Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Sufi mystics of Punjab


In times of growing dissatisfaction and the need to bring a method to the chaos around the simplistic, yet profound, teachings of Sufism resonate louder than ever. And a torchbearer in the effort to take Sufism to the masses is Rumi Foundation spearheaded by Muzaffar Ali and his series of artistic publications, the latest of which is The Sufis of the Punjab.

It’s a part of what began as a series of poetry-driven books in respect to regions and places, Muzaffar tell us. “It’s the same flower that is blooming in different areas and soils. The first one focused and documented the legacy of Hazrat Amir Khusrau while the next commemorated Jalaluddin Rumi and between the two we tried to show the parallels between Khusro and Rumi. The third one was on the Rishis and Sufis of Kashmir.”

Peaceful coexistence, communal harmony and love between different faiths forms the binding thread of all the articles. Muzaffar avers, “We’ve encapsulated all those we could find material on. There’s Bulleh Shah, Ghulam Farid, Sultan Bahu, Qalandar, Dara Shikoh, among others. It talks about the entire setting of Punjab being riddled with Sufi saints like Guru Nanak, Shah Hussain and Waris Shah. And about the current poetry patterns and commonalities between how Sufism takes from and gives to different faiths. It talks about influences of Sufism on Guru Granth Sahib, Radha Soami Satsang Beas and on the concept of langars.”

Full report here Asian Age

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