Muhsin, Fareed and everything that’s wrong with Salafi Preachers

Muhsin Fareed

BCCL/ Representational Image

A controversial Salafi preacher from Kerala, Abdul Muhsin Aydeed wrote a bizarre Facebook post titled as ‘Some Islamic Advice to Doctors’. The article was posted on a Facebook page called ‘AlAswala’.

In the post, he advised that Muslim doctors should not use the Red Cross emblem or the Rod of Asclepius symbol (representing Greek God of healing). “The cross in red color signifies the belief in Trinity by the Christians. Trinity is the worst form of the shirk (polytheism), and is the most detested sin in Islam,” he said.

Regarding the Rod of Asclepius, he said. “The beliefs that destroys Thouheed (monotheism), the cardinal principle in Islam, should be kept at arm’s length. These kinds of wrong beliefs may unknowingly sneak into the belief system of Muslims and they may distance themselves from Islam. A Muslim doctor should keep away from all the signs and slogans that are against Islam,” he said.

Salafi preacher Muhsin further added that the woman patient should cover all other parts of her body which do not need examination and presence of ‘mahram’ is mandatory while being examined by the male doctor. (Mahrams are the persons who escort a Muslim woman when she travels). “If mahram is not available, the male doctor should examine the patient after keeping the door open and standing on the other side of a veil” suggests Muhsin.

This little known Salafi preacher Muhsin once exhorted Muslim parents to not send their children to mainstream schools as these schools were “conspiring to wean students away from their religion” he said “Our children should be taught what Allah’s messenger has dictated us. We don’t need anyone’s help to do it. No government or police have the right to tell us how to bring up our children”

He once mentioned that for a Muslim, love and respect for non-Muslims is anti-Islamic. He said, “For a Muslim most important is his religion, his country comes only next,” he further added that it is imperative for a Muslim to love a Muslim country even if he is not a citizen of the country. He should wish victory and virtue for the Muslim country over non-Muslim country because “it is part of love for Islam.”

But even before him, leaders of Salafist outfits in Kerala have been urging Muslims not to compromise with their faith and to leave India, calling it “the land of unbelievers”.

One such leader is Shamsuddeen Fareed. At various public addresses, he had advised Muslims against appointing Non-Muslims in their offices, greeting them on their festivals and supporting any idea of nationalism.

These two names are not the end, there is an army of Salafi preachers in Kerala who make good use of copy-pasted constitution of India. They enjoy special status in the name of secularism, they enjoy special treatment in the name of Minority, they mock democracy in the name of democracy and they abuse freedom to speak in the name of freedom to speak.

In past few years Kerala has witnessed remarkable change in the behavior and dressing of Muslim youth. Young men flaunting long beards, wearing skull caps, jubbahs and short salwars that barely reach the ankles are becoming increasingly common. Even a girl who studies in the sixth standard wears a purdah when stepping out of her house. 

Not to be left behind, even traditional, non-Salafist Muslim sects of Kerala, such as the AP Sunnis and EK Sunnis, have also started holding such extremist religiousness. This has resulted in the sight of highly-educated young men roaming around in flowing beards and short pajamas.

Salafists insist that Muslims must not introduce any new practice or ideas into their religion that would have the impact of diluting the fundamental beliefs, practices and the teachings of the Koran and the Prophet.

Such an extreme ideology does not allow its holder to adjust to a multicultural social setup. This form of Salafi movement has helped Kerala in becoming a fertile ground for terror groups like ISIS. More than 100 people have joined ISIS over the years as per media reports.

For those who are hearing these two names Muhsin and Fareed for the first time, don’t you get surprised.

Just to remind you, we live in a secular state where people like Muhsin and Fareed have minority shield to guard their interests and it is our constitutional duty to safeguard this minority cover with our sweat blood and tears.

Liberal and secular lobby who was bawling on Sakshi Maharaj’s advisory to Hindu women for giving birth to four children is like always silent on these bigoted remarks by Muhsin. Sakshi Maharaj was a headline in all mainstream print and digital media for more than a week and all BJP, RSS, Right wing groups were at receiving end. At almost same time, a Muslim cleric was advising people to choose any Islamic nation over India and there was no discomfort shown by liberal and secular lobby.

Those who still are not able to understand why suddenly Afzal Gang of JNU, Left liberals and Paid media is so much against vision of nationalism, can go through one more remark of Muhsin” Democracy implies that power belongs to the people, which is against the basic tenets of Islam”.

Similar thoughts are also expressed by notorious Islamic preacher Zakir Nayak at many platforms. Readers may like to google for a TV show episode hosted by Barkha Dutt where Nayak openly supported Islamic terrorism and Filmy Intellectuals Sharukh Khan and Kabir Khan were busy playing victim cards.

It’s not that Liberal and secular lobby of India never showed their concern on bigoted remarks of Islamic clerics. Yes, they do show their concerns but not to oppose these clerics, but their fear is the rise of RSS and BJP in Kerala as a reaction to these statements.

As a concerned citizen of India, we can only hope for some wisdom for paid media, left liberals and pseudo intellectuals. May god give them courage to stand up against sympathizers of Islamic terrorism as they have against Hindutva.

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