India: Moderate Muslims to raise their voice

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

18 Sep 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

India: Moderate Muslims to raise their voice

By A. M. Jigeesh in New Delhi WITH the number of terrorist attacks on the rise, the Sufi and Syed sects within Islam are planning nationwide religious and cultural programmes to "traditionalise" Muslims. As part of this initiative, one of the world's largest Muslim prayer conferences on Lailat- ul- qadr in the month of Ramadan ( the 27th night in Ramadan, considered to be the holiest) will be aimed at resolving and taking a pledge against terrorism. A call will also be made for preserving the traditional values of Islam. About eight lakh believers are supposed to attend the Ma'din prayer conference, which is organised every year at Swalath Nagar in Malappuram district in Kerala. The prayer congregation is considered the third largest meet to be held in the month of Ramzan, after Mecca and Medina. " This is for the first time in 22 years that we are taking up a political issue like terrorism in the prayer meeting. We condemn the recent blasts in various parts of India. About eight lakh people will take oath against the ideologies of hate and terror," said Syed Ibrahimul Khaleelul Bukhari, the chairman of the Ma'din Islamic Academy, which is organising the prayer meeting. The meeting, funded by the non- resident Keralites around the world, would also aim at "traditionalising" Islam. Taking a dig at the religion's Wahhabi and Maudoodi sects, Bukhari alleged that the ideological input of terrorism is from these two sects. The al- Qaeda and the Students Islamic Movement of India, for instance, follow an extreme version of Wahhabism as their ideology. Bukhari is currently in the Capital to promote the prayer meeting. " The common believers in the country followed Sufiism. They worshipped Sufi saints, Syeds and went to Darghas. There is an attempt to break this culture and bring uniformity," Bukhari said, revealing the confusion within the community on the issue of tackling terrorism. "This, we believe, is paving the way for terrorism and is giving an extremist image to the entire religion. We would make a call to traditionalise the religion and bring back its old ethos which deals extensively with peace and unity," Bukhari said. am.jigeesh@mailtoday.in Source: www.mailtoday.in