Who is a Muslim?
To quote an excerpt from Chief Justice Muhammad Munir’s report in 1954:
“The net result of all this is that neither Shias nor Sunnis nor Deobandis nor Ahl-i-Hadith nor Barelvis are Muslims, and any change from one view to the other must be accompanied in an Islamic State with the penalty of death, if the Government of the State is in the hands of the party which considers the other party to be kafirs. And it does not require much imagination to judge of the consequences of this doctrine, when it is remembered that no two ulama have agreed before us as to the definition of a Muslim.”
Going by the above definition, there are evidently no Muslims in Pakistan. The sooner people stop their obsession with denouncing others as kafirs, the better it shall be for Pakistan. Federal Minister Pervaiz Rasheed’s latest remarks on religious seminaries met some fierce criticism from various religious leaders across the country. He had said:
“These universities of ignorance, to whom we give donations, are spreading an ideology of hatred and conservativeness in the society.”
Mufti Naeem of the Jamia Binoria Karachi is a takfiri issued a fatwa against Pervaiz Rasheed for this opinion, declaring his remarks as “blasphemous” and denouncing him as a kafir.
This sectarian slur of declaring others as a kafir has now become a weapon. Sooner or later, the state will have to tackle this monster on the loose. Mufti Naeem stated that every reference of education in the Quran is for religious education. With that, he not only defies the right of every individual to attaining formal education but also, conveniently ignores the role of formal education in serving humanity across various scientific and technological fields. It seems it’s only a matter of time before extremist elements will demand a ban on schools and universities. What differentiates them from the Tehreek-i-Taliban, then? They all fear that a progressive society will eventually filter them out.
“Anyone who believes Pervaiz Rasheed is a Muslim is a kafir too”, said Mufti Naeem. He is willing to declare an entire nation as kafir, if they don’t align their views with his.
Not only is Mufti Naeem misleading masses but is also exploiting the blasphemy law whilst putting Federal Minister Pervaiz Rasheed’s life in danger. And if all of this wasn’t enough, he even threatened him. These “kafir” fatwas are worse than loaded guns. A cloud of imminent death looms large over the head of the accused, forever.
To think Pervaiz Rasheed is safe would be a grim mistake; Governor Salman Taseer was a victim too, because he dared to point a finger at the elephant in the room and he met a fate that awaits the rest of us.