Of saints and sinners

I've heard of Sufism, but knew nothing about it, until my introduction via last week's Economist. It's an article that I highly recommend you read if you think Muslims and Islam equates to the Taliban. You couldn't get further to the other extreme if Islamic belief than Sufism. Some of the outlying Sufis celebrate with revelries that are nothing short of bacchanal. Yes, I said that. An orgy of dance, and music, and colours, and hashish, and yes, even sex. And Sufism is big -- bigger than the stupid Wahhabis.

The stringent, legalistic creeds of the Taliban and other revivalists are on the rise in South Asia, but only a minority follow them. Most of the 450m Muslims in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh—nearly a third of the Islamic world—practise a gentler, more tolerant faith, in which pre-Islamic superstitions are still evident. It is strongly influenced by Sufism, an esoteric and, in theory, nonsectarian Muslim tradition, which is strictly followed by a much smaller number of disciplined initiates.

This all reminds me of growing up in Guyana. One of my best friends as a kid, was a boy a few years my senior. He was a bit of a big brother for me, and we spent a lot of time hanging out -- him looking out for me, mostly. I never saw him at the Hindu temple my family would go to, but I new he was off at the mosque, as he was Muslim. During the Hindu holidays, we'd be sharing the treats my family made -- and during the Muslim holidays, it would be the treats his family made that we would be sharing. I never thought of him any different from me. He just went to a different temple was all I thought of, if I gave it much thought that is -- and I didn't. It's a shame what the Taliban and the Wahhabis have done -- a shame for the Muslim friends I knew, the Muslim friends I know and the Muslims who are in my family. The world now thinks Muslims are terrorists. Muslims need to take back Islam from the Taliban and the Wahhabis.