Need to propagate Sufism in its right context: Dr Qasim – Kashmir Reader

SRINAGAR: The efforts of government to rejuvenate and revive the teachings and personality of Abhinav Gupta, a philosopher of Shaivism of 8th and 9th century is thought provoking, said Dr Muhammad Qasim, the chief of Muslim Deeni Mahaz (MDM). In a statement issued here, Dr Qasim said the efforts to start a pilgrimage to Abhinav cave in Arizal, Budgam in central Kashmir a couple of years ago and also a recent seminar held in Jammu University on Acharya Abhinav Gupta are very important events. Indian government by disseminating the teachings (Philosophy of Shaivism and the idea of Pantheism) of Abhinav Gupta wants to attain three objectives: To propagate the teachings of Shaivism especially the idea of Pantheism which is its inseparable part; to prove Sufism especially the teachings of Muslim saints as an offshoot of Shaivism; and to propagate the idea of monotheism as included in Shaivism in place of Islamic monotheism, he said. The MDM chief said the teachings of saints in Jammu and Kashmir are rooted in Quran and Sunnah not in Shaivism. Lives of Hassan Basari, Junaid Baghdadi, Zunoon-e-Misri, Imam-e-Ghazali, and Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani are worth emulating in Islamic Sufism. Through these efforts, it is being tried to cut off Kashmiri Sufism from Arab and Central Asia and connect it with Shaivism and Abhinav Gupta. He said the similarities between Shaivism and Islamic Sufism are not due to any impression of former on the latter but because they are universal realities. We request the intelligentsia in Kashmir to keep a vigil on these efforts of the Indian government and propagate the ideas of Islamic Sufism in its right context and perspective, Dr Qasim said.

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Need to propagate Sufism in its right context: Dr Qasim - Kashmir Reader