Islamic scholars reject ongoing violence

ISLAMABAD – Religious scholars at an international conference in Islamabad September 18 rejected the ongoing violence in the Muslim world, calling on Muslims to respond to challenges intellectually rather than destructively.

The day-long conference on “The Emerging Challenges and the Responsibilities of Islamic Scholars,” organised by the Islamabad-based think tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies, attracted scholars from Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

The scholars rejected violence as a response to a recent anti-Islamic film, urging Muslims to react intellectually and humanely, not violently.

“Violence has no place in Islam,” said Muhammad Khan Sherani, chairman of the Islamic Ideological Council in Islamabad. No religion teaches violence, nor has any prophet propagated it, he said.

“Islam teaches us to respect opinions of other human beings,” Sherani continued, adding that forcing one’s thoughts and philosophy on someone else is extremism, which Islam rejects.

Islam is a religion of peace and rejects any form of violence, said Dr. Muhayyuddin Afifi, dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies and representative of the grand imam of Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

“Tolerance must be practiced with religious zeal and fervour,” he said.

Maulana Obaid Rehman Khan, a religious scholar from Bangladesh, condemned the killing of innocent people that followed the appearance of “Innocence of Muslims” on the internet.

“No doubt our religious feelings have been hurt, but Islam does not allow anybody to kill anybody because one feels emotional,” said Obaid. “People will definitely do certain things intentionally aimed at provoking Muslims, but the Muslims need to respond in a more civilised way than attacking the envoy of any country.”

Violence taints Islam, scholars say

Those who reacted violently to the film have fulfilled the agenda of provocateurs, he pointed out. In Islamic states, it is the responsibility of all Muslims to protect the lives and property of international representatives, he said.

Killing an envoy is the most horrible behaviour one can expect, he said, referring to the death of US Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens in Benghazi September 11.

Prof. Kamar ul Nizam Abdullah from Malaysia categorically rejected the violent reaction by Muslims in some countries. Muslims should have responded in a more humane manner when the filmmaker stirred their emotions, he said, echoing Khan. “Islam totally rejects violence in any form and for any purpose,” he said.

Such violence “does no service to Islam but is tantamount to its defamation,” said Indonesian scholar Abdul Mu’ti. “Reacting violently does not ensure that a development will never happen again. We must not let others ... provoke us so easily.”

Nizam and Mu’ti both asked for intellectual discourse rather than violence and destruction in such cases.

“Violence cannot be responded to with violence, just as fire cannot be extinguished with fire but only with water,” Nizam said.

Muhammad Raghib Hussain Naeemi, head of a seminary in Lahore, also called for discourse rather than violence. Let the ulema respond in a scholarly way rather than hitting the streets, he said, adding any demonstrations should not lead to property destruction or loss of innocent life.

Any ordinary person with a camera can commit vile acts, said Dr. Mumtaz Ahmad, a religious scholar and former president of International Islamic University in Islamabad.

It’s natural to react to such events, but the outraged need to find a forum and their rallies need to have a direction, he said, calling talk of killing or expelling ambassadors “ridiculous.” “Human life is more precious than anything else,” he said.

Peaceful protest planned in Kyrgyzstan

Meanwhile in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, some Kyrgyz Muslims plan to hold a peaceful demonstration denouncing the film, Kyrgyz MP Tursunbai Bakir uulu said September 18, adding he intended to lead the event and to ensure it stayed peaceful.

Daniyar Muradilov, deputy director of the independent Kyrgyz think tank Religion, Law and Politics, criticised the continued availability of the film on the internet, saying, “In this case, freedom of expression exceeded permissible bounds.” However, he emphasised that any Kyrgyz protests “must not, in any case, be aggressive or take hostility to its extreme form, as happened in Libya.”

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Asker Sultanov contributed to this report