Following the attempted assault on renowned Zimbabwean scholar Mufti Ismail Menk, secretary general of the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa Moulana Ebrahim Bham has voiced his concerns about the incident.

“This particular aspect of extremism which has reared its head in our community perturbs me tremendously,” Moulana Bham told Radio Islam.

Moulana Bham said people do feel entitled and passionate about expressing their views regarding the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his teachings and Islam in general and he feels this must be accommodated and nobody can deny them that right.

“However we are also living in a state in which you don’t have a khilafat and (therefore) you can’t impose any of your views upon anyone. Khilafat does have a certain degree of accommodation and a certain degree of authority to regulate life.”

“In the absence of a khilfat what do we do with regard to people whom we do not agree with, regards to their views about Islam? Do we start a campaign of hatred or a campaign of violence and what will be the outcome of that?” asked Moulana Bham

Moulana Bham says that if there is a difference of opinion it must be discussed in an amicable manner.

“If you want to engage with him do it in a loving manner and tell him why you believe like that.”

Moulana Bham states the outcome of campaign of hatred and violence would be similar to the situation in Pakistan where hundreds of thousands of people are being killed on the basis of sectarianism.

“Do we want to open up the doors of violence in our own country, and are we waiting for something like that to happen, are we waiting for someone to be killed?

Moulana Bham reiterated that if acts of incitement are not stopped, Muslims would face the consequences where the government would clamp down on acts that are against the law.

“There is a very general principle in sociology: ‘if you don’t regulate yourself, someone else will come and regulate you’”

Moulana Bham said the Ummah and the people on the ground must spread the message that acts of dissidence are not acceptable.

“By all means go and make mention with regard to what you feel, but do not create hatred to the extent that violence might arise out of the way we have charged people or we have done with regard to people,” said Moulana Bham.  RADIO ISLAM (Faizel Patel)