Sunnis offered Namaz at a Shia Mosque

Sunnis offered Namaz at a Shia Mosque

While Browsing the net I came across a piece of news in Times of India which caught my attention, It says " Setting a new tradition in Lucknow which has a long history of Shia-Sunni riots, a handful of Muslims belonging to the Sunni sect offered namaz at a Shia mosque here this Friday.

The proposal, considered as a move to end the decades long animosity between the two sects that had clashed several times, especially during the month of Moharrum over taking out of processions and their routes, had come from noted Shia cleric, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, who is also the vice president of the Muslim Personal Law Board.

Sadiq had proposed to offer the Eid namaz led by the Naib Imam of Idgah on Eid which is still some months away but this Friday, Padamshri Haji Kalimullah of Malihabad led a delegation of about 20 to the historical Asifi mosque to offer namaz. The namaziz were led by, Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, who welcomed the move by the Sunnis of Malihabad. In reciprocation, Shias would offer namaz next Friday at a Sunni mosque in Malihabad, he said. Terming the move as a new beginning, Jawwad said a message of unity would go from here and prove a dampener on the designs of some vested interests bent upon creating rift within the community. A Sunni scholar who also offered prayers at the Asifi mosque said when both sects offer namaz together at Kabaa why can they not do the same here" Times Of India

This step is certainly going to boost the efforts of those who are trying hard to bridge the gap between two sects, Lucknow has got a history of violence between these sects on many occasions and many innocent people lost their lives in such riots but I believe now the things are going to be bright, this is the second great step by the Muslim community in recent past to denounce violent activities , the first being the Fatwa from Darul Uloom Deoband to denounce the terrorists who are using Religion to justify their terrorist acts.

Lets hope and pray that this time these efforts are being held seriously by the members of both the sects and they will put an end to this conflict of 1400 years.