Sufi night in Pakistan (10/09/2005)
"Sufi Night is very special here in Lahore. It is very important to the Pakistani religion. You see the Sufis, you see Pakistan. The Sufis are very excited that they will be able to play for foreign guests.
Thursday Sufi Night. Friday in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a day of rest. The stores are closed, no one goes to work, and people just chill out and relax. So Thursday night is like Saturday night in the West, just no bars.
But there is Sufi Night-the most happening place to be on a Thursday in Lahore. We pulled up at Baba Shasmar mosque; a 700-year-old mosque that was packed with people. The air was thick with the blue-grey smoke of cheris.
People use the Cheris because they think it will bring them closer to God, but it is the drumming that truly brings one closer to God According to Melek. The Sufis only need the drumming. He pulled us through the crowds and motioned for us to sit in front.
And so the drumming started. Thick, fast, beats that you could feel resonating through your spine and ribcage.
Hypnotic drumming, some of the men stood up, slowly turning themselves around in a circle. They began to spin around faster, round and round, their bodies becoming a blur, blurring into a movement that seemed physically impossible. I was transfixed.
They do this to get closer to God. When they do this, they feel like they are in heaven.
And they spun like that, on and on, around and around, some of them for an hour straight, and then the drumming stopped and the spinning stopped and it was time for us to leave.
Thursday Sufi Night. Friday in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a day of rest. The stores are closed, no one goes to work, and people just chill out and relax. So Thursday night is like Saturday night in the West, just no bars.
But there is Sufi Night-the most happening place to be on a Thursday in Lahore. We pulled up at Baba Shasmar mosque; a 700-year-old mosque that was packed with people. The air was thick with the blue-grey smoke of cheris.
People use the Cheris because they think it will bring them closer to God, but it is the drumming that truly brings one closer to God According to Melek. The Sufis only need the drumming. He pulled us through the crowds and motioned for us to sit in front.
And so the drumming started. Thick, fast, beats that you could feel resonating through your spine and ribcage.
Hypnotic drumming, some of the men stood up, slowly turning themselves around in a circle. They began to spin around faster, round and round, their bodies becoming a blur, blurring into a movement that seemed physically impossible. I was transfixed.
They do this to get closer to God. When they do this, they feel like they are in heaven.
And they spun like that, on and on, around and around, some of them for an hour straight, and then the drumming stopped and the spinning stopped and it was time for us to leave.
posted by Meinoud at 2:51 PM
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