Daily Times

Sufism versus terrorism is one of those millions of debates in a complex world we all live in today. Type in any search string aiming at the subject, and the e-mighty Google shall return you an Everest of links of articles, debates, discussions, scholarly articles and images. Interestingly, a crushing majority of the links do not connect to Pakistan, and that could safely imply that this debate is either taking place in the backyard of the society, or not happening at all. The absence of this debate in the mainstream of the social discourse is also understandable as a vast majority of the Pakistanis took ‘only’ 15 years to start believing that terrorism and its connectivity with skewed interpretations of the religion was a reality.

The local influence of Sufis is based on traditions that may or may not always have sociological structures and logics that is required to counter and cull violent extremism

The State and society undertook a half-hearted effort back in the day when we had a dictator who apparently believed in enlightened moderation. National Sufi Council was formed with assistance from an international donor — not American if your mind automatically drifted that way — and Excellency Chaudhry Shujaat, former Prime Minister of Pakistan became its president. Among the stated objectives of the council were to highlight the soft-image of Islam, Pakistan and counter increasingly rampant radicalisation that marred the Pakistani mindset. The council held a Sufi Gala in the old fort of Lahore, printed calendars, and died sooner than expected.

Later in June 2009, the Gilani government announced to create a Sufi Advisory Council, and even announced a 7-member body that was led by a Barelvi notable, Haji Hanif Tayyab. Many saw this as an effort to establish a parallel body to the Council of Islamic Ideology that has generally been chaired by scholars and leaders from the Deobandi sect. What became of the Sufi Advisory Council is probably a secret that only James Bond would resolve.

In debated concerning radicalization and the epidemic of violent extremism in Pakistan, one comes across Sufism being presented as the panacea. The discussion is shallow in our society — to say the least, and lacks the depth and subjective seriousness to determine whether or not it can first stop the tidal wave of obscurantism, and then reverse the process. The first indicator of shallowness is that the debating heads usually portray and put Sufism in Pakistan as a universal blanket that covers most Barelvis and Shiites as a common entity against the violent-other. This sadly isn’t the case. Sectarian divide is another thing, even the “universal Sufi values” have a range of competing, and at times extremist postures against the other.

The world of Sufism in Pakistan is as divided as the world of sectarianism. The representatives of Sufism get together only when there is an act of terrorism, a shrine is attacked, or a so-call spiritual leader is harmed. Minus an act of violence, the political and social Sufism in Pakistan is generally on vacation.

Sufism does not offer a clear ideology nor does it takes a convincingly understandable stance that their violent and extremist competitors have. The larger part of the debate needs to be led by the local anthropologists and social scientists, but Pakistani Sufism does not offer an ideological position, as it is not an organised form of an idea. This is rather an amalgam of traditional practices of pre-Islamic religions in South Asia that got mixed with the Islamic ideology that certain spiritual personalities practiced when Muslims started coming to South Asia. Instead of the celestial miracles that are associated with these personalities that converted the local populations to Islam, their personal approaches toward a caste-ridden people and society are what brought and established them as Sufis in this region. Their heirs today, interestingly, are the part and protectors of that very caste-ridden religious apartheid that their ancestors had once abolished. Their local influences are based on traditions that may or may not always have sociological structures and logics that are required to counter and cull violent extremism. Because, no matter how terrible and skewed the interpretations of the extremists are, those are rooted both in the tradition as well as modern day sociological and political structures.

How a disorganized force of tradition that is divided within could defeat an organised mammoth is beyond my understanding, at least. You cannot overcome social chaos because you love spiritual music, dance the Dhamaal, play the drums, and sing local poetry. No matter how dear the traditions you hold, but these aren’t a force to counter violent political interpretations. In the ultimate reality, Pakistani Sufism has no clear agenda to defeat terrorism.

The writer is a social entrepreneur and a student of Pakistan’s social and political challenges. Twitter: @mkw72

Published in Daily Times, July 10^th , 2017.