Friday, June 12, 2009

Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, Pakistani Imam: Denounced Suicide Attacks, Killed

The first three paragraphs of a CNN article tell most of the story:
"A moderate Muslim cleric who denounced suicide attacks as forbidden by Islam was killed Friday in a suicide attack on his mosque in Lahore, authorities said.

"Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi was the first imam in Pakistan to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, against suicide attacks in Pakistan.

"On Friday, a suicide bomber approached Naeemi as he left the Jamia Naimia Mosque and religious school. The bomber detonated his explosives, killing Naeemi and four others, police said. Another 10 people were wounded in the attack...." (CNN)
I am grateful to Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, for the having the courage to issue that fatwa. I don't know how much effect it will have, particularly now that he's dead.

But, at the least, I think this shows that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are not necessarily typical of Islam, any more that Timothy McVeigh was typical of Americans, or the KKK of the sixties was typical of Christianity.

Every group has its crazies. And, perhaps what happened to Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi gives some insight into why imams tend to keep a low profile, if they aren't the sort who preach hate against 'those people over there.'

I hope that the wisdom and courage of Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi spreads.

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.