YNET covered the visit of Maulana Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi, secretary-general of the All-India Association of Imams and Mosques, to Israel.
Ilaysi’s organization represents half a million imams, who are the main religious leaders of India’s 200 million Muslims.
The religious leader also said the time had come for Pakistan to establish official relations with Israel. “This is the right thing to do,” he added.
Ilaysi added that the Indian government has lessons to learn from Israel on how to deal with Muslim minorities. “I was pleasantly surprised to know that Sharia (Islamic law) code is being supported by the Israeli government, whereas in India only local Muslims implement it. That is unique,” he said.
“The Jews I have met here say that we are all children of Abraham, part of the same family. This is something I didn’t hear in India. The Muslims in India should come and see things for themselves,” Ilaysi said.Asked whether he was concerned by the prospect of a revolution by al-Qaeda sympathizers in Pakistan, a scenario which worries Western analysts, Ilaysi replied: “Pakistan will not fall in al-Qaeda’s (hands) because people are sick and tired of violence, they want normalization. You do not see much support for violent activities in any part of world, especially in Pakistan.”
I recommend that you read this article. But what astounded me most was his description of what Islam stood for.
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“I believe in peace and this is the message I take. I don’t believe in anything that destroys another country.”
“The time has come to sit and resolve all problems by dialogue, and to completely abandon violent ways using guns and bombs. Islam never says you should fight with another person. This concept is wrong,”
“Islam does not give permission to kill, murder, or harm, and we want to sit together and talk.”
Would that it were so.
