Saturday, April 20, 2013
Kabul (BNA) Geographically Afghanistan a landlocked country with sky touching mountain peaks is located in the heart of Asia with a five thousand year history. This land is famous throughout the world in terms of hospitality and conserving huge potentials of cultural monuments and historic heritages.
In the past, the country used to be an important trade and transit gateway to the silk rout and this strategic location was attracting thousands of foreign tourists and international visitors annually, because in that epoch of time, the ancient city of Balkh, Bamian, Kapisa, Ghazni, Nangarhar, Kabul, Herat and Kandahar were the center of culture civilization and hub of economic and trade relations between regional and ultra-regional civilizations.
Considering historic background of the country, the UNSESCO and the organization of Islamic conference (OIC) during its sixth annual cultural ministers conference held in the Libyan capital Tripoli in 2007 announced the ancient city of Ghani as the capital of Islamic culture and civilization for the year 2013 and the oppressed people of this land feel pride and honor to see part of their motherland being announced as center of arts and culture.
The ancient city of Ghazni besides maintaining huge reserves of cultural and historic heritage has been the center of intellectualism, literatures, science, knowledge and poetry in the past and major academic profiles were nourished in its shoulder including Abu Raihan Al-Beroni, Sanayee Ghaznavi and Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi, so the city has also great significant to the international community and cultural institutions o the world in terms of culture and history. In the past, various scholars from the Islamic world were visiting the historic city of Ghazni to meet great academic profiles of the time same as Sanayee, Alberoni, Khawja Abdullah Ansari, Avicenna and rest of the intellectuals.
Ali Hejwery is considered as of the central figures in the Sufism school that later migrated towards India and lived in Lahore city and currently his followers known him as Data Ganj Bakhsh because of his firm faith and knowledge and Muslims from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan travel to Lahore to participate in special festivals held in honor of him. During his life time, Hejwery beside his intellectualistic activities also wrote a book entitled as (Kashful Mahjoob) and later this writings become a great asset in school of Sufism during the fourth and fifth centuries. In historic view point, the ancient city of Ghazni has passed three historic periods including Buddhism period and later Islamic civilizations and these civilization contributed much in cultural dimensions of this city. During the Islamic period, several historic and beautiful buildings, forts and minaret were established according to the Islamic architecture and the city of braves due to emergence great profiles same as Sultan Mahmood which has great reputation in the geography of this region. The Ghaznavid Dynasty is the considered as the peak of greatness of history and civilization of this region and today each Afghan feel pride and honor because of the historic assets and cultural heritages existed in this city. So, the great Afghan nation interpret nomination of Ghazni as the capital of Islamic culture and civilization as Dawn of peace and Prosperity and warmly welcome international endeavor selecting Ghazni as center of Islamic arts and culture.
