Rockin' the Sufis Doc!

Sufi_Rock_Poster-1, originally uploaded by arafiq786.

Dr. Salman Ahmad (Urdu: سلمان احمد) is a Pakistani doctor, music artist and former actor, who used to be a member of Vital Signs but left after their debut album due to creative differences.

He went on to form Junoon, South Asia's biggest and the most senior rock band. While still enjoying the success of Junoon, Salman Ahmed has been involved in two documentaries with the BBC and is also the Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS. Ahmad is working towards spreading awareness about HIV in South Asia, and helping to bring peace between Pakistan and India as an artist. [Click to Learn more about Salman Ahmad]

Click to listen to Salman's latest Album: Infiniti

Click to learn more about the Stanford Event

What is Sufi?

Sufism is a mystic tradition that found a home in Islam and encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to Allah, divine love and the cultivation of the heart.

The word Sufi is derived from the Arabic word Suf, or cotton. It refers to cotton garments worn by many sufi's, however to all. Sufism is to Islam like the trinity is to Christianity.

Though, some "scholars" of Islam may have you believe otherwise. You can say say who is right or wrong, as there is no right or wrong answer - both the Sufi's and Scholars have wisdom which needs to be looked in their own light. As one great Sufi mystic from present-day Pakistan said: 'The Mullah's have the bones of Islam, whereas it is the Sufi's who have the meat." The meat is where all the nourishment lies, where the bones are part of the skeletal structure that support the meat.

"Sufism" has been defined as a type of knowledge by the great Muslim Sufi masters. Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq, a 14th century Sufi who wrote "The Principles of Sufism" defined Sufism as, "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.” Ibn 'Ajiba, one of the best known Sufi masters defined Sufism as "a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine,purify one’s inward from filth,and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits."

Sufism essentially is about how a man/woman finds his/her love, that is God (Allah) in this case. Though, many people have misconstrued mystical love for the worldly lustful love, which from a certain point of view is one and the same. It is about creating a clear cut path, with the tools provided by Islam to reach a state of bliss - a high state where barriers start to unfold and the Truth of Reality is realized.

Once a great Sufi Master, Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Quaysiyya, or respectfully refered to as Bibi Rabi'a was seen running through the streets of Basra carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. When asked what she was doing, she said:

I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God.

'Tis is the key to worshiping God (Allah), out of Love and not fear.


Copyrigt (c) Abdulrahman Rafiq (ARR)