Contents
1. Action Required
2. Summary
3. Background
1. Action Required
Please share news about this ground-breaking effort by the UJN to unite all sects and parties in Pakistan. Spread news widely through social media. Further contact your local mosque and scholars and urge them to support this call to unity not just in Pakistan but worldwide.
2. Summary
Scholars and representatives of major Islamic sects in Pakistan were brought together by the UJN (Universal Justice Network) in Turkey to sign a historic declaration denouncing religious intolerance in the country. The accord is based on Charter 3:103, initiated by Islamic Human Rights Commission, which calls for Muslims to be united in accordance with the 103rd verse of the third chapter of the Holy Quran.
3. Background
Pakistani leaders representing all of the country’s major Islamic sects and tendencies brought together by the UJN (Universal Justice Network), agreed to sign a historic anti-sectarianism declaration denouncing sectarian violence in Pakistan especially in the month of Muharram.
The meeting was convened in the Turkish seaside resort of Bodrum and the signatories included Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza of the Sunni Ittehad Council, Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer of Jamiat Ahle Hadith and Allama Syed Niaz Hussain Shah of Hoza Ilmia Jamia Al Muntazar. Also party to the accord were Allama Mohammad Sadiq Qureshi (Minhaj ul Quran International), Maulana Syed Ali Murtaza Zaidi (Jamay Imamia), Liaqat Baloch, MP (Jamaat-e-Islami) and Muhammad Sarwat Ejaz Qadri (Pakistan Sunni Tahreek).
Read the declaration here.
The 11-point UJN Pakistan Unity Declaration commits the signatories and the UJN to sign statements in the upcoming Islamic month of Muharram denouncing the killing of fellow human beings on the basis of colour, creed, ethnicity or religion as haram. The statement also declares excommunication or takfir against fellow Muslims and abusing the Prophet Muhammad’s family and companions to be against the Shariah.
The accord also addresses the challenging problem of madrasas in Pakistan, believed to be a breeding ground of intolerance, recommending that syllabuses and curriculums address the need for respect, harmony and peace between all members of Pakistani society.
This vital agreement is based on Charter 3:103, initiated by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in 1997 and since adopted by scores of Muslim organisations, which calls for Muslims to be united in accordance with the 103rd verse of the third chapter of the Holy Quran. This empowering verse of the Quran (3:103) exhorts the believers to forego their differences and hold onto the Quran strongly as one united Ummah and to remember Allah’s humongous favour of how the Benevolent Lord united the hearts of the believers under one Prophet and one Message. The same Quran can and will unite the Ummah today only if we hold onto the Quran the way the Companions of the Prophet did.
4. Action Required
- Please share this information in your social circle through media, email, word of mouth etc.
- Contact your local mosque and scholars and request them to email or write in support of the aims of this declaration using the following phrase (please note that this point applies to campaigners anywhere in the world and not necessarily Pakistan)
I ———————– (name of scholar if applicable) of ——————————– (name, address and country of institution – we will not publish full address) fully support the Bodrum Declaration on Unity of the Ummah.
Send this to us via the contact page.
