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Article: A matter of faith ; The Chishtiya Silsila makes a comeback in central India despite renewed opposition from religious hardliners.
- Article from:
- India Today
- Article date:
- September 21, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 India Today. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A day after the Taliban blew up the shrine of 17th century Sufi
poet Rehman Baba at Peshawar in Pakistan on March 5, the muted
outcry at a Khanqah (spiritual retreat) in the walled city of Bhopal
could barely be heard in the narrow alleyways. But the message sent
out by the gathering of devout Sufis in Tila Jamalpura locality of
the Madhya Pradesh capital was loud and clear: they were reclaiming
their space amid the tide of militant Islamism, willing Allah to
reform hardliners, or destroy them.
The next Jumerat (Thursday), it was business as usual in the
Khanqah. An assorted gathering of Muslim Chishtiyas and their Hindu
neighbours was back singing a quaint hymn that blends, as they
claim, ...