File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The world needs to know the true picture of Islam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today while applauding Sufi culture and expressing hope that people from all religions will understand it.
"Few days back I had an opportunity of meeting a Sufi saints and scholars. I tell you honestly that the experience with which they spoke, the way they spoke, it was like music to the ears.
"The choice of their words, the way they spoke, the meaning, the generosity in Sufism, I felt nice," he said in his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.
"Perhaps, it has become the foremost need for the world to know the true picture of Islam...I am confident that Sufi culture, which is associated with love, generosity will spread this message far and wide. It will benefit Islam as well as humankind," PM Modi added.
PM Modi had met a delegation of 40 Sufi saints and scholars on Thursday and said the ideology propounded by Sufi saints was integral to Indian ethos but forces of extremism are trying to weaken it.
During the interaction with them, PM Modi had asked them to counter such forces through various avenues including on social media, so that the ideology of extremism does not take root in India.
In his address today, the Prime Minister also said he has also got an invite to attend international conference on Buddhism in Bodh Gaya and he will be attending it. He noted that first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had also visited Bodh Gaya.