"It makes our blood boil that these people are calling themselves Muslim and saying that they did these things because of the offensive comments made about Prophet Muhammad, but these actions are not that of the Islamic teachings."
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| Iman Shamshad A Nasir (Photo: Will Lester/The Daily Bulletin) |
Source/Credit: The Daily Bulletin
By Canan Tasci | March 19, 2013
CHINO - Local Muslim leaders have condemned the recent burning of 170 Christian homes by a mob of angry Muslims after offensive comments were made about Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Police have arrested around 150 people accused of burning the houses in the Christian neighborhood Lahore, in eastern Pakistan, last weekend.
Those who rioted are being investigated for alleged arson, robbery, theft and terrorism, police officer Abdur Rehman said.
"These acts are not the Islamic picture we want to paint to the rest of the world," said Imam Shamshad Nasir, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino.
"It makes our blood boil that these people are calling themselves Muslim and saying that they did these things because of the offensive comments made about Prophet Muhammad, but these actions are not that of the Islamic teachings. "
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) emphatically declared that an aggressive "jihad by the sword" has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual "jihad of the pen" to defend Islam, according to its mission.
Muslim officials say they emulate the Prophet Muhammed's message, which is peace and blessing, and those who react in violence are either emotionally or politically motivated.
The incident began March 8 after a Muslim accused a Christian man of blasphemy - an offense that in Pakistan is punished by life in prison or death. On March 9 a mob of angry Muslims rampaged through the Christian neighborhood, burning the homes.
Christians rallied against the destruction the following day.
The Christian demonstrators blocked a main highway in Lahore and police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters who demanded assistance from the government.
The Christian man is in police custody pending an investigation into the allegations.
Akram Gill, a local bishop in the Lahore Christian community, said the incident had more to do with personal enmity between two men - one Christian and one Muslim - than blasphemy. He said the men got into a brawl after drinking late one night, and in the morning the Muslim man made up the blasphemy story as payback.
Government spokesman Pervaiz Rasheed promised the government would help them rebuild their houses, but the Christians expressed dissatisfaction with the way the government was handling the incident.
"I have been robbed of all of my life's savings," Yousuf Masih said, standing close to his burned house.
He said the government's announcement that it would give 200,000 rupees ($2,000) compensation to each family was a joke.
Officials at Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, of Southern California agree the incident has to do with personal amenities than blaspyemy.
"It is tragic that these actions are being carried out to describe ulterior motives in the name of their interpretation of religion or interpretation of Islamic law," said Yasmin Nouh, communications coordinator with CAIR-greater Los Angeles area office.
Nouh said there is no place for violence against civilians in Islam, moreover it's against their religion an practices.
"We emulate the prophet Muhammad ... he experienced retaliation from his own people in his time and he responded with messages of forgiveness and peace and a verse in the Quran, 'Repel evil by the deed that is better.'
"There is this idea in Islam that when someone says something bad to you or offends you, like what happened here (in Lakhore), you respond with something better and react with dignity and respect out of respect in the spirit of how the Prophet Muhammad would act as well. "
Such accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan can prompt huge crowds to take the law into their own hands. Once an accusation is made it's difficult to get it reversed, partly because law enforcement officials and politicians do not want to be seen as being soft on blasphemers.
According to Human Rights Watch, there are at least 16 people on death row for blasphemy and another 20 are serving life sentences.
Last year, there was a rare reversal of a blasphemy case.
A teenage Christian girl with suspected mental disabilities was accused of burning pages of the Quran.
But she was later released after a huge domestic and international outcry about her treatment.
A local cleric where she lived was arrested and accused of planting the pages in her bag to incriminate her, a rare example of the accuser facing legal consequences. However, he was later freed on bail.
"Islam is the most tolerant region in the world, provided the people understand it correctly - the meaning of Islam peace, not violence," said Dr. Mohammad Hossain, founder of the Redlands Islamic Center.
"The best Muslim is who his hand and his mouth doesn't hurt anyone. Anybody can provoke anybody but as a Muslim they need to tolerate that and if not they should call upon other Muslims and have a meeting to discuss these issues. "
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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