While the world is getting lost in materialism, the need for sufism is growing again, a panel discussion at Lahore Sufi Festival pointed out.
Leading discussion on “Sufism in the Present World”, moderator Shafiq Faruqi said, “People are lost in materialism. We are so much engrossed in working hard to meet the standards of materialism that space grew for Sufism. Today’s society is a consumerist society. Man is so busy that he doesn’t find time to think about himself.”
He talked about three famous writers, Kafka, Ionesco and Intezar Hussain who wrote about how man was getting into materialism. “Kafka’s famous work Metamorphosis says that man has become an insect. Ionesco one of his plays said that man is changing into rhinoceros. Intezar Hussain showed that man is changing into monkeys. He said that man is going backwards.”
The panel included Dr Moeen Nizami, M Iqbal Shahid, Haseena Moin, Dr Shoaib Ahmed and Sofia Bedar.
Dr Moeen Nizami narrated an incident of Maulana Rumi to point at interfaith harmony which received applause from the audience. “Once a man asked Rumi, whose religion is better? He said your religion is better. By saying this it didn’t harm Islam. We don’t have to assert and prove that our religion is better. This is not the purpose of the universe. It makes hindrance between man’s relations with the God.”
He said that “we have created a disposable culture and we don’t thank people anymore even though every religion teaches that. We should practice thanking others. Prophet Muhammad said that one who does not thank God’s creation how would he thank God?”
He also talked about how 1,000 years ago we were living in peace. “Persian literature and Sufis kept this region in peace.”
Pakistani scriptwriter and dramatist Haseena Moin put light on the concept of Sufism and why one needs it again in this era. “Everyone is commercialised. Our thoughts are stuck at obtaining everything. If somebody wants a house, he wants a whole castle. The more we want, the more we snatch. Balance diminishes when a few people start snatching everything from the rest. Sufis came for reformation.”
Muhammad Shahid Iqbal said, “When I go to a moulvi (religious scholar), he tells what used to happen at the Prophet’s time, what the Prophet used to do. He won’t tell me what he does or his kids.” His remark received a huge applause from the audience.
The two-day Lahore Sufi Festival aims to capture and project the message and spirit of Sufism through art, culture and heritage. The festival featuring panel discussions, conversations, readings, art exhibition, theatre performance, qawwali, musical performances will conclude on March 27, Sunday.
“Such events should definitely happen. Through them people get a lot of awareness about our culture,” said Sadia. Another attendee, Tanzil Fatima said she really liked the discussion by Asghar Nadeem Syed on the Role of Sufi’s in peace in the Subcontinent. “It increased my knowledge a lot,” she added.