A SCHOLAR belonging to a minority Islamic sect has questioned the need to kill Osama bin Laden if he had been caught alive by US forces.
Given the “serious fears of reprisal” reported over the past week, one had to question whether killing the al-Qaeda leader would make any difference to world security, Maulana Ataul Mujeeb Rashed said in Galway at the weekend.
"These reports of fears of a kickback suggest that the violence becomes like a vicious circle," Maulana Rashed, imam or leader of the London Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque, told The Irish Times.
He was speaking before addressing an interfaith peace conference, with members of the Jewish, Quaker and Jesuit communities. “If he was caught alive, what was the need for killing when he could have been prosecuted?”
There remained many questions and the truth of the events was still shrouded, Maulana Rashed said. It was also incorrect of the US to state that bin Laden had been buried according to Islamic tradition.
“To kill anyone before trial is not Islamic, and if the culprit is captured alive, he should be prosecuted,” he said. “Also, our funeral rites involve a funeral prayer and then a proper grave, not a cremation and not burial at sea.
“If someone happens to die on a ship in open sea, that is a different matter. But to suggest that this burial was done in accordance with Islamic teachings is not correct,” he said.
Ahmadis, who identify as Muslims but are rejected by orthodox Muslims, have faced persecution in Pakistan and believe “blood and terrorism do not in any way represent the way of Islam”. Maulana Rashed said: “Religion has been hijacked, and the beautiful name of Islam has been hijacked by terrorists.” The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889.
