Article Launched: 09/18/2008 06:09:16 PM PDT

Click Here for Original Article

Islam is a religion of peace and promotes mutual love and understanding among all people and teaches its adherents to live in peace and obey the law of the land. So it saddens me immensely when I see some self-appointed religious leaders from among the Muslims tarnish the beautiful face of Islam and make it into something akin to terrorism.
On Sept. 7, I and all the members of Baitul Hameed Mosque were shocked to see in this day and age a program being broadcast in which the host and guests were advocating murder of peace-loving and law-abiding citizens for the simple crime of having a different understanding of some aspects of Islam from the one that these people had! The program was "Aalim Online" on the GEO Television Channel, which broadcasts in a number of different countries including Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The broadcast in question was presented by Aamir Liaquat Hussain. This program sought to commemorate the 34th anniversary of members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community being declared non-Muslim in Pakistan. The program, which included both a panel discussion and telephone conference, was both extremely inflammatory in tone and highly provocative.

During the broadcast the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be upon him) was spoken of in the most vile and grotesque language. The language used offended the sentiments not only of all Ahmadi Muslims but indeed those of all peaceful and tolerant peoples.

Further, during the broadcast members of the discussion panel, when speaking in reference to the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and its founder, spoke of how people who held such beliefs were "Wajb-ul-Qatl," that is "liable to death." This phrase was used repeatedly and at no point did the moderator interject to stop such obscene and inflammatory language. In this respect the broadcaster completely failed in its duty to exercise a proper degree of responsibility with respect to the content of its broadcast. As mentioned earlier the program was broadcast in Pakistan amongst other countries. There is no doubt that the language and tone of the program served only to further inflame the anti-Ahmadiyya sentiment which has been perpetrated by the extreme clerics (Maulvis) over many decades in the country.

The program was broadcast on Sept. 7. On Sept. 8 Dr. Abdul Mannan Siddiqi, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Mirpurkhaas, Sindh, was murdered while working in the local hospital. The very next day on Sept. 9, Seth Muhammad Yousuf, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Nawab Shah, Sindh, was also murdered. Both of these victims were killed simply due to their membership in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Both murders took place in broad daylight and were clearly the result of this program's incitement. Such incidents have been taking place in Pakistan for quite some time. One underlying cause of all this is of course the constitutional amendment that declares Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and the ordinance that was promulgated by General Zia which makes the daily life of every Ahmadi in Pakistan a criminal act liable to punishment and fines.

A second factor that further aggravates these circumstances is the irresponsible behavior of journalists and newspapers. Never does a day pass by but when some journalist or newspaper or radio or TV station decides to openly and in most inflammatory manner incite the people to commit acts of terrorism against the peace-loving and law-abiding members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan.

Indeed the enemies of Ahmadiyyat regularly espouse people to earn paradise by attacking the Ahmadis in the most barbaric fashion. This open inciting to terror goes on and neither the government nor the responsible people in the society take any note of it and do nothing to suppress such peace-destroying activities and no one is ever brought before the authorities and punished for spreading such utter hatred and espousing such terror. The truth is that no matter how strongly we condemn these latest murders we cannot condemn these activities enough. The government of Pakistan needs to wake up to its responsibilities and needs to act forcefully to put things right and bring the culprits of such heinous crimes to justice. It also needs to act against all those in the media who go on promoting such hatred and continue to incite the masses into such acts of violence and terror. If they fail to do this Islam will continue daily to be seen more and more as a religion of terror rather than the religion of peace and tolerance that it is. Seeing this face of Islam, who in his or her right mind would want to enter its fold?

Dr. Siddiqi had received training in the United States, after which he returned to serve the community where he was born in Pakistan. Upon learning of his murder, Dr. Phillip Panzarella of the Franklin Square Care Centre issued the following statement:

"Dr. Siddiqi exemplified the highest ideals of the physician through his dedication, selflessness, compassion and humility and serves as a role model for all of us who care for patients and communities to follow. We extend the deepest sympathy and condolences to Dr. Siddiqi's family, friends, colleagues and community. May he rest in peace."

Imam Shamshad A. Nasir is imam of the Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino.