Thaindian News

Mumbai, Feb 14 (IANS) People from all communities gathered here Sunday afternoon to resolve to jointly celebrate Prophet Mohammed’s birth anniversary and pray for the victims of Saturday night’s Pune terror attack.
After mourning for the Pune victims, a unique campaign was announced to bring together Muslims and Hindus to jointly celebrate the birth anniversary of the Prophet, said one of the organisers, Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, the secretary of Jamaat-E-Islami.

“The state-wide campaign - ‘Mohammed For All’ - will introduce the last Prophet of Allah and reject the belief that that he is only for the Muslims. The 12-day campaign, likely to touch over 20 million people in Maharashtra, will start Feb 17,” Aslam told IANS.

The birth anniversary of the Prophet will be celebrated this year on Feb 26.

Several speakers, including Aslam, National Communal Harmony Award recipient Ram Puniyani, architect and social activist Pratima Joshi, religious scholars and others highlighted the preaching of the Prophet and condemned terror.

“India is a pluralistic society and we request all our brothers and sisters to make attempts to understand Islam and the significance of the Prophet’s teachings which are universally valid,” Jamaat-e-Islami (Hind) state unit chief Nazar Mohammed Madu said.

“Prophet Mohammed has come with the message of universal brotherhood, peace and equality which are infinite in nature and should be implemented by all humanity. It will be wrong to confine him to Muslims alone as he stood and fought for a better, equal and just society,” Maratha Sewa Sangh chief Purushottam Khedekar said.

B.N. Hirdekar, who teaches at Shivaji University of Kolhapur, said Prophet Mohammed’s teaching are relevant to modern society even after 1400 years.

“For instance, he shunned casteism, and exploitation in the name of region, religion and gender, supported rights of minors and opposed slavery when it was an accepted way of life,” Hirdekar said.

Madu said the Jamaat has set up several groups consisting of leading Muslim and non-Muslim personalities, intellectuals and activists of social organisations, which will go around the state targeting social evils like injustice, female foeticide, dowry, child labour, alcoholism, corruption, human rights violations and terrorism.

The other co-organisers of “Prophet For All” include clerics from different Muslim sects, the Maratha Samaj, and the Satya Shodhak Samaj.