Sufism and mysticism have become more important in the healing of social divisions and conflicts in the world today unhappy, according to a visiting professor of Indian history. 

Dr. Fatima Hussain of Delhi University told a conference at the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) on Wednesday that the neo-imperialism and the consumer culture, driven by unbridled capitalism, has fueled the conflict on all sides, forcing people to adopt violent means to seek redress of injustice. 

He said that Sufism always a way out, at least in the context of South Asia, where Sufi mystics and divine, regardless of their faith, for centuries have been devoted to lovers of humanity, serving the people. 
He noted that Sufis in the region proved to be effective, and explained that the Koran and Islamic teachings in the vocabulary of ordinary people. "The Koran is written in Arabic that many people did not understand and, therefore, that the Sufi understanding of words near the holy people," he said referring to the works of the Sufi order Chishtia. 

Dr Fatima said that at times of challenge used Sufi stories, music and romance as assistants to their interpretation. 

He said that the current intellectual propensity was to debunk the pretext of religion that has caused bloodshed throughout history and serves to divide rather than unite people. 
In such an environment, the role of religion in popular form of mysticism has taken on a scale hitherto unknown, he said. 

"My personal opinion, as a student of comparative religion, is very different because all of the religion of the world, be it Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism, was born with a noble intention. It is only when it became pedantic and are increasingly institutionalized to sanctify the political and economic designs, which were deemed oppressive and, therefore, abhorrent, "he said. 

Dr. Fatima insisted that many Sufis were very skeptical of these practices, charging that there is no essential relationship with Islam. Sometimes, individuals are defined as the Sufis, but not as Muslims, in response to the universality of mystical experience and the particularity of ecstatic Sufi paths to this experience. 
He said that in the literary and linguistic landscape of southern Asia, throughout history, the regional languages flourished in a complex interaction with the language of the ruling elite. In this context also, Sufis played a very important, as preached in the common language of the collective. 

While the political and religious elite spoke to people, the Sufis talk to people, while the imposition of the conceptual structures of Islam through the use of popular ideas that were already in existence. 

The Sufi teachings of human brotherhood, peaceful coexistence, equality and service to humanity, provided fertile ground for bridging the gap between various religious and linguistic communities in South Asia. 

Fakher Zaman PAL Chairman and Professor Khwaja Masud also spoke on the occasion. The procedures were performed by Zaheer-ud-Din Malik. 

Dr. Fatima Hussain, whose books include next Lahore: The City of Love and Relationships Sultanate-Sufi, was introduced by Prof. Khwaja Masud bouquets, Professor Alamgir Hashmi, Rao Aslam, Secretary National Book Foundation, Haleem Qureshi, Iqbal Hussain Ifkar of Pashto Adabi Society, Manz Naqvi, poet and singer Dr. Amjad Pervaiz and Zaheer-ud-Din Malik.