A Vestige of Hope
Now for something a lot more positive.
The time for violence has come to an end, and the era of peace and dialogue between Muslims and Jews has begun – that was the message delivered by Maulana Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi, secretary-general of the All-India Association of Imams and Mosques, during an interview with Ynetnews.
Ilaysi’s organization represents half a million imams, who are the main religious leaders of India’s 200 million Muslims.
In an extraordinary visit to Israel, organized by the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) India office, Ilaysi arrived as part of a delegation of Indian Muslim leaders and journalists.
Asked to address Hamas’s call for jihad to destroy Israel, Ilaysi said, “I believe in peace and this is the message I take. I don’t believe in anything that destroys another country.”
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’s arrival was not trouble-free, however, as a number of protests held by Indian Muslims were held in opposition to the visit.
“Indian Muslims do not have a very good impression of the Israelis. The protesters were saying, you are going to Israel, a country which humiliates the Muslims. That’s the impression that they have,” Ilaysi explained. He said the protests symbolized the natural opposition which arises to positive acts. “When you do good deeds, you are bound to have challenges and hurdles,” he added.
“My impression was initially that the Israelis are certainly dominating Muslims out here. Once I came here, that impression completely changed,” Ilaysi said. “I saw the reality on the ground, the mutual respect Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews have for each other. Constant conflict is not the reality here,” Ilaysi said, describing his visit to the Israeli-Arab village of Abu Gosh, frequented by Israeli Jews.
A visit to Jerusalem’s holy sites only served to reinforce what Ilaysi described as his “pleasant surprise.”
“I saw that Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side happily, not at each other’s throat,” he said.
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.
The Indian sub-continent is no stranger to religious conflict between nations and ethnic groups. Within India, Muslims and Hindus have fought one another in bloody conflicts , while India and neighboring Muslim Pakistan have fought a series of wars spanning decades.
Ilaysi’s message is simple: “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,” he 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, esepcially in Pakistan.”
Priya Pandon, the AJC’s representative in India, said Ilaysis’ visit forms a watershed in Muslim-Jewish relations.
“I think this is a landmark visit, it’s unprecedented,” she said, adding: “To take a message of peace to other countries is important. This organization (the All-India Association of Imams and Mosques) also has an influence on imams in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. India has good relationship with Arab countries, and it is a very close ally of Israel now. It’s the right time.”
In a meeting with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Sunday, Ilyasi said that “Islam does not give permission to kill, murder, or harm, and we want to sit together and talk.”
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: General
Dave,
If you really believe that, I’ve got some awesome land in FL to sell you…
This is encouraging, but I have a funny feeling this gentleman is not long for this world. . .
Silverstein gets Nailed Lying
http://www.campus-watch.org/weblog/id/90
What a pathetic little whining liar bitch he is
the bronze,
What part don’t you believe? In the absence of proof to the contrary, I believe that Ilyasi sincerely wants peace. Whether he can have a big impact, and whether there are enough others like him to make a difference, I am not so sure about.
Trish,
I fully agree with you.
judith,
Thanks for the info, but let’s please stay on topic.
you call it positive? certainly positive propaganda….
>> 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,”
Oh wow, Then who the hell is enjoying Muslim personal law board in India…. now what they want ? should we allow them to implement sharia above democratic laws of India…
>>“I saw that Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side happily, not at each other’s throat,”
Yes, It will remain like this… till Muslim don’t control the power…. certainly the fate of christian of nazareth do speak in itself everything..
>>Within India, Muslims and Hindus have fought one another in bloody conflicts , while India and neighboring Muslim Pakistan have fought a series of wars spanning decades.
oh ye.. haven’t he forgot to mention, that Tablighi Jamaat & Deobandis was in center of provoking all conflicts.. and at last when everything goes beyond tolerable limits then the riots started … by the way, i don’t want to fail to mention that Tablighi Jamaat was founded in May,1926 in Mecca submit call by Amin al husseini… inaugurated in India in very same year, with in 1 week. they murder founder of Gurukul kangri (a elite yoga uni ), later they served as intelligence agency of Nazis (South Asian counterpart.. in ME it was Muslim brotherhood)… and currently the same group is busy in terror attack around the globe including London bombing…
Lets see, how long this Propaganda visit of Deobandis will hold the Jihad… certainly western world is not aware about the fact, then almost all devils including al-wahhab (founder of wahabi Islam).. as well as Amin al Husseini, Hassan al banna and so on… are radicalized by Indian Muslims….
So you believe Ilyasi is trying to fool us?
I do believe that he is sincere about wanting peace, I don’t believe that anything will come of this. I agree with Trish – he will need a strong group of bodyguards around him at all times.
Did you have to put a pic of Peres in with this guy?
I feel sick every time i see his ugly mug!
Good article. (except for the pic.)
How do I contact you via e-mail? I can’t find an address on the site.
israellycool-at-yahoo-dot-com
he is trying to hunt more then one bird with one shoot.. certainly you are not aware of role of Deobandis in Arabic world… let me tell you, that it was Deobandis convert, who really crafted saudi arabia…for more info you can search for john philby(a british deobandi convert)
Ilyasi is trying to shoot many birds in one shoot
1)Israel simply happens to be psychologically weak right now, politically speaking, and probably won’t respond as efficiently to an Iranian attack, should one be forthcoming.it increases the chance that Iran will receive a commensurate response at the high point of war, continuing to ensure global Sunni dominance overall, and;
2)advertisement of sharia puts into place a long term strategy for Shari’ah to be even more firmly rooted in Israel (and perhaps even in India), and thus having a potentially calamitous destabilizing effect on the country itself.
3) he outlines only that he stands against the specified groups of Ikhwan(here Hamas and hezbulla)… who are raising against Saudi Arab supremacist’s, and are aligning with Iran..
4) by asking Pakistan, he had tried to remove the influence of Iran over South Asian Sunni groups… Israel is not as hot topic in south Asia, as in ME. South Asia rocks around Kashmir. so he can certainly give a risk at this place, and perhaps is the best possible diplomatic solution when almost all Sunni world seems to be in a dead lock condition for how to approach…
further i think, Kashmir will get a bit attention in coming days, if Israel visit of Ilyasi backfires on sunni world.
5) the status of darul uloom in itself closes many Jihadi mouths…
What ever, i will really say… that Arab world is now facing the same monster… which they build over the period for there power greed… the Ikhwan(Brotherhood) now even wants to throw the Arab states to build Global caliphet… Arabs are too weak to stand next to Ikhwan.
Deobandis even don’t know how to react for the decision they made after WW2, when kim Philby (son of John Philby, born and grown up near Deoband, in indian city of Ambala) had released Amin al husseini, and other arab nazis after WW2 under orders from Deobandis…
at last, the situation is going far more dangerous for Arabs… not only due to ikhwan, but also due to Iran…
and they are back on old policy… enemy’s enemy is your friend, but still they don’t seems to be supportive for a multi cultural & secular society…but in fact are supporting a sharia based sunni supremacy designed on Lebanon history.
I will rather say, Go further.. but be prepared!!!