Eid sermons across Kol preach message of peace, love and unity
Times of India | 1 April 2025
Kolkata: From registering their protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 to standing up against hatemongers, Eid prayers across Kolkata on Monday touched upon all contemporary issues. Clerics repeatedly stressed "brotherhood, unity, and peace" among all religious believers.
Qari Fazlur Rahman, who led the Eid prayers on Red Road, Kolkata's biggest congregation, strongly registered his disagreement with the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 in his speech. "Muslims do not support it. Using this bill, they want to snatch our property," he said. He also urged people to stand up against those who spread hatred.
Speaking to TOI later, the senior Muslim cleric said, "In Bengal, it has always been a tradition to participate in each other's festivals. At times like these, when there are a few people, especially post-2014, who are trying to spread hatred in the name of religion across the country, the message of "aman (peace) and bhaichara (brotherhood)" becomes extremely important. In the face of hatred, which tries to break the Hindu-Muslim unity, each person needs to stand up for peace and love. It is important to stand against people who run their shops of hate. Before 2014, people of the two communities lived peacefully together." He added that "everyone is equal" and "aman" are core values of Islam.
The Nakhoda Mosque Imam, Md Shafique Qasmi, also spoke out against hate. The cleric, who now presides over the prayers at the 99-year-old mosque — Bengal's largest — said, "Today's message is to maintain peace, unity, and brotherhood. Before India's independence, the British tried to break this unity by making Indians fight amongst each other over religion. Now, their followers are doing the same. People should oppose it. The message today for the people is to not pay heed to divisive politics and to maintain peace and unity."
"It is our responsibility to maintain love among communities, and each locality will have to ensure the same. This message of peace and unity is extremely important in the times when police have become uncontrollable, and people of a particular religion are being targeted. In the face of divisive politics, it has become extremely important for everyone to keep love in their heart and stand against politicians who spew hate," Maulana Qasmi added.
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