 Rescued Bears |
Introduction
Pakistan
has predominantly an Islamic society, where mosques have a pivotal role in
controlling
 social ethics in masses.
A
congregation assembles on Friday in some central mosque to offer
“Namaz-i-Jumma” where the religious leader (Khateeb) delivers sermon
(Khutbba) which is listened with a religious favor. The
Khateeb presents the crucial issues and problems in the light of Islamic
teachings.
Considering the importance of Namaz-i-Juma,
in effective and wider dissemination of the
conservation
message with special; emphasis on curbing bear baiting, BRC planned
to visit mosques to convince the Khateebs to deliver their Friday
Khutbba (sermon) on
bear baiting, anima l abuses, animal welfare and animal conservation with
reference to
teachings of Islam. For the purpose our team visited mosques and were able
to convince
Khateebs to devote one of their sermons to the animal welfare. BRC staff
collected the
basic material of the subject as available in Islamic teachings to help the
Khateebs to organize their sermon. This platform proved very vital in
spreading information about animal’s rights and in convincing people to stop
cruelty against them.
Number of mosques visited in
Sindh and Punjab 2007
Till now BRC teams are successful in conduct of jumma sermon
in 565 mosques of the
Punjab
in 4,254 mosques
of the Sindh. The general masses at the congregation were perceptive to the
conservation message.
Support of eminent religious scholars
To
muster further support of the Khateebs and religious-minded masses for
religious
awareness program, eminent national religious scholars of the country were
contacted to
get their
opinion regarding present effort of BRC towards bearbaiting control program.
The following leaders till now have been contacted and their written
opinions were obtained.
Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman
Chief Leader of opposition; chief of
the largest Muslim faction of Pakistan; head of a political party viz.,
Jamiyut Ulma-i-Islam; and main leader of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, which was
the ruling party in two provinces of Pakistan during 2002-07 period.
Mushtaq
Ahmed Chishti
Chief Mufti, Jamiya Ghosia Mehria, Golhra Shareef, Islamabad.
Faqeer
Muhammad Naqeeb-ur-Rehman
Head, Islah-ul-Muslemeen, Eidgah Shareef, Rawalpindi
Justice
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Mufti-i-Azam Pakistan; ex-member of Shariat Appellate Bench, Supreme Court
of Pakistan; Head of Dar-ul-Uloom, Karachi.
Moulana
Sami-ul-haq
Member of senate of Pakistan; Chancellor, Jamia Haqqania Akora Khattak;
Secretary General, Jamiat-e-Islam, Pakistan; Vice-President, Mutahidda
Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), and also editor of Al-Haq Akora Khattak
Qazi
Hussain Ahmed
Parliamentary Leader and President, Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA); Head,
Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan.
Professor Sajid Meer
Leader of Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, Pakistan; MMA Senator and also
Vice-President of the alliance.
Prof Dr Muhammad Tahir -ul- Qadri
Leader of Tehreek-e- Minhajul-Quraan, Founder Chairman, Pakistan Awami
Tehreek (PAT or Pakistan Popular Movement); and Patron-in-Chief of
Minhaj-ul-Qur'an International and Minhaj Welfare Foundation;
Minhaj-ul-Quran Movement International has its offices in more than 80
countries around the world. It is a non-political, spiritual Movement
working for the betterment of all the people living in Pakistan and abroad
in general.
Moullana Muhammad Illyas Attar Qadri
Head,
Dawt-e-Islami, Pakistan.
Abdullah
Nasir Rehmani
Head,
Al-Mahad-us-Salafi Littaleem-wat-Tarbiyah, Karachi Pakistan.
All these eminent religious scholars/ leaders converged on
the view that Islam very clearly describes animal’s rights along with all
other codes of life. They appreciated work of BRC in eradicating bearbaiting
and animal abuses. Their messages have been circulated amongst other
religious leaders controlling mosques.
|
|
Religious based Awareness
Bear C
ensus
Landlord
Networking
Alternative
Livelihood
Anti Poaching
