Unanimous decree against terrorism in the name of religion

The prominent Muslim scholars belonging to the different school of thoughts and sects unanimously announced the decree against the terrorism in the name of religion. The 31 prominent Muslim scholars made it clear that jihad is the purview of the state and no individual or group wage jihad. They unanimously condemned the terrorism and extremism. The decree make it clear that nobody has a right to force or compel others to follow Islamic laws.

It is undoubtedly a welcome move on the part of the Muslim scholars to remind everybody in the religious language that Islam does not allow its followers to use violence to impose their agenda. It is not the first time that such decree to denounce suicide bombings and terrorism been issued. Many prominent scholars and Ulemas sacrificed their lives to challenge the narrative of the extremist and violent forces. Mufti Sarfraz Naeemi was martyred for issuing such a decree against Taliban. Maulana Hassan jan was also martyred for the same reason. Recently, senior leader of JUI-F and deputy chairman Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafooor Haidri was narrowly escaped a suicide attack which killed 28 people in Baluchistan. Many other religious leaders also been targeted for opposing the extremist ideology and terrorism.

The only religious leader who opposed this decree is the chief of JUI-S Maulana Samiul Haq, known as father of Taliban. Many senior Taliban leaders studied in his religious seminari Akora Khatak in KPK province. Maulana Samiul Haq also heads the Defai Pakistan Council, an alliance of several hard line religious groups and small right wing parties. He is a staunch supporter of extremist forces. But still the provincial government of Imran Khan led PTI allocated millions of rupees to his religious school.

He consider the Muslim rulers as puppets of the West. So he afraid that they will never declare Jihad against the West. This is the same narrative used by the extremist forces and right wing pro militant groups and organisations. This narrative needs to be challenged to end the violence not only in Pakistan but in the region.

This decree is encouraging sign and will help to spread the alternative narrative against violent extremist forces. The military is fighting against the violent extremist forces to destroy them. But the real battle is the battle of ideas. This battle must be fought by writers, intellectuals, scholars and peace loving religious leaders. The Pakistani military is doing its job to defeat them militarily but the battle of ideas must also be fought and won.