My words about Minorities Sufferings in Pakista . Values of tolerance Franz Rosenthal, an eminent and prolific German scholar, writes about Islam in his book ‘Political thought in Medieval Islam’ in which he says “Islam was able to accommodate all these strangers and make them feel at home. It made no demands on anyone to convert. Refusal to accept Islam was not punished by death and they were granted protection.” Above are the words of a Jewish scholar about Islam, a religion which espouses values of, tolerance, mutuality, universal brotherhood and peaceful co-existence ordaining its followers to be the source of peace for people around them. The social system of an Islamic state offers protection to non Muslims. They have been termed as Dhimis ‘protected people’. They are so-called as soon as they submit to Islamic rule; it becomes the duty of the Islamic State to protect their life, property and most importantly religious freedom. The holy Quran also puts an extraordinary value on human life; it is made quite clear when it tells that “killing an innocent human is like killing whole mankind”. That human can be a Muslim, a Hindu, a Jewish or a Christian. The blood of non-Muslims in an Islamic state is as sacred as is of Muslims. Unfortunately, the condition of religious minorities in Pakistan is deplorable. Violence and harassment of religious and ethnic minorities has continued and little effort has been made to bring the perpetrators to justice. Till day, provision of rights that have been ensured in an Islamic state, appears a distant dream. Let it be incident of suicide bombing at a church in Peshawar, mishandling of blasphemy case as done in Rimshah Masih case, the burning of Christian’ homes in Lahore, attack on churches in Karachi, demolishing of Baba Karam Singh temple and many more. These all speak at length about the vulnerability of minorities to discrimination, social insecurity and massacre in Pakistan. The world of today is a global village. Communicational channels are many and do not take much time to report such incidents, around the world. It not only tarnishes the image of Pakistan but also defame Islam. It also puts life of Muslims under threat in non-Muslim countries. Is this the service Islam needs and asks for from its followers? AHMAD ZIA TULLA, Sargodha, September 24.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:39:51 +0000
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