Ulema to form ideological alliance against terrorism

ISLAMABAD: Leadership of different religious sects while addressing at ‘Ulema Mashaykh Conference’ emphasised that political and religious leadership of the country needs to make an ideological alliance for guidance of youth against the propaganda of terrorists and extremists and also announced to wage a countrywide campaign against the menace of terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence.

The ‘Ulema Mashaykh Conference’ held here on Friday under the aegis of Pakistan Ulema Council at Jamia Masjid Mu’az bin Jabbal, Islamabad, with head of Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi in the chair.

Speakers addressing the conference stated that more than 74,000 mosques and 12,000 seminaries affiliated with Pakistan Ulema Council and Wafaq-ul-Masajid Pakistan across the country are working on code of conduct and a series of Ulema Conventions and training workshops are being scheduled for coming months of ‘Shabaan and Ramazan’ to educate the Ulema, clerics and Imams relating to importance of conventional studies and challenges of the Muslim world owing to terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence.

The speakers also demanded of the world leadership to address prevailing challenges in the Muslim world. They said, “The world leadership should divert its attention towards issues of Muslim countries to prohibit Muslim youths to move towards terrorists and extremists organisations. Foreign intervention in the Muslim world from Yemen to Libya should come to an end to stop growing extremism in these countries”.

The speakers also pointed out that across the world, terrorism and extremism were being associated with Islam while in reality Islamic teachings have nothing to do with ideologies of terrorism and extremism. The Muslim countries and particularly the Muslims all over the world were the victims of militancy, terrorism and extremism. “World leadership as well as leadership of Muslim countries are unable to address challenges of the Muslim world from Palestine to Kashmir,” said speakers.

Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Asharfi said that the Muslim Ulema and intellectuals across the Muslim world need to form an ideological and intellectual alliance on the pattern of military alliance of Muslim countries. He expressed that hope that the way military alliance of Islamic countries had been established under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, on the same pattern, attention should be focused to  constitute an ideological alliance of Muslim world against terrorism and extremism.