Unarrested development: How is ISIS-supporting Abdul Aziz who issues bombing threats still roaming free?

I made a random status on Facebook a few days ago asking why Abdul Aziz was still free. In reply, I got some serious answers as to why it was so, actual concerns and even a few jokes with some referring to him as the original Burqa Avenger.

Then there were those who supported him. I have to admit, that came as a complete shock. I really did not think there were any supporters other than his students, the parents of the students, the lawyers, the… never mind.

The civilized ones questioned me on what basis should he be arrested. Fair enough. I will get to that later.

Then came his serious loyalists.

I was first labeled as one who does not follow religion properly. I was referred to as “Shia Shamila” who speaks up against esteemed Sunni scholars. (I had no idea that Abdul Aziz was a scholar let alone an esteemed one). Unless of course training kids to hate and how to become suicide bombers makes one a scholar in some people’s eyes.

Then, I was called a bigot… yes, the person who referred to me as a Shia to insult me, called me as a bigot.  I think he needs to add a new word to his dictionary – ‘irony’ and then watch it break several times.

He also said that it’s a shame the Pakistani media is full of Shia anchors and editors who have grudges against Sunni scholars.

So everyone who criticizes a terrorist is a Shia… even if he isn’t one in real life?

Moreover, it was assumed that since I want Abdul Aziz behind bars I must be living in the US. I am clueless as to how he came to that conclusion but I hear the FBI want to hire him for his detective skills after this.

I was also schooled on freedom of speech that since I advocate it, why should he, an esteemed scholar not be allowed? He does have a point.  A person who makes threats, teaches others that religion is nothing more than violent jihad, supports ISIS, etc should be allowed to speak freely… so that we know who to put behind bars. Oh wait…

Let’s start at the beginning, Abdul Aziz himself insinuated personal guilt in the operation against Lal Masjid back in 2007. Our Maulana chose to make a run for it, to save his own skin, leaving behind his students and everything else that he supposedly believed in, in a burqa.

I have no idea how his students even look at him without snickering after that. I wonder if they silently call him their Burqa Mullah.

Going back to 2007 again, Al Qaeda supported Lal Masjid.  They openly vowed revenge in a video, and celebrated the anniversary of the operation by killing 19 people in Islamabad via suicide bombing on July 6th, 2008. 15 of those killed were policemen. Why would a terrorist organization do this for a seminary/mosque?

As the Lal Masjid operation had been ongoing, discovery was made that it was giving shelter to wanted militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, as well as other terrorist groups. A place that should have been for worship was instead filled with grenades, bombs, murderers and automatic weapons.

Ayman al Zawahiri encouraged all to wage violent jihad to gain salvation as well.

However, this was then. Maybe over the years, Aziz changed over a new leaf.

Perhaps not.

Atleast we all agree that ISIS is the bad one right? No one likes them! They are nothing less than savages. But then in November 2014, the students of Jamia Hafsa pledged their allegiance to ISIS and actually invited them to Pakistan to take revenge for Operation Lal Masjid.

Here are some parts of the message:

We praise Allah, who granted us the Emir of the Believers, Mullah Muhammed Omar, and the Caliph of the Muslims, Sheik Abu Bakr Al-Huseini Al- Quraishi Al-Baghdadi.

This is a message from the students of Jamia Hafsa addressed first of all, to our brothers the mujahideen in the Islamic State and to all mujahideen in general: Oh brothers, you have protected our honor, and we pray for you every night here in the land of Pakistan. Some people speak ill of you and contribute to the power of America and its allies. Do not be sad about this. On the contrary, revel in this, because Allah has distinguished between the believers and the hypocrites.

Oh brothers, we implore you to 'strike them upon heir necks, and strike from them every fingertip."

You must avenge the death of Sheikh Osama Bin Laden and the others. Do not stop now. Take revenge for the students of JamiaHafsa and Laal Masjid.

Aziz nodded his approval and gave his support to this video.

Even the most callous and stonehearted person condemned the attack on the Army Public School on Dec 16th, 2014. Guess who refused to condemn it and instead threatened the protests with violence instead?

Yes, our esteemed scholar.

An FIR was lodged but he was set free after he made further threats. To this day, excuses are being made such that the warrant against him can’t be executed.

 

Everytime someone would speak up, Abdul Aziz would refer to the group of people as Shias against him, or Ahmadis; hoping to bring in sectarianism in the mix to somehow divert the attention from himself. At least now we know where his supporters on social media get it from.

Don’t have a valid argument and anything intelligent to say? Call the other person a Shia or Ahmadi and/or a non-Muslim.

The same happened to Jibran Nasir, one of the main voices of reason in this case. In 2014, after organizing a protest, he received threats on the phone from an ‘Ehsanullah Ehsan’ from Tehreek-e-Taliban to end the protests, or be ready for the consequences. He was then falsely accused of being a non-Muslim and an Ahmadi (but of course) as a result, so that people would not take his words seriously and instead persecute him instead.

If these cheap tactics aren’t enough to denote that Abdul Aziz is no scholar, I don’t know what is.

A mosque should be the place where people should go to pray, gain inner peace, learn about tolerance, harmony and how everyone stands equal as one. But instead, thanks to Mullah Burqa and many others like him, people learn hate and violence instead and eventually start to think that that is the norm. If one supports ISIS, that person has nothing to offer but barbarism and cruelty and one day that savagery will reach your doorstep in one way or another.

We have to learn how to un-hate everyone and everything again and to do that, we have to start with the people who preach it; those who teach violence is the answer to everything, those who take shelter in terrorism to further their own power, those who rely on threats and weapons rather than self reflection.

Such people need to be put behind bars where they can no longer brainwash and rot the minds of our people by filling it with murder and hatred. They are nothing but a curse in our society who want to keep it from moving forward.

A man of God would not resort to or use violence. A man who speaks of peace and practices it too would not support terrorists like ISIS or make threats either.

At the end of the day, people like Abdul Aziz think of no one but themselves and use religion to further their own agenda. God, peace, prayer, none of it means anything to them.  It is power over all.

The complete evidence file against Maulana Abdul Aziz as compiled by Jibran Nasir.