LAHORE: (Thursday, May 11, 2017): Iranian Consul General Muhammad Hussain Bani Asadi has said that the teachings of Maulana Jalal ud din Rumi and Sultan Bahu give message of love, peace and brotherhood and following their message, we could bring positive revolution in the world. He was addressing an international conference on Sultan Bahu & Mevlana Rumi jointly organized by PU Department of Persian and Muslim Institute Islamabad at Al-Raazi Hall on Thursday. Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin, Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan Mr Jononov Sherali, Afghan Senator Arifullah Pashtoon, PU VC Prof Dr Zaffar Mueen Nasir, Chairman Muslim Institute Islamabad Sultan Ahmed Ali, Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, national and international research scholars, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony, Hussain Bani Asadi said that Maulana Rumi and Sultan Bahu were among the greatest personalities of the world and their message enlightened hearts and souls. He said that Maulana Rumi saw killings and bloodshed in his era but his teachings gave lesson of love only and he did not preach hate or revenge ever. He said that Maulana Rumi has spread light and removed darkness and he preached teachings of renowned saint Shams Tabraiz. He said that unfortunately, hate and enmity were spreading in the world so it was the dire need of the time to preach teachings of Maulana Rumi in order to spread love and friendship in the world. Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Prof Dr Nizamuddin said that we need to think why there was intolerance, extremism and terrorism in our society. He said that we need to spread teachings of Maulana Rumi and Sultan Bahu to promote peace, harmony and brotherhood in the world. He said that we needed to strengthen dialogue to establish peace and harmony in the society. He said that Maulana Rumi had been recognized at world level for establishment of peace. Afghanistan’s Senator Arifullah Pashtoon said that Sufis had given the message of following teachings of Islam and they had taught to love each other. However, he said, we had forgot their lesson because of which we were facing problems. He said that we need to establish peace and stop violence. He said that Allama Iqbal had said that if there would be peace in Afghanistan, there would be peace in Asia and if there would be unrest in Afghanistan, there would be unrest in Asia. He said that both Sultan Bahu and Maulana Rumi gave the message of establishing peace. Tajikistan’s Ambassador Sher Ali Jana said that we could take help from the teachings of Rumi and Bahu to cope with the threats we were facing in today’s era. He said that steps must be taken to ensure spread of their teachings at mass scale at international level.

Addressing the ceremony, Prof Dr Zaffar Mueen Nasir said that Maulana Rumi and Sultan Bahu gave the message of serving humanity. He said that only those nations progressed which remembered their heroes and followed the thoughts of their thinkers. He said that hate destroyed societies and it could be countered with love. He said that Maulana Rumi’s teaching had also been acknowledged in the West and there was need to do research on the creations of Sultan Bahu. He said that PU had taken a lot of initiatives to promote peace in the society and we would organize such conferences in future as well. Chairman Muslim Institute Sultan Ahmed Ali said that there was similarity in the thoughts of Maulana Rumi and Sultan Bahu. They said that their lesson could guide us in any period of time and we could cure our intellectual disorders. Prof Dr Mazhar Saleem said that Sufis taught humbleness in our society and we need to benefit from this message.