Disgruntled over ASJA ban on Maulana Imran

THE EDITOR: The recent circular from the Executive of the ASJA banning Maulana Imran from preaching in the mosques is very high-handed and reprehensible. I hold no brief for Dr Imran however, I would like to register my disapproval publicly, because this document was distributed throughout the country. Muslims need to take a closer look at the Executive of this organisation, moreso, because they claim to have the most followers. ASJA is the voice of the Muslims as it were. Just as there are political grasshoppers, there are religious grasshoppers in the Executive.

People who were rejected from other organisations and were even vocal in their condemnation of the ASJA, have now joined forces to compromise the dignity of the Muslims, and the credibility of ASJA.  We keep hearing about the “Creed of ASJA”. Are these people trying to establish another scion in the religion? Muslims are supposed to obey the dictates of Almighty Allah instead of the creed of a bunch of people who have no claim of religious learning. These Creeds place emphasis on minor isolated practices instead of the obligatory acts. The claim that the utterances of Dr Imran against the USA will cause hardship on those Muslims seeking visas, is spurious. Muslims have been turned away in numbers since 9/11.

For those conversant with the Islamic Law, the mosques belong to Allah. No one has a right to prevent anyone from praying therein. Moreover, the Imam is the one who can decide who is to be allowed to give the sermon. It would be interesting to see what happens if an Imam were to permit Maulana Imran to preach the sermon in the mosque on Friday. The writer of the circular should realise that he would be powerless to stop such an action. Recently, Muslims were portrayed in a very distasteful way in the newspapers. Yet there was no reply from any of the Executive on these matters. It took a 17-year-old boy from Naparima College to correct the columnists.

The point that I am making is that when the voice of the Muslims is needed to correct the public’s perception of Islam, none is forthcoming. This is because when the scholars voice their opinions on matters affecting the Muslim community, they are sidelined or banned. In fact, this has happened with the three top scholars in the country, namely Maulanas Nasir, Waffie and Imran. It is high time that the Executive of ASJA does some introspection.

They treated a female Principal of the Girls’ College in a most distasteful manner yet another Principal is acting in a position in which he is not qualified. It is even alleged that in some of the colleges, there are teachers with only O levels. This reeks of nepotism and the Ministry of Education should look into these allegations. I am afraid that if the Muslims do not take corrective measures we would have another political party in this country instead of a religious body.

F ALI
San Fernando