Sufis of Sindh
Sufis of Sindh as also of other regions in the world have been secular. And let me say at the very outset that the word 'secular' in the Indian subcontinental tradition doesn't mean the same as in the Western one, and add that the 'sacred'-far from being contrary to the 'secular'-becomes meaningful only when it is 'secular'. In order to substantiate all this, I recount here a significant incident of my early life. The incident illustrates according to the Indian subcontinental tradition what the 'secular' is and underlines the idea that secularity enriches the spiritual life. Incidentally, it is the once great incident to which I owe my scholarly interest in the Indian subcontinental saint/Sufi literature.
Sufis of Sindh as also of other regions in the world have been secular. And let me say at the very outset that the word 'secular' in the Indian subcontinental tradition doesn't mean the same as in the Western one, and add that the 'sacred'-far from being contrary to the 'secular'-becomes meaningful only when it is 'secular'. In order to substantiate all this, I recount here a significant incident of my early life. The incident illustrates according to the Indian subcontinental tradition what the 'secular' is and underlines the idea that secularity enriches the spiritual life. Incidentally, it is the once great incident to which I owe my scholarly interest in the Indian subcontinental saint/Sufi literature.
Sufis of Sindh as also of other regions in the world have been secular. And let me say at the very outset that the word 'secular' in the Indian subcontinental tradition doesn't mean the same as in the Western one, and add that the 'sacred'-far from being contrary to the 'secular'-becomes meaningful only when it is 'secular'. In order to substantiate all this, I recount here a significant incident of my early life. The incident illustrates according to the Indian subcontinental tradition what the 'secular' is and underlines the idea that secularity enriches the spiritual life. Incidentally, it is the once great incident to which I owe my scholarly interest in the Indian subcontinental saint/Sufi literature.