Houthi uprising: Yemen campaign has no sectarian undertones: al Ghamdi

Imam-e-Ka’aba says enemy wants to harm two Holy Mosques

LAHORE:

Imam-e-Ka’aba Sheikh Khalid bin Ali al Ghamdi has warned that the enemy wants to harm Harmain al Sharifain (two Holy Mosques) in Makkah and Medina and that the Saudi king, Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, is championing the cause of Muslim Ummah.

Speaking exclusively to Ahmed Qureshi in Express News show ‘@Q’, al Ghamdi also said that the Saudi-led campaign to quell the insurrection of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had nothing to do with sectarianism.

He said the bond between the Saudi government and its people was based on extreme love and they have an ideal relationship. “May God sustain and enhance it,” he said.

He described the Pakistani parliament resolution against jumping into the Yemen fray as an internal matter of the country and said Riyadh on the Yemeni government request has tried to establish unity among the Arabs as well as Muslims. “Yemen needs stability and we want nothing else,” he added.

Al Ghamdi said the Yemen conflict was not sectarian in nature. “The Muslims who are stoking sectarianism in that country are doing no service to Islam,” he said.



He said the biggest problem of the Muslim world was sectarianism, which, according to him, has emerged due to “our distance from the Holy Quran.”

“The Ummah can bury these differences and all the sects  can unite. The sects have more commonalities than differences. Our origin is the same, our Kabaa is the same, our Prophet (pbuh) is the same and our Book is the same. We should, therefore, try to unite on this basis,” he said.

Talking with reference to the blasphemous caricatures published in various Western publications, al Ghamdi said most of the people in the West have also rejected the extremists in their societies. “It is not the right time to give a violent response to these caricatures. Muslims need to answer these keeping in view the demands of the age,” he added.

The Imam-e-Ka’aba specifically mentioned the warm relations between the people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. “The warm welcome [I received in Pakistan] is ingratiating but not surprising keeping in view the strong relation of the people with the Holy Mosques,” he said.

He also prayed for the people of Indian-held Kashmir and said they have been oppressed and a voice must be raised against this oppression.

Imam-e-Ka’aba leads Friday prayers

In his sermon at Pakistan’s biggest mosque at Bahria Town in Lahore, Imam-e-Ka’aba said Islam is a religion of peace and Muslims should respect other religions.

“Islam is a clear and open religion which teaches peace. Enemies [of Islam] are spreading vicious propaganda against Islam and try to portray it as a violent and narrow-minded religion. However, Islam does not allow extremism or terrorism,” he told a huge congregation of worshippers on Friday.

The Imam-e-Ka’aba said Allah Almighty directs us to forgive each other. Muslims should respect other sects and religions. “Muslims should remain united under the teachings of Islam and must stay away from sectarian divisions,” he said.

There is no compulsion in Islam, and no one can be forced to embrace Islam. Islam directs us to be patient, and forbids hatred and jealousy. An Islamic government must treat non-Muslims well and Islamic scholars should struggle for dispensation of justice, he said.

The Imam-e-Ka’aba, who arrived on a week-long visit to Pakistan on Thursday, will stay in Pakistan for about a week.  He will stay in Lahore for four days and then will leave for Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2015.