Mevlana Jalal ud Din Rumi & Sultan ul Arifeen Sultan Bahoo

Book excerpt: Sufism is no doubt highly indebted to the intellectual depth and breadth of Mevlana Jalal ud Din Mohammad Rumi and Sultan ul Arifeen Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo. Mevlana Rumi was born in Balkh (Afghanistan) in 1207. Hadhrat Shams Tabrizi a Qur anic scholar and an adept in Sufi mysticism entered in Mevlana s life, who awakened and brightened his inner being. Around four centuries after Mevlana Rumi, Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo was born in 1629 in a village named Shorkot located in the city of Jhang, at the eastern bank of Chenab, flowing through the land of five-rivers, the Punjab. Before the birth of Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo, his mother was informed through intuitive inspiration that she would give birth to a special child who would illuminate the world with his pervasive beneficence and guidance. She was told to name him Ba-Hoo . Beneficence of guidance was evidently manifest in his early childhood. As an index of their comprehension of divine reality, Mevlana Rumi expressed the bliss of his inner world in Persian language, while Sultan Bahoo both in Punjabi and Persian. In spite of vast space and temporal distance, cerebral similarities are evident in intellectual and scholarly work of both personalities. Satiated from the spirit of Islam and holy traditions of Exalted Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) with love, compassion, and intuitive knowledge, both divine scholars fought against the negative forces and social evils of their times. Both emphasized on uplifting of human and humanity stands highest in their thoughts, no matter with which tradition or beliefs it is associated. Way back in 2010, the idea of studying Mevlana Rumi and Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo simultaneously was planned and presented by Hadhrat Sultan Muhammad Ali (Chief Patron Islahee Jamaat & Aalmi Tanzeem ul Arifeen). Under his dynamic guidance and untiring supervision, the first Seminar was organized titled Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo, Mevlana Rumi & Spiritualism in 2010 at Islamabad under the auspices of Islahee Jamaat & Aalmi Tanzeem ul Arifeen (Shrine of Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo). Furthermore, Urdu Magazine Monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen International, Lahore published under the supervision of Hadhrat Sultan Mohammad Ali also published some articles on this subject. After the establishment of MUSLIM Institute, a Three Days International Conference on Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo was organized in 2013 by the Institute. Some papers were presented in that conference about the similarities of Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo and Mevlana Rumi s teachings. In continuity of the idea presented by Hadhrat Sultan Mohammad Ali to study the teachings of these two towering personalities together the Institute organized an international conference on Mevlana Rumi and Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo in 2014 in Islamabad. The papers presented and discourse analysis made in the conference were much appreciated by the academics, researchers and general audience because people not only have literary connection with these two great personalities but they also have spiritual attachment with Mevlana Rumi and Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo. Such positive and appreciative feedback led us to work further on this innovative idea. Afterwards, the discussion with Prof. Dr. Saleem Mazhar led us to plan international conferences in collaboration of MUSLIM Institute and Faculty of Oriental Learning, University of the Punjab Lahore. Since then, two International Conferences have been organized with the mutual efforts where scholars have presented their papers and statements on Mevlana Rumi and Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo. Contents presented in this book consist of essays and statements presented in aforementioned events and publications.