Vice President of the Maldives Dr Mohammed Waheed Hassan has told Indian media that young Maldivians are being recruited by militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan to wage ‘jihad’.
The Indian Press Trust (IPT), among others, also reported that Waheed had claimed an increasing number of young Maldivians “are embracing a version of Islam which is more strict than the traditional Islamic values [of the Maldives].”
The vice president is currently visiting India, which recently signalled its willingness to increase defence cooperation after reports that extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, believed responsible for the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, was active in the Maldives.
At the time, Indian news portal Rediff.com reported Indian intelligence bureau sources as saying the group had “nearly 1,000 operatives active in the Maldives”.
Indian media reported that Waheed had asked for the country’s assistance in preventing the passage through India of young people suspected to be attending radical institutions.
“Some of these people are going to Pakistan and Afghanistan and are waging jihad. We want these people back,” he told PTI. “These are students and it is very easy for them to say they are going to pursue education.”
Presidential Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the vice president’s comments were based on “certain statistics from education authorities, police and Pakistani authorities.”
“This government estimates there are 200-300 unregistered [Maldivian] students in Pakistan,” Zuhair said.
“The government has made a point of checking up on any student travelling to Pakistan and making sure that what recruiters have told their families is accurate, and that the institutions are recognised by the Pakistani government,” he said.
However, “students are leaving the Maldives with the good intentions of obtaining an Islamic education, but are being told to bypass the government’s legislation and monitoring [processes].”
There was a requirement for someone travelling abroad to study to register with the government, he said. “In the latter stages of the previous government [unregistered] students would be brought back once they reach Colombo,” he noted.
The government was developing a range of Islamic scholarship programs for students at registered institutions in countries like India and Malaysia to try and address the issue, Zuhair explained.
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200 students in Pakitsani Madrasas? This is shocking news and if the number is around what Zuhair says, it will have serious implications to the Maldives which is already getting very conservative. It is more likely that a conservative minded village idiot will wage Jihad than a liberal minded citizen of a country.
People like Seyku Fareed, Islamic ministry jokers and crazy Salaf should be challenged to put some logic into their minds.
If they want a short-cut to paradise they should go there themselves and should avoid taking others with them.
Surely liberals would not want to be in the same paradise, which hosts people Osama Bin-laden and likes of Fareed and Salafis.
I would rather be in the hell than sharing Paradise with all these crazy half backed extremists.
the whole country is being radicalized, now that we have a ministry for that...bringing back the 300 or so students from pakistan and elswhere is not going to solve the problem....when 300,000 are being indoctrinated 24/7....
If you have a ditch and you see a blind person walking towards that ditch and you know that after a
few steps the person can fall into the ditch and die, you will not be very soft and take your time in
trying to prevent the person from going any further. Rather you will take drastic action to try and
prevent the person from going any further. If you were to scream or take drastic action when there is
no danger then in that case it would seem as an act of aggression. However because the danger is
severe in such a situation, you would be thanked and praised for your concern for that person. This is
exactly how a Muslim should be. We should be concerned about what is happening to our
neighbours, to our friends, to our coworkers, to the people whom we live with, etc. It is a sign of
ingratitude and of unconcern if we know that all or some of these categories of people whom we
know are heading towards the hellfire and we are doing nothing about it.
Surely Allah & hid Blessed Prophet(PBUH&HF) are free from what I term as the 'two-headed' Serpent is doing for & against Islam. On the one hand we have the Wahhabi/Salafist/Khawarij sect on the other we have The 'freemasonic/secular/pseudo-secular' agents of zionism, they come in different colors. While they preach & practice their so called 'Jihad' which really is murder & mayhem the Secularists monopolise & manipulate it in such a way that Islam gets all the blame. Both these ideologies are actually linked as they benefit each others cause mutually are close even though they seem to be on the two opposing extremes. 'Jihad' which literally means to struggle has nothing to do with what the 'Taliban/Al Qaeda, two CIA proxies used to 'destabilise' the Muslim world in order to lead to the final triumph of the New world Order of the anti-Christ! The Local version of Al Qaeda is 'DOT' group, which was behind the terror in Himmendhoo & the Sultan Park Bombing & also the recruitment of 'Jihadists' to Pakistan & Afghanistan.This group was among the foremost anti-Maumoon groups thus was MDPs major assets thus still the old connections remain, which explains Why they along with other Islamists have been able to function with such freedom. The dangers that await for islam in our beloved country is very great. The 'two-Headed serpent' has to be killed now.
anyone surprized!??
@Ibn Ali
The problem here is that you are the one judging that people are going towards a ditch. But they may not be. Doesn't the Quran say that Allah is the only source who knows what is in your heart. So, it could be true that you are a big Jaahilu and someone whom you are condemning to hell is actually quite favored by God. I don't understand why people like you don't focus your energy on helping your neighbors and friends and making life on this earth more pleasant for everyone instead of going around condemning people to hell and scaring the shit out of people who don't agree with you.
My point is, your position of self righteousness is quite arrogant, when Islam required you (and me) to be humble and generous towards other people. If someone criticize you or people like you, you resort to quoting Hadith and Quranic verses. Surely you don't fancy yourselves to be that high up in the hierarchy now do you? Tsk tsk!
The difference between jihad and qitaal, and the types of jihad for the sake of Allaah
The word jihad is more general than the word qitaal (fighting). Jihaad may be with the tongue (by speaking out), or with weapons (which is qitaal or fighting) or with money. Each of these categories includes numerous subcategories.
Jihad with the tongue includes jihad against the kaafirs, as well as jihad against the hypocrites, jihad against the people of bid’ah (innovation), and jihad against the people of misguidance and whims and desires.
Qitaal may only be done with weapons; it includes fighting the kaafirs, fighting the wrongdoers and fighting the Khawaarij.
The greatest kind of fighting is fighting those who disbelieve, for Allaah has commanded us to fight them. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allaah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad), (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued”
[al-Tawbah 9:29]
“O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you”
[al-Tawbah 9:123]
Jihaad against the kuffaar with weapons is of two types: jihad talab (offensive jihad) and jihad daf’ (defensive jihad).
Jihad talab means attacking the kuffaar in their own lands until they become Muslim or pay the jizyah with willing submission and feel themselves subdued. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they bear witness that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, and establish regular prayer, and pay zakaah. If they do that, then they have protected their blood and their wealth from me, except in cases decreed by Islamic law, and their reckoning with be with Allaah.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 25; Muslim, 20
he second type is jihad al-daf’ (defensive jihad). If the enemy attacks a Muslim country or fights a Muslim country, then jihad is obligatory in that case. If the people of that country are able to undertake this obligation, then all well and good, and the others should support them, both financially and spiritually (by making du’aa’ for them). If the people in that country are not able to undertake this obligation by themselves, then those who are nearby must support them, each according to his ability, whether by giving money, speaking out, or going and fighting.