Sufism May Be Powerful Antidote to Islamic Extremism

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

Got the link to this article from a sister Sufi, and thought you might find it interesting.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1205/p13s02-lire.html

Images of Islam have pervaded the news media in recent years, but one aspect of the faith has gotten little attention – Islamic spirituality. Yet thousands in America and millions in the Muslim world have embarked on the spiritual path called Sufism, or the Sufi way. Some see its appeal as the most promising hope for countering the rise of extremism in Islam.

In recent weeks, celebrations in cities on several continents have marked the "International Year of Rumi." Sept. 30 was the 800th anniversary of the birth of Muslim mystic Jelaluddin Rumi, who is a towering figure in Sufi literature and, paradoxically, the bestselling poet in the United States over the past decade.

In the West, Sufism has appealed to seekers attracted by its disciplined spiritual practices as well as its respect for all faiths and emphasis on universal love.

snip

"In the Islamic world, Sufism is the most powerful antidote to the religious radicalism called fundamentalism as well as the most important source for responding to the challenges posed by modernism," says Seyyed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. Bahai is considered an infidel sect of Islam.

Very peaceloving.

[meow2u3]

2. The way I understand Bahai

it is to Islam the way Christianity was to Judaism 2000 years ago. Jews regarded Christianity as a heretical sect of Judaism, too. So Christians and Bahai do share a kindred spirit, although a distant one. O8)