Religious scholars condemn propaganda against armed forces

PESHAWAR: Prominent religious scholars and prayer leaders in their Friday sermons condemned malicious propaganda by certain elements against Pakistan and its armed forces, saying these people were in fact causing a bad name to jihad, which is an important part of Islam.

Religious leaders belonging to all schools of thought including chief khateeb historic masjid Mohabat Khan Peshawar Maulana Merajuddin Sarkani, Mufti Ijaz, Maulana Irfanullah, Maulana Liaqat Ali, Mufti Asad Iqbal, Maulana Wajeehur Rahman, prayer leader of Peshawar’s famous Sunehri Masjid, Mufti Mohammad Usman, chief khateeb Jamia Masjid Sarki Gate, Maulana Ahmad Jan, administrator Jamia Taleemul Quran, and other spoke about peace and sacrifices of Pakistan’s armed forces.

The religious leaders said that the terrorists were making a false interpretation of jihad and misguiding innocent people in the name of jihad.

They said Islam itself is a religion of peace and it never allows its followers to promote violence or kill innocent people.

Islam prohibits violence and terms the killing of one innocent person as the killing of humanity.

According to the religious leaders, some anti-Pakistan elements were deliberately creating mistrust between the people of Pakistan and its armed forces.

The enemies of Pakistan are aware of the fact that Pakistani people had great respect and love for their armed forces and always stood behind them in crisis, particularly in their struggle against terrorism, therefore they are trying to create mistrust between the people and their armed forces.

The terrorists are not only causing a bad name to Islam by misinterpreting the sacred name of jihad but also damaging the reputation of the country. They have no authority to interpret jihad or declare it against anyone as it’s a responsibility of the state and its institutions, not theirs, the religious leaders opined.

They gave examples of certain countries including Iraq, Syria and Palestine that suffered heavy losses apparently due to the lack of strong and organised armed forces to defend their countries in difficult times.

The religious leaders said Pakistan was lucky to have strong, trained and well-disciplined and well-equipped armed forces to defend their country.

They praised Pakistani security forces for their recent heroic action against the militants in the interrogation compound of Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) and condemned some of the religious people for speaking in support of the terrorists.

According to the religious leaders, it was the responsibility of the nation to stand behind their armed forces and support them in their fight against the terrorists.