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

(Daily Times, Pakistan)