Contrary to popular belief, the Sufis do not reject violent jihad. Their towering figure, al-Ghazali, taught it, and Sufis have been at the vanguard of the Chechen jihad. Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, which in turn gave birth to Hamas and Al-Qaeda, was strongly influenced by Sufism. In 2009, Iraqi Sufis meant with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and boasted of their jihad activity in Iraq. Izzat al-Douri, a Sufi leader, was instrumental in the formation of the Islamic State.
“Indian PM Praises Islam at Sufi Conference,” by Anjana Pasricha, Voice of America, March 17, 2016:
Praising Islam as a religion of peace, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that Indian Muslims reflect the spirit of Sufism, which he called the “voice of peace, co-existence, compassion and equality.”
He was addressing a four-day conference of Sufi scholars from about 20 countries being held in New Delhi to promote tolerance as a counterpoint to the rise in terrorism and extremism. Sufism is the mystical form of Islam.
The Indian prime minister’s presence at the inaugural function of the World Sufi Forum is being seen as an outreach to Muslims and a bid to ease concerns that his Bharatiya Janata Party is pursuing a Hindu revivalist agenda.
But the conference, coordinated with the help of the BJP government, was criticized by several Indian Muslim leaders as an attempt to create divisions in the country’s Muslim community.
Crediting India’s progress to every member of every faith, Modi called Islam a great religion and said Indian Muslims “reflect the timeless culture of peace, diversity and equality, of faith of our land. They are steeped in the democratic tradition of India, confident of their place in the country and invested in the future of the nation.”…