By
Sebastian Abbot and Zarar Khan
Islamabad:
In a country where sectarian violence is spiking, Zahid Iqbal is playing an
innovative role in trying to bring peace to Pakistan's competing Islamic sects
by simply not taking sides.
His
mosque in the capital Islamabad markets itself as "sect free" and is
open to everyone. Despite pressure, Iqbal has refused to follow convention and
define the mosque as Sunni, Shiite or any of the other subgroups that divide
Islam, sometimes violently.
"We
don't belong with any sect of Islam," said Iqbal, a real estate businessman
in his 30s who also serves as the mosque's president. "We only belong to
Islam."
Much
of the sectarian violence that Pakistan has experienced in recent years has
been attacks by radical Sunni militants on minority Shiites they consider
heretics. There were 77 such attacks between January 2012 and June 2013 that
killed 635 Shiites and wounded 834 others, according to a recent report by the
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The
schism between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims traces back to the early days of
Islam and arguments over successors to Prophet Muhammad. But over time, the
divide between the Sunni, which represent about 85 percent of the world's
Muslims, and Shiite has taken an increasingly bloody turn across Pakistan and
the greater Middle East.
There
has also been occasional conflict between different strains of Sunni Islam in
Pakistan, such as Wahabbi, Barelvi and Deobandi.
Iqbal
said he thought the conflict between Islamic sects was based on ignorance and
invited everyone to come to his mosque, including Christians and Jews, to learn
"the reality of Islam." A large sign on the side of his mosque says
it is "open to all Muslims irrespective of their sect."
The
businessman collected nearly $300,000 to build his mosque, which first opened
in 2010 but is still a work in progress. There are piles of red bricks and
cinderblocks in the courtyard, and wooden polls hold up a shaky looking brick
archway that marks the mosque's entrance.
Iqbal
said he had difficulty registering the mosque with the government because
authorities told him it must be affiliated with a specific Islamic sect. Amir
Ali Ahmed, who heads the department that registers mosques in Islamabad, said
there was no such requirement. However, he suggested a low-level employee could
have pushed the issue since it's relatively unusual for a mosque not to
identify itself with a sect.
"We
would encourage someone to say they aren't attached to any sect," Ahmed
said.
Iqbal
said he also encountered difficulty when a rival imam and his students seized
the property before the mosque was built, a common problem in a country where
land is often taken by force. He managed to resolve the conflict by calling the
housing society that donated him the property.
The
businessman has faced persistent pressure from rival religious leaders to link
the mosque to their sect, but always has refused, he said.
"I'm
not afraid of them," Iqbal said. "I believe my life is in God's hands,
not in the hands of others."
There
are at least three other mosques in Islamabad that aren't affiliated with a
specific sect, Iqbal said. But he touted his facility in Islamabad's Sector
E-11 as the only full-fledged Islamic center that also included a separate
section for women and a library filled with books about various religions. Some
of the more surprising titles included "Angels, Jinns and Satans" and
"Sanctity of Circumcision in Bible."
More
than 200 men and young boys filed into the mosque on Friday for prayers, lining
up on rugs under whirling ceiling fans that sought to beat back the oppressive
heat and humidity.
The
imam, Mohammed Yasin Rashid, delivered his weekly sermon over a microphone
headset that looked like something a call center employee would use. Rashid
spoke of the importance of religious harmony.
"The
best people are those who promote harmony and treat people well despite their
affiliation," Rashid said.
But
he did take a dig at Christians and Jews, saying they became cursed when they
started worshipping prophets instead of a single God.
Most
of the worshippers who attended the service said they come to the mosque
because it is close to their home, not because of its sect-free stance. But
they tended to support the message, saying Pakistan needed less conflict
between the different sects.
"There
are a few fundamentalists who brainwash the people," said Aftab Malik, a
surgeon who was building a home nearby. "We do not believe in sects.
Sunnis and Shiites are all one because they both believe in one God."