Eid sermons will highlight
Islam's message of peace
New
Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) This Eid-ul-Zuha, many Muslim clerics
in India will through their sermons focus on Islam's "message
of peace", denouncing terrorism and the killing of innocents
in the name of religion.
The
Eid khutba, or sermon read on the day of the festival after
special prayers, would contain a note of warning against vendetta,
terrorism and other such acts carried out in the name of Islam,
top Muslim clerics in India told IANS.
Muslims
will celebrate Eid-ul-Zuha, or Bakr-Eid, Tuesday. And the
community in India - numbering around 140 million - has been
urged to mark the day with simplicity and tie black ribbons
to show solidarity with the terror victims in the country.
The
move comes in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack last week
that left at least 172 people dead, inviting condemnation
from the world over.
"In
the Eid khutba, I will focus how the holy Quran strictly forbids
the killing of innocents and other acts of terror," said
Mufti M. Muqarram Ahmed, a leading priest of Fatehpuri Masjid
here.
"I
have appealed to people to celebrate Eid with simplicity and
I will reiterate this on the day of Eid."
Head
priest of Hazratbal shrine in Kashmir said Islam revolutionised
the life of humanity with the principle of "live and
let live".
"Islam
clearly asks its followers to do the right thing, practise
the principle of live and let live and be sensitive to the
needs of fellow human beings regardless of their religious
faith and other identities," Maulana Bashir-ud-Din Farooqi
of the Hazratbal shrine told IANS on phone.
He
exhorted Muslims to follow the teachings of Islam in the strict
sense so that "the lost glory of Islam is revived".
Maulvi
Akhzar Hussain, another cleric from Kashmir, said the Quran
strictly forbids Muslims from committing "excesses"
and this should be the focus of the message on Eid.
"But",
he added, "extremism has taken hold of certain sections
of Muslims. As a consequence, Muslims are being alienated,
inviting disharmony and chaos."
Maulana
Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi, president of the All India Organisation
of Imams, said the attack on Mumbai was an attack on the whole
nation and humanity and "we will emphasise that Islam
strongly prohibits such acts".
"The
Quran clearly proscribes the killing of innocents. Islam is
against terrorism and we stand together in the fight against
it," said Ilyasi.
Mufti
Yasin, a priest in Bijnore district of Uttar Pradesh, said
that Muslim clerics should come forward to correct misconceptions
about Islam that have seeped into the society.
"Terror
acts make many feel that these are done in the name of Islam
and have justification from the injunctions of Islam,"
he said.
"Muslim
clerics should highlight the peaceful teachings from the Quran
to counter such belief and we would like the media to report
what imams say in their sermons," said Yasin.
Clerics
of Darul Uloom, Deoband, a 150-year-old seminary and one of
the most important institutes of Islamic teachings in South
Asia in Uttar Pradesh, echoed the same view.
"We
have reiterated the stand of Darul Uloom on terrorism through
different fatwas (edicts). We also have been appealing to
people to celebrate Eid in a restrained manner to share the
pain of those killed," said Qari Usman of Deoband.
"What
the Quran says about terrorism and killings as in Mumbai will
figure prominently in the Eid khutba," Usman added.
Muslim
clerics issued a fatwa against terrorism in a major congregation
in Hyderabad Nov 8 and 9. In February this year, the Deoband
madrassa had issued a similar edict against the killings of
innocent people.
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