An Idd Milan was organized by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Mapusa unit on 18th August at Islamic Centre Goa. The Idd get together was used to foster better understanding between the different community members and to exchange views on the theme “Spirituality in Worldly Life”.
Speakers from various fields expressed their thoughts and experiences on the subject. The first speaker Maulana Abdul Mubin Asari was very articulate in expressing the relation between fasting in the month of Ramadhan and its impact on the spiritual character of an individual. He said spiritual growth in an individual by nature has to have a direct impact on all the spheres of human activity in life and spirituality confined to personal life alone smacks of hypocrisy. He said we in India are known to be a spiritual and Dharmic nation but the ground reality is contrary. He said strangely we have set shops selling spirituality when truth is spirituality cannot be bought but can be attained by acknowledging and developing a strong bond with Our Creator and by accepting his eternal guidance, sent through Prophets and scriptures. He said that the Quran and Prophet Muhammad (saw) were the last and complete sources of guidance for the entire mankind.
Professor Somayaji Ganesha Head of the department of Sociology – Goa University, Taleigao in his address stated the various shades of spirituality and raised issues related to the sociological aspects of spirituality. He said broadly we could divide the subject in to two sections firstly the spirituality in an individual and secondly group or community spirituality. He also said terms such as faith , religion and spirituality fall in the same bracket and express common ideas and support each other. He quoted the three classical sociologists and educated the gathering that spirituality and religiosity has the ability to unite and bring people together and the contrary opinion of Marx saying that it is an opiate of the masses. He also expressed his childhood experiences and quoted kannada couplets along with the “udaya raga”. He mentioned his grandfather’s advice to sing the praise of the Creator, the only God called by different beautiful names. He concluded by saying that the word “truth” is a small word but encompasses the entire life. He appealed to all to march towards unity by walking through the boundaries of limitations. Fr. Francis D’mello affirmed we are all children of One God and hence we to promote peace, harmony and co-existence and co-operation. He said it was the common responsibility for each one of us to work for maintaining the secular nature of the Indian society.
Jb Atharullah Sharif adding to all the speakers mentioned the need of spirituality at the state level as those administering the society frame laws that touch the private as well as public lives of individuals and hence the urgent need to develop the spirituality at the state level. Mr. Samir Khan proposed the vote of thanks and Jb Sharif Shaikh compeered the event.
