Oh the stunning complexity of Islam! Even those who teach it and have devoted their lives to mastering its doctrines misunderstand its peaceful teachings!
Memo to Ibrahim Hooper: why doesn’t CAIR start a Teach the Imams program for poor fellows like the Imam Waliullah, who don’t seem to grasp what you loudly proclaim is self-evident, that Islam is a religion of peace? After all, Waliullah is by no means the first Islamic cleric or teacher to be implicated in violent actions. There were also these teachers. And these clerics. And these teachers. And these prayer leaders. And so on. I’m sure your classes would be filled.
“Allahabad Imam held for Varanasi blasts,” from the Pioneer News Service, with thanks to Looney Tunes:
The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh probing the 3/7 Varanasi serial blasts has picked up Imam Waliullah, the Pesh Imam of Phulpur in Allahabad for his alleged involvement in the terror attack. In the past, this imam has been accused of associating with anti-national elements and was arrested and jailed in 2001.
Imam Waliullah, who was under surveillance for some time, was picked up by a STF team on Wednesday. The STF sleuths in plain clothes accosted the imam and before he could raise an alarm, huddled him into a waiting SUV and took him to an undisclosed destination for interrogation….
According to STF sources, the sleuths were despatched from Lucknow only after collecting adequate evidence against the Pesh Imam. The source said that Imam Waliullah was a scholar at Deoband and it was during his stay at the seminary as a research scholar that he came in contact with some terrorists and their leaders active in Jammu & Kashmir.
The STF official confided that soon after the blasts rocked the holy temple town on the eve of Holi, sleuths noticed that certain individuals would frequently visit the Imam in Phulpur. Those visits suddenly stopped. The STF, meanwhile, analysed the links of Imam Waliullah with some specific Islamist terrorists, and after being convinced of his alleged links with them and their leaders, nabbed the Pesh Imam.
Earlier in 2001, Waliullah had been nabbed alongwith his brothers, Wasiullah and Ubaidullah, for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities. The police had to face stiff local resistance but somehow managed to send them to jail….