Srinagar, Dec. 19 -- As a Muslim woman witnessing the turbulence of our times, I often feel the weight of how misunderstood my faith has become. The loudest voices in the world today are usually those filled with anger, voices that divide, provoke, and misrepresent. Yet beneath this noise lies a softer, older, and far more powerful tradition: Sufism. It is a tradition born not from confrontation but from compassion, not from rigidity but from reflection. Moreover, in an era where intolerance hardens hearts and radicalization seduces vulnerable minds, I find myself returning to Sufi teachings as a reminder of who we really are as believers and as human beings.

For many of us, the earliest lessons of Sufism began at home, often through mot...