Lal Masjid names library after Osama bin Laden
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ISLAMABAD: Jamia Hafsa, a religious school for women in the Pakistani capital Islamabad connected to the notorious Lal Masjid has renamed its library in honour of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The seminary is run by controversial hardline cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, the imam of the city's Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), once infamous as a hideout for hardliners with alleged militant links.
The mosque was the scene of a week-long military siege against radicals during former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s regime in 2007 which left more than 100 people dead and unleashed a wave of terrorist attacks across Pakistan.
Now the Jamia Hafsa seminary connected to it has named its small library, stocking Islamic texts, in honour of bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
“It is true that we have named the library after Osama bin Laden,” a source told AFP Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“He might be a terrorist for others but we do not consider him as a terrorist. For us he was a hero of Islam.”
A small printed sign stuck over the library door gives bin Laden's name and refers to him as a “martyr.”
Bin Laden was killed in a US special forces raid in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in 2011 and for some radicals in the country he is a heroic figure.
On the first anniversary of his death, hundreds of people took to the streets to pay tribute to him.
The Red Mosque raid was one of the triggers for the Pakistani Taliban's bloody insurgency, which has claimed more than 6,800 lives in the past seven years, according to an AFP tally.
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On DawnNews
Comments (65) Closed
Apr 17, 2014 08:31pm
Musharraf's broke the back of the Lal Masjid. That was Musharraf's singularly sterling performance as Pakistan patriot in defense of his country.
Pakistan must thank him for that service with a Nishan-e Imtiaz.
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Apr 17, 2014 08:31pm
WTF, the authorities should intervene.
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Apr 17, 2014 08:34pm
All those terrorists that kill innocent people are their hero. They are spreading hatred among people in the heart of Pakistan (Islamabad). Gen. Musharaf is a brave man that took action against them. The government should Shut down Red Mosque before they become strong that one day they raise their voice against Pakistan.
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Apr 17, 2014 08:41pm
This is a place begging for a bomb
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Apr 17, 2014 08:42pm
What else would you expect? A Library financed by the Saudis.
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Apr 17, 2014 08:44pm
@NASAH (USA): They are trying to thank him with a rope tied around his neck... are you not sure how he is being tried in pakistan...
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Apr 17, 2014 08:44pm
Why not name it 'On the condition of anonymity' Library! :P
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Apr 17, 2014 08:48pm
If nothing else, Musharraf should be tried for the double game he played with Lal Masjid clerics and America. His govt. with the help and likes of Sheikh Rashid and others, for days, monitored to the extent that it became apparent that Mullahs were being encouraged to keep piling arms in Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. If Musharraf and his Govt. was sincere they should have nip the evil in the bud. And it should have been done when same Mullahs were challenging govt
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Apr 17, 2014 08:49pm
@NASAH (USA):
He is the most patriotic person in recent times. But alas, patriotism is a crime in PAKISTAN.
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Apr 17, 2014 08:59pm
It was obviously a mistake to release this guy, he will continue to spread sectarian hatred, as these types know nothing else. We are going to have to rearrest him at some point, and this time he should be put to death. The treasonous ideology he promotes is not compatible with citizenship of Pakistan. They have taken their citizenship and freedoms for granted for far too long.
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Apr 17, 2014 09:05pm
Lal Masjid should be shutdown! As it has less to with Islam and more with harboring militancy!
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Apr 17, 2014 09:09pm
What a shameful state we are in. Terrorists are roaming free and the only person who had the courage and the will to fight terrorists is facing many cooked up charges.
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Apr 17, 2014 09:15pm
Werent these the very people who claimed that he wasnt killed by US.....cause if he was not then how is he "martyr" ....! Hilarious.
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Apr 17, 2014 09:25pm
subanallah
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Apr 17, 2014 09:38pm
What is this? Why no one is taking a Suo-Moto notice of this act. Wake up Pakistanis!
If you cannot do this then tomorrow days will come where the Govt. may bestow "Nishan-e-Imitiaz" to this Maulana.
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Apr 17, 2014 09:51pm
it should be " BURQA LIBRARY OF ISLAMABAD ".
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Apr 17, 2014 10:03pm
@Karachi Wala:
Please do not sound that you know all, all the time.
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Apr 17, 2014 10:10pm
Naming a library after a known terrorist and mass murderer of innocents?...founder of the largest terrorist group In the world responsible for the deaths of thousands...these people are twisted Muslims who give Islam a bad reputation...they are a cancer growing on the religion...
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Apr 17, 2014 10:18pm
Thousand differences with Musharraf but what he did to these Lal Masjid goons was ABSOLUTELY right!
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Apr 17, 2014 10:33pm
thats a world record!
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Apr 17, 2014 10:34pm
Anything named after Abdur Qadir Molla ?
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Apr 17, 2014 11:27pm
lal masjid financied by the saudis, has been a corridor for terriosim in pakistan
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Apr 17, 2014 11:40pm
One of Musharraf's five biggest mistakes was letting this rabid terrorist get away.
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Apr 17, 2014 11:41pm
Land was given to these 'fundos' by military dictator Zia ul Haq . The mosque & its adjoining buildings became a sanctuary for future terrorists. Alas, Musharraf did not finish them all,he should have closed the centre for good. Sins of Zia ul Haq are visited upon us. He was their patron -in -chief.
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Apr 17, 2014 11:46pm
Since Osama Bin Laden is sleeping with fish in deep sea, I guess this library will become a monument in his name. Wonder he left any book, any autobiography to enthrall these relics of 8th century.
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Apr 17, 2014 11:48pm
Lal Masjid administration needs another musharraf
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Apr 18, 2014 12:11am
Pakistanis, now enjoy this wonderful gift from the Shaeed Zia ul huq, now extolling the glory of Sheed OBL. All for the glory of Allah, paid for by the best friends of Pakistan called Saudis. Looks like a lot more of such Saudi blessing will shower upon you.
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Apr 18, 2014 12:26am
@Ali:
Why not the same Musharraf. :)
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Apr 18, 2014 12:28am
Lal Masjid overstepped it's boundaries when it's teacher Mullah Fazlullah a.k.a.Mullah Radio became TTP head and ordered terrorist attacks on civilians and Pak Army alike. Lal Masjid must be shut down and raised to the ground (This is coming from a pro-Islami person).
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Apr 18, 2014 12:31am
@Karachi Wala: Get your facts right Lal Masjid was gifted by Gen Zia with Saudi money and the munafiqeen started being encouraged in his time growing into a n Al Qaeda sleeper cell
Musharraf actually uprooted the evil after much patience. GEO and CJ Chaudhry supported the Mullah Burqa and his brother
The stupid nation duly gets what it deserves by this naming
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Apr 18, 2014 12:44am
Lal Masjid should be re-named, CAMP TTP!
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Apr 18, 2014 12:53am
@Naseer:
Dear Naseer, when Musharraf took over the Govt overwhelming majority of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP had warmly welcomed him thinking him to be an honest patriot and a true reformer. But he proved to be the worst dictator and devastator of the Nation and started his first cabinet from the world known top corrupt politicians of PPP and PML(N) etc many of whom were already facing court cases and legal indictments for their corruption. These corrupts defecting from their parents parties joined hands with Musharraf to save their skins. Not only this these corrupts already having looted the Nation for long, were given important Ministries of vital national importance. All the terrorism, extortions and sufferings of the Nation are byproducts of the darkest reign of Musharraf. If he would been an honest and true patriot he would rule with honest and truly patriotic people and been life long hero of the Nation.
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Apr 18, 2014 12:54am
Unbelievable, a library named after the biggest terrorist of all time, to breed and inspire more terrorists.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:00am
@NASAH (USA): On the contrary, Musharraf created the lal masjid episode and allowed these (government-paid) lal masjid molvis to intimidate the local population in order to disrupt the anti-musharraf lawyer's movement that had started. He ordered military action only after the molvis became too ambitious and kidnapped some chinese women - which led the Chinese premier to openly demand from Musharraf that not only these women be freed but the perpetrators punished as well.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:09am
LOL! He is clearly unable to get out of the mode.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:18am
Interesting !!!!
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Apr 18, 2014 01:41am
@farhan:
LOL
Burqa Library nazd Jabra Chowk.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:49am
Citizens of the area should not allow this to go on. After Musharraf, there is no one left to fight these bigots.
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Apr 18, 2014 02:12am
A Masjid of the terrorists aptly named after Osama Bin Laden.
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Apr 18, 2014 02:56am
Moulvi Abdul Aziz is the most dangerous man in Pakistan: he is spreading hate and glorifying the mass murderer OBL. In the last decade Al-Qaeda has killed so many innocent Pakistani's and Abdul Aziz want to honor their leader ?
I hope people in Islamabad will stop visiting the Lal Masjid, there are other mosques that can be visited instead. The government should take strong action against this.
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Apr 18, 2014 03:08am
@excalibur:
Couldn't agree more with you
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Apr 18, 2014 05:22am
Let me guess what type of intellectual books this library will contain: 1) Suicide bombing for dummies, 2) Woman's glory behind Burqa, 3) The ills of modern scientific education (unless used solely for causing destruction), 4) Sharia Law, the Taleban way or the highway, etc.
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Apr 18, 2014 06:20am
Rejects of the society are once again looking for attention.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:31pm
What else do we expect!!!!!
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Apr 18, 2014 04:18pm
How come a man responsible for killing hundreds and thousands of innocent people around the world can be a hero of Islam. Do the people who consider him a hero have any respect for human life?
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Apr 18, 2014 05:14pm
Democracy will continue to fail until we take a strong stance against those who incite hate and fuel terrorism. Lal Majid should be banned and not allowed to have a place of residence. They mullah should be charged with treason against the state of Pakistan for declaring their own independent state in Islamabad. Where are the courts?
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Apr 18, 2014 05:28pm
These guys use Lal Masjid openly for terrorism, however, Pakistani government is charging Gen. Musharraf for his efforts to finish terrorism. What a shame!
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Apr 18, 2014 08:27pm
@Shakeel Bodiwala:
USA, Israel are the biggest terrorists
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Apr 18, 2014 11:52pm
Are we Pakistanis so stupid that if someone calls a place masjid, irrespective of what happens inside, we will allow them to do whatever they want. They fought Pakistan Army from Lal Masjid. They accumulated arms and ammunition and we can't do anything because he calls it a mosque. We should have bombed the place many years ago. This guy Aziz ran away from so called jihad by wearing a burqa and we give this illiterate terrorist so much importance and free publicity?. Wake up Pakistanis.
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Apr 19, 2014 01:16am
im trying to find a book to learn how to make bombs can any on tell me which library i might find it from?
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Apr 19, 2014 01:24am
@Khalid:
Shades of Golden Temple under "sant" Bhindranwale? Arms were accumulated,terrorists hid out there and people who died were buried there!
Religion and organized terror have nothing in common except that one which arouses strong emotions is used to further heinous crimes!
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Apr 19, 2014 06:34am
I was thinking about planning a trip to Pakistan, but I couldn't find a time machine.
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Apr 19, 2014 08:24am
Ironically, Bin Laden himself may never have read a book his whole life.
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Apr 19, 2014 09:39am
That's what this so called library deserve.Thanks God that they did not name after any famous Muslim personality.We really appreciate this.
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Apr 19, 2014 10:27am
These Madrassa are running without any regulations and teaching anti-state and anti-society material to raw brains. 99% terrorists were product of Madrassas. These institutions should be under department of education and there should be a tight control on the activities of the Madrassa. These institutions have become infesting ground of terror factories.
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Apr 19, 2014 01:36pm
Government should get hold on affair of 'Red mosque otherwise these criminals will resurface again
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Apr 19, 2014 01:49pm
Are there no other heroes in Islam?
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Apr 19, 2014 02:47pm
The medressah should be demolished and the administrators put on trial
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Apr 19, 2014 04:13pm
This shows the attitude and way of thinking of a person or group who chose the name for a library. I wonder how and why OBL name was chosen over several Muslim scholars whose lives were spent on education and research.
If the library consists of collection of weapons, arms and ammunition on shelves then Maulana Abdul Aziz's decision stands correct.
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Apr 19, 2014 05:47pm
@Karachi Wala:
But nip he did -- so much so -- the shameless excuse of a maulana abdul aziz had to scurry out of the place wearing a burqa.
How dare he shows his face in public now.
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Apr 19, 2014 08:33pm
@Bin Adam:
Musharraf did not included PPP and PML(N) corrupt politicians in his first three years of government, which was the best era in the history of Pakistan but later on due to compulsions of Pakistani politics he had to make them partner in the government but he kept a strict check on them therefore no major scam surfaced during his tenure but later on the same politicians ditched him and again joined PML(N) and PPP through so-called democracy to satisfy their thirst for money and power Please correct the record. If you are true in your assertions then stand up for the only Patriotic leader in Pakistan and that is only Musharraf
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Apr 19, 2014 08:37pm
What a choice no other name could have been selected better then this for a mosque and seminary that is spreading hatred and terrorism
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Apr 19, 2014 09:00pm
@allah@allah.com:
Mashallah!
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Apr 19, 2014 11:39pm
This news item could have been easily ignored. Why so much attention? Now the whole world knows about this and they got good free publicity.
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Apr 20, 2014 12:28am
This incident has proved that Musharraf was very much justified in his actions against the LAL MOSQUE.
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