AOA Dear Maulana,

I read the news about your marches through the streets of Islamabad. Maulana, I know that you are a passionate man. And given that you are like a fish without water in a country that is rampant with corruption and vulgarity I would like to offer you a proposal.

I and scores of other Pakistani feel it’s our moral duty to relieve you of your distress. We initially thought that the way forward would be arranging for you and the students of your seminary to settle in Daesh. However given the large female students that study in your seminary, we felt this move would be unwise.

Although a number of Pakistanis had pledged to pay for your flight to Raqqa and that too in first class if needed, but there was a danger that the integrity of or sisters could be jeopardized. We understand that our sisters are not Arab and may not be fully equipped with Najadi tribal etiquettes. This would cause a problem for them to integrate. And you know as well as we do that any foreign females in Daesh with slightest non conformity can be unfortunately …. bartered. And off course with all the dirtiness in our hearts, it’s hard for us to accept this fate for our sisters.

I therefore have an alternate proposal. As you are a great believer in proselytization I would like to invite you to our religion of peace, Islam. We understand that our religion does not have the lures of the Wahabi doctrines. It doesn’t lend itself to anarchic or nihilist tendencies. It does not offer 72 virgins at the press of a button. It does not offer glory to someone with suicidal tendencies. It does not offer a binary dichotomous approach. It does however provide a peace of mind and contentment of heart. It does offer solution to purge our society of ills, methodically. We admit that we may not be the best models to represent Islam but our religion does provide us the tools reflect on ourselves.

I understand that you already have some affinity towards Islam and have read some books in this regard. I would like to invite you to study Quran and Sunnah. You will find that if studied with the right intention, the Quran can fire up the neurons in your mind and take you to a whole new world of scholarship. Since the time of its revelation, its study has inspired many a scholars, jurists, poets, scientists and philosophers. I fully believe that you have the capacity to receive the light.

We understand that you have many grievances. Our judicial system is not as swift as you would like it to be but in Pakistan we believe in justice to be dispensed by a system and not by individuals. Our era may be ridden with conflict but we believe in progress.

The invitation to join our religion will forever be open. We will wait for you with open arms whatever your decision is. It’s natural that it will take a lot of time for you to embrace a completely new ideology; it’s almost a paradigm shift. However as wise men say, it’s better late than never. If you would like to contemplate that thought in the comfort of your spiritual home, Daesh, our offer for sending you alone still stands.

Best regards

A concerned citizen of Pakistan

Ps. To, The honourable minister Chaudhry Nisar: Could you please call a taxi for the maulana?

Profile

Maulna Abdul Aziz is a cleric of Lal Masjid, who came to limelight after the events that unfolded in Islamabad during the Musharraf era (2007). The cleric along with his brother had been staunchly opposed to any rule of state. They openly called for the abolishment the incumbent governing system and its replacement by Sharia law. After directives were issued by Maulana and his brother, the students of the seminary attached to the mosque started taking law in their hands. A police man was abducted and beaten and the local CD shop was wrecked. As law enforcement agencies turned the screw, events escalated.

In the end, the army intervened. A stand-off between the army and militant students boiled over. A heavy handed response by the army resulted in several casualties. Maulana’s brother died in the skirmish. The maulana himself was infamously caught trying to escape dressed in a burqa.

After Musharraf’s era, Maulana’s activism revived. He again caught attention in December 2014 after refusing to condemn the school massacre in Peshawer carried out by the notorious TTP.

Recently, he has has surfaced again and made news after giving the government an ultimatum to implement shariah law soon.

After listening to his speeches, it is clear that he is a causality of Neo-Wahabi doctrine that was injected in Pakistan through Saudi funding over the last two decades. In a recent video, his students have pledged allegiance to Daesh, more commonly referred in the western world as the so called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).