‘Education is a must for a shrine custodian’
Speakers criticise former prime minister Gilani and others who use shrines as vote banks.
LAHORE:
The role of gaddi nasheens (custodians of shrines) including former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Amin Faheen, Makhdoom Shahabuddin and others was criticised at the National Mashaikh Conference held at a local hotel on Sunday.
Speakers spoke critically regarding custodians who they said turned into politicians and sufis who they said had forgotten their teachings.
Custodians of over 100 shrines participated in the conference which was chaired by Khawaja Ghulam Qutbuddin Faridi.
Dawa Academy Islamabad chairman Dr Sajidur Rehman said shrine custodians and sufis should avoid politics as those who have chosen that path are not respected. In what was a clear reference to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, he said those who had gone into politics had faced humiliation in courts and criticism in the media. He said assemblies were places for slaves.
Razaul Din Siddiqi said that there were 128 assembly members who were affiliated with shrines. He said Gilani, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, and Makhdoom Shahbuddin were among them. He said sufis were supposed to feel the pulse of the times and act accordingly. Siddiqi said many custodians were receiving nazranas and getting votes in the name of their gaddis but not serving the public.
He said it was not enough to take pride in being affiliated to a saint one should also serve the public. He said tasawwuf was on the wane.
Dr Tahir Raza Bukhari said there was a need to preach tasawwuf according to the shariah.
Pir Ijaz Hashmi said it was shameful that a gaddi nasheen was forced to appear in a court and his son appeared in another. He said once these shrines were a repository of knowledge from which everybody beautified. Pir Hashmi said there was a conspiracy to destroy all the shrines. He added that all custodians must mend their ways otherwise the shrines would be destroyed.
Dr Ishaq Qureshi said people should be prepared to sacrifice their lives and properties in defence of their religion. He said wealth was good if it came with religion but bad if obtained at the cost of religion.
Dr Qureshi said education, practicality and sincerity were essential to a shrine custodian’s job but often ignored these days. He said the biggest problem was ignorance. He said most gaddi nasheens had scholars working for them.
He said tasawwuf was not about decorating graves of sufis with precious stones but about following in their footsteps.
Irshad Ahmed Arif said shrines had become business centres for their custodians who also got votes through them.
Auqaf Secretary Tariq Mahmood Pasha said not all custodians of shrines were bad. Millions of people visited the shrines daily, he said, and got peace and solace from them. He said he had not seen a single gaddi nasheen who encouraged his followers in their ignorance. He said the Auqaf Department was requesting prayer leaders at mosques to spread awareness regarding dengue and polio. He said they should teach their followers to be wary of social media and not let their children watch movies, TV dramas and TV advertisements.
Published in The Express Tribune, 25th, 2012.
The role of gaddi nasheens (custodians of shrines) including former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Amin Faheen, Makhdoom Shahabuddin and others was criticised at the National Mashaikh Conference held at a local hotel on Sunday.
Speakers spoke critically regarding custodians who they said turned into politicians and sufis who they said had forgotten their teachings.
Custodians of over 100 shrines participated in the conference which was chaired by Khawaja Ghulam Qutbuddin Faridi.
Dawa Academy Islamabad chairman Dr Sajidur Rehman said shrine custodians and sufis should avoid politics as those who have chosen that path are not respected. In what was a clear reference to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, he said those who had gone into politics had faced humiliation in courts and criticism in the media. He said assemblies were places for slaves.
Razaul Din Siddiqi said that there were 128 assembly members who were affiliated with shrines. He said Gilani, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, and Makhdoom Shahbuddin were among them. He said sufis were supposed to feel the pulse of the times and act accordingly. Siddiqi said many custodians were receiving nazranas and getting votes in the name of their gaddis but not serving the public.
He said it was not enough to take pride in being affiliated to a saint one should also serve the public. He said tasawwuf was on the wane.
Dr Tahir Raza Bukhari said there was a need to preach tasawwuf according to the shariah.
Pir Ijaz Hashmi said it was shameful that a gaddi nasheen was forced to appear in a court and his son appeared in another. He said once these shrines were a repository of knowledge from which everybody beautified. Pir Hashmi said there was a conspiracy to destroy all the shrines. He added that all custodians must mend their ways otherwise the shrines would be destroyed.
Dr Ishaq Qureshi said people should be prepared to sacrifice their lives and properties in defence of their religion. He said wealth was good if it came with religion but bad if obtained at the cost of religion.
Dr Qureshi said education, practicality and sincerity were essential to a shrine custodian’s job but often ignored these days. He said the biggest problem was ignorance. He said most gaddi nasheens had scholars working for them.
He said tasawwuf was not about decorating graves of sufis with precious stones but about following in their footsteps.
Irshad Ahmed Arif said shrines had become business centres for their custodians who also got votes through them.
Auqaf Secretary Tariq Mahmood Pasha said not all custodians of shrines were bad. Millions of people visited the shrines daily, he said, and got peace and solace from them. He said he had not seen a single gaddi nasheen who encouraged his followers in their ignorance. He said the Auqaf Department was requesting prayer leaders at mosques to spread awareness regarding dengue and polio. He said they should teach their followers to be wary of social media and not let their children watch movies, TV dramas and TV advertisements.
Published in The Express Tribune, 25th, 2012.