Among the various Afghan cities that the Taliban has invaded and apparently ‘reclaimed’ for an idea of Islam over the last few days is a town near the country’s north-western border called Balkh. Interestingly, about 800 years ago, in this town was born a man called Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi, now more popularly known as Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Rumi.
Some see the grotesque exhibitionism of the Taliban advance as a celebration of Islam or a ‘going back to the roots’ campaign. As if followers of Islam were always like this, as if every willing Muslim always propagated austerity and oppressiveness. As if it was always meant to be this way and any shred of liberalism was a digression from the quest of the religion. However, the history of the religion and the region might not approve of this notion. And there has been no better time for the world than now to discover the wisdom of Rumi without doing away with its religious context.
In a world where Islam is a popular villain and lots of terrible acts across the world in the name of the religion have fuelled this notion among the west and among people from
— source thewire.in | Mihir Chitre | Sep 17, 2021