Mufti Muhammad Ilyas of the newly-formed Muslim body Jamaat Ulama-e-Hind on February 19 said Lord Shiva was the “first prophet of Islam” and Muslims are “followers of Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism)”.
Ilyas was in Ajodhya on February 19 to invite the local Sadhus and Mahants to a communal harmony seminar-National Qaumi Ekta Conference, which will be held in Balrampur on February 27 .
He said that Muslims should have no reservation in accepting that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are their creators. “We are all Indians and children of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and there should be no reservations in accepting the truth,” he said.
Ilyas also said, “He is not opposed to the RSS idea of declaring India a Hindu nation. All religion are preaching the same message. We are Indians first and our message is to spread peace, harmony and brotherhood. The citizens of China are called Chinese and in Japan are called Japanese, similarly we are called Hindustani”. We are not against declaring India a Hindu country, he added.
Meanwhile, the VHP has welcomed the statements and said it is in the interest of nation. “Although we disagree with Ilyasi’s statement that Lord Shiva was a prophet as he is a God, but we welcome the cleric’s statements. Rising above religions, he has tried to unite people and take them away from self-centredness. Why a hue and cry is being raised when he (the cleric) is talking about all Indians are Hindus. The arguments he has given to establish his points are extremely logical, those who oppose ‘Vande Matram’, hoist Pakistani flags in India, disrespect Amar Jawan Jyoti (a war memorial dedicated to soldiers) in Mumbai and raise voice against Batla House encounter and the execution of Afzal Guru have no right to question Ilyasi,” VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal told Firstpost.
While Muslim intellectuals rubbished Ilyasi’s statements as his personal views, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) hailed cleric’s words. The Bharatiya Janata Party too has termed it his personal comments. (With inputs from agencies)
