Sri Lankan defence secretary while delivering the key note address at the defence seminar on 3rd September had said :
“It has been observed that there are some foreign groups that wish to encourage Sri Lankan Muslims to identify themselves more with the global Muslim community, thereby reducing their integration with the rest of the population. It is a known fact that Muslim Fundamentalism is spreading all over the world and in this region”
By this he is labelling any Muslim who believes that he is a brother of another Muslim as an extremist or Fundamentalist. He wants the Muslims living in Sri Lanka to have a Sri Lankan version of Islam, and reject the ayah when Allah SWT said in the Qur’an:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
“The believers are nothing else than brothers. So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allah, that you may receive mercy.” [TMQ 49:10]
And the hadith of nabi (SAW) :
“The Believers, in their mutual love, mercy and compassion, are like one body: if one organ complained, the rest of the body develops a fever.”[Bukhari & Muslim]
So this is a very dangerous idea and should be rejected by all Muslims.
Further, when did we hear any Muslim organisation or influential in Sri Lanka promoting so called extremist views? Even after so much had been lost to Buddhist extremism, the Muslims are still calling for further compromises, naively thinking that they (Buddhist extremist and political elites) will have compassion on them!
So a statement like this is purely to agitate and force Muslims to make further compromises. This over time will sideline Muslims further from the society, without any influence in the public arena and prevented from demanding the basic rights in the country.
Muslims should understand their plot and expose the real political motive behind such statements. Also we have to start believing that we are part of the ummah which is more than a billion in strength and followers of an aqeedah that is far more superior to any other way of life. This will enable us to intellectually defend Islam, which is dearer to us than anything else in this world.
This should also remind us of our obligation to par take in the global Islamic revival and work towards establishing an Islamic state in the Muslim land – as only a just ruler, ruling by Islam can be a protector for Muslim all over the world, including the Muslims living in Sri Lanka.
“The Imam is a shield from the back of which the Muslims fight and protect themselves” [Muslim]
