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Taliban set sights on Muslim mystics
* Recent incidents show Taliban pose threat to religious and
cultural heart of Pakistan
PESHAWAR: Worshippers still flock to the grave of Rahman Baba, a
mystic revered by millions in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But they now
pray at a mound of rubble and twisted steel — all that remains of
his tomb since the Taliban bombed it.
The blast in March was the most high-profile in a recent spate of
attacks against the country’s homespun, tolerant brand of Islam by
hard-liners trying to replace it with the more austere version
espoused by the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups.
The attack was a sign of the extreme intolerance of the Taliban and
the threat posed by the insurgency to the religious and cultural
heart of Pakistan.
Islam widely practiced in Pakistan is different to that in its
birthplace, the Arabian peninsula. While still devout and socially
conservative, most Pakistanis follow or are influenced by Islam’s
mystical path of Sufism and incorporate local trappings such as
visiting the shrines of saints, devotional songs and dancing. Some
estimates say up to 75 percent of the country belongs to this group.
However, the extremists take their cue instead from Islam as
practiced in the deserts of 7th century Arabia and are opposed to
Sufism and indigenous forms of the faith — particularly the
veneration of saints — which they consider dangerous deviations.
The fissure between the two forms of Islam has left some wondering
whether the government or its Western allies could harness the
moderation of the Sufis, and any anger they feel against the
Taliban’s spreading grip over the nation. ap
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