Second International Sufi Conference kicks off at National Museum
Karachi
The institution of Sufism is a revolt against bigotry and oppression, Senate chairman Raza Rabbani said on Saturday while speaking as the chief guest at the two-day Second International Sufi Conference organised at the National Museum of Pakistan.
“Bigotry and oppression can be countered with love for all humans. We have deviated in our quest for Allah and this quest has turned into a quest for power,” he added.
Rabbani quoted the teachings of Jesus Christ of turning the other cheek and the commandment of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to never retaliate and just forgive and forget.
“We have given up the messages of Bulleh Shah, Shah Abdul Latif, and Hazrat Daata Ganj Bukhsh Hajvery. Today, the message of universal love has been thrown to the winds,” he added. “This shows the insecurity of the state.”
He quoted the Constitution of Pakistan, the preamble of which begins as, “All sovereignty over all things in the universe belongs to Allah and the interpretation of his commands is the prerogative of the people”.
He acknowledged that strife was a phenomenon that was not just characteristic to Pakistan. It was to be found the world over.
Hameed Haroon, the CEO of the Dawn group of newspapers, said we all needed to strive to find inner peace. The debate started off with the intrusion of the Turks and the Afghans into the South Asian Subcontinent.
So, the issue was: how to be liberal in a multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic society.
“The Qazi-ruler concept had become so entrenched over the last century and we saw the outcome of that in the Zia era”, said Haroon.
Orthodoxy, he added, entered the corridors of power in Islamabad through the madrasas. He quoted an incident during the Zia era when the legendary vocalist Abida Parveen was performing Bulleh Shah’s mystic poetry in the form of a song at a hotel in Lahore when right in the middle of the performance she was ordered to stop as it was considered to be anti-religion.
He said there had been changes true in the democratic era but only cosmetic ones.
”There have been bombings and blowing up of Sufi shrines,” he added. Islam, he reminded the gathering, was not spread in the Subcontinent through the sword but by the Sufis’ guidance in the daily lives of the people.
“God is a reality”, said Uxi Mufti from Islamabad. The dilemma, he added, was that we had inherited a feudal-based concept of God.
“Our concept of God today should amalgamate with science and technology. The Sufi concept of God is most scientific. Our concept of God is flawed,” he noted.
Rosemary James from London said that God was present everywhere. Haq Maujood, she added, was beauty. Love is the defining concept of the real. Love is the tangible that keeps us together.”
Marcia Hermanson from the Loyola Varsity in Chicago, US, said it was not what you knew that mattered but who you were.
“Only communion with The Almighty can help one achieve that goal.”
Delphine Ortis from France discussed the Dhamal and the role of dance in the discovery of self. Noted journalist and columnist Amar Jaleel, said the word Sufi had been misused.
“Sufism is silent and a revolt against bigotry and orthodoxy. Only the oneness of God can establish peace. We all may be different but God is one. How can we fight in the name of God? We all belong to one God,” he added. Earlier, Sharmila Farooqi, the provincial culture and tourism minister, welcomed the guests and participants and gave credit to former president Asif Ali Zardari for having started off these Sufi conferences.