Sufis return to Sehwan shrine in defiance of ISIL
"This is Lal Qalandar Shahbaz, any terrorist, any number of terrorist attacks will not scare us. The dhamaal will continue, and must continue," said Ali Otho, a worshipper.




"Pakistan's southern Sindh province is famous for its pluralistic culture. For centuries, the area has been a center of religious tolerance and cultural harmony, where not only different Islamic sects have co-existed but people from other religions - particularly Hinduism - have contributed to the enrichment of its social fabric. Mystical Islam, preached and promoted by Sufis, have played a vital role in this social construct.




But on Thursday, February 16, the diminishing Sufi culture in Pakistan received another blow when a suicide bomber belonging to the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) organization blew himself up in a packed shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalander. At least 70 people died in the attack, and over 100 worshippers were wounded. IS took responsibility for the deadly bombing through their Aamaq news agency.





ISLA - Link 1: Sufis - ISLA - Link 2: Sufis