2016-03-21 15:39:00

A group of Muslim clerics from India and Pakistan said terrorism in South Asia can be combatted successfully if the two traditional rival neighbours respect each other and combat religious extremism. They were speaking during the four-day World Sufi Forum that ended in New Delhi March 20. The Sufi movement is a branch of Islamic mysticism based on a fusion of Hindu and Muslim spirituality that took root in South Asia. "India and Pakistan have fought four wars and have achieved nothing," said Pakistani cleric Tahirul Qadri who addressed the gathering. "India's enemy is not Pakistan; Pakistan's enemy is not India. But the enemy for both countries is terrorism," he said. Both India and Pakistan should act to check terrorists using religion to spread extremist activities, he added. "Over the last few decades, there have been concerted efforts to weaken Sufism in India and replace it with an extremist and radical ideology," said cleric Hazrat Syed Muhammad Ashraf, a prominent Sufi leader in India.

The World Sufi Forum was inaugurated in New Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 March 2016. More than 200 Indian and international delegates, including Sufi Mashaykh (Masters), spiritual leaders, scholars, academicians and masters of Sufism, participated in the event.

The major objectives of the forum are:

* Strengthening Global Peace, Rejecting Violence & Extremism

* Calling For Unity in Multiplicity, Unconditional Love, Tolerance & Acceptance

* Spreading Spiritual and Universal Messages of Islamic Faith

(Source: UCAN)