A frustrated lot is trying to justify but what happened in the Last Prophet’s (SAWW) Mosque in Madina Munawwara on Thursday shamed the entire Pakistani nation as sanctity of one of the two holiest places of Islam was violated by a handful of misguided elements just for the sake of their jaundiced political viewpoint.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his entourage were there as guests of the Holy Prophet (SAWW) and also the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but a group of politically motivated elements raised high-pitched slogans and hurled abuses on them right in the Holy Mosque, a sin and a crime of unparalleled magnitude no believer can even ever think to commit.
It was not instant reaction of Pakistani visitors to the Holy Mosque as is being portrayed by some leaders and workers of PTI but a pre-planned incident as confirmed by videos on social media where former Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad is warning that tomorrow they will face wrath of the people at Makkah and Madina.
It is all the more unfortunate that instead of making appeals to their workers and supporters not to carry the political differences too far, PTI leaders and workers circulated videos of attack on Pakistani delegation within Masjid-e-Nabvi with a misplaced sense of pride and satisfaction, not realizing that those who committed the crime neither represented mainstream Pakistanis nor our national or religious norms and traditions.
Muslims bow their heads and lower their voices while visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in line with injunctions of the Holy Quran “Oh believers!
Do not raise your voice above the voice of the prophet and do not speak loudly in front of him as you speak to one another lest your deeds are spoiled and you will not know”. (Sura Hujurat).
This commandment is as valid today in Masjid-e-Nabavi (which houses Roza-e-Rasool) as it was valid during lifetime of the Holy Prophet (SAWS) and therefore, acting otherwise amounts to violating the sanctity of the mosque and showing disrespect to the Holy Prophet (SAWS).
The incident shows to what extent we have polarized the society as previously handfuls of elements indulged in violent behaviour at the London residence of Sharif family and now the venomous politics have been taken to the holy land and Masjid-e-Nabavi.
Credit goes to the members of the Pakistani delegation for showing extreme restraints for the sake of the sanctity of the holy place which avoided a showdown at the sacred place.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has rightly pointed out that workers of the parties representing the coalition partners were also there but they were under instructions not to insult anyone in Masjid-e-Nabvi.
Apart from religious point of view, the incident is also condemnable from a national perspective as well because irrespective of your viewpoint and differences an insult to the Prime Minister is an insult to national leadership.
It is not difficult for anyone to hire a few people and hurl abuses on rival political leaders but you must realize that this could trigger reaction and might have repercussions for your leaders, which might not be a tolerable scene for you.
PTI workers and supporters should realize that Imran Khan could not make even a single speech smoothly in the National Assembly during his entire tenure as Prime Minister only because short-sighted PTI members did not allow the opposition leader to exercise his right to speak in the house.
Incidents like the one that happened in Madinah clearly indicate that some elements are deliberately pushing the country towards civil war by inciting people to violence, which is a dangerous tendency and needs to be curbed forthwith.
There is absolutely no justification to hurl abuses on others on unsubstantiated allegations or perceptions, if this is the criteria for disrespecting national leaders then there are scores of allegations against others as well vis-à-vis sugar, wheat flour and drugs scams and there would be no end to dirty politics.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his entourage was not there on an excursion trip but to pay respects to the Holy Prophet (SAWS) and later talk to the Saudi leadership for strengthening economic and financial cooperation at this critical juncture of Pakistan’s history.
We hope the Saudi Government would take serious notice of such loathsome activities and award perpetrators of the crime exemplary punishment for their sinful behaviour.
