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Greetings from Palestine, Volunteering for Peace CC in Palestine organized a conference entitled "Sufism, Principles and Dialogue" Wednesday May 6th at the Gallery Hall in Hebron. The meeting language was English with direct translations into/from Arabic.
The meeting hosted Shikha Khadija Radin who began turning in 1971 after she first saw whirling performed by the followers of Sufi Murshid Samuel Lewis in San Francisco, California. She was enraptured by the meditative movement which was to change her way of life. At the time she was a teacher and choreographer of modern dance. Shortly thereafter she resigned from an administrative and teaching position with the San Francisco Art Commission to travel from Holland overland to India and back, searching out the mystics, especially the Dervish. Shikha Khadija was originally Jewish and converted 30 years ago becoming a leading teacher in her group. The event also included; The head (Sheikh) of Al-aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the head of the Palestinian Islamic Supreme Council of the Jurisprudence, Shaikh Tayseer Al-Tamimi ( a well known interfaith leader in Palestine and a consultant to president Abbas in religious issues), a group of male and female judges from the Palestinian court ( 2 of the judges were women who were recently appointed to the high court in Palestine), a group of 7 Palestinian Sufis from Alqasimy Tariqa in Palestine, the vice-governor of Hebron and representative of President Abbas, University professors, students, and other local leadership.  This event is the first of its kind in Palestine to address the topic of Sufism to the Palestinian community. There are small group of Sufis in Palestine who also had the chance to take part and learn about similarities and differences with other groups around the world. Chaired by Tareq Altamimi, the coordinator of Volunteering for Peace CC and a member of the Global Council of URI, the meeting started with a prayer from the Imam of Al-aqsa mosque Shekh Abd Alkareem Zurba. Then Mr. Altamimi provided an introduction to URI, its main principles and purposes and presented the members of Volunteering for Peace who were in attendance. After a welcome from the chairman, Sheikh Tayseer Al-Tamimi provided an introduction on the importance of diversity in the Palestinian community and the openness to the world and to other religions. He welcomed Shikha Khadija and her students to Palestine and spoke about Sufism in Islam. He also spoke about the current situation of holy places in Palestine and the dangers encountered due to the occupation. Then the Vice-governor of Hebron and the representative of President Abbas spoke about the importance of interfaith and knowing about other groups and methods of worshiping. He also spoke about his excitement for this event which was the first of its kind in Palestine and encouraged the organizing of this kind of conference again in the future. He also thanked Volunteering for Peace for organizing the event and gave the governors blessing to the event. Then Shikha Khadija provided an introduction about the Mevlevi way of Sufism which is using the prayers and dhikr (remembrance of God) as a method of worshipping God. She provided detailed information about the mevlevi way (tariqa) of Sufism and spoke about the whirling Dervish way which she uses to reach to god. She mentioned that her way of worshipping god is based on love and dhikr. She also gave a live demonstration of the classes she normally provides around the world in the United States, Europe, India, and other countries. to learn more about Shikha Khadija and her work check the following link: http://www.whirlingdervish.org/about.htm Then the group of local Sufis of Al-Qasimy in Palestine had a chance to present their way (Tariqa) and spoke about the Academy they established to teach Sufism in Palestine and the activities they organize. They also spoke about the many similarities with the practices of Shikha Khadija. Then an open discussion started, many questions were asked from the audience raising very important points, and dispelling stereotypes which they have about Sufism and its practices. They also had a chance to hear from Shika Khadija about her experience in other countries and about the concept of Sufism. The dialogue was interactive and had many questions from University professors, doctors, women leadership, Islamic Law experts, Sharia teachers, and the previously mentioned key guests. There were many ideas and questions which were raised on Sufism and the Mevlevi way through questions and answers by Shikha Khadija. Tareq Altamimi Volunteering for Peace CC |
