Honored to be hosting Mohsin Raza Khan again on The Ranveer Show. He is an Associate Professor at The School of International Affairs, Jindal Global University. He is a former Chevening Scholar and an FRM from GARP, NY. Professor Mohsin Raza Khan discusses Sufism, its origins, and its influence on art and culture. Sufism emphasizes the importance of love, the Oneness of humanity and the world, and the path to enlightenment.
Many artists, musicians, and singers have been inspired by the concepts of Sufism, including A.R. Rahman. Sufism emphasizes a path to enlightenment through introspection, meditation, and the practice of remembrance of God. Sufism also emphasizes the importance of interfaith dialogue and understanding between different religions.
You can definitely check out the previous episode that we did with him
Origin Of Sufism
“Sufism is the heart of Islam. Love is at the core of it, and it is about the oneness of the world. Sufi in Greek means wisdom, or it can be translated as the lover of philosophy. We don’t know where the term comes from.”
‘In Christianity, people usually leave their families to become priests. In Hinduism, you can stay in the family with worldly obligations and still fulfill your duty. It is mentioned in the Bhagwat Gita that without having desire in your heart, you complete your duties but be detached from the rewards.”
“In Sufism, you need to have a guru, but you can be married and have children. The path to serving God is through humanity. Some choose not to marry, but most of them are. In India, there are four important schools of thought on Sufism.”
“According to what we know, the spread of Sufism started in Iraq in 632 A.D. They started multiplying in numbers. One of the well-known Sufism saints said that everything is one. This state can be achieved with a lot of meditation. When you reach that depth of meditation, you began to realize everything is one.”
Rumi
“Rumi was at the peak period of Sufism. He was born around the border of Afghanistan. He later migrated to somewhere near Turkey. Most of his poems are in Persia, and a few are in Turkish. He had a master, and a lot of his poetry was in praise of his master. He constantly says true faith could be found in any religion. He had reached the state of Fanna and continued his practices. His poetries were beautiful. He influences a lot of Sufi saints, and he says the core of life is love. For him, love is God. He says whatever you do, do it with passion.”
Story Of Laila Majnu
“Laila Majnu is a story written to explain to people what the love of God is. There is a beautiful verse of Amir Khusrow’s ‘Man tu shudam, tu man shudi’.Which means I became you, and you became me. So Laila Majnu is a tale. In Arabic, Laila means night, and Majnuu was madly in love with her. But society considered it shameful. So he started going crazy as per society. But you need to understand, Majnu here represents Sufi. Majnu goes into the forest and starts losing himself because Majnu was deeply in love. His father tries to explain to him, but he doesn’t listen. A prince tries to convince and take Laila’s father’s tribe down. But Majnu doesn’t fight. He lives in the jungle, and Laila is married off. But she stayed devoted to Majnu. Majnu’s father tries to convince but all he said was this is my destiny. The Sufi is saying that this might seem like a sad life, but this is my destiny. This is the way I can attain peace. Majnu kept writing poems for her, and Laila also sends back. One day, a man came and gave a letter to him, and he tears the letter and throws away the part of the letter where Laila and Majnu were written separately. He says you don’t understand when the lover and beloved come close only one name is enough to represent them both.”
“One day, an old Sheikh goes to Laila and asks her why don’t meet him. He is suffering so much. So she also goes to meet her. The Sheikh takes them to the Palm groove to make them meet. When they were on the way, Laila starts feeling a burning sensation and says I can’t go further. But there was a brief moment when they look into each other eyes. That was the last time they met. They both try to live a normal life, but they both suffer till the end. So it is said that maybe, in the next life, they would be together.”
“The story of the Indian Sufi tries to bring India together. They try to develop a syncretic culture. You can see that in the songs.”
Thank You!
Read Next:
1. Is sufiyat above shariat or vice versa ?
2. If Sufis.is about Love & humanity then What he has to say about the fact that almost all religious riots against Hindus around the independence era were instigated by various sufi lineages- Quadaris, Sohrawardis, Naqshbansis
3. Addendum to 2, Aurangzeb needs no introduction, he was a Naqshbandi and preaided over the killings of thousands on hindus, destruction of temples. His biggest contribution to Islam is ‘Fatwa-e-alamgiri’ , a book filled with hate against non-muslims.
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