Munawar Hassan’s pro Yazid comments evoke stiff protest from Shia Muslims

Shia Muslims have angrily reacted to the blasphemous remarks of chief of Jamaat-e-Islami who tried to equate the holy personality of infallible Imam Hussain (AS) with deviant and despotic Umayyad ruler Yazid.
In a program with anchor person Fareeha on Waqt News channel, Jamaat-e-Islami’s chief Munawar Hassan defended Taliban by comparing the situation with the war of Karbala. He said that companions of Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) were present on both sides in Karbala in 61 A.H. He could not judge from the historical facts that who were on the right side and who was wrong and infidel?

His remarks sparked off a instant reaction from the Shiites who said that Munawar Hassan disregarded and disrespected founder of his Jamaat-e-Islami by saying so because the JI’s founder Syed Moudoodi backed the resistance of Imam Hussain (AS). He declared in his book Khilafat and Mulookiat (Caliphate and Monarchy) that Umayyad dynastic rule had nothing to do with Islam. He also criticized the Umayyad rulers for their anti-Islam deviations.

Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen and All Pakistan Shia Action Committee have condemned him for the statement and demanded immediate apology from him. They demanded that either Jamaat-e-Islami should sack him or disciplinary action be taken against him.

However, ordinary Shiites demanded ban on Jamaat-e-Islami because of such anti-Islam and blasphemous remarks. They said that Bangladesh like situation was being created in Pakistan and the JI took no lesson from the ban on it in Bangladesh. They said that Munawar Hassan has gone mad and he should be admitted to hospital or rehabilitation for psychotherapy. They said that the JI’s pro-Taliban policy was also against the ideology of JI founder Syed Moudoodi.