VOA | Pakistan Cleric Offers Reward for Killing Christian Woman | Asia | English

Remember this man's face, the face of a mushrik surrounded by bodyguards. Who does he need protecting from? Hey Yousef, the bodyguards will not protect you from Allah (swt)

A Pakistani cleric says if the government does not hang a Christian mother of five convicted last month of blasphemy against Islam, then his mosque will offer a reward of $6,000 to anyone who kills her. Yousef Qureshi issued the call Friday.

via VOA | Pakistan Cleric Offers Reward for Killing Christian Woman | Asia | English.

This man is a disgrace to Islam. He has no right to make such a claim and in doing so he becomes just another common criminal who is inciting people to murder. Look at his face carefully and remember it. If anything does happen to Asia Bibi then he should be arrested.

I am really getting tired of these fake uluma who speak as if they have some kind of authority and in the end all they are doing is defaming the name of Islam and trying to promote themselves.  And look at the two men on either side of him, what are they? Bodyguards – this man is not a man of the people. The worst part of this is that other, less educated people will believe him to be what he is not and will follow him. He is playing on people’s emotions and lack of knowledge, perpetuating this kind of un-Islamic behavior.

As he spoke of this the real judiciary in Pakistan is considering pardoning and releasing her, this is the correct and Islamic way of doing things. Christians are ahl al kitab and are therefore protected as our brothers and sisters. Furthermore, from what I have read in other accounts there is much doubt as to the truthfulness of the witnesses against her. This so called cleric, Yousef Qureshi, has taken it upon himself to set himself up as judge and jury for this person probably without even hearing the evidence against her, or the witnesses for her, or any type of real judicial process. There can be no such way of doing things in Islam, In Islam there has to be witnesses and a real judge to make a determination of guilt. Even then there are degrees of application of punishment. What Yousef Qureshi is doing is un-Islamic and he is the worst kind of mushrik – he is worshiping his own self, his own ego and desire and his own brand of justice over Allah’s justice. For that I think he will be severely punished when he faces Allah (swt) on the final day.

The case of Asia Bibi seems clear cut to me. People in her village want something from her and since they cannot get it through the usual means they are resorting to character assassination and accusing her of this crime. From what I have ready she should be released and allowed to leave the area if that is what she wants.

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Sufis march against Taliban – Asia – Al Jazeera English

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Thousands protest in Lahore against what they describe as “Talibanisation” of Pakistan.

via Sufis march against Taliban – Asia – Al Jazeera English.

Soon there will be tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands, insha’allah. And for those of you who complain that Muslims do not protest against these tactics I ask you – how many western newspapers or networks are covering this? These kinds of protests are happening all over the Muslim world but receive little, if any coverage in the west.

And the role that the Pakistani government is playing in suppressing it – with the US trying to woo Pakistan into its own brand of fighting terrorism – which is not working very well – is it any wonder that Pakistan is doing that? Playing both sides against one another. At the same time they are protesting US drone strikes, they also undermine the very internal grass roots movements that could cut off the Taliban influences at the local levels. What a travesty.


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Annual Sufi Music Festival

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This looks like a wonderful festival in Mumbai, maybe I get to go there next year, insha’allah!

The pain of separation from the creator is the core of Sufi poetry and its music seeks to unite listeners with the divine. The National Centre for the Performing Arts, NCPA,India’s premiere art and culture institution, presented their annual three-day Sufi Music Festival called Sama’a: The Mystic Ecstasy from November 17.

via Annual Sufi Music Festival.


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Pakistan: Targeted by the Taliban, Sufi Muslims Fight Back – TIME

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Pakistani Muslims protest during a rally in Lahore on Oct. 25, 2010, after a bomb attack killed four people at the Baba Farid Sufi shrine in Pakpattan

Just as al-Qaeda’s tyrannical puritanism sparked a backlash among the very Sunnis they claimed to be defending in Iraq, so is Taliban violence against Pakistan’s Sufi community provoking its adherents to fight back.

via Pakistan: Targeted by the Taliban, Sufi Muslims Fight Back – TIME.


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Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Religious scholars call for implementation of Sufi teachings

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The following is a good article about re-invigorating the meaning and heart of these teachings and hopefully for the promotion of peace:

Religious scholars call for implementation of Sufi teachings

* Dr Sajid says certain groups using tombs for economic interests instead of promoting education, religious philosophy

Staff Report

LAHORE: Religious scholars on Saturday urged unity among Muslims and practical implementation of the teachings of Sufi saints to promote peace and root out the menace of terrorism from Pakistan, at a national discussion entitled ‘Role of Sufis in Curbing Terrorism’.

via Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Religious scholars call for implementation of Sufi teachings.


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