Search results for sufi (23)

#EU decries attack on IDP camp,but turns a blind eye to #Turkey border closure

141 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

 


Self-determination?

321 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

“Dhikr is the knowledge of being with Allah and being in the presence of Allah.”

Shaykh Sayyid Muhammed Efendi Baba (k.s)

 

“Do not become the candle that gives light to others but itself remains in darkness.”

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani

 

www.Qadiriyya.com (English)
www.sufi-media.de (Deutsch)
www.ukav.de (Türkce)

 

Authentic Sufi Way's photo.

 

Self-determination? “Catalonia lawmakers approve resolution for secession process from Spain” http://on.wsj.com/1MRMZUj  via @WSJ

 

Do All Roads Lead to Rome? Why Ukraine Resorts to Declarations Rather than Ratification of the Rome Statute http://opiniojuris.org/2015/10

ICYMI:my forthcoming essay on Carl Schmitt & today’s intl law scholars. http://bit.ly/1WJwIpg  @opiniojuris @davidrieff @nyulaw @ejiltalk

Amnesty trying to protect war criminals in Bangladesh: Hasina

322 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

 Toby Cadman ‏@tobycadman 

 

Bangladesh PM accuses @AmnestyUK of taking a bribe to call for justice. Bordering on the ridiculous

https://twitter.com/jantakareporter/status/663747982454460416

 Mamata Banerjee ‏@MamataOfficial 

Shubh Deepavali

Happy Diwali

Embedded image permalink

 

দীপাবলি হোক আলোর উত্সব। সকলকে জানাই আন্তরিক শুভেচ্ছা

Embedded image permalink

 

 

Deutschland genehmigt neue Waffenexporte. So wird ein Grundstein f. Flüchtlingskrisen gelegt.

http://derstandard.at/2000025383253/Deutschland-genehmigt-neue-Waffenexporte?ref=article … via @politikstandard

https://kress.de/uploads/pics/saarlouis.jpg

 

The cost of war. A commentary by @WHOEMRO Regional Director http://goo.gl/j8epoI  #Syria  pic.twitter.com/HAqRHAUQhz

RT @cityofhopeLinz Könnt Ihr hier nicht proaktiv unterstützen @KlausSchwertner ? pic.twitter.com/DuPfq1DjZM

Embedded image permalink

#SaudiArabia: 151 executions so far in 2015, 68% increase over all of 2014. #DeathPenalty http://amn.st/6016BuJMq 

 

“How can the heart travel to God, when it’s chained by its desires?”

Ibn-i Arabi

 

Authentic Sufi Way's photo.

“The universe is a complete unique entity. Everything and everyone is bound together with some invisible strings. 
Do not break anyone’s heart. Do not look down on weaker than you. One’s sorrow at the other side of the world can make the entire world suffer, one’s happiness can make the entire world smile.”

Shams Tabrizi

 

Authentic Sufi Way's photo.

 

“Do not become the candle that gives light to others but itself remains in darkness.”

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani

 
Authentic Sufi Way's photo.

ACLU & @HRW urge US Attorney Gen to order criminal investigation into #torture & other #CIA crimes

644 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

A nice footage from the holy shrine of #ImamReza (pbuh) Here I am to seek shelter from you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vqi8W3L0g8&list=PLP9XKFcmDYv4hmgwVEXplXrfnVeZQk-St …

Regardless of Muslims’ social class, Prophet of #Islam made them brothers so as to teach the lesson of equality to all #humanity. 10/20/89

A black,previously a slave, &his master were made brothers by #Prophet to show that human value isn’t in color/wealth but in piety.#Ferguson

When we say we’re brothers w all Muslims, it’s not a compliment; Muslims are responsible to help each other & oppressed ppl. #Gaza #Ferguson

During first months of arriving to Medina, one of the works done by #ProphetMuhammad was to make #brotherhood contracts among Muslims.

Khamenei.ir @khamenei_ir 

Transparency for Iran

Zudem ist am kommenden Dienstag auch der Todestag des achten schiitischen Imam Reza. Viele Reiseagenturen hatten die Feiertage genutzt, um Yalda-Nacht-Reisetouren anzubieten.

Iran: Reisetouren zur Yalda-

كتابي(أسئلة العنف) يعالج عنف الجماعات والمجتمعات والأفراد والدول وسأختار مقالات منه لنشرها قريبا،وهو يطبع لمعرض الكتاب في القاهرة بإذن الله.

فرغت اليوم بفضل الله من كتابي الجديد (أسئلة العنف) فيما يزيد على ٣٠٠ صفحة أرجو له القبول عند الله والصالحين من عباده.

Fas KralÄ 5 uçakla Türkiye’ye geldi!… http://karsigazete.com/gundem/fas-krali-5-ucakla-turkiyeye-geldi-h20510.html …

NY lawmakers urge congressional delegation to support Turkey’s press freedom http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_ny-lawmakers-urge-congressional-delegation-to-support-turkeys-press-freedom_367729.html …

[VIDEO] We will not be silenced: The story of 6 days at #Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/national_video-we-will-not-be-silenced-the-story-of-6-days-at-zaman_367727.html …

Brussels insists on its concerns despite ErdoÄan’s EU bashing http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_brussels-insists-on-its-concerns-despite-erdogans-eu-bashing_367728.html …

PKK’s BayÄk: ISIL using Süleyman Şah’s tomb as headquarters http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_pkks-bayik-isil-using-suleyman-sahs-tomb-as-headquarters_367664.html …

Ustalarimiz tam gaz calisiyorlar…

Rezerve gruplarimiz gelmeye devam ediyor.

Türkis Palast's photo.

Radio Prague – Czech government under public pressure to accept Syrian refugees http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-government-under-public-pressure-to-accept-syrian-refugees … via @RadioPrague

 

Die asylkoordination und RechtsberaterInnen und AnwältInnen machen auf das anhaltende Chaos im BFA aufmerksam.

Compassion should be unbiased, based on a recognition that others have a right to happiness, just as you do.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama Arrives at Ganden Jangtse Monastery http://goo.gl/fb/36sdeC 

Tibet.net Updates @tibet_net 

His Holiness the Dalai Lama arriving at the main temple of Gaden Jangtse Monastery in Mundgod Tibetan settlement. Photo/ Ngawang Thogmey/DIIR

Tibet.net Updates @tibet_net 

Girl dies after self-immolation protest at Ngaba http://goo.gl/fb/rOj5Eh

Girl dies after self-immolation protest at Ngaba http://goo.gl/fb/amLLVP 

उपनिवेशवादीहरु कहिल्यै आदिवासी हुन सक्दैनन् । #Nepal #indigenouspeoples #identity Dinesh Ghale http://fb.me/6UYcHxm40

प्रसारणलाइन बनाउदैं माथिल्लो मर्स्यांदी ‘ए’ No transmission line in #Lamjung without free, prior and informed… http://fb.me/1TVZhi2Bj

News Lens: World Bank makes killing indigenous peoples more profitable http://bit.ly/1z7Fj8M

Rafique’s 17-year-old son is being held captive in a Thai camp after fleeing #Burma http://owl.li/GiZgS  #Rohingya

CCHR joins Southeast Asian Press Alliance @seapabkk, meets in #Thailand to strengthen regional freedom of expression http://bit.ly/1yAvqjw 

Mamata Banerjee added 3 new photos to the album Congratulations.

Today, Sanjiv Ji, Harsh Ji and Utsav Ji of Atlético de Kolkata came to the State Government Secretariat at “Nabanna” with the ISL cup. I congratulate all the 8 participating teams and all the organizers, especially Nita Ji, for making ISL an event of such huge popularity among football lovers and reaching it down to the grassroot level.

To dedicate the cup to the people, our Government and Kolkata Municipal Corporation will felicitate all the ISL participants on 24th December at Netaji Indoor Stadium at 1 PM. I am inviting all of you to join.
Once again, congratulations and best wishes to all the ISL participants.

সব খেলার সেরা বাংলার এই ফুটবল I

Mamata Banerjee's photo.

Merry X-mas. According to Poroshenko trilateral #minsk talks to take place on Dec 24 and 26. #Ukraine #Russia

Another peak of mutually exclusive stories and statements of apparent witnesses to the tragedy of #MH17 can be seen on my current TL.

What do the 12 Days of Christmas Signify in the Christmas Carol? http://ow.ly/GdkCt  @dkmatai

BBC World Service fears losing information war as Russia Today ramps up pressure http://gu.com/p/43j7h/stw

Here is link to full transcript of @Najmeh_Tehran‘s rare, exclusive interview w top #Iran official Ali Shamkhani http://on.ft.com/1sPR6RY

My prognosis on #geopolitical bipolarity In May https://mobile.twitter.com/vtchakarova/status/468318318886395904 … In Oct https://twitter.com/vtchakarova/status/525244611707813888 … Confirmation http://carnegie.ru/eurasiaoutlook/?fa=57045 …

Medien- und Meinungsfreiheit für Ungarn

Prosecution asks for suspension of US diplomat Goodfriend’s immunity after tax chief sues for defamation. http://www.politics.hu/20141222/prosecution-asks-for-suspension-of-goodfriends-immunity-over-defamation-case/

So kannst du Musik von einer CD auf dein iPhone laden Am Apfelschule-Wochenende hat Giuseppe Porcu in einem… http://fb.me/1DSufIZV7

Have a look at some of the most striking images of 2014 @UNGeneva: http://is.gd/5haXS3 

End-of-year Press Conference by the #UN Secretary-General, New York, today, 18:00 (Vienna time) – follow live: http://webtv.un.org/

#TortureReport: @ACLU & @HRW urge US Attorney Gen to order criminal investigation into #torture & other #CIA crimes. http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/22/letter-attorney-general-holder-requesting-appointment-special-prosecutor-torture …

NY Times calls for prosecutions: “No amount of legal pretzel logic can justify behavior” detailed in #TortureReport. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/opinion/prosecute-torturers-and-their-bosses.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 …

I’ll be on @democracynow tomorrow talking about @P4HR report “Doing Harm” and @CIA torture program’s use of doctors and psychologists.

Text of @ACLU & @HRW letter to Attorney General seeking appointment of special prosecutor to investigate CIA torture https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/aclu_and_hrw_letter_torture_special_prosecutor_-_12-22.pdf …

Lotte Leicht @LotteLeicht1 

#TortureReport: @ACLU & @HRW urge US Attorney Gen to order criminal investigation into #torture & other #CIA crimes.” http://sfy.co/qugB

MAKERS OF BENGALI LITERATURE : RAMPRASAD SEN

1312 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

 

MAKERS OF BENGALI LITERATURE : RAMPRASAD SEN

ACADEMIC PAPER

 

“O my heart, you know not cultivation.

This human soil is lying fallow

and it would have produced gold if cultivated”

The Indian concept of culture (Kristi, samaskriti) is defined in the above three lines. “The sharpening of human sensitivities, feelings, emotions, and sensibilities through art is one of various ways by which man can ‘cultivate’ the soil of life to make it yield golden harvest in return”. Thus the poet Ramprasad Sen wrote about the main concept of Indian Culture as stated by Niharranjan Roy.

“No flattery could touch a nature so unapproachable in its simplicity. For in these writings we have perhaps alone in literature, the spectacle of a great poet, whose genius is spent in realizing the emotions of a child.Willam Blake, in our own poetry, strikes the note that is nearest his, and Blake is by no means his peer.

“Robert Burns in his splendid indifference to rank, and Whitman in his glorification of common things, have points of kinship with him. But to such radiant white heart of child-likeness, it would be impossible to find a perfect counterpart.”

- Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble:1867-1911) on Ramprasad Sen

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Nivedita

belurmath.org/kids_section/24-visit-to-niveditas-school

cwsv.belurmath.org/volume_5/questions_and_answers/in_answer_to_nivedita.htm

Ramprasad created a new form of poetry known as ‘Sakta Padabali’ in Bengali, and a new style of singing called ‘Prasadi’. After Ramprasad  there was a remarkable outburst of Sakta poetry in Bengal.

His view of life was liberal. He was against racism, castism and untouchability, and generally opposed the Hindu orthodoxies of the conservative society.

Ramprasad believed that there should not  be any religious conflict between various sects and cults, since God is  one. He wrote, “One in five, five in one mind, should not go into conflicts.” ( ore eke panc, pance ea, non korna sweshasweshi)

Just as the message of Chatanyadeva was spread through his kirtan-singing and dance in the fifteenth century, Ramprasad’s message spread through his songs in the eighteenth century.

The Family

 

Ramprasad was born in a Baidya (caste of Ayurvedic doctors) familyof West Bengal. Ramprasad’s ancestor Raja Seiharsha Sen, the court physician of Sultan Fakurddin in the fourteenth century, had received the title of Raja from the Sultan.

The family tree:

Sriharsha – Bimal – binayak-Rosh – Narayan – Sangu or Sang – Sarani – Krittibas – Ratnakar – Nityananda – Jaggannath – Jadunandan – Ranjan – Rajiblochon – Jayakrishna – Rameswar – Ramram – Ramprasad.

Ramprasad made reference to his forefathers, especially Krittibas Sen and his father Ramram Sen. The family initially was staying in Dhalahandi in the district of Birbhum, then shifted to Kumarhatta-Halisahar (then in the district of Nadia). His father was a Sanskrit scholar, an Ayurvedician and a poet.

“Tadangaj Ramram mahakobi gunodham

Sada jara sadaya Abhaiya “

Ramprasad also mentioned the scholarly forefathers, who supported many charities.

The family lost their wealth; Ramprasad’s father did not fare well, and died early.

RAMPRASAD’S LIFE AND TIME:

 

(weiterlesen …)

Authentic Sufi Way

AUTHENTIC SUFI WAY – International Qadiriya Foundation *~ a sholar from the Quadiri Sufi Order *

1630 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

http://www.qadiriyya.com


http://gikm.org 

http://www.muhammediye.net


 

Sayyid Muhammad Efendi of Istanbul

————————————-

(photo: Sayyid Muhammad Efendi with his sufis)

 

A great sufi story from the time of prophet David! – By Sheikh Sayyid Muhammad Efendi

————————————-

The story of a lazy person and a butcher

A lazy person was praying without getting fed up and without giving up saying “O my Lord! I want sustenance from you without difficulty and suffering. As it is observable that, the creatures with feet search for food, but, you bring the food to the ones without feet.” Allah almighty has accepted the prayer of this person due to his continuous persistence. One day while this person was praying, an ox has come to his garden. The man has thought “Allah almighty has accepted my prayer” and cut the ox and run to bring the butcher to skin it. The real owner of the ox was the butcher, when he had seen the ox he had lost was cut by this person of poverty, he had got hold of his collar saying “why have you cut my ox”. Despite that poor person saying “Allah has accepted my prayer and sent this ox to me”, the butcher had pulled and brought the poor person to prophet David (Dawood) AS saying “if posessions were obtained thorugh prayers, all the beggers would have been people of posessions”.

The general public had gathered to listen to the the arguments between this poor person and the butcher. Prophet David AS after listening to the butcher and the poor person had asked: “O poor person! do you have an evidence that can be accepted by the religious commandments? Is this ox a donation to you, or have you inherited it? If you don’t have an evidence acceptable by the religious law, pay your debt to this man.” The poor person had pleaded with Allah almighty upon the jurisdiction of prophet David AS, he had shed tears and prayed saying “O my Lord! give a light to the heart of David!”. Upon this, David AS had said to the butcher who is the claimant: “Give me respite for today so that I go into seclusion, pray and I give jurisdiction on your case tomorrow.” and sent them home.

Prophet David has been into seclusion that night and he had learned the inner secret of the matter. The public had gathered together in the morning. The butcher comes there ans says haevy words to the poor person. When prophet David comes out he says to the butcher: “O butcher! abonden this claim of yours and donate the ox to this Muslim, and get away from here, as God almighty had covered your secret. Be thankful to Him for this reason.” The butcher disagrees with the words of the prophet and said harsh words: “O David! your justice is spread over the West and the East. What kind of jurisdiction is this while you justice is filling the earth and the haevens, you have been cruel to me.” The public also sides with the butcher and start criticizing the prophet. Allah almighty had been hurt by the ciriticizing words of the butcher to His prophet and He reveals the inner reality of the event to the public.

Thus, prophet David says his jurisdiction to the public as: “Go to this place, you will see a tree there. This man has killed his owner and buried under that tree. He had also left the knife he had used for killing next to him. This man was a slave of that person. He came together with a female slave of his owner and killed him. He then had claimed his posessions and goods. This poor person is the son of that man. Despite Allah almighty covering it, this ungrateful man has opened that cover veil himself, and show his sin himself. There will be retrubution for the butcher. His wife and children are the slaves of this poor person. And all the posessions and the goods of him belong to thid poor person, as the posessions of a slave belong to the owner.”

Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (Persian: عبد القادر گیلانی‎,Urdu: عبد القادر آملی گیلانی AbdolqÄder GilÄni) (also spelled Abdulqadir Gaylani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir – Jilani, Jeelani, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani, Al Gilani, Keilany) (470–561 AH) (1077–1166 CE) was a Persian Islamic preacher who is highly esteemed by Sunni scholars. Among followers in Pakistan and India, he is also known as Ghaus-e-Azam. He was born on a Wednesday the 1st of ramadan in 470 AH, 1077 CE  south of the Caspian Sea in what is now the Mazandaran Province of Iran.


http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/sufi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jilani

 

http://www.urdupoetry.com/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu_poetry

 

http://www.facebook.com/Kadiriyye

http://www.facebook.com/Authentic-Sufi-Way

 

(weiterlesen …)

SUFISM – Mowlânâ Jalâl-od-Dîn Rûmî UNESCO World Heritage Shams-i Tabrizi & the freedom of religion or belief.

1630 Tagen
by in Musik,-Takt & Tonlehre, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

 

Mowlânâ Jalâl-od-Dîn Rûmî et l’ordre mevlevi des derviches tourneurs

Mireille Ferreira

JPEG - 64.4 ko
Mausolée de Rûmî à Konya, vue d’ensemble
 His epitaph reads: "Do not seek our tombs on this earth - our tombs are in the hearts of the enlightened."

http://mevlana.net/unesco_address.html

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/konya-mevlana-museum.htm

Rûmî est né à Balkh dans le grand Khorâssân iranien (l’antique Bactres de l’Empire achéménide, aujourd’hui en Afghanistan) en 1207 (604 de l’Hégire), mais il dut quitter sa ville natale avec sa famille à l’âge de 14 ans. Les raisons de ce départ, variant d’un hagiographe à l’autre, sont attribuées soit à la contestation des habitants de la ville à propos du titre de Sultan des savants donné à son père, le grand érudit Bahâ-ud-Dîn-Walad, théologien et prédicateur éminent, soit à un différend entre celui-ci et le philosophe attitré du roi, ou encore à la fuite devant le danger que représentait alors l’avancée des hordes mongoles parcourant la steppe, ou peut-être une accumulation de tous ces événements. De fait, la ville de Balkh fut détruite par Gengis Khan peu après que Rûmî l’eût quittée.

Après être passés par Neyshâbour (où Rûmî rencontre le grand poète mystique Attâr), La Mecque, Bagdad, ils s’installèrent à Konya, dans l’Empire ottoman, à l’invitation du sultan Key Ghobâd, comme de nombreux Persans fuyant les hordes mongoles. Son père meurt dans cette ville, alors que Rûmî n’a que 24 ans. Un an plus tard, il suit l’enseignement de Termazi, grand théoricien de Konya qui l’envoie étudier à Alep et à Damas afin d’y parfaire ses connaissances philosophiques et théologiques. C’est à Damas qu’il rencontrera pour la première fois le derviche Shams Tabrizi, qui transformera sa vie en faisant de lui un mystique extatique.

Le collège où Rûmî, docteur en théologie, enseigne jurisprudence et loi islamiques, est fréquenté par de nombreux disciples. A 36 ans, on commence à l’appeler Mowlânâ, notre maître. Son érudition attire à Konya les plus illustres savants du monde dit civilisé.

On rapporte que c’est au cours de sa retraite de quarante jours en compagnie de Shams Tabrizi à Konya qu’il se met à tournoyer à la manière des derviches tourneurs et apprend à jouer du luth. « Plusieurs voies mènent à Dieu, j’ai choisi celle de la musique et de la danse », écrira-t-il. C’est en tout cas après cet épisode décisif de sa vie qu’il fonda la tarîqa mawlawiya ou confrérie mevlevi.

JPEG - 26.8 ko
Cérémonie à la loge mevlevi de Bursa http://www.allaboutturkey.com/konya.htm
Photo : Eric Nosjean

L’ordre mevlevi des derviches tourneurs de Turquie

Comme Rûmî l’avait souhaité, Hessâmeddin Tchalabi, son disciple dès l’adolescence, devient son successeur spirituel lorsqu’il décède en 1273. C’est Hessâmeddin qui écrira et mettra en forme le Masnavi, la grande œuvre de Rûmî, tandis que celui-ci lui en récitait les poèmes. Guidant la communauté fondée par son maître, Hessâmeddin fit en sorte qu’elle continue à respecter les idées et les principes du défunt. Quand Hessâmeddin meurt à son tour en 1284, Soltân Walad, fils aîné de Rûmî, devient le sheykh des Mevlevi : il organise ses disciples en un ordre soufi véritable avant que son propre fils, Aref Tchalabi, ne lui succède en 1312. Une chaîne de successions directes rattache le maître actuel de la Mawlawîya à ses prédécesseurs.

Après la mort de Rûmî, l’ordre des mevlevis connaît une ascension notable sous la protection des sultans seldjoukides et ottomans, se déployant jusque dans le monde arabe et les Balkans. Il cultive la poésie persane (Rûmî s’exprimait et écrivait en persan), la musique, la calligraphie, et codifie ses cérémonies, dont la danse, dans ses tekke – ou monastères derviches – des principales villes de l’empire.

La progression spirituelle du soufi mevlevi s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une retraite de mille et un jours consistant en périodes de silence, d’isolement en cellule, d’étude et de corvées domestiques. Ce temps de formation s’accomplit en grande partie dans la cuisine du monastère, lieu hautement initiatique, où le novice est lentement mené à maturité spirituelle. Il s’initie à la musique et à la danse, à la lecture du Masnavi, au zikhr (invocation répétitive des noms divins) et à la méditation. Cette initiation est clôturée par une cérémonie d’investiture qui fait du novice un sheikh. On lui remet alors deux attributs symboliques, le manteau (le souf) et la coiffe rituels. Il peut ensuite choisir entre une vie de célibataire au monastère ou une vie de famille à l’extérieur, tout en restant lié à sa communauté, cas d’exception dans l’histoire du soufisme. … Read More http://www.teheran.ir/Mowlânâ Jalâl-od-Dîn Rûmî 

Shams-i-TabrÄzÄ or Shams al-Din Mohammad (born 1185, died ca.1248) was a Persian Muslim, who is credited as the spiritual instructor of Mewlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi and is referenced with great reverence in Rumi’s poetic collection, in particular Diwan-i Shams-i Tabrizi (The Works of Shams of Tabriz). 
Tradition holds that Shams taught Rumi in seclusion in Konya for a period of forty days, before fleeing for Damascus. The tomb of Shams-i Tabrizi was recently nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Sufism or taṣawwuf (Arabic: تصوّف‎) is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfÄ (صُوفِيّ). Another name for a Sufi is Dervish.

Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as “a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God”.  Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, “a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one’s inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism


About http://iranculture.ca/dev/

The development of the role of cultural relations and the growth of attention devoted to its aspects is closely connected with modern development of civilization and with the development of international relations along with the continuous increase in their intensity.

Culture is inseparably connected with not only international cultural relations, but also to create the necessary conditions for the harmonic development of human society. In other word Culture is reflected in all human activities and in their results.

Cultural relations have great significance for international relations from the viewpoint of how well cross-cultural communication functions. According to expert analyses inefficacy of international negotiations is from up to 70% caused by mutual misunderstanding of members of different cultural systems. In the first place the recognition of one’s own culture and at the same time also obtaining knowledge about different cultures and their environment belong to the main pillars of proper communication.

Regarding to the above mentioned points, Iran Embassies in abroad try for expansion of cultural ties with the countries in all around the world and believe that based on key role of culture in International Relations, cooperation in this field could help promote bilateral and multilateral economic, political and social activities as well.

The Cultural Centre of Iran in Canada also believes that there is need for promoting Tehran-Ottawa cultural exchanges and do its best for achieving cultural goals of the two countries in different fields including cinema, arts, language teaching ,exchange of views and etc .

Iran’s great potential in the field of tourism is also essential in this regard. Iran is open to tourists from all over the world and over 1,500,000 tourists visit various cultural and historical sites in this country each year. Diverse climatic conditions as well as deep-rooted civilization have transformed Iran into a tourist hub. So it has the potential to create suitable grounds to further expansion of the tourism industry cooperation with Denmark. Activating such fields also could be the best opportunity for the exchange of views among intellectuals and scholars of the two countries.

The cultural Centre of Iran in Canada has the responsibility of coordinating Cultural activities in Canada; expansion of the cultural, scientific, educational religious, and artistic relations between two countries; introducing the Islamic and Iranian culture and civilization to the Canadian people; promoting and consolidating relations among Universities scientific and cultural institutions of the two countries.

Last but not least, as we constantly strive to improve out cultural operations, we would like to ask you to contact us and provide us with your questions or concerns on all aspects of our work.

http://www.cultureofiran.com/

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shams_Tabrizi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwan-e_Shams-e_Tabrizi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhikr

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qadiriyya

 

http://www.amnesty.org/en/economic-social-and-cultural-rights

UNPO Co-Hosts “Minority Rights In Iran” Event At United Nations

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/FreedomReligionIndex.aspx

http://portal.unesco.org/800th Anniversary of the Birth of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi

 

http://www.facebook.com/Hz. Mevlâna

http://www.facebook.com/MevlanaveSemsHz

http://www.facebook.com/LeCentreCulturelDIranAOttawa

http://www.facebook.com/Cultural-Centre-of-the-Islamic-Republic-of-Iran-Ottawa

 

#sufism Persecution 

 

http://www.transparency-for-iran.org

http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/iran

Iran: UN human rights body concerned over executions and minority rights

http://www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/turkey

http://www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/azerbaijan

 

Inspirations for Rio +20 Summit on #sustainable #development in #brazil: #private set of pictures #anatolia #turkey #tourism #***** hotel #spa tour autumn 2011:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumisuficelaleddinimevlana/

 

5ème EDITION DU FESTIVAL DE FES DE LA CULTURE SOUFIE Sous le thème « Figures féminines du Soufisme »

1630 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

http://www.festivalculturesoufie.com

As we have more and more spontaneous demands in the national and international fields, to take part into the program of the festival, it becomes obvious that this event is bound to become a real platform of artists’ encounters who will let the world discover the cultural diversity of Sufism and the richness of the Islamic Culture. Indeed, Morocco which has always been a land instilled by Sufi spirit, will reinforce its role in the dialogue between different cultures and will be able to show to the rest of the world, a tolerant Islam, opened to other cultures and religions. Its role of mediation in its history, and even more recently, will help this country to become a real bridge between Orient and Occident.

Aims of the Festival

  • To allow Morroccan people to discover or re-discover how the Sufi brotherhoods have mainly succeeded in preserving a message of universal spirituality that irrigated the whole of the Muslim culture and nourished its artistic, literary, and even social and economic forms of expression especially in Morocco.
  • To allow people from other cultures to discover another face of Islam thanks to the message of opening and peace inherent to Sufism, far from the image generally spread by the media. To show how Sufism, as a school of spiritual and civic education, can be a mean of human development and a peace mediator.

  • Through this event, to reinforce the position of Morocco as a link between Orient and Occident in the intercultural dialogue.
  • To show the richness and the creativity of the spiritual, academic, artistic and social dimensions inspired by Sufism. To let people know contemporary artists and thinkers, national and international, and with them, to find new ways of social, cultural and artistic expressions that can strengthen the intercultural dialogue and help to the development of the society.
  • To question the role of spirituality nowadays, the connection between spirituality and business, environmentalism and social actions. How the spirituality may, under the present frames of the social and entrepreneurial activity, become a particularly prolific contributor to the human development, in its social, cultural and spiritual contexts.

History of Sufism

Sufism is a mystic and ascetic movement which originated in the Golden Age of Islam, from about the 9th to 10th centuries.

The emergence of Sufism is a consequence of the wide geographical spread of Islam after the Rashidun conquests, and the resulting absorption of a wide range of mystic traditions from outside Arabia, especially Greater Persia. Sufism became a more formalized movement by the 12th century, and was a very successful movement throughout the Muslim world during the 13th to 16th centuries. There also were numerous Sufi orders active in the modern period, especially in non-Arab parts of the Muslim world.

1 Early history 
2 13th to 16th centuries
2.1 Spread to India
2.2 Muslim Spain
3 Modern history

 

http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ma

http://allafrica.com/morocco

http://moroccoworldnews.com

http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/morocco/western-sahara

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/FreedomReligionIndex.aspx

 

wisdom and compassion

Freedom of Religion & Belief – China: Tibetan Monasteries Placed Under Direct Rule

1650 Tagen
by in Ayurveda, Buddha, Meditation, Medicine, Pflanzen&Gewürze, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS, TCM, Tai Chi & Health, Trad. & Indigenous Medicine, Yoga

Tibetan Yoga Center – Yoga Retreats

Contact: tibetanyogainfo@gmail.com

www.tibetanyogacenter.org

www.bhutanzopa.com.bt/AdventureTravel

www.awamfoundation.org

The practice of Yoga is intimately connected to the religious beliefs and practices of both Buddhism and Hinduism. However there are distinct variations in the usage of yoga terminology in the two religions. In Hinduism, the term “Yoga” commonly refers to the eight limbs of yoga as defined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, written some time after 100 BCE, and means “yoke”, with the idea that one’s individual atman, or soul, would yoke or bind with the monistic entity which underlies everything (brahman). In the Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet, however, the term “Yoga” is simply used to refer to any type of spiritual practice; from the various types of tantra (like Kriyayoga or Charyayoga) to ‘Deity yoga’ and ‘guru yoga’. In the early translation phase of the Sutrayana and Tantrayana from India, China and other regions to Tibet, along with the practice lineages of sadhana, codified in the Nyingmapa canon, the most subtle ‘conveyance’ (Sanskrit: yana) is Adi Yoga (Sanskrit). A contemporary scholar with a focus on Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman writes that Patanjali was influenced by the success of the Buddhist monastic system to formulate his own matrix for the version of thought he considered orthodox. Read More: HERE

Early Buddhism incorporated meditative absorption states. The most ancient sustained expression of yogic ideas is found in the early sermons of the Buddha. One key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that meditative absorption must be combined with liberating cognition. The difference between the Buddha’s teaching and the yoga presented in early Brahminic texts is striking. Meditative states alone are not an end, for according to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is not liberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort of mental activity must take place: a liberating cognition, based on the practice of mindful awareness. The Buddha also departed from earlier yogic thought in discarding the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death. Liberation for the Brahminic yogin was thought to be the realization at death of a nondual meditative state anticipated in life. In fact, old Brahminic metaphors for the liberation at death of the yogic adept were given a new meaning by the Buddha; their point of reference became the sage who is liberated in life. Read More: HERE

Dream Yoga or Milam (T:rmi-lam or nyilam; S:svapnadarśana)— the Yoga of the Dream State are a suite of advanced tantric sadhana of the entwined Mantrayana lineages of Dzogchen (Nyingmapa, Ngagpa, Mahasiddha, Kagyu and Bönpo). Dream Yoga are tantric processes and techniques within the trance Bardos of Dream and Sleep (Tibetan: mi-lam bardo) and are advanced practices of Yoga Nidra. Aspects of Dream Yoga sadhana are subsumed within the practice suite of the Six Yogas of Naropa. Read More: > HERE <

Tibetan yoga center was established to provide a program of study and practice in the Tibetan Buddhist (Vajrayana) tradition that would integrate the essence of these teachings and present them in a suitable way for practitioners in the West. The program combines the core practices relying on visualizations, yoga of channels, winds and drops, and insight into the nature of the mind (rigpa) for efficient progress on the path. The core teachings of Tibetan Yoga Center are ‘The yogas of the six bardos’ of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, summarized in the curriculum as seven courses (see the program section). The founder and master teacher of the center, Khenchen Lama Rinpoche, was at numerous occasions encouraged by his teachers to focus on helping Western students, particularly through these practices. To help bring these teachings closer to the background of Western practitioners, the program of the Tibetan Yoga Center also integrates elements of Western neuroscientific research on changes in behavior, mind and brain as a result of meditation. Building on the tradition of enlightened householder yogis in Tibet, the program of the center was developed for yogis of the current era – serious practitioners leading busy lives with work and family commitments who want to bring their spiritual practice to swift fruition to fully benefit sentient beings.

Tibetan Yoga Center operates on principles of a social business, offering teachings mostly by suggested donation and for minimal possible fees to cover expenses. The aim of the Tibetan yoga of mind is to develop universal loving kindness and compassion coupled with the ultimate wisdom of the nature of phenomena, the ultimate truth. At the basic level of achievement, one wishes happiness for oneself as well as other people.

At the medium level of achievement one realizes that the source of ultimate happiness is the understanding of the true nature of phenomena. One realizes that the most profound way to benefit sentient beings is to achieve enlightenment and works very hard towards this goal. On this path, one completely purifies his/her mental afflictions – anger, attachment, ignorance, jealousy and pride. The highest level of achievement in the Tibetan yoga of mind is the experiential understanding of our own Buddha nature – the deepest level of the mind. When one continuously sustains this realization in his/her mind stream, s/he becomes the embodiment of the union of primordial wisdom and compassion, and benefits sentient beings in limitless ways. This achievement is the essence of the Tibetan yoga and the deepest meaning of the term ‘naljor’.

TYPES OF YOGA IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM – There are six yanas (modes of spiritual practice) in Vajrayana: 1. Kriyayana, 2. Upayana, 3. Yogayana, 4. Mahayoga, 5. Anuyoga, and 6. Atiyoga. In Nyingma lineage, the main focus of practice is on Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga.

Teaching and Practice Downloads: This section contains general teachings given by teachers of the Tibetan Yoga Center at various occasions as well as specific teachings that are part of the curriculum of the center. These teachings are available for free, but proper reference to the teachings if used as part of other materials should be included.

Previous some related #articles #videos:

Mountain Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

Yoga of Himalayas – Nuns & Communities

The Ninth Mandaean Camp Niagara Falls

UNESCO – The Tradition of Vedic Chanting

UN – Nagoya biopiracy agreement ‘is unexpected success’

Saving the Bedouin Heritage and Biodiversity

A Call for Renewable Energy in Brazil – Belo Monte

Indigenous Australien Medicine – Bush Medicine

MORINGA THE MIRACLE TREE

Build Hope – Sivananda Sevashram

ARGAN TREE – Argan Oil Morocco

Jain Tradition – Mahavir Jayanti India

Monasteries Environmental Himalayaprotection

Monks lead march to save Himalayas

Interfaith Center: Gala Dinner with Yusuf Islam

Gilgit (UNESCO Gilgit Manuscripts) Baltistan – National Conference Sufism

Bahá’í – Religion für eine neue Zeit




Introduction - Swami Vivekananda – Jnana Yoga

The Hindu approach to spiritual evolution leading to liberation or moksha or Self-realization is one of the four major paths or yogas:

  • the path of knowledge or Jnana yoga,
  • the path of mind control or Raja Yoga ,
  • the path of devotion of Bhakti yoga and
  • the path of action/work or Karma yoga.

#video Swami Vivekananda 1893 Speech at Parliament of Religions Part 1 of 4

Swami Vivekananda was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the “Western” world, mainly in America and Europe and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century CE. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India.

He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech which began: “Sisters and Brothers of America,” through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.

The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions http://parliamentofreligions.org brings people of faith together to work for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. We invite you to join us today at http://www.PeaceNext.org the social network of the inter-religious movement.

The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions works to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

The first Parliament of Religions was held at the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, and was the first formal meeting of the religious East and West. In 1988 the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (CPWR) was founded to organize a centennial celebration of the original Parliament. Since 1993, three Parliaments have been held in Chicago, Cape Town, Barcelona and in 2009 the most recent Parliament was held in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr. Joachim Reinelt: Zur Zeit des indischen Mittelalters wanderten in weiten Teilen Indiens und Tibets tantrische Mystiker umher, die Nathas, Nathayogis oder Nathasiddhas genannt wurden. Sie praktizierten und lehrten Hatha- und Kundaliniyoga und hatten großen Einfluss auf das religiöse Leben der Menschen.

Gorakshanatha Saivism: Gorakhnath or Gorakshanatha Saivism is also known as Siddha Siddhanta and Nath tradition. It was founded by Gorakshanatha (Gorakhnath) who lived about 10th century AD. He is believed to be 3rd, 4th or 5th in a line of 12 prominent teachers of this tradition, which has followers in both Buddhism and Hinduism.

He was said to be a disciple of Matsyendranatha who was from in Nepal. Followers of this sect believe that knowledge of this tradition was received by Matsyendranath directly from Siva himself. Gorakshanatha is credited with such works as Siddha Siddhanta Paddhathi and Viveka Martanda. He composed them in Hindi. He also created 12 monastic orders across Northern India in an effort to preserve the Adinatha tradition. Other important works of this tradition are Hathayoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita, Siva Samhita and Jnanamrita.

History of the Nathas – The history of ancient Indian sadhu texts reveals a succession of several main groups. There were the Sadhs, Yatis, Siddhas, Nathas, Pashupatis, Sant-Mats, Dasnamis and Nagas. Apart from these, many small sadhu sects have existed and played their part in the great stream of Indian life. In early history, it would appear that some sects were interwoven with others, and some merged or developed into other sects. Some thus became extinct, and others are still with us.

Full Article: http://www.saivism.net

 

http://www.facebook.com/parliamentofreligions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda

Bhutan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness

UN – The Challenge of Human Rights and Cultural Diversity

UNESCO – Cultural Diversity

UNESCO – Intangible Cultural Heritage

UN – Nagoya biopiracy agreement ‘is unexpected success’

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/books/The.Road.to.an.Anti-Biopiracy.Agreement.htm

Amnesty International - What are economic, social and cultural rights?

*************************************

China: Tibetan Monasteries Placed Under Direct Rule

Human Rights Watch: The Chinese government has ended a key policy of allowing Tibetan monasteries to be run by monks who comply with government regulations and have instead introduced a system that will place almost every monastery in Tibet under the direct rule of government officials who will be permanently stationed in each religious institution.

(New York) – The Chinese government has ended a key policy of allowing Tibetan monasteries to be run by monks who comply with government regulations and have instead introduced a system that will place almost every monastery in Tibet under the direct rule of government officials who will be permanently stationed in each religious institution, Human Rights Watch said today.

 

The new system now requires an unelected “Management Committee” – also referred to as zhusi danwei/gongzuozu (“monastic government work-unit”)- to be established in every monastery, with up to 30 lay officials stationed in each monastery, depending on the size of the institution, according to a February 15, 2012 article in the government-run Global Times. The new “Management Committees” will run the monasteries and will have authority over the previous “Democratic Management Committees,” which will now be responsible for rituals and other matters.

The freedom to leave or discontinue membership in a religion or religious group —in religious terms called “apostasy” —is also a fundamental part of religious freedom, covered by *Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[2]

Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any religion.[1]

#video Meeting with Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt As always saying something on the topic of freedom of religion or belief, to say it again, the most shocking experience when dealing with case of violations of freedom of religion is the extreme manifestation and degree of hatred ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81qyyKzntJw


http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/religion/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/FreedomReligionIndex.aspx

 

February 29, 2012

Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Exiled PM wants ‘fact finding’ mission in Tibet

March 3, 2012

UN Human Rights Chief asked when she would visit Tibet

Mar 6, 2012

UN calls on China to stop forced settlement of Tibetan Nomads

8 March 2012

“Unfinished progress” – UN expert examines food systems in emerging countries reports* on China, Mexico and South Africa to the Human Rights Council. In China, local-level authorities often have allowed land-grabbing at the expense of poor rural households. And between 50 and 80 per cent of the 2.25 million nomads on the Tibetan plateau may be relocated into settlements close to rural cities, overhauling the food and farming practices of this vulnerable community as part of a programme to abandon nomadic life and modernize agriculture. ( Latest Water UN Report – World Consumption of modern agriculture on fresh water by 70% )

Natural resource extraction takes a heavy toll on the lives of indigenous peoples who depend wholly on the land. Read further on how their rights are being stripped away. http://bit.ly/qTTxkS

chinadialogue Tibetan herders are struggling to adjust to sedentary life on the edge of the city of Golmud. Xia Liwei visited one family and listened to their story. http://www.chinadialogue.net/–Who-are-these-people-now

chinadialogue As China seeks to protect a delicate corner of Qinghai, 50,000 herders have been moved off the grasslands. Ill-prepared for urban life, they face a bleak future, write Guan Guixia and Suonan Wangjie. http://www.chinadialogue.net/–Hard-times-for-eco-migrants

TIBETAN NOMADS Tibetan herder with a yak Nomadic herders are known as drokpa. They make up about 25 percent of Tibetans in Tibet. In some Tibetan counties they make up 90 percent of the population. http://factsanddetails.com/china.tibetan nomads

rio

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “SUFISM”

1769 Tagen
by in Ayurveda, Buddha, Meditation, Medicine, Jyotish, Musik,-Takt & Tonlehre, Pflanzen&Gewürze, Sanskrit, SOCIAL PROJECTS, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS, TCM, Tai Chi & Health, Trad. & Indigenous Medicine, Yoga

 

http://www.lokvirsa.org.pk

Conference on Sufism “as mainspring of Love, Peace and Harmony”

 

Opening Date: Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Closing Date: -

Additional Information : at 3.00 p.m at Lok Virsa Islamabad

The Gilgit Agency was a political unit of British India, which administered the northern half of the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Gilgit Agency was created in 1877 and was overseen by a political agent of the Governor-General of British India. The seat of the agent was Srinagar. In 1935, the Gilgit Agency leased the territory comprising the agency from the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, for a period of sixty years. This lease and the Gilgit Agency ceased to exist when Pakistan and India became independent countries in 1947. HERE

LOK VIRSA – AN INTRODUCTION :

Lok Virsa (The National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage) works towards creating an awareness of cultural legacy by collecting, documenting, disseminating and projecting folk & traditional heritage. Surveys and documentation of traditional culture is central to the objectives of the institute. The Lok Virsa delve into and surveys are conducting by mobile recording and filming units. Dedicated individuals undergo the rigorous field work, to bring back valuable results to the central archives and production facilities housed at the Lok Virsa complex at Garden Avenue Shakarparian Hills Islamabad.

Lok Virsa is an affiliate member of UNESCO, The World Craft Council, International Council of Music, The Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO, The International Council of Museums and similar other world organizations for the dissemination of art products abroad.

 

http://www.rferl.org/section/Pakistan

http://www.facebook.com/Gilgit Baltistan

http://www.facebook.com/kashmirsufismsociety

http://www.facebook.com/pakistanyouthforumpage


http://hunzalandslide.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/Indian Youth Climate Network(IYCN)

http://de.wikipedia.org/Hunza Burusho people, Hunza-Mythos

http://en.wikipedia.org/Former State of Hunza (princely state)

http://www.facebook.com/International Organization of Folk Art (IOV)

https://www.facebook.com/unesco Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

 

Zamana is a public interest space for learning, reflection, and action on Pakistan.

Explore: Whose Land? Whose Food?

In its first issue, Zamana delves into the thorny subject of land and food rights in Pakistan. The focus is prompted by recent news reports that amidst rising hunger and food crises, the Government of Pakistan plans to give away thousands of acres of farmland to Saudi Arabia and other foreign investors. Zamana invites more commentaries on this issue. Please send your perspective to info @ zamana.org. Further Infos: http://farmlandgrab.org/

Act: Our Land, Our Food, Pakistan is not for Sale

Sign the petition to raise your voice against land leasing to foreign clients.

 

UPDATE 23.11.2011 Final Declaration: Stop Land-Grabbing Now!

The Oakland Institute http://www.oaklandinstitute.org

More than a hundred civil society organizations have submitted a document entitled “Time to Act – Agriculture and Food Security and Rio+20″ as input to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (the Rio+20 conference). The submission outlines the key actions that are needed to achieve viable food systems based on agroecological and other forms of sustainable production.

http://www.facebook.com/oak.institute

http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/members

http://www.facebook.com/road2rio20

http://roadtorioplus20.org

A global youth mobilization towards the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

http://www.timetoactrio20.org/ 20 years after the Rio Earth Summit, the planet is in a deeper environmental, energy and financial crisis.The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 might be just another high-level conference stating the need to eradicate hunger and poverty, stop climate change, the loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and other serious environmental problems – and then, after the conference, life goes on as before. But it can be different. It has a historical opportunity to make important decisions and agree on actions that actually do eradicate hunger and poverty, and save the environment. It’s time to act!

Many civil society organizations have signed on to a document with proposals on issues linked to food and agriculture for the Rio2012-conference. Download the document (PDF) HERE. Download the document in Word format (doc) HERE.

If you have comments and suggestions for changes in this document, and if your organization wants to support the document, please send a mail to rio2012agcso@gmail.com

The document is available in English, Spanish, French and German

 

UPDATE 24.11.2011 @guardian – Africa’s great ‘water grab’ Foreign investors aren’t just after land in Africa. Access to water is essential – which can bring them into direct competition with the needs of local communities.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/nov/24/africa-water-grab-land-rights

This article is about a right to water as a human right under international law. For a discussion of water usage laws in common law, see Water right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_water

 

WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Vienna, 14-25 June 1993

 

VIENNA DECLARATION AND PROGRAMME OF ACTION

Note by the secretariat

Attached is the text of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, as adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993.

1. The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirms the solemn commitment of all States to fulfil their obligations to promote universal respect for, and observance and protection of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, other instruments relating to human rights, and international law. The universal nature of these rights and freedoms is beyond question.

… Emphasizing that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which constitutes a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, is the source of inspiration and has been the basis for the United Nations in making advances in standard setting as contained in the existing international human rights instruments, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights…

http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/%28symbol%29/a.conf.157.23.en

http://www.amnesty.org/en/economic-social-and-cultural-rights #video

Niyaz featuring Azam Ali | Iran, USA

1803 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

www.salam-orient.at/index.php

Niyaz featuring Azam Ali | Iran, USA

http://www.niyazmusic.com

Elektro-akustische Sufi- Sounds

Mit: Azam ALI: Stimme, Perkussion | Ramin Loga TORKIAN: Saz, Gitarre | Kiya TABASSIAN: Setar | Ziya TABASSIAN: Perkussion | Sheila HANNIGAN: Cello

 

Sargfabrik DO, 27. 10.  20.00h
SARGFABRIK, Goldschlagstr. 169, 1140 Wien

Anlässlich seines 10. Geburtstages wartet http://www.salam-orient.at „Salam.Orient. Musik, Tanz und Poesie“ mit einem Kon­zert und Veranstaltungsmarathon auf, der so umfangreich ist wie noch nie. Auf dem Programm stehen vom 13. Oktober bis 5. November 26 Einzelevents in Wien sowie Konzerte in den Bun­desländern und im slowenischen Maribor.

Niyaz (نياز) is an Iranian musical trio. The group was created in 2005 by DJ, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali’s husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, of the Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice. “Niyaz” means “yearning” in both Farsi and Urdu.

Niyaz’s music, described as “mystical music with a modern edge”, is primarily a blend of Sufi mysticism and trance electronica. Niyaz adapts Persian, Indian and Mediterranean folk sounds, poetry and songs including the poetry of Sufi mystic Rumi, with Western electronic instrumentation and programming.

 

http://www.urdupoetry.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niyaz

http://www.mamak-khadem.com/audios/axiom of choice

http://mevlana.net Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi

http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/sufi

http://www.festivalculturesoufie.com

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/intangible heritage.html

(weiterlesen …)

San Francisco World Music Festival

1813 Tagen
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

http://portal.unesco.org/intangible

http://www.sfworldmusicfestival.org

http://www.uyghurensemble.co.uk

www.rferl.org/Radio Free Europe/Kyrgyz

http://aacm.org

Kyrgyzstan (English pronunciation: /ˈkɜrɡɪstɑːn/; KUR-gi-stahn; Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан IPA: [qɯrʁɯzstɑ́n]; Russian: Кыргызстан [kɨrɡɨsˈtan]), officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People’s Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. The ethnonym “Kyrgyz”, after which the country is named, is thought to originally mean “forty tribes”, presumably referring to the epic hero Manas who, as legend has it, unified forty tribes against the Khitans. The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan symbolizes the forty tribes of Manas. It might also refer to “red”, the colour of the “south country” of the original Turkic nations. More

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси);(Urdu: ازبکستان), is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages. Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has been an independent republic since December 1991. Uzbekistan’s economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold, uranium, potassium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan’s domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by international organizations. More

Dear Friends, The 34th annual Mill Valley Film Festival will present a special evening of music on Saturday October 15th celebrating the life and work of the great master Indian musician and teacher, Ali Akbar Khan. The screening of the U.S. premiere of the documentary film Play Like a Lion: The Legacy of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan is one of the highlights of the 10-day film festival.

This concert will bring together award-winning world music artists who have been inspired and influenced by the “maestro” and whose music spans classical Indian to African and western fusion.

 

Musicians for the evening include:

  • Saturday, October 15th 9pm (doors 8pm) at 142
  • Ali Akbar Khan’s son Alam Khan on sarod accompanied by Salar Nader on tabla and Manik Khan on tampura
  • Grammy-winning bassist Rob Wasserman & Friends
  • Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist John Handy, who is featured in the film
  • Master African drummer Kwaku Daddy accompanied by 10 drummers
  • Grammy nominated singer and composer Sukhawat Ali Khan and Riffat Sultana (featured vocalist with Quincy Jones at the May 2011 Mawazine Festival, Morocco)
  • And….special surprise local music legends who join the festival every year.
  • Video greetings from Derek Trucks and Zakir Hussain

Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley – Play Like a Lion: A Concert Honoring Ali Akbar Khan. Tickets are $50 and are available online at mvff.com or by phone at 877-874-6833 or at the Rafael Film Center box office, 1118 4th St. San Rafael, the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce, 85 Thockmorton Ave., and at 142 Throckmorton Theater day of show.

 

PLAY LIKE A LION: THE LEGACY OF MAESTRO ALI AKBAR KHAN

When a young Alam Khan asks about his family’s religion, his father, master North Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan, tells him, “Music is our religion.” Play Like a Lion explores the deep musical lineage of the Khan family -a tradition in which the lines between father and teacher are blurred and the intervals between duty, love and music become a devotional song. Alam, a prodigious musician, taught at his father’s feet, is our guide for a rich, soulful journey into the legacy of the late maestro. Entrancing musical virtuosity and moving homage on display in footage featuring concerts, class time at the famed Ali Akbar School of Music and tribute performances by musical luminaries like Carlos Santana, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Mickey Hart.

Sun. October 9, 8:00PM, Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, San Rafael

Wed. October 12, 9:15PM, CinéArts @ Sequoia, Mill Valley Tickets: mvff.com, Tel: 1-877-874-MVFF (6833)

Akyns are virtuoso performers: they are Kazakh poets and bards of improvisation. The Akyn improvises with lyrics while playing the dömbra to a set traditional rhythm. The Akyn must not only be a master dömbra player, but also an expert story-teller, with a good wit and a great sense of timing. Akyn competitions are exciting and humorous, full of theatre and soul. They bring life to a party, helping to strengthen the sense of community among villagers.

The Art of Akyns, Kyrgyz Epic Tellers UNESCO: Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – 2008 URL: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00049

Description: The predominant form of cultural expression among the Kyrgyz nomads is the narration of epics. The art of the Akyns, the Kyrgyz epic tellers, combines singing, improvisation and musical composition. The epics are performed at religious and private festivities, seasonal ceremonies and national holidays and have survived over the centuries by oral transmission.

The value of the Kyrgyz epics lies largely in their dramatic plots and philosophical underpinnings. They represent an oral encyclopaedia of Kyrgyz social values, cultural knowledge and history. The pre-eminent Kyrgyz epic is the 1000-year-old Manas trilogy, which is noteworthy not only for its great length (sixteen times longer than Homers Iliad and Odyssey), but also for its rich content. Blending fact and legend, the Manas immortalizes important events in Kyrgyzs history since the ninth century. The Kyrgyzs have also preserved over forty smaller epics. While the Manas is a solo narration, these shorter works are generally performed to the accompaniment of the komuz, the three-stringed Kyrgyz lute. Each epic possesses a distinctive theme, melody and narrative style. Akyns were once highly respected figures who toured from region to region and frequently participated in storytelling contests. They were appreciated for their proficiency in narration, expressive gestures, intonation and lively mimicry, so well suited to the epics emotionally charged content.

During the 1920s, the first part of the Manas trilogy was recorded in written form based on the oral interpretation of the great epic singer, Sagynbay. The epics remain an essential component of Kyrgyz identity and continue to inspire contemporary writers, poets, and composers; even today, the traditional performances are still linked to sacred cultural spaces. Although there are fewer practitioners nowadays, master akyns continue to train young apprentices and are helped by recent revitalization initiatives supported by the Kyrgyz government. Country(ies): Kyrgyzstan

 

SF WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL - AACM’s beloved tabla master, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, will be honored for his 30 years of performing and teaching in the U.S. at this year’s San Francisco World Music Festival – The Epic Project: Madmen, Heroines, and Bards From Around the World (http://www.sfworldmusicfestival.org/) - The Epic Project:  Madmen, Heroines, and Bards From Around the World. October 27-30 www.sfworldmusicfestival.org

Swapanji will be performing on the opening night of the festival, Friday, October 28th, in a world premiere commissioned composition which he has composed for an array of musicians including AACM’s Youth Tabla ensemble and musicians from Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and South India.

The San Francisco World Music Festival, under the musical direction of AACM faculty member Jim Santi Owen, will be presenting world class musicians from Burkina Faso, India, Tibet, China, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan performing repertoire from their countries’ epic stories in both traditional settings and cross-cultural collaborations.

This is the third consecutive year that AACM is proud to be a co-sponsor of The San Francisco World Music Festival. Tickets are sure to sell out so purchase yours soon!

 

(weiterlesen …)

Sufi Music Of Kashmir (Sufiyana Mousiqui)Part 1

1894 Tagen
by in Ayurveda, Jyotish, Musik,-Takt & Tonlehre, Sanskrit, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

 

Ghulam Mohamad Saznawaz is the only existing master of Kashmiri Sufiyana Music in the world. The most tragic part of Kashmiri sufiyana music is that with the Maestro Ghulam Mohamad Saznawaz the art will be lost to posterity, now very old with his age the mastero has opened a school to teach Kashmiri Sufiyana Music free of charge but this school does not attract many students from Kashmir because of the religious and social prejudice among the majority of Kashmiris. This is sad but its true that still musicians are considered as of a lower class or of low moral and as if they can not do something useful thats why they chose to be musician.

http://saznawazgharana.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/SuFiYaNa MuSiQuI Of KaShMiR

 

With the goal of uniting conservation, communities and sustainable travel, TIES is committed to promoting the principles of ecotourism and responsible travel around the world.

 

http://www.shehjar.com

http://koausa.org/koa/

http:// www.disappearancesinkashmir.com/

http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/kashmir/

 

http://www.ecotourism.org/

http://www.facebook.com/ecotravelpage

Sufism International & the Hope Project

2179 Tagen
by in Musik,-Takt & Tonlehre, SOCIAL PROJECTS, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

 abdullah shah - karachi

www.unesco.org/Intangible Heritage

www.sufimovement.net

www.hopeprojectindia.org 

 www.mevlana.net

www.sufiorder.org

Sufism or taṣawwuf (Arabic: تصوّف‎) is, according to its adherents, the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfÄ (صُوفِيّ). Another name for a Sufi is Dervish. Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as “a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.”Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, “a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one’s inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits.” Classical Sufis were characterised by their attachment to dhikr (a practice of repeating the names of God) and asceticism. Sufism gained adherents among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE[6]). The Sufi movement has spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, at first expressed through Arabic, then through Persian, Turkish and a dozen other languages. “Orders” (ṭuruq), which are either SunnÄ or ShÄ‘Ä in doctrine, trace many of their original precepts from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his cousin ‘AlÄ, with the notable exception of the Naqshbandi who trace their origins through the first Caliph, Abu Bakr.  Other exclusive schools of Sufism describe themselves as distinctly Sufi. Read more: >here<

Naqshbandi (an-Naqshbandiyyah, Nakşibendi, Naksbendi, Naksbandi) is one of the major tasawwuf spiritual orders (tariqa) of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a “sober” order.  The Naqshbandi order is nearly 1,500 years old, and is active today. It is the only Sufi order that claims to trace its direct spiritual lineage (silsilah) to Muhammad through Abu Bakr, the First Caliph and Muhammad’s companion. This lineage also indirectly connects to Ali Muhammad’s cousin, son-in-law and the Fourth Caliph, via Jafar as-Sadiq. In contrast, most other Sufi orders (turuq) trace their lineage through Ali. It is considered that the transmission of spiritual lineage or silsilah, is directly from one Sheikh to another, at or after the time of death or burial. It is not tied to a country, family or political appointment, but is a direct heart to heart transmission. It is also considered that the appointed Sheikh will be in some communication with past Sheikhs. At any one time, there will of course be many other Sheikhs, who will all naturally owe their spiritual allegiance (Beyat) to the current master of the silsilah. Read more: >here<

Sufism, the West, and Modernity - In the twentieth century Sufism began to spread in the West. An uneven and spotty but still useful introductory on-line article is A History of Western Sufism (fixed January, 2005) by Prof. Andrew Rawlinson of the University of Lancaster.  The following articles by Kinney and Bayman illustrate some general trends and issues:

The Sufi Conundrum, written by Jay Kinney, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the magazine Gnosis, discusses a number of issues confronting Americans as they investigate the nature and practice of Sufism today.

Sufism and Modernity (link fixed, Dec. 10, 2004) is a chapter from the on-line book Science, Knowledge, and Sufism, (link fixed 20 August, 2005) by Henry Bayman (author of The Station of No Station: Open Secrets of the Sufis ), a disciple of the Turkish Shaykh Ahmet Kayhan (d. 1998). This particular chapter consists largely of a Sufi analysis of modernity, solidly based upon the writings of other scholars who have written about modernity, scholars such as Marshall Berman, Charles Taylor, and Alain Touraine. Sufism in the West falls into four general categories: http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismwest.html

  

Surrounding the shrine of Inayat Khan and the other holy places in the Nizamuddin district of New Delhi is a neighborhood where many children live in poverty and isolation. The Hope Project is the outgrowth of a milk program originally begun on Pir Vilayat’s initiative here. These kids go to school there and prepared a program for this event. The Hope Project is supported primarily by donors from all the Orders of Inayat Khan’s lineage. For information contact Quan Yin (quanyinlyn@gmail.com). / Sufism – a mystical strand of Islam – originated in the Islamic cultures of Asia and Africa, but it also has a growing following in the U.S. Its growth is attributed in large part to the teachings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a Sufi mystic. To learn more about the man and his teachings, Imran Siddiqui of VOA’s Urdu Service visited his mazar – or mausoleum – in the eastern U.S. state of Pennsylvania, which has become a gathering place for many followers of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.

The Hope Project  was founded in 1980 by the Sufi teacher, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. Moved by the extreme poverty of the people living near the mausoleum of his father Hazrat Inayat Khan, he envisioned a program, which would enable the poor to help themselves.

Located in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, the Hope Project currently runs a community health centre, a creche, a non-formal school, vocational training courses, a thrift and credit program, and a women’s micro-enterprise unit.

The project has 70 staff members, many of whom come from the community. It is financed largely by private donations from the international Sufi community and other donor agencies.

Guided by the spiritual ideals of Hzt. Inayat Khan, the Hope Project is driven by the spirit of service to humanity and respect for all religions. It strives to provide people, especially the poor and vulnerable, with opportunities and resources, so that they can realize their hidden potential and determine their own future.

hope

www.hopeprojectindia.org/reports.htm

 

(weiterlesen …)

Abū Ibn SÄnÄ – Medieval Medicine & Heritage

2200 Tagen
by in Ayurveda, Pflanzen&Gewürze, Trad. & Indigenous Medicine

 Ibn Sina Academy

www.ishim.net  www.ircica.org

www.ibnsinaacademy.org 

www.science.az  www.amu.ac.in

www.beruni.fan.uz   www.muslimheritage.com

www.alakbarli.aamh.az

Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences (IAMMS) (Urdu: ابن سینا اکا ڈ می آف میڈ یول میڈ یسین اینڈ سائنسیز) is one of the Indian NGOs, which is registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, formally inaugurated it on April 21, 2001. Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India gave accreditation to the academy in 2004 and promoted it as ‘centre of excellence’ in 2008. Membership of the academy is open to anyone who has an interest in the academy’s activities particularly on history of medicine and history of science.The founder president is Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman. Read More: >HERE<

Unani Medicine or Yunani Medicine (pronounced /juːˈnɑːni/; YūnÄnÄ in Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Persian, Pashtu ) means “Greek”, also called “Unani-tibb” is a form of traditional medicine widely practiced in India and Indian subcontinent. It refers to a tradition of Graeco-Arabic medicine, which is based on the teachings of Greek physician Hippocrates, and Roman physician Galen, and developed in to an elaborate medical System by Arab and Persian physicians, such as Rhazes, Avicenna (Ibn Sena), Al-Zahrawi , Ibn Nafis. Unani medicine is based around the concepts of the four humours: Phlegm (Balgham), Blood (Dam), Yellow bile (ṢafrÄ’) and Black bile (SaudÄ’).  Read More: > HERE < The Unani Medicine  is a traditional medicine and part of the trio Indian medicines – ayurveda, siddha and unani.

Ibnsina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences - Abū AlÄ al-Husayn ibn AbdullÄh ibn SÄnÄ (Avicenna) is a well-known personality among the physicians of Unani medicine and scientists of physical sciences since medieval times. To commemorate and to institutionalize an academy named after him, Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences, was founded on March 1, 2000. The Academy has been registered under Indian Trusts Act, 1882 on August 14, 2000. Mr. M. Hamid Ansari, Vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh formally inaugurated it, on April 20, 2001. Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India gave accreditation to the academy in 2004. The Academy is now a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization with multiple aims and objectives.

The Idea of the Formation of the Academy – There is a consensus amongst researchers of the history of medicine & sciences that early Arab, Muslim physicians and scientists had played a very important role in the development of natural and medical sciences during the renaissance of Islamic civilization, which spanned over eight centuries. This was achieved through translating earlier medical and scientific sources and developing then known sciences in the light of their clinical and scientific expertise.

Despite the above fact, it is well-known that the full potential of the Islamic medical and scientific particularly, heritage has not been investigated exhaustively to-date its basic role and importance in the development of modern medicine and its effect on the European Renaissance. Most of the manuscripts of Islamic medicine are lying unutilized on the shelves of private and some public libraries around the world and only few have been studied comprehensively. In the light of this, a number of physicians, scientists, scholars and historians are called for reviving this heritage on a national level. This is to be achieved through organization and teamwork.

And this is how the idea to found the Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences (IAMMS) emerged. The first meeting of the Academy was held on March 5, 2000 in Aligarh (India) and was chaired by Professor (Hakim) Syed Zillur Rahman, president of IAMMS. A number of physicians and historians attended this meeting. The second meeting of the Academy was held on April 8, 2001 in Aligarh, when the By-Laws were discussed and approved.

It was also decided that Aligarh would be the permanent location of the Academy and it would operate as a normal registered trust as well. Membership of the society is open to everyone who has an interest in or would like to contribute by studying the History of Islamic Medicine and Sciences. The Academy looks forward to receiving support and help from all scholars and researchers in India and all over the world.

The Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences is a center for collecting, systematizing, storing and publishing medieval manuscripts. It currently includes about 40,000 documents including 11 000 manuscripts, in languages that include Azeri, Turkish, Uzbek, Persian and Arabic. These texts help us understand what Azerbaijanis from the Middle Ages thought about medicine, astronomy, mathematics, poetry, philosophy, law, history and geography.

The basis for the Institute was laid in 1924, when the first all-Azerbaijan Regional Congress was held in Baku. The Congress decided to organize a scientific library with a special department dedicated to ancient manuscripts and rare books. At first, this library was part of the Investigation Society of Azerbaijan; then it became attached to the Nizami Institute of Literature. In 1955 the Manuscript Department became the Independent Center of Scientific Research. Later, its name was changed to the Institute of Manuscripts.

Many of the ancient manuscripts found at the Institute came from the private collections of Azerbaijan’s most prominent 19th- and early 20th-century thinkers, including Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Abdulgani Afandi Khalisagarizada, Husein Afandi Gaibov, Bahman Mirza Gajar and Mir Mohsun Navvab.

It continues to collect manuscripts, rare books and historical documents from all over Azerbaijan. The Institute is located in the former Alexandrian Russian Muslim Female Boarding School, which was built by Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev between 1898 and 1901. This was the first girl’s school in the Muslim East. The building was designed by Polish architect Joseph V. Goslavski (1865-1904), who also designed Baku’s City Hall and Taghiyev’s private residence, which now serves as the Taghiyev Museum housing the National History Museum collection.

In 1918, when Azerbaijan became independent, Taghiyev gave the building to the government of Azerbaijan to be used for ministers’ offices. In 1920, after the Red Army invaded Azerbaijan, the Bolsheviks turned the building into the headquarters for the Worker, Peasant and Soldier Deputies. After that, it housed the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan Republic (the governing body of Parliament). Since 1950, the building has housed what is now called the Institute of Manuscripts.

Medical Manuscripts – Among the carefully preserved books on natural sciences there are numerous sources on medicine and pharmacy in Oriental languages. The oldest of them dates back to the 9th century, the latest to the 20th. By the way, the Institute treasures one of the oldest hand-written copies of Canon of Medicine by great Ibn Sina (Avicenna) as well as other valuable works on medicine and pharmacy, including manuscripts of works by such medieval authors as Ali bin Abbas (10th century), Muwaffag al-Harawi (10th century), Isa ar-Ragi (10th century), Mahmud bin Ilyas (13th century), Yusif bin Ismail Khoyi (13-14th centuries), Zeyn al-Abidin Attar (15th century), Yusif bin Muhammad Harawi (15-16th centuries), Sultan Ali Khorasani (16th centurys), Sayyid Muhammad Mu’min (17th century), etc.

In order to find out the total number of manuscripts on medicine and pharmacy the funds and catalogs of the Institute have been examined by Prof. Farid Alakbarli. It has been revealed that the Institute’s collection includes 390 medieval manuscripts and 27 printed books on medicine and pharmacognosy written in the following languages: Persian – 222 manuscripts, Turkic (Old Azeri and Old Turkish) – 71 manuscripts, and Arabic – 70 manuscripts.

By the way, the Institute treasures one of the oldest hand-written copies of Canon of Medicine by great Ibn Sina (Avicenna) as well as other valuable works on medicine and pharmacy, including manuscripts of works by such medieval authors as Ali bin Abbas (10th century), Muwaffag al-Harawi (10th century), Isa ar-Ragi (…10th century), Mahmud bin Ilyas (13th century), Yusif bin Ismail Khoyi (13-14th centuries), Zeyn al-Abidin Attar (15th century), Yusif bin Muhammad Harawi (15-16th centuries), Sultan Ali Khorasani (16th centurys), Sayyid Muhammad Mu’min (17th century), etc.

   

A brief history of Islamic Medicine illustrating how advanced the Islamic World was compared to the West in the Middle Ages. / BBC – Islam and Science 3: The Power of Doubt 1/6 – العلم في الاسلام

The Abu Raihan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Science of the Republic of Uzbekistan was established in 1943 on the foundations of the Oriental Department of the Alishir Navai”i State Public Library. Until 1950 it was called the Institute for the Study of Oriental Manuscripts, and after 1950, considering the range of its scholarly directions, it was renamed the Oriental Studies Institute.

Materials in the collection include works written in Uzbek, Arabic, Persian, Tajik, Urdu, Pasto, Azeri, Ottoman Turkish, Tatar, Turkmen, Uighur and other languages. These materials encompass the fields of history, literature, philosophy, law, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medicine, pharmacology, language, geography, music, mathematics, mineralogy, agriculture, the figurative arts, and so on.

At the present time the manuscript collection contains 25,261 volumes. Many of them are miscellanies, where one codex contains diverse treatises. Thus there are far more treatises included in the collection than represented by the number of volumes alone. The Institute”s collection of lithographed and printed books amounts to about 39,300 volumes. They have important historical meaning for the study of history in Central Asia, its neighboring states ” Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China and Arab countries ” and also for the study of the political, economic, diplomatic and cultural links among them.

The collection has many manuscripts about the history of Islam, the Islamic sciences, and Sufism, written in Arabic, Persian, and old Uzbek and dating from the ninth to the nineteenth centuries. Among the manuscripts are early examples of the Qur”an, which date from the ninth century and employ the Kufic script. In addition, the collection holds rare copies of the Qur”an written at various times employing the Naskh script in artistic ways.

The Institute has a distinctive collection of archival documents that chronologically encompass a thousand-year period. The oldest document is from the tenth century, and the most recent is from the twentieth century. In particularly large quantity are documents compiled in the Bukharan, Khivan and Qoqand khanates. At the present time the Institute studies and publishes these documents.

 

(weiterlesen …)

Next »
Go to Top