| Awaken Bharata |
 |
| Books By David Frawley |
| SUFIS AND MILITANCE | |
| This
suggests that the mysticism of Mohammed was not pure, which means
that anyone who honors him as the greatest of teachers can fall into
the same trap. With an aggressive tendency at the core of the
religion, even its mystics tend to remain tied to it, and if some of
them are able to go beyond it, the urge returns in coming
generations. In the final
analysis Sufism appears more like an aborted form of Vedanta rather
than an alternative form.
Sufism was Western Vedanta that could never fully emerge because of its bondage to a tradition opposed to religious freedom and pluralism. If Sufis follow out their higher mysticism to its real conclusion it may require that they become part of another religion that is inherently more tolerant and Dharmic. One should not think Sufi militance was an affair of the Middle Ages and has been given up in modern times. Today there is an effort by Sufis to appear more liberal, not only in India but in the West, but if we look deeply this is often a public relations ploy. Ask such Sufis to criticize Islamic militance. Ask them to honor the use of images in religious worship. Ask them to publicly state the Islam is not the true religion of the world. Ask them to criticize traditional Islamic law with its cruel anti-blasphemy and anti-apostasy rules. Let their answer be your guide. Militant Sufis have been active in Chechnya and there is Sufi involvement in the Taleban in Afghanistan, a region that has long been a center of their activity. |
|
|
|
