For the Benefit of the Current Society

By Mawassi Lahcen, "Sufi Culture Festival celebrates peaceful tradition, Fez history" - Magharebia - USA

The second Sufi Culture Festival, to be held in April in Fez, will offer a variety of art exhibits, lectures, and concerts on the themes of peace and tolerance

Casablanca: The historic city of Fez will host the second Sufi Culture Festival from April 17th-24th, offering visitors a distinguished spiritual atmosphere in which to explore principles of dialogue, tolerance and peace.

This year's programme features artistic soirées open to the public every night, with the participation of music bands from four continents. Each afternoon will feature Sufi Tariqas (schools) from around the world. In the mornings, intellectual seminars will discuss issues related to women, the environment, entrepreneurship and international relations through the spiritual and moral values of Sufi Islam.

In a statement to Magharebia, Festival Coordinator Mr Faouzi Skali said Sufism can fill a gap in the spiritual involvement of young people who are thirsty for religion.

"The absence of spiritual involvement for young people in their search for religion gives way for political ideologies that misunderstand the social function of religion, and attract the young people to the trap of extremism and terrorism," he said.

Mr Skali explained that the aim of the Fez Sufi Culture Festival is to renew Sufi practices, especially spiritual education in the values of tolerance, solidarity, and peace.

"It is true that we need to refresh memory and to benefit from the sources of heritage," he said, "but our aim in this Festival is to finalise the role of Sufism in the work that it can do today for the benefit of the current society; to live the Sufi experience as a lively, future-oriented experience; and to adapt its principles to the current needs of young people and societies."

The second Sufi Culture Festival coincides with the 1200th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Fez, considered the spiritual capital of Morocco. Al Karaouine University will hold an exhibition at the festival to showcase its treasure of manuscripts.

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[Picture: A Sufi ensemble performs outside the Fez medina. Photo by: Mawassi Lahcen]

[See also: http://sufinews.blogspot.com/search?q=Khadija].