| Awaken Bharata |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| SUFIS AND MILITANCE | |
| Even
Dara's own main Sufi teacher, Mulla Shah, a Qaddiri, later on
reconciled himself with Aurangzeb, who not only murdered Dara and
Dara's son but unleashed a holy war of terror against Hindus. Mulla
Shah composed a poem to commemorate the coronation of Aurangzeb and
sought his favor, which was not easily given. While a few Sufis like
Sarmad (originally himself a Jew) gained the wrath of Aurangzeb,
most Sufis, like followers of Ahmed Sirhindi considered Aurangzeb to
be one of their own.
Other apparently liberal Sufis were recent Hindu converts whose liberalism was owing more to their residual Hindu tendencies, than to their new Islamic faith. In short the liberal Sufis were rarely universalists who accepted Hinduism as equal to Islam. They were generally more open-minded Muslims who were willing to give Hinduism some credit, something most Muslims afford to Christianity or Judaism. In this group of liberal Sufis were only a few rebel Sufis who really dared to criticize militant Islam and they often paid for it with their lives. Liberal Sufis were like liberal Christians in India who wanted Hindus to adopt Christianity out of faith, rather than coercion, and who sincerely promoted charities to help the poor. Some of these Christians developed appreciation of Hindu philosophy as well, but seldom gave up their regard for Christianity as the true religion. |
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