ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Religious Affairs and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi on Saturday said almost everybody has suffered due to sectarianism and religious intolerance and it is time all concerned, including ulema, spoke against the menace.

“As a student, I was part of this sectarian fire but we all saw that in the 1980s there was hardly any house in Punjab that did not suffer due to it,” he said, addressing the closing ceremony of the fourth Paigham-i-Pakistan trainers’ workshop for religious leaders and faculty members at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI).

He said everybody had learned from the past and it was time to heal the wounds by implementing the core spirit of Paigham-i-Pakistan’s narrative.

“This is a message learned from the last 40 years and a summary to bring peace in Pakistan,” he said.

Says religious leadership should also play role against misuse of social media

“How many houses have been burnt due to sectarian and religious violence in the country and how many children have been orphaned due to this fire. I wish someone writes on it too.”

The prime minister’s aide also criticised religious circles saying that it was unfortunate that those who mattered were not used to hearing and speaking the truth.

“The fact is that we do not do what we say, neither do we say these words outside in the open,” he added.

He referred to the recent suicide attack on a mosque in Peshawar and said: “We encourage our children to come to mosques and pray but I cannot forget the innocent faces lying in hospital.”

He said talking about peace and coherence is not easy because the rhetoric of hatred is attractive but it only leads to sorrow and destruction in society.”

Hafiz Ashrafi said it was the primary responsibility of religious leaders to highlight the aspects of Islam which would strengthen the society.

The religious leadership has also to play a role on issues related to the misuse of social media in religious sittings and Friday sermons. “I am not talking about freedom of expression or freedom of speech but fanning divide, issuing fake decrees and false accusations have to be stopped.”

He said ulema of different religious schools of thought had unanimously agreed over the decree that women should be given the right to education and due share in inheritance. He said one very serious flaw in the society was the wrong interpretation of the rights granted to women in Islam.

“But the general wrong impression is to treat girls and women as sub-human and some ignorant people credit this evil tradition to Islam,” he added.

“As the same time, why do people claim that issues faced the world including climate change, environment pollution etc., were a western agenda,” Hafiz Ashrafi said, adding at present there are environmental problems and water scarcity is a serious problem.

“We have heard from senior clerics that planting a tree is a blessing, so how is it a western agenda.”

Amidst this challenging scenario, it is the responsibility of all scholars to inform the people about the contemporary issues from the religious platforms.

Notable religious leaders, including Dr Ziaul Haq, Dr Masoom Yaseenzai, Mufti Mohammad Noman and Mufti Zubair Ashraf, were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2022