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Gujurati Muslims Destroy Television
Sets Calling It "Epicenter Of Evil"
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - Muslims in the Teendarvaza area of Bhuj district in Gujurat, the epicenter of the recent earthquake, have burned around 24 television sets heeding the call of their ulama, reports the Indian Express.
Maulana Imtiyaz and Mufti Raouf, while speaking at the Khajori Vali masjid, asked the people to refrain from "all immoral activities if they wanted the quakes to stop."
Cloth merchant Altaf Mohammad Hussain Mansoori, a participant in the prayer meeting, said that the ulamas urged the people to "immediately destroy these toys of Shaitan [the devil]."
Mansoori, who destroyed his brand new TV immediately after returning home, said, "Everybody is scared after the devastation of January 26th. The Almighty showed a glimpse of his wrath. We saw tall high-rises and concrete buildings crumble like a house of cards. Who wants it to recur? It is better to have no television and live."
In Surat and Ahmedabad on Saturday, many Muslim households destroyed their televisions as well.
Surat's Maulana Khalil Ahmed Randeri, while addressing a religious meeting said, "This [the earthquake] clearly indicates Allah's anger on humankind. Television is the epicenter of all evil."
Soon after Maulana Randeri's speech, scores of Muslims in Chowk Bazaar, Saudagarwad, Rander and Patni Colony areas destroyed their TVs by throwing them on the street and smashing them, with some setting them aflame.
"I went home and broke my TV set. My children used to watch Hindi movies and serials, and I think this was creating an evil impression in their minds. It was necessary to destroy the TV," said Gaffar Noormohammed Chandiwala, after destroying his TV, which he had bought just a few days before the earthquake struck.
Maulana Randeri told the newspaper, "They have not acted on my instruction; they have only acted according to what Islam teaches. And this will happen across the country, and abroad."
There has been a surge in the number of people attending mosques and temples in Gujurat after the quake.
People are spending more praying and reading of the Qur'an.
Maulana Nurmohammad Yusuf, commenting on the recent trend among the Bhuj Muslims spending several hours reciting Qur'an loudly said, "It is the only way to recover from such a tragedy. We accept it as God's will. We believe that it had to happen and the only way to get out of this shock is to seek God's help only."
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