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World Sufi Forum: None of the 99 names of Allah stands for violence, PM Narendra Modi says

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern on the need and importance of Sufism. PM Modi says; “None of the 99 names of Allah stands for violence”.

PM Modi described Islam as a “Faith of Peace” and made a remark that Sufism is one of the greatest contributions of Islam in addressing speech on the opening day of World Sufi Forum in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday. He also added that Sufism is the voice of peace, co-existence, compassion, equality and a call to universal brotherhood.

World Sufi Forum: None of the 99 names of Allah stands for violence, PM Narendra Modi says

PM Modi stressed on the need to fight against terrorism and not against any religion. The World Sufi Form is organized as the three-day event in which Sufi scholars from around the world are taking part. Modi joined the delegates to challenge terror.

“Of the 99 names of Allah, none stand for force and violence and the first two names denote compassionate and thoughtful. Allah is Rahman and Raheem. Those people who spread the terror hiding  in the name of religion are anti-religious,” Modi said.

“When the spiritual love of Sufism, not the violent force of terrorism, spreads across the border, this region will be the paradise on earth that Amir Khusrau spoke about,” Modi said, referring to the 13th century Sufi poet.

However, PM Modi has met several Sufi leaders since assuming office and an event to compliment Sufism had been in the making for months. It was first proposed by the minority affairs ministry.

At the ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan, Modi received a resounding welcome. Sufi scholars chanted “Bharat Mata ki Jai” (Long Live Mother India) in the answer to a controversy over Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s stand that the slogan, as endorsed by the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was not the “only proof of patriotism”.

In a clear indication to the Islamic State, the PM said, “Parents in 100 countries live with the daily pain of their children lost to the battlefields of Syria.”

Some Sunni groups have opposed the Sufi event, saying it was attempting to “divide Muslims”. “Why are Sufis aligning with divisive forces?” the leader of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Arshad Madni had said at a press conference.

This is the second spiritual-cultural event which Modi has attended in the span of a week. Last week, he inaugurated the World Culture Festival organised by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation.

The BJP will continue to put the question of culture at the centre of its relationship with the people; said Swagato Sarkar, who teaches at Jindal School of Government and Policy.

The event is meant to bring the world and people together across the countries and religions.

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