History Of Sufism

SA passes bill to establish Sufism and modern sciences varsity

SA passes bill to establish Sufism and modern sciences varsity

* MQM stages two token walkouts on different issues

* Speaker announces governor’s consent to three bills

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly (SA) on Friday passed into law a bill regarding the establishment of Sufism and modern sciences university in Bhitshah with unanimous approval from the treasury and the opposition lawmakers.

The bill ‘Sufism and Modern Sciences University at Bhitshah 2011” was presented by Law Minister Muhammad Ayaz Soomro by moving a motion under rules 84, 85 and 86 of the SA Rules and Procedures. Some of the lawmakers proposed amendments in the bill, which were taken up by the speaker during the reading.

Eight minor amendments were proposed by the members, out of which six were approved while two were rejected through voting in the house. Members who put forth their amendments were Khalid Ahmed of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Arif Mustafa Jatoi of National People’s Party (MPP) and Heer Soho of MQM.

The member in-charge of the bill, Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said that the bill was introduced in view of importance of Sufism in Sindh. He said: “Sufism is the best practice to foster peace and brotherhood as history itself reflects its significance in entire South Asian region.”

He said, “People migrating from different regions to Pakistan misinterpreted and distorted the image of Islam while Sufism is the best solution to remove the stains on our religion. He said the Islam does not allow defaming other religions and people belonging to any caste, creed or sect.

Syed Sardar Ahmed of MQM also hailed the bill and said Sufism is indeed a perfect belief to further peace in the world. “It is a good initiative that such a university is being established in Sindh,” he said. Sindh Minister for Youth Affairs Jam Madad Ali also praised the importance of the bill.

Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro announced governor’s consent to three bills, including the Repeal of Police Order 2002 and Revival of the Police Act 1861 Bill 2011; the Sindh Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2011 and the Repeal of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 and Revival of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 1979 Bill 2011. Later speaker prorogued the house at 02:00pm.

Meanwhile, Parliamentarians belonging to the MQM staged two token walkouts from SA on different issues.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Sufi News and Sufism World Report: History ...

According to him, after the transition of khilafat into mulukiyat there were many Muslims who remained aloof from the state affairs thus begins the philosophy of Sufism in the Muslim world. He highlighted the contributions of Sufis to Hadith literature and Islamic reformation in a worldwide context. He stressed that we need to study Tasawwuf with a Muslim perspective, which will convince us that almost all the madrassas or khanqahs were attached to Sufi Dargahs and were centres of great learning and not just the bastions of superstitious and polytheistic practices as we find now very much common at these places. It was due to this reason that the British snatched the awqaf which were endowed to the Khanqahs and thus rendered Muslims helpless and dejected as the Sufi centres were imparting education and helping Muslim community in many ways. He said that despite the staunch opposition to the Sufi institutions by many Muslim scholars and thinkers, Sufism remained a vital force in the whole history of Islam and accordingly to an Egyptian writer Manfaluti when a subject has many critics it also shows its importance and utility. In his introductory remarks Prof Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi highlighted the role of positive Islamic Sufism to various spheres of life as we find in Shah-i-Hamadan who was not merely a sufi but a reformer scholar Muhaddith and a great benefactor of arts and crafts he introduced into Kashmir. Same was the case with Imam Ghazzali and Shah Wali Allah Dehalawi who were not merely sufis in technical sense but were personalities of different dimension contributing to all aspects of human development. Muhammad Ashraf Wani who during his address to the audience recommended the scholars to learn the language of the related subject to approach the primary sources. In addition to the students and scholars of the Dept., Dr. Ab. Rashid Bhat, Dr. Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, Dr. Jameil Ali and the other faculty members of the department were present during the lecture.

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