Religious wrangling: City admin takes over disputed mosque

Instead of enforcing court order, city admin takes easy way out.

ISLAMABAD: After failing to implement the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) orders, the Islamabad administration took control of a disputed mosque in F-11/4 on Sunday.

The mosque was sealed by police last month to avoid a possible clash between two groups claiming control of the mosque. The Islamic Centre Trust and the recently established mosque committee are at loggerheads over the ouster of prayer leader Abdul Razzaq, who was charged with embezzlement by the Islamic Centre Trust.

After the matter landed in the IHC, the court directed the Islamabad administration’s Auqaf Directorate to implement its verdict in favour of the party that proves its legal right to run the affairs of the Islamic Centre.

Auqaf Department Deputy Director Afsar Khan told The Express Tribune that the ‘new’ committee’s members did not appear before him within the two months stipulated by the high court, and he announced his decision in favour of the trust. “However, as there is a case pending before a civil court, I only asked the trust to run the affairs of the mosque till the final verdict.”

The decision to take the control of mosque was taken by Islamabad administration after the refusal of the other mosque committee to accept Auqaf department’s verdict, he said.

Dr Anis Ahmad, who got the trust registered, was elected chairperson of the mosque committee in 2000. He said the mosque is not for any specific sect and everyone, irrespective of sectarian beliefs, could offer prayers there.

He said that Abdul Razzaq breached the trust deed by accepting a direct donation of $1,400 and keeping the trust out of the loop.

Adding fuel to the fire, Local resident Ayoub Butt, 80, told The Express Tribune that the sacked prayer leader was also involved in anti-state activities, including hosting extremists at the mosque and delivering sermons in favour of extremist activities. “I tried to stop him from delivering controversial sermons many times,” he said, adding that he had no affiliation with any party in the case, “but the newly constituted committee is protecting a traitor, not a prayer leader.”

On the other hand, some local residents refused to accept the courts decision to let the Auqaf Department mediate and challenged its validity. On April 16, the dissidents constituted their own mosque committee, headed by Rana Muhammad Ilyas. Ilyas claimed that although Dr Ahmad was elected chairman of the mosque committee, he formed the trust illegally without taking the residents of the area into confidence.

Muhammed Rafique, one of Razzaq’s supporters, claimed that in May, the chairman of the trust announced that two portions of the Masjid Al Momineen be converted into marriage halls, however Ayoub Butt shot down Rafique’s argument and said that there was no such plan.

Dr Ahmad later clarified that the alleged “marriage hall” was actually one separate section where women could come to offer prayers, while pointing out that women had every right to offer prayers in mosques.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2011.