Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — "Arabs conquered Sindh in the early days of Islam. Their rule lasted for almost three centuries there. Islam enriched Sindh's culture by its spiritual values and gave a new life to Sindh's people and society. While writing Sindh's cultural history, Islam's contribution will never be ignored. Islam's spirituality gave birth to great Sufi poetry in Sindhi language. Muslims and non-Muslims alike love and sing these great poems. In our folklores too, this tradition had continued. Islam's message of peace and social harmony always reflects from our cultural traditions and poetry," said Syed Khalid Husain Shah while extolling Sindh's virtues. Shah was addressing a literary gathering of Majlis-e-Ilm-o-Adab, Jeddah, that organized its monthly meeting. A large number of Urdu lovers attended this program. The main attraction of this event was Syed Khalid Shah's speech. Shah hails from Sindh, Pakistan, and he shed light on the advent of Islam in Sindh. He also highlighted the life of the early Islamic rulers, preachers, Sufis and religious scholars of Sindh who were standard bearers of this message of peace. Shah's speech was lauded by the intellectuals and audience. Mujahid Syed in his speech highlighted the main points of the guest speaker's speech and added that Sindh always played an important role in the social and cultural history of the Indian Subcontinent. He too affirmed that Sindh's rich culture always brought sweetness of the message of peace. In this regard he gave a reference to famous great Urdu novelist Qurratul Ain Haider's some translations of great Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. Shah Jo Risalo, written by Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai is in very pure and concise Sindhi verses. "It's a great storehouse of love, wisdom and knowledge for the east and west," he said. The program began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an by Syed Muhammad and Syed Mustafa. Syed Muazzam recited a Naat. Qaseedah-e-Burdah was recited by six young children. Faisal Shaikh was master of the event. The vote of thanks was proposed by Syed Faizan. The meeting was attended by Muhammad Sharif, father of Muhammad Jamil, who died two months ago in Jeddah. Everyone prayed for the soul of late Muhammad Jamil , a star attraction for his Naats in Majlis-e-Ilm-o-Adab's programs.
