Today’s headlines came as no surprise. There was a ‘usual’ grenade attack at a mosque in Dera Ismail Khan while more striking was the blowing up of Rahman Baba’s shrine in Peshawar ^[1]. Rahman Baba is a 17th century sufi and is considered to be one of the highest ranking and most widely read poets of Pushtu language. The perpetrators are not new either. Call them religious extremists, Taliban, or foreign militants; we are now too familiar with their acts and the ideology that they promote.

Sufism is entrenched into the core of Pakistani society and is widely followed by the masses. Lahore itself is lovingly called ‘Data di Nagri’ because it boasts the shrine of Hazrat Ali Hajveri (RA) famously known as Data Gunj Baksh. In addition to this hallmark Sufi symbol, we also have the likes of Hazrat Mian Mir, Shah Jamal, Bibi Pak Daman in Lahore and literally hundreds of saints buried in cities like Multan (Baha-ud-din Zakaria), Pakpattan Sharif (Hazrat Baba Farid Shakkar Gunj), Kasur (Baba Bulleh Shah), Bhit Shah (Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai), and Sehwan Sharif (Hazrat Laal Shahbaz Qalandar) specifically across Punjab and Sindh provinces.

Abida Parveen – Teray Ishq Nachaya ^[2]

Sufi tradition is one full of mysticism, the power of self-discovery, the evergreen message of equality, tolerance, love and universal peace. Widely propagated by Sufis, this form of Islam got more people into the folds of religion than any other fact in the Sub-continent.

As the west today talks about using Sufism to promote moderate Islam ^[3] among the Pakistanis, they forget that it is already here and has continued influencing lives of millions over centuries in this region. However, over the decades we have seen a radical ideology countering Sufi way of Islam which now is blatantly attacking the Sufi symbols. Today’s incident in Peshawar was a stark proof.

Do you think message of the Sufis can still be revived to wide popularity and acceptance by all sections of our social and religious circles? And can it we propagated as a cure to radical ideologies supported by the Taliban and other insurgent groups which are becoming more assertive in promoting their Islam day by day?