Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Dancing, Loving, Islam

"Islam came to this part of the world (Pakistan)through Sufism," says Ayeda Naqvi, a teacher of Islamic mysticism who's taking part in the chanting.

"It was Sufis who came and spread the religious message of love and harmony and beauty, there were no swords, it was very different from the sharp edged Islam of the Middle East.

"And you can't separate it from our culture, it's in our music, it's in our folklore, it's in our architecture. We are a Sufi country, and yet there's a struggle in Pakistan right now for the soul of Islam."

Sufi drummer

Sufism is a mixture of music, chanting and meditation

That struggle is between Sufism and hard-line Wahabism, the religion of the Taleban and al-Qaeda.

"Wahabism is a tribal form of Islam coming from the desert sands of Saudi Arabia," he says. "This may be very attractive to the tribes in the frontier, but it will never find resonance in the established societies of Pakistan." Full article can be found HERE.

.

del.icio.us Tags: ,,,