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Incidents involving Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan

Posted on 28 January 2012 by Tea Server

2012
  • January 2: Chief of ASWJ Aurangzaib Farooqui and three others were booked in December 31, 2011 murder case of Shia leader Askari Raza on Rashid Minhas Road in Karachi, while SSP of the CID’s AEC Chaudhry Aslam also came under interrogation. DIG South Commander Shaukat said that SSP Aslam was automatically suspended since he came under investigation. ASWJ spokesman Taj Hanfi termed the decision as conspiracy against his organisation. The Shia protesters were demanding lodging of an FIR against the killers and taking prompt action against Chaudhry Aslam, who is said to be involved in killing.
2011
  • December 29: At least ten people, including journalists, were injured in a clash between two sectarian groups in Khairpur District. Armed men from both sects continued aerial fire, though a heavy bout of tear gassing by the police forced many to leave. The markets in the area have been closed and Khairpur is reportedly deserted, save for the Police and Rangers patrolling the streets. Other reports claimed that there was a virtual curfew-like situation as no one was allowed on the streets. People are afraid of the clash escalating further because the tussle is between two religious groups,” said a citizen, Irfan Phulpoto. He said that the tense areas were Nao Goth, the stronghold of one group and Panj Gula, the stronghold of another sect. Some 600 Policemen and 200 Rangers officers were reportedly deputed to patrol.
  • According to the report, SSP has a considerable presence in Khairpur District. In 2009, SSP leader Allama Sher Hyderi was killed in the District. SSP leader Malik Ishaq is accused of killing 70 people in over 40 cases.
  • December 26: ASWJ strongly condemned Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s December 25, 2011 allegations regarding the SSP involvement in the March 2, 2011 murder of former Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti. ASWJ leaders rejected the allegations levelled at their organisation declaring the statement deceiving and misleading. The organization’s Central Deputy Secretary Allama Masoodur Rehman Usmani and its Islamabad patron Chief Maulana Abdul Razaq Haidri in their joint statement said that the Interior Minister had continuously blamed their party to hide the Federal Government’s failure in solving the murder case.
  • According to reports, ASWJ had decided to approach the court regarding Malik’s allegations. The organisation claimed that Malik’s allegation, against them, was due to pressure from external forces. They added that this was to create a rift between Muslims and Christians and that the allegations have no credibility. ASWJ demanded that Malik should provide evidence and present it in court or else the party will challenge his allegations in court. They reiterated that their organisation had no links with terrorism, “We never talk about avenging the death of one person by killing a 100.”
  • December 25: Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik said that red warrants for assassins of former Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti had been issued and soon they would be brought to justice. “The two assassins are activists of the banned outfit SSP. They had managed to reach Middle East. However, we are making efforts for their arrest and will bring them back to the country,” he said.
  • December 6: Two policemen were injured when SSP militants pelted the Ashura procession in Jhang District.
  • November 28: About 100 suspects from two outfits were arrested in an overnight operation, following the November 27, 2011 killings of two Security Force personnel at a Shia camp in Numaish Chowrangi area in Karachi. Rangers and Police cracked down on the SSP – that works under the new name ASWJ, and LeJ activists.
  • November 27: Two SF personnel, identified as Zain-ul-Abideen and Azhar Hussain were shot dead and 11 others wounded when some participants of a protest rally organized by SSP opened indiscriminate fire on Shia camps at Numaish Chowrangi area while returning from Karachi Press Club in Karachi. SSP had organized a rally against the November 26, 2011 NATO attack in Mohmand Agency of FATA that killed 25 SFs. Abideen was affiliated with Butarab Scout and Hussain was serving for Pak Hyderi Scout camp. Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Hussain Wasan claimed to have arrested 16 armed assailants near Aalmi Majlis-e-Khatm-e-Nabowat and ordered officials to conduct an independent inquiry into the incident.
  • November 14: A cadre of a SSP, identified as Abdul Rehman, was shot dead at his clinic in Babar Market within the limits of Landhi Police Station. Rehman was a resident of Zamanabad Landhi. “He belonged to the Ahl-e-Hadees sect and was said to have been trained in Afghanistan.” Some say that he was affiliated to a banned outfit. However, Inquiry Officer Abdul Latif said that it was unclear if the victim was affiliated to any banned outfit.
  • October 30: The Malir town President of SSP, Jabbar Qureshi was shot dead while his companion, Imdadullah, injured in a target killing incident at Korangi Crossing in Karachi.
  • October 24: Police recovered two hand grenades, detonators and 75 cartridges from the house of a SSP cadre in Dera Ismail Khan. Cantonment SHO Mohammad Nawaz Gandapur said that they were informed that Imran Ali and Jamshed Mohammad, both cadres of SSP, were hiding in the house of Merajuddin Mehsud in Gulshan Jamil Colony. “We raided the house but didn’t find the activists there. However, we arrested Merajuddin Mehsud for possessing illegal arms and registered a case against him under Anti-Terrorism Act,” he said.
  • August 18: An armed clash between the activists of Sunni Tehreek (ST) and SSP claimed two lives, while four others were injured in Godhra within the limits of New Karachi Industrial Area. The clash started between two religious parties before Iftar, when two armed groups opened fire at each other. Resultantly, two persons, one Ghulam Dastagir and another Taufeeq, Mohammad Hussain, died on the spot, while four others Akhter, Shahnaz Bibi, Siraj received bullet injuries. Leader of Jama’at Ulema Pakistan (JUP), Tariq Mehboob claimed that victim Ghulam Dastagir was an activist of his party.
  • July 1: SSP and Sunni Tehreek cadres exchanged fire over the control of a hospital located near Muslim Stop in Godhra area of New Karachi locality killing seven cadres and injuring seven others.
  • June 30: A clash between two religious groups, Sunni Tehreek and ASWJ, formerly known as SSP, claimed three lives, including one woman, and injured 12 others in Godhra area of New Karachi.
  • June 27: One Kashif Wakeel, a cadre of ASWJ, formerly known as SSP, was shot dead at Do Minute Chowrangi in the remits of Bilal Colony Police Station in Karachi.
  • June 8: Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, an adviser to the Prime Minister after his visit to a jail in Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province came up with the observation that jails have become breeding grounds for extremists because outfits like the TTP and the SSP have taken their “ideological campaign” to prisoners.
  • April 22: A former cadre of SSP, identified as Mohammed Nadeem, was shot dead in Sharea Faisal near Star Gate.
  • March 6: A SSP cadre, Zeeshan, was killed and his friend Mansoor sustained injuries in an incident of target killing in Orangi Town within the limits of Iqbal Market Police Station in Karachi.
  • March 5: The SSP ‘leader’ Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Madni, who is also the brother of slain party chief Maulana Azam Tariq, was shot dead along with his son Abu Bakar in an incident of targeted killing in the Khawaja Ajmair Nagri Police Station area of Karachi.
  • March 4: A SSP cadre, Syed Muzafar Alam Nomani, was shot dead in Burmy Colony within the limits of Landhi Police Station in Karachi. Sources said that the slain cadre was the custodian of Madrassas Omar bin Abdul Aziz situated at Jumma Goth and was the vice President of the Burmy unit of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) formerly known as SSP.
2010
  • December 29: A cadre of SSP, Imran, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Sector 11-G near Nullah Stop in the limits of New Karachi Industrial Area Police station.
  • December 27: Five persons, including a minor girl, were killed and three others were injured in sectarian violence in different parts of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh.
  • November 28: A local leader of the SSP, Abdur Rehman, was killed while his friend, Mohammed Faisal, injured in the Sharifabad Police Station area of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh.
  • November 27: The Government announced a reward of PNR 10 million to anyone providing information about the TTP. “The government will make arrangements to settle the informers and their families anywhere in the country, even abroad, if they fear that the Taliban might hurt them,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. Rehman Malik said that most militants belonged to the LeJ and SSP.
  • October 28: A SSP militant, identified as Abdullah, son of Amanullah, was arrested by Police under Chaki Wara Police Station area near Lyari Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh.
  • October 5: A teacher of the Jamia Binoria Al Almia shot dead in Site area. Police said 50-year-old Maulana Mohammad Amin was going to visit his relatives when at least four assailants fired from the front and rear at the jeep he was driving. According to the Police, Maulana Amin was once associated with the SSP as its divisional chief in Karachi and later quit the party after it was banned.
  • September 24: Police arrested SSP leader Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi from Jhang in Punjab.
  • August 2: Interior Minister Rehman Malik, however, accused SSP for the assassination of Haider. Talking to reporters at the Parliament House, Malik said there were reports of death threats to Haider’s life, which had been conveyed to certain senior officials.
  • July 11: The SFs arrested at least 53 suspects, including the former chief of the SSP, during the ongoing crackdown against banned organisations in Southern Punjab. Sources said that Police arrested former SSP ‘chief’ Tanveer and 19 other suspects of the same outfit from Khanewal.
  • July 1: A cadre of the SSP, Qari Noor Muhammad (35), was shot dead in Khokhrapar Police Station area of Karachi. Sources said Qari Noor Muhammad, a Pesh-Imam of a mosque, and his friend Muneer (35), received bullet wounds when four assailants riding on two motorcycles opened fire at them while they were sitting outside the mosque.
  • June 14: A leader of the SSP was shot dead by two unidentified assailants in the Mobina Town Police limits at Karachi in Sindh.
  • June 5: Unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle shot dead a SSP cadre, Shehzad (25), in Petal Wali Gali under Gulbahar Police Station area of Karachi in Sindh.
  • May 28: A person belonging to the Shia community was killed and some others were wounded in a clash between two rival sects at Islam Chowk in Orangi Town of Karachi in Sindh. The clash took place between activists of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), the frontal organisation of SSP, and a Shia group. The slained Shia person was identified as Shehzad alias Sajju.
  • April 23: A Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) cadre, Athar Jadoon, who was injured in an attack, succumbed to his injuries. Athar was shot at near the Darul Uloom at Korangi in Karachi on April 22.
  • April 22: A senior cadre of the SSP, Athar, was critically injured following a shot at incident near Darul Uloom locality under Awami Colony Police Station of Korangi town in Karachi. Landhi Town SP Haider Sultan said the incident occurred in Sector 28 of Korangi where unidentified assailants opened fire on the victim Athar while he was passing by on his motorcycle.
  • March 30: A SSP cadre was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists in Karachi. According to the Police, the deceased, Mohammed Nisaar, was sitting at his shop in Godhraan Camp Wali Gali, when four men on two motorcycles came over and opened indiscriminate fire at him, killing him on the spot. The four men managed to escape after leaving a motorcycle behind.
  • March 11: An attempt was also made on Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, a leader of the SSP, in which he was injured, while his son lost his life. Maulana Ghafoor Nadeem was shot at on his way to the city courts near Annu Bhai Park in Nazimabad in Karachi.
  • March 2: The Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the SSP and TTP were involved in terrorist activities in the country and warned of strict action against them. Referring to the SSP, the interior minister said it had close links to al-Qaeda and Taliban. Malik also added that he was facing serious life threats himself and had received threatening letters.
2009
  • November 20: In a suspected sectarian incident, the general secretary of the banned Sunni outfit SSP Karachi chapter, Engineer Ilyas Zubair, was shot dead and provincial information secretary, Qari Shafiqur Rehman Alvi, wounded at Teen Hatti under the Jamshed Quarters Police Station jurisdiction in Karachi. The two men were going to a mosque near Teen Hatti shrine, when unidentified men on a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire at them.
  • October 23: Police claimed the arrest of a Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan terrorist, Qaisar Mauvia, from Sector F-12, and also apprehended 60 suspects from different parts of the federal capital Islamabad. Police said Mauvia was involved in target killing and other illegal activities in the country. Meanwhile, a senior Police officer said the Police had arrested 80 suspects in the last three days. He said the Police continued the operation on October 23 and arrested 60 suspects from Dhok Noon, Dhok Makhan, Bhatta, Sohan, Pind Warian, Khana Dak, Khana East, Koral, Ghori Town, Kalinger and other slums in the Aabpara and Margallah police precincts. The official said police had seized 22 guns, 10 pistols, two Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition and 102 bottles of liquor from them. Most of the arrested persons were from Waziristan and Afghanistan. Separately, Police arrested four alleged terrorists from Farooqabad during a crackdown on suspicious persons.
  • October 19: Unidentified assailants shot dead a former activist of a banned outfit near his house in the Rehan Colony of Bahawalpur in Punjab province. Islamuddin had been divisional convener of the banned Sunni outfit, the SSP. After its proscription, he used to reportedly earn his livelihood by selling edibles on a handcart. He was coming from his house near Shama Cinema on the Multan Road when two motorcyclists shot at him and fled. He later died at the Bahawal Victoria Hospital.
  • September 26: An activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) was shot dead near Naeem Hospital at Malir No. 15 within the limits of Saudabad Police station in Karachi. Police said Mudasir, 30, was on his way on a motorbike when unidentified assailants shot at him and managed to escape. The victim, an area distributor of a food company, succumbed to his injuries later. The deceased was also a supporter of the SSP and was the witness in five high profile cases of sectarian killings.
  • September 20: Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies are searching for 83 high profile terrorists wanted for various crimes, ranging from the attack on former President Pervez Musharraf to fanning the separatist movement in Balochistan. According to a list maintained by the Interior Ministry, 41 of the most wanted terrorists belong to Punjab, 21 to Sindh, 13 to Balochistan and eight to the NWFP. Of the 83 terrorists, Bramdagh Bugti tops the list with 31 information reports registered against him. The available data shows the majority of the terrorists belong to various sectarian and terrorist organisations, including the HUJI, SSP, LeJ and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP). The majority of the “most wanted” belong to the LJ and the SMP and are wanted in various high profile cases, including assassination attempts targeting Musharraf, former premier Shaukat Aziz and the Karachi Corps commander; the blasts at the Sheraton hotel and foreign embassies; arms smuggling; target killings of rival groups, doctors, Police and intelligence officials and personnel; kidnapping for ransom; and attacks on imambargahs (Shia places of worship) and mosques.
  • September 1: Police and security agencies arrested two suspects affiliated with the banned SSP outfit and involved in arranging manpower for terrorist activities. Official sources identified the alleged terrorists as Abu Waqas and Mohammad Akram. The arrest was made during a raid by a joint team of the capital police and security agencies in Bhara Kahu. Literature regarding jihad, cellular phones and SIMs were recovered from their possession. The duo is accused of arranging potential recruits for the outfit’s cause in the capital’s rural area and its adjacent cities and towns for education and training. First, they used to arrange potential recruits and bring them to a seminary located in Bhara Kahu where they were indoctrinated. Subsequently, the selected recruits were shifted to Waziristan in FATA for training in terrorist activities, including suicide bombing, ambush and handling of weapons and explosives. The suspects recruited a large number of teenage boys and youth, the sources added.
  • August 17: Armed men shot dead Allama Ali Sher Hyderi, chief of the banned SSP, along with his associate Imtiaz Phulpoto at Khairpur in the Sindh province. Sources said Allama Hyderi was returning home after delivering a speech at a religious gathering in the Dost Muhammad Abro village within the limits of the Ahmedpur Police Station when he was attacked. Police sources said one of the attackers, identified as Aashiq Ali Jagirani, was also killed in retaliatory fire by Hyderi’s bodyguards. The murder reportedly bore all indications of a sectarian killing, with the head of the local police saying “it was a targeted attack on Allama Hyderi”.
    The SSP leader’s murder triggered violence in major towns of Sindh. There were reports of aerial firing and armed SSP activists forced shopkeepers to close their shops. The Army and the Rangers were called out to assist the Police in maintaining the law and order. The protesters removed the main railway tracks, suspending train link to the upcountry. There were reports that the house of the suspected killer had been torched by the people in Luqman town. Two persons were killed and another sustained injuries in firing by paramilitary forces that tried to stop an angry mob from removing railway tracks.
    Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi has been named as successor to Allama Hyderi. Allama Hyderi, who hailed from Khairpur, was the fourth SSP chief to be killed since it was formed in the late 1980s. After the Sunni outfit was banned by former President Pervez Musharraf in February 2002, it was operating under the name of Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jama’at.
  • August 11: The Government told the National Assembly that it had asked provinces to keep a watch on the banned Sunni militant outfit SSP, which is accused of fomenting recent violence in the Punjab province’s Jhang and Gojra towns. Interior Minister Rehman Malik acknowledged there was a lot of truth in concern voiced by an opposition lawmaker from Jhang who said the Government must act against the SSP to avoid the kind of situation it had to face in Swat valley of the North West Frontier Province after Taliban militants were allowed to thrive there. Malik reportedly said it was a fact that the SSP had had been involved in terrorist activities in the past and added “The provincial governments have been asked to keep a watch on its activities.” The PML-Q member Sheikh Waqqas Akram said all of some 200 SSP activists arrested in Jhang after a judge took a Suo Motu notice of the July 21 violence were later released “one by one” and that he learned during a visit to Gojra that members of the same group attacked Christians in Gojra for unproven blasphemy, burning seven of them alive. He also that a SSP leader had been allowed to address the arrested group’s militants in jail and to go around the country without regard to what he called restrictions for banned organisations.
  • August 9: The SFs killed a SSP leader after an exchange of fire in the Malanari area of Dera Ismail Khan District of NWFP. Official sources said Miftahullah, a SSP leader who was allegedly involved in sectarian killings in Dera city, was shot dead during a search operation.
  • August 5: The Government announced that 25 extremist and militant groups and welfare organisations affiliated to them have so far been banned because of their involvement in terrorist activities. In a written reply submitted on August 5 in response to a question in the National Assembly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the banned organisations included Al Qaeda, SMP, Tehrik Nifaz-i-Fiqah Jafaria, SSP, JuD, Al Akhtar Trust, Al Rasheed Trust (ART), Tehrik-i-Islami, JeM, LeJ, TTP, Islamic Students Movement, Khairun Nisa International Trust, Tehrik-i-Islam Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), LeT, Lashkar-i-Islam, Balochistan Liberation Army, Jamiat-i-Ansar, Jamiatul Furqan, Hizbut Tehrir, Khuddam-i-Islam and Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan.
  • August 2: Paramilitary troops were deployed in the Azafi Abadi village, also known as Koriaan, in the Punjab province where 10 people were killed in violence between Muslims and Christians over the alleged desecration of the Koran. Pakistan Rangers personnel took up positions in and around Azafi Abadi, a day after it witnessed communal clashes. Persons from the two communities reportedly exchanged fire and over 80 homes of Christians were set ablaze by mobs. However, despite deployment of the Pakistan Rangers, the situation in the area remained tense throughout the day as some Christians refused to bury their dead until Police registered a complaint against those responsible for the killings and arson. “We have arrested a number of suspects and exemplary punishment will be given to those involved in heinous crimes. This is a crime against humanity,” Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister of Punjab, told reporters. He said some outlawed religious groups were involved in the violence but did not name them. A Police source said that activists of the banned SSP and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) were involved in the violence. “Their armed activists from other parts of Punjab gathered in Koriaan village,” the source said. Violence erupted in the village, part of Gojra sub-division of Toba Tek Singh District and located 160 km from Lahore, when a group of Muslims alleged three Christians burnt pages of the Koran during a wedding last week. At least seven Christians, including four women and two children, were burnt alive. Three others were killed in Police firing on August 1. The Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti and provincial minister Sanaullah, however, said no Christian was involved in desecrating the Koran.
  • July 16: Two more activists of the outlawed Sunni group SSP, including a guard of the group’s central leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, were killed in Karachi. One of them died at a hospital after being injured in the clash a day earlier while another’s body was recovered from Model Colony.
    The body of 26-year-old Anwar Ali alias Murad, a resident of Orangi Town and the personal security guard of SSP central leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, was recovered from Malir Saudabad in the evening. He had been abducted from the RCG Ground Malir a day earlier. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Farooq Sher Zaman, said Anwar Ali was abducted when he, along with some other SSP cadres went there to force shopkeepers to shut their businesses down. “The police found his body from a railway track in Saudabad. He was brutally tortured before being killed. A single bullet was shot at his forehead following the torture, killing him instantly,” Zaman said. Another SSP cadre, Ghufran, a resident of Future Colony in Landhi, who was wounded in the violence on July 15, succumbed to his injuries at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre hospital. Ghufran is reportedly the younger brother of Hafiz Amanullah, a SSP militant who was killed on June 3, 2009 in Gulshan-e-Iqbal when he, along with his children, went out for recreational purposes. Two other SSP cadres, Saqib and Arshad, were also injured in the violence on July 15.
  • July 15: Unidentified men killed the central legal adviser of the outlawed Sunni group, the SSP, Hafiz Ahmed Buksh, in Model Colony in Karachi. Buksh’s vehicle was indiscriminately fired at when he was on his way home and his driver, Nasir, was also killed in the attack. Saudabad Supervisory Police Officer Farooq Sher Zaman told that the assailants used 9-mm pistols in the attack, adding that the incident took place shortly after the deceased left the Masjid-e-Ibrahim mosque.
  • June 18: In a crackdown, the Bahawalpur and Vehari Police arrested 40 people who allegedly remained associated with banned outfits and sectarian groups. Raids were reportedly conducted in Bahawalpur, Ahmedpur East, Hasilpur, Khairpur Tamewali and Uch Sharif. The Bahawalpur Regional Police Officer Mushtaq Ali Sukhera confirmed that activists of former “jihadi or sectarian groups” had been arrested during these raids. He said those people had been taken into custody whose names figured on the Police’s fourth schedule, which carries the names of those people who violate their surety bonds of good behaviour and non-participation in objectionable activities. In case of non-compliance, they are liable to be detained or face new cases on these charges, he stated. Among those arrested were Abdul Ghani, a SSP activist from Mauza Qaimpur near Hasilpur, Aamir Shahzad of Ahmedpur East and Habibur Rehman of Khairpur Tamewali, who was allegedly present on the premises of Lal Masjid in Islamabad when an operation was launched during the regime of Pervez Musharraf. 25 activists of a banned outfit were arrested during the crackdown in Vehari District. Sources said eight persons were arrested from Vehari and the rest from Mailsi and Burewala.
  • May 27: Another activist of the banned Sunni outfit SSP was shot dead in the Aziz Bhatti Police limits of Karachi within three days of the murder of another SSP activist. The incident sparked tension in Gulshan Town, as armed men resorted to aerial firing, forced the shopkeepers to pull down shutters and also attacked Imambargahs (Shia places of worship) in the area. 38-year old Qari Amanullah was shot dead while his son Sufian was injured by two gunmen near a Tandur in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. According to Police, the deceased was a former Sipah-e-Sahaba unit in-charge.
  • May 24: A senior activist of the banned SSP was shot dead in a target killing. 40-year old Allauddin was the Lines Area Unit in-charge of the banned Sunni outfit, and had earlier worked for the LeJ. A source in the Criminal Investigation Department told that the deceased was currently engaged in re-organising the SSP in Karachi. Following the incident, participants of Allauddin’s funeral prayers started shooting guns in the air outside Imambargah-e-Ali Raza. Subsequently, dozens of people belonging to the Fiqa-e-Jafferia gathered on the road and started rioting by burning tyres and pelting stones on passing vehicles.
  • April 20: The Islamabad Police announced the arrest of two hard-core terrorists from the federal capital who were acting as planners and facilitators for carrying out terrorist acts in the city. The SSP, Tahir Alam Khan, said Khairullah Mehsud, a resident of South Waziristan, who was living in Sector G-9/2, was arrested from F-9 Park. Intelligence agencies have reportedly traced his links with terrorist groups in South Waziristan, which he developed after the Lal Masjid incident. “He was in contact with Gul Bahadur in South Waziristan and Misal Khan in Akora Khattak. During the course of investigations Khairullah made certain revelations, which eventually led to the arrest of another terrorist identified as Khurram Shahzad son of Lal Afzal who had undergone terrorism training at the camp of a banned terrorist organization,” the SSP said. He said Khurram Shahzad had visited the tribal areas as well as Hangu, Bara and Peshawar quite frequently and during those visits he had taken ‘recruits’ from Islamabad for training in camps established by the terrorist groups there. The SSP also said Khurram Shahzad and other ‘recruits’ who accompanied him on those visits, got training to handle explosive materials, especially making lethal ‘oil canister’ bombs.
  • March 23: A member of the banned Sunni group SSP was killed in an apparent sectarian attack in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP. Abu Khan, an SSP activist, was near his shop on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan when two gunmen shot him dead and later escaped on their motorbike, witnesses told. A boy on the street was also wounded. Local Police official Rasheed Khan said “He was an active member of Sipah-e-Sahaba… It seems to be a sectarian killing.”
  • March 16: 12 activists and leaders of the outlawed Sunni group SSP were arrested in a crackdown by Police in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said the Police had launched a crackdown on the SSP and arrested 12 activists, including principal secretary of provincial legislator Khalifa Abdul Qayyum. Raids were reportedly conducted in Alam Sher Colony, Madena Colony, Shiekh Yousaf Adda and Katch Painda Khan.
  • February 2: Unidentified men shot dead a former secretary general of the banned Sunni group SSP. Chaudhry Muhammad Yousuf, also a close aide to the local Member of National Assembly Sheikh Waqas Akram, was on a morning walk when armed men attacked him near Mohallah Babrana in Jhang. Yousuf, along with Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, had founded the SSP in 1985.
2008
  • November 23: The Taliban are present in Karachi and have links with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and other banned religious organisations, but they have no intention of carrying out attacks in the provincial capital if not provoked by a political party or the Government, said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Mullah Omer.
  • November 21: Malik, the Adviser on Interior Affairs said there were 17,000 seminaries in the country and 3,000 of them were in Karachi alone. He said the Government would regularise them in consultation with religious scholars of all schools of thought. He stated that al Qaeda was using the LeJ, SSP and TTP for carrying out its activities.
  • July 30: Unidentified militants killed the Dera Ismail Khan District Account Officer Syed Arif Hussain Shah, police said on July 30, Daily Times reported. Two motorcycle borne gunmen opened fire at Shah, who hailed from the Shia community, near the Pir Zakori graveyard on Zhob Road, when he was en route to office. The police termed the incident a possible act of sectarian violence. While the gunmen escaped after the firing, no group has claimed responsibility for the killing so far. Angry people blocked the road in front of the District Hospital in protest and reportedly shouted slogans against the banned Sunni militant outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and the local administration. Soon after the incident, unidentified persons reportedly opened fire and wounded two activists of the Ansarullah, a branch of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), at Din Pur Chowk, The News reported.
  • July 12: According to Daily Times, banned sectarian and jihadi groups are flouting the Government bar and are re-emerging in various parts of Karachi. Dawn News stated that sectarian slogans, flags and posters of defunct sectarian groups are visible on walls across the city, indicating re-emergence of the banned groups. The Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), the Shia group Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) and Mukhtar Force are the most conspicuous groups, the report added. The channel quoted sources as saying that the sealed offices of the groups have reopened, working under different identities. Some of the groups held meetings in Qayyumabad, North Karachi and Soldier Bazaar, the sources said.
  • June 24: The banned SSP has once again rolled up its sleeves and started getting active across Pakistan, and especially in Karachi, but with a new name Ahle Sunnat wa Aljamaat Pakistan (ASWJP) which roughly translates into The Sunni Party. It has started by requesting Sunni people to voluntarily shut down their businesses and offices on Youm-e-Shahdat (the day of martyrdom) of Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddique (RA) on the 22nd of Jumadi-Uthani, June 27. The central information secretary of the SSP and ASWJP, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem said that they had started work in the name of the ASWJP because of the ban on the SSP. “The case against the ban is in court,” he added. The SSP was banned in 2002 by the government and most of its leaders were arrested. The leaders were released in 2003-04 and started limited work under ASWJP. It organized a rally in April 2008 in Karachi after surfacing after six years.
  • February 29: The banned Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) reportedly drew several hundred supporters near its headquarters in Karachi as it denounced the blasphemous caricatures of the holy Prophet published in some Danish newspapers, and declared jihad against Denmark and the West if they continued to insult Islam. It was the fist major public rally by the SSP since it was banned in 2001. The SSP’s protest took place after Friday prayers at the SSP headquarters at Masjid-e-Siddique Akbar in the Nagan Chowrangi area.
  • February 10: The security agencies arrested 40 people suspected to be activists of banned militant groups. Sources said that the operation was launched after the list of militant activists was revised by security agencies after the suicide attack outside the Lahore High Court on January 10. The Ghaziabad police arrested 30 men from a rented house near Muhammadpura railway crossing. Separately, police raided the RA Bazaar and arrested seven suspects. The arrested belonged to the banned Sunni group LeJ and were allegedly involved in the Rawalpindi blast. During another raid in Saddar Bazaar, police arrested three members of the LeJ. The Mughalpura Superintendent of Police, P. Sajjad Manj, said Rustam Ali, who was a member of the proscribed SSP, owned the house. However, he escaped the raid. Two Kalashnikovs, three 222s, a shotgun and rifles were seized from them.
2007
  • December 9: A team of Lahore Police arrested a wanted terrorist from the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan after a two-hour long shootout in Mandi Bahauddin. Muhammad Saleem alias Hafiz Bilal, a resident of Gujranwala, had planted a four kg improvised explosive device at the Bab-al-Imran mosque in Malakwal on June 30, 2006. Police also seized two Kalashnikov rifles and more than 2,000 bullets from the Saleem’s possession. Authorities had announced a PKR 500,000 reward for Saleem’s arrest.
  • August 24: In a suspected sectarian incident, unidentified assailants shot dead an activist of the banned SSP in the Dera Ismail Khan city of NWFP. 22-year old Kaleen Ullah was shot dead in the Tareenabad Colony in Cantonment Police Station’s jurisdiction.
  • August 12: The provincial secretary-general of the SSP, Aslam Farooqui, was shot dead in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. Alam Zeb, brother of the deceased leader, caught hold of one the attackers and handed him over to police. A police official said one Shoaib Hussain of Parachinar, who belonged to a paramilitary force, had been arrested.
  • July 9: Unidentified assailants shot dead an activist of the outlawed Sunni group SSP in the jurisdiction of Shah Qabool police station in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. Police officer Latif said that Hayat Khan was shot dead at around 2 a.m. outside his Nishtarabad house.
  • July 7: Police in the Mansehra district of the NWFP released four central leaders of the outlawed Sunni group SSP, a day after their arrest. Hafiz Alam Tariq, Maulana Amir Mahavia and two other leaders were reportedly arrested from the district’s Ghazikot area along with two triple-M licensed guns. Sources said they were released following interrogation.
  • June 7: Police at Dera Ismail Khan in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) arrested Rauf Baloch, a leader of the banned Sunni outfit SSP, who was wanted in various cases of sectarian terrorism and murder.
  • April 17: Activists of the SSP are conspiring for the release of their imprisoned colleagues from various jails through violent means, according to intelligence reports submitted to the Interior Ministry. The intelligence reports revealed that SSP leaders have directed the group’s district presidents to tell their jailed colleagues to create trouble in jails. Intelligence reports said that SSP presidents of southern Punjab districts, Lahore, Gujranwala, Karachi, Sukkur and Dera Ismail Khan have been directed to help their jailed comrades escape from police custody on their way from jails to courts. 48 SSP activists have been imprisoned at Adyala Jail and eight of them are on death row. Most of the SSP activists have been detained in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, the Bahawalpur Central Jail and jails in Karachi.
  • April 16: Intelligence agencies have warned that three would-be suicide bombers have set out for Islamabad to target government functionaries if security agencies crack down on the Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia seminaries in the national capital. Intelligence agencies submitted reports to the Interior Ministry a few days ago warning that the three men, including two Uzbeks, had left Darra Adam Khel in the NWFP for Islamabad to carry out suicide attacks. 20-year old Ikramullah, a resident of Gedaro Killi, Zarghun Khel and member of the banned SSP, reportedly heads the group. The group, trained at a camp located in Shawal, Waziristan, was reportedly sent by Tariq Mazid Khel, who runs a training camp at Zarghun Khel and claims to have contacts with intelligence agencies.
  • March 29: SSP asks President Pervez Musharraf to help resolve the ”decades-old conflict” between the Shias and Sunnis.
  • March 13Gunmen on a motorcycle killed Maulana Farooq Ahmed, a Sunni cleric, and reportedly a member of the outlawed SSP in Dera Ismail Khan.
    Gunmen injured Hafiz Ishaq, a SSP activist in Dera Ismail Khan.
    March 8: A suspected member of banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) outfit, identified as Sarwar Alam alias Alami, was shot dead by gunmen at Dera Ismail Khan on March 8, reported Daily Times.
  • February 24: Three suspected militants were killed at Cheechawatni near Multan in the Punjab province on February 24 when the explosives they were carrying on a bicycle detonated, The Hindu reported. Police said that two of the men were from a Madrassa (seminary) that had links with the banned Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahiba Pakistan (SSP).
  • February 20: The Government on February 20 claimed to have traced a network of terrorists allegedly involved in the killings of former Member of National Assembly Maulana Azam Tariq (chief of the outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan [SSP], provincial minister Pir Binyamin and 41 other people in various incidents that occurred in Punjab and Islamabad between 2003 and 2006. “Two members of the network have been arrested by Islamabad Police’s CID department from Sector G-6/2 and efforts are being made to catch their six accomplices who are reported to be hiding in the capital,” a senior official of the interior ministry told Dawn. The arrested were identified as Mudassar Ali alias Usman Chaudhry and Mohammad Ali alias Abbas.
    The official informed that in October 2003, the accused had intercepted Azam Tariq’s car near Golra More Toll Plaza in Islamabad and opened fire, killing Tariq, his three security guards and a driver.
2006
  • October 31: Two activists of the banned Sunni group SSP, Shahnawaz alias Shani and Shaukat alias Javed alias Chand, are sentenced to death by a Karachi court for killing six employees of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) during an attack on their vehicle in October 2003.
  • October 18: Police at Mianwali in the Punjab province arrests three alleged terrorists, identified as Noor Muhammad, Abdul Waheed and Rao Saifullah, belonging to the defunct Sunni group SSP. They reportedly wanted to carry out an attack on a Shia shrine in the Sheikhupura district.
  • September 2: An anti-terrorism court in Peshawar sends the owners of four video shops arrested on August 31 to jail after charging them with selling CDs and cassettes containing anti-Shia speeches by leaders of the banned group SSP.
  • April 7: Activists of the outlawed SSP hold a rally in Islamabad and reportedly vowed to establish a global caliphate, beginning with Pakistan. In a rally attended by thousands of activists of the banned group to commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, SSP leaders called for an Islamic theocracy in Pakistan
  • April 4: Five SSP activists are sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in Karachi on charges of killing a police constable and an under-trial prisoner in an ambush on a prison van near the city courts in 2002.
  • February 21: The authorities in Karachi detain two top SSP leaders, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, in a bid to contain the wave of protests in the city.
2005
  • December 30: Police believe a member of the SSP has entered Japan with the aim of setting up a base in that country.
  • December 5: Intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot by leaders of the banned Sunni outfits, SSP and LeJ, who had directed their operatives to form suicide squads to kill Shia members of the Legislative Council of the Northern Areas.
  • November 6: Security agencies in the Punjab province detain 32 of 190 activists, listed by the Government, of banned religious organizations, including SSP, during Eid celebrations from Multan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha and Faisalabad ahead of the cricket Test match between Pakistan and England.
  • August 12: Despite a ban imposed by the Government on the participation of defunct extremist outfits in the forthcoming local bodies’ elections, the SSP, a sectarian outfit banned twice for terrorist activities, is actively taking part in the elections.
  • July 20: Security agencies arrests Maulana Ali Sher Haidery, patron-in-chief of the SSP (now known as Millat-e-Islamia), from his native town of Khairpure Meeras in the Sindh province.
  • July 18: President Pervez Musharraf accuses banned groups like the SSP and JeM of forcing their ideology upon others, although he did not link them to the London bombings.
  • May 4: A leader from the defunct Sunni group SSP, Tariq Javed, is arrested in New York for allegedly lying on his immigration papers about his terror links.
  • April 15: Four SSP cadres are arrested for their alleged involvement in the bombing of a Shia shrine in the Jhal Magsi district on March 19, in which at least 50 people were killed.
  • March 3: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi acquitted an activist of the proscribed Sunni group, SSP, identified as Mohammad Faisal alias Pehalwan, in a sectarian killing case. He was accused of killing Dr Sibtain Ali Dosa and two of his associates in the Kharadar area of Karachi on May 2, 2000.
  • February 15: Tatheer-ul-Islam, an absconding most-wanted activist of the banned SSP, is arrested from the Lyari area of Karachi. His name was reportedly included in the Red Book of the CID.
  • February 3: The police in North West Frontier Province arrests Qari Anwar Khan, a SSP leader, from Charsadda in connection with the assassination of Shia religious leader in Gilgit, Agha Ziauddin, in a suicide bomb attack at Gilgit in the Northern Areas of PoK on January 8. The suicide bombing had led to sectarian violence that claimed at least 17 lives in Gilgit.
  • January 30: Two unidentified men open fire outside the Jamia Mamoor mosque on Tariq Road in Karachi, killing a cleric, Maulana Haroon Qasmi, belonging to the outlawed SSP and his bodyguard, Aqil Ahmed. Consequently, hundreds of agitated SSP cadres, primarily seminary students, indulged in arson and damaged some vehicles and also attacked a police check post.
2004
  • October 18: Special instruction are issued to the provinces not to allow Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (erstwhile SSP), Islami Tehirk Pakistan (erstwhile Tehrik-e-Jaffria), Khuddamul Islam (erstwhile Jaish-e-Mohammad), Jama’atul Furqaan and others banned outfits to collect donations during Ramazan and on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
  • October 7: At least 40 people are killed and more than 100 injured in two bomb blasts in the city of Multan when hundreds of people had gathered to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Sunni leader and SSP chief Maulana Azim Tariq outside Islamabad.
  • August 6: Police in Vehari, Multan, arrests, Qari Ubaidullah, a terrorist of the outlawed SSP.
  • April 22: Waris Ali Janwari, the father of defunct SSP chief Allama Ali Sher Hydri, is killed in an exchange of fire between police and SSP activists over the issue of a plot of land in Khairpur. Hydri’s three brothers and two police personnel are reportedly wounded during the encounter.
  • April 2: A Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi grants bail to Amanullah Sial, former member of the National Assembly and one of the accused in the murder case of Maulana Azam Tariq, leader of the outlawed Sunni group SSP on October 6.
  • March 26: The Lahore High Court orders release of Allama Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi, chief of the Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP, now known as Millat Jaferia Pakistan), who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder of Sunni leader and chief of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Maulana Azam Tariq.
  • March 19: The Lahore Police arrests former Member of National Assembly, Amanullah Sial, who had been declared a proclaimed offender in the Maulana Azam Tariq (SSP leader) murder case.
  • March 7: Police have registered complaints lodged by relatives of some of the 47 slain people, who named seven activists of the outlawed SSP, blaming them for the March 2 attack on Shias in Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province.
  • March 5: At least two activists of the outlawed SSP are injured in a shootout with the police in Gilgit. The incident occurred when the police tried to remove the hurdles put on the road by SSP activists, who had gathered at Napura, where a procession was to be held by the rival Shia community.
  • January 3: Security agencies in Lahore arrests six terrorists, belonging to the outlawed SSP and JeM, in connection with the December 25, 2003, assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi.
2003
  • December 4: Authorities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir outlaws six terrorist groups, including SSP (now known as Millat-e-Islami).
  • November 21: Law enforcement agencies seal eight offices of proscribed terrorist groups in the Sialkot district, including two offices of the SSP.
  • November 16: Law enforcement agencies seal many offices of three proscribed terrorist groups, including SSP, during a countrywide crackdown.
  • November 15: The Federal Government proscribes three religio-political outfits under the Anti-Terrorist Act 1997, including SSP, now known as Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan.
  • October 7: One person is killed as angry mourners indulged in violence in Islamabad after the funeral of Maulana Azam Tariq, chief of the outlawed Sunni group SSP, who was assassinated on October 6.
  • October 6: Maulana Azam Tariq, SSP chief and a Member of the National Assembly, is assassinated along with four other persons by three unidentified gunmen in Islamabad.
  • May 17: An activist of the proscribed Sunni group, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP, now known as Millat-i-Islam Party), is shot dead by unidentified assailants when he was returning to his residence at an unnamed place in Multan.
  • April 20: Maulana Azam Tariq, SSP chief, says that he and his followers had formed a new party to work for the “enforcement of Islamic edicts” in Pakistan. He said the new group is called Millat-e-Islamia (MeI) and said it wanted to bring about an Islamic revolution.
  • April 18: SSP President, Maulana Azam Tariq, asks Lahore High Court to suspend the Government’s orders freezing his party’s bank accounts and imposing functional restrictions on it, till his petition against the ban on his party is decided.
  • March 7: An SSP cadre is killed in North Karachi area, under Khwaja Ajmer Nagri police station-limits, in Sindh Province.
  • January 6: Four SSP leaders are arrested in Peshawar after a court dismissed their pre-arrest bail application. The accused are charged of taking out a protest procession against the killing of a person in Karachi during 2002.
2002
  • November 15: An anti-terrorism court in Dera Ghazi Khan issues non-bailable arrest warrants against SSP chief Maulana Azam Tariq in a case against him and four others for allegedly delivering highly provocative speeches at the Nabuwwat Conference, in Jampur, on July 31, 2000.
  • October 30: SSP chief Maulana Azam Tariq is released after 11 months in detention at a prison in Rawalpindi.
  • October 29: An SSP activist is killed by two unidentified terrorists within the precincts of Clifton police station in Karachi. 
  • October 27: Lahore High Court orders that SSP chief Maulana Azam Tariq be set free after the expiry of his detention period on October 30.
  • October 12: SSP chief Maulana Azam Tariq declared elected as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in the October 10-general elections. 
  • September 4: The dead body found in a Karachi graveyard on September is 1 identified as that of one of the sons of Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, a founding member of the SSP. 
  • August 13: SSP secretary general Khadim Hussain Dhalu is arrested in Jhang district.
  • July 6: SSP activist Muhammad Aslam Muawia sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore for the January 11, 1998-Mominpura graveyard massacre, in which 27 Shias were killed and 34 more injured.
  • July 2: 12 SSP terrorists arrested for allegedly planning attacks on religious places in Rawalpindi.
  • May 22: Local SSP leader killed by two unidentified armed assailants in Gulistan-e-Mustafa, Karachi.
  • May 17: Karachi Anti Terrorism Court sentences two SSP cadres to life for killing 10 persons in an attack on a mosque in the Al-Falah Colony, Karachi.
  • May 11: Front ranking SSP leader Mehmood Madni arrested for the May 8-Karachi bomb blast in, which 16 persons, including 11 French nationals, were killed.
  • May 9: Maulana Ehsanul Haq Farooqi, an SSP leader, arrested by Sialkot police for delivering a speech against President Musharraf in Wadala Sindhian village, Daska.
  • May 5: SSP cadre killed by two unidentified gunmen in the Gulbahar area of Karachi.
  • April 27: A Karachi Anti-Terrorism court awards two death sentences to an SSP activist in separate murder cases.
  • April 15: Two SSP cadres indicted by a Karachi Anti-Terrorism Court in a sectarian killing case in which 10 persons were killed and five others injured in Al-Falah Colony, off Shahrea-i-Faisal.
  • March 30: A review board of three Lahore High Court judges recommends continued incarceration of SSP chief Maulana Azam Tariq.
  • March 16: Five SSP cadres killed near Merik Sial in Jhang by a group of 10 unidentified assailants.
  • March 15: Karachi police arrests six SSP cadres allegedly involved in approximately 27 major incidents of sectarian killings in Karachi, including that of six doctors.
  • March 13: North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government extends detention of senior SSP leader Khalifa Abdul Qayyum for further 30 days.
  • February 28: Police allege that the SSP was responsible for the February 26-massacre at a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi, in which 11 persons were killed and 14 others injured.
  • February 11: SSP files formal review application before the government seeking reversal of its proscription.
  • January 15: In a crackdown on accounts of banned organisations, SSP’s accounts are seized by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
  • January 12: President Pervez Musharraf announces proscription of the SSP during a televised address to the nation.
  • January 5: 200 SSP activists arrested in a series of raids by security agencies on January 4-5 in Sindh and Punjab provinces.

2001
  • July 6: SSP activist Muhammad Aslam Muawia sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore for the January 11, 1998-Mominpura graveyard massacre, in which 27 Shias were killed and 34 more injured.
  • July 2: 12 SSP terrorists arrested for allegedly planning attacks on religious places in Rawalpindi.
  • May 22: Local SSP leader killed by two unidentified armed assailants in Gulistan-e-Mustafa, Karachi.
  • May 17: Karachi Anti Terrorism Court sentences two SSP cadres to life for killing 10 persons in an attack on a mosque in the Al-Falah Colony, Karachi.
  • May 11: Front ranking SSP leader Mehmood Madni arrested for the May 8-Karachi bomb blast in, which 16 persons, including 11 French nationals, were killed.
  • May 9: Maulana Ehsanul Haq Farooqi, an SSP leader, arrested by Sialkot police for delivering a speech against President Musharraf in Wadala Sindhian village, Daska.
  • December 30 – Five SSP cadres arrested during raids by law enforcing authorities on the outfit’s Karachi office.
  • December 4 – SSP Karachi’s Finance Secretary, Engineer Ilyas Zubair, voluntarily surrendered before the Chief of Crime Investigations Agency (CIA), who later detained him under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO).
  • October 28 – A police personnel and 17 members of the Christian community including five children were killed and nine others injured when six unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a church in Model Town, Bahawalpur. The SSP is suspected to be responsible for the massacre.
  • October 19 – Pakistan authorities, in response to anti-US protests, barred SSP chief Azam Tariq from entering Sindh province where major rallies and protest demonstrations against US air strikes in Afghanistan were taking place. The ban was applicable for 30 days.
  • October 16 –SSP leader Maulana Fazl-i-Ahad said in Peshawar that the outfit had decided to send its cadres for waging Jehad against the US. He indicated that a group of 80 SSP cadres were ready to leave for Afghanistan.
  • October 15 – An SSP leader, Maulana Allah Wasaya Siddiqi, said that US air strikes on the erstwhile Taliban regime in Afghanistan “proved that America was the biggest terrorist of the world.”
  • October 12 –SSP’s Senior Vice-President Khalifa Abdul Qayyum speaking in Dera Ismail Khan said that the US government had “proved itself to be a terrorist state.” Commenting on the air strikes against the erstwhile Taliban regime in Afghanistan, he claimed that Osama bin Laden was only being used as an excuse and the US was attempting to establish camps in the region.
  • October 11 –At a protest rally in Peshawar, SSP provincial chief Maulana Fazal Ahad said that the US should withdraw from Afghanistan, failing which it would “taste fatal upset just like former Soviet Union during Afghan Jihad.” He also asked the cadres to enlist their names with the SSP high command for waging Jehad against ‘infidel forces’ and reiterated that the outfit would fight with the Taliban side by side after getting an approval from SSP central chief Azam Tariq.
  • October 9 – SSP leader Syed Paryal Shah said in Khairpur, that US action in Afghanistan was not a war against Taliban but against Islam, and therefore, it was essential for the Muslims to declare Jehad against the US and its allies.
  • September 29 – A news report said that 38 SSP activists were arrested during the preceding nine months in Dera Ismail Khan.
  • September 16 – The SSP at a meeting in Peshawar, said Muslims of Pakistan would not tolerate any assistance by the Federal government to the USA in its possible attacks on the erstwhile Taliban regime. While declaring the US as the ‘biggest criminal in the world’, SSP leaders alleged that the terrorist acts in New York and Washington DC were a conspiracy to defame Islam.
  • September 15 – SSP Sindh chapter Vice President Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem arrested from Karachi in connection with two cases in which five persons, including four brothers, were killed in 1995.
  • August 14 – LeJ proscribed by President Pervez Musharraf
  • July 1 – Two unidentified gunmen at the Basti Tareenabad in Dera Ismail Khan killed a SSP activist.
  • June 23 – Two police personnel and an activist of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) were injured in Gilgit following an exchange of fire between security forces and activists of the SSP and the Tanzeem Ahle Sunnat.
  • May 21 – Various Sunni sectarian outfits alleged that the country’s intelligence agencies were responsible for the killing of Maulana Saleem Qadri, the Sunni Tehreek chief on May 18, 2001. According to these outfits, the agencies were utilising the SSP to trigger sectarian violence among the Shia, Sunni, Deoband and Barelwi sects.
  • May 21 – Four persons were killed in separate incidents of sectarian clashes in Dera Ismail Khan. In the first incident, an activist of the SSP, who was released from the local prison a few days earlier, was killed. Official sources indicated the involvement of Shia groups in the incident. Sources also said that the violence erupted consequent to the arrest of a Shia leader, Syed Hassan Ali Shah Kazmi, on a charge of allegedly delivering anti-state speeches. In apparent retaliation, certain SSP activists killed a Shia youth and injured two others. Police sources added that two more persons were killed in the clashes on the same day.
  • April 30 – A Karachi Anti-terrorism Court holds two SSP activists guilty of killing a police personnel and his son on February 22, 2001 and sentences them to death.
  • April 3 – Eight SSP activists arrested from Korangi in Karachi following clashes between two sectarian outfits.
  • April – An anti-terrorism court sentenced two SSP activists to death for killing a former Deputy Superintendent of Police and his young son on February 22, 2001.
  • March 12 – Nine persons including the a local SSP chief were killed and 11 others injured as three unidentified terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on a congregation at the Hayat-e-Islam mosque in Lahore. According to official sources, the attack was carried out in the most sensitive locality of Lahore where agencies like Garrison Security Force, Military Police and others are located. Sources also said that the attack was carried out despite tight security measures adopted in view of the presence of Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf in the city. The mosque is administered by the SSP. Official sources indicated that the attack could be in retaliation for the March 4 sectarian violence at Sheikhupura. An SSP spokesperson, Qazi Bahaur Rehman, alleged that the TJP was responsible for the massacre.
  • March 4 – 13 persons, including two police personnel, were killed and four others injured in a series of four attacks by a group of six terrorists in Sheikhpura Four of the terrorists were arrested. Official sources said that the killings are alleged to be an outcome of SSP activist Haq Nawaz Jhangvi’s execution. SSP Sheikhpura chief, Zahid Mahmood Qasmi however, denied the outfit’s involvement in the attacks.
  • March 2 – Two SSP activists arrested from the Orangi Extension area in Karachi for their alleged involvement in the killing of a TJP activist.
  • March 1 – 13 persons were killed in sectarian violence at Hangu in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Official sources maintained that this followed an incident in which an unidentified person opened indiscriminate fire killing three persons and injuring another. Other sources however held that the killings were an aftermath of the execution of SSP activist Haq Nawaz Jhangvi.
  • February 28 –SSP activist Haq Nawaz Jhangvi was executed in Mianwali Jail, Lahore after being held guilty for the December 1990 assassination of the Iranian Consul General, Agha Sadiq Ganji. Police had arrested hundreds of SSP activists for fear of violent protests after Jhangvi’s execution and possible clashes between rival sectarian groups from the majority Sunni and the minority Shi’ite sects. However, one person was killed and six others injured in an encounter between the protesting SSP activists and police at Mohallah Piplianwala in Jhang on the same day of the execution. Later at the funeral of Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, SSP leader Sheikh Hakim Ali, while warning of countrywide protests, said, “The government is responsible for killing our brother. It is done to please Iran.”
  • February 22 – A former Deputy Superintendent of Police and his son killed. Later in April 2001 an anti-terrorism court sentenced two SSP activists to death for the killings.
  • February 15 – , SSP General-Secretary Abdur Rauf Baloch arrested in the Gomal area of Dera Ismail Khan for his alleged involvement in the killing of five persons in Fateh village, on April 26, 1999.
2000
  • November 18 – A Karachi anti-terrorism court sentenced an SSP activist to a seven-year term for possessing illegal arms and creating terror.
  • November 5 – Two SSP activists were killed and another injured when unidentified terrorists fired at them in Mirpurkhas. The SSP blamed the TJP for the killing.
  • October 22 – Two SSP activists killed and eight others injured when two unidentified persons attacked their van in Karachi. The next day, two activists of the TJP were arrested for their suspected involvement in the killings.
  • 1996 – A section comprising radical and extremist elements of the SSP walked out of the outfit to form the LeJ
  • 1994 – 73 persons killed and more than 300 injured in Punjab’s worst year of violence. The SSP along with several other Sunni and Shia organisations were suspected to have participated in this violence.
  • June 1992 – SSP activists for the first time, use a rocket launcher in an attack which killed five police personnel.
  • December 1990 – Iran’s Counsel General in Lahore, Sadeq Ganji killed.
  • February 1990 –SSP co-founder and chief, Maulana Jhangvi killed
  • 1988 – A leader of the Shia outfit, Tehrik-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafaria (TNFJ) Arif Hussain Al-Hussaini killed.
  • 1987 – Prominent Sunni leader Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Yazdani assassinated.
  • 1986 – Prominent leader of the Sunni Ahl-e-Hadith, Allama Ehsan Elahi Zaheer assassinated
Syndicated from: AKC

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GROWING BEARD: IS IT MANDATORY IN ISLAM?

Posted on 27 December 2011 by Tea Server



A modern Muslim scholar is of the opinion that growing beards might be encouraged, but it is not mandatory in Islam. He argues 1 ” that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had reasons for his time only, 1400 years ago, to address his companions to grow beards and this doesn’t mean that these reasons have to exist today. Islam is a rational religion. 

 Growing beards can actually cause trouble to some of the Muslims who live in the West today. If growing beards was mandatory in the Noble Quran, then we would have nothing to argue about. But since it was mentioned in the Sayings of our beloved Prophet peace be upon him, then it is important to know whether this law should apply to all times and all places or not. Some of our Prophet’s Sayings and laws were made only to solve situations that occurred 1400 years ago. 

 These few Sayings don’t necessarily have to be applied today. Only the Noble Qur’an’s laws are all 100% applicable for all times and all places. Prophet Muhammad’s Sayings, yet most of them should be applied for all times and all places, but few of them shouldn’t.”

Afghan Diplomat

Haron Amin, a one-time anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, who is now his country’s top diplomat in Washington, said to CNN News ” Well, I think — remember that growing a beard in Islam is not dictated in the Holy Koran. It’s a tradition by the Prophet. In other words, it’s not one those mandatory things that one must do.
I don’t grow a beard and I’m a — and I’m a perfect Muslim here in the sense that, you know, I practice and I have my own convictions. So it’s not a big thing.”

SHAVED HEADS AND BEARDS 2

In Egypt, many centuries before Christ, barbers were prosperous and highly respected. The ancient monuments and papyrus show that the Egyptians shaved their beards and their heads. The Egyptian priests even went so far as to shave the entire body every third day. The Bible tells us that when Joseph was summoned to appear before Pharaoh, a barber was sent for to shave Joseph, so that Pharaoh’s sight would not be offended by a dirty face.

In Greece, barbers came into prominence as early as the fifth century, BC. These wise men of Athens rivaled each other in the excellence of their beards. Beard trimming became an art and barbers became leading citizens. Statesmen, poets and philosophers, who came to have their hair cut or their beards trimmed or curled and scented with costly essences, frequented their shops. And, incidentally, they came to discuss the news of the day, because the barber shops of ancient Greece were the headquarters for social, political, and sporting news. The importance of the tonsorial art in Greece may be gathered from the fact that a certain prominent Greek was defeated for office because his opponent had a more neatly trimmed beard.


In the third century, BC, the Macedonians under Alexander the Great began their conquest of Asia and lost several battles to the Persians who grabbed the Macedonians by their beards, pulled them to the ground and speared them. This resulted in a general order by Alexander that all soldiers be clean-shaven. The civilians followed the example of the soldiers and beards lost their vogue. Barbers were unknown in Rome until 296 BC, when Ticinius Mena came to Rome from Sicily and introduced shaving. Shaving soon became the fashion and the barber shop became the gathering place for the Roman dandies. No people were better patrons of the barbers than the Romans. They often devoted several hours each day to tonsorial operations, which included shaving, hair cutting, hairdressing, massaging, manicuring and the application of rare ointments and cosmetics of unknown formulas. 

 The great ladies of Rome always had a hairdresser among their slaves and the rich nobles had private tonsors, as they were then called. Barbers were so highly prized that a statue was erected to the memory of the first barber of Rome.

When Hadrian became emperor, beards became the fashion again — and for a very good reason. Hadrian had a face covered with warts and scars. He allowed his beard to grow to cover these blemishes. The people of Rome imitated the emperor and grew beards whether they needed them or not.

The fashion changed again to clean-shaven faces. We know that Caesar was clean-shaven. As we will see repeated in history many times, the leaders of the state were the leaders of fashion and the people were always ready to follow the prevailing styles. There are many passages in the Bible referring to the barber profession. Moses commanded that all who recovered from leprosy should be shaved. 

 This was done as a health precaution, because throughout history the Jews have honored the beard as a badge of manhood. To this day, the orthodox Jews have little respect for clean-shaven men. During periods of mourning, the ancient Jews allowed their beards to go untrimmed, but ordinarily their beards were trimmed regularly. The prophet Ezekiel refers to an ancient custom in these words: “Take thou a barber’s razor and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard.” The razors of those days were made of flint and oyster shells.

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi 3

“We see that there are three views on shaving the beard. First, shaving beard is prohibited. This is the view of Ibn Taimyiah. Second: it is Makruh (reprehensible), that is `Iyad’s view. The Third view is that there is no problem in shaving the beard. This view is held by many contemporary scholars.

It seems to me that the closest of these three views is the one that deems shaving beard as Makruh. As the stated reason for growing the beard is to be different from the non-believers, it is similar to the matter of dyeing gray hair in order to be distinct from the Jews and Christians; it is known that some of the Companions of the Prophet did not dye their gray hair, signifying that it was commendable rather than obligatory. 

Similarly, growing the beard may be regarded as commendable but not obligatory, and, accordingly, shaving it would be classified as Makruh rather than Haram. It is true that none of the Companions was known to have shaved his beard. Perhaps there was no need to shave, and perhaps growing the beard was a custom among them.”

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty 4

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who states: “no Muslim should take the issue of the beard lightly. At the same time, we must also state categorically that one should not conclude from what has been said earlier that growing a beard in Islam has the same religious significance as that of the other prescribed rituals. This is definitely not the case. Thus it is important for us to recognize that we are not allowed to ostracize men who do not have beards nor are we to question their basic faith.

Since beard is undoubtedly a great Sunnah, every Muslim male should try to practice this Sunnah according to the best of his ability. Allah does not take us to task for what is beyond our power or ability. We are told to fear Allah as best as we can.” Shaving the beard is a way of imitating the disbelievers, and the Prophet of Allah has commanded us in numerous hadiths to contradict the people of the book (Jews and Christians) and to contradict the pagans and Magus. So since shaving the beard is a tradition practiced by non-Muslims, it makes it mandatory for the Muslims to contradict them by growing it. Let us see the Jewish perspective.

JEWISH PERSPECTIVE 5

Ian Posner says, “Muslims wear beards to emulate the practices of Mohammed, it does not explain where Mohammed got the idea of wearing a beard from. A clue is given in the clause relating to Islam being “…a continuation of the prophetic tradition…”.

Wearing of beards is actually a Judaic tradition, which derives from the notion of avoiding doing anything, which could be possibly result in a transgression of God’s commandments to the Jews (of which there are 613). One of those is the prohibition against suicide and self-harm. In that respect religious Jews are precluded from cutting any hair growing around the jawbone in case (in the days of cut-throat razors) they should slip and kill themselves!

In my personal opinion, many of the traditions in modern day Judaism stem from pragmatic rulings to ensure survival in times past. However the tragedy of Judaism today is the seeming inability of any of the orthodox rabbinates to overrule decisions made by their predecessors. After all, I challenge anyone to sever their jugular vein with an electric razor!

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE 6

It is better for a man to have a beard than to not have one. He who has a beard should not think less of him who does not, and vice-versa. It is mandatory for a Christian presbyter to have a beard.

Here are some witnesses from the authority of the Church:

1.Ye shall not round the corners of your heads; neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Leviticus 19:27

2.Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. 2 Samuel 10:4-5

3.And although it is written, “Ye shall not mar the figure of your beard,” he plucks out his beard, and dresses his hair; and does he now study to please any one who displeases God? St. Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise III: On The Lapsed, AD 250

4.”Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, “You shall not mar your beards.” For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men.”
The Apostolic Constitutions, AD 390

5.”How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at a mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them! For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone, growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, a sign of strength and rule.”

“For it is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble ornament. “A youth with his first beard: for with this, youth is most graceful.” By and by he is anointed, delighting in the beard “on which descended” the prophetic, “ointment” with which Aaron was honoured. And it becomes him who is rightly trained, on whom peace has pitched its tent, to preserve peace also with his hair.”

“But the hair on the chin is not to be disturbed, as it gives no trouble, and lends to the face dignity and paternal terror.”
St. Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor: Book III, AD 195

6.”The beard signifies the courageous; the beard distinguishes the grown men, the earnest, the active, and the vigorous. So that when we describe such, we say, he is a bearded man.” St. Augustine, Commentary on Psalm CXXXIII (133), 4th Century

7.”When a stripling Theodoret was blessed by the right hand of Aphraates the monk, of whom he relates an anecdote in his Ecclesiastical History, and when his beard was just beginning to grow was also blessed by the ascetic Zeno. At this period he was already a lector and was therefore probably past the age of eighteen.” Prolegomena to the Life of St. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, 5th Century

8.Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov) of Petersburg and Novgorod was once going to a service, where the Archpriest Andrew Samborsky, whose beard was shaved off, was supposed to serve together with him. Seeing Samborsky, the Metropolitan said: “What kind of man are you? Our Church does not accept those who shave the beard. Get out!” Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. 3, St. Herman. Pages 71-72

9.”You, young men, honor those with beards. And if there is a man of thirty with a beard and one of fifty, or sixty, or a hundred who shaves, place the one with the beard above the one who shaves, in Church as well as at the table. On the other hand, I don’t say that a beard will get you to heaven, but good works will. And your dress should be modest, as well as your food and your drink. Your whole conduct should be Christian so that you will be a good example for others” St. Kosmas Aitolos, 1700′s AD

Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi 7

To a question with regard to the permissibility of shaving the beard, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi wrote ” The Prophet -peace be upon him- never shaved his beard. He not only kept a full beard, but he also told his companions to grow the beards. Not only the Prophet -peace be upon him- had beard, but also all his companions and almost all Muslim Imams, ‘Ulama always had beards. The growing of beard is not just a custom or cultural practice among Muslims, it is a Sunnah of the Prophet -peace be upon him. According to some jurists, it is a Sunnah Mu’akkadah, i.e. an emphasized Sunnah; and it is a sin to neglect it.
According to some others it is a Sunnah ‘Adiyah, i.e., a general Sunnah which should be done, but its negligence is not a sin. Muslims should grow beards, urge others to follow this and other Sunnis of the Prophet -peace be upon him. We, however, should not abuse or defame those of our brothers who neglect this Sunnah.”



Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Hanooti 8

With regard to growing beard or cutting short the beard, Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Hanooti (He is a member of the North American Fiqh Council. Current Position: Mufti and Fiqh Scholar, Islam Online),
says, ” I myself don’t believe that it is more than Sunnah. As a matter of usul al-fiqh, the action of the Prophet (SAAWS) doesn’t mean anything more than you had better to follow it, but you have the option not to do it. The only moment we have obligation is when he gives a commandment. The hadith that says leave the beards is paraphrased through the understanding of some of the companion (RA) like Ibn Umar. There is a difference between a flying logic and a realistic fiqh. If I am mistaken brother, I am rewarded one reward and maybe, Insha Allah, you are rewarded twice. Maybe vice versa. But still, I didn’t say what great scholars said, like al-Shartoot and Abu Zahra, who are absolutely great scholars from the 20th century.”

However, leaving the beard to grow is not a condition for the correctness of the Salaah. Whoever shaves off his beard and prays, then his prayer is not void 9.



To a question whether growing a beard is highly recommended sunnah in which it is not mandatory but recommend or is it a Fard, Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Hanooti 10 (He is a member of the North American Fiqh Council. Current Position: Mufti and Fiqh Scholar, Islam Online) says, “I would say growing a beard is Sunnah. Those who say it is Fard, have a different opinion.” Al-Muqnei Book of Fiqh Vol 1 says, “it is recommended to grow the beard.”



Shaykh Hisham 11

Shaykh Hisham says “The question is sometimes asked: “In what circumstances is it allowable for a male Muslim to shave his beard off or not to grow one at all? Is military service a valid excuse?” To which we say: al-darurat tubihu al-mahzurat — Necessities make prohibited things permitted. The question is to define necessity in this case. Protection of one’s life, safety, livelihood, and religion all qualify as such, and in some countries military service is unavoidable except at unbearably high personal cost. Indeed in some countries the beard was made either illegal by law under threat of major punishment, such as in Republican Turkey, or a cause for harassment and persecution by the authorities as in other secular-oriented states. And Allah knows best.”



Shehzad Saleem 12



When a question was asked if it is compulsory in Islam for men to keep beards, the learned scholar, Shehzad Saleem who is the Director of Al-Mawrid, Institute of Islamic Sciences (51-K, Model Town, Lahore, Pakistan) says, “Keeping a beard is a desirable act for men. The Prophets of Allah kept beards and expressed their liking for it since this is from among the norms of human nature. It is an expression of manliness and as such a sign, which distinguishes men from women. However, the Prophet (sws) did not regard keeping beards as part of the Islamic Shari‘ah. Also, it is not compulsory for men to keep a beard and if a person shaves his beard he may be deprived of some reward, but he is unlikely to be punished on this. This view also conforms to the Shafite jurists (See Dr Wahbah al-Zahili, Fiqhu’l-Islami wa Adillatuhu, vol. 1, p. 308.) and to many scholars of Hadith including Qadi ‘Ayad “( See Nawawi, Sharah Sahih Muslim, 2nd ed., vol. 3, [Beirut: Daru’l-Ahya al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1972], p. 151) who regard shaving the beard as makruh (undesirable). (While defining makruh Abu Zuhrah says: The jurists say that the perpetrator of makruh is not to be condemned while a person who desists from it is praiseworthy. (Abu Zuhrah, Usulu’l-Fiqh, 1st ed., [Cairo: Daru’l-Fikr al-‘Arabi, 1958], p. 41).

There are three important principles of understanding the Shari‘ah.

I. The Almighty has blessed man with guidance in two ways. One of them can be termed as Innate Guidance and the other one as Divine Guidance.
Innate Guidance: Man has been given certain faculties and abilities (intuition, conscience, instincts, common sense and intellect), which are enough to guide him in deciding the right course of action.

The second sphere of guidance, Divine Guidance, generally pertains to areas where human beings are unable to decide the right course by themselves. So in order to complement and supplement the sphere of Innate Guidance, the Almighty has divinely guided man through His Prophets. The Qur’an and Sunnah (the established practice of the Prophet (sws)) are the primary sources of Divine Guidance.
II. In both these spheres of Innate Guidance and Divine Guidance, deeds and actions do not merely belong to the two categories of the prohibited and the allowed, but have various other categories as well. For example, a thing may be desirable which means that if a person adopts it, he will be rewarded and if he does not, he will not be held liable to it.
III. As far as Ahadith are concerned, they are not an independent source of Islam. They must have some basis in either or both of the two aforementioned categories: Innate Guidance or Divine Guidance. Consequently, if some Ahadith do not have such a basis they cannot be accepted.
Now, in the light of these principles, it is evident:
1. The issue of keeping a beard is not discussed anywhere in the category of Divine Guidance. In other words, the Qur’an and Sunnah are devoid of any such ruling.
2. As far as the category of Innate Guidance is concerned, some scholars place this directive in it and I (Shehzad Saleem) would tend to agree with them. Of course, someone may differ.
3. Several Ahadith and some historical reports however, clearly mention that men should keep beards. Consequently, if this directive is to be classified as a religious one, these Ahadith must have a basis either in the first category (Innate Guidance) or in the second category (Divine Guidance).

There are Ahadith, which say that men must grow beards and clip their moustaches. However, an analysis of the context of these Ahadith reveals two important things.
Firstly, in all these narratives the directive of growing a beard occurs in tandem with the directive of clipping the moustache. This paired mention adds a certain stress to the whole directive. It has not been said: ‘Grow a beard’, in which case the directive would mean that as against the followers of these religious denominations, (who do not have beards) Muslims must grow beards; on the contrary, the addition of the second clause ‘clip the moustache’ adds the stress that if something is to be clipped it is the moustache and not the beard and if something is to be lengthened it is the beard and not the moustache.
Secondly, none of these narratives explicitly and unconditionally give these directives. Rather each of them begins with a negative note: ‘Do not follow idolaters, Majus (Magians), People of the Book…’ The addition of this note changes an explicit directive to a conditional one.

Abu ‘Umamah reports: The Prophet (sws) once came to some old men of the tribe of Ansar. These men had extremely white beards. Seeing them, the Prophet remarked: ‘O People of Ansar dye your beards in red or golden colors and do not follow these People of the Book’. They declared: ‘O Prophet these People of the Book do not wear shalwars and loin cloths’. At this, the Prophet said: ‘Wear shalwars and loin cloths and do not follow these People of the Book’. They declared: ‘O Prophet these People of the Book neither wear shoes nor socks [while praying] ((Abu Da‘ud, Kitabu’l-Salah). At this, the Prophet said: ‘Wear shoes and socks and do not follow these People of the Book’. They said: ‘O Prophet these People of the Book lengthen their moustaches and shave their beards’. At this, the Prophet said: ‘Clip your moustaches and lengthen your beards and do not follow these People of the Book’. (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hambal, vol. 5 p. 264)

It is evident from the words of this Hadith that some Muslims of the Ansar were following the People of the Book in some of their practices thinking that they were obligatory. Besides other things, they thought that it was necessary to lengthen the moustache and shave off the beard. The Prophet (sws) told them that this was no religious directive. On the contrary, this was a religious innovation; so if they wanted, they could lengthen their beards and clip their moustache instead. Similarly, refraining from dyeing one’s hair was no religious requirement. If they wanted they could dye their hair as well. In other words, this Hadith is not asking men to grow beards; it is merely saying that keeping beards and clipping moustaches is not a condemned religious practice as certain people are contending. It is perfectly allowed in Islam. So, just as dyeing hair, wearing socks and shoes while praying have not become necessary directives as per this Hadith, keeping a beard as an obligatory directive cannot be deduced from it as well.
The third possibility is that this directive has a moral basis. There was something morally wrong in the practice of the followers of other religions. Obviously, keeping big moustaches and shaven beards makes one look arrogant and haughty which is clearly forbidden by both categories of guidance. So these Ahadith are describing to the Muslims the proper way of growing a beard and a moustache. Instead of having large moustaches and shaven beards, the appearance should be the other way round. In other words, the Ahadith are not directing Muslims to grow beards and moustaches; what they are saying is that if they want to grow both, then the proper way is to lengthen the beard instead of the moustache and clip the moustache instead of the beard.

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