KARACHI CHRONICLE: Appeal of tolerance

At last intellectuals and sober Muslims have realised that Sufiism is Achilles' heel of the fanatics and, as such, the means to defeat the onward march of fanaticism. Last week scholars from the four provinces gathered in Karachi to hold a two-day national conference on "Significance of Sufi poets in modern Pakistan", organised by the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuaast).
Poetry is the vehicle for conveying Sufi thought. It is expressed in kafi and ghazal form in our region, while Sufis of Turkey and other places have generally used the masnavi, for instance Maulana Rumi and Hafiz. The language in which verse is expressed is always vernacular so that commoners can easily understand Sufi thought. For instance, Shah Farid's kafis expressed in Saraiki. This is one of the reasons why Sufiism is quite popular. To be sure, great poets have composed verse in praise of God too, but they cannot match the Sufi expressions couched in a passionate love of God which is all consuming and which Sufis call fana. (Sorry, there is no English equivalent for fana which means the loosing of one's self in The Self of God).
In fact intolerance defines not only the attitude of the ulema but also of the violent fanatics who are simply exploiters of the religion for their own nefarious ends. The Sufi tolerates everything in human nature, also the belief of others. He does not promote a divisive attitude between religions.
The Sufi tolerance is vital for ending the persecution of people of other faiths. Pakistan is not Saudi Arabia. We call them minorities but people of other faiths are in millions. All of them are citizens of Pakistan. To discriminate against them is appaling. The fanatics think they can cleanse Pakistan of people of other faiths either by killing them on one pretext or other or, as is happening now, kidnapping Hindu girls and forcibly converting them to Islam and immediately marrying them off to a Muslim. Sufis welcome people of all faiths, hence among the shrine visitors are Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs and many others.
Nevertheless, Muslim thought is stagnating and it includes Sufi thought also. It is good to know steps are being taken to revive Sufi thought. Look at the number of shrines in the country. It is proof that Pakistan is the land of Sufis. Since the past year serious work is being done to revive Sufi thought in Sindh. In July last year, members of the intellegensia laid the foundation of the Sindh Sufi Movement. A complex would be set up in Jamshoro. I have no information how much work has been done on the complex, nevertheless, the plan was good. It included a library of 5,000 books, computer and internet facility. A mosque, a temple and a church would be built as part of the complex and journals would be written to promote Sufi thought. May they prosper since they are our only hope of a peaceful Pakistan.