Friday, January 7, 2011

An Apology

In my last post, I included an alleged fatwa by an alleged mufti Muhammad Idris Usmani associated allegedly with a seminary called Jamia Islamia. The alleged fatwa was sourced from the Let Us Build Pakistan (LUBP) blog and indicated as such but was reproduced in my post without the qualifiers it should have included.

Some readers correctly raised doubts about the authenticity of the religious opinion, after which we wrote to LUBP asking for the source of their information. A day has passed and we have not heard back from anyone at LUBP. Another reader Samad Khurram has pointed out that the alleged picture of Mufti Idris Usmani (also from LUBP) is actually of Mufti Fuzail-ur-Rahman (Fazl-ur-Rahman?) Hilal Usmani of the Darus Salaam Islamic Centre in Indian Punjab and Darul Uloom Deoband. We have also not been able to identify through our own research where Jamia Islamia is located and the only source for this fatwa seems to be the LUBP blog itself. All of this points to the fact that the so-called fatwa is a fabrication.

While the point of my earlier post stands, and this perhaps indicates how easy it is to manufacture fatwas about anything as well as their worth, there is no doubt that the inclusion of a seemingly fabricated fatwa without the disclaimers that should have been part of the post, is a lapse on our part and damages our credibility. It also detracts from the point of the post itself. And for this we offer unreserved apologies to our readers. Needless to say, we will far more skeptical of LUBP information and will attempt to be much more stringent about attaching disclaimers in the future.

To those readers who were happy to see that at least someone within the clergy was taking an unequivocal stand to condemn those guilty of praising a murderer, equivocating about moral issues and twisting religion to suit their own ends, I apologize for the disappointment. I guess we'll have to wait a little longer for sense to arrive among the mullah brigade.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

*Reads post, sighs, shakes head. Reaches into box where she had put the gun away and takes it out again... and now silently awaits for the last straw when she would either aim it at her own head or start shooting around frantically...*

It's alright XYZ... no need to apologize. Its only human that you and us all quickly accepted it ... we are just too desperate for intellectual hope and clutching at straws...

el said...

oh wtf... cafe pyala issues an apology for the fake fatwa, and the XYZ guy doesn't even credit me? that's just plain ludicrous. i was the first one to identify the issue even in the comment section!

disappointed! :(

Anonymous said...

Damn it! Yesterday when I got to know about that fatwa from some other source, I checked all the major newspapers, there was no mention of it. I googled it - the only link that popped up was of LUBP. I read through it and once agan got skeptical when in the end the post mentioned the list 'mufsideen fil arz'.

Even I'm sorry about mentioning that post/fatwa by LUBP in a tweet especially when I had doubts about it.

Thanks for the post.

piechart said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tayyab Mahmood said...

Dear that's why i told you to refrain from publishing any fatwa. In Islam only parliament / collective wisdom of people can issue fatwa aka law not any muftia. mufti fatwa is only the personal opinion of that person according to his knowledge. Please distinguish. Parliament / collective wisdom of the people counts :)

AI said...

i think you are all missing the point. By getting the fatwa, lubp was able to show a strength of those who have been supporting the manic qadri. With more than 3000 likes on facebook, lubp was able to show public dismay towards a heinous act which has not been condemned at all by the religious class. As far as samad khurram is concerned, he has been inciting hatred towards the ppp. Only issue why the chatterati class dislikes lubp is their clear siding with the ppp. Hence instead of appreciating what the lubp did, they started questioning the fatwa.

Tayyab Mahmood said...

@Al... please.. fatwa issued be mufits has no religious importance & binding.. in reality fatwa is executive order only parliament / collective wisdom of people can issue. Two wrong doesn't make one right.

Faraz Baloch said...

Guys, just found this gem, now hear the killer of Mr. Taseer reciting a naat and none of the police wala make any attempts to silence him instead they keep changing positions to appear in the video and seemingly have their heads down in reverence while he sings zealously.
I don't know to bow my head in reverence next time I hear this naat or put my head down in shame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFMXWTfC2WM&feature=player_embedded

Ahsan said...

LUBP is a very, um, strange blog, let's put it that way. Don't read it really, but whenever I'm directed towards there via Twitter/links on blogs I read, it's always something weird as hell.

mad mathematician said...

no need to apologize..
sh*t happens.. and frankly the fake fatwa doesn't even count as sh*t.. its something we wish happened..

all said and done, in a democracy the people do have a right to know about even the personal life of their leaders but NOTHING justifies cold-blooded premeditated murder. if salman taseer had committed sin the Almighty will punish him.. mere mortal punishing a fellow mortal is the ultimate blasphemy to His judgement

Anonymous said...

some harsh facts
http://www.eeqaz.com/main/articles/10/20101202_Punjab_surkhru.htm

Waqar Saleem said...

@AI: No one cares for LUBP's PPP bend. What annoys people is their posting of a fake fatwa.

No compromise on principle said...

Sorry you also got duped BU LUBP but you should have known better. LUBP is a hate blog and their tactics are always lies and incitement. Their cause is different but their tactics are same as the Murtid Qadri. Just look at their record and their attacks on anyone who dares speak against PPP (eg Sherry Rahman case). Just like Qadri they believe in destroying and ruthlessly murdering and one that does not agree with. Just their weapons are different.

But what is important is what should we do. Just because some if the things they are against are same as the things we are against, does that mean we make deal with the devil? If you do they will come back and bite you. Remember our national history of making deal with other devils because we though their 'strategic interest' was same as ours. We know what happens when these dogs bite back. And LUBP will. An enemy's enemy is not always your friend. If you make friends with devils whose tactics are lies, thuggry, blackmail, character assassination, personal attacks and violence just because on some issue right now they agree with you right now, they will come back tomorrow and use all of these tactics on you.

Ultimately it's a question on principle, and I am sorry you showed a lapse of commitment to the principle if decency by acting as their tout on thus story. Salmon Taseer does not need LUBPs dirty tactics and lies, and nor does Cafe Pyala. When you fight a just war, just you principles are enough.

Nadir El-Edroos said...

Does it matter that its fake? Given that people have already made up their minds, even if it was true would it had made a difference? The religious nut jobs would rally against it, and pull the rug from beneath the credibility of whoever issues the fatwa! Insane

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

battle lines are drawn, pakistan is clearly divided into two extremes, one the hand you have a breed of bloggers like cafe pyala who are painting governor taseer as somebody who was the only beacon of hope for pakistan, and on the other hand you have fanatics who are celebrating the assassination and worshipping that Qadri guy. Never before fully understood the meaning of the saying 'death is a great leveler'. the same taseer was part of the corrupt setup, was a member of the rotten ruling elite. and suddenly he is a shaheed. seems it is confrontation between US dollar and Saudi Riyal.

Ulltah Seedha said...

@ No compromise on principle

Hi YLH.

__________


Well, I kinda enjoyed it all. I think the fatwa was a smart and very tongue-in-cheek move.

And Sarmad bhai, also kindly equestion so much else that is fake taking place in Pakistan the name of islam. i will certainly give you an award for this that you can later reject for America's drone attacks.

Weisey, just a question Pyala. Can you tell us exactly what do flip-flops like Moshy Zaidi and Sarmad really stand for?

XYZ said...

@piechart: Your comment has been removed simply because it is a duplicate of the one you posted on an earlier post. Please do not spam.

Anonymous said...

sarkaar, yeh fartwa-tartwa kya hota hain?

Palakkad Mani Iyer said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Dear Palakkad Mani Iyer,
all I say is KHUDA hafiz.

And stop reading so many Nasim Hijazi books.

Anonymous said...

Parliament represents the people. If the Parliament's opinion is the actual fatwa, let's issue a fatwa right here: Taseer's murder was the work of a ruthless and misguided religious fanatic.
All in favour, please sign!
I will do so in my maiden, name, being a coward that I am! But it is not the fundoos I am afraid of - only my husband!

1. I, Leens Hussain, declare Qadri a cold blooded murderer

Anonymous said...

@ anon 1.42 - you emailed the same comment to google's pakistan press group pretending to be someone Leslie Brown. Dude you're smelling the brasstackia rat. And by the way is there any confrontation between saudi rayal and us dollar? Different names same currency, bomb Iran

Anonymous said...

seems an Engineered Murder under the cover of blasphemy law

Kashifiat said...

Why not anyone is commenting on "Dhoka" of LUBP people,what is the level of their honesty. They are misguiding people. They are telling lies & no one is condemning them.

Tayyab ! Basically u r giving a new "Fatwa". Fatwa is very important & its always based on reasons & logic. Parliament is not able to issue any fatwa

Anand said...

"Why not anyone is commenting on "Dhoka" of LUBP people,....no one is condemning them. "

CP has written to LUBP and a response is awaited. It is odd as to why a somewhat popular site would post a fraudulent piece of news, but there's a good probability they were misled into thinking it was authentic. I think the sane thing to do would be to save the condemnation till then.

Anonymous said...

And LUBP people even had audacity to cherish their fraud. TO CP post "Fatwa Back At You", one of LUBP team member commented

Ali Arqam said...
Thanks Cafe Pyala for cross posting from LUBP here, In fact we also have clearly mentioned that we don't believe in Fatwa politics, and providing any legitimacy to the religious Fitna gars, but as you have mentioned, let them taste their own medicine...

January 7, 2011 12:47 AM

Anonymous said...

Namoos-e-Risalat or Namoos-e-ISI? – read this article

http://criticalppp.com/archives/36708

Yusaf Khan said...

regarding Abbas Athar.....i have become a huuuuuuge fan of his. Check out this programme....

http://pkpolitics.com/2011/01/08/column-kaar-8-january-2011/

Tayyab Mahmood said...

@Kashifiat.. i said parliament / collective wisdom of people has the authority. If we give this to every mufti it will create anarchy, which is happening now. In early ages Fatwa was issued by the Law of the Land and has to be today according to Law of the Land.

Anonymous said...

The ISI-Sipah-e-Sahaba alliance responsible for the recent wave of Shia target killings in Karachi

http://criticalppp.com/archives/36749

Yasser Latif Hamdani said...

I am not sure why my name was invoked here.


-YLH

bushra said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

LUBP is a hate rag. They have no interest in Salman Taseer or liberal ideals, they are just out to attack anyone who questions PPP. Remember way they lashed against Sherry Rahman and anyone who ever questions Rahman Malik type jyalas of PPP should have alerted everyone. Their tool is character assassination and please remember that is just one word away from assassination. They are no different from Murtid Mumtaz Qadri, just the issue is different. Lets be clear they are attack dogs with no ideology, just a taste for blood. On another issue they will do what Mumtaz Qadri did without blinking once!

Exposing LUBP said...

I am fully and totally convinced that this LUBP is an ISI-Mullah inspired blog to infiltrate the liberal space and destroy it from within. Look at their tactics. Very simple. They take the most authentic and effective liberal voices - Sherry Rahman, Adil Najam, Yasser Hamdani, Samad Khurram - and they attack them with character assasination and lies to destroy them. Essentially the LUBP agenda is to destroy any authentic liberal voice in society. Thing about it, why? Who benefits from their lies. Answer that and you know exactly whose payroll LUBP is on.

Anonymous said...

@Exposing LUBP...

LUBP is not ISI's Cafe Pyala... ;-)