ISLAMABAD: Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) believes that to call any Friday as ‘Black Friday’ is disrespectful and recommended that it should be marked as a ‘Blessed Friday’ instead.
The term Black Friday became controversial and was widely criticised by the religious scholars as various brands and stores offer massive discounts on different goods on the internet or social media.
“There is a possibility to sell goods at discount rates on Friday but to call it Black Friday is disrespectful,” said Qibla Ayaz while briefing the media after the meeting.
The issue came under discussion during CII’s 209th meeting, which was chaired by CII Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz.
The council recommended there is no harm to offer sales on Friday but to call it Black Friday is equal to insulting Friday, which is not only a blessed day but also a specified day for Muslims.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “The day after the (American holiday of) Thanksgiving has been called Black Friday since at least the early 1960s.”
The council also took up ‘Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2017’ and recommended that it was the need of the hour to make a comprehensive law for transgender persons, as they are a marginalised community.
“Their self-perceived identity should be protected; however, their inheritance issue should be decided in court,” explained Ayaz.
The bill on transgender persons was recently passed by the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights, which was later sent to CII for its recommendation. The bill, drafted by a national task force constituted by the federal ombudsman, was approved by the Senate Functional Committee on HR in December last year.
During the meeting, one of the members Dr Khurshid Nadeem informed the council that religious scholars issued a fatwa forbidding suicide bombings during ‘Paigham-i-Pakistan’ programme, which was held on January 16 at the President House.
However, the member said, even though his name was mentioned in the list of religious scholars, but he was not consulted.
CII members have complained that their names had been included in the recent anti-terrorism fatwa without consent.
Members say they didn’t get a chance to go through it, and they didn’t sign it either. They questioned why their names were written on it. The workers want prompt investigation over the matter.
One of the members of the council said that even if a good deed is done in a wrong manner, it will leave a wrong impact later.
CII also strongly condemned the Kasur incident.
The chairman said that an eight-year-old was tortured to death and the inefficiency of police is appalling. “This incident is proof that our society is not progressing at all and it’s a horrible moment for the nation,” he added.
The council also said that fatwa and the national narrative is a representation of the constitution. It is important to deal with major issues through collective means and by rejecting extremism, it said, adding only the state has the right to wage jihad.
