Iumsonline.net – Aug. 4, 2008
The secretariat-general of the
International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) expressed its
deep concern over circulating news that Chinese authorities
demolished a mosque in Kalpin county, confiscated copies of
the Ever-Glorious Qur’an and arrested many Muslims during
the attack. Fifteen Muslims were convicted in a closed trial
on July 9; two of them were executed, three others were
given suspended death sentences and the remaining ten
received life imprisonment.
The statement that was issued on
Monday Aug. 4 indicated, “Whatever the reasons claimed by
the Chinese authorities to justify these actions, they must
be read in the context of the ongoing persecution against
Muslims in East Turkistan. This persecution was quite clear
when Chinese police this year detained 82 people in Xinjiang
whom they said were planning to attack the Beijing Olympics,
and China claimed it had crushed a group in Xinjiang that
was plotting to kidnap foreign journalists, tourists and
athletes during the Olympics.”
“About eight million Muslims in
East Turkistan are in need of urgent and continuous
protection and help from Islamic countries and Muslims, and
spreading awareness of their issues by preachers and
scholars,” the statement asserted.
Accordingly, the
secretariat-general of the IUMS called upon all its members
to follow the news on this issue, place this matter at the
center of their activities and interests permanently, and
invite Muslim officials all over the world as well as local
and international human rights organizations to pay
attention to the persecuted Muslim minority in China; as
this may induce the Chinese authorities to change its
treatment of Muslims in East Turkistan.
In addition, the IUMS called upon
the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC) to “… convince the Chinese government to
pay due attention to this matter and make the necessary
decisions and measures for treating the Muslims of Turkistan
in a way that suits a country of such a great and ancient
civilization as the People's Republic of China.”
The statement expressed its hope
that the secretary-general of the OIC will call upon member
states to exert every effort to protect the Muslim minority
in East Turkistan through their good relations with China,
reminding them of the hadith of the Prophet (peace and
blessing be upon him) that reads, “A believer to another
believer is like a building whose different parts enforce
each other.” And, “The believers as regards their being
merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves
and being kind, resemble one body, so that, if any part of
the body is not well then the whole body shares the
sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.”
