º celsius, a warm breeze, the fragrance of the ocean … voices of people singing together – enjoying life as it is … they sing, chant, laugh and dance ‘till they drop! Who are these people?
Call them Sufi’s – and Bahramji is one of their number. He plays a magical instrument, the Persian Santoor, which – the Sufi’s say, creates the sound of emptiness. In addition, he is a fine singer, a channel for the divine … and a great cook!
Based in the urban jungle of Amsterdam, Maneesh de Moor is musician and producer, who specializes in the crossover between the ethnic and the ambient – the traditional and the contemporary … a magician, who brings the past into the present.
Different roots, but meeting in the same bliss, keyboard-wiz Maneesh and Sufi mystic Bahramji jump together into the studio and created for us this most precious music. Made in deep respect for each other’s amazing talents, from the heart, with no compromise. The lyrics are based on Rumi’s and other mystical poetry and the tracks carry an urban vibe rooted in meditation.
Call Of The Mystic - Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor
Tracklist: 01 Crazy Heart 7:13 // 02 Watch the Cat 9:24 // 03 La Illaha feat. Sudha 7:18 // 04 Moment With You 6:26 // 05 Dreamcatcher 7:54 // 06 Arambol Connection 1:41 // 07 Return of the Nightingale 11:03 /// Total Time: 50:20
BLUE FLAME Records
Zila Khan pays tribute to her father
NDTVmusic.com - New Delhi - India
Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
On Monday evening, Sufi singer Zila Khan brought together some musical moments to pay a tribute to her father, sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan in the Capital.
“I feel honoured to be the daughter of a legendary person like my father and it’s a privilege to organize this evening,” said Zila Khan.
The rendition by Ustad Shahid Pervez on the sitar was followed by a documentary on Ustad Vilayat Khan's life and contribution to music.
With an impromptu vocal recital by Zila Khan, it was an evening to remember.
Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
On Monday evening, Sufi singer Zila Khan brought together some musical moments to pay a tribute to her father, sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan in the Capital.
“I feel honoured to be the daughter of a legendary person like my father and it’s a privilege to organize this evening,” said Zila Khan.
The rendition by Ustad Shahid Pervez on the sitar was followed by a documentary on Ustad Vilayat Khan's life and contribution to music.
With an impromptu vocal recital by Zila Khan, it was an evening to remember.
From Green Beret to Peace Activist: William T. Hathaway and His Books
By Daniela Rommel - Countercurrents.org
Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
"It took me years to overcome the warrior indoctrination I got in the Special Forces. It was very deeply ingrained. What finally brought me out of it was meditation and my wife's persistent love," says author William T. Hathaway. "Now I look back and ask, How could I have fallen for that military nonsense?"
A Special Forces combat veteran, Hathaway has answered that question in two novels about what attracts men to war and how they can be healed of the pathology of patriarchal machismo. His first novel, A WORLD OF HURT, won a Rinehart Foundation Award for its portrayal of the blocked sexuality and the need for paternal approval that draw men to the military.
"I was trying to uncover the psychological roots of war, the forces that so persistently drive our species to slaughter," says Hathaway. "Our culture has degraded masculinity into a deadly toxin. It's poisoned us all. Men have to confront this part of themselves before men and women together can heal it."
He is active in a group offering support and shelter to soldiers who have refused to be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. "The real heroes in the military are the deserters," says Hathaway. He wrote the introduction to AMERICA SPEAKS OUT: Collected Essays from Dissident Writers and has published numerous shorter pieces, including "Sedition, Subversion, Sabotage" in CounterCurrents.
His writing won him a Fulbright professorship at universities in Germany, where he currently lives.
Hathaway sees spirituality as an essential component of a more peaceful world. "My military experience convinced me that to prevent war we need to raise human consciousness. A look at the history of revolutions shows that switching economic and political systems isn't enough. The same aggressive personality types take over and start another army. We have to change the basic unit, the individual.
"Many of my leftist colleagues ignore this because they see the individual as the product of social and material forces. But I think the human heart is deeper than that and can be changed.
"I've found Eastern meditation to be the most effective way to change people. Unlike prayer, it works on the physiological level, altering the brain waves and metabolism. It refines the nervous system and expands the awareness so that the unity of all human beings becomes a living reality, not just an idealistic concept.
After a while of meditation people stop wanting to consume things that increase aggression, such as meat, alcohol, and violent entertainment. They become more peaceful."
Hathaway's just-released novel, SUMMER SNOW, approaches peace from this meditative perspective. It is set amidst the war on terrorism as an American warrior falls in love with a Sufi Muslim and learns from her an alternative to the military mentality.
While Special Forces battle al-Qaeda, the escalating violence threatens their future together and the lives of thousands in her country. To save them, she shows him an ancient transcendental way to bring peace to the collective consciousness and prevent terrorism. But can they make it work in time?
The book's wisdom figure is a Sufi crone, the warrior's lover's teacher, who has survived by outsmarting male political and religious hierarchies. "This bin Laden, this Bush, all these leading men, they have highjacked us all with their violence," she states. "They have turned the whole world into their suicide airplane. These men are too primitive to have such power. Too ignorant of the underlying reality. We must stop them. We must take the boys' toys away from them...these terrible weapons."
How she does that becomes the climax of the novel.
The book's theme is that higher consciousness is more effective than violence and that women may be more able than men to lead us there.
Hathaway spent a year and a half in Central Asia researching and writing SUMMER SNOW. The first chapter is on the publisher's website, http://www.avatarpublication.com/books/?id=13
By overcoming his Special Forces indoctrination, William T. Hathaway became a defector from the warrior corps and an opponent of militarism. His books shine light into our civilization's heart of darkness and show us ways out of the violence.
Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
"It took me years to overcome the warrior indoctrination I got in the Special Forces. It was very deeply ingrained. What finally brought me out of it was meditation and my wife's persistent love," says author William T. Hathaway. "Now I look back and ask, How could I have fallen for that military nonsense?"
A Special Forces combat veteran, Hathaway has answered that question in two novels about what attracts men to war and how they can be healed of the pathology of patriarchal machismo. His first novel, A WORLD OF HURT, won a Rinehart Foundation Award for its portrayal of the blocked sexuality and the need for paternal approval that draw men to the military.
"I was trying to uncover the psychological roots of war, the forces that so persistently drive our species to slaughter," says Hathaway. "Our culture has degraded masculinity into a deadly toxin. It's poisoned us all. Men have to confront this part of themselves before men and women together can heal it."
He is active in a group offering support and shelter to soldiers who have refused to be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. "The real heroes in the military are the deserters," says Hathaway. He wrote the introduction to AMERICA SPEAKS OUT: Collected Essays from Dissident Writers and has published numerous shorter pieces, including "Sedition, Subversion, Sabotage" in CounterCurrents.
His writing won him a Fulbright professorship at universities in Germany, where he currently lives.
Hathaway sees spirituality as an essential component of a more peaceful world. "My military experience convinced me that to prevent war we need to raise human consciousness. A look at the history of revolutions shows that switching economic and political systems isn't enough. The same aggressive personality types take over and start another army. We have to change the basic unit, the individual.
"Many of my leftist colleagues ignore this because they see the individual as the product of social and material forces. But I think the human heart is deeper than that and can be changed.
"I've found Eastern meditation to be the most effective way to change people. Unlike prayer, it works on the physiological level, altering the brain waves and metabolism. It refines the nervous system and expands the awareness so that the unity of all human beings becomes a living reality, not just an idealistic concept.
After a while of meditation people stop wanting to consume things that increase aggression, such as meat, alcohol, and violent entertainment. They become more peaceful."
Hathaway's just-released novel, SUMMER SNOW, approaches peace from this meditative perspective. It is set amidst the war on terrorism as an American warrior falls in love with a Sufi Muslim and learns from her an alternative to the military mentality.
While Special Forces battle al-Qaeda, the escalating violence threatens their future together and the lives of thousands in her country. To save them, she shows him an ancient transcendental way to bring peace to the collective consciousness and prevent terrorism. But can they make it work in time?
The book's wisdom figure is a Sufi crone, the warrior's lover's teacher, who has survived by outsmarting male political and religious hierarchies. "This bin Laden, this Bush, all these leading men, they have highjacked us all with their violence," she states. "They have turned the whole world into their suicide airplane. These men are too primitive to have such power. Too ignorant of the underlying reality. We must stop them. We must take the boys' toys away from them...these terrible weapons."
How she does that becomes the climax of the novel.
The book's theme is that higher consciousness is more effective than violence and that women may be more able than men to lead us there.
Hathaway spent a year and a half in Central Asia researching and writing SUMMER SNOW. The first chapter is on the publisher's website, http://www.avatarpublication.com/books/?id=13
By overcoming his Special Forces indoctrination, William T. Hathaway became a defector from the warrior corps and an opponent of militarism. His books shine light into our civilization's heart of darkness and show us ways out of the violence.
Contours of a new terror matrix
By Wilson John - The Pioneer - India
March 14, 2006, New Delhi
The stage is set for a new terrorist confederation with the sole agenda of wreaking havoc across the heartland of India in the months to come. Ignorance or indifference to the clear signs of such an alliance - visible from Bangalore to Delhi, via Ayodhya, Nalgonda, Mulund and Varanasi - would prove suicidal for India.
One of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), operating in Pakistan almost freely with the blessings of the Pakistan state, especially the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, has been re-activated at several locations in India.
LeT is the only terrorist organisation in Pakistan that has been allowed to expand its network, recruit and gather funds, despite a worldwide ban. It works under the cover of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, its parent organisation, which claims to be a charitable and educational organisation committed to bring about an Islamic revolution by teaching and training students in the Islamic way of life, while imparting in them the spirit and content of modern, scientific education.
LeT's first forays into India began after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, recruiting its first set of terror soldiers, Jalees Ansari, Azzam Ghauri and Abdul Karim Tunda, etc. Operational bases were set up in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, exploiting the widespread rage among Muslims in the wake of the demolition. The group exploits two sets of local support to execute its operations - the ISI assets and its ideological association with Ahl-e-Hadis, an Islamic school of thought, which emerged in India following the downfall of the Mughal empire with the objective of restoring Islam to its prior glory and power.
Hadis advocated return to the scriptures and called for purifying the religion of its external influences, like Hinduism and even Sufism. It was the followers of Hadis founding father, Shah Walilullah of Delhi, who launched their first jihad against Sikhs, and subsequently against the British, before being crushed by the British in 1857.
March 14, 2006, New Delhi
The stage is set for a new terrorist confederation with the sole agenda of wreaking havoc across the heartland of India in the months to come. Ignorance or indifference to the clear signs of such an alliance - visible from Bangalore to Delhi, via Ayodhya, Nalgonda, Mulund and Varanasi - would prove suicidal for India.
One of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), operating in Pakistan almost freely with the blessings of the Pakistan state, especially the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, has been re-activated at several locations in India.
LeT is the only terrorist organisation in Pakistan that has been allowed to expand its network, recruit and gather funds, despite a worldwide ban. It works under the cover of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, its parent organisation, which claims to be a charitable and educational organisation committed to bring about an Islamic revolution by teaching and training students in the Islamic way of life, while imparting in them the spirit and content of modern, scientific education.
LeT's first forays into India began after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, recruiting its first set of terror soldiers, Jalees Ansari, Azzam Ghauri and Abdul Karim Tunda, etc. Operational bases were set up in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, exploiting the widespread rage among Muslims in the wake of the demolition. The group exploits two sets of local support to execute its operations - the ISI assets and its ideological association with Ahl-e-Hadis, an Islamic school of thought, which emerged in India following the downfall of the Mughal empire with the objective of restoring Islam to its prior glory and power.
Hadis advocated return to the scriptures and called for purifying the religion of its external influences, like Hinduism and even Sufism. It was the followers of Hadis founding father, Shah Walilullah of Delhi, who launched their first jihad against Sikhs, and subsequently against the British, before being crushed by the British in 1857.
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Syria witnesses Islamist revival
By Kim Ghattas - BBC News, Damascus
Wednesday, 22 February 2006
For centuries, the traditional sound of Islam coming from the northern Syrian town of Aleppo, has been the rhythmical chanting of the word "Allah", as men young and old rock back and forth in a small room in the back of a house.
Beating their drums, chanting faster and faster, the men hope to achieve a trance that will bring them closer to God in the traditions of the mystical or Sufi Islam.
The musical capital of the Arab world in many ways, Aleppo's song and dance have been heavily influenced by Sufism.
But today, it is mostly a very austere call to prayer that can be heard around the city as a growing number of women adopt the full Islamic cover, hiding their hands and faces behind back cloth.
Religion is making a comeback in Syria, where people feel the state's socialist and pan-Arab ideologies have failed for the last four decades.
"We have a phenomenon of radicalisation taking place in schools and university," said Salam Kawakibi, a political analyst in Aleppo.
After ruthlessly crushing a Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in 1982, the Syrian government has found it is unable to contain the rise of religion.
So instead, the authorities have decided to go with the trend and co-opt the symbols of Islam.
"After the clashes of 1980, the state tried to create an official Islam. They encouraged the building of mosques and the creation of religious schools. They think it is a way to control society," Mr Kawakibi said.
Muhammad Habash, the only Islamist MP in the Syrian parliament, says the Baath party has not allowed the emergence of any real Islamist leaders, but pressure is growing.
"Personally, I don't see the need for Islamist parties and I don't think there will be an Islamic state in Syria if there is full democracy," Mr Habash said.
"But conservative Islamists have the right to ask for Islamist parties."
And while the Syrian government thinks it can maintain control over the increasing religious trend, many analysts now believe the Islamists could outsmart the state.
Read More
Wednesday, 22 February 2006
For centuries, the traditional sound of Islam coming from the northern Syrian town of Aleppo, has been the rhythmical chanting of the word "Allah", as men young and old rock back and forth in a small room in the back of a house.
Beating their drums, chanting faster and faster, the men hope to achieve a trance that will bring them closer to God in the traditions of the mystical or Sufi Islam.
The musical capital of the Arab world in many ways, Aleppo's song and dance have been heavily influenced by Sufism.
But today, it is mostly a very austere call to prayer that can be heard around the city as a growing number of women adopt the full Islamic cover, hiding their hands and faces behind back cloth.
Religion is making a comeback in Syria, where people feel the state's socialist and pan-Arab ideologies have failed for the last four decades.
"We have a phenomenon of radicalisation taking place in schools and university," said Salam Kawakibi, a political analyst in Aleppo.
After ruthlessly crushing a Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in 1982, the Syrian government has found it is unable to contain the rise of religion.
So instead, the authorities have decided to go with the trend and co-opt the symbols of Islam.
"After the clashes of 1980, the state tried to create an official Islam. They encouraged the building of mosques and the creation of religious schools. They think it is a way to control society," Mr Kawakibi said.
Muhammad Habash, the only Islamist MP in the Syrian parliament, says the Baath party has not allowed the emergence of any real Islamist leaders, but pressure is growing.
"Personally, I don't see the need for Islamist parties and I don't think there will be an Islamic state in Syria if there is full democracy," Mr Habash said.
"But conservative Islamists have the right to ask for Islamist parties."
And while the Syrian government thinks it can maintain control over the increasing religious trend, many analysts now believe the Islamists could outsmart the state.
Iranian reformist speaks out against sectarian violence
By Gareth Smyth in Tehran - Financial Times
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Mehdi Karrubi, Iran’s former parliamentary speaker and a veteran of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has criticised Shia Muslim radicals who last week destroyed a religious building belonging to Islamic mystics in the holy city of Qom.
His comments – prominent in reformist newspapers – reflect concern about Shia militants stirring conflict as Iran’s fundamentalist president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, tries to radicalise Islam at home and abroad, and as Sunni militants provoke sectarian violence in neighbouring Iraq with attacks like Wednesday’s on the Askariyeh holy Shia shrine in Samarra.
Mr Karrubi was responding to violence in Qom last week when radicals destroyed a meeting house used by Sufis, an Islamic order viewed with suspicion by some Shia.
The clashes – which led to hundreds of arrests and the use of tear gas by police – arose from a four-year dispute over ownership of the building, where Sufis practised religious rites.
The governor-general of Qom told Jomhuri-ye Eslami, a conservative newspaper, the Sufis were part of a “foreign plot …[by] arrogant powers exploiting every opportunity to create insecurity.”
Some conservative ayatollahs have in recent months criticised the growth of Sufism, which sometimes involves music and dance, as a threat to Islam.
But Mr Karrubi argued the authorities should “find ways to criticise schools of thought … without violating human rights”.
He argued that “real Islam is powerful and broadminded enough to be capable of resolving sectarian disputes”. Mr Karrubi has written to the “sources of emulation” – the most senior Shia clergy – in Qom asking them to “show the reality of religious freedom”.
Read More
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Mehdi Karrubi, Iran’s former parliamentary speaker and a veteran of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has criticised Shia Muslim radicals who last week destroyed a religious building belonging to Islamic mystics in the holy city of Qom.
His comments – prominent in reformist newspapers – reflect concern about Shia militants stirring conflict as Iran’s fundamentalist president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, tries to radicalise Islam at home and abroad, and as Sunni militants provoke sectarian violence in neighbouring Iraq with attacks like Wednesday’s on the Askariyeh holy Shia shrine in Samarra.
Mr Karrubi was responding to violence in Qom last week when radicals destroyed a meeting house used by Sufis, an Islamic order viewed with suspicion by some Shia.
The clashes – which led to hundreds of arrests and the use of tear gas by police – arose from a four-year dispute over ownership of the building, where Sufis practised religious rites.
The governor-general of Qom told Jomhuri-ye Eslami, a conservative newspaper, the Sufis were part of a “foreign plot …[by] arrogant powers exploiting every opportunity to create insecurity.”
Some conservative ayatollahs have in recent months criticised the growth of Sufism, which sometimes involves music and dance, as a threat to Islam.
But Mr Karrubi argued the authorities should “find ways to criticise schools of thought … without violating human rights”.
He argued that “real Islam is powerful and broadminded enough to be capable of resolving sectarian disputes”. Mr Karrubi has written to the “sources of emulation” – the most senior Shia clergy – in Qom asking them to “show the reality of religious freedom”.
What is problem of Sufis in Iran?
By Bahman Aghai Diba - Persian Journal
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The Islamic-Arabic (sic) [Ed. note: it is Islamic-Persian] government of Iran has recently attacked the center of Sufis in Qom, and arrested a number of Dervishes (Iranian Sufis). Although arresting the Iranian Sufis by the Islamic regime is a new move, bothering the Sufis in the last 27 years is nothing new.
The regime of Iran has always looked with suspicion and sometimes disgust to the Sufis because the Dervishes do not believe in any role for the Mullahs. They believe that people do not need any middleman for contacting God. The Dervishes are very devoted to their way of life. They see the religious zealots as corrupt people. However, these are not the reason of the recent attacks against them
The real reason is that the people of Iran, especially younger generations, out of desperation or any other reason, are welcoming the Sufi gathering more am more. The Sufis had their gathering in the past and they tried to stay away from politics. However, the welcoming of the Sufi ways of life and the Sufi type of approach to the religion (especially towards Islam) has found a new wave during the last years. Every year, more and more people try to have gathering under the name of Sufis.
The new stage of Islamic fundamentalism, after the election of the new president by the Islamic-Arabic regime of the Iranian Mullahs' Mafia, has opened the way for trouble making of the organized street thugs (like Baseejis) and the disciplinary forces for the Sufi gatherings. Although Sufi Muslims strictly observe Islamic practices and beliefs, some conservative Muslim clerics see it as a danger to Islam.
Some even argue that Sufism is a deviation of Islam. "Unfortunately under the years of the rule of the Islamic government we have seen limitations on non-Muslims -- above all, Baha'is, Jews, and also Christians -- and on Sufi groups, and their meetings have been disrupted," says Lahidji Iran's hard-line daily "Kayhan" on 14 February quoted senior clerics in Qom as saying that "Sufism should be eradicated...".
Sufis have always been respected in Iran because of their humble and down to earth behavior. Definitely their approach to life is different from the dictatorial imposition of the special interpretation of Islam by the Mullahs of Iran.
Some of the people in Iran have found a way of getting away from the rulings of the Mullahs through the adherence to Sufi practices. The Sufis are among the most peace-loving and tolerant people in Iran and probably in the world. They are suffering under the Iranian regime and they consider such suffering as part of the duty that they owe to their faith.
Read More
By Bahman Aghai Diba - Persian Journal
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The Islamic-Arabic (sic) [Ed. note: it is Islamic-Persian] government of Iran has recently attacked the center of Sufis in Qom, and arrested a number of Dervishes (Iranian Sufis). Although arresting the Iranian Sufis by the Islamic regime is a new move, bothering the Sufis in the last 27 years is nothing new.
The regime of Iran has always looked with suspicion and sometimes disgust to the Sufis because the Dervishes do not believe in any role for the Mullahs. They believe that people do not need any middleman for contacting God. The Dervishes are very devoted to their way of life. They see the religious zealots as corrupt people. However, these are not the reason of the recent attacks against them
The real reason is that the people of Iran, especially younger generations, out of desperation or any other reason, are welcoming the Sufi gathering more am more. The Sufis had their gathering in the past and they tried to stay away from politics. However, the welcoming of the Sufi ways of life and the Sufi type of approach to the religion (especially towards Islam) has found a new wave during the last years. Every year, more and more people try to have gathering under the name of Sufis.
The new stage of Islamic fundamentalism, after the election of the new president by the Islamic-Arabic regime of the Iranian Mullahs' Mafia, has opened the way for trouble making of the organized street thugs (like Baseejis) and the disciplinary forces for the Sufi gatherings. Although Sufi Muslims strictly observe Islamic practices and beliefs, some conservative Muslim clerics see it as a danger to Islam.
Some even argue that Sufism is a deviation of Islam. "Unfortunately under the years of the rule of the Islamic government we have seen limitations on non-Muslims -- above all, Baha'is, Jews, and also Christians -- and on Sufi groups, and their meetings have been disrupted," says Lahidji Iran's hard-line daily "Kayhan" on 14 February quoted senior clerics in Qom as saying that "Sufism should be eradicated...".
Sufis have always been respected in Iran because of their humble and down to earth behavior. Definitely their approach to life is different from the dictatorial imposition of the special interpretation of Islam by the Mullahs of Iran.
Some of the people in Iran have found a way of getting away from the rulings of the Mullahs through the adherence to Sufi practices. The Sufis are among the most peace-loving and tolerant people in Iran and probably in the world. They are suffering under the Iranian regime and they consider such suffering as part of the duty that they owe to their faith.
Wedded bliss, at long last
By Bala Chauhan - Deccan Herald - Bangalore, India
Saturday, April 8, 2006
They began their journey at an evening at the dargah of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Chishti in Delhi in November 2005. They had come there to offer prayers. “We met each other and exchanged cards. Thereafter, we kept in touch and on February 2 this year, we tied the knot,” says danseuse Pratibha Prahlad.
A single parent of eight-year-old twins Chirayu and Chirantan, Pratibha got married to Congress politician and a Delhiite Sandeep Chandra.
“I have had a very stressful life. I was always lonely and wanted to get married. It’s just that I didn’t find the right person till now. So when Sandeep proposed to me I agreed. I told my sons that I am getting married and they would have a father,” she says.
Read More
Saturday, April 8, 2006
They began their journey at an evening at the dargah of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Chishti in Delhi in November 2005. They had come there to offer prayers. “We met each other and exchanged cards. Thereafter, we kept in touch and on February 2 this year, we tied the knot,” says danseuse Pratibha Prahlad.
A single parent of eight-year-old twins Chirayu and Chirantan, Pratibha got married to Congress politician and a Delhiite Sandeep Chandra.
“I have had a very stressful life. I was always lonely and wanted to get married. It’s just that I didn’t find the right person till now. So when Sandeep proposed to me I agreed. I told my sons that I am getting married and they would have a father,” she says.
Say it with sufism
By Mariam Mushtaq - Daily Times - Pakistan
Saturday, April 8, 2006
LAHORE: Sometimes all it takes for decades-old prejudices to melt away is a car ride and an open mind. No one would agree more than Dr Fatima Hussain, eminent Indian scholar, who first visited Pakistan in April last year at the invitation of the World Punjabi Congress.
A perfectly safe drive around the streets of Lahore that deposited her and her luggage intact at her destination was enough to quell such fears. Moreover, finding a noticeable lack of the burqa-clad female forms she had been expecting to see, it did not take long for Dr Hussain to realise how similar Lahore and Delhi really were.
Stereotypes do not sit well with Dr Hussain in any case, which is probably why she found it so easy to discard her own. Born and raised within New Delhi’s Muslim community, she became used to having her progressive outlook challenged by outsiders who expected her to behave a certain way because of her religion. Her choice of attire, often western, her career and her forthrightness became cause for many a raised eyebrow but that did not deter her from building a formidable resumé.
A masters degree in History from the Delhi University was followed by a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, dubbed the Harvard of South Asia by some. Her doctoral thesis was a study of sufism during the Delhi Sultanate. She has also published two books, The Palestine Question: A Historical Perspective and Relations between the Sufis and the Sultanate as well as numerous articles and reviews in international academic journals.
Dr Hussain finds it easy to forgive her detractors because she realises that their biases stem more from insecurity than anything else. “Muslim societies all over the world are susceptible to stereotypical thinking and the major factor for this is the rivalry between the East and the West that can be traced back to the golden age of Islam”.
The unity displayed by the Muslim world can also be a cause of insecurity, says Dr Hussain. “That acts of namaaz and Haj, that bring together Muslims across all divides, are examples of our solidarity and can often cause unease among outsiders.” The answer, according to her, lies in setting minds at ease and tackling mutual insecurities by keeping one’s faith to oneself, and not brandishing it like a sword at the slightest provocation. She heard her views echoed by President Musharraf while attending a conference in Lahore, where he proclaimed that we needed to emphasise the essence of Islam and not its ritualism, and was more than a little impressed.
In town to attend an international conference on the sufi poet Shah Hussain organised by the WPC, she stresses the importance of sufism in bringing about peace between the two countries. The subject is specially pertinent in the context of bridging the gulf between the Muslim and western worlds. “The beauty of sufism is that it transcends formal religion. Islam might be perceived as orthodox and regimented by some but Sufism, despite being a part of Islam, is more open and inclusive. And its message, of love, humanity and peace, is universal.”
Read More
Saturday, April 8, 2006
LAHORE: Sometimes all it takes for decades-old prejudices to melt away is a car ride and an open mind. No one would agree more than Dr Fatima Hussain, eminent Indian scholar, who first visited Pakistan in April last year at the invitation of the World Punjabi Congress.
A perfectly safe drive around the streets of Lahore that deposited her and her luggage intact at her destination was enough to quell such fears. Moreover, finding a noticeable lack of the burqa-clad female forms she had been expecting to see, it did not take long for Dr Hussain to realise how similar Lahore and Delhi really were.
Stereotypes do not sit well with Dr Hussain in any case, which is probably why she found it so easy to discard her own. Born and raised within New Delhi’s Muslim community, she became used to having her progressive outlook challenged by outsiders who expected her to behave a certain way because of her religion. Her choice of attire, often western, her career and her forthrightness became cause for many a raised eyebrow but that did not deter her from building a formidable resumé.
A masters degree in History from the Delhi University was followed by a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, dubbed the Harvard of South Asia by some. Her doctoral thesis was a study of sufism during the Delhi Sultanate. She has also published two books, The Palestine Question: A Historical Perspective and Relations between the Sufis and the Sultanate as well as numerous articles and reviews in international academic journals.
Dr Hussain finds it easy to forgive her detractors because she realises that their biases stem more from insecurity than anything else. “Muslim societies all over the world are susceptible to stereotypical thinking and the major factor for this is the rivalry between the East and the West that can be traced back to the golden age of Islam”.
The unity displayed by the Muslim world can also be a cause of insecurity, says Dr Hussain. “That acts of namaaz and Haj, that bring together Muslims across all divides, are examples of our solidarity and can often cause unease among outsiders.” The answer, according to her, lies in setting minds at ease and tackling mutual insecurities by keeping one’s faith to oneself, and not brandishing it like a sword at the slightest provocation. She heard her views echoed by President Musharraf while attending a conference in Lahore, where he proclaimed that we needed to emphasise the essence of Islam and not its ritualism, and was more than a little impressed.
In town to attend an international conference on the sufi poet Shah Hussain organised by the WPC, she stresses the importance of sufism in bringing about peace between the two countries. The subject is specially pertinent in the context of bridging the gulf between the Muslim and western worlds. “The beauty of sufism is that it transcends formal religion. Islam might be perceived as orthodox and regimented by some but Sufism, despite being a part of Islam, is more open and inclusive. And its message, of love, humanity and peace, is universal.”
Monday, October 16, 2006
Amarnath yatra to begin
IANS Indo-Asian News Service - Jammu, Kashmir
Friday, April 7, 2006
The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will begin on June 11 and last for almost two months.
The pilgrimage, which is expected to attract over 500,000 pilgrims, will conclude Aug 9, said a spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
The board has drawn up a detailed programme to raise a temporary environmental-friendly infrastructure to lodge pilgrims, whose number is expected to touch half a million mark this year, the spokesman said.
The cave shrine situated at the height of 13,500 feet above sea level was discovered by a Muslim shepherd more than a century ago. Since then Hindus have been visiting the shrine during summers to pay obeisance at the cave where a natural ice-made 'lingam' (stalagmite), seen as an icon of lord Shiva, is formed.
The yatra will start with the hosting of Sufiana music festivals in Srinagar and some district headquarters. Reputed Sufi artists of the country and Pakistan are likely to participate in the festival.
Read More
Friday, April 7, 2006
The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will begin on June 11 and last for almost two months.
The pilgrimage, which is expected to attract over 500,000 pilgrims, will conclude Aug 9, said a spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
The board has drawn up a detailed programme to raise a temporary environmental-friendly infrastructure to lodge pilgrims, whose number is expected to touch half a million mark this year, the spokesman said.
The cave shrine situated at the height of 13,500 feet above sea level was discovered by a Muslim shepherd more than a century ago. Since then Hindus have been visiting the shrine during summers to pay obeisance at the cave where a natural ice-made 'lingam' (stalagmite), seen as an icon of lord Shiva, is formed.
The yatra will start with the hosting of Sufiana music festivals in Srinagar and some district headquarters. Reputed Sufi artists of the country and Pakistan are likely to participate in the festival.
Soorya Dance and Music Festival on April 17
Staff - Times of Oman - Muscat, Oman
Friday, April 7, 2006
MUSCAT — Soorya Stage and Film Society is presenting its first programme of the year, Soorya Dance and Music Festival, at the Le Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel, on April 17. The programme is brought to Oman by Al Falaj Hotel in association with Oman UAE Exchange Centre.
This time the public will be blessed with an opportunity to experience a unique and innovative combination of two of the world’s richest dance art forms — Bharatanatyam and Sufi Kathak. This will be a very rare, perhaps, once in a life time opportunity exploring the natya, bhava and abhinaya of Bharatanatyam and experiencing the sublime movements of Sufi Kathak with its richly poetic beauty of Sufi poems. These mesmerising moments will be brought to the community by two of India’s topmost dancer-choreographers — Priyadarshini Govind in Bharatanatyam and Manjari Chaturvedi in Sufi Kathak.
After her arangettam in 1974 under the auspices of the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Chennai, Priyadarshini Govind has been performing in all the major centres in India.
Manjari Chaturvedi, classical Kathak danseuse and a performing artiste for over a decade, is an extraordinary young dancer, adding subtle innovations to the Kathak repertoire while preserving the tenets of the classical style.
Read More
Friday, April 7, 2006
MUSCAT — Soorya Stage and Film Society is presenting its first programme of the year, Soorya Dance and Music Festival, at the Le Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel, on April 17. The programme is brought to Oman by Al Falaj Hotel in association with Oman UAE Exchange Centre.
This time the public will be blessed with an opportunity to experience a unique and innovative combination of two of the world’s richest dance art forms — Bharatanatyam and Sufi Kathak. This will be a very rare, perhaps, once in a life time opportunity exploring the natya, bhava and abhinaya of Bharatanatyam and experiencing the sublime movements of Sufi Kathak with its richly poetic beauty of Sufi poems. These mesmerising moments will be brought to the community by two of India’s topmost dancer-choreographers — Priyadarshini Govind in Bharatanatyam and Manjari Chaturvedi in Sufi Kathak.
After her arangettam in 1974 under the auspices of the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Chennai, Priyadarshini Govind has been performing in all the major centres in India.
Manjari Chaturvedi, classical Kathak danseuse and a performing artiste for over a decade, is an extraordinary young dancer, adding subtle innovations to the Kathak repertoire while preserving the tenets of the classical style.
Iranian Zurkhaneh Sports to be Studied at British Academy
CHN Staff - CHN Cultural Heritage News Agency
Tehran, 6 April 2006
The present condition of Zurkhaneh Sports as Iranian ancient sports will be studied in British Academy with the attendance of experts in Iranian studies. According to British Institute of Persian Studies, on Thursday 29 June 2006 at 5.15 pm, Prof. Lloyed Ridgeon will present his lecture on the topic of “The Zurkhaneh between Tradition and Change” at the British Academy in London.
Lloyd Ridgeon is a professor of Islamic studies who teaches classical Islamic studies, Islamic movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Sufism in Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Glasgow.
He has several researches about Islamic history, theology and politics; classical and modern Sufism; Iranian history and culture; and Persian literature.
Iranians were the first nation in the world who attached great importance to their health, burly figure, and strength; they carried out body building exercises and trained their offspring to practice them as well.
Zurkhaneh (house of strength) is the Iranian traditional gymnasium, in which the national Iranian sport is practiced. It is a covered structure lit by a single opening in the ceiling. The exercise is very formal and the moves are carried out to the rhythm of the drum and a singer reciting traditional verses. Zourkhaneh is not only a place for physical exercises but also a place for learning chivalrous behaviors. The Zourkhaneh-sportsman is first expected to be pure, truthful and good tempered and then strong in body.
The first International Festival of Zurkhaneh Sports of Urbans of the World was held in the city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi province from 11-16 November 2005 with the attendance of 33 countries.
Read More
Tehran, 6 April 2006
The present condition of Zurkhaneh Sports as Iranian ancient sports will be studied in British Academy with the attendance of experts in Iranian studies. According to British Institute of Persian Studies, on Thursday 29 June 2006 at 5.15 pm, Prof. Lloyed Ridgeon will present his lecture on the topic of “The Zurkhaneh between Tradition and Change” at the British Academy in London.
Lloyd Ridgeon is a professor of Islamic studies who teaches classical Islamic studies, Islamic movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Sufism in Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Glasgow.
He has several researches about Islamic history, theology and politics; classical and modern Sufism; Iranian history and culture; and Persian literature.
Iranians were the first nation in the world who attached great importance to their health, burly figure, and strength; they carried out body building exercises and trained their offspring to practice them as well.
Zurkhaneh (house of strength) is the Iranian traditional gymnasium, in which the national Iranian sport is practiced. It is a covered structure lit by a single opening in the ceiling. The exercise is very formal and the moves are carried out to the rhythm of the drum and a singer reciting traditional verses. Zourkhaneh is not only a place for physical exercises but also a place for learning chivalrous behaviors. The Zourkhaneh-sportsman is first expected to be pure, truthful and good tempered and then strong in body.
The first International Festival of Zurkhaneh Sports of Urbans of the World was held in the city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi province from 11-16 November 2005 with the attendance of 33 countries.
U.S. decries human rights violations in Iran
Iran News - London
Thursday, April 6, 2006
In its annual report on U.S. efforts at encouraging human rights worldwide, entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2005 - 2006", the U.S. State Department accused Iran of carrying out “summary executions, discrimination based on ethnicity and religion, harassment and arrest of journalists and bloggers, disappearances, extremist vigilantism, widespread use of torture, and other degrading treatment”.
It charged that the hard-line iranian government continued to discriminate against and arrest members of the Baha’i religious community. Other religious and ethnic minority groups, including Jews, Christians, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims faced continued social, political, and economic discrimination, it said.
Read More
Thursday, April 6, 2006
In its annual report on U.S. efforts at encouraging human rights worldwide, entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2005 - 2006", the U.S. State Department accused Iran of carrying out “summary executions, discrimination based on ethnicity and religion, harassment and arrest of journalists and bloggers, disappearances, extremist vigilantism, widespread use of torture, and other degrading treatment”.
It charged that the hard-line iranian government continued to discriminate against and arrest members of the Baha’i religious community. Other religious and ethnic minority groups, including Jews, Christians, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims faced continued social, political, and economic discrimination, it said.
Jordan to Host Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit
Royal Hashemite Court, Communication & Information Division
Amman, Jordan - Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, a large number of senior Iraqi religious and tribal leaders - both Sunnis and Shi'is, Arabs and Kurds - will gather in Amman on April 22, 2006 for The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit. The meeting, organized in cooperation between Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and the Arab League, will provide a forum for Iraqi leaders to take a crucial step towards stemming the violence in Iraq.
During the summit, King Abdullah will join the delegates in a call for an end to bloodshed and religious tension in Iraq. The summit is expected to culminate in a signed declaration stating that fighting between Shi'is and Sunnis has no legitimate religious basis.
The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit builds upon The International Islamic Conference on “True Islam and its Role in Modern Society” hosted by King Abdullah in July 2005. In the final conference declaration, over 180 scholars representing 45 countries signed the final declaration condemning the practice known as takfir (calling others “apostates”) that is used by extremists to justify violence.
They were supported by fatwas from 20 of the world's most senior Islamic scholars, including the Shaykh Al-Azhar, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the Muftis of Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Oman and Sheikh Yusif Al-Qardawi.
The declaration also recognized the legitimacy of all eight of the traditional schools of Islamic religious law (madhhabs): the Sunni, Shi'i and Ibadi branches of Islam, as well as traditional Asharite theology, Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and moderate Salafi thought.
This historical Islamic consensus was adopted by the entire Islamic world at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit at Mecca in December 2005. This agreement on religious principles will form the doctrinal basis for the Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit's final declaration.
Read More
Amman, Jordan - Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, a large number of senior Iraqi religious and tribal leaders - both Sunnis and Shi'is, Arabs and Kurds - will gather in Amman on April 22, 2006 for The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit. The meeting, organized in cooperation between Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and the Arab League, will provide a forum for Iraqi leaders to take a crucial step towards stemming the violence in Iraq.
During the summit, King Abdullah will join the delegates in a call for an end to bloodshed and religious tension in Iraq. The summit is expected to culminate in a signed declaration stating that fighting between Shi'is and Sunnis has no legitimate religious basis.
The Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit builds upon The International Islamic Conference on “True Islam and its Role in Modern Society” hosted by King Abdullah in July 2005. In the final conference declaration, over 180 scholars representing 45 countries signed the final declaration condemning the practice known as takfir (calling others “apostates”) that is used by extremists to justify violence.
They were supported by fatwas from 20 of the world's most senior Islamic scholars, including the Shaykh Al-Azhar, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the Muftis of Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Oman and Sheikh Yusif Al-Qardawi.
The declaration also recognized the legitimacy of all eight of the traditional schools of Islamic religious law (madhhabs): the Sunni, Shi'i and Ibadi branches of Islam, as well as traditional Asharite theology, Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and moderate Salafi thought.
This historical Islamic consensus was adopted by the entire Islamic world at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit at Mecca in December 2005. This agreement on religious principles will form the doctrinal basis for the Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Summit's final declaration.
Iranian Sufi Muslim protesters still detained
Amnesty International USA News
AI Index: NWS 21/003/2006 - The Wire
April 2006 Vol. 36. No. 03
Hundreds of demonstrators, including women and children, were injured when police and organized pro-government groups broke up a peaceful protest by Nematollahi Sufi Muslims in Qom, Iran, on 13 February.
At the beginning of March at least 173 people were still detained, including lawyer Bahman Nazari, himself a Sufi Muslim, who reportedly travelled from the city of Tabriz in north-west Iran to Qom in order to try and represent the detainees. He was arrested as soon as he approached officials and presented his practice licence. The detainees’ families have been unable to obtain information about their whereabouts, legal status, health or conditions.
There appears to be increasing "demonization" of the Sufi Muslim group in Iran.
Read More
AI Index: NWS 21/003/2006 - The Wire
April 2006 Vol. 36. No. 03
Hundreds of demonstrators, including women and children, were injured when police and organized pro-government groups broke up a peaceful protest by Nematollahi Sufi Muslims in Qom, Iran, on 13 February.
At the beginning of March at least 173 people were still detained, including lawyer Bahman Nazari, himself a Sufi Muslim, who reportedly travelled from the city of Tabriz in north-west Iran to Qom in order to try and represent the detainees. He was arrested as soon as he approached officials and presented his practice licence. The detainees’ families have been unable to obtain information about their whereabouts, legal status, health or conditions.
There appears to be increasing "demonization" of the Sufi Muslim group in Iran.
Bollywood cries for little hearts
Staff report - India Daily
Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2006
When Bollywood's Sanjna Kapoor and Kunal Kapoor joined musician Rabbi Shergill on the same dais, anybody could have mistaken it for the launch of a latest video or a preview meet of a new movie. But it was a different afternoon. They were there for a special cause -- a noble one -- to endorse children's education. With a mission to make a difference to the lives of hundreds of children who are unable to access education, CRY (Child Rights and You), India's premier child relief organisation, joined hands with Procter and Gamble (P&G) to participate in ''Shiksha'' -- a programme to help educate children across India.
Rabbi Shergill, the Sufi singer, strongly believes that education is an issue that has to be dealt from a broader perspective. He says, "The initiative by CRY gladdens me as well as saddens me. I just have the pop star's grasp of social activism. Education is an issue that needs to be handled collectively instead of individually."
The versatile theatre personality Sanjna says that corporate groups providing assistance to such missions should make this as their mandate and not an exception. "When little hearts CRY, I''m on the verge of tears. When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world," expresses Sanjna.
Read More
Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2006
When Bollywood's Sanjna Kapoor and Kunal Kapoor joined musician Rabbi Shergill on the same dais, anybody could have mistaken it for the launch of a latest video or a preview meet of a new movie. But it was a different afternoon. They were there for a special cause -- a noble one -- to endorse children's education. With a mission to make a difference to the lives of hundreds of children who are unable to access education, CRY (Child Rights and You), India's premier child relief organisation, joined hands with Procter and Gamble (P&G) to participate in ''Shiksha'' -- a programme to help educate children across India.
Rabbi Shergill, the Sufi singer, strongly believes that education is an issue that has to be dealt from a broader perspective. He says, "The initiative by CRY gladdens me as well as saddens me. I just have the pop star's grasp of social activism. Education is an issue that needs to be handled collectively instead of individually."
The versatile theatre personality Sanjna says that corporate groups providing assistance to such missions should make this as their mandate and not an exception. "When little hearts CRY, I''m on the verge of tears. When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world," expresses Sanjna.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Kosovo's Dervishes dance toward salvation
By AFP Agence France-Presse, Prizren (Pristina), Serbia-Montenegro
Kim Info-service, News from Kosovo and Metohija
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Every spring the Dervishes of Kosovo -- among the last in Europe -- dance, chant and push knives into their bodies in a quest for heavenly salvation.
They are shunned by many fellow Muslims as starry-eyed mystics, but the Dervishes who gathered recently in Prizen for a centuries-old celebration do not see themselves as outside the Islamic pale.
"We are the avant garde of the Muslim religion," says Shejh Adrihusejn, a leader of the mystical order, playing down the dramatic extremes to which Dervishes go to attain religious fulfillment. "We do not accept being presented as a Muslim mystic sect or an extreme branch of our religion," says the Shejh, a title given to Dervish community leaders.
A fraternity of Sufi Islam famous for both their asceticism and their hypnotic, trance-inducing dances, the Dervish community in Kosovo is a legacy of the Ottoman empire that once held sway over this Serbian province. While 95 percent of Kosovo's two million inhabitants are Muslim, only a tiny fraction -- some 50,000 -- are Dervishes. There are also Sufi communities in neighboring Albania and Macedonia.
At the end of March the 5,000 Dervishes of Prizen in southern Kosovo celebrate the Spring equinox festival of "Sultan Nevruz," the moment when the sun begins to favor the Northern Hemisphere and day become longer than night.
The ceremony unfolds in the hilly suburbs of this picture-postcard town in special ampitheatre, or "teqe," that bears little resemblance to a traditional Muslim mosque.Some 60 dervishes of all ages dressed in black and white waistcoats and flat hats, including a few children, begin chanting before an overflowing crowd. Women, guests and journalists are kept to the side or observe from a small wooden balcony.
What is about to unfold is so dramatic as to shock the uninitiated, and even shake one's understanding of medical science.
"La-illaha-illallah" ("There is no god but God") the Dervishes intone in a subdued prayer, forming a semi-circle around Shejh Adrihusejn.
Bobbing their heads, they slowly up the tempo and volume of the prayer from a deep murmur into full-throated howl, praying for their past sins to be pardoned.The crescendo mounts for two hours until the Dervishes are swaying in a state of mystical ecstasy. "Allah Hu" (he is God), they chant in perfect unison.
That is when the skewers and knives appear.
The Shejh leads the way, coating 15-centimetre (six inch) long needles with his saliva and then piercing his two young sons. He does the same to three other children.
Miraculously, there is no blood, and the children show no sign of fear or pain, swaying silently as they hold the needles pierced through one side of their mouths.
Next come the blades: Shejh slowly eases 40-centimetre ( 1.3-foot) knives with rounded, pearl-coated stems through both cheeks of the Dervishes, one-by-one.
Driven by the rhythm of kettledrums and tambourines, the entranced worshipers sway in a semi-conscious state, repeating their calls to "Allah" over and over.
Next they begin piercing their necks with knives, proudly displaying the wounds.
"The knives symbolize the healing of all wounds. This is the blessing of God and the power of the order," says an elderly, high-ranking Dervish after the ceremony.
Finally, the intensity subsides into a prayer for the souls of all prophets and believers, as the Dervishes remove the knives and return them to the Shejh, kissing his hands.
Later, the 44-year-old Shejh talks about his flock's esoteric tradition, insisting that it has a place in modern society.
"We propagandize love among people. Belief is, in essence, love towards God, towards others and towards life," he says.
"I am against any extremism. I am a Muslim and a European of the 21st Century -- Internet is an important part of my life," he says.
Read More
Kim Info-service, News from Kosovo and Metohija
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Every spring the Dervishes of Kosovo -- among the last in Europe -- dance, chant and push knives into their bodies in a quest for heavenly salvation.
They are shunned by many fellow Muslims as starry-eyed mystics, but the Dervishes who gathered recently in Prizen for a centuries-old celebration do not see themselves as outside the Islamic pale.
"We are the avant garde of the Muslim religion," says Shejh Adrihusejn, a leader of the mystical order, playing down the dramatic extremes to which Dervishes go to attain religious fulfillment. "We do not accept being presented as a Muslim mystic sect or an extreme branch of our religion," says the Shejh, a title given to Dervish community leaders.
A fraternity of Sufi Islam famous for both their asceticism and their hypnotic, trance-inducing dances, the Dervish community in Kosovo is a legacy of the Ottoman empire that once held sway over this Serbian province. While 95 percent of Kosovo's two million inhabitants are Muslim, only a tiny fraction -- some 50,000 -- are Dervishes. There are also Sufi communities in neighboring Albania and Macedonia.
At the end of March the 5,000 Dervishes of Prizen in southern Kosovo celebrate the Spring equinox festival of "Sultan Nevruz," the moment when the sun begins to favor the Northern Hemisphere and day become longer than night.
The ceremony unfolds in the hilly suburbs of this picture-postcard town in special ampitheatre, or "teqe," that bears little resemblance to a traditional Muslim mosque.Some 60 dervishes of all ages dressed in black and white waistcoats and flat hats, including a few children, begin chanting before an overflowing crowd. Women, guests and journalists are kept to the side or observe from a small wooden balcony.
What is about to unfold is so dramatic as to shock the uninitiated, and even shake one's understanding of medical science.
"La-illaha-illallah" ("There is no god but God") the Dervishes intone in a subdued prayer, forming a semi-circle around Shejh Adrihusejn.
Bobbing their heads, they slowly up the tempo and volume of the prayer from a deep murmur into full-throated howl, praying for their past sins to be pardoned.The crescendo mounts for two hours until the Dervishes are swaying in a state of mystical ecstasy. "Allah Hu" (he is God), they chant in perfect unison.
That is when the skewers and knives appear.
The Shejh leads the way, coating 15-centimetre (six inch) long needles with his saliva and then piercing his two young sons. He does the same to three other children.
Miraculously, there is no blood, and the children show no sign of fear or pain, swaying silently as they hold the needles pierced through one side of their mouths.
Next come the blades: Shejh slowly eases 40-centimetre ( 1.3-foot) knives with rounded, pearl-coated stems through both cheeks of the Dervishes, one-by-one.
Driven by the rhythm of kettledrums and tambourines, the entranced worshipers sway in a semi-conscious state, repeating their calls to "Allah" over and over.
Next they begin piercing their necks with knives, proudly displaying the wounds.
"The knives symbolize the healing of all wounds. This is the blessing of God and the power of the order," says an elderly, high-ranking Dervish after the ceremony.
Finally, the intensity subsides into a prayer for the souls of all prophets and believers, as the Dervishes remove the knives and return them to the Shejh, kissing his hands.
Later, the 44-year-old Shejh talks about his flock's esoteric tradition, insisting that it has a place in modern society.
"We propagandize love among people. Belief is, in essence, love towards God, towards others and towards life," he says.
"I am against any extremism. I am a Muslim and a European of the 21st Century -- Internet is an important part of my life," he says.
Indian Islamic schools offer lesson in harmony
By Bappa Majumdar - Reuters - WorldWide Religious News
Monday, April 03, 2006
Kolkata, India - Indian schoolgirl Julita Oraon, a devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school, or madrasa.
Oraon is one of tens of thousands of Hindu and Christian students in the state of West Bengal now attending such schools: in this part of India, madrasas are emerging as beacons of tolerance. While a predominantly Hindu state, a quarter of West Bengal's population of 80 million are Muslims and one percent are Christians.
After a Hindu mob destroyed a mosque in the northern holy city of Ayodhya in 1992 much of India was wracked by deadly communal riots. But in Bengal students from madrasas, both Muslims and Hindus, led processions denouncing the demolition.
"People find it difficult to believe, but our madrasas ... are reflecting modern aspirations and expectations of the community irrespective of religion," Kanti Biswas, the state's education minister, told Reuters.
"We had carefully planned the madrasa reforms to make young minds understand the values of religious tolerance and it is finally paying off."
Read More
Monday, April 03, 2006
Kolkata, India - Indian schoolgirl Julita Oraon, a devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school, or madrasa.
Oraon is one of tens of thousands of Hindu and Christian students in the state of West Bengal now attending such schools: in this part of India, madrasas are emerging as beacons of tolerance. While a predominantly Hindu state, a quarter of West Bengal's population of 80 million are Muslims and one percent are Christians.
After a Hindu mob destroyed a mosque in the northern holy city of Ayodhya in 1992 much of India was wracked by deadly communal riots. But in Bengal students from madrasas, both Muslims and Hindus, led processions denouncing the demolition.
"People find it difficult to believe, but our madrasas ... are reflecting modern aspirations and expectations of the community irrespective of religion," Kanti Biswas, the state's education minister, told Reuters.
"We had carefully planned the madrasa reforms to make young minds understand the values of religious tolerance and it is finally paying off."
Alternative Music featured at Moksha Jemal concert
By Scarr - UNM Today - University of New Mexico, USA
April 03, 2006
New England musical ensemble HuDost featuring two core members, singer/songwriters Moksha Sommer and JemalWade Hines, present acoustic-based music on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union ballroom.
Their music includes an ethereal ambience mixed with hints of pop, sacred chant, Sufi poetry, experimental electronic and other world music with lovely layers and beautiful harmonies.
Moksha Sommer, graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, is a well-seasoned vocalist who has studied 12 different vocal styles worldwide. Gainesville, Fla. guitarist, singer/songwriter, percussionist and producer JemalWade Hines has been writing, recording and performing music for 17 years.
HuDost’s original work ranges in style from alternative world music to their own country and eastern fusion, and atmospheric, experimental sound. This is mixed with the rich, eclectic, blending of traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian and Balkan translations, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic and Southern Gospel.
Their debut CD, “In an Eastern Rose Garden,” was released in 2005 to rave reviews. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their first CD of all original material with engineer/producer Gil Morales for a projected June release.
A U.S. tour will follow the release of the new CD in the spring summer and autumn with plans to go international in 2007. See: www.hudost.com.
Joining Moksha and JemalWade for this special evening is Roshan Jennifer Ferraro presenting poetry and sacred dance and Zakir Marc McCamey on frame drum. Ferraro is a poet, author and dancer who performs with the Latif Bolat Ensemble playing frame drum and reciting poetry with devotional dance.
This event is sponsored by UNM’s Turkish Student Association, UNM’s Institute for Medieval Studies, Desert Rose Center, Sufi Order International and the Nur-Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order.
Read More
April 03, 2006
New England musical ensemble HuDost featuring two core members, singer/songwriters Moksha Sommer and JemalWade Hines, present acoustic-based music on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union ballroom.
Their music includes an ethereal ambience mixed with hints of pop, sacred chant, Sufi poetry, experimental electronic and other world music with lovely layers and beautiful harmonies.
Moksha Sommer, graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, is a well-seasoned vocalist who has studied 12 different vocal styles worldwide. Gainesville, Fla. guitarist, singer/songwriter, percussionist and producer JemalWade Hines has been writing, recording and performing music for 17 years.
HuDost’s original work ranges in style from alternative world music to their own country and eastern fusion, and atmospheric, experimental sound. This is mixed with the rich, eclectic, blending of traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian and Balkan translations, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic and Southern Gospel.
Their debut CD, “In an Eastern Rose Garden,” was released in 2005 to rave reviews. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their first CD of all original material with engineer/producer Gil Morales for a projected June release.
A U.S. tour will follow the release of the new CD in the spring summer and autumn with plans to go international in 2007. See: www.hudost.com.
Joining Moksha and JemalWade for this special evening is Roshan Jennifer Ferraro presenting poetry and sacred dance and Zakir Marc McCamey on frame drum. Ferraro is a poet, author and dancer who performs with the Latif Bolat Ensemble playing frame drum and reciting poetry with devotional dance.
This event is sponsored by UNM’s Turkish Student Association, UNM’s Institute for Medieval Studies, Desert Rose Center, Sufi Order International and the Nur-Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order.
Muslim march
LET newsdesk/Lancashire Telegraph
Monday, 3 April 2006
THOUSANDS of East Lancashire's Muslims took to the streets of Blackburn to celebrate the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad with a walk through the town.
Police estimated that at least 6,000 Muslim men braved the pouring rain yesterday for the holy march from Oak Street, Bastwell, to the Cutchi Muslim Association Hall at Newton Street for celebration prayers and refreshments.
The march also celebrated the teachings of Khawaja Sufi Mohammad Aslam, a grand spiritual master who moved to Blackburn in the 1980s and died in 1999.
Read More
LET newsdesk/Lancashire Telegraph
Monday, 3 April 2006
THOUSANDS of East Lancashire's Muslims took to the streets of Blackburn to celebrate the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad with a walk through the town.
Police estimated that at least 6,000 Muslim men braved the pouring rain yesterday for the holy march from Oak Street, Bastwell, to the Cutchi Muslim Association Hall at Newton Street for celebration prayers and refreshments.
The march also celebrated the teachings of Khawaja Sufi Mohammad Aslam, a grand spiritual master who moved to Blackburn in the 1980s and died in 1999.
'Lataji can give anybody a complex'
By Vandana Soni Bakshi - The Times of India
Monday, 3 Apr, 2006
Celebrated sufi singer Rekha Bharadwaj shares her mysticism with us.
You would probably expect her to turn up her nose at the mention of Bollywood numbers, but Rekha Bharadwaj likes to spring surprises. The celebrated sufi singer loves to dance to Kajra re..., Dhoom macha le, Pathshala and "all those racy tracks."
"There are songs which you sit and listen to - like Chupke se.. from Saathiya and others which get you dancing and I enjoy both immensely," says the classical singer who is in the city to perform at Daaman-e-Lucknow along with Sufi Kathak exponent Manjari Chaturvedi.
Incidentally, the event which is Manjari's brainchild is slated to become an annual event wherein artists of Lucknow, who've made it big nationally and internationally will be invited to perform.
Rekha rose out of the shadow of her husband Vishal Bharadwaj following the release of a Sufi music album, 'Ishqa Ishqa' whose lyrics were composed by none other than Gulzar. "It was an 11-year-long wait during which the venture witnessed many flips-flops and it was only in 2003 that the album finally saw the light of day," she says. With singing being a childhood passion, Rekha started striking the high notes "soon as I started speaking. Initially my sister tutored me and then I trained under Pt Amarnathji."
With Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hasan being all time favourites, "Ghazals were a passion with me. However, after marriage I did dabble in Bollywood singing. There was Abhay in which I rendered a Lohri, Woh din bhi tha... in Chachi 420, Meri jaan... in Bhaggmati. In fact, I sang with Usha Uthup and Kavita Krishnamurthy for Godmother too but playback singing is a different ball game. The songs have to contribute to making the movie a commercial success and the stress is not on the purity of gayaki." The realisation made Rekha return to the classical fold as she felt she was "Not ready for the Hindi film industry. Now I am singing for Piyush Kanojia and Sameer Tandon."
One wonders why she never thought of singing for Maachis which had music by Vishal? "Lataji can give anybody a complex. I never thought (and still don't think) I could match up to her. Who would listen to me once she started to sing?" she questions with good-hearted laughter. "Besides I never thought of taking advantage of being Vishal's wife," she adds as an after thought.
Ready to cross borders now, Rekha will soon be singing for a Pakistani serial Tere Ishq Mein. "The compositions will be sufiana. This is the form of gayaki which has helped me evolve as a person and connect with God and my loved ones better. Now, it is an integral part of my personality," says the gifted singer who is currently compiling verses of Sultan Bahu and Baba Bulle Shah for her next album.
As far her association with Manjari goes, Rekha says, "When I saw her whirling (a form of meditation) for a particular number, I was awe-struck by the ease with which she glided over the sand. The love for sufi compositions connects us and the bonding has helped us grow as artistes."
Some associations are indeed God made!
Read More
Monday, 3 Apr, 2006
Celebrated sufi singer Rekha Bharadwaj shares her mysticism with us.
You would probably expect her to turn up her nose at the mention of Bollywood numbers, but Rekha Bharadwaj likes to spring surprises. The celebrated sufi singer loves to dance to Kajra re..., Dhoom macha le, Pathshala and "all those racy tracks."
"There are songs which you sit and listen to - like Chupke se.. from Saathiya and others which get you dancing and I enjoy both immensely," says the classical singer who is in the city to perform at Daaman-e-Lucknow along with Sufi Kathak exponent Manjari Chaturvedi.
Incidentally, the event which is Manjari's brainchild is slated to become an annual event wherein artists of Lucknow, who've made it big nationally and internationally will be invited to perform.
Rekha rose out of the shadow of her husband Vishal Bharadwaj following the release of a Sufi music album, 'Ishqa Ishqa' whose lyrics were composed by none other than Gulzar. "It was an 11-year-long wait during which the venture witnessed many flips-flops and it was only in 2003 that the album finally saw the light of day," she says. With singing being a childhood passion, Rekha started striking the high notes "soon as I started speaking. Initially my sister tutored me and then I trained under Pt Amarnathji."
With Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hasan being all time favourites, "Ghazals were a passion with me. However, after marriage I did dabble in Bollywood singing. There was Abhay in which I rendered a Lohri, Woh din bhi tha... in Chachi 420, Meri jaan... in Bhaggmati. In fact, I sang with Usha Uthup and Kavita Krishnamurthy for Godmother too but playback singing is a different ball game. The songs have to contribute to making the movie a commercial success and the stress is not on the purity of gayaki." The realisation made Rekha return to the classical fold as she felt she was "Not ready for the Hindi film industry. Now I am singing for Piyush Kanojia and Sameer Tandon."
One wonders why she never thought of singing for Maachis which had music by Vishal? "Lataji can give anybody a complex. I never thought (and still don't think) I could match up to her. Who would listen to me once she started to sing?" she questions with good-hearted laughter. "Besides I never thought of taking advantage of being Vishal's wife," she adds as an after thought.
Ready to cross borders now, Rekha will soon be singing for a Pakistani serial Tere Ishq Mein. "The compositions will be sufiana. This is the form of gayaki which has helped me evolve as a person and connect with God and my loved ones better. Now, it is an integral part of my personality," says the gifted singer who is currently compiling verses of Sultan Bahu and Baba Bulle Shah for her next album.
As far her association with Manjari goes, Rekha says, "When I saw her whirling (a form of meditation) for a particular number, I was awe-struck by the ease with which she glided over the sand. The love for sufi compositions connects us and the bonding has helped us grow as artistes."
Some associations are indeed God made!
'Chhaiyan Chhaiyan' in a Spike Lee film
By Nikhil Kumar - Apun Ka Choice - Berkeley, Ca, USA
03rd Apr 2006 17.30 IST
We have already seen Nicole Kidman jiving to Indian song Chhamma Chhamma in ‘Moulin Rouge’. Now, American independent filmmaker Spike Lee’s first Hollywood project features Chhaiyan Chhaiyan.
Composed by A R Rahman and written by Gulzar for Mani Ratnam’s movie Dil Se, Chhaiyan Chhaiyan had Shah Rukh Khan dancing atop a moving train with Malaika Arora .
The song is basically inspired from a traditional Sufi qawwali called Tere Ishq Ne Nachaya, Thaiyya Thaiyya by the Sufi mystic, Baba Bulleh Shah. Rahman himself is a big fan of Sufi music.
Reports have it that Chhaiyan Chhaiyan appears in Spike Lee’s latest movie ‘Inside Man’. The song appears in the background at the movie’s beginning and its end.
‘Inside Man’ is a heist thriller starring Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. According to reports, after seeing the movie at a recent preview, American audience seemed to have taken a fancy to the song.
Read More
03rd Apr 2006 17.30 IST
We have already seen Nicole Kidman jiving to Indian song Chhamma Chhamma in ‘Moulin Rouge’. Now, American independent filmmaker Spike Lee’s first Hollywood project features Chhaiyan Chhaiyan.
Composed by A R Rahman and written by Gulzar for Mani Ratnam’s movie Dil Se, Chhaiyan Chhaiyan had Shah Rukh Khan dancing atop a moving train with Malaika Arora .
The song is basically inspired from a traditional Sufi qawwali called Tere Ishq Ne Nachaya, Thaiyya Thaiyya by the Sufi mystic, Baba Bulleh Shah. Rahman himself is a big fan of Sufi music.
Reports have it that Chhaiyan Chhaiyan appears in Spike Lee’s latest movie ‘Inside Man’. The song appears in the background at the movie’s beginning and its end.
‘Inside Man’ is a heist thriller starring Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. According to reports, after seeing the movie at a recent preview, American audience seemed to have taken a fancy to the song.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Festival of Punjab offers delights
By John Reid Blackwell - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
Read More
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
A Chicago Poet Takes on the Bush Administration
Staff - PRWeb Newswire
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Poet Gugo Veles pays tribute to the great Sufi poet, Rumi, and indicts the Bush administration in Rumiyat, a stellar collection of poems about politics, life and romance, set against metropolitan Chicago.
The parallels between Veles and Rumi are clear and to the point. As Rumi searched for harmony, enlightenment and moral certitude in a world threatened by intolerance and oppression, Veles is acutely aware of our own current challenges.
In poem after poem, Veles limns our longing for inner peace and understanding. He delves into the failure of international human rights. And he points out how our blind adherence to philosophy and religion has led us not into enlightenment, but on to a dark, dangerous and tragic path. Intolerance, bigotry, shifty double standards, force-fed organized religion and fundamentalism, Veles urges, are the road to ruin. Instead of blindly following, we should start to find our own pathways.
Written with the same unexpected imagery that Rumi was known for, Veles’ perfectly pared-down verses shimmer with the capacity to uplift our consciousness. Reading these poems, Veles hopes, will awaken readers to their deeper, more spiritual selves. “To see myself, I open wide my eyes,” he writes, advising readers to think harder, look deeper, and be more aware. What the world needs now is Rumi…and Rumiyat.
Read More
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Poet Gugo Veles pays tribute to the great Sufi poet, Rumi, and indicts the Bush administration in Rumiyat, a stellar collection of poems about politics, life and romance, set against metropolitan Chicago.
The parallels between Veles and Rumi are clear and to the point. As Rumi searched for harmony, enlightenment and moral certitude in a world threatened by intolerance and oppression, Veles is acutely aware of our own current challenges.
In poem after poem, Veles limns our longing for inner peace and understanding. He delves into the failure of international human rights. And he points out how our blind adherence to philosophy and religion has led us not into enlightenment, but on to a dark, dangerous and tragic path. Intolerance, bigotry, shifty double standards, force-fed organized religion and fundamentalism, Veles urges, are the road to ruin. Instead of blindly following, we should start to find our own pathways.
Written with the same unexpected imagery that Rumi was known for, Veles’ perfectly pared-down verses shimmer with the capacity to uplift our consciousness. Reading these poems, Veles hopes, will awaken readers to their deeper, more spiritual selves. “To see myself, I open wide my eyes,” he writes, advising readers to think harder, look deeper, and be more aware. What the world needs now is Rumi…and Rumiyat.
Islam is Islam here, there and everywhere
By Ajaz-Ul-Haque - Greater Kashmir
Sunday, 2 April, 2006
'Sufi Islam’ or what they conveniently call as ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is a sweet but deceptive combination of words which blends mysticism with politics such a way that we can’t decipher what is what? As if Islam alone draws a void, so paring it with Sufism widens the canvass of acceptability. Typical to Kashmir only, it has enjoyed a good reception amongst a particular class of scholars who put a history behind their argument to make it sound more philosophical than it actually is. Borrowing ingredients from what they call a Sufi past, their theory is not too beside the point. With components like communal harmony, religious tolerance and universal brotherhood, there is no scope for even a god defying atheists to deny the message. Unity in diversity has been the human quest since ages. That is an urge which transcends all belief and dogma. So once the message is bruited about, we take it unmistakably as the message of humanity which everyone is in dire need of. But in all this we miss a point that Islam comfortably houses the philosophy of Sufism as an indispensable part of it. The mere use of the term Sufi Islam takes Sufism as a separate slice which it’s not.
Islam, surpassing all dogmatic bindings, sees mysticism as a share of spirit. Those who practiced were the real beatified souls who sought bliss and blessings from one God with whom they were in communion with. Their fight against evil was from within and without both. Those mystics, whichever part of the earth they belonged to, had realized the truth of life. Leaving a lesson of self realization for us, the nobility of their mission, is above board. Holding their bodily desires subservient to the quest of their soul, they embarked on the path of salvation. So the life of Sufis itself was a practical example of what Islam exhorts us to be. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
The West worked hard to divorce politics from Islam and succeeded in coining ‘political Islam’ as the brand of religion which aspires for power and authority. Whether this can be put as a blissful ignorance on their part or a malicious intent to mislead the rest of the world about the universal message of Islam, can be debated.
A sustained intellectual and ideological attempt to denounce Islam erupted in many forms which fall a little beyond the ambit of our discussion right now.
Back home, the problem with us is of a peculiar nature. There have been attempts on intellectual plane to justify pure militarisation of a people by drumming about spirituality and other-word-liness. Well that worked sometimes as an effective sedative to lull a battered lot back to sleep. Kashmiriyat, acted an instant therapy for all abnormal behavior of a nation to have it normalised. Islam in Kashmir was presented ‘mystically different’ from Islam elsewhere. A history of pluralism and tolerance which Kashmir has been known for, was hijacked for a pure political interest. Peace has been our love, no doubt. But we weren’t allowed to be at peace. Who denies the philosophy of co-existence, but for that you need to exist first. Lessons of brotherhood are nothing new, but for that you need not take the trouble of axing it out from a bigger whole which it makes a part of. Islam is Sufism included, Kashmir or outside. Subjecting it to an enforced obedience to a geography is inimical to the very spirit which it stands for.
Iqbal’s Iblees suggests a double strength capsule of melody and mysticism which successfully takes away the joy of a real life from the one it’s practiced on.
Hai vohi shair-o-tassawuf is kay haq main khoob tar
Jo chupa dhey is ki aankhoon say tamashay-e-hayaat
The ‘noble endeavor’ of presenting ‘Sufi Islam’ or ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is directed towards the same end. We are slowly but surely losing the wealth of consciousness without which a nation is more dead than alive. Let’s believe in universal lessons of love, peace and amity, but let not those assets be allowed to count against us. Kashmir may be known for its different crop, different weather and different landscape, but Islam as a universal message of peace remains same here as it’s elsewhere in the world.
Read More
Sunday, 2 April, 2006
'Sufi Islam’ or what they conveniently call as ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is a sweet but deceptive combination of words which blends mysticism with politics such a way that we can’t decipher what is what? As if Islam alone draws a void, so paring it with Sufism widens the canvass of acceptability. Typical to Kashmir only, it has enjoyed a good reception amongst a particular class of scholars who put a history behind their argument to make it sound more philosophical than it actually is. Borrowing ingredients from what they call a Sufi past, their theory is not too beside the point. With components like communal harmony, religious tolerance and universal brotherhood, there is no scope for even a god defying atheists to deny the message. Unity in diversity has been the human quest since ages. That is an urge which transcends all belief and dogma. So once the message is bruited about, we take it unmistakably as the message of humanity which everyone is in dire need of. But in all this we miss a point that Islam comfortably houses the philosophy of Sufism as an indispensable part of it. The mere use of the term Sufi Islam takes Sufism as a separate slice which it’s not.
Islam, surpassing all dogmatic bindings, sees mysticism as a share of spirit. Those who practiced were the real beatified souls who sought bliss and blessings from one God with whom they were in communion with. Their fight against evil was from within and without both. Those mystics, whichever part of the earth they belonged to, had realized the truth of life. Leaving a lesson of self realization for us, the nobility of their mission, is above board. Holding their bodily desires subservient to the quest of their soul, they embarked on the path of salvation. So the life of Sufis itself was a practical example of what Islam exhorts us to be. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
The West worked hard to divorce politics from Islam and succeeded in coining ‘political Islam’ as the brand of religion which aspires for power and authority. Whether this can be put as a blissful ignorance on their part or a malicious intent to mislead the rest of the world about the universal message of Islam, can be debated.
A sustained intellectual and ideological attempt to denounce Islam erupted in many forms which fall a little beyond the ambit of our discussion right now.
Back home, the problem with us is of a peculiar nature. There have been attempts on intellectual plane to justify pure militarisation of a people by drumming about spirituality and other-word-liness. Well that worked sometimes as an effective sedative to lull a battered lot back to sleep. Kashmiriyat, acted an instant therapy for all abnormal behavior of a nation to have it normalised. Islam in Kashmir was presented ‘mystically different’ from Islam elsewhere. A history of pluralism and tolerance which Kashmir has been known for, was hijacked for a pure political interest. Peace has been our love, no doubt. But we weren’t allowed to be at peace. Who denies the philosophy of co-existence, but for that you need to exist first. Lessons of brotherhood are nothing new, but for that you need not take the trouble of axing it out from a bigger whole which it makes a part of. Islam is Sufism included, Kashmir or outside. Subjecting it to an enforced obedience to a geography is inimical to the very spirit which it stands for.
Iqbal’s Iblees suggests a double strength capsule of melody and mysticism which successfully takes away the joy of a real life from the one it’s practiced on.
Hai vohi shair-o-tassawuf is kay haq main khoob tar
Jo chupa dhey is ki aankhoon say tamashay-e-hayaat
The ‘noble endeavor’ of presenting ‘Sufi Islam’ or ‘Kashmiri Islam’ is directed towards the same end. We are slowly but surely losing the wealth of consciousness without which a nation is more dead than alive. Let’s believe in universal lessons of love, peace and amity, but let not those assets be allowed to count against us. Kashmir may be known for its different crop, different weather and different landscape, but Islam as a universal message of peace remains same here as it’s elsewhere in the world.
Among mystics
By Khushwant Singh - Hindustan Times
Friday, March 31, 2006
Professor Coleman Barks who teaches poetry in the University of Georgia (US) is today regarded as the authority on the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi (1201-1273). When starting on his translations Barks thought it wise to seek the guidance of the best-known Sufi teacher of the time, Bawa Muhaijudeen of Sri Lanka. As he introduced himself, his mentor asked him what his name meant. Barks told him. Whereupon Bawa started howling like a dog and then laughed.
The professor was not in the least offended because he knew that childlike behaviour is part of Sufi character. Howling is both an expression of pain and a cry for help. Rumi had written “the grief you cry out from draws you towards union; your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup. Listen to the moan of a dog for its master, the whining, is the connection. There are love dogs no one knows the name of. Give your life to be one of them.”
I confess I am as out of my depth with this kind of dogma as I am with the writings of our own mystics, the Bhaktas. However, I persisted in my reading of Rumi for two reasons. The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne, was gifted to me by a close friend, Samia Moosa, an attractive Afghan lady who spends her time equally between Kabul and California. And I wanted to know what was so great about Jelaluddin Rumi after whom a cult of dancing dervishes has been established.
I was fully rewarded: there are gems of wisdom strewn in a lot of tales.
Read More
Friday, March 31, 2006
Professor Coleman Barks who teaches poetry in the University of Georgia (US) is today regarded as the authority on the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi (1201-1273). When starting on his translations Barks thought it wise to seek the guidance of the best-known Sufi teacher of the time, Bawa Muhaijudeen of Sri Lanka. As he introduced himself, his mentor asked him what his name meant. Barks told him. Whereupon Bawa started howling like a dog and then laughed.
The professor was not in the least offended because he knew that childlike behaviour is part of Sufi character. Howling is both an expression of pain and a cry for help. Rumi had written “the grief you cry out from draws you towards union; your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup. Listen to the moan of a dog for its master, the whining, is the connection. There are love dogs no one knows the name of. Give your life to be one of them.”
I confess I am as out of my depth with this kind of dogma as I am with the writings of our own mystics, the Bhaktas. However, I persisted in my reading of Rumi for two reasons. The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne, was gifted to me by a close friend, Samia Moosa, an attractive Afghan lady who spends her time equally between Kabul and California. And I wanted to know what was so great about Jelaluddin Rumi after whom a cult of dancing dervishes has been established.
I was fully rewarded: there are gems of wisdom strewn in a lot of tales.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Sufism: Fountainhead of India's composite culture
By Pranav Khullar - The New Nation - Bangladesh
Fri, 31 Mar 2006
In India, Sufism has been typically Indian and more typically - Sindhi, both in content and quality. A thoroughly indigenous movement, it absorbed the finest in Islam and Hinduism, thereby laying the foundations of what is today called the composite culture of India to which we, as a nation, are culturally and Constitutionally committed. Sindhi Sufism stood for raising the quality of life through realisation of God, as influenced it was by Vedanta.
Sindhi Sufi poetry is traceable to the seven baits (slokas) of Mamoi saints of the 14th century. There are some baits of Qazi Qadan (died 1551) which talk of Tauhid (Unity of Being). The 16th century produced a great Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Karim 0536-1622), known for his learning and piety. His 92 baits proclaiming the brotherhood of man and the unity of god are recited by the devout even till this day. His son Shah Habib was a perfect man of God who served the sick and the poor. Towards the middle of the 17th century Sind produced another great Sufi saint Shah Inayat 0656-1718). Popularly known as Shah Inayat of Jhok, his baits and boys (verses) enthralled the desert. Through his Sufi hymns he inspired the people to revolt against the unjust Zamindari (land holding) system and asked his fellow beings not to pay taxes. A God-intoxicated man, he was executed by the corrupt Governor of Thatta. Saintmartyr, he is hero of many a Sindhi legend and folklore.
By the end of the 17th century there appeared the greatest Sindhi Sufi poet who infused a new life and gave a new hope to his people. His name was Shah Abdul Latif, meaning the Gracious of the Gracious 0689-1752). Well versed in Quranic traditions and Vedantic thought, the Shah knew seven languages and was called 'Sufi-e-Haft Zaban '. Shah Abdul Latif's greatest contribution to the Sufi thought are his spiritual sermons which have been compiled by his disciples and are called 'Shah Jo Risalo' (The Message of Shah). Risalo is neither a philosophical treatise nor a literary masterpiece, but it transports the readers to new spiritual heights.
Shah Abdul Latif was a Sufi poet in the ancient Vedic traditions where the saints and sages possessed nothing and whom nothing possessed except the name of God, the service of the poor and welfare of humanity. Shah believed that while intellect is bondage, faith is the liberator; while the mystics learn from God, the Ulema learn from books. Shah liked the company of Hindu saints and visted Hindu centres of pilgrimage. At Dwaraka, he danced reciting the name of Lord Krishna. In spite of his vast erudition he found comfort in mysticism than in theology.
In a larger analysis Shah Abdul Latif was a part of Bhakti movement which swept the country from 13th to the 19th century in one form or the other. He adopted the Hindu ritual of 'shaving the head' for every new entrant in the 'Khanqah' (Hospice), offering Sherbet (sweetened water) to every visitor in the monastery. Even the 40-day ritual of suspending the body in a well, known as 'Chillae-Makus' was a Hindu institution known to the 'Ardh-mukhi'sect. Accordingly, Shah Abdul Latif made no distinction between a 'Gurukul' and a 'Khanqah', between a Mandir and a Masjid. His Surs (musical notes) are musical compositions which fit into the Indian classical mould. According to Captain Alexander Hamilton, the Surs of Shah are a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Hamilton was the only European who visited Sind during the Shah's lifetime. As a poet of nature, he was even greater. He wrote of the rainy seasons, the cranes of Sind, of the crows...
And lastly, we have Sachal Sarmast. Kalyan B. Advani, author of a beautiful monograph on Sarmast, said: "He remained throughout his life under the wonderous spell of that great mystic martyr, Mansoor, although he himself did not adorn the gibbet, much as he coveted it. He proclaimed his Master's message to the world, like a Muezzin from a Tower, crying Anal Haq (I am the God/I am the Truth)". He wrote nearly one lakh vesses.
Sachal's tradition was carried on by a number of Hindu Sufi poets, particularly Bhai Chainrai 07431850), popularly known as Sami. He is the first Sindhi Vedantic poet who wrote 15,000 Sufi hymns in the form of Slokas. Bhai Dalpatram 0769-1841) is another Vedantic who remained unsurpassed in devotional poetry.
Rohal was yet another who carried on the tradition of Shah Inayat. He wrote Bhakti verses in Hindi besides in Sindhi and Saraiki. Qadir Baksh 'Bedil' and Mohammad Mohsin 'Bekas' in the late 19th century were also Sufi poets of high order and elegance. Both of them were prolific writers who wrote in Sindhi, Hindi and Persian.
The Sindhi Sufi ghazal compares favourably with the Kashmiri Sufiana Kalam, known for its dulcet music and spiritual notes. In prose, Sindhis translated 'Quran Sharif'in 1746 and the Bible in 1825 into Sindhi - much before the British conqurered Sind in 1843. Sindhi is written both in Devanagari as well as in Arabic script.
Recently even the love legend of Sassi-Punnu was given a Sufi touch when Sassi sings Sachal in gay abandon in the desert before her union with Punnu...
Read More
Fri, 31 Mar 2006
In India, Sufism has been typically Indian and more typically - Sindhi, both in content and quality. A thoroughly indigenous movement, it absorbed the finest in Islam and Hinduism, thereby laying the foundations of what is today called the composite culture of India to which we, as a nation, are culturally and Constitutionally committed. Sindhi Sufism stood for raising the quality of life through realisation of God, as influenced it was by Vedanta.
Sindhi Sufi poetry is traceable to the seven baits (slokas) of Mamoi saints of the 14th century. There are some baits of Qazi Qadan (died 1551) which talk of Tauhid (Unity of Being). The 16th century produced a great Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Karim 0536-1622), known for his learning and piety. His 92 baits proclaiming the brotherhood of man and the unity of god are recited by the devout even till this day. His son Shah Habib was a perfect man of God who served the sick and the poor. Towards the middle of the 17th century Sind produced another great Sufi saint Shah Inayat 0656-1718). Popularly known as Shah Inayat of Jhok, his baits and boys (verses) enthralled the desert. Through his Sufi hymns he inspired the people to revolt against the unjust Zamindari (land holding) system and asked his fellow beings not to pay taxes. A God-intoxicated man, he was executed by the corrupt Governor of Thatta. Saintmartyr, he is hero of many a Sindhi legend and folklore.
By the end of the 17th century there appeared the greatest Sindhi Sufi poet who infused a new life and gave a new hope to his people. His name was Shah Abdul Latif, meaning the Gracious of the Gracious 0689-1752). Well versed in Quranic traditions and Vedantic thought, the Shah knew seven languages and was called 'Sufi-e-Haft Zaban '. Shah Abdul Latif's greatest contribution to the Sufi thought are his spiritual sermons which have been compiled by his disciples and are called 'Shah Jo Risalo' (The Message of Shah). Risalo is neither a philosophical treatise nor a literary masterpiece, but it transports the readers to new spiritual heights.
Shah Abdul Latif was a Sufi poet in the ancient Vedic traditions where the saints and sages possessed nothing and whom nothing possessed except the name of God, the service of the poor and welfare of humanity. Shah believed that while intellect is bondage, faith is the liberator; while the mystics learn from God, the Ulema learn from books. Shah liked the company of Hindu saints and visted Hindu centres of pilgrimage. At Dwaraka, he danced reciting the name of Lord Krishna. In spite of his vast erudition he found comfort in mysticism than in theology.
In a larger analysis Shah Abdul Latif was a part of Bhakti movement which swept the country from 13th to the 19th century in one form or the other. He adopted the Hindu ritual of 'shaving the head' for every new entrant in the 'Khanqah' (Hospice), offering Sherbet (sweetened water) to every visitor in the monastery. Even the 40-day ritual of suspending the body in a well, known as 'Chillae-Makus' was a Hindu institution known to the 'Ardh-mukhi'sect. Accordingly, Shah Abdul Latif made no distinction between a 'Gurukul' and a 'Khanqah', between a Mandir and a Masjid. His Surs (musical notes) are musical compositions which fit into the Indian classical mould. According to Captain Alexander Hamilton, the Surs of Shah are a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Hamilton was the only European who visited Sind during the Shah's lifetime. As a poet of nature, he was even greater. He wrote of the rainy seasons, the cranes of Sind, of the crows...
And lastly, we have Sachal Sarmast. Kalyan B. Advani, author of a beautiful monograph on Sarmast, said: "He remained throughout his life under the wonderous spell of that great mystic martyr, Mansoor, although he himself did not adorn the gibbet, much as he coveted it. He proclaimed his Master's message to the world, like a Muezzin from a Tower, crying Anal Haq (I am the God/I am the Truth)". He wrote nearly one lakh vesses.
Sachal's tradition was carried on by a number of Hindu Sufi poets, particularly Bhai Chainrai 07431850), popularly known as Sami. He is the first Sindhi Vedantic poet who wrote 15,000 Sufi hymns in the form of Slokas. Bhai Dalpatram 0769-1841) is another Vedantic who remained unsurpassed in devotional poetry.
Rohal was yet another who carried on the tradition of Shah Inayat. He wrote Bhakti verses in Hindi besides in Sindhi and Saraiki. Qadir Baksh 'Bedil' and Mohammad Mohsin 'Bekas' in the late 19th century were also Sufi poets of high order and elegance. Both of them were prolific writers who wrote in Sindhi, Hindi and Persian.
The Sindhi Sufi ghazal compares favourably with the Kashmiri Sufiana Kalam, known for its dulcet music and spiritual notes. In prose, Sindhis translated 'Quran Sharif'in 1746 and the Bible in 1825 into Sindhi - much before the British conqurered Sind in 1843. Sindhi is written both in Devanagari as well as in Arabic script.
Recently even the love legend of Sassi-Punnu was given a Sufi touch when Sassi sings Sachal in gay abandon in the desert before her union with Punnu...
Konya to be seminar topic in US
Elif Özmenek - New York- Turkish Daily News/Referans
Thursday, March 30, 2006
The University of Utah is hosting a seminar on Konya to study its model of local governance. The mayor of Konya will explain his city to American audiences, adding a taste of whirling dervishes and Sufism to his speech
The Central Anatolian city of Konya, after being listed among the 14 cities in the world that the Financial Times ranked as qualified for direct investment, is now being studied as a role model by an American university. The University of Utah is organizing a seminar titled “Understanding Globalization in Turkish Periphery: The Spirit of Konya” March 29-30.
From the effects of Sufism on urbanization to the role of whirling dervishes in globalization, diverse themes from Konya are to be discussed at the seminar. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek is among 25 speakers invited for the event.
The seminar is aimed at discussing the question of how the Islamic world will adapt to the globalization process in general from a “conservative” model such as Konya. The main reason Konya was selected as a role model is the city's financing of its development model through its own resources. In other words, Konya is being studied because it has succeeded in developing without loans; it has almost no bank debt; 70 percent of its budget is secured for investment; and it has been listed as the top city in intercity performance ratings for producing its own non-Treasury resources.
In 2005 Konya's whirling dervish ceremony was selected for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) cultural heritage list. 2007 has also been declared the “Year of Mevlana.”
Read More
Thursday, March 30, 2006
The University of Utah is hosting a seminar on Konya to study its model of local governance. The mayor of Konya will explain his city to American audiences, adding a taste of whirling dervishes and Sufism to his speech
The Central Anatolian city of Konya, after being listed among the 14 cities in the world that the Financial Times ranked as qualified for direct investment, is now being studied as a role model by an American university. The University of Utah is organizing a seminar titled “Understanding Globalization in Turkish Periphery: The Spirit of Konya” March 29-30.
From the effects of Sufism on urbanization to the role of whirling dervishes in globalization, diverse themes from Konya are to be discussed at the seminar. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek is among 25 speakers invited for the event.
The seminar is aimed at discussing the question of how the Islamic world will adapt to the globalization process in general from a “conservative” model such as Konya. The main reason Konya was selected as a role model is the city's financing of its development model through its own resources. In other words, Konya is being studied because it has succeeded in developing without loans; it has almost no bank debt; 70 percent of its budget is secured for investment; and it has been listed as the top city in intercity performance ratings for producing its own non-Treasury resources.
In 2005 Konya's whirling dervish ceremony was selected for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) cultural heritage list. 2007 has also been declared the “Year of Mevlana.”
WPC demands jobs for 10,000 MA Punjabi students
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Thursday, March 30, 2006
LAHORE: The government should create job vacancies for 10,000 Punjabi Master’s degree holders, said World Punjabi Congress (WPC) Chairman Fakhar Zaman addressing the inaugural session of the International conference on Sufi poet Shah Hussain on Wednesday.
Fakhar Zaman said the Punjab Institute of Art was a result of the WPC’s effort and the organisation now aimed to set up a Punjabi University in which students, lecturers and researchers would work for promotion of Punjabi and other languages.
Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood said the Punjab government would take measures to create vacancies for Punjabi students and said new Punjabi newspapers, magazines and TV channels were the result of the government’s policies.
He said the Indian Punjab government’s proposal of setting up a Guru Nanak Punjabi University in Lahore was being considered.
WPC India President Satya Pal said Pakistani students must learn the Gurmukhi script along with the Shahmukhi script, to be able to read Sufi poetry and Punjabi literature of both countries. He said Punjabi was taught in schools from class 1 in the Indian Punjab.
A large number of delegates from India, England, the US, France, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Canada participated in the conference.
Read More
Thursday, March 30, 2006
LAHORE: The government should create job vacancies for 10,000 Punjabi Master’s degree holders, said World Punjabi Congress (WPC) Chairman Fakhar Zaman addressing the inaugural session of the International conference on Sufi poet Shah Hussain on Wednesday.
Fakhar Zaman said the Punjab Institute of Art was a result of the WPC’s effort and the organisation now aimed to set up a Punjabi University in which students, lecturers and researchers would work for promotion of Punjabi and other languages.
Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood said the Punjab government would take measures to create vacancies for Punjabi students and said new Punjabi newspapers, magazines and TV channels were the result of the government’s policies.
He said the Indian Punjab government’s proposal of setting up a Guru Nanak Punjabi University in Lahore was being considered.
WPC India President Satya Pal said Pakistani students must learn the Gurmukhi script along with the Shahmukhi script, to be able to read Sufi poetry and Punjabi literature of both countries. He said Punjabi was taught in schools from class 1 in the Indian Punjab.
A large number of delegates from India, England, the US, France, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Canada participated in the conference.
From Brazil To Mongolia, Sun Dances With Moon
By Joanne Omang - Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, March 30, 2006
KONYA, Turkey, March 29-- As the sun went dark here Wednesday, a dervish mystic whirled in a garden, one hand pointing to the earth, the other to the sky. "The solar system turns like the dervish, a cosmic dance," said Bekir Sahin, director of rare books and manuscripts in this provincial center of Islamic study. "Konya today is the center of the universe."
A total eclipse of the sun drew thousands of astronomers, eclipse groupies and tourists to this town for a glimpse of the cosmic dance that began at sunrise in Brazil and ended at sunset in northern Mongolia.
For many people, the journey here was spiritual. This ancient center of scholarship and the Sufi branch of Islam welcomed more than 3,000 foreign visitors to a day of contemplation mixed with science and a picnic holiday.
"We have busloads of people from Egypt, from Germany, from Japan," said Mevlut Bektas, director of tourism and culture. Every hotel room in the city was taken, he said. The Turkish government was expecting more than the 3.5 million visitors who came to the country for another total eclipse in 1999, and special festivals and tours were set up nationwide.
At the tomb of the 13th-century philosopher and mystic Celaleddin Rumi, who is known as Mevlana, villagers peered at the vanishing sun through special glasses distributed free by the local government. A chattering crowd in the garden outside the tomb fell quiet as the warm, clear day slowly turned wintry in thinning sunlight. They gasped as one at the moment of totality: Twilight surged around the horizon, Venus appeared in a midnight sky, and a ring of fire circled the black hole where the sun had been.
Sahin, the manuscript scholar, directed visitors to the nearby museum's display of astronomical equipment and documents dating from the Seljuk empire of the 11th to 13th centuries. "We believe the eclipse has an effect on the human heart, whether we feel it or not," he said.
From Turkey, the total eclipse moved across the Black Sea, then Georgia and southern Russia. In Baghdad, outside the path of totality, residents were briefly diverted from the continuing trauma of war as they looked aloft to see a partial obscuring of the sun, a crescent. In Bangladesh, the moon took a mere bite off the edge of the solar disk. Finally, at dusk over Asia, the sun and the moon parted ways.
Read More
By Joanne Omang - Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, March 30, 2006
KONYA, Turkey, March 29-- As the sun went dark here Wednesday, a dervish mystic whirled in a garden, one hand pointing to the earth, the other to the sky. "The solar system turns like the dervish, a cosmic dance," said Bekir Sahin, director of rare books and manuscripts in this provincial center of Islamic study. "Konya today is the center of the universe."
A total eclipse of the sun drew thousands of astronomers, eclipse groupies and tourists to this town for a glimpse of the cosmic dance that began at sunrise in Brazil and ended at sunset in northern Mongolia.
For many people, the journey here was spiritual. This ancient center of scholarship and the Sufi branch of Islam welcomed more than 3,000 foreign visitors to a day of contemplation mixed with science and a picnic holiday.
"We have busloads of people from Egypt, from Germany, from Japan," said Mevlut Bektas, director of tourism and culture. Every hotel room in the city was taken, he said. The Turkish government was expecting more than the 3.5 million visitors who came to the country for another total eclipse in 1999, and special festivals and tours were set up nationwide.
At the tomb of the 13th-century philosopher and mystic Celaleddin Rumi, who is known as Mevlana, villagers peered at the vanishing sun through special glasses distributed free by the local government. A chattering crowd in the garden outside the tomb fell quiet as the warm, clear day slowly turned wintry in thinning sunlight. They gasped as one at the moment of totality: Twilight surged around the horizon, Venus appeared in a midnight sky, and a ring of fire circled the black hole where the sun had been.
Sahin, the manuscript scholar, directed visitors to the nearby museum's display of astronomical equipment and documents dating from the Seljuk empire of the 11th to 13th centuries. "We believe the eclipse has an effect on the human heart, whether we feel it or not," he said.
From Turkey, the total eclipse moved across the Black Sea, then Georgia and southern Russia. In Baghdad, outside the path of totality, residents were briefly diverted from the continuing trauma of war as they looked aloft to see a partial obscuring of the sun, a crescent. In Bangladesh, the moon took a mere bite off the edge of the solar disk. Finally, at dusk over Asia, the sun and the moon parted ways.
Women dance and sing for Madhu Lal Hussain
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: About 6,000 women devotees of Madhu Lal Hussain wore colourful shawls, sang Sufi poetry and did the traditional dhamal to pay homage to the Muslim saint on the final day of his 418th Urs (anniversary).
The day, which was reserved for women, began with a ‘mehfil-e-milad’ from 9am to 1pm during which drums and dhamal were stopped and men were not allowed to enter the shrine. Mrs Abid from Lahore said it was a good idea to reserve the last day for women because it allowed women to show their affection for the saint uninhibited. She said she went to the shrine regularly and she loved to recite poetry.
Heleema Naz, a Rawalpindi resident, said she attended the Urs every year and would continue visiting the shrine for as long as she lived.
A woman from Multan said she had arrived in Lahore the previous night to attend the Urs. She said she had been visiting the shrine on the last day of the Urs for long, as her mother and father were devotees of the saint.
A number of women said shopping was one of the attractions of the anniversary. The ceremony concluded after Asr prayers. Allama Maqsood Ahmed and thousands of devotees prayed for Pakistan’s solidarity. The cleric urged people to follow the saint’s teachings.
Shah Hussain was born in 1538 and is a prominent Muslim saint in the subcontinent.
Read More
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: About 6,000 women devotees of Madhu Lal Hussain wore colourful shawls, sang Sufi poetry and did the traditional dhamal to pay homage to the Muslim saint on the final day of his 418th Urs (anniversary).
The day, which was reserved for women, began with a ‘mehfil-e-milad’ from 9am to 1pm during which drums and dhamal were stopped and men were not allowed to enter the shrine. Mrs Abid from Lahore said it was a good idea to reserve the last day for women because it allowed women to show their affection for the saint uninhibited. She said she went to the shrine regularly and she loved to recite poetry.
Heleema Naz, a Rawalpindi resident, said she attended the Urs every year and would continue visiting the shrine for as long as she lived.
A woman from Multan said she had arrived in Lahore the previous night to attend the Urs. She said she had been visiting the shrine on the last day of the Urs for long, as her mother and father were devotees of the saint.
A number of women said shopping was one of the attractions of the anniversary. The ceremony concluded after Asr prayers. Allama Maqsood Ahmed and thousands of devotees prayed for Pakistan’s solidarity. The cleric urged people to follow the saint’s teachings.
Shah Hussain was born in 1538 and is a prominent Muslim saint in the subcontinent.
An Unearthly Sufi Novel: Irving Karchmar's "Master of the Jinn"
By Ali Eteraz - alt.muslim
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Irving Karchmar's debut Sufi novel, "Master of the Jinn", heralds the arrival of a fresh literary voice to Islam and America. It also signals the revival of Sufism.
Although initially a bit off-putting due to a narratorial voice that's more Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe), than anything post-modern, this Sufi novel is a subtle creation twelve years in the making. Not a novel; it is layered cake.
For the mystics and the metaphysicians, this story is, through and through, a meditation on Love, the mercy of God, and spiritual discipline. The Sufi Master speaks on matters of the soul with the authority that Zorba the Greek reserved for matters of lust. The journey can be read allegorically, and many secrets meanings may be unearthed in later reads. Occassionally Karchmar gives a hint of the matter being touched upon by dropping quotes from the poetry of innumerable Sufi poets. He also brings in quotations from Plato and the Psalms of David. These quotes were a favorite part of the experience.
The story can also be read as nothing more than an adventure. As such, it can make for interesting bed time reading for children and adults alike. The innocence of Karchmar's writing (his characters sure do weep with joy a lot), suggests that perhaps that there is something important in the adventure worth analyzing.
However, in my opinion, this novel contains far more. I should like to posit that in an age where the primary association of Islam is with rage, Karchmar's novel is a conscious counterbalance to the Zarqawis and al-Sadrs of the world. It seems no accident that the novel is set in Jerusalem, or that the chosen is a former agent of the Mossad (that bugaboo that haunts radical Islam), or that the archaeologist is a holocaust survivor, or that the star of David is a part of the mystery. Karchmar seems to be using theology to open doors.
You can order the book on http://www.masterofthejinn.com or on amazon.com
Read More
By Ali Eteraz - alt.muslim
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Irving Karchmar's debut Sufi novel, "Master of the Jinn", heralds the arrival of a fresh literary voice to Islam and America. It also signals the revival of Sufism.
Although initially a bit off-putting due to a narratorial voice that's more Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe), than anything post-modern, this Sufi novel is a subtle creation twelve years in the making. Not a novel; it is layered cake.
For the mystics and the metaphysicians, this story is, through and through, a meditation on Love, the mercy of God, and spiritual discipline. The Sufi Master speaks on matters of the soul with the authority that Zorba the Greek reserved for matters of lust. The journey can be read allegorically, and many secrets meanings may be unearthed in later reads. Occassionally Karchmar gives a hint of the matter being touched upon by dropping quotes from the poetry of innumerable Sufi poets. He also brings in quotations from Plato and the Psalms of David. These quotes were a favorite part of the experience.
The story can also be read as nothing more than an adventure. As such, it can make for interesting bed time reading for children and adults alike. The innocence of Karchmar's writing (his characters sure do weep with joy a lot), suggests that perhaps that there is something important in the adventure worth analyzing.
However, in my opinion, this novel contains far more. I should like to posit that in an age where the primary association of Islam is with rage, Karchmar's novel is a conscious counterbalance to the Zarqawis and al-Sadrs of the world. It seems no accident that the novel is set in Jerusalem, or that the chosen is a former agent of the Mossad (that bugaboo that haunts radical Islam), or that the archaeologist is a holocaust survivor, or that the star of David is a part of the mystery. Karchmar seems to be using theology to open doors.
You can order the book on http://www.masterofthejinn.com or on amazon.com
Malhotra's clothes spell Freedom
By: Sandipan Dalal - Mid-Day Mumbai - India
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
After experimenting with gold coins and coral, designer Manish Malhotra has brought out an all-white collection, titled Freedom, to showcase at the Lakme Fashion Week 2006.
As far as the theme is concerned, the designer says he’s inspired by the soul-liberating philosophy of Sufism.
Says Malhotra, “My clothes celebrate the spirit of the modern woman who does not carry the baggage of accepted norms to look beautiful".
It’s all about tapping the natural world and getting tuned to world music — that’s Malhotra’s mantra this year. “I’m very fond of Sufi music. And I have used a few Abida Parveen tracks for the ramp shows,” he adds.
Read More
By: Sandipan Dalal - Mid-Day Mumbai - India
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
After experimenting with gold coins and coral, designer Manish Malhotra has brought out an all-white collection, titled Freedom, to showcase at the Lakme Fashion Week 2006.
As far as the theme is concerned, the designer says he’s inspired by the soul-liberating philosophy of Sufism.
Says Malhotra, “My clothes celebrate the spirit of the modern woman who does not carry the baggage of accepted norms to look beautiful".
It’s all about tapping the natural world and getting tuned to world music — that’s Malhotra’s mantra this year. “I’m very fond of Sufi music. And I have used a few Abida Parveen tracks for the ramp shows,” he adds.
Conference on Shah Hussain starts tomorrow
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: The World Punjabi Congress (WPC) has announced the schedule of a three-day international conference on renowned Sufi poet Shah Hussain starting tomorrow (Wednesday).
Addressing a press conference on Monday, WPC Chairman Fakhar Zaman said that Sufism was now getting considerable attention from the world, as this was “the only way to identify the roots of every human”. He said that more than 250 delegates from nine countries, including Sweden, the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and India, would participate in the conference. Over 80 scholars, journalists, writers, intellectuals, educationists and artists from India would participate in the conference, he said.
Outlining the schedule, Zaman said that the conference would be inaugurated tomorrow with welcome speeches from heads of visiting delegations followed by a reception and a musical show at the Fountain House. On the second day of the conference, research papers would be read out on ‘Sufi tradition in the subcontinent’, ‘Relevance of the Sufi message in the present global context’, ‘Humanism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’, ‘The life and poetry of Shah Hussain’, ‘Poetry pre and post-Shah Hussain period — patterns and trends’, and ‘Shah Hussain’s poetry and Raagas’. Later, the delegates would visit a farmhouse on Raiwind Road.
Papers on ‘Sufism and peace’, ‘Sufism — a source of enlightenment in South Asia’, ‘Wahdatul Insaan in Sufi poetry’, ‘Woman referent in Sufi poetry’, ‘Shah Hussain’s lyricism’, ‘Recurring themes in Sufi poetry’ and ‘Symbolism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’ would be read out on the third day of the conference.
Zaman would then announce the ‘Lahore Declaration’, followed by a visit by the delegation to the shrine of Shah Hussain.
Zaman said that the speakers from India would include Dr SS Noor, Kashmiri Lal Zakir, Dr Fatima Hussain, Dr Deepak Manmohan, Dr Satish Verma, Dr Vanita, Dr Jagbir Singh, Dr Davinder Singh, Kamlesh Mohan and Dr Ravel Singh. The WPC chairman said that three books written on past conferences would also be launched on the final day. An exhibition on the ecology and architecture of Lahore during Shah Hussain’s time would also be held, he said.
Read More
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LAHORE: The World Punjabi Congress (WPC) has announced the schedule of a three-day international conference on renowned Sufi poet Shah Hussain starting tomorrow (Wednesday).
Addressing a press conference on Monday, WPC Chairman Fakhar Zaman said that Sufism was now getting considerable attention from the world, as this was “the only way to identify the roots of every human”. He said that more than 250 delegates from nine countries, including Sweden, the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and India, would participate in the conference. Over 80 scholars, journalists, writers, intellectuals, educationists and artists from India would participate in the conference, he said.
Outlining the schedule, Zaman said that the conference would be inaugurated tomorrow with welcome speeches from heads of visiting delegations followed by a reception and a musical show at the Fountain House. On the second day of the conference, research papers would be read out on ‘Sufi tradition in the subcontinent’, ‘Relevance of the Sufi message in the present global context’, ‘Humanism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’, ‘The life and poetry of Shah Hussain’, ‘Poetry pre and post-Shah Hussain period — patterns and trends’, and ‘Shah Hussain’s poetry and Raagas’. Later, the delegates would visit a farmhouse on Raiwind Road.
Papers on ‘Sufism and peace’, ‘Sufism — a source of enlightenment in South Asia’, ‘Wahdatul Insaan in Sufi poetry’, ‘Woman referent in Sufi poetry’, ‘Shah Hussain’s lyricism’, ‘Recurring themes in Sufi poetry’ and ‘Symbolism in Shah Hussain’s poetry’ would be read out on the third day of the conference.
Zaman would then announce the ‘Lahore Declaration’, followed by a visit by the delegation to the shrine of Shah Hussain.
Zaman said that the speakers from India would include Dr SS Noor, Kashmiri Lal Zakir, Dr Fatima Hussain, Dr Deepak Manmohan, Dr Satish Verma, Dr Vanita, Dr Jagbir Singh, Dr Davinder Singh, Kamlesh Mohan and Dr Ravel Singh. The WPC chairman said that three books written on past conferences would also be launched on the final day. An exhibition on the ecology and architecture of Lahore during Shah Hussain’s time would also be held, he said.
Sufi, so good!
By Rituparna Som - Daily News and Analysis -Mumbai, India
Monday, March 27, 2006
MTV head honcho William H. Roedy grooves to the mystical music form
He’s a self-confessed chronic zapper jumping from channel to channel before you can say MTV, and currently hopelessly addicted to singer Kailash Kher. We would expect nothing less from the chairman, MTV Networks and President, MTV Networks International, William H Roedy. “My biggest priority in India is to get Kailash Kher’s CDs,” he states. “Sufi and Indian fusion - that’s the sort of thing I love. I bring it home, play it until my wife gets tired of it. I get so addicted that it’s hard to get off it.”
Read More
Monday, March 27, 2006
MTV head honcho William H. Roedy grooves to the mystical music form
He’s a self-confessed chronic zapper jumping from channel to channel before you can say MTV, and currently hopelessly addicted to singer Kailash Kher. We would expect nothing less from the chairman, MTV Networks and President, MTV Networks International, William H Roedy. “My biggest priority in India is to get Kailash Kher’s CDs,” he states. “Sufi and Indian fusion - that’s the sort of thing I love. I bring it home, play it until my wife gets tired of it. I get so addicted that it’s hard to get off it.”
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Afghanistan: Film revisits destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas
By Andrew Tully - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Five years ago this month, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan blew up the two Bamiyan Buddhas -- one of them more than 50 meters tall and believed to be the world's largest representation of Buddha. The Taliban deemed the effigies offensive to Islam and carried out the destruction despite pleas from leaders around the world -- including UNESCO, the government of neighboring Pakistan and the grand mufti of Egypt. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei has produced "The Giant Buddhas," a documentary about this great cultural loss and what it says about tolerance and cultural diversity.
"The Giant Buddhas" is 95 minutes long, and the destruction of the statues doesn't come until about 35 minutes into the film. Frei says his work isn't about the destruction, but rather it documents the importance of these Buddhist icons and how they figure in the clash of the Western and Islamic cultures.
Frei says it is right for those outside Afghanistan to be angry about the destruction of the statues. But he argues that, in many cases, the Western reaction was to view all Muslims as being as intolerant as the Taliban.
Not Black And White
In fact, Frei says, Islam has many faces. He points to the tolerance of the residents of the Bamiyan Valley, and that of a Sufi, or Islamic mystic, who was interviewed in his film.
"The motivation for me to make a film is always to show that the world is multifaceted and not that simple, not that black and white," Frei said. "Of course, it was an act of ignorance to destroy the Buddhas, but for example in the film I have a Sufi sequence -- you know Sufism? The tolerant Islam. So you get away from the film I think with this information: OK, but it's not all about fundamentalism, in this film there's a lot of beauty."
Information Is The Key
Frei says he hopes his documentary will show audiences around the world -- especially Western audiences -- ways to break out of their cultural shells and realize that they live in a world that is less polarized than they may believe.
"It's always about information," he says. "I think the lack of information leads to preconceptions and stereotypes and ignorance, finally. And the best way to counter it is information and emotion and maybe documentary film, I don't know. I hope so."
"The Giant Buddhas" was presented on March 26 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The showing is part of the Environmental Film Festival, which features 100 productions over two weeks in various settings around the American capital.
Read More
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Five years ago this month, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan blew up the two Bamiyan Buddhas -- one of them more than 50 meters tall and believed to be the world's largest representation of Buddha. The Taliban deemed the effigies offensive to Islam and carried out the destruction despite pleas from leaders around the world -- including UNESCO, the government of neighboring Pakistan and the grand mufti of Egypt. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei has produced "The Giant Buddhas," a documentary about this great cultural loss and what it says about tolerance and cultural diversity.
"The Giant Buddhas" is 95 minutes long, and the destruction of the statues doesn't come until about 35 minutes into the film. Frei says his work isn't about the destruction, but rather it documents the importance of these Buddhist icons and how they figure in the clash of the Western and Islamic cultures.
Frei says it is right for those outside Afghanistan to be angry about the destruction of the statues. But he argues that, in many cases, the Western reaction was to view all Muslims as being as intolerant as the Taliban.
Not Black And White
In fact, Frei says, Islam has many faces. He points to the tolerance of the residents of the Bamiyan Valley, and that of a Sufi, or Islamic mystic, who was interviewed in his film.
"The motivation for me to make a film is always to show that the world is multifaceted and not that simple, not that black and white," Frei said. "Of course, it was an act of ignorance to destroy the Buddhas, but for example in the film I have a Sufi sequence -- you know Sufism? The tolerant Islam. So you get away from the film I think with this information: OK, but it's not all about fundamentalism, in this film there's a lot of beauty."
Information Is The Key
Frei says he hopes his documentary will show audiences around the world -- especially Western audiences -- ways to break out of their cultural shells and realize that they live in a world that is less polarized than they may believe.
"It's always about information," he says. "I think the lack of information leads to preconceptions and stereotypes and ignorance, finally. And the best way to counter it is information and emotion and maybe documentary film, I don't know. I hope so."
"The Giant Buddhas" was presented on March 26 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The showing is part of the Environmental Film Festival, which features 100 productions over two weeks in various settings around the American capital.
Emotionally charged postcard from afar
Review by Alan Cheuse - San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Camilla Gibb is a Toronto fiction writer who originally trained in social anthropology. If her latest novel, "Sweetness in the Belly," is any evidence, her fieldwork in Ethiopia seems to have paid off in surprising ways. This engrossing book -- the story of Lilly, an English-born nurse who, after the death of her hippie parents in North Africa, is raised by a Moroccan Sufi scholar and then emigrates to Harar, Ethiopia -- seems utterly convincing and authentic.
"Each morning ... we sat in the doorway of the dark room ... and recited quietly for an hour against the rhythmic sounds of Nouria on her knees scrubbing clothes in a big metal basin. ... It was here that we began in earnest. Listen and repeat. Listen and repeat. Line by line, verse by verse, just the way the Great Abdal had taught me."
The glimpse "Sweetness in the Belly" offers into the intimate lives of Muslim women and Ethiopian life and clan and national politics is sharp and moving, an unexpected book-length postcard from a part of the world most of us have never visited.
Camilla Gibb
Sweetness in the Belly
THE PENGUIN PRESS; 352 PAGES; $23.95
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Sunday, March 26, 2006
Camilla Gibb is a Toronto fiction writer who originally trained in social anthropology. If her latest novel, "Sweetness in the Belly," is any evidence, her fieldwork in Ethiopia seems to have paid off in surprising ways. This engrossing book -- the story of Lilly, an English-born nurse who, after the death of her hippie parents in North Africa, is raised by a Moroccan Sufi scholar and then emigrates to Harar, Ethiopia -- seems utterly convincing and authentic.
"Each morning ... we sat in the doorway of the dark room ... and recited quietly for an hour against the rhythmic sounds of Nouria on her knees scrubbing clothes in a big metal basin. ... It was here that we began in earnest. Listen and repeat. Listen and repeat. Line by line, verse by verse, just the way the Great Abdal had taught me."
The glimpse "Sweetness in the Belly" offers into the intimate lives of Muslim women and Ethiopian life and clan and national politics is sharp and moving, an unexpected book-length postcard from a part of the world most of us have never visited.
Camilla Gibb
Sweetness in the Belly
THE PENGUIN PRESS; 352 PAGES; $23.95
Dancing to the tune of the poet of love
By Rana Kashif - Daily Times - Pakistan
Sunday, March 26, 2006
LAHORE: The first day of Saint Mahdu Lal Hussain’s Urs, also called Mela Charaghan, was celebrated by people dancing (dhamal) to drumbeats around lit oil lamps. Around 450,000 people are expected to attend the three-day urs, the last day of which is reserved for women.
The Auqaf Department has organised a Mehfil-e-Sama and meetings to highlight various aspects of the saint’s life. Punjab Religious Affairs Minister Sahibzada Saeedul Hassan Shah inaugurated the urs on Friday, saying he was pleased with the arrangements and the government was providing maximum facilities to devotees. He said Sufis had helped promote Islam in the sub-continent and they were a source of guidance for people. Devotees honour Madhu Lal Hussain by lighting oil lamps at his shrine near Shalimar Gardens in Baghbanpura.
Several devotees could be seen dancing around a fire lit in the courtyard of the Sufi’s shrine on the first day. Some people were also singing the saint’s kafees and trying to get as close to the fire because of their belief that prayers were answered more quickly this way. Roads leading to the saint’s shrine were packed with pilgrims and food stalls.
Madhu Lal Hussain, the poet of love, was born in 1538 and his family lived outside Taxali Gate along River Ravi, which flowed near Lahore Fort at that time but some researchers differ with this view and say that the saint was born in ‘Dhadhi Village’ in Pind Dadan Khan (Jhelum). Kalsrai Rajputs, forefathers of Madhu Lal, embraced Islam in Feroze Shah Tughlaq’s reign. He started his formal education at the age of 10 when he was sent to Hafiz Abu Bakar at a mosque and some people say that Madhu Lal had memorised the Quran by heart.
Madhu Lal’s life changed when Sufi Behlol Daryai visited Lahore and met him while searching for water for ablution. Madhu Lal rushed to River Ravi and fetched water for Behlol Daryai, at which he accepted Madhu Lal as his disciple. It is also said that Madhu Lal was a Malamati, a school of Sufi thought that acts against societies’ ethical standards to make societies hate them in their effort to develop self-control.
He believed in love for humanity and his disciples included a Hindu boy Madhu, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s brother and several princes. The Hindu boy had left his family for the Sufi, who loved him so much that he put the boy’s name before his own. He was the first Punjabi Sufi whose Punjabi poetry contained words from other languages like Pothohari, Hindi, Persian and Arabic, but his poetry is extremely easy to understand. The Sufi also called himself Hussain Julaha, Hussain Namana, Hussain Faqeer and Shah Hussain in his verses. The theme of his poetry is Knowing God by Knowing Ourselves. He wrote almost 163 kafees and according to researchers, Madhu Lal was a true scholar and intellectual. Madhu Lal died in 1599 at the age of 63 and was buried in Shahdara, but his body was exhumed and buried at Baghbanpura where the Hindu boy Madhu is also buried. Madhu Lal’s famous kafees include Rabba Meray Hal Da Mehram Toon, Mein Vi Jhok Ranjhan Di Jana Nal Meray Koi Challay, Mahi Mahi Kookdi and Mandi Han Kay Changi Han Sahab Teri Bandi Han.
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Sunday, March 26, 2006
LAHORE: The first day of Saint Mahdu Lal Hussain’s Urs, also called Mela Charaghan, was celebrated by people dancing (dhamal) to drumbeats around lit oil lamps. Around 450,000 people are expected to attend the three-day urs, the last day of which is reserved for women.
The Auqaf Department has organised a Mehfil-e-Sama and meetings to highlight various aspects of the saint’s life. Punjab Religious Affairs Minister Sahibzada Saeedul Hassan Shah inaugurated the urs on Friday, saying he was pleased with the arrangements and the government was providing maximum facilities to devotees. He said Sufis had helped promote Islam in the sub-continent and they were a source of guidance for people. Devotees honour Madhu Lal Hussain by lighting oil lamps at his shrine near Shalimar Gardens in Baghbanpura.
Several devotees could be seen dancing around a fire lit in the courtyard of the Sufi’s shrine on the first day. Some people were also singing the saint’s kafees and trying to get as close to the fire because of their belief that prayers were answered more quickly this way. Roads leading to the saint’s shrine were packed with pilgrims and food stalls.
Madhu Lal Hussain, the poet of love, was born in 1538 and his family lived outside Taxali Gate along River Ravi, which flowed near Lahore Fort at that time but some researchers differ with this view and say that the saint was born in ‘Dhadhi Village’ in Pind Dadan Khan (Jhelum). Kalsrai Rajputs, forefathers of Madhu Lal, embraced Islam in Feroze Shah Tughlaq’s reign. He started his formal education at the age of 10 when he was sent to Hafiz Abu Bakar at a mosque and some people say that Madhu Lal had memorised the Quran by heart.
Madhu Lal’s life changed when Sufi Behlol Daryai visited Lahore and met him while searching for water for ablution. Madhu Lal rushed to River Ravi and fetched water for Behlol Daryai, at which he accepted Madhu Lal as his disciple. It is also said that Madhu Lal was a Malamati, a school of Sufi thought that acts against societies’ ethical standards to make societies hate them in their effort to develop self-control.
He believed in love for humanity and his disciples included a Hindu boy Madhu, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s brother and several princes. The Hindu boy had left his family for the Sufi, who loved him so much that he put the boy’s name before his own. He was the first Punjabi Sufi whose Punjabi poetry contained words from other languages like Pothohari, Hindi, Persian and Arabic, but his poetry is extremely easy to understand. The Sufi also called himself Hussain Julaha, Hussain Namana, Hussain Faqeer and Shah Hussain in his verses. The theme of his poetry is Knowing God by Knowing Ourselves. He wrote almost 163 kafees and according to researchers, Madhu Lal was a true scholar and intellectual. Madhu Lal died in 1599 at the age of 63 and was buried in Shahdara, but his body was exhumed and buried at Baghbanpura where the Hindu boy Madhu is also buried. Madhu Lal’s famous kafees include Rabba Meray Hal Da Mehram Toon, Mein Vi Jhok Ranjhan Di Jana Nal Meray Koi Challay, Mahi Mahi Kookdi and Mandi Han Kay Changi Han Sahab Teri Bandi Han.
Energy and aromatherapy
By Dr. Amir Farid Isahak - The Star - Malaysia
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Aromatherapy is a holistic healing method that combines the science of essential oils with the art of listening to the body, and applying the appropriate essences to re-harmonise the imbalances. The oils can be sniffed directly, sprayed, taken as inhalation, or more usually, diffused into the air using a burner or diffuser. They can also be used as direct applications to the body, as massage oil, or incorporated into soaps, body care items and even in household sprays and insect repellents.
Because the resources (mostly flowers, herbs, seeds and spices) are readily available, aromatherapy has been practised for thousands of years. However, very little scientific study has been done until recently.
Being a medical doctor, I was very sceptical of aromatherapy. My attitude changed after learning through Sufi Healing that aromatherapy was first used by Prophet Sulaiman (King Solomon) and that some Sufi healers still use rose essential oil as the mainstay of their treatments.
The rose is a very special flower. Thousands of flowers are used to extract its essence and it remains the mainstay of Sufi essential oils.
Energy healers know that the essential oils have a very strong life-force (qi) that can influence the various energy systems in the body. Since certain plants have high levels of qi, they are more suitable to be used for healing.
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Sunday, March 26, 2006
Aromatherapy is a holistic healing method that combines the science of essential oils with the art of listening to the body, and applying the appropriate essences to re-harmonise the imbalances. The oils can be sniffed directly, sprayed, taken as inhalation, or more usually, diffused into the air using a burner or diffuser. They can also be used as direct applications to the body, as massage oil, or incorporated into soaps, body care items and even in household sprays and insect repellents.
Because the resources (mostly flowers, herbs, seeds and spices) are readily available, aromatherapy has been practised for thousands of years. However, very little scientific study has been done until recently.
Being a medical doctor, I was very sceptical of aromatherapy. My attitude changed after learning through Sufi Healing that aromatherapy was first used by Prophet Sulaiman (King Solomon) and that some Sufi healers still use rose essential oil as the mainstay of their treatments.
The rose is a very special flower. Thousands of flowers are used to extract its essence and it remains the mainstay of Sufi essential oils.
Energy healers know that the essential oils have a very strong life-force (qi) that can influence the various energy systems in the body. Since certain plants have high levels of qi, they are more suitable to be used for healing.
Sufi Songs at the Bardavon
By Sandy Tomcho - Times Herald-Record
Sunday, March 26, 2006
"Songs of the Sufi Brotherhood," featuring Hassan Hakmoun and Hamza el Din, will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bardavon.
Hamza el Din plays the oud (string instrument) and tar (ancient drum), and his music has appeared in such movies as the "Black Stallion" and "Passion in the Desert."
Hassan Hakmoun plays the sintir, an African bass drum.
Read More
Sunday, March 26, 2006
"Songs of the Sufi Brotherhood," featuring Hassan Hakmoun and Hamza el Din, will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bardavon.
Hamza el Din plays the oud (string instrument) and tar (ancient drum), and his music has appeared in such movies as the "Black Stallion" and "Passion in the Desert."
Hassan Hakmoun plays the sintir, an African bass drum.
Devotees stopped from performing rituals
Source: newindpress.com - Southern news- Karnataka
Saturday, March 25, 2006
CHIKMAGALUR: Karnataka Komu Sowharda Vedike leaders alleged that the district administration had restrained devotees from performing rituals as per the Sufi customs during the recently-concluded three-day Urs at the cave shrine Datta Peeta atop Bababudangiri hills.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Komu Sowharda Vedike state secretary K.L. Ashok pointed out that the district administration and State government had not permitted religious head Sha Quadri to smear sandal paste and cover tombs with new green cloth (gilf) as per the Sufi custom. K.L. Ashok complained that the Janata Dal-Secular was systematically attacking minorities with the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The administration had restricted religious performances on the pretext of court direction, he added.
Recalling that the Court had asked the district administration to allow all customs that prevailed prior to 1975, he claimed that smearing sandal paste and covering the tomb with new cloth was the custom earlier too.
Without following these rites the Urs was not complete. So Sha Quadri was forced to postpone the Urs date. Gouse Moiddin clarified that another day for the Urs would be fixed after collecting the opinion of minority community.
Komu Sowharda Vedike leader Ahobalpathi, district secretary Puttaswamy and Mahila Jagarthi leader Shantha were present.
Read More
Saturday, March 25, 2006
CHIKMAGALUR: Karnataka Komu Sowharda Vedike leaders alleged that the district administration had restrained devotees from performing rituals as per the Sufi customs during the recently-concluded three-day Urs at the cave shrine Datta Peeta atop Bababudangiri hills.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Komu Sowharda Vedike state secretary K.L. Ashok pointed out that the district administration and State government had not permitted religious head Sha Quadri to smear sandal paste and cover tombs with new green cloth (gilf) as per the Sufi custom. K.L. Ashok complained that the Janata Dal-Secular was systematically attacking minorities with the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The administration had restricted religious performances on the pretext of court direction, he added.
Recalling that the Court had asked the district administration to allow all customs that prevailed prior to 1975, he claimed that smearing sandal paste and covering the tomb with new cloth was the custom earlier too.
Without following these rites the Urs was not complete. So Sha Quadri was forced to postpone the Urs date. Gouse Moiddin clarified that another day for the Urs would be fixed after collecting the opinion of minority community.
Komu Sowharda Vedike leader Ahobalpathi, district secretary Puttaswamy and Mahila Jagarthi leader Shantha were present.
Isabelle Wen the fabric speak
By Jules Quartly, staff reporter - Taipei Times
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Read More
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Unless It's Value-Added, Religion's a Non-Starter These Days
By Russ Wellen - Freezerbox
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Worshippers are no longer content to take their religion straight anymore. They need a chaser. And that chaser is oppositional defiance.
Building a denomination or congregation today requires rallying it around the forces of evil -usually more imagined than real?
In America, congregations are pitted against other segments of America; the only religions where most of the worshippers commune with a higher power as opposed to raging against sinners are the activist and monastic branches of Christianity and the meditative traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam (Sufism).
Read More
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Worshippers are no longer content to take their religion straight anymore. They need a chaser. And that chaser is oppositional defiance.
Building a denomination or congregation today requires rallying it around the forces of evil -usually more imagined than real?
In America, congregations are pitted against other segments of America; the only religions where most of the worshippers commune with a higher power as opposed to raging against sinners are the activist and monastic branches of Christianity and the meditative traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam (Sufism).
Sufism Symposium: Understanding Islam from the Sufi Perspective in San Jose, California
Press release from: IAS
Open PR - 03-23-2006
Learn about Islam at Sufism Symposium
Scholars from around the world will make presentations to promote the understanding of Islam at the International Sufism Symposium at the Hilton Hotel, 300 Almaden Boulevard, San Jose, Friday through Sunday, May 5 - 7.
The weekend will include a Sufi psychology panel presentation on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm offering CEUs for therapists. Workshops and lectures will take place on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9:00 am each day. A Saturday evening prayer gathering will include Sufi zekr. Taneen Sufi Music Ensemble will present an interfaith concert with Ya Elah, Jewish Music Ensemble, on Friday, May 5 at 8 pm.
The Sufi Women’s Organization will bring together women from many countries and the young adult program, “Voices for Justice” will hold an open meeting.
This multi-cultural celebration is sponsored by the International Association of Sufism, headquartered in Novato. The weekend is open to the public with registration available for one, two or three days. Discounts are available for students and seniors and all programs are wheelchair accessible.
Read More
Open PR - 03-23-2006
Learn about Islam at Sufism Symposium
Scholars from around the world will make presentations to promote the understanding of Islam at the International Sufism Symposium at the Hilton Hotel, 300 Almaden Boulevard, San Jose, Friday through Sunday, May 5 - 7.
The weekend will include a Sufi psychology panel presentation on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm offering CEUs for therapists. Workshops and lectures will take place on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9:00 am each day. A Saturday evening prayer gathering will include Sufi zekr. Taneen Sufi Music Ensemble will present an interfaith concert with Ya Elah, Jewish Music Ensemble, on Friday, May 5 at 8 pm.
The Sufi Women’s Organization will bring together women from many countries and the young adult program, “Voices for Justice” will hold an open meeting.
This multi-cultural celebration is sponsored by the International Association of Sufism, headquartered in Novato. The weekend is open to the public with registration available for one, two or three days. Discounts are available for students and seniors and all programs are wheelchair accessible.
Pakistani court sentences two militants to death
Bureau Report - Zeenews.com - Quetta, Pakistan
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A Pakistani court today sentenced to death two bomb-makers involved in a sectarian attack that killed 43 people at Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan a year ago, lawyers said.
While receiving life terms for their role in the attack on the shrine near Gandhawa town in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the two men were sentenced to death after being found guilty of a subsequent attempt to assemble a bomb.
The anti-terrorism court in Sibi district, where Gandhawa is located, also sentenced three other men to life in prison for the attack on the shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint.
The convicted men were all members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Pakistan Army of the companions of the prophet) militant organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a radical Sunni Muslim group which opposes Sufism, a mystical version of Islam propagated by saints. The group was banned by the government in 2002 as part of Pakistan's campaign to rein in Islamist militants.
Thousands of people had gathered at the shrine for an annual celebration when the blasts occurred.
Read More
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A Pakistani court today sentenced to death two bomb-makers involved in a sectarian attack that killed 43 people at Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan a year ago, lawyers said.
While receiving life terms for their role in the attack on the shrine near Gandhawa town in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the two men were sentenced to death after being found guilty of a subsequent attempt to assemble a bomb.
The anti-terrorism court in Sibi district, where Gandhawa is located, also sentenced three other men to life in prison for the attack on the shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint.
The convicted men were all members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Pakistan Army of the companions of the prophet) militant organisation. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a radical Sunni Muslim group which opposes Sufism, a mystical version of Islam propagated by saints. The group was banned by the government in 2002 as part of Pakistan's campaign to rein in Islamist militants.
Thousands of people had gathered at the shrine for an annual celebration when the blasts occurred.
Data’s anniversary celebrations end
Staff Report - Daily Times - Pakistan
Lahore, Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The annual three-day Urs (anniversary) of Lahore’s patron saint Data Gunj Buksh’s ended on Tuesday. Poetry, music, dance and love for humanity continue.
Thousands of devotees of the renowned Sufi saint, one of the major preachers of Islam in the subcontinent, visited his shrine from all over the country and abroad. Devotees participated in events featuring Sufi poetry, folk music and dance.
The weather remained pleasant and pilgrims were given free food and milk at the shrine.
A large number of visitors shopped at Lahore’s markets and went to parks and most cheap, small hotels and inns in the city were full. Several poor visitors spent the night in the open. The event also featured a large number of beggars coming to the city not only for free food and milk but also to collect alms from thousands of visitors.
The last day of the official celebration began with recitation from the Holy Quran. People laid chadors at the shrine and did the traditional dhamaal late into the night. A number of people spent the entire day at the shrine to pray and recite the Holy Quran. Punjab Religious Affairs and Auqaf Minister Sahabzada Saeedul Hasan Shah distributed prizes among the winners of Qawwali, Qirat and Naat competitions. The ceremony ended with prayers led by Allama Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad Qadri, khateeb of the Data Sahib Jamia Mosque.
Clerics participating in seminars and gatherings stressed the importance of peace and tolerance and said Sufi saints like Data Sahib played a key role in spreading Islam in the subcontinent. Prayers were offered for national security and prosperity. The district government had already announced a local holiday on the last day of the anniversary.
Read More
Lahore, Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The annual three-day Urs (anniversary) of Lahore’s patron saint Data Gunj Buksh’s ended on Tuesday. Poetry, music, dance and love for humanity continue.
Thousands of devotees of the renowned Sufi saint, one of the major preachers of Islam in the subcontinent, visited his shrine from all over the country and abroad. Devotees participated in events featuring Sufi poetry, folk music and dance.
The weather remained pleasant and pilgrims were given free food and milk at the shrine.
A large number of visitors shopped at Lahore’s markets and went to parks and most cheap, small hotels and inns in the city were full. Several poor visitors spent the night in the open. The event also featured a large number of beggars coming to the city not only for free food and milk but also to collect alms from thousands of visitors.
The last day of the official celebration began with recitation from the Holy Quran. People laid chadors at the shrine and did the traditional dhamaal late into the night. A number of people spent the entire day at the shrine to pray and recite the Holy Quran. Punjab Religious Affairs and Auqaf Minister Sahabzada Saeedul Hasan Shah distributed prizes among the winners of Qawwali, Qirat and Naat competitions. The ceremony ended with prayers led by Allama Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad Qadri, khateeb of the Data Sahib Jamia Mosque.
Clerics participating in seminars and gatherings stressed the importance of peace and tolerance and said Sufi saints like Data Sahib played a key role in spreading Islam in the subcontinent. Prayers were offered for national security and prosperity. The district government had already announced a local holiday on the last day of the anniversary.
Poetry in every plate
By Charles Perry - Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Sufi dishes are pleasing to the eye, such as a simple lettuce salad ringed with crimson rose petals.
In November Nevin Halici published "Sufi Cuisine," a book about this mystical food tradition, which includes recipes of dishes mentioned in Rumi's poems, of other dishes referred to in a history of the Mevlevis written a century after Rumi's time, and also of more recent dishes from a 19th century collection of Sufi recipes.
A dinner party brought life life to verse: the dishes that were appreciated most were the ones most closely drawn from the poetry: sour spinach and sweet spinach. These closely related one-bowl entrees combine, in the case of the former, spinach, lamb, bulgur and pomegranate molasses. The latter has garbanzos rather than bulgur and the sweeter pekmez rather than pomegranate molasses.
Read More
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Sufi dishes are pleasing to the eye, such as a simple lettuce salad ringed with crimson rose petals.
In November Nevin Halici published "Sufi Cuisine," a book about this mystical food tradition, which includes recipes of dishes mentioned in Rumi's poems, of other dishes referred to in a history of the Mevlevis written a century after Rumi's time, and also of more recent dishes from a 19th century collection of Sufi recipes.
A dinner party brought life life to verse: the dishes that were appreciated most were the ones most closely drawn from the poetry: sour spinach and sweet spinach. These closely related one-bowl entrees combine, in the case of the former, spinach, lamb, bulgur and pomegranate molasses. The latter has garbanzos rather than bulgur and the sweeter pekmez rather than pomegranate molasses.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Composite culture: India’s mainstay
By Murali Krishna - Deccan Herald - India
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Composite culture has been the mainstay of our society for ages. Experts point out that this is our unity’s raison d’etre. This has made modern India a model nation. While some countries have suffered from the process of balkanization, India has remained on a strong edifice. Of course, before India became a nation-state, partition took place. But that was the result of divisive communal politics that ripped apart our polity, leaving deep scars. Even after this, India's composite culture remained largely intact. A foray into the making of this composite culture reveals its fascinating facets.
Scholars opine that composite culture took a definite and clear shape between 12th and 16th century AD. During this period, there was amalgamation of the Indian, Iranian and Arabian heritages. They represented Hinduism, Zorastrianism and Islam religions and philosophies respectively.
The intermingling of Hindu and Islamic religious beliefs gave rise to Sufism. Sufi saints and poets effectively established a bond among common people of both these communities. They were held in high esteem. Kabir, Sheikh Salim Chisti, Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj-Shakkar, Hazrat Nizam-ud din Auliya are some of the outstanding sufi saints of this period.
The Bhakti movement also endeared itself to large sections of people by questioning some of the obnoxious practices and beliefs prevailing in the society. Down south, the Adil Shahi sultans who ruled from Bijapur did not practice religious bigotry. Many Hindus held high posts in their courts. Ibrahim Adil Shah II was called ‘Jagadguru'. He was a connoisseur of the arts, sculpture, music and culture. Kitab-e-Nauras one of his works on music has hymns in praise of Saraswati and Ganesh. In Karnataka, there are many shrines which signify the religious amity between Hindus and Muslims. Shirahatti’s Fakiraswamy and Bababudan Giri shrines among many and most of the darghas attract devotees of both these communities in good numbers.
Raja Rammohan Roy, the social reformer of the 19th century, had deep knowledge of both Hindu and Islamic scriptures. In addition, he was attracted by Christian charity and European rationalism. The national liberation struggle also had ingredients of composite culture. Many people of various communities rallied around and participated in large numbers braving many odds.
In recent times, concerted efforts were made to topple this edifice of composite culture. They were represented by forces of communalism and fundamentalism. Throwing proper historical analysis to the wind, they distorted facts and incited communal passions for their nefarious interests. We need not see far to know the plight of people in such a state. It is necessary for progressive people to close ranks and combat forces opposed to composite culture. Only then, can our fledgling democracy hope to survive.
Read More
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Composite culture has been the mainstay of our society for ages. Experts point out that this is our unity’s raison d’etre. This has made modern India a model nation. While some countries have suffered from the process of balkanization, India has remained on a strong edifice. Of course, before India became a nation-state, partition took place. But that was the result of divisive communal politics that ripped apart our polity, leaving deep scars. Even after this, India's composite culture remained largely intact. A foray into the making of this composite culture reveals its fascinating facets.
Scholars opine that composite culture took a definite and clear shape between 12th and 16th century AD. During this period, there was amalgamation of the Indian, Iranian and Arabian heritages. They represented Hinduism, Zorastrianism and Islam religions and philosophies respectively.
The intermingling of Hindu and Islamic religious beliefs gave rise to Sufism. Sufi saints and poets effectively established a bond among common people of both these communities. They were held in high esteem. Kabir, Sheikh Salim Chisti, Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj-Shakkar, Hazrat Nizam-ud din Auliya are some of the outstanding sufi saints of this period.
The Bhakti movement also endeared itself to large sections of people by questioning some of the obnoxious practices and beliefs prevailing in the society. Down south, the Adil Shahi sultans who ruled from Bijapur did not practice religious bigotry. Many Hindus held high posts in their courts. Ibrahim Adil Shah II was called ‘Jagadguru'. He was a connoisseur of the arts, sculpture, music and culture. Kitab-e-Nauras one of his works on music has hymns in praise of Saraswati and Ganesh. In Karnataka, there are many shrines which signify the religious amity between Hindus and Muslims. Shirahatti’s Fakiraswamy and Bababudan Giri shrines among many and most of the darghas attract devotees of both these communities in good numbers.
Raja Rammohan Roy, the social reformer of the 19th century, had deep knowledge of both Hindu and Islamic scriptures. In addition, he was attracted by Christian charity and European rationalism. The national liberation struggle also had ingredients of composite culture. Many people of various communities rallied around and participated in large numbers braving many odds.
In recent times, concerted efforts were made to topple this edifice of composite culture. They were represented by forces of communalism and fundamentalism. Throwing proper historical analysis to the wind, they distorted facts and incited communal passions for their nefarious interests. We need not see far to know the plight of people in such a state. It is necessary for progressive people to close ranks and combat forces opposed to composite culture. Only then, can our fledgling democracy hope to survive.
Kailash Kher singer on his debut album
By Mona Ramavat - The Times of India - Straight Answers
Hyderabad, Sunday, 19 March, 2006
'Popularity is a rather relative term'
Kailash Kehr, your first album is out finally. Will the title track Teri diwani become as popular as your Allah ke bande?
To begin with, popularity is a rather relative term. Allah ke bande was a different product with its own message and Teri diwani is unique in its own way.
You can't really compare the two. All I can say is that the latter is an experimental blend of a tune that will stay in one's mind for a long time and a treatment that will more than satisfy one's aesthetic needs.
Why did you choose Hyderabad to shoot the video?
Hyderabad is a beautiful city wrapped in an aura of the past. My music is tinged with some distinct old-time flavours and a Sufi style. Therefore, there couldn't have been locales better than the Charminar, the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the Tank Bund to shoot them at.
They have added immense value to the song. I am really looking forward to doing more such projects in Hyderabad...
What do you have to say about the growing popularity of the Sufi touch in Indian film and pop music?
Sufism is all about seeing love and romance at a level that is nothing less than divine. Its lyrics and rendition are such that they will make the audience feel spiritually connected to everything around them.
People are finding this genre of music quite appealing and music directors are adapting it to suit the popular Indian taste. I feel that experimental Sufi styles will go a long way.
Tell something about the projects you have lined up for the future?
For the present album, I worked with a band of two artistes, Paresh and Naresh, and plan to work on my next project with them again. It will be distinctly different from the present one.
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Hyderabad, Sunday, 19 March, 2006
'Popularity is a rather relative term'
Kailash Kehr, your first album is out finally. Will the title track Teri diwani become as popular as your Allah ke bande?
To begin with, popularity is a rather relative term. Allah ke bande was a different product with its own message and Teri diwani is unique in its own way.
You can't really compare the two. All I can say is that the latter is an experimental blend of a tune that will stay in one's mind for a long time and a treatment that will more than satisfy one's aesthetic needs.
Why did you choose Hyderabad to shoot the video?
Hyderabad is a beautiful city wrapped in an aura of the past. My music is tinged with some distinct old-time flavours and a Sufi style. Therefore, there couldn't have been locales better than the Charminar, the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the Tank Bund to shoot them at.
They have added immense value to the song. I am really looking forward to doing more such projects in Hyderabad...
What do you have to say about the growing popularity of the Sufi touch in Indian film and pop music?
Sufism is all about seeing love and romance at a level that is nothing less than divine. Its lyrics and rendition are such that they will make the audience feel spiritually connected to everything around them.
People are finding this genre of music quite appealing and music directors are adapting it to suit the popular Indian taste. I feel that experimental Sufi styles will go a long way.
Tell something about the projects you have lined up for the future?
For the present album, I worked with a band of two artistes, Paresh and Naresh, and plan to work on my next project with them again. It will be distinctly different from the present one.
Exploring various dimensions of Sufism
By Mandira Nayar - The Hindu
Friday, Mar 17, 2006
After the Capital's annual date with Sufi music -- the newest genre of music to become fashionable -- at Jahan-e-Khusro, it is time to move to more serious aspects of the music: the philosophy. Getting to the heart of the matter, it will give people a perspective on the music.
Celebrating the strong bonds of Sufism is the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature. Bringing together the inheritors and followers of this tradition to debate the philosophical issues at a conference, the Foundation hopes to be able to not only focus on mysticism and Sufism, but also highlight the composite culture of this region.
Titled "Sufi Traditions, Poetry and Philosophy'', the conference is a first ever, non-governmental initiative to explore various dimensions of Sufism. This three-day conference aims to strengthen dialogue between boundaries and people.
Besides looking at the historical perspective of the issue from the influence of the Bhakti movement, the conference also seeks to define the futuristic vision of Sufism. Widening the debate to include countries traditionally not in the Sufism "loop" there will be eminent scholars from France, the United States, Britain, Canada and Italy. There will also be scholars from Iran, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
Like all great debates and deliberations, the conference will be held at in the Capital's intellectual hub -- the India International Centre. Beginning March 18, there will be special guests like, former Prime Minister V.P Singh, Omar Khiladi and Adib Hussain.
While the conference aims to give people a chance to get to know the philosophy involved in Sufism, there is an opportunity to enjoy the music too with a performance of Sufi music by Shanti Hiranand on the first day.
Read More
Friday, Mar 17, 2006
After the Capital's annual date with Sufi music -- the newest genre of music to become fashionable -- at Jahan-e-Khusro, it is time to move to more serious aspects of the music: the philosophy. Getting to the heart of the matter, it will give people a perspective on the music.
Celebrating the strong bonds of Sufism is the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature. Bringing together the inheritors and followers of this tradition to debate the philosophical issues at a conference, the Foundation hopes to be able to not only focus on mysticism and Sufism, but also highlight the composite culture of this region.
Titled "Sufi Traditions, Poetry and Philosophy'', the conference is a first ever, non-governmental initiative to explore various dimensions of Sufism. This three-day conference aims to strengthen dialogue between boundaries and people.
Besides looking at the historical perspective of the issue from the influence of the Bhakti movement, the conference also seeks to define the futuristic vision of Sufism. Widening the debate to include countries traditionally not in the Sufism "loop" there will be eminent scholars from France, the United States, Britain, Canada and Italy. There will also be scholars from Iran, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
Like all great debates and deliberations, the conference will be held at in the Capital's intellectual hub -- the India International Centre. Beginning March 18, there will be special guests like, former Prime Minister V.P Singh, Omar Khiladi and Adib Hussain.
While the conference aims to give people a chance to get to know the philosophy involved in Sufism, there is an opportunity to enjoy the music too with a performance of Sufi music by Shanti Hiranand on the first day.
Chico, ex-goat herder, first Arab to top charts
By Talal Malik - Reuters - London, 16/03/2006
(Additional reporting by Omar Younis)
A former goat herder has sold twice as many records as Madonna in recent weeks, to become the first Arab to top the British pop singles chart since records began 44 years ago.
"Mashallah - it’s beyond dreams. To know that I’m the first Arab to do that, it’s a very proud moment," Chico told Reuters in an interview. His debut single, "It’s Chico Time", is enjoying its second week in the top spot.
Chico was raised in Morocco by his grandparents until the age of 13. During his childhood he worked as a goat herder before leaving for Britain. "I lived with my grandparents in Aroubia, in the mountains, and was a goat herder. What a life - I was brought up on a thousand-year tradition."
As well as pop music success, Chico and Madonna share an interest in mysticism -- Chico became a Sufi disciple 16 months ago and Madonna’s devotion to the Jewish school of mysticism, Kabbalah, is well-known.
The pop star says his new-found fame was the result of mentoring from Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi, an 83-year old Sufi mystic living in northern Cyprus. "Until I met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, my whole life was in the wilderness, I was like a moth wondering aimlessly, waiting to be reunited with the Divine Ocean," he said.
To avoid being cast as a "one-hit wonder" like many of his talent-show peers, Chico -- the first Arab at the top spot on the Official UK charts for at least four decades -- said he will release an album with a Middle Eastern flavour.
Prior to becoming a singer, Chico and his brother also produced a short film which gained a British Film and Television Academy Award (BAFTA) nomination, and still harbours ambitions to make films.
"Ultimately, I would like to make spiritual films, such as about the Prophet Mohammed, his companions and people like the Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Whatever I’m going to be doing, it’s going to be spiritually involved."
It is an ambitious leap from "It’s Chico Time", which features the chorus: "Well, you can get delirious, if you take life too serious."
Read More
(Additional reporting by Omar Younis)
A former goat herder has sold twice as many records as Madonna in recent weeks, to become the first Arab to top the British pop singles chart since records began 44 years ago.
"Mashallah - it’s beyond dreams. To know that I’m the first Arab to do that, it’s a very proud moment," Chico told Reuters in an interview. His debut single, "It’s Chico Time", is enjoying its second week in the top spot.
Chico was raised in Morocco by his grandparents until the age of 13. During his childhood he worked as a goat herder before leaving for Britain. "I lived with my grandparents in Aroubia, in the mountains, and was a goat herder. What a life - I was brought up on a thousand-year tradition."
As well as pop music success, Chico and Madonna share an interest in mysticism -- Chico became a Sufi disciple 16 months ago and Madonna’s devotion to the Jewish school of mysticism, Kabbalah, is well-known.
The pop star says his new-found fame was the result of mentoring from Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi, an 83-year old Sufi mystic living in northern Cyprus. "Until I met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, my whole life was in the wilderness, I was like a moth wondering aimlessly, waiting to be reunited with the Divine Ocean," he said.
To avoid being cast as a "one-hit wonder" like many of his talent-show peers, Chico -- the first Arab at the top spot on the Official UK charts for at least four decades -- said he will release an album with a Middle Eastern flavour.
Prior to becoming a singer, Chico and his brother also produced a short film which gained a British Film and Television Academy Award (BAFTA) nomination, and still harbours ambitions to make films.
"Ultimately, I would like to make spiritual films, such as about the Prophet Mohammed, his companions and people like the Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Whatever I’m going to be doing, it’s going to be spiritually involved."
It is an ambitious leap from "It’s Chico Time", which features the chorus: "Well, you can get delirious, if you take life too serious."
Ahmed Nadalian, an artist with a unique perspective
By Ershad Kamol - The Daily Star - Bangladesh
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Exhibiting at the 12th Asian Art Biennial is an 'interactive multimedia' display, titled Paradise by Iranian artist Ahmed Nadalian. Artist, art critic, teacher, philosopher -- Nadalian's career makes fascinating reading.
After representing his country Iran in the last Venice biennial, he rose to fame. Since then, through his work Nadalian has communicated themes that he believes are fundamental for humanity: respect for the environment, new technologies and freedom of expression, blending of tradition and contemporary art forms, natural disasters, the vulnerability of humankind and the global issue of terrorism.
In his work Paradise, a viewer can visualise the composition of the flora and fauna of an imaginary heavenly atmosphere on digital system. To quote Nadalian, "Paradise presents the ideal state of the earth. I'm a believer of Sufism. I believe that the essence of Allah can be found in the beauty and harmony of man and nature. And my display represents the theme."
During his short visit to Dhaka, Nadalian has carved a few stones at Shilpakala Academy and later he has dropped them in a pond at Sonargaon, to preserve them in the midst of nature. Nadalian says, "Creative people incorporate elements from nature, while my approach is to enrich nature. This motivated me to carve stones and later hide or bury those in the midst of nature."
"I leave my contact numbers and website address (www.riverart.net) on these stones, yet have no inclination to disclose their exact whereabouts. What I intend is for the spectator searching for the artwork to perhaps discover something more valuable than my stones in nature. I consider myself a partner in the spectator's findings."
Read More
By Ershad Kamol - The Daily Star - Bangladesh
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Exhibiting at the 12th Asian Art Biennial is an 'interactive multimedia' display, titled Paradise by Iranian artist Ahmed Nadalian. Artist, art critic, teacher, philosopher -- Nadalian's career makes fascinating reading.
After representing his country Iran in the last Venice biennial, he rose to fame. Since then, through his work Nadalian has communicated themes that he believes are fundamental for humanity: respect for the environment, new technologies and freedom of expression, blending of tradition and contemporary art forms, natural disasters, the vulnerability of humankind and the global issue of terrorism.
In his work Paradise, a viewer can visualise the composition of the flora and fauna of an imaginary heavenly atmosphere on digital system. To quote Nadalian, "Paradise presents the ideal state of the earth. I'm a believer of Sufism. I believe that the essence of Allah can be found in the beauty and harmony of man and nature. And my display represents the theme."
During his short visit to Dhaka, Nadalian has carved a few stones at Shilpakala Academy and later he has dropped them in a pond at Sonargaon, to preserve them in the midst of nature. Nadalian says, "Creative people incorporate elements from nature, while my approach is to enrich nature. This motivated me to carve stones and later hide or bury those in the midst of nature."
"I leave my contact numbers and website address (www.riverart.net) on these stones, yet have no inclination to disclose their exact whereabouts. What I intend is for the spectator searching for the artwork to perhaps discover something more valuable than my stones in nature. I consider myself a partner in the spectator's findings."
Film Fest's Coming Attraction: a Sufi Evening
By Sarah Phelan - MetroActive
March 15, 2006
Fifth annual Santa Cruz Film Festival
Rumi With a View: Filmmaker Tina Petrova's documentary on the mystic poet will be part of a March 24 Sufi celebration at the Rio.
Why did Canadian filmmaker Tina Petrova, who was brought up Roman Catholic and became a Tibetan Buddhist, make a documentary about Muslim mystic Rumi, a man born in Afghanistan at the time of Genghis Khan and whose astonishingly modern poetry continues to outsell Shakespeare, 9/11 notwithstanding?
The answer begins in the Mojave Desert, which is where Petrova was chanting a mantra while driving a mountain road when her car hit black ice in 1997. This confluence of events sent her hurtling off a 6,000-foot cliff--and toward the making of Rumi--Turning Ecstatic. The documentary, which weaves her personal journey into a planetary excursion, screens at the Rio Theatre on May 24 as part of an evening of Sufi music, film, poetry and dance.
Trapped upside-down in her seat belt, her ribs broken, Petrova, who was afraid her gas tank would explode, used her yoga skills to go into a full lotus position from which she was able to crawl through the spiderweb of glass that was once her car's windshield. Though she escaped with her life, rebirth was not easy. In a body brace and suffering pain so debilitating that she could not work, Petrova despairingly did a novena to the Virgin Mary on Dec. 23, 1998.
"That night, Rumi came to me in a dream and told me to bring together a group of world-class performers and create a live event," says Petrova of the odyssey that led her to world-renowned Rumi translator Coleman Barks and, from there, to a successful event in Toronto which Canada's Vision TV urged her to make into a documentary about Rumi and Sufism.
"They saw my personal story as a doorway into Sufism, they told me it was what made it accessible," recalls Petrova, who uses her personal experience as a portal into the poetry of Rumi, the ecstasy of Sufism and the oneness of God.
Along the way, Petrova met many Sufi luminaries, including the Santa Cruz-based Kabir Helminski, who directs the Threshold Society, which works to apply Sufi principles to modern life. On March 24, when Petrova's film screens, Helminski will direct a live performance by Baranka, a Sufi music ensemble, featuring Sonia Drakulic and Gari Haggedus, Hamed Nikpay, Daud Jerrahi and some of the Whirling Dervishes of the Threshold Society.
Read More
March 15, 2006
Fifth annual Santa Cruz Film Festival
Rumi With a View: Filmmaker Tina Petrova's documentary on the mystic poet will be part of a March 24 Sufi celebration at the Rio.
Why did Canadian filmmaker Tina Petrova, who was brought up Roman Catholic and became a Tibetan Buddhist, make a documentary about Muslim mystic Rumi, a man born in Afghanistan at the time of Genghis Khan and whose astonishingly modern poetry continues to outsell Shakespeare, 9/11 notwithstanding?
The answer begins in the Mojave Desert, which is where Petrova was chanting a mantra while driving a mountain road when her car hit black ice in 1997. This confluence of events sent her hurtling off a 6,000-foot cliff--and toward the making of Rumi--Turning Ecstatic. The documentary, which weaves her personal journey into a planetary excursion, screens at the Rio Theatre on May 24 as part of an evening of Sufi music, film, poetry and dance.
Trapped upside-down in her seat belt, her ribs broken, Petrova, who was afraid her gas tank would explode, used her yoga skills to go into a full lotus position from which she was able to crawl through the spiderweb of glass that was once her car's windshield. Though she escaped with her life, rebirth was not easy. In a body brace and suffering pain so debilitating that she could not work, Petrova despairingly did a novena to the Virgin Mary on Dec. 23, 1998.
"That night, Rumi came to me in a dream and told me to bring together a group of world-class performers and create a live event," says Petrova of the odyssey that led her to world-renowned Rumi translator Coleman Barks and, from there, to a successful event in Toronto which Canada's Vision TV urged her to make into a documentary about Rumi and Sufism.
"They saw my personal story as a doorway into Sufism, they told me it was what made it accessible," recalls Petrova, who uses her personal experience as a portal into the poetry of Rumi, the ecstasy of Sufism and the oneness of God.
Along the way, Petrova met many Sufi luminaries, including the Santa Cruz-based Kabir Helminski, who directs the Threshold Society, which works to apply Sufi principles to modern life. On March 24, when Petrova's film screens, Helminski will direct a live performance by Baranka, a Sufi music ensemble, featuring Sonia Drakulic and Gari Haggedus, Hamed Nikpay, Daud Jerrahi and some of the Whirling Dervishes of the Threshold Society.
Call Of The Mystic from Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor
OpenPR - Amsterdam - 03-14-2006
Imagine this: 35º celsius, a warm breeze, the fragrance of the ocean … voices of people singing together – enjoying life as it is … they sing, chant, laugh and dance ‘till they drop! Who are these people?
Call them Sufi’s – and Bahramji is one of their number. He plays a magical instrument, the Persian Santoor, which – the Sufi’s say, creates the sound of emptiness. In addition, he is a fine singer, a channel for the divine … and a great cook!
Based in the urban jungle of Amsterdam, Maneesh de Moor is musician and producer, who specializes in the crossover between the ethnic and the ambient – the traditional and the contemporary … a magician, who brings the past into the present.
Different roots, but meeting in the same bliss, keyboard-wiz Maneesh and Sufi mystic Bahramji jump together into the studio and created for us this most precious music. Made in deep respect for each other’s amazing talents, from the heart, with no compromise. The lyrics are based on Rumi’s and other mystical poetry and the tracks carry an urban vibe rooted in meditation.
Call Of The Mystic - Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor
Tracklist: 01 Crazy Heart 7:13 // 02 Watch the Cat 9:24 // 03 La Illaha feat. Sudha 7:18 // 04 Moment With You 6:26 // 05 Dreamcatcher 7:54 // 06 Arambol Connection 1:41 // 07 Return of the Nightingale 11:03 /// Total Time: 50:20
BLUE FLAME Records
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OpenPR - Amsterdam - 03-14-2006
Imagine this: 35º celsius, a warm breeze, the fragrance of the ocean … voices of people singing together – enjoying life as it is … they sing, chant, laugh and dance ‘till they drop! Who are these people?
Call them Sufi’s – and Bahramji is one of their number. He plays a magical instrument, the Persian Santoor, which – the Sufi’s say, creates the sound of emptiness. In addition, he is a fine singer, a channel for the divine … and a great cook!
Based in the urban jungle of Amsterdam, Maneesh de Moor is musician and producer, who specializes in the crossover between the ethnic and the ambient – the traditional and the contemporary … a magician, who brings the past into the present.
Different roots, but meeting in the same bliss, keyboard-wiz Maneesh and Sufi mystic Bahramji jump together into the studio and created for us this most precious music. Made in deep respect for each other’s amazing talents, from the heart, with no compromise. The lyrics are based on Rumi’s and other mystical poetry and the tracks carry an urban vibe rooted in meditation.
Call Of The Mystic - Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor
Tracklist: 01 Crazy Heart 7:13 // 02 Watch the Cat 9:24 // 03 La Illaha feat. Sudha 7:18 // 04 Moment With You 6:26 // 05 Dreamcatcher 7:54 // 06 Arambol Connection 1:41 // 07 Return of the Nightingale 11:03 /// Total Time: 50:20
BLUE FLAME Records
Zila Khan pays tribute to her father
NDTVmusic.com - New Delhi - India
Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
On Monday evening, Sufi singer Zila Khan brought together some musical moments to pay a tribute to her father, sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan in the Capital.
“I feel honoured to be the daughter of a legendary person like my father and it’s a privilege to organize this evening,” said Zila Khan.
The rendition by Ustad Shahid Pervez on the sitar was followed by a documentary on Ustad Vilayat Khan's life and contribution to music.
With an impromptu vocal recital by Zila Khan, it was an evening to remember.
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Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
On Monday evening, Sufi singer Zila Khan brought together some musical moments to pay a tribute to her father, sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan in the Capital.
“I feel honoured to be the daughter of a legendary person like my father and it’s a privilege to organize this evening,” said Zila Khan.
The rendition by Ustad Shahid Pervez on the sitar was followed by a documentary on Ustad Vilayat Khan's life and contribution to music.
With an impromptu vocal recital by Zila Khan, it was an evening to remember.
From Green Beret to Peace Activist: William T. Hathaway and His Books
By Daniela Rommel - Countercurrents.org
Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
"It took me years to overcome the warrior indoctrination I got in the Special Forces. It was very deeply ingrained. What finally brought me out of it was meditation and my wife's persistent love," says author William T. Hathaway. "Now I look back and ask, How could I have fallen for that military nonsense?"
A Special Forces combat veteran, Hathaway has answered that question in two novels about what attracts men to war and how they can be healed of the pathology of patriarchal machismo. His first novel, A WORLD OF HURT, won a Rinehart Foundation Award for its portrayal of the blocked sexuality and the need for paternal approval that draw men to the military.
"I was trying to uncover the psychological roots of war, the forces that so persistently drive our species to slaughter," says Hathaway. "Our culture has degraded masculinity into a deadly toxin. It's poisoned us all. Men have to confront this part of themselves before men and women together can heal it."
He is active in a group offering support and shelter to soldiers who have refused to be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. "The real heroes in the military are the deserters," says Hathaway. He wrote the introduction to AMERICA SPEAKS OUT: Collected Essays from Dissident Writers and has published numerous shorter pieces, including "Sedition, Subversion, Sabotage" in CounterCurrents.
His writing won him a Fulbright professorship at universities in Germany, where he currently lives.
Hathaway sees spirituality as an essential component of a more peaceful world. "My military experience convinced me that to prevent war we need to raise human consciousness. A look at the history of revolutions shows that switching economic and political systems isn't enough. The same aggressive personality types take over and start another army. We have to change the basic unit, the individual.
"Many of my leftist colleagues ignore this because they see the individual as the product of social and material forces. But I think the human heart is deeper than that and can be changed.
"I've found Eastern meditation to be the most effective way to change people. Unlike prayer, it works on the physiological level, altering the brain waves and metabolism. It refines the nervous system and expands the awareness so that the unity of all human beings becomes a living reality, not just an idealistic concept.
After a while of meditation people stop wanting to consume things that increase aggression, such as meat, alcohol, and violent entertainment. They become more peaceful."
Hathaway's just-released novel, SUMMER SNOW, approaches peace from this meditative perspective. It is set amidst the war on terrorism as an American warrior falls in love with a Sufi Muslim and learns from her an alternative to the military mentality.
While Special Forces battle al-Qaeda, the escalating violence threatens their future together and the lives of thousands in her country. To save them, she shows him an ancient transcendental way to bring peace to the collective consciousness and prevent terrorism. But can they make it work in time?
The book's wisdom figure is a Sufi crone, the warrior's lover's teacher, who has survived by outsmarting male political and religious hierarchies. "This bin Laden, this Bush, all these leading men, they have highjacked us all with their violence," she states. "They have turned the whole world into their suicide airplane. These men are too primitive to have such power. Too ignorant of the underlying reality. We must stop them. We must take the boys' toys away from them...these terrible weapons."
How she does that becomes the climax of the novel.
The book's theme is that higher consciousness is more effective than violence and that women may be more able than men to lead us there.
Hathaway spent a year and a half in Central Asia researching and writing SUMMER SNOW. The first chapter is on the publisher's website, http://www.avatarpublication.com/books/?id=13
By overcoming his Special Forces indoctrination, William T. Hathaway became a defector from the warrior corps and an opponent of militarism. His books shine light into our civilization's heart of darkness and show us ways out of the violence.
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Tuesday, 14 March, 2006
"It took me years to overcome the warrior indoctrination I got in the Special Forces. It was very deeply ingrained. What finally brought me out of it was meditation and my wife's persistent love," says author William T. Hathaway. "Now I look back and ask, How could I have fallen for that military nonsense?"
A Special Forces combat veteran, Hathaway has answered that question in two novels about what attracts men to war and how they can be healed of the pathology of patriarchal machismo. His first novel, A WORLD OF HURT, won a Rinehart Foundation Award for its portrayal of the blocked sexuality and the need for paternal approval that draw men to the military.
"I was trying to uncover the psychological roots of war, the forces that so persistently drive our species to slaughter," says Hathaway. "Our culture has degraded masculinity into a deadly toxin. It's poisoned us all. Men have to confront this part of themselves before men and women together can heal it."
He is active in a group offering support and shelter to soldiers who have refused to be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. "The real heroes in the military are the deserters," says Hathaway. He wrote the introduction to AMERICA SPEAKS OUT: Collected Essays from Dissident Writers and has published numerous shorter pieces, including "Sedition, Subversion, Sabotage" in CounterCurrents.
His writing won him a Fulbright professorship at universities in Germany, where he currently lives.
Hathaway sees spirituality as an essential component of a more peaceful world. "My military experience convinced me that to prevent war we need to raise human consciousness. A look at the history of revolutions shows that switching economic and political systems isn't enough. The same aggressive personality types take over and start another army. We have to change the basic unit, the individual.
"Many of my leftist colleagues ignore this because they see the individual as the product of social and material forces. But I think the human heart is deeper than that and can be changed.
"I've found Eastern meditation to be the most effective way to change people. Unlike prayer, it works on the physiological level, altering the brain waves and metabolism. It refines the nervous system and expands the awareness so that the unity of all human beings becomes a living reality, not just an idealistic concept.
After a while of meditation people stop wanting to consume things that increase aggression, such as meat, alcohol, and violent entertainment. They become more peaceful."
Hathaway's just-released novel, SUMMER SNOW, approaches peace from this meditative perspective. It is set amidst the war on terrorism as an American warrior falls in love with a Sufi Muslim and learns from her an alternative to the military mentality.
While Special Forces battle al-Qaeda, the escalating violence threatens their future together and the lives of thousands in her country. To save them, she shows him an ancient transcendental way to bring peace to the collective consciousness and prevent terrorism. But can they make it work in time?
The book's wisdom figure is a Sufi crone, the warrior's lover's teacher, who has survived by outsmarting male political and religious hierarchies. "This bin Laden, this Bush, all these leading men, they have highjacked us all with their violence," she states. "They have turned the whole world into their suicide airplane. These men are too primitive to have such power. Too ignorant of the underlying reality. We must stop them. We must take the boys' toys away from them...these terrible weapons."
How she does that becomes the climax of the novel.
The book's theme is that higher consciousness is more effective than violence and that women may be more able than men to lead us there.
Hathaway spent a year and a half in Central Asia researching and writing SUMMER SNOW. The first chapter is on the publisher's website, http://www.avatarpublication.com/books/?id=13
By overcoming his Special Forces indoctrination, William T. Hathaway became a defector from the warrior corps and an opponent of militarism. His books shine light into our civilization's heart of darkness and show us ways out of the violence.
Contours of a new terror matrix
By Wilson John - The Pioneer - India
March 14, 2006, New Delhi
The stage is set for a new terrorist confederation with the sole agenda of wreaking havoc across the heartland of India in the months to come. Ignorance or indifference to the clear signs of such an alliance - visible from Bangalore to Delhi, via Ayodhya, Nalgonda, Mulund and Varanasi - would prove suicidal for India.
One of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), operating in Pakistan almost freely with the blessings of the Pakistan state, especially the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, has been re-activated at several locations in India.
LeT is the only terrorist organisation in Pakistan that has been allowed to expand its network, recruit and gather funds, despite a worldwide ban. It works under the cover of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, its parent organisation, which claims to be a charitable and educational organisation committed to bring about an Islamic revolution by teaching and training students in the Islamic way of life, while imparting in them the spirit and content of modern, scientific education.
LeT's first forays into India began after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, recruiting its first set of terror soldiers, Jalees Ansari, Azzam Ghauri and Abdul Karim Tunda, etc. Operational bases were set up in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, exploiting the widespread rage among Muslims in the wake of the demolition. The group exploits two sets of local support to execute its operations - the ISI assets and its ideological association with Ahl-e-Hadis, an Islamic school of thought, which emerged in India following the downfall of the Mughal empire with the objective of restoring Islam to its prior glory and power.
Hadis advocated return to the scriptures and called for purifying the religion of its external influences, like Hinduism and even Sufism. It was the followers of Hadis founding father, Shah Walilullah of Delhi, who launched their first jihad against Sikhs, and subsequently against the British, before being crushed by the British in 1857.
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March 14, 2006, New Delhi
The stage is set for a new terrorist confederation with the sole agenda of wreaking havoc across the heartland of India in the months to come. Ignorance or indifference to the clear signs of such an alliance - visible from Bangalore to Delhi, via Ayodhya, Nalgonda, Mulund and Varanasi - would prove suicidal for India.
One of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), operating in Pakistan almost freely with the blessings of the Pakistan state, especially the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, has been re-activated at several locations in India.
LeT is the only terrorist organisation in Pakistan that has been allowed to expand its network, recruit and gather funds, despite a worldwide ban. It works under the cover of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, its parent organisation, which claims to be a charitable and educational organisation committed to bring about an Islamic revolution by teaching and training students in the Islamic way of life, while imparting in them the spirit and content of modern, scientific education.
LeT's first forays into India began after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, recruiting its first set of terror soldiers, Jalees Ansari, Azzam Ghauri and Abdul Karim Tunda, etc. Operational bases were set up in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, exploiting the widespread rage among Muslims in the wake of the demolition. The group exploits two sets of local support to execute its operations - the ISI assets and its ideological association with Ahl-e-Hadis, an Islamic school of thought, which emerged in India following the downfall of the Mughal empire with the objective of restoring Islam to its prior glory and power.
Hadis advocated return to the scriptures and called for purifying the religion of its external influences, like Hinduism and even Sufism. It was the followers of Hadis founding father, Shah Walilullah of Delhi, who launched their first jihad against Sikhs, and subsequently against the British, before being crushed by the British in 1857.
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