Transported to the era of ‘Nund Rishi’- the flag-bearer of Kashmir
Urging the academic world to reinterpret the teachings of Kashmir’s patron Sufi saint, Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din (RA), Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar Friday said the saint’s life needs retelling as the era of great secularism in Jammu and Kashmir.
“In today’s world where Muslims face internal divisions, the era of Sheikh is an example of great secularism in Jammu and Kashmir. Like we have to rediscover the message of Quran, we have to rediscover Sheikh-ul-Aalam as a great connector between people of different faiths,” Akhtar said.
The Minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day National Seminar on Religious Pluralism – Revisiting legacies of Sheikh-ul-Alam and Kabir, organised by Markaz-i-Noor, Centre for Shaikh-ul-Aalam Studies, University of Kashmir in Srinagar. The event has been sponsored by ICSSR, Regional Centre, Chandigarh.
Sheikh-ul-Aalam expanded horizons of thought
Urging the participants to move beyond the commonly available interpretations of the works of the patron Sufi saint in the light of the global crisis facing the Muslim world, Akhtar said Shaikh-ul-Aalam (RA) expanded the horizons of thought in J&K.
“If there is an inheritor of the great human legacy of sifting good from bad, it is Sheikh-ul-Aalam. Unfortunately, today it is not whether Muslims can live with Sikhs or Christians or Jews. The crisis in the Muslim world has brought us to a point where we have to first decide whether we can live with each other,” he said.
The wise man’s thoughts on ecology
Recalling the trials and tribulations faced by Shaikh-ul-Alam (RA) during his lifetime, Akhtar stressed that given the threat of global warming, the first and most profound statement on ecology came from Sheikh.
“But when Sheikh said ‘an poshe telli yeli wan poshe’, he didn’t mean just ‘food is subservient to forests’. The survival of entire human race depends on oxygen produced by trees. And it is not merely a question of reinterpretation of Sheikh, but of recreating the message of culture of tolerance and coexistence during his lifetime,” he said.
As per the folklores, Sheikh-ul-Aalam, popularly known as ‘Nund Rishi’ was the first one to start Rishism in the valley. The shrine of Charar-i-Sharief was built to comemorate the saint, who was also known as Alamdar-e-Kashmir (flag-bearer of Kashmir).
Prof Khursheed Iqbal Andrabi, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kashmir delivered the inaugural address at the seminar while Prof Shad Ramzan, the head of Markaz-i-Noor, Centre for Shaikh-ul-Aalam Studies, University of Kashmir, delivered the keynote address. Prof MY Taing also spoke during the opening ceremony.
