The approach to "local similarities" rather than "global uniformities" is the key thing that makes this article more interesting. It gives a different dimension to perceive and understand such sensitive topics and perhaps the right way to put things.

I would encourage more details on the piecemeal, pragmatic approach from the author in his next article and hope to read the views of other global leaders too.

"Arif: Someone correctly suggested that you have a sick mind. You should seek help."

Ah, yes I believe it was Anonymous, with a name like that it says it all. He/she made a ridiculous unfounded claim that I posted a nude picture of some girl on these blogs. Islamic logic at work, can't refute, then kill; can't kill then make unfounded allegations.

Wonder whose mind suffers more, the one who willfully believes in a sick prophet and his absurd cult, or the one who correctly calls it.

For those who believe in hell and judgment day there is a special place in hell for willfully believing in the absurd. Those who refuse to apply their own reason and common sense to know right from wrong there is no hope. The allegations I make about the founder of Islam and Islam are not new, they can be read from any source, the best still being Islam's very own the hadith, Tafsir and the koran.

"Any one who thinks that he is the only one all-knowing, all encompassing with knowledge is indeed a sick person."

From what I write how did you ever come to this conclusion?

Arif

Arif: Someone correctly suggested that you have a sick mind. You should seek help.

Any one who thinks that he is the only one all-knowing, all encompassing with knowledge is indeed a sick person.

Do seek help before it is too late.

I'm not sure that Barack Obama knows what his faith is, nor his politics so he probably shouldn't be speaking about either until he knows where his core lies. He doesn't understand that country comes somewhere below God on the pyramid of importance. No matter what your religion, your beliefs are going to lead your politics. That should be where your core is. And you must have a core or you will wander aimlessly just like Senator Obama does.

Arefi,
This is for you and people like yourself.

A sermon by a reverend? The reverend Roger Fritts should stick to preaching to his dumb flock and refrain from talking about islam.
Here is a fact; Islam is a disease and muslims are the infected. I have no problems with muslims only with their religion islam, the founder of islam should be put on trial, and his book should be up for criticism for being one of the most vulgar books revered by so many misguided muslims.

Please do the world a favor and don't compare yourselves to the Jews or the Japanese of several decades back. Any country would have reacted that way when attacked. Here is some food for thought, in 1971 Bangladesh separated from West Pakistan, read up and tell us how did the Muslims of West Pakistan treat the Bengalis living in then West Pakistan in the 70's... it was worse.

To know mr. mohammed read his book and then the hadith. You will then know who the "prophet" actually was. This pathetic "sermon" does not address mohammeds wives’, does not mention his child bride, his age when he acquired his toddler wife. What about his sons wife whom he saw in a reveling dress (in her house) then made his son divorce her only for him to marry her afterwards. What about the violent way he forces himself on Kinans's wife, what prophet behaves like that? This "sermon" should have addressed that too. It should go into the details of his aggressive wars that he instigates, ~69 wars only one defensive (khandak) the rest all aggressive and provoked.

Read "prophet's" last sermon, read how he insists on getting rid of the Jews/Pagans/Christians from the peninsula. The apartheid city of Mecca that he snatched from the pagans and to this day exists. Only in a pure Islamic state can such a highway exist; Muslims this way to Mecca non-Muslims that way!

The sermon is correct in identifying the stupid "pillars" of islam. It is a ritualistic and dogmatic faith. There is no spirituality in this religion. All rules, time specific and direction specific. The stupid fasting you do, really. In Muslim countries they have to stock up extra food supplies during the stupid month of Ramadan!!! Work, something muslim countries don’t normally do comes to a standstill. People actually gain weight during the "fasting" month. Mohammed was a thug cheat and a war monger, he cheats from the Jews and Christians and comes up with his own hodge podge Islam. The sufis realized the harshness of mohammeds god allah, hence they tried to soften up the religion and invented the sufi sect.
This uncle of mohammed the "sermon" mentions knows "prophet" very well, what does mohammed do when uncle laughs at his request to accept islam, he asks that "angel" for a verse from his always handy dandy allah. Read verse 111 for yourself.

Arefi, you seem to be Iranian by your name, see what Islam has done to the once great persian people. It has bought this culture and people to its knees. Essence of islam my arse!!!

This is for Arif, the Observer and others:

The Essence of Islam
A Sermon Given
by The Reverend Roger Fritts
on February 28, 1999
at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church
Bethesda, Maryland

Islamic students in Iran took control of the American Embassy in November of 1979. When I heard the report of the student occupation of the Embassy, my heart sank. Bob Anders, married to my wife's sister, was on the Embassy staff. In the newspapers over the next few days Bob's picture and his name did not appear. We had no idea what had happened to him. A call to Bob's wife Linda, who was living in Athens, was of no help. Linda simply said, "I cannot talk on the phone about anything."

Was he a prisoner? Was he hurt? Had they killed him? Was he in hiding? Special reports appeared on the news every night. Americans were blindfolded and put on display for the world press. But no information about Bob was forthcoming. Three long months passed before he appeared on television, standing next to the Canadian ambassador. Bob had escaped with five others to the homes of Canadian Embassy staff. They had lived in hiding until they were able to leave Iran using Canadian passports.

This event and others like it have resulted in a great distrust of Muslims. The American fear of Islam is not unlike the fear we had of communism during the height of the Cold War, or of Japanese Americans during the Second World War.

However, just as imprisoning Japanese Americans in the 1940s was wrong, and just as firing government employees suspected of being communists in the 1950s was wrong, the negative stereotypes we constantly see of Muslims are also wrong. Imagine what it would be like if we judged all Christians based on the actions of the members of the Ku Klux Klan. Imagine a world in which movies, novels and cartoons portrayed all Christians as dressed in white sheets, carrying shotguns, lynching blacks and burning crosses. This is how Western culture slurs Muslims.

Many of you in this congregation have visited Islamic countries. You are aware of their warmth, their generosity and their hospitality. You have seen their magnificent art and architecture. You know from your own experiences that Islam is not just an Arabic religion. Ninety percent of the population in Indonesia is Muslim. Pakistan has the second largest Islamic population, third is Bangladesh and fourth is India. Researchers estimate that more than four million Muslims live in the United States.

What is the essence of Islam? The answer starts with the story of its founder. Mohammed was born in the year 570 A.D. At the time of his birth the Arabian peninsula was enjoying a period of great economic growth. However, the weaker and poorer members of society were suffering neglect. Lucky entrepreneurs could make fortunes in the caravan trade, but the most ordinary people were left out. Many people were out for themselves in a highly competitive, heartless race for wealth.

Mohammed's early life was not easy. His father died before he was born and his mother died before he was two. He was raised by a grandfather who died when the boy was six. From that time on Mohammed's uncle looked after him. He grew up a poor orphan, working as a shepherd in the fields around Mecca. We know little about Mohammed's youth, except that he developed a reputation as a trustworthy person with a good sense of human relationships. In his twenties this man, who had no memory of his mother, married a widow who owned a caravan business. His wife was about fifteen years older than he. The marriage lasted for twenty-four years until his wife's death in 619.

Except for his marriage, we know very little about Mohammed's early adult life. He did increasingly engage in private religious meditation, including retreats to a mountain cave outside Mecca. Mohammed was seeking a deeper spiritual experience. One day when he was meditating in the cave he believed he heard a voice. The voice said "Recite!" Mohammed said that he could not. The voice said "Recite!" again and Mohammed felt a heavy, pressing-down on his body. Then the voice said:

"Recite! In the name of your God who created humankind from clotted blood, recite! And your God is the most noble, who teaches by the pen, teaches humankind that which they did not know."

Mohammed saw the source of the command to recite as a gigantic figure on the horizon. Frightened, Mohammed hurried to his wife to tell her of his experience. According to the story, she became the first to believe and submit to her husband's revelation. Soon others followed, both within Mohammed's family and outside it. The revelations continued until the end of Mohammed's life. We know the accumulated revelations as recitations or qurans. They are called recitations or qurans, both because they were first revealed to Mohammed in recited form and because Mohammed and his fellow Muslims recited them. Today the collection of these recitations we call the Quran, or Koran.

The call of Mohammed to be a prophet occurred in 610, when he was about forty years of age. Over the next few years Mohammed rose to become the political leader of central and western Arabia. He taught monotheism, submission to the one true God. Mohammed said that this God had spoken to Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets in the biblical record of Judaism and Christianity. He taught that Muslims should believe in the Garden of Eden and in Adam and Eve. He taught that they should believe in Moses and Jesus, in the Veneration of Mary. He taught that they should believe in the sacred shrines of Judaism and Christianity, in heaven and in hell, and in the final judgement. He encouraged his disciples to follow the ethical teachings of both the Jews and Christians. Today a good Muslim is aware of the historical links of Islam to Judaism and Christianity and treats both religions with respect.

After Mohammed's death in 632, his followers established the five Pillars of Islam. The Quran describes each of them briefly. The details of the five Pillars of Islam were eventually set down by religious leaders who came after Mohammed.

The first Pillar of Islam is to utter these words: "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God." The Arabic proper name for God is Allah. The word Allah refers to the same God as the God that Christians and Jews worship. Christians, Jews and others agree with Muslims on the first statement, which is an affirmation of monotheism, "There is no god but God." The second statement distinguishes Muslims, "Mohammed is the messenger of God." It carries the conviction that Mohammed was a human being who was a messenger of God. To become a Muslim it is only necessary to say these words with sincere conviction. "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God."

The second Pillar of Islam is the prayer Muslims perform five times each day. The exact performance of the prayer varies but a general uniformity of practice exists. Thus the ritual prayer binds the Islamic community together across the ages and across geographical frontiers. The leader's actions serve as the pattern for the series of standings, bowings, prostrations and sittings that make up a cycle within the prayer. All eyes are directed straight ahead, with the entire congregation facing in the direction of Mecca.

Muslims observe the prayer at dawn, at noon, during mid-afternoon, just after the sun has set, and in the evening. A prerequisite for doing the prayer is ritual purification, usually simple washing of parts of the body. Cleanliness is a pervasive ideal among Muslims.

While Christians gather on Sunday mornings, Muslims throughout the world gather in mosques in the early afternoon on Fridays. This replaces the regular noon prayer. The practice of observing a weekly worship service at midday Friday arose because Friday was the weekly market day in the time of Mohammed. People from the surrounding area came into the city and were available to attend services. Families do not worship together since the men and women line up in separate rows. Large mosques have three religious leaders: the leader of the prayer, the preacher who delivers a Friday sermon, and the person who calls the people to prayer. Smaller mosques combine these roles into one or two persons. Traditional Muslims frown on any use of music in religious rituals. Only Sufi Muslims have developed rituals involving singing, musical instruments and dance. All Muslims, however, share the expectation that they will pray facing Mecca five times a day. It is part of the Islamic spiritual discipline.

The third Pillar of Islam is the religious obligation to give money for support of the poor, the debtor, the stranger. This is not considered optional charity. It is an obligation of service to God. The Quran compares the gift of money with a loan given to God that God will repay many times. To give money to the less fortunate is to worship God. In Mohammed's lifetime this developed into an Islamic welfare system in which those who had more income shared with those who did not have enough. Today in most places in the Islamic world, modern secular states have replaced the traditional sharing of wealth with national taxation and welfare systems.

The fourth Pillar of Islam is the fast. During Ramadan, from dawn until dark, Muslims may take no food, drink, medicine or engage in sexual activity. They should avoid indecent talk, gossip, slander and anything else that would cause anger or grief to anyone or might arouse passion. In the evening they can eat and enjoy marital relations, and before dawn they eat a meal for the day. The rules of Ramadan excuse the ill, children and the aged from the fast. Muslims borrowed the idea of a fast from the Jewish tradition of a fast on the Day of the Atonement.

The fifth Pillar of Islam is the great pilgrimage to Mecca. This is the only Pillar not absolutely obligatory. Moslems should travel to Mecca if they are physically able to make the trip and can afford it. In recent times nearly two million pilgrims each year make the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. They cannot establish any differences in status and wealth, because each pilgrim dons a white, seamless garment. They experience the thrill of seeing, hearing, and meeting fellow believers of all races and languages and cultures from the corners of the globe. According to Islamic tradition, Mecca is where Adam and Eve lived and where Abraham and his son Ishmael built the first house of worship. It is also where Mohammed often prayed.

The role of women is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Islam. Most historians agree that the Quran improved the rights and living conditions of Muslim women over those of women of pre-Islamic Arabia. The Quran in many places prescribes equality between men and women concerning basic religious duties and rituals. During Mohammed's lifetime women worshiped in the mosque and went around in public unveiled. The Quran encourages modesty in dress and behavior for both women and men, but it does not require either to wear veils. Long before the time of Mohammed people living in communities in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Syria had established the practice of women wearing veils. When Muslims embraced the practice, it was because of the influence of these cultures.

During the last twenty-five years increasing dissatisfaction among traditional Muslims with their secular governments has caused a resurgence of Islam that has taken a variety of forms. Within this context, westerners have begun to apply the Christian term "Fundamentalist" to Muslims. The Islamic revolution best known in the West was the clerical takeover of the government of Iran in 1979, when the takeover of the American Embassy occurred. Because of events like this, many in the United States have come to equate Islamic with terrorism.

This is a serious misconception. The vast majority of Muslims who hold what we might call fundamentalist beliefs are not proponents of violence. Most followers of Islam are not monsters, but human beings like us. Like us they follow an ethical code grounded in the teachings of Judaism and Christianity.

The essence of Islam is contained in the five Pillars of Islam, which together form a spiritual discipline.

* The first is sincerely to say these words: "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God."
* Second is to pray five times each day.
* Third is the religious obligation of giving money for support of the poor, the debtor, the stranger.
* Fourth is the obligation to fast during Ramadan.
* Fifth is the religious obligation to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

The pilgrimage to Mecca is what we night call a spiritual experience. One American Muslim who made the pilgrimage a few years ago put it this way:

Reaching Mecca was only the beginning. The goal of the hajj was to perform it well. The rites were hard, sometimes unfathomable -- like living. Yet they provided a counterweight to the usual view of life as a dog-and-cat fight. Elsewhere, except at the best of times, every person looked out for himself. During the hajj, people looked out for each other. The hajj is a shared rite of passage . . . In that way it was like an act of love . . . [and] It provided a service missing in the West . . . it offered a climax to a religious life.

Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many Paths
Professor Alan Godlas, University of Georgia
What is Sufism? :
Early Definitions
When asked about Sufism, Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Qassab--the master of Junayd--said, "Sufism consists of noble behavior (akhlaq karima) that is made manifest at a noble time on the part of a noble person in the presence of a noble people."

When he was asked about Sufism, Junayd said, "Sufism is that you should be with God--without any attachment."

With regard to Sufism, Ruwaym ibn Ahmad said, "Sufism consists of abandoning oneself to God in accordance with what God wills."

On one occasion when he was asked about Sufism, Samnun said, "Sufism is that you should not possess anything nor should anything possess you."

Concerning Sufism, Abu Muhammad al-Jariri said, "Sufism consists of entering every exalted quality (khulq) and leaving behind every despicable quality."

When he was asked about Sufism, 'Amr ibn 'Uthman al-Makki said, "Sufism is that at each moment the servant should be in accord with what is most appropriate (awla) at that moment."

Regarding Sufism, 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Rahim al-Qannad said, "Sufism consists of extending a 'spiritual station' (nashr maqam) and being in constant union (ittisal bi-dawam)."

All of these definitions of Sufism given by Sufis who lived in the 9th and 10th centuries (CE) are provided by al-Sarraj (d. 378 AH/ 988 CE) in the earliest comprehensive book on Sufism, the Kitab al-Luma' (The Book of Flashes) (ed. by R. Nicholson, pp. 34-35). These definitions of Sufism, however, are mere signposts pointing one

The Sufi movement of Islam produced a number of Sufis or dervishes in the medieval time. One famous sfi of the 12th century A.D., was Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti who settled at Ajmer, India. The teachings of the Sufis attracted millions of people around the globe. Here are some of the teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti:

Here are some of the sacred sayings of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin. The intervening period of seven long centuries has not, in any way, affected their ever-lasting efficacy and value.

Essence of Sufism

*

The heart of a lover (the true devote of God) constantly burns with the fire of Love so much so that whatever passion intrudes upon its sanctity is burnt to ashes. *

He indeed is a true devotee blessed with the love of God, who is gifted with the following three attributes: river-like charity, i.e his sense of charity has no limits and is equally beneficial to all the creatures of God who approach him, Sun-like affection, i.e. his affection may be extended indiscriminately to all like sunlight and Earth-like hospitality, i.e. His loving embrace may be open to all like that of the earth.
*
A sin committed does not harm an individual so much as the looking down with contempt upon one’s own fellow beings.
*
The test of a true devotee’s mind is that it is always, and to all intents, strictly obedient to the will of God and is constantly afraid of behaving in a manner which is apt to displease Him resulting in the withdrawal of His grace.
*
A seer of the ‘essence of things’ is characteristically mute and meditative.
*
He is a hardened sinner who commits sin and yet simultaneously entertains the belief that he is one the God’s ‘chosen few’.
*
A Dervish or hermit is one who would never disappoint a needy.
*
Patience is tested through resignation to sorrow, sufferings and disaster without a murmur disclosing one’s pains to others.
*
The more one learns about the ‘essence of things’ the more he wonders.
*
The seer regards Death as a friend, luxury as a enemy and the constant narration or remembrance of God as a glory.
*
The best time for the seer of dervish is indicated by the absence of all cares from his mind.
*
Knowledge is comprised upto an unfathomable ocean and enlightenment is like a wave in it, then what is the relation of God and man ? While the ocean of knowledge is sustained by God alone, the enlightenment pertains to man.
*
‘Namaaz’ (Islamic prayer) is the ladder leading to the proximity of God Almighty.
*
Prosperity departs from the home of one who tells a lie on oath and he is soon ruined.
*
The graveyard is the place for picking up a lesson. In such a solemn surrounding, one should not indulge in laughing or burst into laughter or eat or drink or do any other worldly thing.
*
Keep handy your equipment for the last journey and think of death as hovering over your head at all times.
*
God rains misfortune and misery upon the heads of those whom He loves.
*
The best way of evading the fire of hell lies in feeding the hungry, providing water to the thirsty, removing the wants of the needy and befriending the miserable.
*
Just as the sunshine increases gradually in the morning so does the Divine Light expands in one who says Ishraaq prayers.
*
When the Aarif meditates over a thing, he attains a state of absorption in which even if thousands of angels assuming wonderful forms try to attract him, he would remain entirely undisturbed for the time being.
*
There is impurity below every human hair, hence water must touch and reach the root of every hair. If a single hair shall remain dirty, purification is not complete and is impaired.
*
Human Perspiration is not impure (Hadith).
*
Offer your repentance quickly before death arrives and hurry up to perform the Namaaz before its final hour passes.
*
It is incumbent on the followers of the path of ‘Tariqat’ (the path leading to Divinity) that he must first divorce or renounce the physical world, and then the second world thereafter and ultimately his own ‘self’ (Nafs) when alone he can pursue his right path, failing which he should abandon the enterprise of Sufism.
*
For a follower of the path of Truth, it is worse than a sin to disdain or look down upon any one.
*
When the Aarif becomes silent it means that he is talking to God, and when he closes his eyes it means that he his knocking at God’s door
*
The path of Love (of God) is such a path that whoever stepped into it, he lost himself.
*
Those devoted to the path of the ‘knowledge of God’s realisation’ (Irfaan ) have nothing to speak of except God.
*
Severance of connection with wealth and property is one of the inferior achievements of an Aarif.
*
Those who are true lovers of God, give away both of the worlds for the sake of their ‘beloved’ and even then they feel that they have done nothing whatever.
*
Verily he is an Aarif who is clothed with three qualities-firstly, piety; secondly, conduct eliciting respect, and thirdly, modesty.
*
Love of God transcends and is above all passion for others.
*
Perfection of Faith is evidenced by three things - Fear, Hope and Love.
*
Death is a bridge which expands the passage for a lover to reach his beloved (God).
*
True Friendship or love (of God) lies in maintaining His constant recollection in heart and not in expression by speech.
*
The heart was essentially created for making rounds of the love of God.

Rumi
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For the writing system, see Malay language.
Rumi Turkish Muslim Philosopher
Medieval
Full name Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad
Birth 1207 AD Balkh, Khawarzemi
Death 17 December 1273 AD Konya, Turkey
School/tradition Sufi
Main interests lyric poetry, music
Notable ideas Turkish philosophy, Turkish poetry, Turkish music, Sufi philosophy, and Sufi dance
Influenced by[show]
Attār, Sanā'ī, Abu Sa'īd Abulḫayr, Ḫaraqānī, Bayazīd Bistāmī, Šamse Tabrīzī
Influenced[show]
Sir Mohammad Iqbāl, Tāhir ul-Qadrī, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Abdolkarim Soroush

Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Persian: مولانا جلال الدین محمد بلخى), also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad balkhi[1] (Persian: مولانا جلال الدین محمد بلخى) and Turkish: Mevlâna Celâleddin i Rûmî), but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (30 September 1207–17 December 1273), was a 13th century Turkish(some scientist think Persian)[2][3] poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian.[4] Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most parts of his life in Anatolia or 'Rum', now located in Turkey.[5]

He was born in Balkh, (in modern Afghanistan, then part of Persia), the hometown of his father's family, although important Rumi scholars believe that Rumi was born in 1207 CE in Wakhsh (Waḫš),[6] a small town located at the river Wakhsh in what is now Tajikistan. Wakhsh belonged to the larger province of Balkh, and in the year Rumi was born, his father was an appointed scholar there.[6] Both these cities were at the time included in the Greater Persian cultural sphere of Khorāṣān, the easternmost province of historical Persia,[7] and were part of the Khwarezmian Empire.

His birthplace[8] and native language[9] both indicate a Persian heritage. Due to quarrels between different dynasties in Khorāṣān, opposition to the Khwarizmid Shahs who were considered devious by Bahā ud-Dīn Wālad (Rumi's father)[10] or fear of the impending Mongol cataclysm,[11] his father decided to migrate westwards. Rumi's family traveled west, first performing the Hajj and eventually settling in the Anatolian city Konya (capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, now located in Turkey), where he lived most of his life, composed one of the crowning glories of Persian literature and profoundly affected the culture of the area.[12]

He lived most of his life under the Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works[13] and died in 1273 CE. He was buried in Konya and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage.[14] Following his death, his followers and his son Sultan Walad founded the Mawlawīyah Sufi Order, also known as the order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance known as the samāʿ ceremony.

Rumi's works are written in the New Persian language. New Persian (also called Dari-Persian or Dari), a widely understood vernacular of Middle Persian, has its linguistic origin in the Fars Province of modern Iran.[15] A Dari-Persian literary renaissance (In the 8th/9th century) started in regions of Sistan, Khorasan and Transoxiana[16]and by the 10th/11th century, it overtook Arabic as the literary and cultural language in the Persian Islamic world. Although Rumi's works were written in Persian, Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His original works are widely read in the original language across the Persian-speaking world. Translations of his works are very popular in South Asian, Turkic, Arab and Western countries. His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Bengali and Turkish literatures. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages in various formats, and BBC News has described him as the "most popular poet in America".[17]

Teachings of Rumi
A page of a copy circa 1503 of the "Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i"
A page of a copy circa 1503 of the "Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i"

The general theme of his thoughts, like that of the other mystic and Sufi poets of the Persian literature, is essentially about the concept of Tawhīd (unity) and union with his beloved (the primal root) from which/whom he has been cut and fallen aloof, and his longing and desire for reunity.

The "Masnavi" weaves fables, scenes from everyday life, Qur’anic revelations and exegesis, and metaphysics, into a vast and intricate tapestry. Rumi is considered an example of "insan-e kamil" — the perfected or completed human being. In the East, it is said of him, that he was, "not a prophet — but surely, he has brought a scripture". Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dancing as a path for reaching God. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine, and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of Whirling Dervishes developed into a ritual form. He founded the order of the Mevlevi, the "whirling" dervishes, and created the "Sema", their "turning", sacred dance. In the Mevlevi tradition, Sema represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." In this journey the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth, and arrives at the "Perfect". The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey with greater maturity, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.

According to Shahram Shiva, one reason for Rumi's popularity is that "Rumi is able to verbalize the highly personal and often confusing world of personal/spiritual growth and mysticism in a very forward and direct fashion. He does not offend anyone, and he includes everyone. The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor the world of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is the highest state of a human being — a fully evolved human. A complete human is not bound by cultural limitations; he touches every one of us. Today Rumi's poems can be heard in churches, synagogues, Zen monasteries, as well as in the downtown New York art/performance/music scene." According to Professor Majid M. Naini [2], Rumi's life and transformation provide true testimony and proof that people of all religions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. Rumi’s visions, words, and life teach us how to reach inner peace and happiness so we can finally stop the continual stream of hostility and hatred and achieve true global peace and harmony.

In other verses in Masnavi, Rumi describes in detail the universal message of love:

Love’s nationality is separate from all other religions,
The lover’s religion and nationality is the Beloved (God).

The lover’s cause is separate from all other causes
Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.[23]

[edit] Major works

Main articles: Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi and Masnavi

Rumi's poetry is often divided into various categories: the quatrains (rubayāt) and odes (ğazal) of the Divan, the six books of the Masnavi, the discourses, the letters, and the almost unknown Six Sermons.

[edit] Poetic Works
Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī Mevlâna museum, Konya, Turkey
Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī
Mevlâna museum, Konya, Turkey

* Rumi's major work is Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī ("Spiritual Couplets"; Persian: مثنوی معنوی - Maṣnawīye Ma'nawī), a six-volume poem regarded by some Sufis[24] as the Persian Language Qur'an. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of mystical poetry.

* Rumi's other major work is the Dīwān-e Kabīr ("Great Work") or Dīwān-e Šams-e Tabrīzī ("The Works of Shams of Tabriz"; Persian: دیوان شمس تبریزی - named in honor of Rumi's great friend and inspiration, the dervish Shams), comprising some 40,000 verses. Several reasons have been offered for Rumi's decision to name his masterpiece after Shams. Some argue that since Rumi would not have been a poet without Shams, it is apt that the collection be named after him.

[edit] Prose Works

* Fihi Ma Fihi ("In It What's in It") provides a record of seventy-one talks and lectures given by Rumi on various occasions to his disciple. It was compiled from the notes of his various disciples, so Rumi did not author the work directly.[25] The English translation from Persian was first provided by A.J. Arberry as Discourses of Rumi(New York: Samuel Weiser, 1972) and the second book by Wheeler Thackston, Sign of the Unseen(Putney, VT: Threshold Books, 1994).

* Majālese Sab'a ("Seven Sessions") contains seven Persian sermons (as the name implies) or lectures given in seven different assemblies. The sermons themselves gives a commentary on the deeper meaning of Quran and Hadeeth. The sermons include also quotations from poems of Sana'i, Attar and other poets, including Rumi himself. As Aflakī relates, after Šams-e Tabrīzī, Rumi gave sermons at the request of notables, especially Salāh al-Dīn Zarqūbī.[26]

* Maktubāt ("The Letters") is the book containing Rumi's letter in Persian Language to his disciples, family members and the men of state and influence. The letters testify that Rumi kept very busy helping family members and administering a community of disciples that had gown up around them.

[edit] Philosophical outlook

Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine Ego undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego.[27] All matter in the universe obeys this law and this is due to an inbuilt urge (which Rumi calls love) to evolve and seek enjoinment with the divinity from which it has emerged. Evolution into a human being from an animal is only a stage in this process. The doctrine of the Fall of Adam is reinterpreted as the devolution of the ego from the universal ground of divinity and is a universal cosmic phenomena.[28] This synthesis of evolution and creationism combined was a culmination of the ideas of Plotinus and of previous Muslim philosophers like Al Farabi. The French philosopher Henri Bergson's idea of life being creative and evolutionary is also a little similar. Unlike Bergson, Rumi believes that there is a specific goal to this whole process which is the attainment of God. God is the ground as well as goal of all existence.
“

I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless'd; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
'To Him we shall return.
”

Original Persian:

از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم --- وز نما مُردم بحیوان سرزدم

مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم --- پس چه ترسم کی ز مردم کم شدم

حملهء دیگر بمیرم از بشر --- تا برآرم از ملایک بال و پر

وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو --- کل شییء هالک الاوجهه

بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم --- آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم

پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون --- گویدم کانا الیه راجعون

[edit] Rumi's "universality"

It is often said[29] that the teachings of Rumi are universal in nature. For him religion was mostly a personal experience and not confined to logical arguments and sense perceptions.[30] Creative love, or the urge to rejoin the spirit to divinity, was the goal towards which every thing moves.[30] The dignity of life, in particular human life (which is conscious of its divine origin and goal) was important.[30]

I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.
I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.
I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.
With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.
Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.
Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.
I fared then to the scene of the Prophet's experience of a great divine manifestation only a 'two bow-lengths' distance from him' but God was not there even in that exalted court.
Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.

Can we bind people together through the development of character?

An atheist is a non-believer in spirituality. In this century, the majority of time in a 24-hr day most of us spend 95+ % of our time in secular activities,i.e., eating, going to work, interacting with people, coming back home, watching TV and then going to sleep.

A person who is spiritually inclined sees spiritual value even in these seemingly secular activities.

When you go to work and make an honest living so that you can provide food and shelter to your family, there is both an emotional and spiritual reward in it. It is a form of worship.

When you interact with people and try to be fair in your dealings, there is also an spiritual reward in it--another form of worship.

When you come across a thirsty animal and provide water or shelter to that animal, there is a spiritual reward in it. Be kind to animals as well as human beings. Another act of worship.

When someone insults you and you simply walk away, you are not a coward but a spiritual person.

When you offer food to to your hungry neighbor or help your neighbor in some other way, you are engaging in a form of worship.

I learned all this and a lot more about tolerance from reading Rumi, the Muslim philosopher, poet, and sufi who lived 7-8 centuries ago. His work is immensely popular in Europe and was on NY Times BESTSELLER list a few years ago.

Whether you proclaim to be a Muslim or not, by acting in the above-mentioned ways you are a Muslim.

Unfortunately, most of us are engaged in wars of identity--very superficial ways to identify ourselves as Christians, Jews, Muslims, or Hindus.

Thanks for this post. I would like to point out that it is not necessary to jump directly from non-"religious-specific values" to "purely secular, universal principles," as the writer does in this post. Perhaps what Senator Obama meant by finding universal values is that certain principles are valued in different religious communities, as well as in non-religious communities. In the context of abortion, perhaps participants in the debate might share a principle of valuing women's health and a concern for the often unfortunate situation of underpriveleged women. In such a case, these concerns can become a basis for moving forward. The fact that some participants may take a "religious" perspective on said principles, while others may take a "secular" pespective, is not always relevant or productive when a common value is shared. In other words, labeling a particular value as either "religious" or "secular" is unnecessary and often obscures the many commonalities that diverse communities share.

An interesting blog. I feel that the issue you addressed is not one about which I would be able to speak on at an informed level. Quality writing though. Heartfelt and interesting, and, to myself at least, persuasive.

This is a very interesting article, but I disagree with the writer’s interpretation of Obama’s speech. Obama claimed that “religious motivated” people cannot “merely” point to church’s teaching or evoke God’s will, but he did not ask people to completely disregard their religious views when proposing legislation on contentious issues. His suggestion to appeal to principles that are "accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all” can also be interpreted as a step toward piecemeal pragmatism rather than assuming that Obama demands for religious people to limit their public discourse to purely secular and universal principles.

The idea of finding “local similarities” between particular moral traditions rather than "global uniformities" absolutely startled me. What a wonderful insight! Very persuasive! I wish more people will embrace this idea so that we can acquire true religious pluralism.

On the other hand, I am very keen and interested to learn about the idea of “"immanent criticism” that sounds complicated to attain. I would love to read Mr. Manatt’s article about how an individual should proceed toward “"immanent criticism” without offending people from different religious backgrounds.

Very nice article, read it all the way through without dozing off once. I even agreed with most of it!

I appreciate this interesting post, but I have to disagree with a few of Mr. Manatt's points. I think my disagreements stem from the Mr. Manatt’s appropriation of Dobson's misinterpretation of Obama's speech.

Dobson claims that Obama refuses to allow any Christian moral motivations in public discourse, or, as Mr. Manatt quotes, "it is anti-democratic to believe or fight for moral principles in the Bible that are not supported by people of all faiths or presumably by people of no faith." But is this Obama’s point in his speech? Obama's point, if I understand his speech correctly, is that public debate and public policies should not be based MERELY on a specific religious tradition, e.g., Church tradition, the TaNaKa, the Quran or any other text that contains moral claims. Instead public policies ought to appeal to "principle[s] that [are] accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all." In other words, to take Mr. Manatt’s abortion example, Obama would say that it is NOT ENOUGH to simply quote Leviticus or Paul or Muhammad or Nagarjuna and expect anti-choice legislation to be issued forth from one's statehouse or the US congress.

Obama says that the “religiously motivated” must be able to “translate” their concerns into “universal” value. In other words, "religious motivation" is a fine starting point, but it is not adequate when it comes to JUSTIFYING public policy. Perhaps we also need to be more careful with the notion of “universal principle.” By invoking the notion of “universality,” Obama need not be demanding that one argues from a universal perspective. Rather, he demands that one speak in a language that appeals not only to those within one’s religious tradition, but also outside one’s tradition. After all, in order for a perspective to become law, it must be subjected to the scrutiny of public debate, and in order to engage in public debate, one must adopt a language common to people of differing faiths.

In the end, I think that both Stout and Manatt put forth a good model for public dialogue. But I also think that Obama's speech in no way conflicts with such a model! Very interesting and timely article. I hope Manatt posts again.

Religion performs important social and psychological functions in human societies. It also performs many economic functions.

In Tibet, 25% of all males are recruited to become monks. The need for employment is, therefore, reduced proportionately. Good or bad? Depends on your viewpoint.

When people suffer catastrophes, religion provides them comfort and psychological support.

Religion should transform our character by suppressing the evil and promoting the good.

No doubt, when we go into the details of what belief systems of different faiths are and we start evaluating them with our own ethnocentric views then conflicts arise.

Religion belongs to the realm of the supernatural. There are two common elements in religion: (1) the presence of the sacred, and (2) rituals.

Sacred is something which exists in the minds of the believer. A symbol is something which stands for something else. Hence, to a Catholic the holy cross made of a piece of silver is 'holy'. To someone who is not Christian, it is only a piece of silver.

A ritual is the prescribed way of performing a religious act. Rituals are repetitive in nature and create a sense of discipline among the believers and educate the younger generations of the belief system.

Religions operate on the principle of reward and punishment. If one follows the tenets of the faith, one will be rewarded. If one does not follow the tenets of the faith one will be punished.

Monotheistic religions use 'heaven' and 'hell' as their ways of rewarding and punishing.

In Buddhism, it is one's 'karma' (deeds) that is used to entice followers to conform to the standards set by the society. It is the endless cycle of birth,death, and rebirth that can finally lead to 'nirvana'.

All religions demand conformity to the social standards and create the "we" feeling. Those who do not conform are 'they'. The struggle is always "us" vs. "them".

As a Muslim, I feel I must have faith in the 5 pillars of Islam. But I have no right to evaluate or judge people of other faiths. That judgment only belongs to Allah, God, Yahweh, Ishwar etc. I must develop respect other people's beliefs and must leave them alone so that they can practice their faith.

We must be all inclusive in reaching out to people of all faiths--Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists etc.

This is the minimum condition for 'tolerance'.

WOW! That is a really good insight. Me being spiritual in belief even though born as a Hindu, I really you addressing the pluralism of religion. I guess that will solve a lots of problems in our country!