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Pakistani religious parties condemn terrorism
War against terrorism should be fought with national unity, leaders say
By Javed Aziz Khan
2011-06-16
PESHAWAR – For the first time in years, the top religious politicians of Pakistan have started openly opposing terrorist attacks in the country.
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![Maulana Fazl ur Rahman, chief of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Fazl, asks an injured man about his recovery after a suicide attack in Charsadda March 31. Islamic parties have started openly condemning terrorism. [Javed Khan]](/shared/images/2011/06/16/pakpoliticians-218_172.jpg)
Maulana Fazl ur Rahman, chief of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Fazl, asks an injured man about his recovery after a suicide attack in Charsadda March 31. Islamic parties have started openly condemning terrorism. [Javed Khan]
![Maulana Fazl ur Rahman, chief of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Fazl, asks an injured man about his recovery after a suicide attack in Charsadda March 31. Islamic parties have started openly condemning terrorism. [Javed Khan]](/shared/images/2011/06/16/pakpoliticians.jpg)
“Islam does not allow the killing of Muslims by launching suicide attacks and bomb blasts on innocent citizens,” Qazi said in a recent speech in Peshawar Cantonment. “The murder of a Muslim is in fact the killing of all humanity.”
“Suicide attacks are un-Islamic and defame Islam. The religious leaders need to (inform) the people and society by using their knowledge and influence,” former Jamat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad told a gathering of graduating religious students at a seminary in Mandani, Charsadda, early this month.
Terrorism has killed many innocent people, which contradicts the teachings of Islam, Maulana Fazl ur Rahman, leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), said.
“The country is passing through its worst time of history,” Fazl said at JUI-F’s convention in Peshawar last month. “Even the bearded and the turbaned people are being attacked.”
The most revered religious leader of the region, Maulana Hassan Jan, was an early victim of terrorism. He was killed in September 2007 after issuing an Islamic decree that labelled suicide bombings as haram, or forbidden by Islam.
“Apart from the martyrdom of Hassan Jan and attacks on the JUI-F chief, we have lost about18 activists in two suicide attacks and a bombing in the Qisa Khwani bazaar in April last year,” said Abdul Jalil Jan, the spokesman for JUI-F Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). “Dozens of our workers were killed in Swat and the tribal areas as well.”
The people of Afghanistan and militant groups respect the JUI-F, said Burhanuddin Rabbani, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, during a June 10 visit to Islamabad. He praised the JUI-F leader and his father for “their sacrifices for Islam” and urged them to use all their energies for a political settlement of the Afghan crisis.
Fazl escaped two suicide bombings March 30 and March 31 in Swabi and Charsadda, respectively. About 12 people, including policemen and workers of the JUI-F, were killed in Swabi and 13 were killed in Charsadda.
Security agencies have beefed up security for Fazl and other political leaders and asked him to restrict his movement after the two attacks. But, like all top religious leaders in the country, he remains busy with political and religious activities.
Apart from attacks on JUI-F, several JI workers were among the 30 killed in the bombing of a JI rally in Qisa Khwani in April 2010. Those injured in the attack included two former party lawmakers, Sabir Hussain Awan and Shabbir Ahmad Khan.
Another bombing hit the JI’s provincial headquarters, damaging the building. A third attack failed when bomb disposal experts defused explosives outside the house of Shabbir, who is also the JI provincial general secretary.
“These attacks and life threats would never terrify JI workers into ceasing their political and social activities,” Shabbir said.
He blamed anti-Islamic and anti-state forces for suicide blasts in mosques, bazaars and political and public gatherings.
“Certain foreign elements are hatching conspiracies against Pakistan, and unfortunately elements from inside the country are also playing into the hands of foreign elements,” said Qazi. Pakistan is an Islamic democratic republic and all the clerics unanimously agree that armed struggle for the imposition of sharia is not the solution of the problems, he added.
The religious parties were against terrorism from the start, but could not speak against it publicly, Yousuf Ali, a Peshawar-based journalist covering religio-political parties, told Central Asia Online.
“The provincial chief of JI, Professor Ibrahim, had publicly termed the suicide bombing as un-Islamic last year while Qazi and Fazl took the same stand in their speeches but in a mild tone,” Yousuf said.
Leaders of other political parties are looking toward the religious groups to join them in opposing the terrorist attacks.
“All the political parties including the religio-political parties need to get united to pull the country out of the crises,” Awami National Party leader and KP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said.
“The only thing that we need the most at this hour is to be united. The single-point agenda of the entire nation should be to protect the country from any harm,” said Jan.
All of Pakistan’s stakeholders need to come to the negotiating table, Jan said, adding that if Pakistanis cannot settle their differences after losing 36,000 lives to terrorism, they will be mourning many more terrorist victims in the future.
“I myself am the victim of terrorism as my wife and children got injured in the Peepal Mandi blast a couple of years back,” said Jan.
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Craftsmen repair a large teapot in Peshawar June 14. [Ashfaq Yusufzai]
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We should be vigilant, support each other, and unite on a rainy day. Not only regional and international authorities should prevent such attacks, but ordinary people should by patriotic to defend their Motherland. Day and night.
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Religious leaders need to have an international conference on Islam, to unite on facts that also part of revelation from God in Quran as follow: 1) Part of main religion Islam is to believe in one God, his prayers, doing good and avoiding evil. And person should engage honestly for the work for his survival. 2) To start research work that Shariah law can be modified inorder to meet the need of time as there is no prohibition to not cochnge Shariah laws. There need to further safeguard the rights of woman. There is need to realize world community that polygamy is in culture and in nature of humans. Denial of polygam put bad impression and paved the way for gay marriages etc. which are being rejected by large population of world. There is also need to emphacise people to believe only in truth that have reason, logic and evidence. a) people must realize that all dead people are dead either prophet, pious man or anyone else, neither they can hear us, nor they enjoy with food in their graves and nor the effect the lives of human beings now living on plant. No reasonable and authentic evidence available. This is un islamic to believe in falsehood. Islam is religion of truth (Deenul Haq). Our Madressah education is continued since centuries that has been noted by colonial rulers in sub continent too. Madressah education did not spread terror but terror can be found in schools where using lethal amunition and killing can be noticed more than Madressahs and even there are sex scandals. Islamic way of separate education of girls and boys is far better than co education system of west where innocent girls face discriminition. Muslim scholars should condemn grave worshiping, prophet and saints worship and stress the need to only believe in God and do good.
It is also necessary to ponder over the causes of these attacks; mere condemnation is not enough.
sorry i am totally disagree with this statement
Qazi said in a recent speech in Peshawar Cantonment. “The murder of a Muslim is in fact the killing of all humanity.”i totaly disagree with this statement it should be like this ;the murder of a human is in fact the killing of all huminity.
AOA IM REQUEST TO ALL MUSLIM WORLD PLEASE REQUEST TO BAND ALL JAHADI PARTIES AND TERROIST PARTIES NOT ALLOW TO MUSLIM BROTHER BROTHER KILLING
You always want to compare terrorists with the devil's rabid dogs. And what they do, the terrorists, can be described as demonic gatherings, but in no case a fight against evil. I am always sorry for these real people who die fighting these demons. I am always sorry for all these people, regardless of their nationality and religion. The diabolical craft proved cunning and dangerous, and weak souls proved naive and misguided ... I am sorry ... very sorry for our world ...
Some 1,400 years have gone by since Islam first evolved as a peace loving and tolerant religion for all of mankind. But now there are elements present in society that want to use this religion to satisfy their vested interests. These people are plundering, looting and killing people in the name of Islam and calling it jihad. Have we ever considered that wherever an explosion takes place, most of the suicide bombers are young children? Children are being brainwashed to detonate themselves and kill innocent people. Islam most certainly does not encourage violence, and it strictly forbids killing or harming others simply for having a different faith. People need to educate our youth about the real teachings of Islam so that they are not misguided by fanatics who exploit their religious sentiments for their vested interests. The role of religious parties like JUI-F is also dubious in this regard. Maulana Diesel is betraying people of Pakistan in the name of Islam. Such dubious role must be ousted from our political wizard.
I would like to ask the government that when this game of blood and fire will stop? When the poor people will stop dying in bomb blasts? The government should try to control the terrorist organizations and bring them to justice, so that their future generations don’t not even dare to indulge in suicide attacks. I pray God to show these terrorists right path and grant them courage to do good deeds, Amen!