Personal religion

Sir: A group of religious scholars met the other day in Lahore to discuss the terrorism Pakistan has been facing for years. All the scholars agreed that suicide bombings are illegitimate (haraam) and un-Islamic. One welcomes such a clear statement on suicide bombings. Other scholars also condemn these acts but attach strings of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, a way to condone the terrorism in the disguise of condemnation. Another major area that must be addressed is issuance of fatwas to declare others apostates and outside the circle of Islam. It is not enough to condemn one form of terrorism while ignoring its other evil shapes.
Recently, a group of religious scholars and muftis declared the federal information minister, Pervez Rashid, as being outside of the circle of Islam and condemned him as a non-believer. Why? Because he dared to speak the truth about seminaries in public. He has a valid point on centuries’ old syllabi being taught in seminaries, not based on religion but compiled on sectarian grounds. Let us force all the scholars, muftis and sheikhs of all the schools of thoughts to condemn every form of terrorism, including death fatwas for opponents. We have already lost many noble faces such as Salmaan Taseer and Rashid Rehman. I would not like to add more names to that tragic list.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail
Saudi Arabia