Source/Credit: AMC Persecution Report
By Imran Jattala | October 13, 2011
The Daily Ausaf, Lahore reported last month that King Abdulla of Saudi Arabia addressed an international conference entitled "The Phenomenon of Takfir (branding opponents as infidels)... Reasons, Impact and Treatment" and made some important comments.
“Islam emphasizes tolerance and forbids calling others Kafir (infidels),” King Abdullah has reportedly said to the conference-goers. “Islam cannot be spread through extremism, prejudice, killing others, terrorism and acts of destruction, nor do these help in attaining high objects.”
“The Extremism has no religion and is sans frontier. We shall continue to chase the misguided elements,” King Abdullah further stated in his address to the conference.
The conference was organized by Assistant Minister of Interior Prince Muhammad bin Naif and his organization Prince Naif International Prize for Sunnah and Contemporary Islamic Studies to identify the causes of “the dangerous phenomenon of Takfir” and to find effective ways to deal with it.
In a statement on the occasion, Prince Naif claimed Saudi Arabia was the first country that “succeeded in combating extremist thoughts and ideologies.”
The claim may be overly exaggerated, many have expressed.
There have been widely reported allegations about Saudi hand in funding extremism throughout the world and rights groups have squarely pointed figure at the kingdom for some of the most oppressive human rights conditions.
Among the Muslim intellectuals, however, there has been a degree of awakening about the havoc the doctrine of ‘takfir’ (labeling others as infidels and/or apostates through decrees and edicts) has created for the Muslims the world over.
“One can always learn from the past,” writes Mr. Salimud Din, spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’t of Pakistan, a community most victimized by the ‘takfir’ doctrine.
But Mr. Salimud Din's apprehension about Saudi King's statement is visible in the Quranic verse cited in response: “O ye who believe! Why do you say what you do not do?” – [Al-Quran]
“There is credible evidence,” writes Salimud Din, “that in 1974, it was King Faisal of Saudi Arabia who induced Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, the prime minister of Pakistan at the time, to declare Ahmadis a non-Muslim (Kafir) minority.”
“Saudi authorities apparently did not become any wiser [for themselves] till 2007 when they arrested a large number of Ahmadis, including women and children, in Jeddah, maltreated them and extradited them only for their belief.”
“King Abdulla’s wise remarks are welcome,” said Salimud Din. “It is hoped that the authorities in Saudi Arabia will change their policy and implement in letter and spirit what the king has said.”
-- Ahmadiyya Muslim community welcomes Saudi King Abdulla's remarks on Takfir
-- By Imran Jattala
-- By Imran Jattala. Follow on Twitter: @IJattala
ahmadiatt is a true islam,for more search aboutt it,visit alislam.org
ReplyDelete