Author Topic: The University of Sargodha held a three-day International Rumi conference  (Read 3831 times)

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Rumi conference

Event Rumi conference

Recently, the University of Sargodha held a three-day International Conference on Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi in connection with the celebrations of the 800th birth anniversary of Jalaluddin Rumi

By Aqeela Asif Shahmadi

Sargodha is an important city of Pakistan and is known as the "The city of Shaheens". It is located between the Rivers Jhelum and Chanab and was founded in 1903. The history of Sargodha is an amazing episode of cultural and civilised evolution.

The University of Sargodha was established in 2002. In a very short span of time it developed into a full-fledged university by establishing a modern building, laboratory, library and a well-decorated seminar hall equipped with the latest facilities. The university offers many undergraduate and post-graduate level programmes and has an affiliated medical college, along with teaching and research activities. The university has held many conferences and seminars on latest topics. The department of History has been very active in this regard and has conducted two international conferences in the month of March 2008.

On  March the 24-26, 2008, the University of Sargodha held a three-day International Conference on Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi in connection with the celebrations of his 800th birth anniversary. This was the second conference organised by the department of History in March 2008.

The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) has marked the year 2007 as the year of Rumi and the European Union (EU) has declared the year 2008 as the Year of interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Therefore, a number of conferences have been held on Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi across the globe. Similar celebrations on Rumi are still in progress to promote his message on faith, unity, peace and harmony on the interfaith and intercultural issues.

In this three-day conference which was organised by Dr Shahid Ahmad Rajput, four academic sessions were held covering four themes. A large number of papers were received and nearly fifty papers were presented. The themes selected for the four academic sessions were:

1) Maulana Rumi & Tasawwuf,

2) Intellectual Contribution of Maulana Rumi,

3) Rumi & Iqbal

4) Maulana Rumi & the Contemporary World.

All the sessions started with the recitation of the Holy Quran by Qari Abdur Rahman followed by Na'at-i-Rasool-i-Maqbool (SAW), by Ali Husnain of Sargodha University. Prof Dr Muhammad Akram Chaudhary the Vice Chancellor (VC) of  the University of Sargodha inaugurated the Conference on 24th of March, 2008. In his welcome address he said, "UNESCO's decision to mark the year 2007 as the Year of Rumi is a great tribute to Rumi and the University of Sargodha is honoured to host such a prestigious international conference which is aimed to promote the message of peace and harmony under the teachings of the saint Rumi".  He welcomed the scholars and expressed that the deliberations of the international scholars will definitely make a difference for the Muslim Ummah.

The conference was attended by the Vice Chancellors of various universities of Pakistan including, Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashir, VC, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin, VC, University of Gujrat and Prof Dr Arif Ali Zaidi, VC, GC University, Faisalabad. More than sixty eminent scholars of international repute from, India, Iran and Turkey attended the conference and presented their papers. Participants from leading universities of Pakistan also attended the conference. Dr Abdul Qadir Khan of the Sargodha University recited Rumi's Mathnavi. He read Rumi's poetry in the Persian language followed by its English translation. 

The event then proceeded with an opening address by Prof Dr Arif Naushahi, the guest of honour who is also the Head of the Persian Department, Gordon College, Rawalpindi. Prof Emeritus Dr Shamim Hanafi, of the Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, also presented the opening address as the guest of honour. He emphasised on the message of love, peace and similarities of Pir-i-Rumi and Mureed-i-Hindi ie, Mulana Rumi-Iqbal respectively in a very effective way.

Harun Koken, President of Rumi Forum, Islamabad then presented the keynote address.  During the inaugural session he presented the Hilya-i-Mubarak of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), a master piece of Arabic calligraphy and page illumination done by the Turkish calligrapher Muhammad Ouzchai to the Vice Chancellor and to the Conference organiser. A beautiful frame rendering the best of Maulana Rumi and his tomb was also presented to the Head of the Department of History Prof A D Shahzad.

A large number of faculty members and students of Sargodha University and prominent citizens also attended the conference.  This conference was one of the greatest events in academic history of Sargodha.

Scholars, in their papers, expressed that Pakistan has always been inhibited by several ethnic groups with their distinctive cultures and living styles. Centuries before, this region was the centre of a distinctive civilisation known as the Indus Valley civilisation. Pakistan has a unique distinction of witnessing an era that was completely dominated and significantly influenced by glittering stars of Sufism.  All had great respect and reverence for Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi.

Participants of the conference described the life, history and thoughts of Rumi. He was known to world, as Rumi, a 13th century Persian Muslim Poet. He was born in Balkh, the hometown of his father's family, a part of greater Persian cultural sphere of Khorasan, the easternmost province of historical Persia, and part of the Khawarzum Empire. Rumi was born in 1207, the same year his father, Bahauddin was appointed as a scholar there and was designated as the "Sultan of the Scholars". His mother's name was Mu'mina Khatun.

In the year 1261 Rumi began writing Mathanwi. This immortal contribution placed him as symbol of love and peace on the horizon of the world history. Rumi spent the next twelve years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Mathanwi to Hussam. In December 1273, Rumi fell seriously ill and died in Konya. Rumi was laid to rest beside his father, in a splendid shrine.

In the concluding session Dr Shahid Ahmad Rajput presented a humble tribute to Maulana Rumi. He emphasised on Zikr-o-fikr. This was followed by the distribution of shields to the participants by the VC, GCU, Faisalabad, Prof Dr Arif Ali Zaidi. The Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Mohammad Akram Chaudhary thanked the participants and assured that their research papers would be published in the form of a book which would be used as reference book in the years to come.
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