Seminar Notes
April 2, 2006
Since the Seminar on The Sufi Tradition of Islam (1 April 2006) was ill reported in the mainstream media, here are some quotations — not verbatim — from the seminar. A lot was discussed. I only present here a selection of the notes I scribbled.
“The best way to combat extremism is by marginalizing it. To do this, we must restore Islamic spirituality — Syed Farid al-Attas in his opening address
“Sufism is the antidote to extremism and radicalism. — Speaker for Parliament, Abdullah Tarmugi
“The world is like a book and the things within it are like words for us to read. Therefore, the Sufi is one who does not close out the world. – Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
“Only upon certainty can we have knowledge. Doubt does not lead to knowledge; it leads to more doubt. — Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
“Sufism civilises society; giving people a sense of purpose and of who they truly are. — Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
“The Mathnawi of Rumi is made up of over 20 thousand verses in the same meter. It is a commentary of the Holy Qur’an — Erkan Turkoman
