A Cult, Not Islam
By Anila Ali
Irvine , CA
As drones continue to hammer targets in northern areas of Pakistan, the Pakistani government fails to provide security to its citizens. Two suicide bombers went into a shrine in the heart of the city of Karachi and blew themselves up along scores of innocent visitors to the shrine of one of the most tolerant and peace-loving saints of Islam, Abdullah Shah Ghazi. Perched atop a steep hill overlooking the Arabian Sea, the shrine is a tourist attraction where thousands of poor from Sindh and beyond congregate on Thursdays and Fridays for free food.
My mother’s dieing wish was to be buried in the premises of the shrine; and miraculously she was granted her wish to be buried at the saint’s shrine. I couldn’t bear the thought of her grave being desecrated. So when I heard of the bombing, I called my father who lives a block from the Shrine, and after a long and painful wait, I was able to talk to him.
“We went to see if your mother’s grave was harmed but we ended up seeing two decapitated heads of the suicide bombers.” My pain subsided as I overcame my grief and sickness.
I thought of the scores of people that had died for no reason and it made my pain feel rather insignificant. Due to the dastardly actions of the most heinous, murderous cult in the world, Muslims are suffering. It must be understood that Islam prohibits suicides. It is a disservice to my religion, Islam, to say that these people are Muslims. They are not Muslims; they follow a cult, a completely insane faction that only believes in violence and hate. I urge all Muslim leaders to come forth and openly declare that the perpetrators of such crimes against humanity and Islam are followers of a monstrous cult, not Islam. Only then will they be truly stepping up to their plate as leaders and role models of the Muslim world.
Why don’t they unite and condemn suicide bombings in a show of unity?
The Wahabism (extremist doctrine) is against moderate Islam. Saints, who taught love, peace, tolerance and co-existence, had followers from across the faiths and no faiths. The Wahahbis consider them to be enemies of Islam and have closed many Sufi shrines in the north of Pakistan. They claim an intercession or asking someone other than God for something is shirk. That is how they justify suicide bombings at shrines. Thus, the truth is that the real enemy of moderate Islam is within itsel f- it is this extremist group that considers everyone else to be inferior Muslims and wants to dictate their dogma wherever they can.
Saudi Arabians, who follow Wahabism, continue to live in peace and security whereas the Muslims in Pakistan live in complete fear, even at their places of worship. In fact, the most dangerous place to be for any Muslim in Pakistan is a mosque. This is a travesty to Islam. Saudi Arabia has exported its terrorists to Pakistan and Afghanistan and these criminals brainwash the poor in the north and make them blow themselves up for a few thousand dollars. As our administration continues to search for Aiman Al Zawahiry and Osama Bin Laden, the cult forges ahead with its plan to completely annihilate moderate Islam.
Can we afford to stand by and watch? This is a question every Muslim needs to answer.
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