Islam attacked by a deadly virus
Monday, 31 May 2010
Maswood Alam Khan
It seems a new virus has been let loose to attack Islam. Groups of killers wearing Muslim names are roaming around as agents of a deadly virus to kill people at the behest of some quarters, mostly untouchable and invisible, in order to defame and wipe out Islam, a great religion that ushered in peace about 2000 years back at a time when crimes against humanity were rampant.
Islam, a modern religion that had liberated slaves, bestowed rights to women, obliterated the caste system, inspired humans to keep their heads high, trained the warriors not to punish the unarmed enemies, advised the victors not to vanish the vanquished and given lessons on how to ensure justice, is now mocked by some quarters as a faith of terrorism and as a religion that inspires killing of innocent people.
An impartial observer also gets biased against Islam when he reads on the front-page of a newspaper or watches on prime-time television programmes news about suicide attacks by people who claim to be Muslim jihadists and who believe that their places in heavens are instantly reserved the moment they die during their missions of killing.
More than 80 people were killed when they were having their Friday prayers in mosques of the minority Ahmadi Islamic sect in Lahore as militants launched simultaneous raids on two mosques with guns and grenades. Three militants later blew themselves up with suicide vests packed with explosives when police tried to enter a mosque.
While the Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim and follow all Islamic rituals, they were declared non-Muslim in Pakistan in 1973, and in 1984 they were legally barred from identifying themselves as Muslim because the Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the sect, was a prophet. So in Pakistan, Ahmadis are non-Muslims from both the religious and the legal points of view. The question now is: If Ahmadis were non-Muslims were those who killed the Ahmadis in the mosques Muslims? Does Islam teach Muslims to kill non-Muslims?
According to Islam, anyone who acts against humanity cannot claim to be a Muslim, no matter he prays five times a day punctually, performs Hajj or bears a Muslim name.
It is high time Islamic scholars denounced the extremist elements in clear and unambiguous terms. Silence on such savageries as the mayhem in Lahore or elsewhere on the part of true Muslims would be interpreted as their tacit support for militants who are killing innocent people.
What is now most needed is a concerted effort by all to find out who in the first place is creating and then injecting the killing virus into the gullible Muslims and convincing them that killing is a holy job.
.........................................
maswood@hotmail.com
It seems a new virus has been let loose to attack Islam. Groups of killers wearing Muslim names are roaming around as agents of a deadly virus to kill people at the behest of some quarters, mostly untouchable and invisible, in order to defame and wipe out Islam, a great religion that ushered in peace about 2000 years back at a time when crimes against humanity were rampant.
Islam, a modern religion that had liberated slaves, bestowed rights to women, obliterated the caste system, inspired humans to keep their heads high, trained the warriors not to punish the unarmed enemies, advised the victors not to vanish the vanquished and given lessons on how to ensure justice, is now mocked by some quarters as a faith of terrorism and as a religion that inspires killing of innocent people.
An impartial observer also gets biased against Islam when he reads on the front-page of a newspaper or watches on prime-time television programmes news about suicide attacks by people who claim to be Muslim jihadists and who believe that their places in heavens are instantly reserved the moment they die during their missions of killing.
More than 80 people were killed when they were having their Friday prayers in mosques of the minority Ahmadi Islamic sect in Lahore as militants launched simultaneous raids on two mosques with guns and grenades. Three militants later blew themselves up with suicide vests packed with explosives when police tried to enter a mosque.
While the Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim and follow all Islamic rituals, they were declared non-Muslim in Pakistan in 1973, and in 1984 they were legally barred from identifying themselves as Muslim because the Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the sect, was a prophet. So in Pakistan, Ahmadis are non-Muslims from both the religious and the legal points of view. The question now is: If Ahmadis were non-Muslims were those who killed the Ahmadis in the mosques Muslims? Does Islam teach Muslims to kill non-Muslims?
According to Islam, anyone who acts against humanity cannot claim to be a Muslim, no matter he prays five times a day punctually, performs Hajj or bears a Muslim name.
It is high time Islamic scholars denounced the extremist elements in clear and unambiguous terms. Silence on such savageries as the mayhem in Lahore or elsewhere on the part of true Muslims would be interpreted as their tacit support for militants who are killing innocent people.
What is now most needed is a concerted effort by all to find out who in the first place is creating and then injecting the killing virus into the gullible Muslims and convincing them that killing is a holy job.
.........................................
maswood@hotmail.com