- Imam-i-Ka’aba says Gen Raheel not first Pakistani commander to fight for Muslim countries
The visit of Imam-i-Ka’aba Sheikh Saleh Bin Muhammad Ibrahim, the prayer leader of the grand mosque of Makkah, has made waves in across Pakistan.
Days before his arrival, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Hunardoost raised objection to the appointment of former army chief General Raheel Sharif as commander of the Islamic military alliance. Perhaps, the mission of the Imam was to remove misunderstandings about the alliance.
During his interactions with people from various segments of the society, the Imam time and again made an effort to remain candid but objective about the 40-states military alliance and the leadership role being accorded to General Raheel Sharif.
At another meeting with a group of politicians and journalists, Imam Salih was so clear in his tone and tenor that a senior journalist whispered in ear of a fellow colleague, “Looks like he is on a mission to pacify the lobby opposing Gen Raheel Sharif’s appointment as chief of Muslim NATO.”
Imam Salih said that it was a matter of pride for Pakistan that its former army chief, who had led a fight to flush out terrorists from Pakistani soil, was now going to lead the Islamic force. He said that Gen Raheel was not the first Pakistani army commander who was going to fight for safeguarding the Muslim countries as part of the alliance.
He also made it clear that Gen Raheel would not be answerable to any Saudi official and rather he would command the forces according to his vision and strategy. Responding provocative questions, the religious scholar shied away from targeting any specific country or the followers of a specific school of thought. Asked whether the alliance would target Iran, the Imam frankly told the participants that the alliance would only target terrorists and it was not against any Muslim state.
He said that despite the fact that the relations of Saudi Arabia had turned sour after Shah Iran’s departure, Saudi Arabia never targeted Iran. He said despite the bitter ties with Iran, Saudi Arabia was looking after its five percent Shia minority despite provocations from Tehran. The Imam also expressed disappointment that Iran was using its proxies to destabilise the Middle East region.
He said that Iran, through its proxies from Houthis to Hezbollah, was trying to detsabilise the Middle East states Iraq, Syria and Yemen. However, the religious leader said that Saudi Arabia wanted normalisation of relations despite all provocations. He said that Pakistan may be facing hardships and several issues but that doesn’t mean that they have forgotten to protect the Islamic holy sites. He said that Saudi Arabian government and its people were thankful to Pakistan and its people for their firm stance to protect the holy sites.
He called on all the Muslims of the world to unite under one flag and the message of peace and unity and solidarity among all sects is a welcome sign too. Normally, we seldom hear such voices of unity from the scholars of salafites school of thought. And it seems the objective of the trip was to clear doubts and fears that the military alliance of 40 Muslim states is going to be used against Iran.
During his interactions, the Imam tried to reach out to as many people as he could. From his meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other functionaries to the Punjab chief minister and others; from leading a prayer meeting at Faisal Mosque to addressing the religious congregation of JUI-F at Nowshera – all reflected that he was on a mission to reach out to as many people as he could.
The Imam also did not minced his words too about the support Pakistan had accorded to the military alliance. He also made it clear time and again that the alliance was only meant to defeat the scourge of terrorism and it was not aimed at targeting any specific country or sect. This argument looks genuine too. With the successive setbacks to the terrorist outfit, Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq, the terrorists are fleeing to safer locations.
Successive media reports suggest that the remnants of the terrorist outfit are trying to return to their native countries and wage wars against their own regimes. The recent terrorist attack in Russian city of St Petersburg has revalidated such fears. Since many activists from Arab states had fled to join the Islamic State, those countries are preparing themselves to fight out such elements.
It seems that the message of the Imam was taken across the board positively too. Even if it was the objective of his visit, the Imam has successfully achieved it too even before his return. Urging Muslims to united for Islam, he said that Muslims shouldn’t fight each other, saying such congregations convey the same message.
He said that Islam doesn’t teach terrorism or sectarianism. Rather, Islam urges the Ummah to stand united and spread the message of peace across the globe. It is hoped that the visit of the Imam would help further galvanise the Muslims in general and the assurances by the scholar may help alleviate the concerns of Iran about the military alliance.