Data Darbar Mosque Attack

The Holy Month of Ramadan began on Sunday, May 5th.  It has already been stained with the blood of the innocent.  On  May 8th a Jihadist bomber attacked the Data Darbar Mosque in Lahore.  The Mosque is a sacred site for the followers of the Sufi Sect of Islam.   The bomb detonated at 8:44am.  So far at least 9 people are confirmed dead, with 20 more injured.  Among the dead are five Pakistani Police Officers.  Sadly, this is not the first time that Jihadists have attacked this site.  On July 1st 2010, two suicide bombers attacked the Data Darbar, killing 50 people and injuring hundreds more.  This attack came a mere two months after two Ahmadi Mosques in Lahore, killing nearly 90 Ahmadi Muslims.  


Pakistan is home to over 200 million people.  Of the population, 77% are adherents of Sunni Islam and15-20% follow Shia Islam.  The remaining population is a mixture of Hindu, Ahmadi Muslim, & Christian, which combined accounts for 4-6%.  Sufis, Sikhs, and Buddhists make up a small fraction of the remaining population.  Though the non-Islamic minorities are often subject to attacks my mobs, extremists, as well as state-sanctioned discrimination, this attack proves that they are not the only ones who are vulnerable to the danger of Jihad.  Jihadists often target minority sects as well.  Over the years following 9/11, Ahmadis, Sufis, and Shiites have been deliberately targeted by Jihadists.  Their mosques have been bombed, communities where they reside in have been attacked, and some have even been pulled off of public buses by Jihadists and executed.  

In her book, Malala Yousafzai commented on this ongoing violence within the Pakistani Muslim Community.  She questioned as to why her leaders always preached hatred and disdain for non-Islamic faiths like Hinduism, Christianity, & Judaism, stating "If Christians, Hindus, and Jews are really our enemies, as so many say, why are we Muslims fighting with each other?"  The reality is, the Jihadist terrorists who carry out these attacks on minority Islamic sects like Sufis and Ahmadis justify doing so because they view those who follow these sects as heretics who are not adhering to the fundamentalist principles of Islam.  To justify their attacks, they point to Qur'anic verses and Hadith commentary to justify their attacks.  

Surah 4:65-"But know by your Lord, they will not truly believe until make you (Muhammad) judge concerning over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you had judged and submit in full, willing submission."    
(This means that to be a true Muslim, you have to follow all of Muhammad commands and teachings without question.  Insistence to only follow some, & not all can put one in the Hypocrite Category, and the fate of Hypocrites is not Good)


Surah 9:73 - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination." 

(As Muhammad's time was passing, some of the Arabian tribes that previous declared allegiance to Islam abandoned their pledge leading Muhammad's successor, Abu Bakr, to wage a series of Wars known as Ridda Wars to bring them back into the Islamic Fold.  When Civil Wars broke out between Muslim sects & within Muslims of the same sect, these verses were used by the perpetrators to justify the wars, stating that their opponents were not following Islam properly, thus heretics).  

Hadith Verses have also been used, with Fundamentalists claiming that Muhammad foretold that there would be hypocrisy within the Islamic community, and it would have to be suppressed, violent if necessary.  

Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 84, Hadith 64-"I heard Allah's Apostle saying 'During the last days there will be appear some young foolish people who will say the best words but their faith will not go beyond their throats (i.e. they will have no faith) and will go out from their religion as an arrow goes out of the game.  So wherever you find them, kill them, for whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection.  

Sunan Abu Dawood 4597: The Apostle of Allah stood among us and said: Beware! The people of the Book before were split up into seventy two sects, and this community will be split into seventy three: seventy two of them will go to Hell and one of them will go to Paradise, and it is the majority group

When teachings like this are followed literally, it makes it clear that attacks like this will happen, and continue to happen.  Many activists, both Muslim and non-Muslim agree with this, and have been insisting that a drastic reformation is needed, with some considering the idea that the faith needs to be abandoned altogether.  As it stands, it's not known which path the world is going to take on this issue, but one thing is certain, there is no sign of these violent attacks ending anytime soon.  

Sources:

“Deadly Blast Hits Sufi Shrine in Lahore.”  BBC.  July 02, 2010.  Accessed from https://www.bbc.com/ news/10483453 on May 09, 2019.

Hashim, Asad.  "Pakistan: Blast Near Major Sufi Shrine in Lahore Kills 10."  Al Jazeera.  Accessed from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/pakistan-explosion-major-sufi-shrine-lahore-190508042357670.html on May 09, 2019.

"Pakistan Data Darbar: Bomber Kills Nine Outside Sufi Shrine in Lahore."  BBC.  May 08, 2019.  Accessed from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48197260 on May 09, 2019.

Rashid, Qasim.  The Wrong Kind of Muslim: An Untold Story of Persecution and Perseverance.”  United     States: AyHa Publishing, 2013.

Yousafzai, Malala and Christina Lamb.  I Am Malala.   New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2013.