Islamism - 7

[Bodhi]

Masnavi-i-Manavi (or simply 'Masnavi') was written by Mavlana Jalal-ud-deen Rumi (1207-1273), who is so much celebrated by seculars, westerns and pseudo-Hindus alike as the towering liberal light of Islam. Masnavi is often mentioned by them as the very cream of Sufi thought.

By reading this most primary text on Sufism, one gets an idea of how libreal Mavlana and contemporary Sufis were. I quote one passage from the second book of Masnavi, translated by E. H. Whinfield:

"Though the object of all men's being is wisdom,
Yet each man has a different place of worship.
The place of worship of the noble is nobility,
The place of worship of the base is degradation.
Smite the base to make them bow the head.
Give to the noble to make them repay liberally.
Inasmuch as the base are evil and arrogant,
Hell and humbling are the "small gate" for them.
Verily God has created two places of adoration,
Hell for the base and increased bliss for the noble.
Even so Moses made a "small gate" in Jerusalem,
To make the Israelites bow the head in entering it."

The much celebrated persian book on the highest altar of Soof is a fine example of anti-semitic, anti-kafir, anti-pagan/idolator rhetoric, some times in a subtle way, but many times more explicitly. (And by the way the book borrows heavily from pan~chatantra, hitopadesha and jAtaka, and then most times subverts the meanings of the popular tales into islamic propoganda.)