MUSLIM LEADERS CONDEMN THE ATTACK ON KERALA ACADEMICIAN

MUSLIM LEADERS CONDEMN THE ATTACK ON KERALA ACADEMICIAN

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August 13, 2022

Muslim leaders cutting across party lines strongly condemned July 4 violent attack and chopping off of the hand of Mr T. J. Joseph, a lecturer in Ernakulam District of Kerala by some miscreants on the pretext of taking revenge for Joseph’s act of blasphemy.

In a joint statement, the Muslim leaders said, “We feel that law was taking its due course against the said lecturer for his misdeed and he was already suspended from his college for a year due to his insult to the Prophet of Islam by replacing the word “madman” in a quote with that of “Muhammad” while preparing an exam paper for the students of his college.

“Those who attacked Joseph forgot that the Prophet of Islam, upon whom be peace, in his own life had pardoned a Jewess who used to throw garbage on him and when she did not do so one day, the Prophet enquired about her and upon being told that she is ill, went to wish her early recovery and good health. The Prophet forgave the people of Makkah after its conquest although they had pained him, expelled him from his hometown and had waged war against him for years. We find that the attack on the Kerala lecturer is against the basic tenets of Islam and the Sunnah of the Prophet which emphasise forgiveness. Islam explicitly forbids taking law and order into one’s hands in the presence of competent authorities to deal with an issue.

“We hope that law will take its due course to punish the criminals who attacked the professor. They have clearly sinned and defamed Islam by committing this crime which we condemn without reservations.”

The statement was signed by Dr. Manzoor Alam, Secretary General, All India Milli Council, Muhammad Jafar, Naib Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Acting President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, Ex-President. All India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat and Editor, The Milli Gazette, Niaz Farouqui, Secretary, Jamiat Ulama e Hind, and Navaid Hamid, General Secretary, Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians (MOEMIN) and Member, National Integration Council.