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| India-Pakistan |
| Ulema declares jihad against sectarianism. Really. |
| 2003-02-28 |
| Ulema from different schools of thought on Thursday declared Jihad against sectarianism. They also declared that murder of a Muslim and passing of edicts of kufr for another Muslim were prohibited in Islam. It's okay to kill 'em if they're infidels, though... These observations were made in a press release issued by 'Nine Zero' the headquarters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which claimed that the signed pledge was made during a telephonic address by the party chief, Altaf Hussain. According to the press release, the Ulema supported the view that judicial action should be taken against those who used to issue death decrees against other Muslims. Common sense would seem to dictate judicial action against anybody who issues a death decree against somebody else. But we're talking about Pakistan, a nation whose primary export is jihad... In his address, Mr Hussain called for legislation meant to punish those who were responsible for spreading sectarianism and called upon the Ulema and religious scholars to wage a concerted struggle against such elements. Mr Hussain deplored the killing of Khalid Bin Waleed and attack on an Imambargah where many innocent people were gunned down. He urged the president, prime minister and legislators to initiate a debate on the religious beliefs of the Quaid-i-Azam [Jinnah] so that people could know how and why the Indian Muslims got united under his leadership. If the religious "scholars" are instigating it, it doesn't do much good for them to "wage a struggle" against themselves... The MQM chief, who dealt at length against the resurging sectarian violence, called on the religious scholars to play their role in curbing the menace. Referring to the 'million march', planned by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Mr Hussain maintained that similar rallies should be organized also to prevent and contain sectarian violence as well as terrorism to restore peace in the city. He advised the MMA to do for Karachiites whatever it had been doing in support of the people of Iraq. I don't think Qazi will let that happen. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 Anon - Thanks for the correction... Thinking one thing and typing another. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-03-01 13:54:54 |
| #2 The funny thing is that the MQM was a sectarian party throughout the 80s responsible (along with it's offshoots) for thousands of deaths and making large parts of Karachi no-go zones. The only difference between them and the Jihadis is that they were an ethnic based party rather than an Islam based one. |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2003-02-28 22:13:15 |
| #1 Sectarianism is an inherent part of Islamic prophecy. That is why the Saudis allow Muslims to attend pilgrimage (haj), which they would otherwise exterminate for religious-innovation (bidah). The exiled MQM chief is beating his head against the wall if he is trying to rationalize Islam. By the way, Qazi' "great leader" (qaid-e-azam) was: Maulana Maududi. Jinnah doesn't matter to that 400 pound blob of jihad. |
| Posted by: Anon 2003-02-28 20:01:57 |