Rukne Alam urs: ‘Ignorance of Sufi teachings causing crises’

Three-day ceremonies included naat recitations, national conference.

MULTAN:

Provincial Auqaf minister Haji Ehsaanuddin Qureshi said on Saturday that the multiple crises in the country were a punishment for rulers’ ignorance of Sufi teachings.

He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of three-day urs celebrations of Hazrat Shah Rukne Alam in Multan.

Makhdum Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the reigning successor to Rukne Alam, later led a prayer that formally concluded the three-day event.

Besides naat recitations, a National Shah Ruknuddin walAalam Conference was arranged at the shrine. The conference addressed by several successors to Sufi preachers continued for three days.

The urs had started on Thursday with Shah Mehmood Qureshi bathing the shrine with thousands of litres of rose water.

Talking to The Tribune, Larkana resident Abu Talib said because of the shrines of Shah Rukne Aalam and Bahauddin Zakariya, he considered Multan to be his second home.  He said the number of people attending Sufis’ urs had not declined despite the threats of terrorism, adding that spiritualism was beyond the understanding of those spreading hatred in the name of religion. He said the terrorists would find the devotees of Sufis uncompromising in their mission to spread the message of peace. “They can continue spreading terror, we will fight them with the teachings of Sufi saints,” he said.

The urs ceremonies were also attended by caretakers of several Sufi shrines in the country. Prominent among these were Khawaja Ghulam Farid’s successor Ameer Koreja and Mazhar Saeed Kazmi, brother of former religious minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi.

The Auqaf Department estimated that over a thousand people arrived in Multan from all over the country to attend the urs. Auqaf Punjab Director Tariq Mehmood told The Express Tribune on the first that the department had made arrangements for food for all devotees and for accomodation for a limited number, for three days. An Auqaf spokesman said that the rest either made arrangements on their own or were accommodated by Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s family.

 Security

As many as 200 policemen performed duties for the three-day ceremony, CPO Amir Zulfiqar told The Tribune.
He said a number of volunteers were also available to assist the police with security arrangements. The CPO expressed satisfaction with the arrangements, saying this year several policemen had specifically been assigned to usher visitors around the shrine.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2012.