ISLAMABAD: The government has asserted that only the state has the right to declare jihad and asked religious leaders and muftis to reject edicts calling for jihad posted on social media platforms for the recent minor amendments to election laws that related to Khatm-i-Nabuwwat.

It has expressed concern over “attempts to turn the country into a battlefield” even though the error is being rectified and the National Assembly has already approved insertion of the original clause — which had been changed, causing a furore — back into the Elections Act 2017 through an amendment.

Taking up the sensitive issue in the National Assembly on Friday, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said: “Only the state can declare jihad; no group has the right to declare jihad against another group.”

Urges religious leaders to reject edicts posted on social media about Khatm-i-Nabuwwat issue

He said that enemies of the state wanted to pit Muslims against Muslims. “We have to prevent such attempts and I humbly request religious leaders to condemn the fatwas posted on social media.”

According to the minister, “dangerous” fatwas (edicts) had been posted on social media platforms against the government for making changes in the clause about Khatm-i-Nabuwwat.

Nobody had the right to term a person Muslim or non-Muslim and justify the killing of that person in any way, Mr Iqbal said. “No imam has the right to issue [such an] edict. We have to prevent this; otherwise the entire country will turn into a battlefield.”

“We must take strict action against the elements that indulge in such activities under the cybercrime laws. Nobody can be deemed an authority in such matters,” the minister added.

Talking about the furore caused by changes in the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat declaration meant to be made by electoral candidates, he said no parliamentary party had objected to them until the Elections Bill 2017 was tabled in the National Assembly.

The minister also condemned the suicide attack on a Sufi shrine in Jhal Magsi district on Thursday, which claimed at least 21 lives. Security forces were working hard to arrest the facilitators of the heinous attack. “We are determined that we will crush terrorism, no matter in which form.”

Mr Iqbal said that military operations had been carried out across the country due to which there had been an appreciable decline in the number of violent attacks. However, some elements still managed to hit “soft targets” after sneaking their way into them.

Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf said that with the government addressing the concerns of the clerics and religious leaders there was no reason for them to mount any kind of protest. “It is a sensitive matter and we should not touch it again,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said the government should not create problems for itself and urged the other legislators to stop discussing the issue. “Leave it if it has been rectified,” he added.

Haj policy

The lower house of parliament also witnessed a debate on Haj policy, as the opposition members demanded that people who have been applying unsuccessfully for permission to perform Haj for the last three years should be given priority for the next year’s Haj. The idea was supported by Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi, who was presiding over the session at the time.

However, the minister said it would be difficult to allow a separate quota for the purpose because every applicant had to go through the process of balloting.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2017