 |
Leaders from 50 Muslim groups and organizations have decided that the attackers' bodies should not be buried in Mumbai Muslim cemeteries. (Reuters) |
MUMBAI — Muslim leaders in Mumbai oppose the burial of those who carried out last week's bloody rampage in their cemeteries, insisting their actions violated the tents of Islam.
"Such demons -- they will not find an inch of land in any Muslim cemetery," Maulana Sayed Moinuddin Ahsraf, secretary of the All-India Sunni Jamiat-Ulema, told Reuters on Wednesday, December 3.
Leaders from 50 Muslim groups and organizations in the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, have decided that the attackers' bodies should not be buried in Muslim cemeteries.
"We have even written to the government conveying our decision. Our Muslim brothers across the country are unanimous about it," Ahsraf said.
Indian commandoes killed nine or the 10 gunmen who attacked ten targets in Mumbai, Indian's financial nerve, killing 188 people and injuring more than 300 others.
The bodies of the attackers now lie in a morgue awaiting the last rites.
"Attacking innocent people is not justified under any pretext," eminent Muslim scholar and renowned Da`iyah `Abdel Khaliq Hasan Ash-Shareef told IslamOnline.net.
"Criminals who were involved in, or were behind, the recent Mumbai attacks that led to killing and wounding of hundreds of persons deserve severe legal punishments that could deter others from committing the same."
Yet, the eminent scholar criticized denying the dead burial.
"This is not accepted in any religion or system. We should not go into extreme when dealing with such issues."
In Islam, the dead body should be immediately taken to a mortuary for washing and preparation. Before the burial, a funeral prayer should be done.
The burial should be done as soon as possible. It is makruh (reprehensible) to delay the burial.
Anti-Islam Banners
The burial controversy came as banners put up across Mumbai infuriated its Muslims by linking their religion to terrorism and violence.
"Islam has nothing to do with terrorism," said Maulana Ashraf, also president of Mumbai's Jamia Qadriya Ashrafiya.
A number of political parties in the city have put up banners that describe last week's attacks as "Muslim terrorism".
"The banners club Islam with terrorism and can spark off communal clashes," warned Ashraf.
Thousands of Muslim scholars from across India denounced last month terrorism as a violation of Islamic teachings.
"In the name of condemning terrorism, some parties are blaming Islam. This will break our social fabric," cautioned Maulana Mansoor Ali Khan, the general secretary of the Jamiatul Ulema.
Within hours of the Mumbai attacks, Muslims raced to city hospitals, offering a helping hand to doctors and victims.
Muslim leaders in Mumbai, who have already pledged full cooperation with authorities, plan a peace rally to condemn violence and terrorism on December 5.
"We have always backed the Indian government's war against terrorism," said Khan.
"We are only opposed to the demonisation of Islam."
|
